Great-Aunt Mollie Cox

Mary (known as Mollie) Cox was born on the 20th of August 1869 in Colerain, Belmont, Ohio. Her parents were Thomas Cox and Ida Viola Connelly Cox, my paternal great-grandparents. Mollie was their first of six children and the only girl. She was listed as Mary in the census records of 1870 and 1880. In the 1888 City Directory of Wheeling, West Virginia, she became Miss Mollie Cox and would remain Mollie on most future records.

On June 9, 1889, Mollie married Richard Burnside Turner at the home of her parents. Her mother, Ida, gave permission for her daughter to marry, as by 1889, her father was confined to the National Soldier's Home. Three children were born to this union: Gretta in 1889, William Thomas in 1892, and Sarah Ann in 1904. Married women routinely had children at least every two years during this time period, so it is likely Mollie had other children who died in infancy or were lost to miscarriage or stillbirth.

Marriage Record

Mollie lived in Wheeling for the rest of her life and endured a number of losses; her baby brother Eddie died when she was 10, followed later by her father, brother Fred, and brother William.

In 1917, the United States entered World War I on the side of her allies. The following year, the world would have another deadly fight on its hands; The Great Pandemic. Popularly known as the Spanish Flu, influenza arrived in Europe with the American military troops who survived the Fort Riley, Kansas outbreak of 1918. It spread quickly and killed millions in the space of two years including an estimated 675,000 Americans. Exact numbers were hard to come by since there were many who died at home in rural areas far from a hospital or physician.
Pneumonia was a common, and usually fatal, complication. Another frightening aspect of the disease was that it killed mostly young, healthy adults rather than small children and the elderly as is the case today.
(Sources: www.flu.gov/pandemic/history/1918/index.html and Meador, Michael M., "The Influenza Epidemic of 1918." e-WV: The West Virginia Encyclopedia. 27 August 2012).

Greenwood Cemetery

On November 21, 1918, Mollie's daughter Gretta died in Wheeling Hospital from complications of Spanish Flu. Her mother, Mollie, died of the same disease on March 17, 1919. Gretta was 29, Mollie 49. They were both buried in Greenwood Cemetery, Wheeling, West Virginia. RIP, Aunt Mollie.

Mollie's Death Certificate

Great-Grandma Anna Morgan

Anna Morgan was born on the 20th of September 1846 in Wolverhampton, Staffordshire, England. Her parents were Patrick Morgan and Katherine (Kitty) McAlpine. She is listed on the English Census record of 1861 living with her parents and sisters Mary, 17, and Margaret, 6. At the tender age of 16, Anna married an Irish immigrant, John O'Malley, on September 13, 1863 at the Catholic Chapel on Oxford St., Wolverhampton. Her father, Patrick Moughan (sic) is listed on the marriage record. Her first three daughters were born here: Mary in 1864, Catherine in 1866, and Sarah in 1867.

During the family's stay in England, a special visitor came to Wolverhampton. In 1866, Her Royal Majesty Queen Victoria arrived to celebrate the unveiling of a statue of her late husband, Prince Albert. The town square was arrayed in bunting with seating for the queen's entourage and special guests, and a portico erected for Her Majesty's comfort. As usual, she was dressed in black as she continued to mourn her great personal loss. I like to think that my working-class family was able to catch a glimpse of the proceedings and be a part of the excitement.

Two years later, in 1868, Anna, her husband, the three girls, sister Margaret and her parents climbed aboard the Clara Wheeler for the lengthy and uncomfortable trip across the Atlantic to the New World. I wonder who introduced the idea to embark on such a life-changing voyage. Was it John's idea? Maybe Patrick wanted a go of it before he got any older? Was Ann excited or too weary after having three babies in three years to care? Or was this the plan all along? We will likely never know.

Clara Wheeler

In June, the ship landed at Castle Garden, New York, where the passengers were processed. The Williamsburgh area of Brooklyn became the O'Malley's first stop where they lived until about 1874. Daughters Elizabeth and Margaret, and son John were born here. Sadly, daughter Catherine died of croup in 1869. She was buried in Brooklyn. Between the crowded conditions in the tenement they shared with ten other families, the multiple pregnancies, and the loss of her second child, it was a bumpy beginning to Anna's life in America.

According to the 1875 Minnesota State Census, the O'Malley family had relocated and was living next door to Patrick and Katherine Morgan in Winona. Anna was pregnant again with her seventh child, Kathryn. Then came Ann, Charles, Grace, and finally, May, my grandmother. Her only sons, John and Charles, died as young children. After the death of the boys, they adopted a Norwegian child named 'Johnny' and he, too, died young. John O'Malley would have no sons to carry on the family name.

Anna's next move would be her last. In the spring of 1878, the family took up residence at the homestead they had applied for in Murray County, Minnesota. There they would build a home and farm the land for the rest of Anna's life. I located a story written by a farmer's wife living somewhere in the Midwest called "Farm Wife, 1900" (at www.eyewitnesstohistory.com). The anonymous author describes her typical day on the farm. This is a paraphrased and edited account:
'Up at 4 a.m., start the kitchen fire, sweep the floors, cook breakfast for husband and children, milk the cows, turn the cattle and cows to pasture, fetch water from the spring for the sheep and horse,
feed the pigs and chickens, tend to the children, clean the kitchen, do the churning, hoe out the garden weeds, eat a cold dinner, rest, sow a flower bed, repair a fence, get supper, water the horse, milk the cows, round up the animals for the night, feed chickens and pigs, eat supper, clean up, bed.'
And she only had two children! The idyllic notion of life on a rural farm doesn't match the work that it took to keep body-and-soul together while making a living without the modern conveniences of indoor plumbing or electricity. Not to mention the dreadful Midwest winters. The hard truth of my ancestors' lives leaves me to wonder if I could have been as successful as a mother and farm wife as dear Anna.

O'Malley Homestead 2010

Death Record

Anna Morgan O'Malley

The family farm was sold in May 1903. One month later, Anna died in a Minneapolis hospital of septicemia after stepping on a rusty nail at the farm. She was buried at Calvary Cemetery in Currie, Murray County. After a lifetime filled with difficult work and the death of five of her thirteen children (not all of their names are known), Anna did not live long enough to enjoy the fruits of retirement and a quieter, more peaceful life. God Bless you, Grandma Anna.

Great-Grandma Ida Viola

Ida Viola Connelly, my paternal great-grandmother, was born on the 5th of November, 1849, in Wheeling, Virginia. Her parents were William Eaton Connelly and Sarah Ann Holliday. Her name occurs on each extant decennial U.S. Federal Census, and in the 1890 Wheeling City Directory. She lived in Wheeling most of her life except for a short stay in Belmont, Ohio, where her first child was born.

Wheeling played a significant role in the opening of the "west" along with the growth of industry in the 1800's. According to the City of Wheeling web site (www.wheelingwv.gov), the National Road, the nation's first roadway, reached Wheeling from Cumberland, Maryland, in 1818 and proved to be a boon to commerce. During the Civil War, the city was loyal to the Federal Government and a movement to establish the new state of West Virginia began here. Finally, in June 1863, she was admitted to the Union as a separate state.

Industry flourished in and around Wheeling thanks to the ease of transport along the Ohio River. Iron, steel, and glass works played a big part in the development of the region and many men in Ida's extended family found work in the factories.

Ida and Thomas Cox were married on November 28, 1868, at the home of her parents. The war was over and it was time to begin a family. Mary was born in 1869. She married Richard Turner, a Fireman in Wheeling, and died at 49 of the Spanish Flu. The first son, William, was born in 1872. He was a bricklayer by occupation and married twice; first, to Lena Berger, and second, to Catherine Kain. He died at 31 of pneumonia. Her second son, Thomas Nelson, was born in 1875. He worked as a bricklayer like his brother and married Lillian Lewis. He died at 73 of  myocardial insufficiency and hypertensive heart disease. Eddie was born in 1876 and lived only 4 years, dying of measles. Finally, her twins, Frank (my grandfather) and Fred were born in 1881. Fred was a machinist and died after a tragic accident at the Wheeling Hinge Company in 1899. He was 18 years old.

When her twins were still young, Ida become active in the Women's Relief Corps (WRC), a branch of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR), She was the wife of a veteran, and the Holliday GAR post was named after John W Holliday, her maternal grandmother's brother. The GAR was a fraternal organization made up of Civil War Veterans who fought on the side of the Union. The women of the WRC assisted the GAR, organized and participated in the observance of Decoration Day (now Memorial Day), and petitioned the government for nurses pensions. Beginning with the December, 1889 issue of the Wheeling Register newspaper, several articles were written about local WRC activities, and Ida was mentioned in many of them. She was elected at a "Conductor" of the Holliday Corps in an 1889 meeting. In 1891, she was installed as the Secretary and member of the GAR board of directors. In a following article, she was noted to be the President, and later the same year, was appointed Assistant National Inspector authorized to inspect all WRC in West Virginia. 1893 found her in charge of a festive celebration held at Whiteman's Grove in Wheeling--Grand Army Day. Complete with dancing, a camp fire for the vets, plenty of food, and child care provided, it lasted well past dark. Great-Grandma was a busy lady and generous with her time.

Beginning in 1895, Ida suffered a series of heart-breaking losses. Her husband Thomas died in 1895 at the National Soldier's Home in Virginia, and Ida was forced to apply for a widow's pension. Four years later, her daughter-in-law Lena, wife of son William, died after only one year of marriage. William followed her in death in 1904. Her son Fred died suddenly after a work-related accident in 1899. Between 1894 and 1916, sister Francis Sophia and brother Benjamin died. So much loss over a period of 20 years is difficult to imagine. Her family was dwindling, and with it the support and comfort she required to keep going. Thankfully, there remained extended family in Wheeling, and these children and grandchildren were surely a solace to Ida. She must have had a number of friends nearby as well.

Ida Viola & Ida Isabelle Cox, her granddaughter

Ida Viola died of uterine carcinoma on the 16th of August 1917, and was buried at Mt Wood Cemetery in Wheeling among many of her family. She played a significant role in her community, cared for an ailing husband, and buried several children. I believe she enjoyed working alongside other socially involved women to assist the aging, and often debilitated, veterans of the terrible war. I wish I had known you, sweet Grandma Ida.

Mt Wood Cemetery

Declaration for Original Pension

Thomas Cox, Civil War Veteran

Thomas Cox is my paternal great-grandfather, father of Frank Ellwood Cox, my father's father. He was born in Stark County, Ohio, in 1837. The 1840 Federal Census lists his father Lyman living in Jackson, Virginia, with one male under 5 (Thomas), one male 30-39 (Lyman), and one female 15-19 (mother? aunt? boarder?) for a total of three persons at the residence. By 1850, young Thomas, now 13 years old, lived in Jefferson, Ohio, with his parents and six younger sisters. The family would share the troubles of their community during the Panic of 1857, an economic depression that caused widespread unemployment, bank and business failures, and falling grain prices.

Another move found Thomas working as a farm laborer in Ohio County, Virginia, according to the 1860 census. Here Tom, his father, and now seven younger sisters lived in a rural farming area. His mother was not listed here or in later records. Did she die in childbirth? Of an infectious disease? Was her death accidental? However she died, the father-and-son wage earners in this family of nine shared a great responsibility. Great-grandpa must have learned the value of hard work, wise spending habits, and loyalty to family during these lean years.

With the inauguration of President-elect Abraham Lincoln on March 4, 1861, secession of the southern states had begun and a war between North and South was inevitable. The War of the Rebellion began on April 12, 1861. On August 11, 1862, Thomas Cox enlisted in the Union Army at Smithfield, Ohio, in Company B, 52nd Regiment of Ohio Volunteers. On October 1st, the regiment marched from Louisville to Perryville, Kentucky, where it was present at the battle of October 8, 1862, a victory for the Union.

Civil War Campground

Returning to Louisville along with his regiment, records show that Thomas was absent due to sickness in November and December and in hospital during January and February, 1863. He was Honorably Discharged from the army while hospitalized. The "Certificate of Disability for Discharge" reads, in part, "I have carefully examined the said Thomas Cox...and find him incapable of performing the duties of a soldier because of Physical Inability together with effusion of the abdomen". His career as a soldier was at an end.

Shortly thereafter, Thomas relocated to the newly established state of West Virginia. The IRS Tax Assessment Lists describe his occupations as "Peddler 2nd Class" and "Produce Broker". Nearby, his future father-in-law, William E Connelly, was a successful grocer. Perhaps these two worked together, and as a happy consequence, Thomas, and William's daughter Ida Viola, met, fell in love, and became engaged.
On October 28, 1868, Tom and Ida were married in the home of her parents in Wheeling, West Virginia. The marriage license lists his occupation as Farmer.

After a series of jobs including teamster, laborer, and confectioner, Great-Grandpa was admitted to the National Soldier's Home in Hampton, Virginia. He was 46 years old, and his twin sons Frank Ellwood and Fred were only 2 years old. It seems that his health had deteriorated steadily since the war, leading to the admitting diagnosis "disease of back, spine, and bowels". Seven years later, in 1890, a "Declaration for Invalid Pensions" was completed on behalf of Thomas wherein he is described as, "...wholly unable to earn a support by reason of Paralysis, being speechless, and almost wholly helpless..."

National Soldier's Home

Thomas Cox died on the 1st of April 1895 in the barracks of the last place he called home. The cause was "apoplexy with hemorrhage of the brain". Consistent with his status as Civil War veteran, he was buried at the Hampton National Cemetery. RIP, dear Grandpa.

Plot: Phoebus, Section D, 7081