My maternal Great Grandmother's sister, Laura Slinkard:
(photo probably taken 1894)
And the man she wanted to marry, Lee Jackson Danner:
Mom's scrapbooks I found an article from our newspaper written in 1991, about this story. That was
the first I'd ever heard of it. So that was 2013, and I contacted the author to thank him, also telling
him that I was related to Laura Slinkard. Fast forward 4 1/2 years...About 2 months ago, the author,
Terry Ommen, contacted me again letting me know he had found some new info on the case and that
he was in the process of writing an updated version of this story for Visalia's magazine, Lifestyle.
That issue came out last week, and he graciously sent me a copy, which I was excited to read!
Here it is.
I broke it down in parts hoping to make it easier to read:
This is baby Delbert.
I'm assuming it was taken on his parents' wedding day
since he is holding flowers.
Not such an unusual occurrence,
until I remind myself this was 1894!
After Laura died, here is her husband Lee
surrounded by their children.
Left to rt: Guinevere Inez Danner (3 Jun 1900); Delbert Irwin Danner ( 2 Apr 1894); Lee Jackson Danner (26 Jun 1864); Lorita Alma Danner (12 Feb 1896);
Hazel Irene Danner (2 Jun 1898)
(Lorita had a twin sister who either died at birth or early on)
If I could just find Laura Slinkard's exact death date,
I could probably get a death certificate for her.
All I know is she died in 1903 at the age of 29.
I don't see how it could have been a happy marriage.
I also feel the need to add as a side note:
Noticing from family records, Laura's Mom died when she was 14, and her Dad died the following
year when she was 15. That's a lot of trauma for a young girl. Right in the middle of this period of
time, along comes this man 10 years older than her who gives her attention. Laura's younger siblings
went to live with her older sister (my great grandmother).
Laura perhaps was very poor and on her own, and very young.
I wish I knew more.
10 comments:
Fascinating!!
darlene
Very interesting and intriguing family history. Nice looking family, too.
Was Lee also Guinevere's father? She was born 4 years before Delbert. Laura would have been only 14 years old, maybe 15, at the time of her daughter's birth. I'm wondering why she waited until Delbert's birth to press charges unless Lee was not Guinevere's father. Maybe she had to be of a more legal age? Have you found records of the other siblings and their families? Possibly their grandchildren (our generation) would have additional information. pjc
Thanks Pam for catching my mistake so I could fix it! Guinevere was born 1900, so she was about 3 at her mother's death.
You have some interesting relatives. Did Lella ever speak of this sister? Was she older than Lella?
No not Grandma Lella. Laura Slinkard was the sister of Grandpa Earl's mother. I wonder if Uncle Don knows anything about this. Laura would have been his aunt.
Another interesting tidbit: yesterday was Laura's birthday
I was so caught up in the article that I was remiss in telling you "Way to go, Jill, for helping the writer with the story and getting your name published, too". So.....thank you for being a contributor. Way to go! pjc
I thought Laura's birthday was Jan 1st. I wonder if my records are wrong?
what an interesting story! And so cool that you got recognized in the published story. I wish I knew more too! Are you on Ancestry at all? I had to get on and I looked her up and found a whole timeline of her life. The 1900 census lists 3 children and 2 living. But there are 3 children definitely on there, so the census taker got that wrong. I was hoping it would say 4 children and 3 living, that would explain the death of Lorita's twin...wow. I really want to hear the "rest of the story." And I can't imagine it was a happy marriage after being forced into it so you don't go to jail. ha.
I didn't think about how this would have been Uncle Don's aunt. Of course he wouldn't have known her since she died so young, but I wonder what he knows about this story. Have you tried asking him?
Heidi
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