Susannah Wright

This story was orginally published on December 30, 2008. It concerns two pictures which have been identified as Sarah Waldrup and Susannah Wright. I got my first copy of the picture most often identifed as Sarah Waldrup from Nadina Osborne. She gave me a xerox copy. I didn't know enough at the time to get who gave it to her and who identified it. Unfortunately, Nadina isn't around for me to ask. I have seen this picture on the internet for decades identifed as Sarah.

When I got copies of the picture again, and a second picture which came from Devil John's home from his grandson, they were identified over and over again as pictures of Susannah Wright. It made me go back and try to see what the sources were first of the picture of Sarah. I couldn't find anything on where the people who had it posted as Sarah had been given their identification. Personally, I would like for it to be Sarah so I would have pictures of two grandmothers rather than one. But my sources -- which I name -- have told me that they are both of Susananah Wright, the wife of Joel Wright and mother of Joel Ellis Wright.

I have been told that the second picture is Susan Wright. Her granddaughter gave me a copy of the ONLY picture ever taken of Big Susan, the daughter of Joel and Susannah. She has original copies of Betsy and Thaney Houston, Annie Houston Mullins and many other old family pictures which are now all over the web. And so far, the identification that I have seen has pretty much stayed with them. I hate to see things mislabeled and misidentified.

Recentley I have seen many of my family on ancestry.com trees who are totally wrong. They are even folks not generations and generations back, but ones I knew myself who are attached to wrong parents, or pictures which have had the names changed on them even though they show that they were taken from family trees where the identification was there and correct.

You can't make people change things that you know are wrong. You can't stop information that is incorrect from being posted. What it proves is that you always have to do your own investigation and make your own decisions about the information that you put in your family tree.

In the case of these pictures, I have lost a relationship with a cousin over their identification. He thinks I am on par with the devil for posting this story and spreading wrong information. I have just posted whatI learned and my sources. He has never been able to give me his sources which would change my mind. He told me one source and then backed off of it. He identified the picure first as Charity Wright, then as Big Susan -- both of which I know are wrong. I even have on tape the woman he says who identified the pictures for him saying he visited her home but she gave him no pictures. She gave them to another cousin who then shared them with him. Later, he said that the picture is Mattie Humphrey Wright, wife of Devil John. He uses another family website as a source -- one in which he told me was incorrect and not to be trused. Now I am in that category for him. And this has made him so mad he asked me to take any pictures I had taken of him off my stories and to not mention or imply that we had ever worked together. The pictures I removed. And it is easy to say we didn't work together because we didn't. We visited some graves together which I enjoyed very much, but they were ones I had general directions to and would have visited eventually. We never wrote anything together. We obvisoulsy couldn't have even a discussion about these two pictures. I am just posting what I found from my research. I am not bothered that he disagrees. I haven't been able to change my mind about who the pictures are because he has changed his identification at least three times and he hasn't been able to say who identified them.

So, look at the pictures. Read why I say they are who they are. Make your own decisions. I haven't had my cousin Almy ever steer me wrong on my identifications. This is my work. If you disagree, more power to you. Here is the original article:

We have always been told that there was Indian in the Wright family. The story that I did on Mary Wright and her Indian doll, plus her looks in some of the pictures her granddaughter, Daisy, had would support that. The story that Mary handed down to Daisy was that Joel went from Virginia to North Carolina for an apprentiship. He met an Indian woman and married her. She was given the English name of Susannah. She had no English name of Bates or Bentley as is sometimes given to her.





In another version of the story she was an Indian who was in or near Letcher county, but basically the same story.





Her daughter, Margaret, only spoke the Indian language. That is why she was termed "idiotic" by the census takers, who could not understand her.





Others say she was Dutch.





Jesse Wright, Bad John and Kinky Haired Sam were brothers. Their paternal grandparents were Joel Martin Wright and this Susannah. Their maternal grandparents were John Wallis Bates and Sarah Waltrip.





This picture has always been identified to me as Sarah Waltrip.











When Bad John died, one of his grandsons moved into his home. There was a bag of pictures left which belonged to John. In it, two were identified as Susannah Wright -- one a little older than the other. One of them is the picture I had previously been told was Sarah Waldrup. The grandson positively identified this picture as Susannah.





Here is the second picture of Susannah.











For myself, I have had the Sarah Waldrup picture ID for 40 years. I can't account for its source except from the internet and those who posted it in books which I had purchased.





Alma Meade Bolling, a great granddaughter of the first Susannah, also identified the two pictures as both being Susannah Wright. She is the daughter of Rhodes Meade and Lavina Houston. Rhodes was the son of James Madison Meade and Letitia Wright. Letitia was the daughter of Susannah "Big Susan" Wright. Her father is unknown. Big Susan was the daugther of Susan and Joel Wright.





Alma said her grandmother, Big Susan, looked just like the first Susannah. She said the pictures were not pictures of Sarah Waldrup and that they were not pictures of Big Susan.





So, from Alma, Mary, the grandsons of Devil John and names on the pictures themselves, these are two pictures of Susannah, the wife of Joel Wright.

Young Family

Once upon a time I sent the Boone family history to my cousin, Kris. I used my research as well as the information collected by the Boone Historical Society of America and the DeBohun Historical Society in England. Now those two societies definitely do not agree.

The thing Kris saw right away and probably what the American Society objects to is the lineage goes all the way back to Adam and Eve.

Now at the Bates reunion Rhonda brought up the name Clement Bates as the first Bates in America. I had our line back to Joseph, the son of Joseph, the son of Joseph, but short of Clement. So I went looking for the leads that Rhonda had given.

Then I took another look at the Young line. Remember them? John Wallis Bates, the father of Martin Van Buren Bates, was the son of William Bates and Margaret Young. For years I had known that Margaret was the daughter of Robert & Mary Young and the granddaughter of John Young and Elizabeth Lnu. I think Lnu is such an unusual name, but we have it in several lines.

This time I was able to go back on John Young. His parents were Andrew Lamont Young and Mary Adair. The next in line was Sir John Lamont and Mary Young. And guess what? It went all the way back to Adam and Eve.

But...

This time I got a reason for it. Most Irish families come from a small group of Irish who were ruled by Kings, so most families go back to Kings. They did not just become King by birth. It had to be the best person (or the one who survived the battle or bloodbath) to be king. There were different kingdoms around, but some tried to lay claim to being the King of Ireland as a whole territory. Part of their custom was to memorize their lineage. They would not write it down and certain people were set aside to accompany Kings in Battle to be able to report how they performed and who survived. They never wrote the history down. Here is what the article by Kate Montressor said:

Traditionally, most Irish families sprang from a small number of Irish chiefs.
As families multiplied, each person was required to know his relationship to the
ruling family. The oldest Irish names were personal names, later becoming
surnames. The Seannachies (the clan bards or storytellers) were the official
keepers of genealogical data. They didn't write anything down, for fear the
knowledge would get into the wrong hands and be used against them. For hundreds of years, their legacy was oral, committed to memory and passed down through the generations. This was a coveted task and taken very seriously; death was the penalty for mistakes.

I don't know if they let women be Seannachies, but I think that's where I would have fit in the past. Maybe I was in a past life and that's why I have the urgency to know everything that I can about every generation.

Ya think?

Giant Fest 2

On Saturday morning we drove down to Berlin, Ohio and tasted cheese and fudge and bought baked goods and popcorn. Lana got bored with seeing so many buggies pulled by horses. When we returned my son headed toward Medina to meet up with his high school buddies and play some disk golf. My daughter-in-law and granddaughters headed for the festival.

The first thing we saw when we parked was a coach drawn by two horses. We took a ride.


Erika and Claire.

Lana and me

We went to the park and got chicken dinners. Lana chose a chili dog.Then I headed them over to the popcorn booth. Such great flavors, and we got to sample them all!! Also, at this booth they do a taffy pull. Erika and Lana sat down to pull the taffy and wrap it around a big apple while Claire and I ate popcorn and took pictures.

The man who runs the booth told us about how sugar used to come in cones wrapped in blue paper. He told us that the word fudge originally meant "nonsense" or "humbug". One day while some taffy was being made, it didn't go well and the girls who made it called it fudge. He also talked about taffy coming from Wales and originally being called tuffy -- which is still called in Wales today. He knew so much. We were really glad we met him.

I asked Lana to hold up her apple so I could take her picture with her work. Ham that she is she struck this pose. Not that she could have taken a bite with her two front teeth out.

Lana measuring up against her g-g-g-g-g Uncle and Aunt.

You could pet the horses while they were resting.

We had an official picture taken at the Bates picture. We also took some of our own. The funniest thing was after we stepped off the platform Claire kept trying to climb back up. We finally figured out that she was trying to get to the chair in the picture. She wanted to climb into it.

We again went to the memorial service for Anna and Martin. You could walk or ride a wagon to the cemetery.

Lana and Claire rode with Abraham Lincoln. Lana was in awe of Mr. Lincoln and asked him many questions. He gave Claire and Lana each a shiny new Lincoln penny when they parted.

After the memorial service, we went back to the park so the girls could play on the swings and slides. Claire had a great time. I took pictures. But Claire is starting to want to handle a camera, too.

Of course Lana has used a camera for years. I told her she should take some shots of our hotel room. She took pictures of the toliet, the sink, the bed, the door to the circuit breakers, the kitchen, the floor and then a few of herself in the mirror.

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We did get to take a swim in the pool after the playground, and had planned on going out to dinner, but settled on having a delicious pizza delivered and hitting the sack.

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On Sunday we wanted to go to the museum. I wanted to take a picture of Jason next to the statues that he had stood beside in 1983 and get pictures of the whole family there, plus let them look around at the whole museum. We had been told it would open at 10, but by 10:30 it still wasn't open, so we headed back home so Lana would get a good night's sleep before school on Monday.

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Overall, it was a much smaller festival this year. We missed the civil war encampment and the children's play. There were no fireworks, but with the economy that wasn't surprising and isn't what draws us to the festival anyway. It was beautiful weather and a chance for me to show my granddaughters a little bit of family history.

Elinda Anne Bates Wing passes away

I attended the Giant Festival last year in September. Part of the activities includes a dinner that the organizers put on for any Bates family members who attend the festival. Captain Bates was a third great grand-uncle to Rhonda Turner. She coordinates the activities for the Bates family members with the festival organizers.

Tonight I received a note from Rhonda advising me that one of our Bates cousins, Elinda Anne Bates Wing, has passed away. I had to ask Rhonda how Elinda was connected to the Bates family since she is not one of the family members that I had conversations with last year.


Elinda was born a Bates.

She was born in Letcher County, Kentucky to Elmer Bates and Ruby Faye McCloud.
Elmer was the son of Robert Bates and Malinda Smith.
Robert was the son of Benjamin Bates & Margaret Lucas.
Benjamin was the son of Jesse Bates and Elizabeth Asbury.
Jesse was the son of John Wallis Bates and Sarah Waldrup.

Jesse was a brother to Eliza Agnes Bates, my g-g grandmother and Captain Martin Van Buren Bates, my second great granduncle. That makes Elinda my fourth cousin or third cousin once removed for uncles and aunts like Jerry, Fred etc.

I thought maybe some of you all might have grown up with, gone to school with or known Elinda before she moved from Kentucky.



Here is the information that Rhonda included in her email.

.

TO ALL: I regret to inform you of a family member from the Bates
Reunion 2008 has passed away. I wanted to get this out to all of you
that has emails about Elinda Ann Wing. She was at the Bates Reunion in
Seville, OH last year. Our group picture is
attached. Elinda is in black with the scarf standing next to her
husband, Stephen in the blue jacket. Nick is in kneeling in front of
them. Please send a memorial to Stephen and Nick and his family during
this time. She will be greatly missed. Forward this
to anyone else if you would like.

To send a
sympathy note, please go the website.
http://www.legacy.com/gb2/default.aspx?bookid=1108229670830

Those
of you that would like to send sympathy cards, may do so to the following
address.
Mr. Stephen Wing
Mr. Nick Wing
2824 Alling Drive
Twinsburg,
OH 44087


Elinda Ann Wing was a direct
descendant of Captain Martin Van Buren Bates.
(Karen's Note: She is not a direct descendant of Captain Bates. The Bates had two children, both of whom died. She was a great great grandniece of Captain Bates. There are no direct descendants of Captain Bates.)

Published June 06 2009 -
Worthington, Minnesota
Obituary: Elinda Wing
Elinda Ann Wing, 59, of
Twinsburg, Ohio, died June 3, 2009, in Twinsburg.

Surviving are
her husband, Stephen Wing, Twinsburg; two sons, Thaddeus Wing, Columbus, Ohio,
and Nicholas Wing, Twinsburg; one daughter, Emily Wing, Georgia; two sisters,
Vickie Ellinger, Columbus, and Janie Robinson; and two granddaughters.

Visitation will be from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday and 10 to 11 a.m. Friday
at the United Methodist Church of Macedonia, Macedonia, Ohio.

The service will be 11 a.m. Friday at the United Methodist Church of
Macedonia. Burial will be in the Macedonia cemetery, Cleveland, Ohio.

Memorials are requested to the Karen Wyckoff Rein in Sarcoma Foundation
at http://www.reininsarcoma.org/.
.
Another obituary........
Elinda Ann Wing

ELINDA ANN WING, age 59, of Twinsburg, a nationally respected social worker, poet, photographer, singer, joke-teller and travel enthusiast passed away from sarcoma cancer on June 3, 2009. Wing was born in Whitesburg, Kentucky and grew up in Logan, Ohio. She graduated from Ohio University and earned her Master's in
social work from the University of Kentucky. She was the clinical director for
Family Solutions in Cuyahoga Falls until 2002. More recently, she consulted on a
volunteer basis with civic organizations such as the Office of Disability
Employment Policy and the National Council on Aging (NCOA). The NCOA will offer
an award next year in her honor to a business that performs cutting-edge work in
mature worker issues. She is survived by her husband, Stephen; sons, Thaddeus
and Nicholas; daughter, Emily; granddaughters, Alexis and Lillian; and sisters,
Vickie Ellinger and Janie Robinson. Her family will receive visitors at the
United Methodist Church of Macedonia at 1280 E Aurora Rd., Macedonia, on
Thursday, June 11, 2009 from 6pm to 8pm and Friday, June 12, 2009 from 10am to
11am. The memorial service will be held immediately following the morning
visitation. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that expressions of sympathy
be in the form of contributions to the Karen Wyckoff Rein in Sarcoma Foundation
at http://www.reininsarcoma.org/. Arrangements By CHARLES R.
BLESSING

Joel Ellis Wright & Eliza Agnes Bates

Linda at the cemetery where Joel Ellis Wright & Eliza Agnes Bates are buried.

I had general directions on where to find Joel and Eliza's graves. It so happened while I was with Linda on our hunt for Aunt Annie's grave. It was a cemetery I was looking for. It was on our way to the first Potter cemetery we were going to visit.

Eliza, Joel & Susan



Eliza, Joel & Susan.

It is on 119. If you are coming from Kona and make a left onto 119 going toward Jenkins, there is a road on the left that is labeled "119 Circle." And it does just that circles around a group of houses along the road and comes back out again to main 119. In about the middle of the circle up behind the first row of houses is a small cemetery.

Joel Ellis Wright's original stone is in one piece. There is a large footstone at the back of this grave with the initials "J.W."

The Letcher County Historical Society put in this marker in front of Joel's marker.

Eliza's stone is broken in two with the top part leaning against the original stone.

The historical society put in a marker for Eliza, too.

Susan Venters was actually Susan Mullins at her death. She was Susan Wright at her birth. Susan was the daughter of Joel and Eliza. Her stone used to be quite tall. It is broken and the top half is leaning against the base of the stone.

Susan first married Alexander Venters. They divorced. She then married Joshua Mullins, my great grandfather. They did not stay together, but did not divorce as far as I know. Susan is almost always referred to as "Susan Venters" even in places where her maiden name should be used. I wrote a blog about her which you can look for by using the box in the upper left hand corner and typing in her name. She is the one who tried to poison Joshua. I also followed Alexander to see where he went and I believe that is in the story, too. I was glad to find that Susan was buried by her parents.

This is Susan's footstone. It, too, is behind her stone with the initials "S.V."




This is the stone of Solomon Wright, the son of Joel and Eliza. He was killed in the Civil War. The Letcher County Historical Society put this marker up.




There are quite a few other graves which are only marked with rocks for headstones and footstones. I don't know if anyone knows who might be in these graves or not. If it isn't set down somewhere, then we will probably never know who they were. I don't know the name of this cemetery. I have just called it C Joel Ellis Wright Cemetery in my albums.

Our Military Losses

There are three men that died within the last thirteen months who I would like to remember here at the end of the year -- only one is related by blood.

Ben Buster Taylor is related to us through the Bates. He retired from the military. He died in December of last year. He was buried with full military honors in Arlington Cemetery in January of this year.

Leapin' Larry LePage was a retired Navy Seal and Diver who died in the fall. He was a good friend of our cousin, Joe Bates. Joe sent me an email from John Roberts about the kindness and care that Joe took in Larry's care.

Last, our friends, Lynn and Cecelia Stiles, lost their son when he was killed while actively serving in Afghanistan. Lynn and Ceese are friends of the family who attend our Mullins family reunion from time to time.

Each of these men deserves his own blog entry.

Ben Buster Taylor

Ben Buster Taylor

Email from Joe Bates on January 6, 2008


His dads name was Bill Taylor who died when Ben was very young. Bill
Taylor was in the same line as Blaine Taylor in Whitaker -- above Seco,
Kentucky.

His mother was Mattie Bates Taylor. She was in the same Bates line as Martin Bates of Thornton, Kentucky.

We moved to Millstone when I was 12 years old. Ben was 18 or 19 years old.

He rode an Indian motorcycle. He was good to me and let me ride behind him, and from then on I admired him.

He joined the army in 1948, on the way to Louisville to be sworn he got into a fight on the bus, he bit the other fellow’s fingers off and he was sent back to Millstone until 1949.

He went into the army in 1949 and stayed until he retired about 1972.

He was the Letcher county sheriff for 8 years.

Ben and I would come home on leave at the same time and spent most of our time in The Pound or Norton, Virginia drinking and fighting whomever cared to take us on. We were both single until I was 30 and he was older before we settled down.

He spent about all of his military time in the airborne and Special Forces, I spent most of my time as a diver.

Ben and I talked a lot about him working from the sky and me working underwater.

Back to bens mother, she raised Ben and his sister by having a one room store on the old road in millstone in competition with the southeast commissary and she did well. Her little store was still going when the commissary closed.

Ben was a combat soldier of Korea and Vietnam wars and was highly decorated. He was the most decorated veteran from Letcher County, Kentucky.

He was a big brother to me and I have been heartbroken with his passing.
I wanted to go to Arlington but could not due to some biopsies that had to be taken that day.

May his soul rest in peace.

Joe Bates

Late sheriff will get honors at Arlington

Mountain Eagle 12/19/2007

Ben Buster Taylor of Millstone, a highly-decorated veteran and a former Letcher
County sheriff, died December 12 at the age of 71 after a long battle with cancer.

His ashes will be buried with full military honors January 4 at Arlington National Cemetery.

At Letcher County's annual Veterans Day celebration this year, the day of November 10 was declared "Ben B. Taylor Day" in honor of the retired sergeant major with the United States Army Special Forces, known also as the Green Berets.

Letcher County Judge/Executive Jim Ward said of Taylor, who was unable to attend the event, he "bravely served his country for over 20 years through two wars and remains today as one of the county's most highly decorated war veterans."

Taylor served in both Korea and Vietnam and was one of the first regular Army soldiers to join the Special Forces. Taylor represented the Green Berets as a pallbearer during the funeral of former President John F. Kennedy, who was assassinated in November 1963. His rank of sergeant major is the highest an enlisted person can hold in the U.S. Army.

After leaving the military, Taylor owned and operated a trucking company before being elected Sheriff of Letcher County.

In 2004 he established the Letcher County Veterans Memorial Museum. He spent countless hours gathering military-related memorabilia for the museum so community members can view some of the military history of the county.

"I wanted to have something to show Letcher Countians about veterans of this county," Taylor told The Mountain Eagle in August 2004.

Remembering Ben 'Buster' Taylor

Mountain Eagle January 8, 2008

To the Editor:

On January 4, 2008, it was my privilege and honor to witness the burial of CSM (R) Ben "Buster" Taylor in plot 64 of Arlington National Cemetery. It was clear, cold, windy day unable to shake or quiver the professionalism of the soldiers from the 3rd U.S. Infantry (the Old Guard) and the Masons that helped to lay to rest Ben Buster.

As I stood there, I wondered if the citizens of Letcher County realized what a tremendous loss to our nation the passing of Ben Taylor was.

Around me were men Ben had served with in the fields of Vietnam. I wondered what stories they could tell about the experience of serving with "Jake". Ben told me the first time I met him in the old Whitesburg Post Office (former site of the Letcher County Veterans Museum) that his nickname when he was a soldier was "Jake."

Ben was in the first U.S. Army unit designated as a Special Forces unit. Special Forces are often the first in and last out. They operate in 12-man teams working with indigenous forces trying to mold and shape U.S. foreign policy. Their tasks are thankless and their motto is "de oppresso liber" - free from oppression. They are the silent warriors that protect our nation and its way of life. Ben was one of the founding members of this elite group of warriors that today serve across the
world helping to liberate from oppression.

As many folks in Letcher County know, Ben was selected to be the Army Special Forces representative to help escort President Kennedy's caisson from the U.S. Capitol building to its interment. In the visitor center of Arlington National Cemetery is a picture of President Kennedy's casket (on the caisson) with members of the Department of Defense escorting it. If you look real close, you can see a Green Beret (Ben "Buster" Taylor). In an organization of so many special people (all volunteers), what kind of man is selected to represent a unique breed of warrior? What kind of soldier represents those silent professionals is arguably one of the greatest moments of grief in our nation's history - the funeral of President John F. Kennedy? The answer is Ben "Buster" Taylor.

Ben went on to achieve the rank of command sergeant major (CSM), the highest enlisted rank a soldier can achieve. In order to achieve that rank he was promoted nine times. In order for an officer to be promoted nine times he/she would have to achieve the rank of lieutenant general. How many people get promoted nine times in their job? Ben "Buster" was a silent warrior and his career as a soldier epitomized those special and unique abilities required for success as a Special Forces professional.

I only met Ben twice (both times in Whitesburg). He was older and did not move as fast as he once did, but his eyes were intense and focused. He was a soldier that served four tours in Vietnam and one in Korea. Five years away from his beloved eastern Kentucky in a 22-year career.

I have served in four wars (Operation Just Cause, Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm, Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom) and I know what a soldier looks and acts like. I have led men into combat and seen what men must do in war. I was humbled to be in his presence. Only time and cancer could do what no man was able to do to this silent warrior - defeat his body.

Our nation is lesser because of his loss. I only hope there is some young man or woman in the hills of eastern Kentucky that will pick up the torch of freedom that Ben "Buster" so courageously carried.

My greatest fear is when my day of reckoning comes and I meet my maker, I see CSM Ben "Buster" Taylor guarding the pearly gates. Before I can get to see God and stand before the book of life, I must pass through Ben "Buster". I only hope my life as a soldier and a man can stand up to the scrutiny of a Special Forces soldier that lived, loved and served our nation as honorably and courageously as he did.

Ben "Buster", until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of his hand.

G.D. GUTHRIE Lieutenant Colonel U.S.
Army

Leapin' Larry LePage

Larry LePage
Email from John Roberts to Joe Bates and others

Teammates and Friends,

Our old friend and Teammate 'Leaping Larry' LePage passed away a little over two months ago. I had the pleasure of knowing him for many years, from our time in the Teams on the Silver Strand in the late '60's up until recently in Louisiana. For the last dozen years or so I was his unofficial 'Duty Driver' there on the Westbank. Though Larry could be a bit of a pain in the ass at times, as many of you know, he was a good guy at heart, and I recall our many escapades and adventures with much affection.

During his final illness I was out of the country, and another good friend of many years, both of mine and Larry's, stepped in to render all the assistance he possibly could to a dying Shipmate. Joe Bates was with Larry nearly every day from the time he learned of his illness right up to the time he passed away, and at the request of Larry's daughters, took possession of Larry's remains after cremation.

I had the honor of taking possession of Larry's ashes from this fine friend, CPO and Master Diver Joe Bates, and I brought them with me to San Diego to return to his family. Friends of Larry's signed the attached letter I have just sent to CPO Bates in appreciation of his noble service to a Shipmate. I also include photos of when I took possession from Joe, and of where his ashes rested at Rat Miller's in Texas until the two of us brought Larry the rest of the way home, home to the Silver Strand where he spent the best years of his life.

I was able to talk to many of Larry's friends while in San Diego, friends from his Class #19, from Team 11 and SEAL Team 1. Without exception they all remembered Larry fondly and every one had some sort of story to tell and every Man Jack of them considered Larry to have been a good operator. His awards received in the heat of combat in Viet Nam also attest to this. No SEAL could ask for a better epitaph.

Larry had many friends in the New Orleans area as well, friends from the days after his retirement from the Navy when he was a Diving Supervisor for Taylor Diving & Salvage, and in the years after that when he was a Diving Consultant and Welding Inspector. Three of the best of these, who did many favors for Larry, especially after his stroke, were Mike Large, Rocky Mandible and Butch Jones. SEAL Roy Grey also was a part of this group prior to his death.

Farewell Larry, you were an ornery old SOB but we loved you and you were a damn fine Teammate as well.

Rest in Peace,

John Roberts

. . . . . . . .Joe Bates at his home in Louisiana.

A Wonderful Dwelling

I got an email about Seldom Wright.  I spent a lot of time trying to find an obituary for her.  I even joined an online newspaper archives so that I could try to find it.  I failed.  Thinking maybe this was a really bad thing I had done, I ran thru the name Martin Van Buren Bates.  Of course, I knew I would get some hits.  The first one that I found was an article which ran all over the country. 

Apparently, it was originally run in the Cincinnati Enquirer for that was the source given.  I found it in the Weekly Nevada State Journal in Reno, Nevada.  Next I found it in the Bucks County Gazette in Pennsylvania.  I found it in ten or twelve other sources and stopped looking at that story after that.  I thought you might like to see what they were printing about the home of the Bates in January of 1882.  Most of the newspapers ran it under the name "The Home of the Giants".  Reno ran it under "A Wonderful Dwelling:  The House that is Occupied by a Couple of Ohio Giants."

"Captain Martin Van Buren Bates, who lives on a farm near Seville, Ohio, is 7feet 11 1/2 inches high and weighs 478 Ibs. Mrs. Bates is 7 feet 11 inches high and weighs 413; lbs. It is a difficult matter to convey an adequate idea of the proportions of such a dwelling as the one occupied by the Ohio giants. A door that is six feet six inches high is a large-sized opening in the side of a house – that is, a dwelling house, not a cathedral. But the doors in the domicile of the Bates giants are ten feet high, and the knobs are nearly as high as the eporter’s head. The house was built by Captain Bates in 1876 and is elegantly furnished. In the main building on the ground floor are, besides the spacious hall, the bed chamber of the giants, a sitting room and a parlor. The couch upon which the big couple sleep was. made especially for them and it is a curiosity to look at. It is extensive enough to give the great people room to stretch in, and it looks as big as in ordinary-sized floor. It is really ten feet long, wide in proportion, and about twice as high as a common bed. The Magnificent dressing case is also a huge Affair, with a glass upon it nearly as big as the side of a house. In the sitting room is a piano of ordinary size itself, but it is ounted on blocks two feet high, so that the instrument is away up in the air, out of the reach of common folks. There are two rocking chairs in this room that are so big that the reporter had to climb up into one of them the same as an infant would clamber up into a “high chair.” It is very expensive for the giants to live as they have to pay such an exorbitant price for everything they wear. For instance, it costs the Captain $30 for a pair of boots.

It is a most astonishing sight to come across the two giants out for a drive.  City folks who have seen the ponderous wagons with wheels reaching to the second story of the house, used to haul stones weighing tons and tons, can form an idea of the vehicle used. It is pulled by six stout Norman horses and it is enough to make a man think has got 'em, sure, to suddenly meet such a spectacle on the road out in the country. Passing wagons have to let the rails down and drive into the adjoining fields until the giants go by."

I had to google the price of boots in 1882 to have an appreciation of the price that the Bates were paying for boots.  I found three sources:   In one factory in Leavenworth, Kansas they were $1.62.  The second source had them at forty cents a pair. In Europe they were $2.92 in Russia.  I guess $30 was a huge price.

Seldom Wright Price

Joel and Susannah Wright's daughter, Margaret, never married. She did have a daughter named Sidney. The father is unknown. Sidney had a son by William Luntz. That son was William S. "Bill" Wright. He married Letty Bates, the granddaughter of John Wallis and Sarah Waltrip Bates. Her father was James Bates who was murdered by the home guard during the civil war. Her mother was Bessie Adams. I just put that in to tie in others I have already written about. Bill and Letty had 11 children.

One of them was Samuel J. Tilden Wright. He married Lydia Margaret Craft. They had nine children that I am aware of so far.

I was looking though the pictures I took at Green Acres Cemetery. When they are digital they are all named DSN001, 002, etc. When I put them on the computer I change the names to something a bit more meaningful like Samuel J. Tildon Wright 1878 1974 tombstone. I was renaming some of those pictures today while my dad slept and when I got near Samuel Tildon, Jr's I had a laugh. Near or next to his grave was that of his sister, Seldom Wright Price. Seeing is believing.

I didn't have much time to work on them, but I found that Seldom was born on May 27, 1918. She married a Price, of course, and died on September 30, 2006. She was living in Florida at the time of her death. I don't know her husband's name. He may still be alive. I can only imagine the sense of humor that Seldom must have had in her life.

I don't remember in which family, but I know I ran across one relative who had 18 or 20 children and he named them from the encyclopedia. Two of the girls just had awful names. They never married. I always thought their names had something to do with how their lives turned out. When I come across them, I will defintely put them in a blog.

Seldom had five older brothers: William, Nicholaus, Harvey Charles and.......... Commonly. After Seldom were brothers Hilliard and S. Tilden Wright Jr. and sister Hennie Wright.

Samuel S T Wright, the father, was a Baptist minister, a farmer, a real estate dealer and a contractor for road construction. At least that is what I picked up from the census records and a few other tidbits I found.

Seeing Seldom Wright just made me giggle.

Hello Mr. President

While we were at the How Do You Measure Up booth having our picture taken with Anna and Martin we saw President Lincoln enjoying some homemade ice cream.

We told the photographer we would have another picture taken if she could talk Abraham into joining us. He graciously agreed. While we were being set up he did say, "you know, Martin was a confederate." I told him that maybe he would feel a bit more comfortable knowing that he was also a relative. He knew that he was related to the Boones and Webbs, but he said he had never heard of the Bates connection.

He stayed totally in character. He is the same height as Lincoln at 6'4". He has been doing Lincoln for about ten years now. We got to talk to him for several minutes. So we met another famous relative while visiting the Bates.

The Ring

Sometimes it is hard to imagine how big Martin and his wife were.  At the How Do You Measure Up booth there was a ring made to duplicate the wedding ring that Martin wore.  Here are some pictures I took to try to give you some perspective as to how big his ring finger was.

Hand model:  Lisa Bentley

Children's Play Final Performance

We all stayed to watch the final performance of the play.   Again, it was wonderful.  I sat up closer and got a few shots.  It was definitely worth staying for.

Intro of the Play.

Martin Van Buren Bates arrives in Seville on the train.

The townspeople are amazed by Martin's size.

Martin goes to Mrs. Crowley's boarding house to find a place to stay.

Mrs. Crowley and the townspeople build a fire to keep Martin's feet warm and to keep him from catching a draft.

5 gallons of johnnycakes are made to feed Martin breakfast.  Neighbors help Mrs. Crawley cook.

The town has a dance and invites Martin to celebrate with them.

Martin joins in the dancing.

The town helps build Martin's home.  Anna arrives to see it.

The cast takes a bow..