Della Baker Garver
Della Baker, the eldest child of Samuel and Lydia Jane Kennedy Baker, was born Sep 6, 1870, near Caledonia Ohio. Her parents must have been proud of her and of sufficient means for they had a tintype (which I still have) made of her as a baby.
On Sep 7, 1898 (age 28) she married farmer Charles Garver who was born May 8, 1869, on a farm across the road from Bortner Reformed Church in N. Bloomfield Twp., Morrow Co. OH. Her sisters all had beaus and begged her to get married because tradition was that the oldest girl must get married first!!!!
In Feb 1900, they lost a little girl, Genevieve Constance, only 5 days old, buried in # 16 Cemetery with a marker shaped like a tree stump to signify a life cut short. The details on the marker show a scroll showing their belief that the innocent are in heaven.
August 22,1902 son Charles Marion was born in Claridon, Ohio. He married Ethel Hood (1906-1981) and had Charles Matthew July 15, 1939, named for his 2 grandfathers. Charles Marion always was called Marion to distinguish him from his father and his son. He won various track and field competitions and worked as a machinist in Warren, Ohio. He died of bladder cancer in Nov 1978, buried in Oakwood Cemetery Warren, OH. Charles Matthew married Joan--- (div), married Mary Denton and had Stephanie who married Tom Owens, now living in Missouri with son and daughter Deacon and Rena, Alexandria Rae-no info, and Charles Bradley, who goes by Brad and also was active in track, married Jennifer Haille and have Kaitlyn, Miles, and Charlotte all living near Atlanta. The 4 Charles Garvers in 4 generations qualifies not to serve in the US military as there a so few male Garvers although Charles born 1869 had several brothers!!!
Marvin Milford was born 1906? And “discovered America” in Marion County, as he used to say. He had red hair like great-grandmother Margaret Shank Kennedy!! He stayed on the Garver farm (the big house and big barn are still standing) in Mecca, Trumbull County, Ohio where they had moved in 1907 and was drafted in 1942, although running a farm with elderly parents!!, serving in Germany in a tank. He also was the company barber and I remember seeing the wooden box barber kit he had. Late in life, he married a wonderful woman named Premilla Logan Weaver and they lived in Cleveland where he was the janitor for the Scofield building. She died of cancer of the abdomen after major surgery in New York near her sister, PAP smears had not been developed yet. He lived for a while with his sister in Greene Twp., Trumbull County and then lived in the Veterans hospital in northern West Virginia making leather tooled and small wooden items in spite of arthritis, dying of leukemia. When his nephew Leif got married near Pittsburgh, Marvin made the effort to get to the wedding coming by train.
Interesting that the names Marion and Milford are the names of places the family lived—Marion Ohio and Milford PA-home of some of the Kennedy family.
In 1910, Nov 22, the long-awaited daughter Jane Ermyntrude was born on the farm in Mecca, but she was not named for several months. She was named Jane for her grandmother Lydia Jane Kennedy Baker but her parents wanted another name for her. The story is that Della was visiting a neighbor who suggested they name her Ermyntrude, the heroine in a book the neighbor was reading. Della went home and said I named the baby today, but could not remember what it was, so the next week she visited again and said Ermyntrude all the way home, to which Charlie said: ”how do you spell it?” Della said I don’t know and the next week Della visited again and wrote it down. But the birth certificate only says “Baby girl”!!!!!
Ermyntrude was never nicknamed!! She was very athletic, playing center on the women’s basketball team, going to college at Kent, Ohio, getting a certificate to teach in 2 years and teaching grade school for many years. Her first job was during the depression and she did not get paid for several months. She married Joseph Oliver Kiewlich (farmer, a self-taught engineer at General Motors, Packard Division Warren, OH ) June 6, 1934, and they honeymooned driving to California. Joseph was a sleepwalker-waking Ermyntrude in the night climbing out the window of a motel in CA—she pulled him back in by the leg afraid he would get away if she went after him by the door!!! They lived across the road from the Garver farm for 4 years in a house for which they only had to pay the taxes and keep repaired. Joseph later owned a fishing camp in Ontario, Canada and enjoyed hunting, fishing, and traveling as well as farming.
They had Leif Arnold May 12, 1938, and moved the spring of 1940 to a 40 ac. the farm they purchased 4 miles north of Greene Twp. Trumbull County, Ohio. Leif graduated from Allegheny College in Meadville PA., worked as a salesman for International Harvester in the Pittsburgh area, married Roberta Carter b. 1944- moved to Alameda CA, and had David b. 1974 and Daniel b 1976. David received his Ph.D. in nutrition and cancer and married Merryn and had Robert. Daniel works with computers, received a patent and married Nora who has written a children’s book and has Joseph and a little girl. Then Leif worked for Bank of America as an estimator, divorced, later married Stephanie Johnson King, no issue, who does research with the veteran’s hospital. Leif traveled to 66 countries, some in the 60 ’s when he was in the army in Germany and some as a dance host on various ships. He then worked privately as a handyman in Hillsborough, CA, divorced, lived in Monterey CA and moved back to Trumbull County OH, living in an apartment by a huge ravine with a beautiful waterfall and enjoys bowling, and playing pool.
Sandra Sue was born August 10, 1940, on the farm, graduated from Saint John College of Cleveland 1962, working as a nurse in Warren, Ohio. She lived near Munich, Germany one year working as a nurse and EKG technician while Leif was stationed in Germany, one year in San Diego Ca and 9 years near Stanford Hospital in Palo Alto CA working as a private nurse. Sandra traveled around the world twice (1966,1969) with Semester at Sea, a university on a ship. Married Stanley W Baldwin in Palo Alto CA 1970, no issue, div. 1973. Moved back to the farm in Ohio when Ermyntrude was dying of liver cancer in Dec 1974. Married George Kalas, farmer, July12, 1975, 4 miscarriages, no issue. Became a nurse educator in a school of nursing, mostly in Intensive Care, receiving a Master ’s in Family Health Nursing from Akron University, 1982. Traveled to 65 countries over the years and to every state except Alaska (but soon). Sandra is active in her church teaching adult Bible class, enjoys volleyball, playing pool and traveling.
Linda Louise was born Jan 17,1952 in St Joseph’s Hospital, Warren, Ohio, graduated from Wooster College 1970 and taught art and photography in grade and high school in Mecca, Ohio for 30 years. She married James Corbett, sheriff’s deputy, a businessman with Kinetico water treatment, in 1974 and had Adam and Eric. Adam married Sarah St Clair, whom he met while in college at Grove City, PA., and had Caleb, Clair,, Copper and Clark. Eric graduated from Akron U. and married Tetyana Valesko of Ukraine who he met while working as a trainer on a ship from the Caribbean to Alaska, and have Liev ( a boy, name means lion) b.2014 and Illyana b.2016.
Linda received her Master’s in Education from Ashland College. Linda, Jim, Adam, and Eric have remodeled at least 6 houses. Linda and Jim lived near Copenhagen, Denmark for 6 years working with Kinetico and Linda exhibited her artwork in the embassy there. They enjoy traveling, have a big garden, 5 beef cows each year, 50 chickens each year and now have 5 pigs and a dog named Zena. They just installed an old-fashioned water pump which can water the cows if necessary.
Charles Garver(b. 1869) was a barrel chested man who could cut hay with a scythe bigger and wider than most men and was known for his knowledge of sheep and farming. He died of pneumonia on Ermyntrude’s birthday Nov 22,1942, age 73. The doctor said he could have helped him if he had come a few days sooner. With her husband dead and her children married or in the Army, Della sold the farm moved in with her daughter Ermyntrude and helped with the household. I remember her gathering eggs and cooking. One day she turned on the gas before she lit a match and caused a boom which broke some dishes in the dining room cabinet. She made dresses for me, in fact at Christmas when I received doll clothes I said:” Gee, Mrs. Santa Claus makes buttonholes just like you, Grandma!!” Della traveled to California, various relatives called her a lady. Her sisters from Marion County visited her and set up a quilting frame under the maple trees and made quilts. When I was just a little girl my job was to push the needle back up thru the cloth when one of them lost their needle!!!! I remember they had knobby knees and smelled like Cashmere Bouquet body powder !!
Sometime before Linda was born in 1952, Della was moved to a small nursing home in Mecca, but sadly her roommate was deaf. In 1954, Ermyntrude was at a neighbor’s house for a baby shower which is rare out in the county. Sandra, age 14, was babysitting Linda, age 2 when Ermyntrude suddenly came home and said: “I must get to Mom!!” I remember looking out the window as she drove south and the phone was ringing—as a message that Della was doing poorly and we should come quickly—I said Mom is on her way already.
Later Ermyntrude said that she just knew she should not stay at the party but get to her Mom’s side, Grandma Della died that day,
John F Kennedy was shot of Ermyntrude’s Nov 22 birthday and Robert Kennedy was shot on Ermyntrude’s wedding anniversary June 6.
Charles, Della, Ermyntrude, and Joseph are buried in Hillside Cemetery, Cortland Ohio also called Lakeview. Though they bought 6 graves at the time of Charles’ death, he was so big they used 2 grave spaces for him.
Blessings, Sandra feel free to share, SSKK
8/1/17
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDelete