Cora Belle (Metzner) Haley (1868-1955), Hardships & Photos, 52 Ancestors # 12

Cora Belle (Metzner) Haley

The 12th ancestor in my 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks project is my paternal great-grandmother, Cora Belle (Metzner) Haley (1868-1955).  Previously, I'd written about the details of her life in an Exploratory Data post.

Metzner cabin where Cora was born

Cora was born in 1868 in Wayne Township, Jay County, Indiana, the daughter of John Adam & Clara (Moulton) Metzner¹.

Eli & Cora (Metzner) Haley

After her marriage to Eli Weldon Haley in 1888, Cora lived as a housewife in Noble Township, Jay County, Indiana.  She was the mother of seven children, only five of whom survived into adulthood.  The five girls were Vera, Mary, Nora, Carrie and my grandmother, Ruth.  Son Charles (1903) and daughter Orpha (1899) died at age 6 months and 7 years, respectively.

Losing a child was a more common occurrence over a hundred years ago, but I'm sure it was a heartbreaking experience.  I do not have the cause of death for Orpha, but Charles died of acute pneumonia.  This funeral photo is the only known photo of him.

Charles Leo "Charlie" Haley (1902-1903)

Orpha's memory was captured in this family photo of the Haleys.  Since daughter Mary was born in 1895, this photo likely dates just before Orpha died in 1899.

Eli (seated), Cora (standing), Vera, Orpha & Mary Haley

The family farm was the scene of many family gatherings and Sunday dinners after church.  Eli was still farming at the time of the 1940 census, when he was  74 years old. In 1939, after an unfortunate fire, my grandmother & grandfather's family had to move back in with Cora and Eli for a time.  The family was always a close one.

The Haley girls

The Haley girls

After many years of living on the farm, Cora and Eli moved in with their daughter & son-in-law, Vera and Clarence Stuber.  The Stubers lived in Madison Township, where Cora died on April 28, 1955².  I had previously posted about her funeral record.

Cora (Metzner) Haley on the farm

My dad remembers that his grandma Haley in her later years suffered near blindness from glaucoma.  She could only make out shadows.  Yet she was still able to fix a plate and feed herself.  He mentioned my aunts helping to braid her hair. Dad was only 11 years old when she passed, so I need to speak with my aunts and uncle to see if they have other memories of grandma Haley.

Sources:

1. Commercial-Review, Portland, Indiana, April 29, 1955, page 1, Obituary of Mrs. Cora B. Haley.
2. Ancestry.com. Indiana, Death Certificates, 1899-2011 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. Original data: Indiana State Board of Health. Death Certificates, 1900–2011. Microfilm. Indiana Archives and Records Administration, Indianapolis, Indiana. , Cora Belle Haley, 4-28-1955, Jay County, Indiana.

The 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge was created by Amy Johnson Crow of No Story Too Small blog.  The premise is to write once a week about a specific ancestor - whether it be a story, a biography, a photograph or a research problem.

Eli Weldon Haley (1866-1957), Married By the Bishop, 52 Ancestors # 11

Eli & Cora Haley, 50th Wedding Anniversary photo

The 11th ancestor in my 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks project is my paternal great-grandfather, Eli Weldon Haley (1866-1957).  Previously, I'd written about the details of his life in an Exploratory Data post.

I've posted before about finding the original marriage return for his marriage on July 21, 1888 in Jay County, Indiana to Cora Belle Metzner. The minister who performed the ceremony was listed as R. Dubs.

The article in the Portland, Indiana Commercial-Review announcing their 50th anniversary gives more information about the ceremony and the officiant.

Portland, Indiana Commerciak-Review
July 31, 1938

The article states that Eli & Cora were married by Bishop Dubs of the Evangelical Association.  The "R. Dubs" was in fact, Rudolph Dubs, the well-known and later controversial bishop of the society.

"...besides the distinguished Bishop there were present also the Revs. Stovenour and Stoops..."

It's not known why the wedding was performed by such a high official of the Evangelical Association.  In fact, the newspaper article mentions that there were two other ministers present at the ceremony as guests.  The Haley and Metzner families were long time members of the Evangelical Association, and Eli's grandfather, George, was a former minister of the society.  Perhaps it was this family connection that led to Bishop Dubs performing the ceremony.

It wasn't too long after this marriage that Bishop Dubs was part of a schism during 1890-91 in the Evangelical Association that led to the formation of the United Evangelical Church.  I found more details at the General Commission of Archives and History of the United Methodist Church and his Wikipedia entry.  His followers were known as Dubsites, and the acrimonious split in the denomination was played out in the courts as fights over church property and the use of the church name.  More information about Bishop Dubs can be found in Annals of the Evangelical Association of North America and History of the United Evangelical Church.

I do not know how this split affected the Haley family personally or their church at Mt. Zion in Noble Township, Jay County, Indiana.   The Haley family had helped build the church, and according to the History of Mt. Zion Church by Madonna Miller, Eli Haley helped lay the bricks to build the church.

The split in the denomination lasted until 1922 when the two churches merged and formed the Evangelical Church.  In 1946 the Evangelical Church merged with the Church of the United Brethren in Christ to form the Evangelical United Brethren (EUB) Church. In 1968, the EUB and the Methodist church merged to form the United Methodist Church. Mt. Zion church is still an active church today.

Mt. Zion UMC, 2002

The 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge was created by Amy Johnson Crow of No Story Too Small blog.  The premise is to write once a week about a specific ancestor - whether it be a story, a biography, a photograph or a research problem.

Barbara Isabel (Wehrly) LeMaster (1869-1930), Dies From Operation, 52 Ancestors # 10

Barbara Isabel (Wehrly) LeMaster

The tenth ancestor in my 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks project is my paternal great-grandmother, Barbara Isabel (Wehrly) LeMaster (1869-1930).  Previously, I'd written about the details of her life in an Exploratory Data post.

Barbara is one ancestor that I don't have a lot of insight into - the only photo I have is the one above, which is cropped from a larger family group photo.  She died well before my father was born, so there are really no stories passed down about her.  Her obituary however, gave me the story for this post.

Grandma Barbara went into the hospital for an operation, and didn't come back home.

I do not know how long she was ill, but she was apparently ill enough to undergo surgery at a hospital.  The hospital was in Union City, Indiana, which according to Google maps, is a distance of 15.9 miles.  Union City is intersected by the Indiana-Ohio line, and has a city in Indiana as well as Ohio.  In 1930, the hospital was in the Indiana side.

According to her obituary¹, Barbara had gone into the hospital for an operation to treat gallstones:

Mrs. Barbara I. Lemaster, wife of L.C. Lemaster, of east of Salamonia, died at 4:25 o'clock Thursday evening at the hospital in Union City.  She underwent an operation for gall stones on January 29, and it was thought that she was recovering until she suffered a sudden relapse.....

Portland, Indiana Commercial Review, February 7, 1930

Barbara's death certificate lists her cause of death as cholaemia, with a contributing factor being gall stones².  

Barbara I. Lemaster death certificate, Randolph County, Indiana, 2-7-1930.

The death certificate gives a few clues to how long she had been suffering.  The physician that certified, H.H. Jones of Salamonia, Indiana, stated that he had attended Barbara from October 20, 1929 until her death.

Cholemia was not something that I was familiar with, but the Wikipedia entry for the disease states it is a condition caused by the presence of excess bile in the blood.  Its symptoms can include drowsiness and in extreme cases, coma.  It is often an early sign of liver disease.  Currently untreatable, it is caused by a blood disorder caused by genetic factors.

To my knowledge, I'm not aware of any others in the family suffering from this condition.  She left 12 surviving children and today has numerous descendants.

Barbara was buried at the Salamonia Cemetery in Salamonia, Indiana where she was joined a few years later by her husband, Luman.

Tombstone in Salamonia Cemetery, Salamonia, Indiana

Sources :

1. Mrs. Lemaster Dies Thursday From Operation, Portland Commercial-Review, Portland, Indiana, February 7, 1930, page 1.
2. Ancestry.com. Indiana, Death Certificates, 1899-2011 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA : Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. Original data : Indiana State Board of Health. Death Certificates, 1900-2011. Microfilm.  Indiana Archives and Records Administration, Indianapolis, Indiana., Barbara I. Lemaster, 2-7-1930, Randolph County, Indiana.

The 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge was created by Amy Johnson Crow of No Story Too Small blog.  The premise is to write once a week about a specific ancestor - whether it be a story, a biography, a photograph or a research problem.