West Virginia History

Today in WV history... (which impacted us all)

Abraham Lincoln signed the West Virginia Statehood Bill on December 31, 1862, making WV the 35th state in the Union.

http://www.wvculture.org/history/thisdayinwvhistory/1231.html

Happy Birthday, wild, wonderful West Virginia!

Another interesting Ray Hammack tid-bit...

Since my post yesterday about Hazel Graham Hammack I have found a marriage certificate for Ray Martin Hammack for 16 June 1913 to an Alice Gravely of Wyoming County, WV. ????
I believe this is the same Ray Martin Hammack we are tracking because it lists his parents as Van & Mary Hammack. AND when I first started this blog I noted that on Ray Martin's obituary it stated his parents as VanBuren Hammack & Mary Givens. ??? But according to the information I am finding in the US Census reports and other documents his parents are Benjamin Hammack & Georgia "Samantha" Boughman (whose mother's maiden name was Given.) I've tried to search the WV Culture site for more info on Alice Gravely or her mother Chloe and I get nothing.

Hazel Mystery...solved?

At least I've stumbled on another piece of the puzzle. Here is her death certificate:

Hazel's maiden name was Graham. Her father was Robert Graham, and her mother's maiden name was Mckenna. I;m not sure if this Death Certificate is indicating that she was born in Wyoming, the state, or Wyoming, WV the county. Especially since the mother's birthplace doesn't appear to be a state or country as requested. It looks like McDowel, which is a WV county right below Wyoming County (see the southern end of the state.) This genealogy search has made a real detective out of me! LOL

Oh, and if you read the cause of death on Hazel's death certificate, she had a miscarriage. I have not deciphered the first line, but the second begins with "influenza..." and the third says "Then misscarriage 7 1/2 months." She died November 7, 1918 in Webster County, WV.

Merry Christmas!

The Hazel Mystery continues...

After receiving an email from a cousin about some of the missing pieces in my search, I searched for a Hazel Grayham, Hazel Graham, Hazel Greyham, Hazel Grayhem, etc. - nothing! I know for certain that she was the first wife of Martin Ray Hammack (1893-1968) and the mother of my Grandma Sylvia and Great-uncle Harry. I know she died of "consumption" not long after Harry was born, but that's all I know.

I previously posted the records I have Martin Ray Hammack and his father, Benjamin.

Benjamin's father was Martin A. Hammack (1841-1890). I have only found the 1880 census for him and his wife Anna E. Givens (1841-1916). They had 10 children. I found a photo of their son and Benjamin's brother, Amos Webster Hammack (1880-1965). (Courtesy of "randydym" to Randal M. Shirbroun Family Tree Ancestry.com)

I was able to trace Benjamin's wife, Georgia Samantha Baughman (1873-1940) back a few generations. Her father, Morgan Davis Baughman born 13 March 1842 and her mother, Margaret Ann Dodrill was born 24 Feb. 1843 both in Nicholas County, WV (Incidently, that is where I was born in 1963!) However the 1860 US Census shows them living in Webster County. They had 6 children. She died the 29 Sept 1899 in the Nicholas County.

He lived with his son James and his wife Maggie and a 9 year old girl, Elizabeth Jackson who is listed as a boarder in 1900 according to the US Census report for Webster County, WV.

According to the 1920 US Census, he was 77 years old and lived in Braxton County with his son-in-law & daughter Benjamin & Georgia Hammack, their 3 children (Ernest, Delta & Elsie) and 2 grandchildren (Sylvia & Harry). He died 19 Jan. 1921.

Morgan David Baughman's parents were John Baughman (1814-1897) and Susanna B. Dyer (1814-1869). John was born in Nicholas County, WV and died in Braxton County. Susanna was born in Charlotte, VA and died in Webster County, WV. They had 11 children.

Let me end here on a disturbing note. Susanna B Dyer Baughman's parents may have been related to one another prior to marriage...I will have to research this more. What I have found shows her parents as James Dyer II and Margaret Dyer (that is her maiden name and married name!) They had 6 children together.

opps missed a couple of photos

These are Delta's children Ernest and Georgia Bell.

I also found this photo that had "Geo. N. Terney; 106 Camden Ave; Buckhannon, WV" written on the back. Maybe this is the couple who had the "not good looking" children in the previous entry!

Benjamin Van Hammack (1870-1949)

Martin Ray Hammack's father was Benjamin Van Hammack (1870-1949) and his mother was Georgia Samantha Baughman (abt.1877-? sometime after 1930). They were married in 1898.

In 1900 (according to the US Census report) they lived in Fort Lick, in Webster County, WV with 2 of their children. They had a total of 5 children: Martin Ray (1893-1968), William B. (1899-?), Ernest (1901-1982), Delta Ellis (1904-1993), & Elsie (Carr) (1907-1996). I do not have birth or death certificates for any of them.

According to the 1920 US Census report they lived in Otter, in Webster County, WV. Ernest, Delta & Elsie were still at home with their parents and my grandma, Sylvia and her brother Harry and Georgia's father, Morgan Davis Baughman (77 year old widower) resided with them as well. Sylvia was almost 4 years old and Harry was almost 1 year old.

This photo must have been taken at that time because Grandma couldn't be much more than 4 here. She is with Elsie Carr.

I am not sure which is which but this is Delta & Elsie in 1953.

The back of this photo said "Everett, Clyde, Roy and Aunt Elsie." These were her children with her husband Van Buren Carr 91901-1995). They were married in 1924. Everett was born in 1924. Clyde was born in 1927 and died in 1995. Roy was born in 1929 and died in 1968.

I am not sure if this photo belongs with this group or not since this Elsie was married to Van Buren not a George. I've checked both parent's siblings and found no Elsie but did find a George Hammack??? So anyway I'm including it here, just because I think the back of the postcard is interesting...

The back of this postcard was marked up but best I can tell these are George and Elsie's children. here is the back:

I show this only to say this is what I can decipher it says..."Dear sister and brother, here are our children. They are perfectly natural, not good looking but we love them all the same. We started home the Sunday you all were home but the rain ??? us before we got half way so we stopped at one of George's brothers..."(I can't read the rest.) You have to flip it around to see the signatures (at the top currently) ..."from Geo. and Elsie ???" (I can't read the rest.)

Do you think they really felt their children were ugly or was that their way of saying they did not get them all gussied up for this particular photo????

Martin Ray or Ray Martin Hammack??

Today I did some digging on the Hammack family, trying to find out just who great-granddaddy Hammack was married to and when. I've learned alot about the man today. Here are some of the artifacts I discovered: This is a copy of his US World War I Draft Registration Card (1917-1918). Unfortunately it is partially cut off but you can see he was married and living in Skyles, WV. He was employed as a laborer for the Davis Eakens Co. (I'm not sure what they did but I'll keep digging.) Interesting note, he was tall and had blue eyes. This card says his full name in Martin Ray Hammack unlike the one for World War II (1942), which says Ray Martin Hammack. (see below)He was married to Lulu when he filled out this card. He worked for Mountain Fuel Co. They lived in Brownton, WV where he still resided when died in May 1968. Below is a copy of his obituary that was in some old photos my dad gave me.I confirmed today that he was married twice.

This is him and Hazel in the photo above and I assume the little girl is my grandma, Sylvia. His first wife and the mother of both my grandma, Sylvia and Harry Hammack died young.

He married Lula or Lulu as it was written on one of the above draft registration cards. This is her with my Uncle Ray Watson.

Martin Ray & Lulu had two children, Van and James. Sylvia was the eldest born in 1916 and then Harry in 1918. I assume Hazel died shortly after that because Van was born in 1922 (and James in 1923) to Lulu and Martin Ray. So in that 4 year stretch Martin Ray or Ray Martin lost a wife, remarried and had another son.

This is the US Census report from 1930 for Summit, Ohio. Ray(37 years old & head of household), Lula (36), Sylvia (14), Harry (12), Van (7) and James (6) are listed in the household as well as Edgar Hoover (46). He is listed as the brother-in-law. So would Lulu's maiden name be Hoover? Also another column listed the "Age at first marriage," Ray's was 23 and Lula's was 27, which would mean around 1921 she and Ray were married. Also note that Edgar's age at first marriage was 28, so he must have been a widower in 1930.

My heritage search has made me start thinking more about the past and the extended family I only saw a couple of times a year.

I remember when Uncle Van died in 1984. Here is the card from the funeral I had saved. It seems I had only just gotten to know him and his family a few years before he passed. I had become close to his son Mike during my senior year of high school (1981)before he died of cancer.

Gone but never forgotten!

Question for the day: On the back of this picture was written: "1945 Mother Sylvia" The lady on the right is my grandma Sylvia so is "mother" Lulu?