I've been trying to put together the information my family has about the York side. My son is named Jack, after my grandfather who was named Billy Jack but went by just Jack. HIS father was named Jack, as well; and my grandpa's oldest son was Billy Jack Jr. but was called Jackie by the family. Lots of Jacks, but none in my generation, so I brought it back in my firstborn son.
First I asked my grandma, Doris, but she didn't have any new information for me. (I'd already asked her before and written down everything she told me.) My great-grandfather, Jack York, was raised by nuns in a Catholic orphanage because his mother died when he was young. He had a brother and two sisters, as well, and they all grew up in the orphanage, even though their father was still living. Interesting! But my grandma didn't know what her husband's grandparents' names were, except for his father's father, who was Arthur York. I already had that information, probably from her! So I asked her who her husband's brother and sisters were, and she told me their names: Danny, Hazel, and Carolyn. Danny and Hazel live right here in Dallas, but Carolyn went to California some years ago and hasn't been heard from since. Grandma told me what street Danny lives on, and I googled him and went to visit him.
It was fun to meet him! He looks a LOT like his brother, my grandpa. And when I told him he's my uncle, he looked closely at me and said "You're Robert's daughter!" Apparently I look like my dad! I was quite tickled to introduce him to my son, Jack. "Uncle Dan, this is my son Jack." It caught him off guard a little, I could tell.
I got out my laptop with my genealogy and an open notepad, and asked him if he knew his grandparents' names. He knew his father's father was Arthur York, but that was all he knew. At first I was disappointed, but then he was able to tell me about his aunts and uncles. Arthur York had 7 children in the 1920 census: Mabel, Mary, Jack, Forest, Lavina, Helen, and Arthur. Uncle Dan told me that his aunts Mabel and Mary lived in California, married and had kids there but he was unsure of their married names. He remembered his uncle Forest was an alcoholic and died in a fire in a motel. He didn't remember anything about his Aunt Lavina. He did say that Aunt Helen was a criminal, and that she was a step-aunt. He told me I could find more information on her in old magazines and newspapers, apparently she was pretty famous. Helen Guiton (Gighton? we're unsure of the spelling, but it's pronounced GI-ton) shoplifted to support a heroin addiction.
Uncle Dan did tell me a little bit about his grandparents. Apparently, Arthur's father disowned him when he married the daughter of a Methodist preacher. I need to ask Dan if Arthur's family was Baptist, or what religion they were that they found the Methodist denomination so offensive! Jack was a preacher in a Baptist church, the Dallas Baptist Temple, and everyone in my family that is any religion at all is Baptist, so I'd be surprised if Arthur's family was anything but.
Dan also told me that his mother, Ethel Marie Ramshay, grew up on a farm in Frisco. He told me that he remembered going to visit his uncle Chester there, and it was a big deal to go all the way out to Frisco; it was going out in the country. Now, Frisco is part of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, and is completely urban. It was really funny for me to think of Frisco as a farm community!
So in that visit, I was able to learn a few details about Arthur York and his wife, Lunnie McMillen; where their children lived and raised families; and where Ethel Ramshay grew up. Not bad!
Uncle Dan gave me his sister Hazel's address. Other members of my family had refused to give me any info on her, telling me she's crazy and I don't want to talk to her. I said "If she knows the names of her grandparents, I DO want to talk to her! Those are my ancestors!" So I went today. And I'm so glad I did! I like her! She told me she IS crazy, but she's on medication to control it. I think the medication must work, b/c she seemed pretty sane to me :D
She didn't know her grandparents' names, either. But she did tell me some about her mother, Ethel. She spoke eloquently of Ethel's love for her children and her happiness in her role as a mother.
Ethel had moved off her family's farm and was working for a Jewish couple; one of her jobs was to cook for them, and she was a good cook. She cooked them a big breakfast every morning. Being Jewish, they didn't eat pork, but they allowed her to buy bacon for her to cook for herself; the Jewish husband would come into the kitchen and sneak bacon for himself! One day, Jack came to breakfast with them and met her, and loved the food she cooked. He joked later that he married her for her cooking. Perhaps that was why she continued cooking big breakfasts all her life; Dan said he remembered her always cooking a big breakfast, and he hated having to eat so much food so early in the morning!
Dan said his mother was "off" or "not quite right in the head." I asked Hazel if she had anything to elaborate on that description, and she got a little bit worked up, defending her mother. She said her mother had a hard life, being wife to a minister and having children to raise. She got a grocery allowance of $25/week from her husband, and she tried to spend a little less than that so she would have some to put aside. And when she had enough put aside, she would go shopping. Well, her husband (Jack) did NOT like that, and he would be furious with her when she came home, making her cry. Once she started crying, Jack would call in some ladies from the church to come help her. She also had the sad experience of finding out that her husband had been unfaithful to her. Hazel ended by saying "I think anyone would seem not quite right having gone through that!" Hazel said her mother loved being a mother. Ethel made it her goal to be a good mother, since she hadn't had one when she was growing up. (Ethel's mother died in childbirth; Ethel's last memory of her mother was seeing her being carried out on the bloody mattress she'd birthed on.)
Hazel mentioned that there were secrets in her parents' families, and sometimes they would argue about whether to tell them or not. I sure am curious to know what they were! She said there was someone in Ethel's family picture on her wall, that Jack didn't like. He'd walk by the picture and say "They shouldn't be on the wall."
Hazel said her mother believed it was her duty to always have enough money saved so she could "get to her children"; I'm assuming this was later in her life, after her children had grown and moved on. Ethel refused to go to a nursing home when she was old and frail. She told her son, "You can call a nursing home to come get me, but they can't touch me if I tell them not to!"
Hazel also said that there was estrangement over a marriage choice in her mother's family, just like in her father's family (remember, Arthur's father disowned him b/c he married the Methodist preacher's daughter), but she couldn't remember if it was her mother's father, or his father, or both; and I wonder if she's simply getting it mixed up with the story of Arthur's father.
I was curious about this Aunt Helen who was a criminal. Uncle Dan had said she was a step-aunt, but that didn't make sense. Helen York was born to Arthur and Lunnie as one of their middle children, so she didn't come from a previous or later marriage. Hazel said she didn't know how Helen was related, partly b/c the family didn't like to talk about her at all. She said her father preached to her and baptized her while she was in prison, and there was a newspaper article about it in the Dallas Times Herald. I'll have to look that up!
So, to sum up. My great-grandmother was Ethel Marie Ramshay, and she was born and raised on a farm in Frisco, Collin County, Texas. She had two sisters and a brother, Mary, Flossie, and Chester; Hazel said Flossie had asthma and was raised by her aunts and uncles who lived in another part of the country. Ethel had aunts and uncles there in Frisco, but Hazel couldn't remember their names except for Ethel's uncle Champ. I have written down that Ethel's father's name was John, but I don't know where I got that, and I haven't found a John Ramshay in any census in Collin county; neither Hazel nor Dan remembered if Ethel's father's name really was John, so I don't know if it was or not. I'm excited to find out more about her and where she came from!
