Armchair Genealogy

By Melinda Cohenour

This column is offered to introduce my step grandfather, Earl Joseph King, who enriched our lives. He was the grandfather I knew, as my grandmother had divorced and remarried. Her first husband moved to California, a long distance from our little town. I was fourteen years old before I met my father's father, Everett Carroll. He was a brilliant man and I quickly developed a close bond that lasts to this day. But Daddy Earl was there for me from the day of my birth and holds a dear spot in my heart.

Our grandfather Earl Joseph King suffered from what they called "miner's lungs" after working in the lead and zinc mines. He had 14 pounds of zinc "dust" deposits in his lungs which prevented him from being able to lay down. His last years of life were spent seated on the side of his bed and leaning forward to sleep on a pillow atop the ornate dresser next to his bed. Edema of course was a co-condition which Grandma King relieved by massaging his feet and calves and by bringing in foot tubs of warm water to aid blood circulation.

He never complained that I heard. He was a loving and humorous man who found myriad ways to entertain me in my preschool years. A large limb on the tree outside his window became my pony. Window up to catch the breeze, as I sat astride that limb upon my saddle, Daddy Earl would narrate tales of daring-do as we shared rollicking rides 'cross plains, o'er streams, up mountain passes seeking adventure.

On cold evenings, he embodied the flames that rose in his gas heater with a tribe of "wild Injuns" each flame with his own name and distinct personality. Oh! The adventures we shared!!

Daddy Earl told of first casting eyes upon my grandmother Nora Viola Alexander (Carroll, Fisher, King) at a train station in Kansas City. He was headed to his port of embarcation to Europe where he competed in horse races as a jockey. Grandmother had my infant father in her arms, caring lovingly for him. Daddy Earl told me "That Norie!! She was the most beautiful creature I had ever seen! I found her when I returned and never let my heart roam!"

He worked as chief welder at the Ozark Mahoning Sal-Soda plant in his later years. I remember when Daddy Earl still walked, and worked around their home, and took me places. He made good money because he took me shopping "for Norie" when I was three years old. He paid cash for two new cars ... Both Hudson Hornets, one gold "To match your spun-gold hair Girlie" and one deep green "To match your pretty green eyes!"

I inherited those cars when I turned 13 and got my Beginner's License. I think the townfolk were greatly relieved when those "instruments of doom" as piloted by Grandma King passed from her use! She had a big heart and became the chauffeur for her gaggle of Golden Oldies ... Her elderly widowed lady friends. She'd gather them from their homes for church services, for Golden Age Club meetings, for shopping. That was all well and good EXCEPT for Grandma's eccentric driving habits.

She religiously utilized hand signals albeit her "self designed' signals - ones only the previously terrified townfolk had become marginally familiar with their meaning. For instance, to turn right she properly extended her left arm out the driver's window and pointed an extended finger up and over the car roof. However, her execution of that right-hand turn is where the trouble occurred. To quote her instructions to me when a fledgling driver: "One must signal their intent thusly (she would exhibit the aforementioned arm, hand and finger movements) then pull as far to the left of the road as possible to make plenty of room to turn to the Right!" This involved ALL the roadway, meaning on a two-way Street Grandma King would signal before veering wildly across the road to its far left border ... facing HEAD ON to oncoming traffic (brakes slamming by their drivers) before veering rapidly across all lanes of traffic to now TURN RIGHT.

And a Left Turn execution? Um-Hmmm. Left arm extended straight out to be followed immediately by Mama King veering to the far RIGHT of the roadway before quickly TURNING LEFT.

And the Stop hand signal? She properly stuck that left arm out the window with index finger pointed straight to the ground. Only issue here? Mama King only signaled once she had already slammed on her brake and was fully stopped. (Familiar drivers in our little burg learned when they spied that gold Hudson Hornet "Caution is the Better Part of Valor" ... Grant Mrs. King a WIDE BERTH!)

These sweet memories of my beloved family members are shared in the hope my descendants will read the stories and have a glimpse of the person whose name appears in their family tree.

It is my desire to encourage my readers to include their memories of family members to put "flesh on the bones" of those long gone ancestors. May the coming year bring a renewed interest in researching your ancestral history. The Internet now provides such an incredible tool for family members to build their own tree and populate it with their own ancestors. Get to know them by seeking documents and stories on-line. Get in touch with cousins interested in the same persons. Share photos and stories ... All from your armchairs at home!

See you next month!