The true fragility of life became very apparent this week with the death of my 3rd cousin, Trinity Liebhaber who was only 2 months old. Her family was involved in a very horrible car accident on Mother's Day. So many times I have added my standard cherub icon to those family members in my tree who died as a child. Even though my curiosity wanted more information, so often, there is just a blank space in that family line without explanation. I thought about Trinity today. A hundred years from now when someone is looking backward to figure out family histories, will information be available documenting the reason for her short life? My work on the sixth of my 2nd great grandmothers has finally materialized into something comprehensible enough to document.
Mary Edna Caldwell (Turner / Fry) was born February 28, 1846 in Ouachita County, Arkansas. She was the daughter of George Washington Caldwell and Elizabeth Shipp. Mary Edna's mother died when Mary was only fourteen; shortly thereafter, George married Elizabeth's younger sister Nancy. Mary had 4 full siblings and 6 half-siblings. The family migrated to Leon County, Texas by 1860 as is documented in the 1860 census records. Family rumor is that Mary Edna married her school master James Murdock Turner in approximately 1861 in Leon County. I have not been able to find a marriage license. James M Turner died only 9 years later from "an epidemic". Records state that yellow fever raged through East Texas from 1867 - 1870 and has been noted as responsible for other family deaths during this time. The couple had 5 children, but only 3 of those survived into adulthood. The 1880 census shows Mary Edna as a widow with 4 of her children. Sadly, many of the 1890 census records were destroyed by fire in 1921, and I have not found any more information about the death of Mary Edna's daughter Jane who is reported to have shot off her head with a shotgun trying to pack the wadding into it.
For about 10 years, Mary Edna and her children survived literally like paupers.
In 1881, Mary Edna Caldwell Turner married her neighbor, James Lodowick Fry who was fourteen years her junior. I am descended from the Mary / James union through their daugther Leacy Bell Fry. Mary and James' union resulted in three children. When Mary Edna passed in 1936, she was survived by 7 children and 48 grandchildren. She was 90. Many of her children lived well into their 80s or 90s as well.
During WW1, two of her sons, and one son-in-law served. Several of her grandsons then served in WW2, after her passing in 1936 in the height of the Great Depression. During her long life, Mary Edna saw many things, many changes. She married her 1st husband at the beginning of the Civil War only to loose him a few years later. She then married again during the Texas Antebellum era. Most of her adult life was spent in Limestone County before the family moved to Coleman County. In 1926, oil was discovered on land owned by Mary Edna and her second husband Lodowick Fry. The family became immensely wealthy overnight.
http://browncountyhistory.org/fryoil.html
Sadly, that wealth would not carry forward after the oil field dried up and was abandoned. Today, the Fry Oil Field is a few building foundation blocks and some piping.
Mary Edna's ancestry.com story.
Mary Edna Caldwell (Turner / Fry) was born February 28, 1846 in Ouachita County, Arkansas. She was the daughter of George Washington Caldwell and Elizabeth Shipp. Mary Edna's mother died when Mary was only fourteen; shortly thereafter, George married Elizabeth's younger sister Nancy. Mary had 4 full siblings and 6 half-siblings. The family migrated to Leon County, Texas by 1860 as is documented in the 1860 census records. Family rumor is that Mary Edna married her school master James Murdock Turner in approximately 1861 in Leon County. I have not been able to find a marriage license. James M Turner died only 9 years later from "an epidemic". Records state that yellow fever raged through East Texas from 1867 - 1870 and has been noted as responsible for other family deaths during this time. The couple had 5 children, but only 3 of those survived into adulthood. The 1880 census shows Mary Edna as a widow with 4 of her children. Sadly, many of the 1890 census records were destroyed by fire in 1921, and I have not found any more information about the death of Mary Edna's daughter Jane who is reported to have shot off her head with a shotgun trying to pack the wadding into it.For about 10 years, Mary Edna and her children survived literally like paupers.
In 1881, Mary Edna Caldwell Turner married her neighbor, James Lodowick Fry who was fourteen years her junior. I am descended from the Mary / James union through their daugther Leacy Bell Fry. Mary and James' union resulted in three children. When Mary Edna passed in 1936, she was survived by 7 children and 48 grandchildren. She was 90. Many of her children lived well into their 80s or 90s as well.
During WW1, two of her sons, and one son-in-law served. Several of her grandsons then served in WW2, after her passing in 1936 in the height of the Great Depression. During her long life, Mary Edna saw many things, many changes. She married her 1st husband at the beginning of the Civil War only to loose him a few years later. She then married again during the Texas Antebellum era. Most of her adult life was spent in Limestone County before the family moved to Coleman County. In 1926, oil was discovered on land owned by Mary Edna and her second husband Lodowick Fry. The family became immensely wealthy overnight.http://browncountyhistory.org/fryoil.html
Mary Edna's ancestry.com story.
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