Tombstone Tuesday - Clayton Richard Ford (1934-1941)

It is always sad when we lose loved ones so young. I never got to know my uncle, but I miss him just the same.

Clayton Richard Ford (1934-1941) was my dad's identical twin. Born to Arthur Elisha Ford and Ethel (Wickliffe) Ford, he was the younger of the two twins. In an interview in 1985, my grandmother, Ethel Ford, stated that Clayton was born a "blue baby" and that he had always been sickly.

I never knew what she meant by the term "blue baby" until recently. I thought it meant that his lungs hadn't fully developed at the time of his birth, causing him to struggle to take in oxygen. I recently looked up the term and it usually means the baby has a heart malformation that prevents the baby's blood from being fully oxygenated. Now I understand more about this young boy's life and how he died.. 

Ethel stated that when Clayton was six years old, he got rheumatic fever and he never fully recovered. The death certificate lists endocarditis as the official cause, with rheumatic fever as a contributing factor. The Mayo Clinic website states that endocarditis is uncommon in people with healthy hearts and those who have damaged heart valves or other heart defects are at greatest risk.

Clayton Richard Ford died in his mother's arms and is laid to rest in West Memorial Cemetery in Quinlan, Hunt County, Texas in a plot next to his grandmother, Sara Elizabeth (Dodd) Ford.

May this little angel never be forgotten.

Tombstone Tuesday - William Ezra Ford

William Ezra Ford was the son of Arthur Elisha Ford and Ethel Wickliffe Ford. He was born June 11, 1922 in Quinlan, Hunt County, Texas. He moved with his family to South Texas after his younger brother, Clayton Richard Ford died in 1941. 

William enlisted in the service on 09 Nov 1942. He was living in George West, Texas at the time. After only a few months, he became ill and was honorably discharged on 30 Oct 1943. He later became a truck driver. He was driving a rig through the Valley in South Texas, when his rig jackknifed and killed him instantly. His brother-in-law, Jimmy Elmer Green had been driving a rig behind him and witnessed the accident.  Although William never married, he was loved by all who met him. 

The military erroneously inscribed Exra instead of Ezra on the headstone and refused to fix the problem. He is buried in George West, Texas.

Census Sunday: Arthur Elisha Ford, 1930 Hunt County, Texas

It's Census Sunday - time to look in my digital image files to see what treasures I can find for my family history and genealogy musings.

The census today is the 1930 U.S. Census for my grandparents, Arthur Elisha Ford and Ethel (Wickliffe) Ford, in Quinlan, Hunt County, Texas:

The Arthur Elisha Ford family entry is:

The extracted information for this census is:

* Elisa Ford, head of household, renting, lives on a farm, male, white, 33, married, 24 years old at time of first marriage, he can read and write, born in Arkansas, parents born in United States, speaks English, occupation- farm laborer, trade - farm, class of worker - W, actually employed, veteran of W.W.

* Ethel Ford, wife, female, white, 28, married, 19 years old at time of first marriage, can read and write, born in Arkansas, both parents born in Missouri, speaks English, is not working

* Ezra W. Ford, son, male, white, 7, single, in school, born in Texas, both parents born in Arkansas

* Daisy R., daughter, female, white, 5, single, not in school, born in Texas, both parents born in Arkansas

The citation for this census is:

1930 United States Census, Hunt County, Texas, population schedule, Justice Precinct #7, enumeration district (ED) 116-38, sheet 7A, line 32, dwelling 137, family #137, Elisa [Elisha] Ford household; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 08 Aug 2012); citing National Archives Microfilm Publication T626, roll 2360.

Census Sunday: Arthur Elisha Ford in the 1940 Census

It's Census Sunday - time to look in my digital image files to see what treasures I can find for my family history and genealogy musings.

The census today is the 1940 U.S. Census for my grandparents, Arthur Elisha Ford and Ethel (Wickliffe) Ford, in Quinlan, Hunt County, Texas:

The Arthur Elisha Ford family entry:

The extracted information from this census record is:

*  Line 18, Household 98, Family 98, Renting, Monthly rent $4.00, not a farm

* A. Eligh Ford - head, white, male, 43 years old, married, 4 years of education, born in Texas, seeking work, laborer, farm, type of work PW, worked 8 weeks in 1939, income received in 1939 - $40

*  Ethel Ford, white, female, wife, 36 years old, 7 years of education, born in Texas, working as a seamstress, WPA, worked 30 hours the week of March 24-30, 1940, type of work GW, worked 52 weeks in 1939, income received in 1939 - $396

*  Ezra Ford, white, male, 16 years of age, son, no school in 1940, 4 years of education, born in Texas, seeking work, new worker

*  Dasie R. Ford, white, female, 14 years of age, daughter, no school in 1940, 5 years of education, born in Texas, kept house

*  Clay Ford (twins), white, male, 5 years of age, son, no school in 1940, education, born in Texas 

*  Claton Ford, white, male, 5 years of age, son, no school in 1940, no education, born in Texas

It appears that Arthur Elisha Ford gave the information for the census. Have found several errors in the census. Ethel left school in third grade to pick cotton in the fields. This information came from Ethel in an interview in 1985. Elisha and Ethel were both born in Arkansas, not Texas. This evidence comes from other census records found in Arkansas and from the interview with Ethel.

The citation for this census is:

1940 United States Census, Hunt County, Texas, population schedule, Quinlan, Justice Precinct #7, enumeration district (ED) 116-36, sheet 5A, dwelling 98, family #98, A, Eligh [Elisha] Ford household; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 07 Apr 2013); citing National Archives Microfilm Publication T627, Roll 4072.