My great grandmother’s obituary produced as keepsakes by the local newspaper. It has been interesting to live as witness to the demise of the print journalism industry.
In Memoriam
HERALD-LEADER
Lexington, Ky. January 8 1963
Mrs. Martha B. Corman
Mrs. Martha Bradshaw Corman, 81, the widow of Suber* Corman, died at 7 p.m. Sunday at St. Elizabeth Hospital, South Fort Mitchell.
She was a native of Lexington. Mrs. Corman lived at 6 Floral Avenue in South Fort Mitchell and was a member of the Madison Avenue Christian Church there.
She is survived by five daughters, Mrs. Fanny Dean Mathews, Nicholasville; Miss Viola Corman and Miss Madeline Corman, both of South Fort Mitchell; Mrs. William Englett, Victorville, Calif., and Mrs. Joseph Neal, Kansas City, Mo; two sisters, Miss Susie Ghant, Nicholasville, and Mrs. Minnie Scanlon, Prineville, Ore; 12 grandchildren, and 21 great grandchildren.
The body was taken to the Allison and Rose Funeral Home in Covington.
It will arrive here at noon Wednesday and will be taken to Kerr Brothers Funeral Home where services will be held at 1:30 p.m. Thursday. Burial will be in the Lexington Cemetery.
One of two examples of obituary keepsakes laminated and serve as bookmarks.
A TRIBUTE
published in the pages of
THE LEXINGTON LEADER
LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY
JAN 7 1963
Memorial Obituary
Mrs. Martha B. Corman
Mrs. Martha Bradshaw Corman, 81, widow of Suber* Corman, died at 7 p.m. Sunday at St. Elizabeth Hospital in South Forth Mitchell.
A native of Lexington, Mrs. Corman had lived at 6 Floral Avenue in South Fort Mitchell and was a member of the Madison Avenue Christian Church there.
Survivors are five daughters, Mrs. Fanny Dean Mathews, Nicholasville; Miss Viola Corman and Miss Madeline Corman, both of South Fort Mitchell; Mrs. William Englett, Victorville, Calif., and Mrs. Joseph Neal, Kansas City, Mo., two sisters, Miss Susie Ghant, Nicholasville, and Mrs. Minnie Scanlon, Prinville, Ore.; 12 grandchildren and 21 great grandchildren.
The body was taken to the Allison and Rose Funeral Home in Covington. It will arrive here at noon on Wednesday and be taken to Kerr Brothers Funeral Home where services will be conducted at 1:30 p.m. Thursday. Burial will be in the Lexington Cemetery.
Another ancestor I never knew existed in the Mathews with one “t” lineage, thank you Ancestry.com, was named Dr. Joseph McDowell Mathews. His grandfather is my 3rd great grandfather.
This example really floors me for not knowing or being known among family. Additionally, there is not much to commemorate him and his significance appearing in areas of public domain where I think there should be. This is another reason my passion has a purpose. This man deserves wider recognition. I mean, was he the first to say “Turn your head and cough”? If so, I rest my case.
Joseph M. Mathews, MD
With the help of online archives for The Kentucky School of Medicine, a predecessor to the University of Louisville School of Medicine, I located several images of Dr. Joseph McDowell Mathews. He served on faculty at least seven of the graduating class years between 1887 and 1903, but I plan to dig deeper on this point for clarification. Next research visits must include UofL archives.
low-quality screenshot of cropped image online Dr. Joseph McDowell Mathews
1847 Born New Castle, Henry County, Kentucky
He was the fifth child born to Caleb Moffett Mathews & Frances Ann Sullinger Edwards-Beasley Mathews, in Henry County, KY, on May 29, 1847. Father Caleb Mathews was a prominent attorney and judge for the county in the early formation of New Castle. The children of the Caleb Moffett Mathews family were considered “illustrious” and were presumably well-educated, as their father had been. There are references to the Henry Academy and its formation.
You can read more about Caleb and his two Mathews brothers, Joseph & William. These were the only sons of John Mathews, the first Mathews ancestor to settle in Kentucky, and his wife Sarah McDowell Mathews. These three brothers were all younger than ten years old when their father John died. A guardianship arrangement was established with George Moffett in 1816.
If Ancestry.com connections are valid, the McDowells and Moffetts were Revolutionary War Patriots and offer rich layers of exploration along a separate rabbit hole.
Education to physician educator
After his youth spent in Henry County having attended New Castle Academy (a.k.a., Henry Academy?), Mathews attended the medical school in Louisville, KY and graduated at 20yo in 1867. There is more than one reference to him studying medicine in Europe (either London or Germany…or both). His career flourished over the next nine years. He served on faculty of Kentucky School of Medicine, as president of the state board of health, and as chairman of surgery for Medical College of Louisville.
1876
The first reference to Dr. Mathews’ residence and practice as listed in the Louisville city directory was in 1876. Then, the following year, he married Sarah “Sallie” Trumbo Berry of Versailles, Woodford County, KY, on May 29, 1877. They were married in Midway, Woodford County.
Sallie was a 29yo widow and the mother of William F. Berry, born 1867, who Dr. Mathews later adopted. The origin story of William F. was tragic for Sallie, too. Sallie may have had a tumultuous first marriage as indicated by a newspaper clipping reporting when her father, Adam Trumbo, murdered her first husband, William T. Berry, when son William was 5yo. There is more to that story, to be sure. Search in blog for Trumbo for the next installment on this.
Louisville practice
The Louisville City Directory shows Dr. Mathews’ lived and practiced in Jefferson County between 1876 and 1914. Dr. Mathews lived in Louisville as shown in the census records of 1880, 1890, 1900 & 1910.
Between 1876 and 1914, Dr. Mathews’ Louisville practice was located at: 747 Walnut Street, 647 Walnut Street, 289 5th Street, 580 4th Street, 10 Warren Bldg, 342 W. Walnut Street, Mathews & Asman, 411 Masonic Temple, 308 Masonic Temple, 316 West Chestnut Street and, finally, 308 Masonic Temple.
In the same timeframe, the home residences noted in city directories of Dr. Mathews were located: 19th Street, Broadway, Alexander’s Hotel, 518 W. Breckinridge, 923 4th Street, 500 Belgravia Ave, and Louisville Hotel.
By 30yo, Dr. Mathews began narrowing his practicing interests to colon and rectal diseases. What might have triggered such drive? When New York City did not provide for his pursuits, he then went to London to study at St. Marks Hospital. Determination. In 1879, Dr. J. M. Mathews became “the first US physician to limit practice to colon and rectal disease.”
1880
The 1880 US Census shows Joseph M. Mathews, doctor, 33yo, Sallie, 32yo, and William, 13yo, living at “house #186, South Side Jefferson Street” in Louisville, Jefferson, Kentucky, USA. With Dr. Mathews on faculty at Kentucky School of Medicine, Louisville, Jefferson County, KY.
1896
Dr. Mathews served as editor for the Mathews’ Medical Quarterly.
1898
Dr. Mathews elected President of the American Medical Association.
Joseph McDowell Mathews, M.D.
THE MEANING OF THE HONOR
Dr. Mathews is Now President of America’s Greatest Medical
Association and One of the Most Splendid
In the World.
Dr. Joseph M. Mathews of this city who was elected President of the American Medical Association at Denver Wednesday has in that election xxx on of the highest that be paid a physician as this is a national body and comprises every State and Territory in the Union. Dr. N. ??? of Chicago was the President last year, and Dr. ?name, Surgeon General of the army, is the retiring President. Dr. Mathews has had many honors conferred upon him in the past. He is ex-President of the Mississippi Valley Medical Association, President of the Kentucky State Medical Society, President of the State Board of Health of Kentucky, and has this year been First Vice President of the American Medical Association, the great body of which he has just been elected President. A few weeks ago a Pennsylvania university conferred upon him the degree of X.X.D.
The Courier-Journal, Louisville, Saturday Morning, June 11, 1898
1899
From Mathews to the Millennium – A Century of Achievement
A History of the American Society of Colon & Rectal Surgeons, 1899-1999
Written & Edited by J. Byron Gathright, Jr. M.D. and Richard S. Bragaw
1900
The 1900 Census shows their residence as 923 Fourth Avenue, Louisville, Jefferson County, KY. A search for this address turned up in a parking lot adjacent to Spalding University properties, downtown Louisville. I have yet to find images of the house. It is possible there were photos taken by municipal entities prior to the razing.
By this year, son William T. Berry was considered an invalid brought on by illness. He would die from pneumonia in March of the following year.
In 1900, there were at least two other Mathews with one “t” living in Louisville, Kentucky. As of now, I do not find evidence of a connection to these families.
One other juxtaposition of note that I plan to pursue in research: In the 1900 US census, the enumerator lists residents living at 921 Fourth Avenue, presumably next door to the 923 Mathews Family residence. Headed by 58yo Henrietta Long Miller, Samuel A. Miller’s widow of five years, along with their 28yo daughter Eleanor Everhart Miller Bingham, her husband of four years, Robert Worth Bingham, 29yo, and their child, Robert, 3yo.
Much has been written about the Millers, Longs, Binghams in their situations marked by tragedy and grief. Was Dr. Mathews a neighbor of the family that would become pivotal to the development of Louisville as a city? What if any interaction was there? Would any journals they kept hold clues to my own ancestors? Would their family photo archive show their home?
According to the Pewee Valley Historical Society, the Miller family home located at 921 Fourth Avenue was razed to make way for building The Puritan Apartments, which opened in 1917. It stands to reason the house located next door would also have been impacted by the sizeable land project of an apartment building.
1901
Burying babies
And, in further sadness, according to this obituary below, Sallie lived to bury her only son, William F. Berry. His obituary opens up several lines of inquiry, including athletics and baseball in Louisville, a career in Philly and end of life as an invalid.
WILLIAM F. BERRY DEAD
Formerly An Athlete, But Recently An Invalid
William F. Berry, thirty-two years of age, died of a complication of diseases at the home of Dr. J. M. Mathews, 923 Fourth avenue, at 3:xx o’clock yesterday morning. Mr. Berry, formerly one of the best-known baseball players and athletes in Louisville, was an invalid for three years. He first became ill in Philadelphia. After leaving Louisville, he went to the Pennsylvania metropolis and engaged in business. He suffered an attack of the grip, and pneumonia, which later developed, brought an ailment which wrecked his constitution. He was compelled to retire from business.
Mr. Berry was the son of Mrs. J. M. Mathews. The funeral will take place from the residence this afternoon at 3:3o o’clock. The Rev. Carter Helm Jones will conduct the services.
THE COURIER-JOURNAL, 6 MAR 1901 – PAGE 10
1902
Joseph McDowell Mathews, physician, surgeon, author, was born May 1, 1847, in New Castle, Ky. He is president of the Kentucky state board of Health. He is the author of Mathews on Disease, of the Rectum and Sigmoid Flexure.
Herringshow’s Encyclopedia of American Biography of the Nineteenth Century (1902)
The US Directory of Deceased American Physicians, 1804-1929, Dr. Mathews was an “Allopath” with practice specialties and places including in: Louisville, KY, May 5 1911, Los Angeles, CA, November 25, 1915, Seattle, WA, Jan 20, 1925. Licenses: KY, 1893. Professorship: Louisville and Hospital Medical College, Louisville surgery, JAMA Citation 91:1910
Sometime after 1901, Dr. & Mrs. Mathews changed their residence to Los Angeles, CA. Did Sallie need to change her scenery following the death of her son? Dr. Mathews’ practice sites included: Seattle, Los Angeles, Louisville. Was he in demand as the foremost practitioner on his area of focus?
1920
The 1920 Census Los Angeles Assembly District 64, Los Angeles, California; Page 13B; Enumeration District: 228. Joseph M. Mathews, 72yo, living on So Carondelet Street as Head of House, married to Sara E. Mathews, 68yo. Renting.
California to paradise, but Kentucky remains
1928
After an illustrious career and presumably a choice retirement, Dr. Mathews died from pneumonia at 80yo in Los Angeles, CA, on December 2, 1928. He and Sallie were living in the Shoreham Hotel, Carondelet Street in their eighteenth year as California residents. Would the Shoreham be as swanky back then? I suspect so. OG swanky.
Obituary, 1928
DR. JOSEPH MATHEWS DIES
LOS ANGELES – Dr. Joseph McDowell Mathews, 81, former president of the American Medical Association died here . Dr. Mathews came to Los Angeles 18 years ago from Kentucky, where he began his career after he was graduated from the University of Louisville. Born at New Castle, Ky., Dr. Mathews went to London in 1879 and on returning to Louisville became a pioneer in proctology and was the first presidnet of the American Proctologic Society.
Lexington Herald-Leader, December 3, 1928 (their typo, not mine)
She was 78yo. His wife, Sallie, died 18 days later and her funeral services were held at Little Church of the Flowers, Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale, CA. Dating back to 1906, the Glendale location was the first Forest Lawn Memorial property. Of the network of parks, this original location today features the Forest Lawn Museum.
Obituary, 1928
MATHEWS, December 20, 1928, at the Shoreham Hotel, Mrs. Sallie E. Mathews, widow of the late Dr. Joseph M. Mathews.
Funeral services will be held Saturday, December 22, at 11 a.m. at the Little Church of the Flowers, Forest Lawn Cemetery. A. E. Maynes of the George A. Fitch, Inc., director, (Seattle and Louisville papers please copy.)
The Los Angeles Times, December 22, 1928, Page 16
“Dr. Mathews wrote a booklet on Proctology, a subject he originated and was the first Orthodox physician in the world to adopt proctology as a field of practice.”
Dr. & Mrs. J. M. Mathews were cremated and without memorialization, now side-by-side at Cave Hill Cemetery. A brief stop at the office confirms by map their location adjacent to the drive just up the hill from this administrative building. Their sites are without markers but aside the headstone for William F. Berry. They are there with the son but anonymous in the deep ground around. They left no children, also referred to as “without issue” which makes me wonder if they were close to their nieces and nephews?
Was that no-marker decision rooted in humility, anonymity or something else? No will of either among my records yet.
1938
According to the February 1991, every other year beginning in 1938, the American Proctology Society commemorates founder Dr. Joseph McDowell Mathews with The Joseph M. Mathews Oration.
What did the society publish? Where are those records? Was this a convention event?
Another doctor in the family
The Henry County Historical Society has been in transition recently but I plan some summer 2023 research road trips that will allow me to move closer in my understanding of the Mathews family in New Castle. And then, Danville.
Next, I will share about the connection to Dr. Ephraim McDowell, another cousin, 6x removed from me, who is famous as a pioneer surgeon for performing the first ovariotomy in Kentucky.
that.Kentucky.girl
A 6th-generation Kentuckian on a journey to find out – follow along
February 3, 2023 is the 78th anniversary of the death of this person – Dr. Mathews – my ancestor I never knew I had. He is on a branch of my paternal family tree – Mathews with one “t” as we say, that I discovered only through my Ancestry.com research.
William H. Mathews II, MD
Here’s what I compiled from resources: He was born 5th of 11 siblings to William H. & Sarah Ann Porter Mathews, in Nicholasville, Jessamine Co, KY. He was the older brother of John Shanon Mathews, my dad’s grandfather. He was uncle to Pleas Cook Mathews, my grandfather.
Dr. W. H. Mathews II was born, was raised and later settled his family and his medical practice all in the proximity of the location noted on map as “W. H. Mat(t)hews” (see “C” in Chattersville)
Medical education in late 1800s
William H. Mathews, II attended medical school in Louisville, KY, in September 1881. Other names affiliated with his education include Kentucky School of Medicine and Hospital Medical College, from which he graduated in 1883. His obituary makes reference to an additional course in microscopy. I’d like to know what medical school was like in the late 1800s.
He married Fannie Scott of Nicholasville in 1884. The 1900 & 1910 Census records show they lived in Nicholasville, Jessamine Co, KY. They had two children Thomas Scott Mathews and Wm. H. “Doc” Mathews III.
Jessamine Co histories and his obituary place Dr. Mathews’ forty-four acre farm and practice located 3 miles south of Nicholasville, Jessamine Co., on Lexington and Danville Turnpike where he was born. He farmed and practiced as a physician at his homeplace. He was noted as a member of the Methodist Church. [Question to answer: Which one?] He provided care to the residents of Jessamine County for what might have been more than 40 years. [Another question.]
Concurrent storylines
Dr. Mathews II died at 88yo in Nicholasville, KY, on February 3, 1945. Across the county not far north, my dad was about to turn 10yo in a couple months and Pleas’ Jessamine Co tobacco farming family looked very much like this (see photo). Dr. Mathews may have checked in on his nephew Pleas’ family of five young children. Right? Would there have been any law against family treating family then?
The Mathews Family around 1945 or so (front) Bobby, Marita, Kenneth, (back) Marjorie, Fanny Dean holding David, and Pleas. I stare and stare at this image and ponder how much alike my father and his father appear here. Look at them – similar stance, far-off eyes squinting, head tilted at the sun.
The various Mathews relations likely all gathered at the funerals for Mayme Cook Mathews in March 1940, or that of her husband, John Shanon Mathews, who died a month later, April 1940. William would have attended his younger brother John’s funeral, I say. And yet, I have not found anything to corroborate.
Perhaps it was timing and geography that had something to do with a tradition of not knowing the family members. Maybe they just did not have anyone to carry forward all their stories to the younger generations. Was there a falling out of some sort, somewhere along the tree branches? Could it have been that Pleas returned from WWI combat without that connection?
I have not been searching long enough to have a true basis for these theories and yet I am not deterred. I will continue to seek more stories to live through my study and my imagination. I strive to be a giving ancestor by capturing what I can while I can as best I am able.
Other physicians in the tree
UP next (or soon, anyway) Dr. Mathews II’s first cousin (also my first cousin, 3x removed), Dr. Joseph M. Mathews, was a notable physician teaching and practicing in Louisville, Jefferson County, KY. Then, there is evidence of a connection to Danville’s Dr. Ephraim McDowell, a first cousin 6x removed from me, who is famous as a pioneer surgeon. More to follow from these rabbit holes.
that.Kentucky.girl
A 6th-generation Kentuckian on a journey to find out – follow along
John Shanon MathewsMayme Cook Mathews & John Shanon Mathews with grandson John Shepherd Mathews taken at the Jessamine County homeplace circa 1929-1930. They were married 53 years and died 37 days apart. Images captured from a family photo album and I believe the handwriting belongs to my grandmother.
MATHEWS
John S. Mathews, 76, died at 8:30 o’clock Wednesday night at the Good Samaritan hospital, Lexington.
Mr. Mathews, a Jessamine county farmer, is survived by two sons, Pleas and Johnny Mathews of Jessamine county; two brothers, the Rev. Joe Mathews, Anderson county and Dr. W. H. Mathews, Nicholasville, and three sisters; Mrs. Celia King, Indianapolis, Mrs. M. P. Land, Lexington and Mrs. Anna Bryant, Danville.
The body has been removed to the Guyn & Kurtz funeral home, wheres services were held at 2 o’clock Friday afternoon, with the Rev. Madison Combs, officiating. Burial was in Maple Grove cemetery.
The Nicholasville News, Wednesday, May 29, 1940
that.Kentucky.girl
A 6th-generation Kentuckian on a journey to find out – follow along
My paternal 2nd great-grandfather was named Pleasant Cook. Not a name I think I’ve ever heard before until researching. But, pleasant. Is it possible to live up to it, though?
He was born at home in 1832 at the Cook Family Home, Harrodsburg Road on the border of Woodford and Jessamine Counties. His mother, Nancy Easley, died when he was 8yo and his father remarried to Pauline Bryant in 1841.
inscription on back: “farm with Pleas Cook in front of house” circa 1910-1917
Pleasant worked for 21 years as a carpenter following an apprenticeship to Woodford County carpenter Barry Holloway that began in 1847 when he was 16yo. In 1850, he was employed by Holman R. Crow as a carpenter along with Aaron Crow, George Crow, William Trisler and Neal Wilson.
Two years later, when he was 21, he went out on his own professionally and married Mary Chowning in October, 1852. Over the next 17 years, they had four children: John, Melvin, James, Charles and Mayme (my great grandmother). They farmed 230 acres at this homeplace he assembled over time in the same area as his in-laws.
My great-great grandparents, Mary Ann Chowning and Pleasant Cook. The image, therefore, appears to be a middle-aged period based. Best guess: circa 1880-1890. If you ask me, his hands suit his vocation. And, it may have been something for mother to hold a handkerchief, book or something – can’t distinguish.
Pleasant outlived Mary by 8 years after she died in 1909 at 75yo. His wife’s obituary includes a reference to the Cook family as “one of the oldest families of the county.” Pleasant lived to be 86yo and died in August 1917. Grandson Pleas had just registered for the US draft in June 1917.
The “ol’ homeplace” on Jessamine Creek in Jessamine County, Kentucky at the time of my grandparents raising their children, including my fathercirca late 1940s
With confidence in research validations, I know Pleasant Cook and Mary Chowning to be my great-great grandparents. From Pleasant, I am working my way further along his tree including his father named Thomas Cook, mother Nancy Easley (surname also found in my maternal grandmother’s tree) and possibly three siblings or more. From the family artifacts collection, there is a handwritten listing of Chowning family and their respective birth, death and marriage dates which will come in handy when I get to that stage of research. The Chownings, along with the Singletons, were early settlers of the area and presumably purchased from surveyor and settler James Douglass. *Research topic for later
Cropped image of 1868 deed
According to Jessamine County land records, Pleasant Cook, at 37 yo, was first recorded in 1868 as a grantee of 10 acres for $1,000 by William Singleton. From that date, there are six entries in which Pleasant was a grantee. By tallying the descriptions in those deed records, he acquired more than 222 acres in the 34 years between 1868-1902.
He worked with his hands, creating things of utility and beauty both in the fields and in the workshop. I have been fortunate to have been gifted several pieces that belonged to “the Cooks” as Dad says he was told. Perhaps Pleasant made one of them himself . . .?
I wonder: Did Pleasant have his eye on this particular land for his assemblage into a farm for his family and subsequent generations? Was it the realization of his goals and dreams?
Mayme Cook Mathews, my great-grandmother born 1869 and died 1940 in Jessamine Co
Mrs. John S. Mathews – Mayme Cook
MATHEWS
Mrs. John S. Mathews, 71, died at her home on Brown street here Monday after a two-day illness. She is survived by her husband and two sons, Pleas C. and John Mathews, both of Nicholasville.
Deceased was the daughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. Pleas Cook one of Jessamine county’s oldest families. She was a kind Christian woman and was loved by a large host of friends and acquaintances.
Funeral services will be held at 10 o’clock Wednesday morning at the Baptist church, the Rev. J. A. Stallings officiating. Interment in Maple Grove cemetery here.
Mamie Mathews’ death certificate is missing details and has her name misspelled. Was the authorizer hurried? The cause of death is noted as “cerebral hemorrhage” which could be due to an injury or a stroke. The Lexington obituary cites paralysis, which again leads me to believe she had a stroke.
Nicholasville Resident Succumbs to Paralysis
Nicholasville, Ky., April 16 (Special) – Mrs. Mayme Cook Mathews, 72, of Nicholasville, died at her home at 5 o’clock Monday afternoon after a short illness of paralysis. She was a daughter of the late Pleas Cook of Jessamine county. She is survived by her husband, John Mathews; two sons, John and Pleas Mathews, Nicholasville; a brother, Melvin Cook, Jessamine county, and six grandchildren. Funeral services will be held at 10 o’clock Wednesday morning at the Nicholasville Baptist church with the Rev. John T. Stallings officiating. Burial will be in the Maple Grove cemetery.
The Lexington Leader, Lexington, KY, Tuesday, April 16, 1940 – Page 11
Maple Grove Cemetery, Nicholasville, Jessamine County, KY image borrowed from Find A Grave
FOR FURTHER RESEARCH: Why is her address listed as Brown Street? Brown Street is in town and runs off Main Street near where the new library was opened. I thought John & Mayme Cook Mathews lived on the farm until John died, ironically about a month after Mayme died.
born February 26, 1904, Wilmore, KY, died July 30, 1930, Kenton Co, KY. Buried Garland Brook Cemetery, Columbus, Bartholomew Co, IN, Sec. 50.
OBITUARY: YOUNG PASTOR VICTIM OF FEVER
Rev. Ira M. Corman, Erlanger, Dies in Covington Hospital
POPULAR WITH PEOPLE
Body Will Be Sent to Indiana Following Church Rites.
The Rev. Ira M. Corman
Funeral services for the Rev. Ira M. Corman, 26, pastor of Graves Avenue Church of Christ, Erlanger, Ky., who died Wednesday afternoon at Booth Memorial Hospital, Covington, were held Thursday afternoon at the church. The clergyman’s death was due to typhoid fever.
The Rev. William E. Sweeney, pastor of Broadway Christian Church, Lexington, assisted by the Rev. S. S. Lappin and Dr. Fred J. Gielow, conducted the services. The body was sent to Columbus, Ind., for interment.
The Rev. Mr. Corman had been in charge of the Erlanger church for six months and was popular with his congregation. He is survived by his widow, Mrs. Vesta Corman.
The Rev. Mr. Corman was a student at Manhattan, Kan., and at the Cincinnati Bible Seminary, and preached for churches at Greenleaf and Morrowville, Kan., while a student at Manhattan. He had conducted six evangelical meetings.
Family library artifact, unknown publication name
Fanny Dean Corman, Martha Jane Bradshaw Corman, Ira Malcolm Corman
My paternal great-grandaunt – Mary Bell Bradshaw Murphy Settles
born 12 April 1867 Mercer County, KY – died 13 May 1953 Fayette County, KY
Lexington, Kentucky – Wednesday Afternoon, May 13, 1953
OBITUARY, 1953: Mrs. Mayme Belle (Bradshaw Murphy) Settles
SETTLES, Mrs. Mayme Belle, 85, of Midway, widow of Will Settles, died at 3:15 o’clock this morning at the home of a granddaughter, Mrs. William Lewis, 494 Sheridan drive, after an illness of two months.
A native of Mercer county, Mrs. Settle was a daughter of the late John T. and Fannie Bradshaw. She attended the Mercer county schools, and was a member of the Victory Christian church.
Besides Mrs. Lewis, she is survived by three sisters, Mrs. Susie Grant, Nicholasville; Mrs. Minnie Scanlon, Prineville, Ore., and Mrs. Martha Corman, Fort Mitchell; two brothers, Horace G. Bradshaw, Georgetown, and Will Bradshaw, Jessamine county; another granddaughter, Mrs. Kenneth Courtney, Midway, and three great-grandchildren.
The body was taken to the W. B. Milward mortuary, where services will be conducted at 11 a.m. Friday by the Rev. Sherman W. Swan, Midway. Burial will be in the Wilmore cemetery.
Bearers will be Lucien Bradshaw, Howard Bradshaw, Avon Bradshaw, Adrian Bradshaw, Howard Long and Elmo Baldwin.
While newspapers are struggling to survive as an industry, I’d like to take a moment to comment on the fact that I can recall the days when there was more than one newspaper edition in a day. I was young but I remember.
~ Other details I have learned ~
Ancestry.com and electronic resources helped me piece together more of her story to supplement the physical family artifacts I am organizing and preserving. An original manuscript and transcribed copies of my grandmother’s own narrative is chock full of her memories and reflections. This is a rich alchemy that swirls around me like the angels’ share or ether when I can piece together elements and bring ancestors’ stories to life.
Mary Bell was the third child and first female of eight children born to the Bradshaw parents, John T. & Fannie (a Murphy). Mary Bell “Mayme” was 16 years older than her youngest sister Susie. At 21 years old, Mayme married Daniel J. Murphy, Jr. in 1888 and over the next nine years birthed four children, only one of which lived beyond a decade.
Surber G Murphy (1889-1890) died in infancy.
Maudy May Murphy (1891-1899) died before age 10.
Florence Murphy (1893-1894) died in infancy.
Viola Murphy (1897-1928)
Family portrait on porch of unknown house, the Murphy family. Based on research revelations, I estimate this was taken circa 1898-1899. Seated: front, center Maudy May Murphy (lived fewer than 10 years), second row, mother Mary Bell Bradshaw Murphy, father Daniel J. Murphy, Jr. holding Viola Murphy (who was only 2 years old when Maudy May died). Standing: Susie “Mattie” Bradshaw and Martha Jane Bradshaw. Barely visible within this family portrait are layers and layers of grief behind those faces. And, a tragedy about to strike.
Certificate of Death, Commonwealth of Kentucky
Mary Bell, an 86-year old, twice-widowed housewife, died at 494 Sheridan Drive in Lexington, Fayette County 2:15 am on May 13, 1953, where she had been for two months. Her usual residence was in Midway, Woodford County. She’d had an operation in April by which she was diagnosed with carcinoma of the liver. There was no autopsy. The cause of death: carcinoma of liver. Interval between onset and death: 4 mons. She was buried in Wilmore Cemetery on May 15, 1953.
On another interesting genealogy note: Her sister-in-law, Eliza Jane Murphy, was married to Surber Corman and had two children before she died at 24 years old along with their unborn third child. Look for more about Eliza and Surber coming soon.
I’ve had many thoughts and phrases, quotes in her own voice floating around in my head these past few days. Cutters’ heart stopped beating Thursday morning. She was at Hosparus, Norton downtown Louisville, having been moved there from my parents’ home the night before due to congestive heart failure. Our family has been together for the funeral and the obituary has been published. Funerals bring families together but Cutters had such a way of doing that in all her living glory.
Her home was a hub of activity. As a guest, you were always offered a glass of sweet iced tea, something good to eat that was usually from the garden. The tea, freshly made that morning and filled to the rim of a signature orange Tupperware pitcher with the matching lid. This was always perched in the same top-shelf position of her pristinely maintained refrigerator. Cutters’ cooking, specifically corn, green beans and homemade bread (more on this later) are the stuff of legend.
Holidays were special and the extended family all looked forward to the tradition of gathering at Cutters’ home to eat dinner and exchange gifts. As our group size grew, we instituted a one-gift, even-exchange policy but Cutters was always exempt from this rule. Each year she had a stack of colorful boxes and she was known to take her time, as if savoring the suspense, when opening each one. She had a quiet meticulousness about her – whether using a letter opener to separate the tape from the wrapping on a gift or how she would keep her Tupperware and cabinets so organized. Her home was a reliable map for mindful intention – everything in its place throughout all the years I visited.
She took this quality philosophy with her on her travels. You could tell Cutters had been in your home for a visit – your pantry became organized, there was a pitcher of sweet tea in the refrigerator and your mayonnaise jar was wiped clean by approximately one finger’s length from the rim all around the circumference. That was a signature move. Wiping jars clean and a metaphor for how she left everything better in her wake. She created with lovely hands ever in motion.
I learned so much about life from Cutters but less from her words and more from how she lived her life. As St. Francis said “Preach the Gospel each day and, when necessary, use words.” She epitomized this. Her pastor spoke that “Violet lived the fruits of The Spirit.” As he read each one, the layers of her were confirmed – Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, Self-control.
How did she do it? How did she live to be more than 100 years, as she did? It was only the past year that she appeared challenged by her age. My granddaddy died in 1977 and she survived him all these years living on her own. In her late 90s, she rebounded from two falls that resulted in broken bones and long recovery. She was widowed for 37 years, retired from working 40 years ago and only needed palliative care in her final year of living. I think of the chapters of her life and how I was blessed to be part of the final chapters, especially. Caring for Cutters had a profound effect on my soul. It was a holy experience.
She was born in 1913 – a year after the Titanic sank, for a point of reference. I did not know the young girl who lived to see World War I, the Great Depression, Hitler, World War II, the Korean & Vietnam wars, and modern day conflicts. A farmer’s wife’s life is a harsh one in even the best of circumstances and yet, how did she do it? As my cousin Richard noted in his eulogy, life expectancy for a female born in 1913 was around 55 years. And, as he so beautifully stated, “she did it so well she got to do it twice.”
Cutters was one of five children born to Manfred Fayne and Daisy Easley in Jessamine Co, KY. She had a sister, Hazel, and three brothers – Ralph, Ray, and Bill. Cutters and Granddaddy met at their church, Wesley Chapel United Methodist, where she remained a member all her life. In fact, she was born in the house next door to the church on Sugar Creek Pike. They attended different schools but their families knew each other from Wesley Chapel. He was a farmer but later in life, when I knew him, he was a man of many keys as a security guard or something. He would sit with me at the kitchen table and the keys hanging off the ring seemed to always be in motion. I remember playing with them. I was in 4th grade when he died. Our family was living in Pittsburgh, PA and I remember the sting of the late night intrusion by the overhead light as mom woke us to pack up for the sudden trip home. I probably didn’t understand or know why but I am sure I knew it wasn’t good. I can’t remember but imagine it was a longer than usual drive back to Kentucky.
Full circle, here we were back at Hager & Cundiff Funeral Home. Granddaddy’s service was held there in 1977, very soon after my grandmother Fanny Dean Corman Mathews’ funeral, my dad’s mother. That was a hard year for my parents who each lost a parent. Mom didn’t want to move very far from Cutters and Louisville was about as far as she was comfortable. So, Pennsylvania was a stretch of one year that was hard for all of us. My own 4th grade tribulations of that year can be addressed later.
Cutters made this life better for all who knew her, and possibly for those who didn’t have the opportunity. Though her heart stopped, her loving legacy lives on in ways both small and magnanimous. Cutters inspires me to live more as she did.
Birthday celebration Camp NelsonMy babies with their great-grandmother on her porch swingCutters with me on her front porchThanksgiving at McCanns’ in CrestwoodMe & Cutters Christmas NicholasvilleBeautiful CuttersCutters & me, family Thanksgiving at Barren River Park resortCutters Thanksgiving CrestwoodCutters telling funny stories to my babies at her home in NicholasvilleCutters visiting the Mathews in LouisvilleCutters at Barren River State ResortRecuperating from a broken shoulderBeautiful VioletClyde & VioletCutters meeting her great granddaughterSome Cutters moments
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that Kentucky girl 