Looking for Grandma
C R Morrison
April 19, 2008
Many
years ago, my father, Charles Ray Morrison, Sr, told me about his
mother leaving his father. My father went to live with his grandparents
in Roanoke VA. He couldn't remember when, but thought he was about 14.
He lived with my grandmother's parents for 14 months during my
grandparent's divorce.
My father was not treated well, in
Roanoke. His grandparents didn't like him and he stayed in a cold,
unheated room, fending for his own food and care. After his father's
divorce, he went back to Columbus Ohio.
His grandfather's name
was James Hylton and he did not know his grandmother's name. His mother
was Cora Ethel Hylton. She has not been seen since about 1940. My
father, Charles Ray Morrison, Sr, was born September 23, 1927. (birth
records show Sept 22 which is when the doctor arrived for a late night
birth)
After I was born in 1950, my father drove to Roanoke, and his
grandparents did not want to see their grandson, me.
My
challenge for many years was to locate my grandmother, Cora Ethyl
Hylton. She was said to be born in Roanoke, in 1908, married my
grandfather in the early or mid 1920s, divorced him in the late 1930s
or early 1940s, married a man named Brown in Columbus Ohio, and moved
to California. I didn't know she remarried in Columbus until April of
2008. She may have had a child by a previous relationship. (Actually married in Oklahoma)
I
went on trip and on my return, stopped at Roanoke to research my
grandmother. I went straight to the city directory in the Roanoke, VA
library and found her parents listed at 1305 Jamison. I also found her
mother's name, Lena V which I had not known. My father had told me
several times they lived on Jamison. Looking into successive
directories, I determined that the address changed to 1311 Jamison, and
the listing stopped in 1955. The property had been sold. Using my
grandmother's name of Lena, I was able to find the census records
showing my grandmother and her brothers and sisters, none of whom I
knew.
I went to the Roanoke City Recorder's office and located
the deeds for this property and found that my grandmother, Lena, had
the property taken for taxes at the time of death, and the deed listed
her date of death. With the date of death, I went back to the library
and was able to find her in the census records, which listed her
husband and all her brothers and sisters in the 1920 census. I also
located her obituary, giving her maiden name of Mabry, her cemetery,
and the funeral home conducting services. It was the Basham Primitive
Baptist Church Cemetery.
The librarian tried to find the cemetery for me
and after searching, couldn't even find the church. I called the
funeral home, and he told me everyone was gone who would know. While
speaking with me, he looked in his Rolodex and found directions to the
cemetery, which he gave me, off Drewry Hill Road. I drove to it and
found their graves. The headstone gave me her father's middle name, and
both birth and death dates.
Armed with the death date of my
great grandfather, I went back to the library and found his obituary.
It gave me his address at the time, which was different than Lena's.
This indicated they may have separated prior to their deaths: his in
1957 and hers in 1954. It also gave me one of his daughter's names, Mrs
J.A. Brown living in Hanford California.
My next task is to find my grandmother in California.
James Benjamin Hylton b. March 4, 1869 d. March 28,
1957
Lena V Mabry b. July 22, 1870 d. July 19, 1954
Cora Ethel Hylton b. March 14, 1908 d.
This is the extent of my information.
Update 6/12/2008
Earlier
this week I received an e-mail from the reference librarian in Hanford
California stating that a Cora Brown and James A Brown lived at No.
10th Ave Rt 4 Box 161 Hanford according to the 1949 Directory of
Residences and Businesses on page 34. I now have evidence that she
indeed moved to Hanford California.
Update 12/15/2008
Well,
I found her. Thanks to the Hanford Family History Center in Hanford
California, I found her grave in Grangeville Cemetery, Section J Lot 28
space 2). The Family Center has an index of all graves in Kings County.
They have compiled a listing alphabetized by the name on the stone, with
headstone information and location. They currently maintain this
information. Contacts at the Family History Center are Gera Wilcox
(director), Marcia Hawkins (past director), and Nadine (past director
of the Carnegie Museum). These three took their time on a Sunday
afternoon to assist me and my wife to locate Cora's grave.
Update February 21, 2010
There's
a lot more to the story. After finding my grandmother, I went to the
local library in Hanford and researched where she lived. It appeared
the house now was owned by my grandmother's stepdaughter. I went to the
house and inquired, finding another family living at the house. They
told me she moved to Oregon about 4 years prior, but was not sure
where. The new owners called the realtor and found out more details.
After
returning home, I was able to locate her and called and spoke with her.
After several conversations, she sent me photos of my grandmother, her
old reading glasses, two decks of cards she and James played, and
pictures of her funeral.
I showed these things to my father
who was greatly appreciative of knowing where his mother had gone, and
why she had not tried to contact him or the rest of the family.
I
called my cousin in California and spoke with her about what I had
found, and she also stated her mother wondered for years why my
grandmother had not contacted any family in Columbus.
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