'Hanks', or Nicar? Ancestors.com is a bit much for me right now. However, I have some very interesting older relatives and would really like to do a bit of research on them and go back from there to discover others in our family.
My dad's side was, I heard as a child several times, originally from Ireland, surname Mays. I'm not sure that is an absolute, though. My dad was Jimmie Lawrence Mays and he was born in west Texas in 1919. He married Dorothy Jewell Penny of Freeport, TX. in 1947, when he went to work in the accounting department of Dow Chemical, where he spent 20 years. Jim and Jewell had 2 daughters, Joyce Irene and Janet Lee. Joyce attended Brazosport Senior High School like her mother and grandmother before her. The family moved to Houston in 1965 where Janet attended junior high school and then South Houston High School until 1970.
Daddy's older brother, Du(r)ward Wayne (called D.W.) Mays married Connie (?) and had one daughter, Gretchen. Dad's sister, Muriel Irene Mays, married Wayne Smith, I think of Dallas - that's where they always lived. They had three sons, Jim David, called David, Ronald, called Ronnie, and Jeffrey, called Jeff.
My dad and his siblings also had a much younger half brother, Wayne Mays,wife Mildred (Midge), son Gregory Lee. Wayne was born to my dad's and his siblings' father, Lee Dallion Mays, and their stepmom, Gladys Mays Hamilton. She had remarried after Lee Dallion's death in the 1930's, to Dell Hamilton and they lived in Kilgore, TX.
My dad used to talk a lot about how he and his teen friends would spend lots of time and have lots of fun blowing up the sides of the cliffs in Palo Duro Canyon with blasting caps, in order to make short-cut trails, back in the depression era. I think daddy and Uncle Duward grew up mostly in Strawn, TX and Borger, TX. Lee Dallion was an oil wildcatter and married Stella Irene (do not know her maiden name or when they married). Stella died of either the deadly influenza epidemic during the first 20 or so years of the 1900's or of measles at about the same time. I think that Stella and her infant son, Cecil, are both buried in a cemetery in Red Mud, TX. The baby died of the same illness that claimed Stella. This was circa 1923(?).
At the onset of WWII daddy joined the Army and Duward joined the Navy. When the Korean War began, Wayne Mays joined the Air Force and retired in the late 70's or early 80's as a general. I would love any background I can get on my dad in the military. I think it would help me know him better.
My mom was Dorothy Jewell Penney, from Freeport/Velasco and Oyster Creek, TX. She was born in 1927. Her siblings included her older brother, August Borden Penney, Jr. (called Jr.), and two younger sisters, Geneva Faye Penney (Called Faye) who became Robinson (Wayne) and then McFerrin (Bob), and Barbara Jean Penney (Barbara) who became McKinney (Archie).
Their bloodlines included Cherokee and English and, I think, German, judging from a couple of surnames.
My mom's parents were August Borden Penney and Allie Maude Penney (ne: Nicar) born in 1901. Somewhere along this line was a woman named Tennessee Virginia Hanks, said to be related to Lincoln and his mother, Nancy Hanks. It was said that that this name derived from the pregnancy of Virginia's mother. Evidently they were moving from Tennesse, which they loved, to Virginia, where the baby was born the first week after arrival. They loved Virginia instantly and named the baby after both states. (Bold move!)
Faye and Wayne Robinson had two daughters (Barbara Joanne, called Jody, Terry McKay, and one son, Stephen, called Steve.) Wayne's parents were Ira Robinson and his wife (? name) in Angleton, TX. Faye married Bob (Robert) McFerrin in the 1980's. Uncle Junior was divorced back in the late 30's or so and never remarried.
Can I give you anything else? Do you have suggestions for me to begin my search in earnest? I have unhappily noticed that even the state obituary sites want to charge to let you look at their records. Bah! Humbug!
Anything you can give me in the way of info, hints, and clues would be most helpful. Way more than I have to go on at this point. Ha! Thanks!
My dad's side was, I heard as a child several times, originally from Ireland, surname Mays. I'm not sure that is an absolute, though. My dad was Jimmie Lawrence Mays and he was born in west Texas in 1919. He married Dorothy Jewell Penny of Freeport, TX. in 1947, when he went to work in the accounting department of Dow Chemical, where he spent 20 years. Jim and Jewell had 2 daughters, Joyce Irene and Janet Lee. Joyce attended Brazosport Senior High School like her mother and grandmother before her. The family moved to Houston in 1965 where Janet attended junior high school and then South Houston High School until 1970.
Daddy's older brother, Du(r)ward Wayne (called D.W.) Mays married Connie (?) and had one daughter, Gretchen. Dad's sister, Muriel Irene Mays, married Wayne Smith, I think of Dallas - that's where they always lived. They had three sons, Jim David, called David, Ronald, called Ronnie, and Jeffrey, called Jeff.
My dad and his siblings also had a much younger half brother, Wayne Mays,wife Mildred (Midge), son Gregory Lee. Wayne was born to my dad's and his siblings' father, Lee Dallion Mays, and their stepmom, Gladys Mays Hamilton. She had remarried after Lee Dallion's death in the 1930's, to Dell Hamilton and they lived in Kilgore, TX.
My dad used to talk a lot about how he and his teen friends would spend lots of time and have lots of fun blowing up the sides of the cliffs in Palo Duro Canyon with blasting caps, in order to make short-cut trails, back in the depression era. I think daddy and Uncle Duward grew up mostly in Strawn, TX and Borger, TX. Lee Dallion was an oil wildcatter and married Stella Irene (do not know her maiden name or when they married). Stella died of either the deadly influenza epidemic during the first 20 or so years of the 1900's or of measles at about the same time. I think that Stella and her infant son, Cecil, are both buried in a cemetery in Red Mud, TX. The baby died of the same illness that claimed Stella. This was circa 1923(?).
At the onset of WWII daddy joined the Army and Duward joined the Navy. When the Korean War began, Wayne Mays joined the Air Force and retired in the late 70's or early 80's as a general. I would love any background I can get on my dad in the military. I think it would help me know him better.
My mom was Dorothy Jewell Penney, from Freeport/Velasco and Oyster Creek, TX. She was born in 1927. Her siblings included her older brother, August Borden Penney, Jr. (called Jr.), and two younger sisters, Geneva Faye Penney (Called Faye) who became Robinson (Wayne) and then McFerrin (Bob), and Barbara Jean Penney (Barbara) who became McKinney (Archie).
Their bloodlines included Cherokee and English and, I think, German, judging from a couple of surnames.
My mom's parents were August Borden Penney and Allie Maude Penney (ne: Nicar) born in 1901. Somewhere along this line was a woman named Tennessee Virginia Hanks, said to be related to Lincoln and his mother, Nancy Hanks. It was said that that this name derived from the pregnancy of Virginia's mother. Evidently they were moving from Tennesse, which they loved, to Virginia, where the baby was born the first week after arrival. They loved Virginia instantly and named the baby after both states. (Bold move!)
Faye and Wayne Robinson had two daughters (Barbara Joanne, called Jody, Terry McKay, and one son, Stephen, called Steve.) Wayne's parents were Ira Robinson and his wife (? name) in Angleton, TX. Faye married Bob (Robert) McFerrin in the 1980's. Uncle Junior was divorced back in the late 30's or so and never remarried.
Can I give you anything else? Do you have suggestions for me to begin my search in earnest? I have unhappily noticed that even the state obituary sites want to charge to let you look at their records. Bah! Humbug!
Anything you can give me in the way of info, hints, and clues would be most helpful. Way more than I have to go on at this point. Ha! Thanks!