Sunday, June 26, 2005

"You've got mail!" from OFGS

Well, my packet from the OFGS arrived on Friday. It contained the "Oak Grove Cemetery" book from the OFGS, but not the "Old Fort Log". I'm thinking that will show up in a separate mailing.

An OFGS volunteer was kind enough to search through their records for information I had requested regarding William Henry Carothers, his wife, Myrtle Elizabeth Herring, and their son, Gerald.

She looked for Gerald's school records and found him listed as being in the 7th grade in 1929. There was no individual picture, but she sent a group photo. She mentioned he did not show up in the newspaper as having graduated in 1934, which would confirm Gerald and William had moved to Prescott, AZ by that time. City directories had the following listings:

1923 William and Myrtle Carothers, 910 Main as a grocer, residing at 910 1/2 Main
1925 William and Myrtle Carothers, 910 Main as a grocer, residing at 910 1/2 Main
It lists O.T. Brown grocer at 910 Main, so he must be the owner.
No listings were found before 1923 or after 1925. A copy of a city directory includes William and Myrtle at 514 S. Wilson, and says "mach hlpr Frisco rd hse", which I assume was William's job at the time.

She was also able to acquire a record from the Konantz Funeral Home for Myrtle's funeral services. It has her parents listed as M. F. Herring and S. A. Byers. Born on May 6, 1885 and died on July 26, 1929, at age 44 years, 2 months and 20 days. The date of the service was on July 28, 1929 at 2:30pm at the Oak Grove Cemetery. The minister was H. John Cockerill.

Included in the packet was information about and records from the First United Methodist Church. Gerald's baptism record. Also, included were city records of Gerald's birth and Myrtle's death.

Myrtle is listed in the "Oak Grove Cemetery" book as being in an unmarked grave. The location of the grave is provided in the book. This is an interesting trend I need to look into. Apparently, William Henry and his second wife, Lucretia, are buried in Prescott, AZ in unmarked graves as well. And, of course, Clark and Rachel Carothers graves have no markers either. I have to say, it seems rather sad not to have some monument to mark the location of their remains.

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