LEWIS
ALFRED McKEE
LEWIS ALFRED McKEE
(Dec. 21, 1862 - Apr. 8, 1945)
m/
(pull dates & notes from PAF)
Albert
(
m/ HATTIE ELIZA JUDY
(D ec. 11, 1880 - Aug. 8, 1941) on Dec.
17, 1902
Julia
Catherine (10/19/1903-8/13/1991)
m/Virgil Adams
Clara
Eliza (4/8/1905-1980) m/Emil Gumper
Paul
Lewis (2/22/1907-10/1968) m/ 1)Catherine; 2)Mabel, 3)
Grace
Margarita (4/5/1909-
) m/Lawrence Stabenow
Lola
Hattie (1/3/1911-
) m /Jones Jetton
Howard
Raphael (9/25/1913-
)
Alta
Marie (2/24/1916-
) m/Lyle Goff
Thelma
Maude (1/8/1919-
) m/ 1)Dudley Milton 2) Anderson
John
Alfred (7/5/1925-
)m./ 1)Marple Brakefield 2)
A very gentle & unassuming man, worked as cook for RR & @ DeSoto yards. Poor health for many years;
Grandpa worked as a "carman" at the DeSoto railway shops. He had lost his first wife (Victoria nee WILKERSON) in 1895 and BERT SAMUEL McKEE, a son by that brief first marriage
It was the turn of the century! William McKinley's first term as President was coming to an end and political discussion still dwelled on agriculture, a free silver policy and connections to political boss Hanna. In the second election pitting McKinley against William Jennings Bryan it was a little less of a squeaker. But then in September 1901 President McKinley was assassinated and Theodore Roosevelt became president. As a nation America began to "walk softly but carry a big stick." Lew McKee didn't concern himself that much with politics but was concerned with the grass roots tasks of making a living. The average annual income was a little over a thousand dollars and those pennies had to stretch. Of course they went a lot farther than a century later -- a loaf of bread cost two cents, a pound of butter or gallon of Milk went for twenty nine cents, you could buy a new home for about $3400. You could buy a gallon of gasoline for four cents or one of Henry Ford's Model T's for $850 -- not that Lew particularly wanted one. He could walk to the railroad yards just fine, thank you and trains went anywhere he might want to go.
Bert contracted polio and while it did not leave him totally crippled he was handicapped for the rest of his life. Later he would manage to limp around pretty quickly but in his ability to get around.. After Victoria died Lew was sharing his home with his mother and she looked after Bert. . Caring for a young son while trying to make a living Lew's mom needed some help around the house with cooking, cleaning and caring for Bert. so he hired a young lady named Hattie Judy. Hattie was quiet but a very good worker. She
A baby daughter was born to LEWIS ALFRED McKEE and his wife, HATTIE nee JUDY, on October 19, 1903. She was their first child and they named her JULIA. Throughout her life, friends called her "JEWEL" and indeed that name was fitting. BERT was about eight years older than JULIA, the oldest child by his second marriage.. BERT had suffered a crippling illness which left him with a limp and other limitations BERT died when JULIA was seven years old, but she recalled him with a great fondness throughout her life. LEWIS and HATTIE lived at a house on Second Street when JULIA was born and she spent her earliest years there. The family lived in Victoria on two occasions while Julia was growing up.
Among the incidents which really "stuck with her" was the time when the children were playing in the yard and Grandma McKee instructed them to watch after Thelma, who was just a toddler at that time. As kids often do, they got more interested in their own games and when a neighbor who had been playing with them went home, she left the gate ajar. Thelma wandered through it and and as Grandma returned home a neighbor was in the process of escorting Thelma home from where she had strayed half a block away. Mom described that as "a much deserved whipping"
JULIA was the oldest of nine children born to LEWIS and HATTIE McKEE. Her sister CLARA was born Apr. 8, 1905, followed by PAUL born Feb. 22, 1907, GRACE born Apr. 5, 1909, LOLA born Jan. 3, 1911, HOWARD born Sep. 25, 1914, ALTA born Feb. 24, 1916, THELMA born Jan 6, 1919 and ALFRED born Jul. 5, 1925.
With nine children, often tough economic times and health problems, Grandpa McKee did not have an easy time providing for the family and all the kids pitched in as they were able. She recalled that they had moved to "the old home place", near Victoria, when she was fifteen where they could grow more of the food needed to feed the family. As the oldest surviving child, it was just about out of the question for Mom to go to high school, although she loved school and did well in it. Employment opportunities were limited in DeSoto so she went to St. Louis, boarding with a friend of the family, and got a job at a clothing factory, "to help out".
..A life insurance application on Alta (age 15 nearest birthday making it late 1929 or early 1930)) reflects that they were then living at 2620a Hodiamont near the intersection of Union & Enright. They had moved there from DeSotor 2 yrs 6 mo before that). Everyone, including grandpa (age 66??) was described as in good health but the insurance salesman may not have been too careful about some entries Hattie McKee was the beneficiary and presumably the informant. Besides Alta there were two sons and two daughters at home. Names were not given but the children at home would have been Lola (20), Howard (17), Alta (15), Thelma (12) and Alfred (9). Alta was attending Soldan High School. The application must have been before Lola's marriage in January 1930.
. I don't recall seeing my maternal grandparents until I was three years old although they probably visited shortly after I was born. My folks had moved to the southern edge of the state and neither they nor my grandparents had cars during those depression years. In fact I don't recall Grandma & Grandpa McKee ever having a car. He either walked, rode with somebody else or went by train. In 1935 the impact of the depression in the Missouri Ozarks was devastating.. Grandpa McKee was out of work and the family was struggling. Mom and Dad decided that the best way to help out would be to go back to St. Louis and both get jobs to bring in some income -- but what about the two young children. In a very painful, but loving decision, she offered to have us stay with Grandma & Grandpa McKee while Mom & Dad moved into an inexpensive one-room apartment in St. Louis and channeled most of their earnings into helping her parents for about a year until Grandpa's railroad pension came through.
That trip from Doniphan to DeSoto found a spot somewhere among my memory cells and I can recall almost like yesterday how I was trying to stay awake with Mom telling me about my "other grandma and grandpa" also that I would meet some new uncles and aunts and that Ron & I would be staying with them.. The next thing I recall was being awakened -- night had fallen and we were parked in front of a strange house. A sleepy-eyed three year old suddenly became wide awake when Grandpa reminded Alfred (my uncle although just a few years older than my brother) that he had a present for me. Alfred went into a box and came back with a toy motorcycle with a traffic cop on it. The head was missing but that didn't matter. To a kid whose toys at that time were mostly pine cones, broken china or homemade gadgets this was a big thrill. But it was late and soon they convinced me it was past my bedtime.
I don't recall being particularly upset when Mom and Dad continued their journey the next day amidst the excitement of Uncle Alfred and Aunts Alta & Thelma keeping us entertained. Much clearer is my recollection of Grandpa McKee saying "Come in here and meet old Tiger" We went into the bath room and he showed us a razor strop hanging on the wall next to a mirror. It had a picture of a tiger on it. Grandpa was mostly bluff without bite but he got the full attention of two wide eyed youngsters as he told us what would happen if we misbehaved. I'm sure I did ample misbehaving without feeling the sting of Old Tiger. The only occasion on which I recall it being used for anything other than sharpening Grandpa's straight razor was one day when Uncle Alfred and my brother disobeyed instructions and went somewhere without asking. Upon their return they were ceremoniously escorted to meet Old Tiger. A scared little tyke reluctantly responded to the call to "Come out here Wayne. I want you to see this too". He gave them a couple licks and I think I cried as much as they did. Grandpa was also teary eyed, a trait which was shared by my mother on the few occassions she had to punish us. Grandma was more of a disciplinarian than Grandpa. My mother would let me "make a river" at the conclusion of bathing but the first time I tried that with Grandma I can still recall the sting of her hand against a bare bottom and her lack of sympathy with the argument that this was permitted behavior when my mother gave me a bath. I quickly learned the rules of the house.
My Aunt Alta was out of school but still living at home and she pretty much "adopted" me. For some reason it seemed she always wanted to curl my hair but she had to bribe me to get me to sit still. The bribe was to let me cut pictures out of a Sears catalog before it was dispatched to the outhouse for other uses but only on the condition that I first let her curl my hair. I was old enough to consider this undignified and unmasculine but young enough to be culpable to the pleasure of being able to cut out pictures of my favorite cowboy outfits. While we were there she got her first job and it was probably her first paycheck when she and I walked down the hill to Main Street to pick out some cowboy boots or at least that was what I was convinced wewere going after. Alta always kept my shoes polished and she thought I should have some two toned sneakers but I was adamant that I wanted cowboy boots. The shoe store didn't have any cowboy boots but the man brought out a pair of lace-up boots which I was ready to accept as a compromise. Trying to fit them on, I didn't know how to curl my toes and just could not get my feet into them. After several minutes of frustration and a few tears I was finally convinced that I wasn't quite ready for boots. Guess what I came home in? .
My brother and I were quite different in our eating habits. I would eat just about anything except bread crusts while Ron was much pickier. Grandma McKee was a stickler on not wasting any food but Grandpa was the great compromiser, either offering to eat undesired scraps himself or getting someone else to eat them. But I was Aunt Alta's pet project and even the bread crumbs I would try to slip under my plate would get her attention. I later took a lot of kidding about the way I would tell her "I'm saving them for last cause I wike them best". I had a special kitchen chair I always insisted on. It had some missing rails on the back and I would slide in and out through my secret passage. When I would notice that Aunt Alta was sufficiently distracted by the table talk, I would slip away and out the back door, being careful not to let the screen slam. Then I would dash around the corner of the house and crouch down between the house and a fence right next to it. Scarcely able to contain my laughter when I would hear her "Wayne, you didn't eat your crusts". Then a less gentle opening and slamming of the screen door. I suspect she knew right where to find me but it became something of a game. The ending was always the same -- I was led back inside and closely supervised as I ate the crusts. Now I really do like the crusts best. The bigger people always drank coffee and I wanted some too. Grandma said I was too young to drink coffee but it would usually be Alta who would say that if I cleaned up my plate I could have some coffee. It would always be a cup of milk with just a little bit from her coffee cup poured in to make me think I was one of the big people.
Compared with our Ripley County farm my childhood impressions of Grandpa McKee's house was of a spacious dwelling with electricity, an inside bath tub (the rest of the facilities were out back but I was used to taking my bath in a washtub outside) and a wrap-around front porch where we liked to swing. About 25 years later I drove past at least twice looking for it before pointing out to my wife the tiny house on the corner of North 3rd Street and a dirt alleyway where I spent that childhood year with Grandma & Grandpa McKee. The wraparound porch had been removed but more significantly I no longer had those childhood dimensions and perspectives.
Maybe because I was always the first one put to bed it never sank in on me how small the rooms actually were with seven occupants sharing the space. Across the front there was a bedroom and a living room. I wasn't welcome in the front part of the house until everybody was up but I think Grandma & Grandpa slept in the bedroom and a couch in the living room was made into a bed for my aunts. The largest room took up most of the back part of the house and that was where Uncle Alfred, Ron & I slept. Beside that room was a kitchen just wide enough to squeeze behind the chairs around the table. The bathroom was built on the back side of the kitchen offset slightly to barely accomodate two doors, one into the bathroom and the other onto the back porch. There was a cistern on the back porch which was the source for water.
Lewis Alfred McKee had a stroke in late 1944 or early 1945 followed by two more. He died on April 8, 1945. Sons Howard and Alfred were still in WWII service overseas and unable to return for his funeral. Since Howard was still unmarried and had not established a home elsewhere the siblings agreed to sell the 422 North Third Street residence to Howard for a very reasonable cost rather than putting it on the market. Lola McKee Jetton was the oldest child remaining in DeSoto so she administered his estate. Three postcards she gave to my Mom around the time Aunt Lola went into a senior care facility give a written snap shot of some of the McKee siblings at that time. (Lola's family as well as Howard were residing at the 422 N 3rd place)
9/3/46
-- from Miltons, 306 Harbison, Indianapoolis 1, Ind.
Dear
Lola
Just
a card again. We rec'd your letter.
Thank Howard for the contents. Hope
all are well. We are fine. I've been canning. Don't
have very much. Have pickles &
grapes to put up this week. Pretty
cool here. Hope you are all o.k.
Heard from Alta's today. Was
surprised to hear they had moved back to town.
Karen walks everywhere now. She
sure is sweet. Bet you think I'm a big story teller. Haven't sent your box yet.
Must do it soon. White when
you feel like it and take it easy.
Love,
Thelma
9/3/46
-- from Mrs. L. Stabenow, 917 Hudson Rd,, Ferguson, Mo. (addressed to Howard)
Hello
All
Received
the check and letter. Thanks a lot. Hope you will be satisfied and can do as you wish with the
place. Best of luck to you what
ever you do. Hope Lola is feeling
o.k. Take good care of her down
there. Jerry (their
youngest son) is hurt some way....His walk is affected.
He is up and outside today but he is still swollen a little yet but
giving him sulfa. Reminds me of
when you fell on your tricycle that time. Am
takeing him back to get looked at today or tomorrow.
I think he will be o.k. All
are ready to go back to school.. come up all of you when you can.
Love,
Grace
p.s.
Just found 5 baby Rabbits. We
thought they were 2 females. Kids all thrilled to pieces.
9/4/46
-- from Mrs. V.C. Adams, Anapolis, Mo, RRoute #1
Dear
Sis & All
Rec'd
your letter and M.O. today and thanks for same.
Know you are glad this whole thing is settled and know Howard is too.
Haven't been feeling so well lately.
Have headaches a lot. Virgil
was down & went back yesterday afternoon (we
were in the process of moving from St. Louis to a farm purchased that year; Dad
was having back problems & seeing a doctor in St Louis while winding down
association with Wagner Electric where he had worked) Ron was here a while
Sun. He was down to Church Camp at
Arcadia so drove down with 2 boy friends a while. Heard from Marple & Alfred.
Know you and Marple both are anxious for the next few weeks to roll
around (both expecting babies at that time)
Wayne will start to school next Mon. They are waiting for the next Sup to arrive
so a week late starting school. Will
try to come up some week end, after the 2 big events take place if I can make
it. Don't think Virgil will stay in
St. Louis much longer now. Write
and come down when you can. Love
from Julia & all.
This letter was written to JULIA & VIRGIL ADAMS by HATTIE McKEE on Friday, August 8, 1941 -- the day she died.
We had been to Doniphan, MO that week visiting Dad's kinfolks, and had stopped by DeSoto on the way, promising to visit again on our return. I was only nine years old at the time but that day made such an impression on me that I can recall it better than events of a couple weeks ago. I remember how anxious we were to see them as we drove north and the anxiety when Mom knocked on their door and nobody answered -- "That's not like them; something's wrong". The next door neighbor saw us and came over, saying "Why Jewel, they rushed your mother to the hospital. Didn't you know?". Our Model A would do 60 M.P.H. and the speedometer stayed locked on that number as we rushed to St. Louis. We children were not allowed in her room but I could hear her groaning as we walked past the open door to her room. We were in the waiting room for only a few minutes when the nurse came in to tell us that she had died.
JULIA was very fond of her mother and the death was so sudden that it was a great shock. Grandma McKEE was being treated for a blood clot in her leg. Dr. Bilsky had warned that if it ever broke loose, it might hit her liver or heart and prove fatal. I recall the doctors getting into a conversation in the doorway between the kitchen and the living room, where Grandma's casket was placed, concerning the cause of death. They got a bit loud and Grandpa got about as disturbed as I have ever seen him; he admonished them that the family was mourning the loss of a loved one and that their conversation was entirely inappropriate in that setting.