Monday, October 30th, 1935

Veteran's Day post

This isn't really the 30th of October. No diary entry was made in 1935, but the pages were used 10 years later as this 1945 account continues from the previous pages.

Mary's son Paul is leaving for the army and they all hated to see him go, including the family of his bride of less than a year, Patsy Runyon.

Went to a show. Might it have been Keep Your Powder Dry which opened earlier in October? See trailer: http://www.tcm.com/mediaroom/video/77825/Keep-Your-Powder-Dry-1-Original-Trailer-.html 

Friday, October 26th, 1935

Radio and recovery

Lloyd heads out early to go to the big city in hopes of finding a new car, but instead comes home with a big surprise for Mary-- a new radio!

The next day she manages to get to the dinner table on her own for the first time since delivering lil baby David on the 14th. Paul, who had been gravely ill, finally goes back to school on Monday after being out for weeks and weeks.

Something different happens here in the diary, too. 1935 pages that were left blank become the pages that she records some 1944 happenings.

Flash forward 9 years. Paul is now a young man. He is getting ready to leave in the US Army. His marriage to Patsy is also recorded.

Thursday, October 10th, 1935

Always manage to keep going

She sews, bakes pies and make noodles. She goes to movies. She shops. She makes apple butter. Mary sure does manage to keep going.

Paul is noted as doing better from his recent illness, but he doesn't go along with the rest of the family to visit grandma Lenora.

Wednesday, October 2nd, 1935

Friday, September 20th, 1935

We can only trust

The fever has broke. Paul is very weakened from his illness. But finally the family can catch their breath and get some rest as Paul continues to recover.

Lloyd has to work on Sunday. Overtime is welcomed because a lay-off is in the offering.

Monday, September 16th, 1935

Doctors come, Paul no better, and then...

Ever have a doctor tell you the obvious? It happened to Mary. The doctors pronounce that Paul is no better. She already knew that. The vigil continues. Alcohol rubs. Ice packs.

Mary finally write her mother. She is so afraid. Finally, the doctors decide. It is Typhoid. The doctors say a quarantine sign must go up, but she tells them her side of things.

Then finally, the fever breaks.

Thursday, September 12th, 1935

Paul has persistent fever

I sure hat to see Paul sick, Mary writes. He has a fever of 103 degrees. There is grave concern. Mary is afraid to tell her own mother who is still recovering from surgery.

She is up day and night with Paul, bathing him to cool him down. Lloyd's adult sons come by and bring ice cream for the little sufferer who now has a fever of 105. Everyone is worried. Will the other kids remain healthy?

Sunday, September 8th, 1935

School starts, Paul gets sick

Hey, who stole the tomatoes? Well, that's Marion, Ohio, for you.

School starts, but 8 year old Paul is not well. By Thursday he comes home from school crying. He won't eat. Typhoid Fever is feared.

Saturday, August 3rd, 1935

It's Paul's Birthday!

And he gets a licking! It's a family tradition. Hey, I got the birthday lickings, too. Plus a pinch to grow an inch. Happy birthday, Paul!

Mary's mom isn't feeling well, and she's acting, well, funny. The family is still visiting there. Mollie is mentioned. Who is she?

The poor puppy got it's leg broken by lil D.J. To top it off, it is missing the next day. What's going on here? Hmmm. Someone getting rid of damaged goods?

The washing machine (must be used) isn't working right, and boy is Lloyd not pleased. The clothes looked "like the dickens" and Lloyd did some growling about it.

Thursday, July 18th, 1935

Hot days

The days are hot and Paul is getting sick.

Friday, June 28th, 1935

Let the good times roll!

Shopping. Dress, shorts, toy guns, overalls, sheets and even a mattress! And then there were cherries. They canned 7 quarts.

Harold's wedding is also recorded here. Harold married Goldie L. Pierson. They had one child, Ronald Leland Benson born in Marion in July 1943. Harold was the only child of Albert and Nellie Benson. Albert was Lloyd's brother, and Nellie his 1st cousin.

Mary also writes that the kids played with some fireworks. Also noted was that she also got to hear a story on Levin's radio on Sunday. Imagine that!

Leo had a birthday on the first of July. Leo is Mary and Lloyd's oldest. He was nine years old this birthday. No special celebration was noted. Plans are made to go to the zoo on the 4th of July.

Who is Long and who is Alice that she would hide from them?

Tuesday, June 4th, 1935

School is out

Leo advances to the 4th grade and Paul to the third. Mary's toe sure is sore.

FAMILY FEATURE #2 MOTHER'S DAY

Happy Mother's Day

This was a favorite verse of Mary's. It's by George Cooper (1838-1927) called Only One Mother. Some people use just the second verses.

Only One Mother
Hundreds of stars in the pretty sky,
Hundreds of shells on the shore together,
Hundreds of birds that go singing by,
Hundreds of lambs in the sunny weather.

Hundreds of dewdrops to greet the dawn,
Hundreds of bees in the purple clover,
Hundreds of butterflies on the lawn,
But only one mother the wide world over.

There's no way to know what day today's featured photo was taken, but wouldn't it be nice to think of it as Mother's Day? From the age of the children, it would appear to have been taken around 1939 or 1940.

Standing in the back, from left to right, are Mary and her two sons, Leo and Paul. Centered and seated in the front is Mary's mother, Leonora (Wright) Hemminger. She is flanked by Mary's two youngest children, David and Dorothea Jean, or D. J.

If you have a copy of this picture, I'd like to get a better digital image of it. If you have other pictures you would like to share, email them to bensonml@familysearch.org

Happy Mother's Day!

Friday, May 3rd, 1935

Birthdays coming!

Mary's birthday is May 7th. She will be 30 years old. She notes that she got a little birthday $ from her mother on the 3rd. But her birthday is not the story on these pages. It's little DJ's birthday!

Dorthea Jean is four years old on Monday the 6th. She weighs 37 pounds. Her mother makes her an "awful pretty" dress and her brother Paul gives her candy. She also gets "a licking," which is to say everyone give her four little lighthearted spanks. This tradition was carried on in my own house as a little fellow. Turn 8, get eight wacks. From everyone. Turn nine, get nine. The tradition has faded some with my own kids. My youngest just turned 18 last week. He didn't get 18 wacks or any other kind of "licking."

Rain continues as often does in Ohio this time of year. It's a good time to have family over and play cards. Mary played "for a wonder," which must mean she was, as we now say in our generation and house, "the party star."

Sunday, March 24th, 1935

Clothing

In these pages clothing needs and how they these needs are met are written about. Other new items in her life are the spring garden coming up and a new sidewalk out front of their home on Van Buren Street.

Wednesday, March 20th, 1935

Spring arrives, brings hope

Mary notes that the first day of spring has arrived and it was ushered
in by thunder, lightning and rain. Something got her all excited for
awhile, but what was that?

And who is the benefactor, the mysterious Mr. F. (?) that promised to
get her 8-year-old son Paul a new pair of shoes, and to also pay the
gas and electric bills? These several days raise more than a few
questions.

Even Albert, Lloyd's brother, gives the opinion that Lloyd should soon
have work. What does he know that isn't mentioned here?

Dr. Grover taped up Mary's feet on the 21st, an odd thing for a
chiropractor type to do, but the family oral history always stated that
he was a "quack." Is that just what chiropractors were called in those
days? Or was he really a practicing quack?

Spring always does offer hope, and the spring of '35 brings hope that
work will be available, that they will be able to take care of their
needs, that health will improved. We'll see about that.

Sunday, February 24th, 1935

Three generations

Mary's mother comes to visit and the visit nearly scares her to death. I wonder how her mother did that? Mary's mother is Lenora (Wright) Hemminger, a widow. Her husband, Ovella Hemminger, died just a little previous to a year ago, on December 1st, 1933. The grandmother that Lenora is going to visit is her husband's mother, Jennie (Steel) Slane, so on these pages we see reference to three generations.

I once met a woman who was well acquainted with Porter Township, Delaware County where the Hemminger's lived. She got on the phone with her aged father who had been some sort of agri-business salesman and knew everyone. She asked him for me, "Dad, did you know Ovella Hemminger?"

"Wello?" says he, "oh, yeah. Lived on Chambers Road, by the covered bridge." Bing!

The point of the call was to validate what I'd heard about my great-grandfather Ovello Hemminger.

"Dad, was he a bootlegger?" my friend asked.

"Oh, yeah," says he. So there you have it, straight from a personal witness. Prohibition ended just days after his death.

On Sunday the 24th, the shower referenced here is Harry and Richardine's belated wedding shower. But who is Floyd? Any ideas anyone?

Friday, February 8th, 1935

Keeping hours and being a neighbor

Life seems to be rather ordinary in these pages. Storms. Cleaning. Family visits.

Mentioned here is Richie, who is Harry's wife Richardine. Harry, like his brother Lloyd, had a previous marriage, and earlier this year, on January 19, married a younger woman. From this marriage would come three children, Violet, Kenneth and Leonard.

On Monday Mary writes that she thinks she will call on a lady on the corner who says she doesn't have a neighbors. Isn't that a kind thought?

Thursday, January 31st, 1935

Grandma isn't very good

Mary isn't getting out much. Her toes hurt. But she reports on Sunday that Lloyd went over to see Grandma, and she isn't doing very good. Grandma is Mary's father's mother, Jennie.

She was born Jane Ann Steele, but now is known as Grandma Slane. She was previously married to John Hemminger who died in 1929. But now she is 73 years old and married to Frank P. Slane. The Slane home is at 421 Uncapher St., Marion.

Harold is mentioned here for the first time. He is Lloyd's 23-year old nephew, the only child of Albert Benson and Nellie Kelley. You may recall that Harold has the distinction of have grandmothers who are also sisters.

Sunday, January 27th, 1935

Folks are feeling better

Albert's name is mention for the first time in Mary's diary. Albert is yet another brother of Lloyd. Albert's wife Nellie is also mentioned.

Nellie also happens to be Lloyd's first cousin. That's right. Since Albert is Lloyd's brother, that means Albert married his first cousin. They had one son, Harold Eugene Benson (1911-1995).

Nellie's mother, Emma Belle Billett, and the Benson boy's mother, Leah Billett, were sisters, children of Michael and Susan (Moore) Billett.

But who is little Dickie? And who are agents?