PUNK (My Dad)

 

This is my favorite picture of my Dad. I am guessing it was made in the late 1920’s. Dad was a good man, full of humor; he provided for his family and helped others in need. It wasn’t until after his death that we heard rumors of his “sorted” past. While none of the items mentioned where horrible or devastating, it did reveal a part of him none of us ever knew.

He and his step-father did not get along and so when he was 13, he left home and “ran the roads”. During this time he lived with family and friends and sometimes just slept in someone’s barn. What we didn’t know was that his nickname was “Punk” and that he carried a short barrel 38 revolver. Sis and I would talk and wish we had a way to just check the local law enforcements records back then to see what things he got into. I have checked the Missouri Penitentiary records and know that luckily he never made it there! So maybe it was only mischief he got into? I’d like to believe that.

Some things about Dad that I knew and maybe lend some credit to achieving that nick name include:

• Stories of disassembling a farmer’s wagon and then reassembling them on top the barn.
• My Grandfather Edmonds an old coal miner and quite a drinker would often try to out drink Dad. But Dad never loss, he always was able to drink his father in-law under the table.
• He was an unbelievable pool player. I often saw him run the table giving his opponent no chance.
• He loved to gamble playing cards.
• Once at work a supervisor said something that riled him greatly and he pushed the man backwards towards a waste can. The supervisor sat into the can and then could not get out. For some reason Dad, as far as I know, was never disciplined for this.
• We would often go hunting for my “Uncle Bud” when he stayed out and Dad knew where all the good “Beer Gardens” where.
• He could/would never just outright buy a large item. Each purchase was an adventure into seeing what you could dicker for. Mom got free lamps with her living room set. We got free 8-tracks with our first stereo. I got free underwear and a new tie with a suit.
• He took me along with his drinking buddies one night to drive to Saginaw and get a gigantic roll of insulation. It was January and cold! He was in the passenger seat and I sat in the middle. In the back seat were two of his friends. All the way up there he kept the door cracked, allowing the wind to blow into the back seat. His friends complained of the cold and Dad kept telling them the heater must not be working.
• When I was about five he stayed out all night one Saturday. When he got home Mom forced him to get ready for church. All day he tried his best to get back home to go to bed, but he never made it. We went to morning services, had lunch, went shopping (ALL DAY), then attended evening services. Next morning mom had him up and ready for work. He never stayed out like that again.

When I was seven he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. While he was in the hospital recuperating, he stopped drinking, smoking, cussing and gambling. After coming home he became more active in church

Copyright Roy Richard.

EARL'S COUSINS

Growing up we visited and heard a lot about Dad’s cousins. I never thought too much about it till recently and then could not make heads or tails of the various people.

Culbertson, Dorris, Lane, Julius, Peck and more! Who are these people. How do they fit in and how are we related?

It became apparent that Earl must have spent a lot of time growing up around his mother’s ‘people’. Pheobe Ann was by birth a Rogers and with the exception of the Julius’ all these cousins follow the line of the Rogers.

Peck

By going back to Earl’s Great Grand Parents Pleasant Rogers (1801-1845) and Pheobe Hickman (1816–1900), we find in addition to Earl’s Grandfather George William Rogers they also had a daughter named Chancy Jane Rogers (1837-1888) who married William A Peck (1830–1890). Their son Pleasant B. Peck (1871-1952) had a son Elva B. Peck (1908-1983) who was Dad’s age and a ‘cousin’. Elva pastored the New Hope church from 1953 to 1956.

Elva’s children (Glenda Earfaye Peck, Evelyn Darlene Peck, Elva Lee Peck, Thelma Bell Peck, Charles Raymond Peck, Levonna Florene Peck, Brenda Berniece Peck) were more part of my memories. They are 3^rd cousins to me.

• Glenda married Richard Robbins and their youngest son Timmy and I played together.
• Elva Lee married into the Rainwaters, another name from the past.
• Thelma married Mack Williams. Their ministry greatly influenced the growing General Baptist Denomination.
• Charles Raymond was a Christian radio personality in the Flint area, in addition to being a great minister for the Lord
• Levonna  attended church with us while I was growing up.

Culbertson, Dorris, and Lane

You do not have to go as far back to tie these into the family, you only have to look as far as Earl’s mother’s siblings.

Culbertson

Pheobe’s sister Mary Ann (1869-?) married John A.B. Culbertson, their son John Henry (?-1963) had a son, Ottie William Culbertson (1941-?).

We always visited Ottie and his wife Maxine when in Missouri. They operated Nursing Homes in the Dexter Missouri area.

Dorris

Pheobe’s sister Cora (1882-1946) married Milton Dorris, their son Herman (1902-?) was Dad’s contemporary. Herman had two daughters Sue (married Robert Sampson) and Debbie (married William Murry).

We attended New Hope Church with Herman and his wife and often had Sunday Dinner at their house. In later years we switched to First General Baptist and attended there with their daughters.

Lane

Pheobe’s sister Amanda (1886-1943) married James D Warren. Their daughter Violetta (1920-?) married Robert Lane. 

Parts of the Lane family also attended New Hope Church.

Julius

To tie in the Julius name you only have to go so far as Earl’s dad. William Oliver’s sister Susan Jane (1875-1941) married Francis Julius, their children were the cousins Earl visited with and talked about.

The Julius clan did not migrate to Missouri and stayed in Illinois.

Roy Julius was a minor celebrity in that he got his picture in the Grit, a national newspaper published back in the day. It seems when he was a boy he caught a snapping turtle and carved his initials in its shell. Years and years later while fishing he caught a monster snapping turtle while fishing. While taking it off the hook he noticed his initials in the turtle’s shell. Same turtle all those years apart!

Copyright Roy Richard

The Warrens and the Duckworths

 

As you work on the Richard family history, one fact continues to pop up. As they travel across the United States, the Duckworth family traveled with them. Virginia, Illinois, Missouri and Michigan all find the Richard clan living in close proximity of the Duckworths.

Are we related? You would think that some budding romance between the two families must have occurred. But not until my Father’s generation did a blood relative of mine marry a Duckworth and even then they were not  Richard.

My Dad’s father passed when he was eight and when he was thirteen his mother married Edward Chadwell. The story changed depending on the telling, either his new step-dad threw him out or he left home. Whichever might be the case, the two did not get along and so Earl began to run the roads.

During that time he lived with his half-brother Homer Warren in Illinois for a time. But most often he talked about staying with ‘Aunt May’ Duckworth or his cousin, Uncle ‘Lawn’ (Alonzo) and Aunt Effie Warren.

Aunt May was the grandmother to my Dad’s best friend Walter Duckworth.

The Warrens are related to the Richard’s through my paternal grandmother’s sibling Texas Rogers (1872-1903). Texas married Matthew Warren (1871–1900). Many of their children played a part in Earl’s life, but the most significant one was Alonzo (Lonzo) Warren (1891-1981). He married Effie Elizabeth Harris (1893-1966). Their daughter Retha Leona Warren (1919-2004) went on to marry Walter (Wicker) Duckworth (1916-2010).

At last a tie to the Duckworths!

Our trips to Missouri always included visiting Aunt May. I don’t remember a lot about those trips but it seemed that Dad coming in was like him visiting his mother.

Uncle ‘Lawn’ and Aunt Effie moved to Flint and lived just down Augusta St from our home.

Wicker and Retha moved to Flint and lived two doors from us on Augusta for a number of years.

Copyright Roy Richard

Homer Warren

 

My dad, Earl Richard had a half-brother named Homer Warren from his mother’s first marriage.

Homer was born March 5, 1897 in Stoddard County, Missouri. He died on January 24, 1925 in Williamson County, Illinois.

Earl had gone to live with Homer, who was living in Herrin Illinois and working as a miner in the summer of 1924. Homer had also become a member of the Klan and was a bodyguard for one of their top guns, S. Glenn Young.

Earl shared two stories of his time in Illinois. The first he and Homer were riding in a wagon outside of town when some brush began to rustle just off the road. Homer without missing a beat or slowing the horses down, he pulled a pump shotgun from beside himself and emptied it into the brush.

The second story and the one that made Earl decide to go back to Missouri happened later in the fall of that year. He and Homer were living in a garage behind a house in town. One night when they came home they found that the garage was fully riddled with bullet holes.

Homer was killed in a shootout with the local Sheriff.

Homer is buried Herrin City Cemetery, Herrin, Williamson County, Illinois, USA. He was survived by his wife, Mary E Harris Warren. She later married Clarence Rippy and moved to Flint, Michigan. Homer was preceded in death by his son, Willie Hoffer Warren (1917-1919).

Williamson County where Homer met his death had a bloody history.

The Carterville Mine Riots of 1899

In 1889, Samuel T. Brush started up a mining operation north of Carterville, Illinois called the St. Louis and Big Muddy Coal Company. Brush decided to break the Union and brought in scab laborers. To make the matter worse these laborers were African American from outside the County. On September 17, 1899, a group of black miners from Brush’s mine left his mine property and went downtown to the train station. This was the opportunity that the union workers had been waiting for since they already had a wagon full of guns and ammunition prepared for the event.

Before the black miners could reach their destination they were confronted with the union workers and a gunfight ensued. In the end, several non-union workers were killed and several were wounded with no casualties on the union side. The union men responsible were rounded up, arrested, and jailed. After three days, all were released and no convictions were ever filed.

The Herrin Massacre

In 1922 William J. Lester began developing a mining operation called the Southern Illinois Coal Company. Lester had a plan, his mine would be a strip mine operation, unique for that time, and instead of making the mistake that Brush made by using black workers, he would use non-union white workers.

On June 21, 1922 the mine was attacked along with the convoy that ferried  the scab workers to and from the mine.

On the next morning, June 22, 1922, Sheriff Thaxton, headed for the mine. When he arrived, the mine was a virtual mob scene. Everything had either been burned or dynamited or was in the process of being destroyed or plundered.

The remaining 46 scab workers were marched through the woods to Coal Belt Electric Line’s power house where the attackers opened fire on them, killing or wounding 20 of them.

Twenty one people were killed in twenty four hours and three would die later from complications.

The KKK in Williamson County

Williamson County had become a fertile field for establishment and growth of the Ku Klux Klan. The area was predominantly fundamentalist Protestant and fervently patriotic, and these factors contributed to prejudices and intolerance. They also contributed to fanatical support of Prohibition laws.   Herrin had a ready-made scapegoat in its Italian miner community, as these people were “foreigners,” Catholic, and “habituated to wine”; many of them had become bootleggers after passage of the Volstead Act.

The local Sheriff George Galligan was not strictly enforcing Prohibition, and the Williamson County Law Enforcement League, organized to help stamp out bootlegging and gambling, had condemned him, publicly announcing that other means would have to be found to enforce the law. Many citizens believed that the Klan offered a way to clean up Williamson County and redeem it from its shame.

On January 24, 1925, Deputy Sheriff Ora Thomas confronted S. Glenn Young in the Canarg Cigar Store that was located in the European Hotel. The meeting of these two enemies ended in a gunfight that left Thomas, Young, Homer and another Klansman dead.

On January 27, the coroner’s inquest covering the Young-Thomas shootout, decided that Young and Thomas had killed each other and that the other two men were killed by parties unknown.

http://www.mihp.org/2013/05/bloody-williamsons-history-of-mine-massacres/

http://www.mihp.org/2013/09/the-ku-klux-klan-in-williamson-county-part-two/

http://livinghistoryofillinois.com/pdf_files/Complete%20History%20of%20Southern%20Illinois%20Gang%20War.pdf

Copyright Roy Richard