The Farris Girls, Three Letters from 1905 - 1932

The Farris Girls are my grandmother and her sister

Mellie is my grandmother and Bertie is her sister. In 1905, my grandmother was 25 and Bertie would have been 18. Both of the Farris Girls were living with other families as hired help. Their step-mother was the original evil one as depicted in the movie Cinderella (probably based on my grandma's step-mother) but that's a different story. I have copied the letters here.

None of the spelling or grammar has been corrected. I do have the original letters in my possession. The Gene in the letter is their brother who also lived in Missouri and would have been 20.

Letter from Bertie to Mellie. Postage stamped on envelope, Russelville, MO - June 25, 1905 - 8 am.

Letter and envelope to faded and fragile to scan

Miss Mellie Farris.

Dear sister

I will try to write you a few lines this evening as I have nothing to do. You must forgive me for not writing sooner but I dont think you would be mad if you know how much work I have to do. I will try to give you a list of what I done this week. I made me a blue lawn dress for the fourth washed and ironed done the housework picked awful big patch of raspberries every other day. besides I have went to meetings the last three nights at the Christian Church went to Sunday school this morning and to meeting at the Baptist church. Mrs and Mr Short are camellights or Christians. I dont think they like for me to go to any other church but I am going to any church I want to. Mrs. Short is always talking about religion, She said she believed the Christian church was nearer right than any other. I told her yes everybody thought their own church was the best. She has been trying to get me to join. The preacher has been here two nights and two days he give me a good talk this morning. I dont think it is any better than some others.

When are you and Mollie coming down. I can meet you at the depot any time you get ready to come. You must come for I want to see you both. Cant you both got to Olean with me for the fourth. You can get on at Enon. Me and Daisy Musick are going on the train together. I have me a blue lawn dress to wear trimmed in lace insertion a new corset and corset cover embroidery and insertion and trimmed in blue ribbon a new underskirt to tom in embroidery white ribbon for my hair neck and waist 2 new handkerchiefs am going to get me some white gloves and some slippers. You and Mollie mus be sure and go with us. Daisy is an awful pretty girl. She is as good as can be. We are big chums. She just lives a few steps away from here.

i got a letter from Gene did you. He said he was going to write to you. he said he wanted to come to the fourth. It would be nice if we could all go together. Write and tell me if you can go. There is not going to be any here. Papa was here to see me Thursday. he done the only bragging on me I ever heard him do. He said I was always good when I was at home and minded him well. I was awful glad to see him. I got letters from Maggie and Beulah. Well I must close and tell you the rest when I see you.

Write soon.

From your loving sister B

Letter from Mellie to Bertie. Postmarked stamped on envelope, Van Buren, Arkansas (registered letter) April 6, 1912

Mrs. Bertie Enloe

Bagnell, Mo

Van Buren Ark

March 6, 1912

Dear Sister Bertie

How are you. I am well. I read your card you wrote to Maude Allard. Would not give Maude the money to send for you. So Maude said I don't think she wants him to, you know how they are. Do you sill want to come down here if I was not here. I would not come. I may go to Cal next week. Write and tell us if you still want to come. If I were you, I would not say another word to Maude about coming nor mother either. They think they are smart but don't say anything. Me and Gene will try to send for you after awhile if I don't go off sometimes. I just think I wont stay in this town.

I may come back to Mo after strawberrie time. I have been working for a woman here, worked eight weeks but I am through now. I am going to send you two dollars and want you to get on the train and go down to Enloes and stay till you can hear from me again or you can go to uncle Enoch and stay. Aunt wrote to me and told me she would give me two dollars a week and you need not be afraid to go the Enloes for he told me you are welcome any time you wanted to come. If they have someone it no difference you can go there and you go say I wrote to you two letters you never got. I sent you a valentine and a letter and you never said anything about it and ask why I did not answer your letter.

Gene and Delia and my self are going to move this week. Be sure and write to me as soon as you receive this. I will send envelope and stamp and tell us all about it. Don't stay any longer if you are in trouble. You wont get any better and I would go if I was aiming to soon. Do just as you please about coming here but mother is not able to do nothing but if you had the money to come or was here you could make a living this summer.

I will close. Write soon, kiss Jewell for me. Your sister, Mellie

Mellie with Ralph 1918

Bertie with Eugene 1911

Letter from Mellie to Bertie, Postmarked December 22, 1932 

Wm Rhea, RR2, Billings, Mont

Mrs. Bertie Rasmusson

Metzger, Oregon

Dear Sister Bertie and family

After a long time I will write you a few lines. Well here it is Xmas again how time flies why dont you write. I was sure I wrote after I was up there in June but now I am not so sure. It is almost as easy for me to take a trip to Portland as to write a letter and you know how hard it is to take a trip. How are you all by now. We have colds so much flu here now. The weather has been very cold but is warmer now. What are you all doing by now. Wm still works be we cant sell anything we raised. Have so many squash here just shriveling. I have been render lard today. We killed a hog have three more to kill, they are sure cheap. I am getting about a dozen eggs a day. They are thirty cents per dozen now.

How is times there? Now we had quite a political change in (unknown). Did Eugene vote? How is all the children. Now is Soren still planning to go to Alaska? Have you heard from Genes, what are you planning for Xmas? Guess we will stay at home may go to the show or to church. We have a nice car and plenty to eat and a warm fire for which I am thankful. With you could be with us Xmas. I am sending you a dollar buy something you want. Wish I had more to send but we still have to put our middleboard up and the floors are not all down. Well I must close. Hope to hear from you all soon. Love and best wishes for a merry Xmas.

Your sister,

Mellie Rhea

PS there is a dime for the three little folks.

Mellie and Bertie, Billings, Montana 1950's

Meet Mellie Farris

Mellie Farris is my grandmother. She was a spitfire in a small body and no one messed with her. She was loving but ruled with an iron hand. This photo is probably around 1914 when she married my grandfather.

My dad, uncle, and Granny taken about 1942 in their home in Billings, Montana. 

The Granny I remember with the smile that brightened a room. 

Mellie Farris was the oldest child of Oliver Valentine Farris and Matilda Jane Pitchford. She was born in Eldon, Missouri on January 20, 1883. We have no documentation on her birth nor do we know if Mellie is her only name. On one family tree, they have her name as Mellicene but no documentation to back it up. 

Her childhood was less than ideal and I will cover that later. In the end, she created a life that suited her and I think she was quite content. To me, she was just Granny and a major part of my life. 

Day 20 - William Ogden Rhea (my grandpa)

Finally, an easy one. Well not really so easy. I knew my grandpa as a grandpa and not a person. I was 12 when he died.

William Ogden Rhea was born in Rural Hill, Tennessee on September 15, 1882. He was the 8th child of Martha Jane McCollum and John Carter Rhea. He was two years old when his father was murdered.

My grandpa was tall and never slouched. He was ramrod straight. He smelled like something I couldn't identify but he chewed tobacco all his life. I didn't figure that out until I was much older but I love the smell of chewing tobacco.

He was quiet and let Granny run his life. I will get to her later. He married late like all his brothers. I don't know where he met my grandma but have to believe that it was in Oklahoma. Laura had moved there and he must have gone to visit. My grandmother bounced all around Oklahoma, Missouri, and Arkansas which leads me to believe Oklahoma is the likely spot.

He was devoted to his mother like the rest of his siblings. We didn't hear that from him but in a letter written to Victor after Jane died.

He married Mellie Farris on Oct 24, 1914. I don't know if they lived in Tennessee for a short time or if they stayed in Missouri where they were married. Granny apparently knew Jane or had a least met her. They moved to Montana in 1917. The bought land next to the Yellowstone River and started a farm. Ralph was born in 1915 before they moved. Howard was born in Billing, Montana in 1919 and my dad, Ernie, in 1921.

They farmed next to the river. It was a great place for the boys who talked about the fun times they had there. It seems to me that they were little more delinquent than they should have been and some of their stories would have gotten me a paddling. They all talked about their dog "Ring" and the horse that hated them.

Mellie, Howard, Ralph, Ernest (my dad), and William

They were still living on the river when Grandpa found employment. He was walking to town along the railroad tracks when a train came by. The engineer hollered out, "Hey Slim, you lookin' for a job?" Grandpa said he was and he worked for the Northern Pacific Railroad, retiring as foreman for 1947. The nickname "Slim" stuck.

My grandparents spent a lot of time traveling but not necessarily together. My grandmother would arrive at the Depot in downtown Los Angeles once a year and stay for several weeks before getting back on the train and heading to San Francisco to visit my uncle and his family. The depot holds lots of happy memories for me.

My grandpa had tuberculous and spent his winters in Mesa, Arizona. He had a tiny one room apartment in a park. I remember the smell of lard and chewing tobacco. We would go to Arizona and visit with him there. When my parents married, Grandpa and Granny came to visit. This photo, taken in 1947, shows Grandpa and my dad at the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles.

Christmas 1961, Billings, Montana. The entire family. Grandpa died seven months later on July 1, 1962 at the age of 79.

In case you're wondering, I am wearing a white blouse, sitting next to Grandpa. Granny is on the end, next to the adorable Billy, my cousin. If I start naming the rest if the family, I will get sidetracked and do all their stories too.

New Cousin

On of the best things about Ancestry.com is that others are looking for answers which leads them to you. I have a new 2nd or 3rd cousin who just found a note I wrote about my grandmother. We have the same great grandmother although we know little about her family. It is exciting to think that maybe she will be able to tell us a little more. My great grandmother left her family and moved away leaving three small children. She eventually remarried and had four more. My grandmother had nothing kind to saw about her mother and didn't let her kids know she was still living. Still, I have to wonder what the other side of the story was. Our newest cousin may not know either but there might be some interesting tidbits to lead us to a more balanced view than we currently have. We all have stories but most of them are biased. It would be fun to have another view point and I am pretty excited.

Music - Last day of the Family History Writing Challenge.

My father played in the Michigan Symphony Orchestra. As a student at Michigan State, he was studying music when World War II began. Like many of the "boys", he enlisted in the Army before he was drafted. When he came home from the service, he was engaged to be married and continued his education at USC, majoring in Accounting.

You have to wonder what he would have done had his education been uninterrupted. Music was a big part of his life and a part of ours. I found a picture of my dad, uncle, and grandmother taken in November 1944, with furlough written on the back. I don’t remember a piano in Granny’s house but there it is in the picture. There is sheet music in the background and the keys are exposed. I don’t know who played it besides my dad.

 In our house, we had several instruments. We had the piano, the flute, the clarinet, and Dad’s favorite, the piccolo. My brother made a half-hearted attempt at playing the violin and I think, the trumpet. We were glad when he moved on to other interests. My mom came from a musical family and was always singing or playing the piano. Like my dad, music defines who I am and I majored in music in college until life got in the way. I played in our high school band and sang in the choir.

Music was always in our house and the favorite music was the hymns. When we weren’t at church singing, we had people over or went to their houses to sing. I grew up in a small community, isolated from the larger cities around us. We knew everyone and all attended the same church.  

I wish that I had paid more attention to the music in my grandparent’s home. I don’t remember them being musical and even when I spent summers with my grandmother as a young adult, music seems absent to me. I know that there was no piano in my uncle’s house. He lived in Billings, Montana too but I do know that when we took my grandma to church, they sang with gusto. If music was important to my dad, it had to be fostered by his parents. What did music mean to them? For the Tennessee family, where did music fit into their lives?

Just before my mother passed away, I wrote a poem for her.

When I was just a little girl my momma sang to me.
She’d sit at the piano, I’d sit upon her knee.
She’d sing the old time music, she’d learned when she was young.
That’s how I learned the melodies she taught me how to hum.

And when the nights were stormy, with lightening all around,
my daddy’d take the chairs and things and place them on the ground.
He’d make us tents and shelters and put a record on,
that matched the stormy weather, till all the fear was gone.

Now I am grown and I have kids who sing along with me,
I taught them how to sing the songs my momma taught to me.
And when the nights are stormy, we often make tents too.
That is what’s important, what I want to share with you.

Fame is not important if forever is your aim.
Traditions live forever, handed down like family names.

So when my kids are grown up,
I really hope to see.
The children of my children
sing my momma’s songs to me.

I was blessed to be able to share this with my mother. I was also blessed that after adopting my grandson, one day he started singing one of my mother’s song. He was small and wanted to know why I was crying.

Music has to transcend generations. Knowing nothing about the music from the Rhea’s of Tennessee, I thought I would look at 1918, the year the letters were written. I was pleasantly surprised to find several of the top songs for the period were some that I knew, not just the names but the songs that we sung in our house when I was small. 

The short list includes:

“Rock-A-Bye Your Baby with a Dixie Melody” This was recorded by Al Jolson on March 13, 1918. It was from a musical called “Sinbad”.

“I’m always Chasing Rainbows” came from the musical “Oh, Look”. The show opened in March 1918. Using the music from Frederic Chopin, it was published in 1917.

“Oh! How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning” is an Irving Berlin song written in 1918. He wrote this while in the Army and everyone in the Armed Forces knew this. Irving Berlin is and has always been one of my favorite composers.

“Hail, Hail, the Gang’s All Here”, was published in 1917 and words written by D. A. Esrom to a turn from the 1879 opera “The Pirates of Penzance”. 

But my favorite of all is “The Battle Hymn of the Republic”. Although an older song, written in 1861, it used the melody from the song, “John Brown’s Body”. Julia Ward Howe wrote the words at the end of the Civil War. In 1918, it was rerecorded by the Columbia Stellar Quartet and spent 6 weeks on the US Billboard as #1.

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord:

He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;

He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword:

His truth is marching on.

(Chorus)

Glory, glory, hallelujah!

Glory, glory, hallelujah!

Glory, glory, hallelujah!

His truth is marching on.

I have seen Him in the watch-fires of a hundred circling camps,

They have builded Him an altar in the evening dews and damps;

I can read His righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps:

His truth is marching on.

(Chorus)

Glory, glory, hallelujah!

Glory, glory, hallelujah!

Glory, glory, hallelujah!

His truth is marching on.

I have read a fiery gospel writ in burnished rows of steel:

"As ye deal with my contemners, so with you my grace shall deal;

Let the Hero, born of woman, crush the serpent with his heel,

his truth is marching on."

(Chorus)

Glory, glory, hallelujah!

Glory, glory, hallelujah!

Glory, glory, hallelujah!

his truth is marching on.

He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat;

He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment-seat:

Oh, be swift, my soul, to answer Him! be jubilant, my feet!

Our God is marching on.

(Chorus)

Glory, glory, hallelujah!

Glory, glory, hallelujah!

Glory, glory, hallelujah!

Our God is marching on.

In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,

With a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me:

As He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free,

While God is marching on.

(Chorus)

Glory, glory, hallelujah!

Glory, glory, hallelujah!

Glory, glory, hallelujah!

Our God is marching on.

He is coming like the glory of the morning on the wave,

He is Wisdom to the mighty, He is Succour to the brave,

So the world shall be His footstool, and the soul of Time His slave,

Our God is marching on.

(Chorus)

Glory, glory, hallelujah!

Glory, glory, hallelujah!

Glory, glory, hallelujah!

Our God is marching on.

I like that this song ties us all together. As a family, my dad, mother, brother, and I sang this in a church service. We sang all four parts because that’s how we sang everything. While not knowing anything about my great grandmother’s musical taste, I can say with certainty that she was familiar with “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.” And in the same way that my grandson sang my momma’s song to me, the tradition of the music carries on.

Music to share – The Mormon Tabernacle Choir has a beautiful version of this song.

My grandpa has a voice – Day 20 of the Family History Writing Challenge

We have been blessed this week with a second cousin in Tennessee who found a treasure trove of documents. A big thank you goes to Sheldon Livesay for his time and willingness to join in our search. I now have copies of deeds for property bought and sold in the 1800’s. This is interesting because although I don’t have any clue about plot lines and boundaries, I can find out. For instance, Sheldon found the deed where John Carter Rhea bought 75 acres on April 19, 1883.

However, the most exciting find was the letter my grandparents wrote to Victor Rhea on May 30, 1929. What tugged at my heart was the reference to Martha’s death on March 22, 1929.

My grandparents (as far as I know) never went back to Missouri or Tennessee. They were unhappy places for her. We wondered if my grandfather had even been back to see his mother. He left in 1914 so it would have been 14 years. We still don’t know the answer. What we do know is Grandpa traveled without my grandmother. When we were children, we used to visit him in Mesa, Arizona while Granny stayed home to tend to business. Grandpa had tuberculosis and the desert air was better for him than the long cold Montana winters.

In discussing my grandfather with my cousin Patty, we discovered we don’t know much about him. She has a few memories and I have some but it doesn’t tell us who he was. He was a very quiet man, not given to long speeches or idle chat. He was very tall and very trim, hence his nickname “Slim”. My grandmother was the driving force. She was an astute businesswoman and had several business interests.

The letter is the first we’ve seen in his handwriting. My grandmother wrote all the letters to my parents. This is the first time that Patty and I have heard from him in his own words.

He starts his portion of the letter talking about the farm. While we visited them in the house they built in 1932, in 1929, they were still living on the farm away from downtown Billings. Grandpa was employed full time by the railroad so the workload he carried would be staggering today.

He had just planted 600 pounds of potatoes, over an acre with Bantam Sweet Corn, and still had an acre to plant with miscellaneous vegetables like carrots and onions. He talks about taking care of the chickens. Then he writes,

“It was very depressing news of Mother being dead. Yet, we all must answer the Summons when it comes.”

We were shocked that of all the letters that must have been written, this is the one that survived. It answers some questions and provides very real emotions, which can’t be gleaned from the drier facts.

William goes on to ask,

“What did they do with Dow Arnold for killing James Willis?”

I have no idea what that’s about but because my grandfather wanted to know, so do I. It will not make any difference in my family history but it just adds flavor and texture to the story.

My grandmother wrote the second half of the letter. Her handwriting is instantly recognizable. She starts with the pleasantries and then says,

“It made us sad to hear of Mother’s death and what hurt most was that Wm had neglected to go to see her. I often urged him to go but he always said it hurt his mother so to have him leave her again. He would have gone if he had knew she would lived as long after Leona wrote him but it is always like that. Something to regret.”

Apparently, they, (Victor and Cornie) offered her the robe she had sent. She writes,

“No I don’t want the bathrobe. You do what you want to with it. I think Victor is entitled to the corn and what ever else they give him. He has been faithful to his mother.”

She then goes on to talk about the chickens she is raising and working in the garden. That is something else to research. If they were planting acres, what was in the garden?

The best thing about the letter is that for the first time, we know the emotions behind the facts. Grandpa was sad. Grandpa had regrets. Grandpa believed that everyone’s time on this earth was limited and accepted the death as a larger part of the universe. It was nice to hear from Grandpa. It was nice to hear Grandpa’s voice.

Bribery – Day 16 of the Family History Writing Challenge

In 1918, Martha writes that she wants to talk to her absent children. She doesn’t specify which ones so we are left to guess. Andrew died somewhere after his 14th birthday. Luvena died at age 37, five years before the letters were written. Laura was married and lived in Oklahoma. William (my grandfather) had married and in 1918, lived in Montana. Mary lived in the next county over. That left, Victor, Floyd, Lillie, and Della at home.

On November 22, 1918, she wrote to William:

“But I was expecting you to come. It is a heavy disappointment to me.”

She really wanted him to come back home. She is very aware of what is happening in the country. They didn’t have electricity so no radio but news was shared throughout the area.

Grandpa worked for the railroad and didn’t make a lot of money but Grandma was thrifty and could certainly make the money last. Still, Martha was concerned.

“I wanted you to come and try to farm or something that wouldn’t leave you on Starvation if you get sick. It troubles me more than I can tell you. To think if you get sick or hurt you would have nothing to ward off starvation. You never can save anything on Public Works. The next 3 years will be hard to live. Prices will be so high, and nothing growing to you will make hard times for you. If you can come I will rent the ground from the house down. Let me know soon. Wm, if you could see as I do you surely wouldn’t depend on Public works for a living.”

One of the things I remember my grandmother saying is that she didn’t want Grandpa to work in the mines. She was adamant about the mines and part of the reason they moved. Grandma would not have been pleased with the next part of the letter.

“Wm, I think this mineing Co will start things lively now the war is ended. They have brought in a boiler that has taken 2 month to bring it from the Mntn. They are mining and building. Some workhands are scarce. Della's Sam has been running their big motor trucks bringing supplies from the mountain.”

Changing tactics, Martha goes back to being self-sufficient.

“Wm, if you had a few acres of the Burk place or there close before the boom comes. Be we have here good enough if we could improve it and (unknown) it shape, we are just the proper distance. For all but school, I would like for you to tell me just what your think of it. I’ve yet have 5 good hogs to butcher I’ve thought you would come and killed a shoat weighing 160 lbs. Pork has been selling for 25 cts. I think corn will be 2 dollars.”

January 1, 1919 Letter to William:
While Martha shares family information, she is still trying to get them to move back.

“It is raining now. When it clears up Victor wants to kill 3 large hogs. I wish you and Nellie and Ralph was here to help. Wm, can you use home made tobacco. tell me I will send you some. Did you get the check for rents in my last letter.

Write me all you plans for the future Wm., couldn’t you buy cheaper from people in the country and save something.

Nellie could you raise a pig or can you have chicks. I would want one or the other. A pig would grow dollars fast. Come out here I will give you one. Is Wm working of a Knight yet. I wish he had a daylight job. Nellie write me often if nothing but a postcard. Tell Ralph I want him to come here and play with Jewel so I can write. She tries to help so much I cant hardly do anything for her. All of you come to see me.”

October 10, 1919

In the 1910’s the railroads were looking for reforms. In 1916, they secured the Adamson Act that provided 10 hours of pay for an eight hour day. They carried out a national strike in 1919 but the strike was not successful in making further changes. Martha is worried about Will’s safety and offers some advice and the invitation (again) to move back home.

“Wm, Tell me all about the strike will they bring you in it. If so, take no hand in the Rioting. Be just as quiet as you can. Spend some of your time writing to me or come and stay with me.”

We only have the five letters written by Martha to William. They cover only one year in the lives of these people.

My grandmother would never have gone back to Tennessee or Missouri where she was from. As I wrote in an earlier post, once my grandma made up her mind, it was all over. I can not say for sure if they ever went to Tennessee for a visit but if I were to hazard a guess, the answer would be no,

The letters make me sad. Martha tried her best to entice them back to Sneedville. I must have been hard for her. The girls all married young and although two of them stayed in town, they had their own lives to live. The boys all married when they were in their late 20’s or early 30’s. She got used to having them around. She wanted my uncle to grow up with the rest of the grandkids and would have enjoyed William's other two boys. However, it was just not meant to be.

Writing prompts - Day 8 of the Family History Writing Challenge

As I wrote yesterday, we are going to spend today at the orthopedic office with my child who sprained his elbow. This cuts into my writing time so I picked up the writing prompts from The Armchair Genealogist that Lynn posted to us for writing today.

Write about someone you regret not asking more questions of when they were still living.

My mom was the genealogist in our family. She was the keeper of the family records and managed to save my great grandmother’s letters. She visited the graveyards in Tennessee and Missouri to document my father’s family. She took lots of pictures. I was younger and raising a family and although interested in her research, wasn’t passionate like she was. In hindsight, I missed so many opportunities.

My mother, Ruby Ellen (Yeakley) Rhea (1918-1998) was an interesting person on her own. She didn’t marry my father until she was 29-yrs-old. She was independent and college educated. When I was a senior in high school, she got her Master’s Degree in Library Science. She was the Children’s Librarian in Denver, Colorado. When we moved to California, she continued with the libraries in Covina and Monrovia. My childhood was spent in libraries. As a reader, it was a magical place. I remember the trees at the Monrovia Public Library. They had low-slung braches that paralleled the ground. They were an easy climb and she usually found me with my back against the trunk, book in hand. When I got to high school, she moved to high school libraries and was the librarian at La Puente High School. She was there when Kennedy was assassinated. She later moved to Rowland High School. It was a new school where she had the privilege of setting up the new library. That was also magical for me. We went to downtown Los Angeles to Barnes and Noble to buy books. The warehouse was enormous and filled to the ceiling with the most amazing books.

Before marrying my father, she traveled. She made a trip to New York City on her own and I have those pictures too. She loved adventure so unlike the women of her time, traveled where she wanted alone. She passed her love of traveling to me. Like her, if there is a side road off any Interstate Highway, I am on it.

Once she married, she devoted her time to my brother and I. The difference between our friends and us was that both of our parents worked. We were latchkey kids and learned very early how to take care of ourselves. While that may sound a little harsh, we lived in a neighborhood, 30 miles from Los Angeles, California where we knew all the families. We were never alone because there were 30 some sets of parents who were always around if we needed help. We never did because we were all playing on the streets and in and out of all the houses. Our neighborhood was the only tract of house for miles around and it was a very safe place to be.

If there was a school holiday, we were all home together. When our school was out for the day, we went to work with my mother, hence all the library time. My dad eventually started his own accounting business and worked from home. I am so grateful that I had wonderful parents. They were loving and kind. They shared their faith and love of God, which has carried me through so many things. I had the perfect childhood and I know that it was a gift.

What did you miss? Everything!

So many unanswered questions now rattle around in my brain. They would have been easy to ask had I been interested enough.

What would you like to know or discuss if they were alive today?

The Yeakley side of the family is well documented. That’s my mom’s family. It’s my dad’s family where I have issues.

Even if my dad did not know the answers, my mother would have.

What was my grandmother’s name? We only know her as Mellie Farris. Was that her full name? We know where she was born but there are no records. They fall into a period in Missouri history where the records were lost.

Where did she meet my grandfather? She lived in Missouri and he in Tennessee. Did he go to Missouri at some time? We don’t know.

Did my dad ever meet his grandmother? She wrote to my grandparents but my mom only managed to save five letters, written before he was born. What do my parents know about Martha Jane McCollum?

We know that my great grandfather, John Carter Rhea, was murdered. We know one story but I recently contacted a second cousin who had a slightly different version. I’m sure both versions are correct but the details differ slightly. With both stories, I could put it together. I would like to ask about that.

My grandmother was very strict. She ruled the roost and tolerated no nonsense from her boys. What was my grandfather’s role in the family? William Ogden Rhea was a very quiet man and I don’t remember him ever raising his voice.

My great grandmother’s father, James Northcross McColloam, left home to go to California. I suspect he went for the gold. He was gone for 30 years and ended up owning land in California. When he returned home 30 years later, his wife had divorced him. Still, they are buried together so what did my parents know about that?

I want to know when Mellie left home. I know she hated her stepmother. I want to know why she didn’t tell her kids that her mother was living.

If my grandfather were still living, he and I would have a very long discussion about his life. That may be my biggest regret. Delving into the family history, I am very curious about my great grandmother and my grandfather and they are the two I know the least about. I had a chance and didn’t take it.

Mellie Farris - Day 6 of the Family History Writing Challenge

In the story of Martha Jane McCollum, there is the conflict between her and my grandmother, Mellie Farris. Martha wanted her son to come home. William and Mellie never went back to Tennessee, not even to visit. I think anything that had to do with the past were places that she didn’t want to go. She created the life she wanted and Tennessee was not part of it.

It was Christmas Day in 1964 when my grandmother announced her mother had died in 1952. Twelve years seems like a long time to wait before telling them but they had never seen their grandmother and she had not been a part of their lives. Still, it was odd. I remember the look on my father’s face. He looked shocked.

I was fifteen that year and old enough to understand there was something amiss. Granny had always said that her mother was dead so it wasn’t a surprise to me. I would have been three when she passed away and not really old enough to have remembered her. Still, it was the look on not only my dad’s face but my Uncle Ralph and Uncle Howard’s too.

Matilda Jane Pitchford, my grandma’s mother, was born on December 12, 1863 to Alpheus Alpha Pitchford and Mary Ellen Shikle in Burris Fork, Missouri. Alpheus had done well for himself and in addition to the farm; he was also the town miller. Matilda and her two siblings grew up with the things they wanted.

Matilda Jane Pitchford


On October 14, 1880, 16-yr-old Matilda married 20-yr-old, Oliver Valentine Farris. Oliver was also a farmer so she was no stranger to that lifestyle. However, he was not a wealthy as her father but he was a good-looking young man.

Oliver Valentine Rhea

They had three children. Mellie was born in 1883, Eugene in 1885, and Bertie in 1887. In 1889, when Mellie was 6-yrs-old, Matilda disappeared. It was difficult for Oliver to raise the three children but he didn’t lack company for long. In 1891, when he was 31, he married 17-yr-old Luella Campbell. On the marriage certificate, it says her father gave written approval.

Mellie was nine when Luella and Oliver had their first child. Charles was born in 1892. Then there were Lillian, Emil, Emma, Raymond, Freda, John, and the last one, Opal, born in 1908. According to Mellie, they went from an indifferent mother to the evil stepmother in Cinderella.

My grandmother was a tiny woman and barely topped 4’7”. She tells how they pulled a crate up to the sink when she was a child so she could wash all the dishes. She did their laundry and all the cleaning. Eugene was sent out to work the farm and at the neighboring farms if they needed help. Bertie was small enough to get out of most of the work. On the 1900 census, it list Mellie and Eugene as stepchildren. Someone came through and crossed off the “step.” Both Mellie and Eugene are listed as servants. The family has debated whether that means they lived at home and worked somewhere else or if they were considered servants in their own home. The consensus is they were servants in their own homes. Regardless, Granny says her childhood was miserable.

In 1910, Mellie was living in Greer, Oklahoma with her brother and his wife. Two years later, she had moved to Bagnell, Mo.

Mellie Farris

It was not long after that she met William Ogden Rhea somewhere in Missouri. None of us thought to ask how they met so it remains a mystery. They married on October 24, 1914 when she was 31 and he was 32. They stayed in Missouri until 1917 when they packed up baby Ralph, born in 1915, and headed north, landing in Billings, Montana.

William Ogden Rhea

They had a farm on the outskirts of town. Howard was born in 1919 and Ernest in 1921. The Rhea boys were trouble. They had a lot of freedom once their chores and schoolwork was done. However, with all the stunts they pulled, none of them dared cross their mother.

They eventually moved to downtown Billings where they built a two-story Victorian home. Not content to live without making money, the upstairs rooms were rented. William worked for the railroad eventually running the depot. Mellie continued to accumulate property and had several rentals, For a long time, she held onto the farm until they had enough income to let it go. I think she may have been a little like Scarlet O’Hara. She was never going to be a servant again.

Politics were her passion and she was very involved in the Democratic Party. She went to all the state conventions and worked on all the boards but her biggest passion was her kids. . Mellie’s goal was to have her three boys graduate from college and they did. All three were overachievers with successful careers.

My grandmother controlled those around her. She was a dynamo in a small package. No one knows why she decided to share that information on Christmas Day but it was a shock to her kids. From the day they were born, they were told their grandmother was dead.

It was probably the only time the veneer slipped. She talked about how she and her siblings were abandoned. She talked about her evil stepmother. She knew her mother had remarried and had four more children she would never acknowledge. To my knowledge, it was never mentioned again. No amount of prying would get answers. She went back to being our loving Granny but none us dared cross her either



937 words

An excerpt from the letter dated January 1st, 1919

Here is a brief excerpt from one of the letters from Martha Jane (McColloam) Rhea to William Rhea. "Mrs. M.J. Rhea Sneedville, Tenn Route 5, Box 3 Jan. 1st, 1919 Dear Wm, Nellie and Ralph, I hope you are well and happy and will Remain So Through life. I am well as I have been for the past 4 months. As far as I know all the Relatives here in common Health. I received your much appreciated presents. Also corset cover and apron from Leona. Della came and brought hers. Floyd did too. Xmas was very quiet. Wm, I am 71 years old this morning and I want to talk to my absent children. What I can and truly hope that when the end of their road is as near is Sight as mine They can Rejoice as I can, that Rest is near."

The Rhea's of Sneedville, Tennessee

The Rhea's of Sneedville, Tennessee is where I started. I had five letters written in 1918 and 1919 between my grandmother to my great grandmother and wanted to share them with family. I had already posted them on Ancestry.com which had generated some interest from family members mentioned in the letter as well as some of the neighbors as well.

This is my grandmother, Mellie (Farris) Rhea and the person I remember the most.

This was Granny when the letters were written.