Episode 22 - January 1999 - Life in Oak Springs, the Homeplace

Life in Oak Springs, the Homeplace

January 1999

This series of posts on each Friday, moving forward during 2016 will continue the stories of “The Homeplace Saga” series of family saga, historical fiction families in the area of Oak Springs following the novel “Christmas at the Homeplace,” which ended as 1997 began.

Earlier, we have seen the community move from January 1997 through December 1998. We are now in January of 1999, in episodic serial format…

Episode 22 - Jennifer with Karen and Christopher, mid-morning on Wednesday

[From Episode 21:

Karen: No, I think that was all. It was striking, however, how strong the memory was for Virginia when she talked about it. She became visibly upset, and I had to excuse myself and end the conversation. Also, I cannot believe they never heard from Ethel, again. Those were certainly different times.]

Jennifer asked to meet Karen and Christopher in his office, at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday morning. She had the following information to share with them.

Jennifer: There are occasional “Snooki” references in William’s journals, but the following ones appear to include wording that may be useful clues, for our purposes.

June 22, 1929:

“Snooki to follow her dream.”

July 14, 1929:

“Took care of Snooki. Sent with her in Mason box, to remember me by.”

Then, nearly ten years later, we have these entries.

April 26, 1939:

“Snookie has great news.”

May 2, 1939:

“Haven’t heard from Snooki.”

This was actually the last entry in his journal. William died four days later on May 6, 1939, of a heart attack. I checked on the death certificate we have on him, to verify this.

Christopher: So, the ‘follow her dream’ entry fits with what Virginia told Karen.

Karen: That does appear to confirm the dates Virginia mentioned.

Christopher: The ‘took care of Snooki” may be the one I was looking for. That gives me a date to work on. This afternoon, Edith Brown, my dad’s secretary, and I are going over to the bank vault, to search the records of my grandfather, C.P. Odgen, who would have been the lawyer in town in 1929. Before Dad died, he reminded me to have Edith show me where those very early records are kept. We went and looked at them once, but were not looking for anything particular, at that time. With this date, we have something to go on, to pinpoint our search. That is, If there is anything there, from William, of course.

Karen: I imagine the ‘great news’ entry is about the birth, if that coincides with Bruce’s birthday. The last entry is very sad. William apparently died without hearing anything more.

Jennifer: That is certainly the way I read it as well. I wonder why he didn’t hear from her, or the family never said anymore about it.

Christopher: I’ll be talking to Bruce, tomorrow, about those dates. Let’s not say anything about this to the others, just let. Let me see what I find, and I’ll talk to Bruce more tomorrow. Then, we’ll go from there. Agreed?

Karen: Agreed.

Jennifer: Agreed. And, best of luck.

Christopher: Thank you.

[To be continued - next Friday]

"May everyone have a homeplace, if only in your mind."

Dr. Bill  ;-)

Episode 21 - January 1999 - Life in Oak Springs, the Homeplace

Life in Oak Springs, the Homeplace

January 1999

This series of posts on each Friday, moving forward during 2016 will continue the stories of “The Homeplace Saga” series of family saga, historical fiction families in the area of Oak Springs following the novel “Christmas at the Homeplace,” which ended as 1997 began.

Earlier, we have seen the community move from January 1997 through December 1998. We are now in January of 1999, in episodic serial format…

 

http://homeplace.wikispaces.com/serenity

Episode 21 - Christopher with Karen and Jennifer - early Tuesday evening

[From Episode 20:

Karen: “Jennifer came across one of William’s journals where he mentions a “Snooki” - does that name mean anything to you?”

Virginia: “Oh, yes. "Snooki." That was his ‘special name’ for Ethel!”

Virginia had almost spat out the name “Snooki” it seemed to Karen. She closed her conversation with Virginia, not wanting to upset her any more.

Karen: “Thank you, so much, Virginia. It is about time for your supper. I appreciate you talking to me. We’ll talk again, another day.”]

Karen and Jennifer met back at Christopher’s office following Karen’s visit with Virginia.

Karen was anxious to share the specifics of what she had learned from Virginia before any of the details got away from her. As a nurse, she had become used to doing this, but she hoped that ability had not diminished from being away from that kind of situation for a few years now.

Karen: Virginia confirmed that Ethel left Oak Springs during the summer, right after graduating high school. That was 1929. Virginia compared Ethel’s desire to leave with Beverly’s desire to get away from home. However, Ethel’s reason was because she had been encouraged that she could ‘make it’ on Broadway, in New York City.

Jennifer: So, this information basically confirms that she did go to New York, like Bruce Randolph claims.

Karen: Yes, and I think it is important that Virginia said that her parents, Joe and Beth, were strongly opposed to her leaving. But, with her drama coach providing information on where she could stay, and who to contact to get try-outs, it would have been hard to talk her out of going.

Christopher: How did she pay for the move, if her parents were opposed?

Karen: A key question, for sure, Christopher. Virginia said someone provided the financing. She said no one knew for sure, but it was strongly suspected that it was her Grandfather, William McDonald.

Jennifer: That is very interesting. Why did she say that?

Karen: Apparently William had been quite taken with Ethel from the time she was born, or very young. He, and his wife, Charlotte, had only had the one child, Joseph, a son. When Joe and Beth had their first daughter, William treated her as very special from the beginning, and that never let up, it seemed. Virginia said that Mildred was quite jealous of that attention. She even implied that when Ethel left, and never came back, that Mildred was happy with that. Mildred had never mentioned Ethel again, over all those years.

Christopher: So that is why you, and her other children, had not heard of your aunt Ethel?

Karen: Presumably, yes. Two other closely related items, before I forget to mention them. The stock market crash occurred not long after Ethel left. Virginia said that had a strong impact on her family for sure. They had about lost their business and took attention away from any further talk of Ethel. The other thing that may be even more important to us: William had a special name for Ethel: “Snookie.”

Jennifer: Oh my, the name from his journals.

Karen: Yes. We’ll want to look at each of those entries very carefully. There may be important information, or at least clues, in those entries, even if tangential. I know you said they were each short, and cryptic.

Jennifer: I’ll do that, this evening. I’ll let you each know what I find out, in the morning.

Christopher: Good. In the meantime, I’ll want to check on William’s records for 1929, if there are any. If he gave Ethel a fair sum, there might have been a legal record, even if the bank records are no longer available… or especially if it was paid in cash or bonds, or something like that. Thank you, Karen. This at least gives us something to go on. Was there anything else?

Karen: No, I think that was all. It was striking, however, how strong the memory was for Virginia when she talked about it. She became visibly upset, and I had to excuse myself and end the conversation. Also, I cannot believe they never heard from Ethel, again. Those were certainly different times.

[To be continued - next Friday]

"May everyone have a homeplace, if only in your mind."

Dr. Bill  ;-)

Episode 18 - Life in Oak Springs, the Homeplace

Life in Oak Springs, the Homeplace

January 1999

This series of posts on each Friday, moving forward during 2016 will continue the stories of “The Homeplace Saga” series of family saga, historical fiction families in the area of Oak Springs following the novel “Christmas at the Homeplace,” which ended as 1997 began. Earlier, we have seen the community move from January 1997 through December 1998. We are now in January of 1999, in episodic serial format…

Episode 18 - Karen and Jennifer, Tuesday noon

Jennifer and Karen had lunch at Karen’s apartment at the Homeplace Country Inn as they planned. As they ate their chicken noodle soup and turkey sandwich they chatted about Beverly’s arrival and Jennifer’s Ashley prior to getting to discussion of William’s journals. By this time, Jennifer had scanned all four journals and realized that perhaps they were not quite as ‘exciting’ as she at first had thought they might be. While Karen had seemed very interested in seeing them, and looking at them, her underwhelming level of interest had continued to puzzle Jennifer.

Sitting in Karen’s living room, Jennifer laid the four plain journals out on the coffee table in front of Karen much as she had with Brian the night before, to let Karen approach them in her own way. Karen picked each one up, flipped through the pages to see the handwritten entries, and went on to the next one, looking at each one of the four, briefly, in order. As she looked, she said “William, my great-grandfather, was living alone, on his farm, at this time, wasn’t he?”

“Yes,” Jennifer replied, “both his mother and his wife had died in the flu epidemic a couple of years before this first journal was started in 1920. Your grandparents were living down the road, here, with their two daughters, according to the 1920 census. I looked that up, again, just to be sure.”

“And, that was the only mention we have found of a second daughter, Ethel, was it?”

“Yes, and I didn’t see her mentioned in what I’ve read of the journal, either. I was also surprised how few specific comments he made about the family, at all. I was disappointed, actually.” Jennifer picked up the first journal, again, as if to confirm what she just said.

Karen was pondering what Jennifer had said, it seemed, for an extra moment, it seemed to Jennifer.

Then, Karen spoke, almost to herself, “I really need to talk to Virginia. Surely she has some memories, even random ones, that might be helpful to know what those days were like.”

“Yes, we should have already done that. How has Virginia been? Time just slips by.” Virginia grew up just down the road from the McDonalds, and was best friends with Mildred, Karen’s mother, her entire life. Virginia was now living in the local nursing home, in her mid-eighties, having suffered a mild stoke a while back.

“She is still in recovery mode. I really need to go visit her.”

Jennifer had been thumbing thru the journal she picked up, and casually scanning a random entry or two. “I did notice that William occasionally mentions a “Snookie” from time to time. They are brief entries. I didn’t recognize the name. Couldn’t tell if it was a person, a pet, or a farm animal. Do you recognize that name?”

“No, I don’t. They didn’t really have pets, back then, I don’t think. But, they got very close to some of the farm animals, much as we do with pets, today, I think. I don’t really know.”

Jennifer could tell Karen’s mind was far off somewhere. But, before she could say anything else, the phone rang. An extension was right beside Karen, so she picked it up. She listened, intently. A few moments later, she said to the phone, “Jennifer is with me here. I will tell her.” She listened a few more moments, and hung up.

“That was Christopher. He has called a meeting of all the Bevins Trust family trustees for 3 o’clock this afternoon, at the law office conference room. It seems very important. I told him I’d tell you.” Karen had an ashen, very official demeanor.

“That is very unusual. He didn’t say what it was about?”

“No. He said he would explain when we were all together. I guess we’d better get ready to go. I’ve got some things to arrange. I’m sure you do, as well.”

“Yes, I sure do. I’ll see you there.” Jennifer took the journals with her when she left.

[To be continued - next Friday]

"May everyone have a homeplace, if only in your mind."

Dr. Bill  ;-)

Episode 14 - Life in Oak Springs, the Homeplace

Life in Oak Springs, the Homeplace

January 1999

This series of posts on each Friday, henceforth, moving forward during 2015 will continue the stories of “The Homeplace Saga” series of family saga, historical fiction families in the area of Oak Springs following the novel “Christmas at the Homeplace,” which ended as 1997 began. Earlier, we have seen the community move from January 1997 through December 1998. We now move into January of 1999, in novel format…

Episode 14 - Jennifer, Monday evening, at home with Brian and Ashley

Arriving home, Jennifer knows her first responsibility it to feed Ashley and get her ready for bed. She talks to Brian about the journals as she feeds Ashley, and he reminders her it is important to let Karen know she has them. He even says “I’m surprised Harry didn’t give them to Karen before telling his wife, Sarah, about them.”

Jennifer replied, “I think our work together at the Oak Springs Historical and Genealogy Society asking folks to gather old family history information played into that. Harry knew that, and knew that Sarah would know what to do. She knew from our work together, there, that I would take good care of them.”

“I understand that,” Brian said, “But you have been sharing everything you find with Karen, who was your mentor, and you need to talk to her before Sarah or Harry do.”

“You are right, of course. I’m finished feeding Ashley. Can you start getting her ready for bed? I’ll call Karen, and then come help putting her down. Then, we’ll look at those journals, together.” They went about doing that.

Karen was surprised to get Jennifer’s call. She asked if Jennifer would bring the journals over to Karen’s for lunch on Tuesday, like they used to do with Jenifer’s earlier genealogy discoveries. Jennifer said she would be happy to do that and thanked Karen for the invitation.

A bit later, talking with Brian, Jennifer said she was a little surprised that Karen didn’t seem especially excited about the discovery of the journals. Jennifer added, “Actually, she seemed to be totally distracted, like she had something else very important on her mind. Maybe she is more concerned about Beverly being back in town.”

“Beverly back in town? When did that happen.” Brian hadn’t yet heard that news. Jennifer related what she knew, and they talked about that issue for a bit. Before long, however, they had each picked up one of William’s journals and were reading.

Shortly, Jennifer got up and went to her computer to open her family history database. “William’s wife and mother had each died a year or two before this first journal started on January 1, 1920. Karen and I assumed those deaths were related to the flu epidemic.” Then, she was looking at a copy of the 1920 U.S. Census. “In the 1920 census, William, 56, was living alone, on the farm. Joe, 32, Beth, 32, Ethel, 9, and Mildred, 3, lived on the farm next door. This is the only mention of the ‘Ethel’ we ever found. We need to check that out better sometime. I’d kind of forgotten about that, from our earlier research. I wonder it she is mentioned in the journals at all.”

“William is very good at recording the weather conditions, each day, and what he did with the crops,” Brian said. “He certainly doesn’t mention family stuff everyday.”

“I noticed that in the few pages I’ve looked at, so far, as well.” Jennifer was back to looking at the first journal.

[To be continued - next Friday]

"May everyone have a homeplace, if only in your mind."

Dr. Bill  ;-)

Episode 11 - Life in Oak Springs, the Homeplace

Life in Oak Springs, the Homeplace

January 1999

This series of posts on each Friday, henceforth, moving forward during 2015 will continue the stories of “The Homeplace Saga” series of family saga, historical fiction families in the area of Oak Springs following the novel “Christmas at the Homeplace,” which ended as 1997 began. Earlier, we have seen the community move from January 1997 through December 1998. We now move into January of 1999, in novel format…

Episode 11 - Jennifer

Later Monday afternoon, Jennifer stopped by the home of Sarah Flanders to pick up the copy of ‘William’s Journal’ that Sarah said she had found. As she walked up to the house, from her car, the stiff January breeze seemed even colder than it had earlier in the day. Jennifer also realized that her own anxiety level was still climbing, thinking about what might be included in her 2nd great-grandfather’s journal. It was one thing for folks to have found old stories about their family. This was actually her family and likely in his own words.

Sarah greeted her at the door, and they discussed the weather, briefly, as Sarah took Jennifer’s coat. As they went into the living room, Jennifer noticed that there were four old notebooks laid out on the coffee table in front of the couch. Sarah said to sit at the couch, as she went around to the other side and sat down beside her.

Sarah began, “As you can see, on closer examination of the box, there were actually four journals by William McDonald in that box that Harry found at the bank. After I talked to you on the phone, earlier, I found them as I went back to take out the one I’d noticed earlier. Each appears to be for five years, during the 1920s and 1930s.”

Jennifer just stared at them, for a moment; then carefully picked one up. They each were a generic looking journal of bound lined pages. The entries were of varying length, dated, and hand-written. What a treasure… his own handwriting, she thought, as she opened the first, and thumbed through it. The front page of the volume in her hands simply said, again in his handwriting, ‘William McDonald - January 1, 1920 to December 31, 1925.’ The next page was headed with the January 1 date and several lines of writing, followed by January 2 and more writing. “This will take some time to absorb,” went through Jennifer’s mind.

To Sarah, she said, “Thank you, so much, Sarah, for letting me know about these. Are you sure it is alright for me to take them?”

“I talked to Harry, and he said the family should have them. From your work with the Society, I know you’ll keep and preserve them properly. They are a family treasure.”

“Yes they are, Sarah, yes they are. I’ll be sure the family knows they exist, take good care of them, and go from there.” She picked up each one, and saw that they each seemed to follow the same pattern of entries. In a moment, she realized Sarah was watching her.

Jennifer looked at Sarah. “I shouldn’t take any more of your time. If I find something exciting in here, I’ll be sure you’re the first one to know.”

“Thank you, that would be nice. But, I’m sure Karen and Bart will want to know quickly, as well.” Jennifer noted a matronly smile from Sarah that she hadn’t noticed before.

“Well,” Jennifer continued, “I’ll get out of your way. I’m sure you have things to do. Thank you again, so much, for letting me stop by and pick these up.”

“Happy reading,” Sarah said as she retrieved Jennifer’s coat, and escorted her to the door. “Keep warm out there!”

“I’ll do that.”

[To be continued - next Friday]

"May everyone have a homeplace, if only in your mind."

Dr. Bill  ;-)

Chapter 4, Episode 7 - Life in Oak Springs, the Homeplace

Life in Oak Springs, the Homeplace

January 1999

This series of posts on each Friday, henceforth, moving forward during 2015 will continue the stories of “The Homeplace Saga” series of family saga, historical fiction families in the area of Oak Springs following the novel “Christmas at the Homeplace,” which ended as 1997 began. Earlier, we have seen the community move from January 1997 through December 1998. We now move into January of 1999, in novel format…

Chapter 4 - Christopher; Episode 7

Usually a very positive person, attorney Christopher Ogden paced back and forth across his office this late afternoon, unable to shake off the foreboding feelings surrounding him this cold January day. Often, he found, getting up and walking back and forth was helpful to clear his mind. It wasn’t working, today, however. He had already made a trip to the restroom, gotten a drink of water, and walked into the law library and back. Those hadn’t worked either.

From the water fountain, he had noticed Edith Brown at her desk, talking quietly with an elderly couple. They were vaguely familiar to Christopher, but he couldn’t recall their names off the top of his head. He was so pleased that they had created the new position for Edith. She had been secretary to his father, Carter Ogden, for all those many years that Christopher had been growing up, and many years before that, as well.  She possessed a wealth of legacy knowledge of local history, as well as the law firm, and was totally dedicated to her work in the law offices. Don had suggested her new role, and Christopher and Brian were pleased that she accepted it.

In reorganizing the office staff following his father’s death, a little over two years earlier, they made several changes that seemed small at the time but had each paid dividends in their work lives since. Among them was ‘updating’ titles from secretary to administrative assistant, for example, that other firms had done over the past decade or more. As part of that process, they had made Edith an Executive Assistant. Christopher’s ‘secretary,’ Joan, had become an Administrative Assistant, for example.

Edith’s new role was to proactively interact with the older clients of the firm. As Carter’s secretary, she knew them all well, from meeting and greeting them over the years. You don’t normally see law firm clients every year. Among her responsibilities was to see that each former client was invited to come in to talk to her, to update their family and business situation, at no cost to them. If their conversation suggested legal work might be appropriate, they would then meet with one of the attorneys. While Don was older, he had still only been with the firm for about 12 years. Christopher was in his fifth year, and Brian was in his third. Many firms hired a new attorney to handle this type of business, to keep new business coming in. Christopher thought Don’s recommendation was genius, in this distinctive case. Local people found they enjoyed coming to visit with Edith. Edith enjoyed meeting with them, and she recorded the new information she obtained in the records of the firm, meticulously. They were pleasantly surprised at how much new business this activity generated. It certainly more than paid the cost of her doing it by a large margin.

In the few months Christopher was able to spend with his father after they learned that he was terminally ill, there were a number of things Carter had suggested that Christopher do, when he had the time, that would be useful to him at some point in the future. Thinking about Edith just now, Christopher was reminded there were a couple of things on that list Carter had suggested that they had not yet done, because no specific reason had come up to do it. One of them was for Christopher and Edith to go over to the bank storage area to familiarize Christopher with what records were there, and how they were organized. The records there went back to near the start of the century. Carter had said ‘you never know’ when you will need something critically useful from the past. A visit ahead of time would save precious time, later, when that critical need arose. No ‘critical need’ had arisen yet, so he still had time to do it, he reminded himself. He walked over to his desk to write down a reminder.

A moment later, his phone rang. It was Jennifer....

During their conversation, Jennifer told Christopher about the William McDonald journal Sarah had found and did mention to Christopher the information Diane had shared about their aunt Beverly being back in town, to stay, per that conversation. Christopher thanked Jennifer for the information, adding that he had not heard about Beverly yet, himself. As he was hanging up the phone, Christopher thought about how well all of the members of the extended family shared important family and family business information with each other. He recalled his father mentioning that Jason, Karen’s husband, had been a big advocate of this in the early days of the Bevins Trust. The practice had continued, down through the years. Christopher felt this was one small contributor to the success the Bevins family had achieved over those years.

Joan buzzed him before Christopher could turn away from the phone. She said that while he was talking to Jennifer that he had had a call from someone she didn’t recognize. She said the man didn’t want to wait, and, he refused to have her interrupt Christopher’s conversation. He had said his name was Bruce Randolph, and he was calling about the McDonald Conservancy. He would not leave a number to return a call. She said the man seemed anxious, but, still didn’t want to leave any message. Christopher wrote the name down as they talked. He didn’t recognize it either.

[To be continued - next Friday]

"May everyone have a homeplace, if only in your mind."

Dr. Bill  ;-)

Chapter 3, Episode 6 - Life in Oak Springs, the Homeplace

Life in Oak Springs, the Homeplace

January 1999

This series of posts on each Friday, henceforth, moving forward during 2015 will continue the stories of “The Homeplace Saga” series of family saga, historical fiction families in the area of Oak Springs following the novel “Christmas at the Homeplace,” which ended as 1997 began. Earlier, we have seen the community move from January 1997 through December 1998. We now move into January of 1999, in novel format…

Chapter 3 - Jennifer; Episode 6

[From the end of Episode 5:

Jennifer turned and walked out the door, to return to her nearby office.]

It was a cool, crispy day in this Ozarks valley; temperature was about 40 degrees. Walking briskly, Jennifer hardly noticed the chill in the air. She was already thinking ahead to a couple of phone calls she needed to make before she returned to the clinic work that needed done. There were no animals requiring her attention, at the moment, but the paperwork was calling to her. He smiled, thinking about ‘paperwork calling...’

First, she returned a call to Sarah (Campbell) Flanders, the new President of the Oak Springs Historical and Genealogical Society for the 1999 year. The Society was starting its third year, and things seemed to be going well. Sarah, the very conscientious wife of Bank President, Harry Flanders, seemed to continue to need reassurance that she was doing her volunteer role very well.

Jennifer answered a couple of specific questions Sarah asked. With the experience Jennifer had in a leadership position in the Society from the beginning, they were easy questions to answer. However, she appreciated that Sarah exhibited enough concern for her job to actually ask the questions. She smiled, as they continued their conversation.

Momentarily, the subject of the conversation took an unexpected turn. Harry had brought home a box of books and papers he said he had found at the bank, when they were moving some materials in the far back corner of the vault. He said he never recalled seeing the box before, but it appeared to have belonged to Sarah’s father, Theodore Campbell, president of the bank before Harry. Theodore had begun working in the bank, with his father, Vic, in the 1920s.

“I had just opened it a few minutes before you called,” Sarah continued. “One of the books I pulled out appears to be a journal written by your ancestor, William McDonald. I’ve not looked at it at all yet, but I’m sure your family will find it very interesting.”

“Of course,” Jennifer said, “that is a great find. Take good care of it and we’ll take a look at it first chance we get. Thank you for mentioning it. What a find!”

“I was sure you’d feel that way. It could have valuable family and community information, and we weren’t even looking for it.”

“It will be interesting to see if you find other similar material from other families in that box, even your own, perhaps.”

Sarah seemed to pause, “I hadn’t thought about it that way. I think I’ll go get back to that box and check out the rest of the stuff in there. Thanks for the reminder.”

“Great. I’m very anxious to see William’s journal. Perhaps I’ll stop by your house later and pick it up.” Jennifer began to show a little anxiety in her voice.

“Please do that. I’ll be here. I’ll talk to you then.”

Jennifer next called Brian, to assure that he would be picking up Ashley from day care.

She next called Christopher. Jennifer didn’t want to delay in being sure that Christopher knew that Beverly was back in town. Now, it was also important that he know about the William McDonald diary. As she made the call, she recalled in her mind, that William McDonald was her 2nd great-grandfather: Bart > Margaret > Joseph >William.

[To be continued - next Friday]

"May everyone have a homeplace, if only in your mind."

Dr. Bill  ;-)