1942 – Monday. Dad & Bud worked Day lights. I went up Town Marie came home with Me. Bud took her home.
1943 – I washed today Dutch Brought in his clothes No ringer I Blistered My Hands. xmas card No letter from Bud yet.
1944 – No entry
1945 – No entry
1946 – No entry
I can’t even imagine having to hand wring my clothes until my hands blistered as reported in the 1942 entry. I wonder where she washed the clothes?
1942 – Boys worked Morning Tour 10 hrs. slept till 4. All ate Together Marie & Julie came Bairds were here To
1943 – Monday Dutch slept Today Marie came by I must get Buds package to get Them Mailed –
1944 – No entry
1945 – No entry
1946 – No entry
1942 – I went up Town xmas shopping with Marie & Am I tired Dad & Bud go out morning tour tonight. They are sleeping.
1943 – Sunday. Mr. & Mrs. Givens moved to Hwy Court. Dutch & Homer slept today Smitty went Back to work till Next trial.
1944 – No entry
1945 – No entry
1946 – No entry
1942 – Marie Wanted To go up To Joes Today. I kept Donnie Dad & Bud worked Bird May go the 15th To Arizona camp.
1943 – Fellows of Kern got Together & raised the $1000.00 & Smitty came home tonight His wife was sure glad.
1944 – No entry
1945 – No entry
1946 – No entry
Since Grama isn’t very good about using punctuation and erratic in her capitalization, it is sometimes hard to make out the meaning of her entries. In the 1942 entry, I think she is talking about a person named Bird who may be moving to a place called the Arizona camp. Bird has shown up several times in the diary. This is the first time I’ve heard mention of the Arizona camp. When I google Arizona camp in 1942 I got articles on a Japanese internment camp called Poston or the Colorado River Relocation Center. It was commonly referred to as Arizona Camp. Could Bird have been of Japanese ancestry? I remember my mother talking about Japanese-American friends who were sent to some camp. Could this have been them?
The continuing saga of Smitty is the subject of the 1943 entry. There seems to have been no concerns about his guilt in this matter. I don’t know whether to be proud that they rallied around a friend in trouble or upset because they treated rape as a minor thing. $1000 was huge money in those days. (Grama’s grocery bill was about $8 a week in 1943.) Therefore, I’m thinking there must have been enough evidence to convince the judge that a high bail was needed.
1942 – Got my hair fixed Marie came out. Bud & Dad worked Mrs Baird & Kids here today. Took Marie To Town tonight.
1943 –Smiths Trial was today Mrs Legan & I went they Bound him over To higher court $1000.00 Cash Bond.
1944 – No entry
1945 – No entry
1946 – No entry
Map of Kentucky with Bullitt County in Red. Henry Burl Stevens was born in Bullitt County.
Sylvia Rene Stevens (1948-Present)
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Henry Burl Stevens Jr. (1924-1997) my Father
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Georgia Mary Coakley (1905-1978) my Grandmother-Mother of Henry Burl Jr.
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Thomas Lewis Coakley (1868-1923) my Great Grandfather-Father of Georgia Mary
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William Jefferson Coakley (1844-1924) my 2nd Great Grandfather-Father of Thomas Lewis
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Lewis Coakley (1820-1895) my 3rd Great Grandfather-Father of William Jefferson
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William Coakley (1788-1838) my 4th Great Grandfather-Father of Lewis
Often you think about family in the sense of location. “Our family comes from Oklahoma” or “Our family comes from Indiana”. But, the family story is much more complicated than that. I had always known that my dad’s family came from Kentucky. End of story? Well, they did live in Kentucky for several generations but they came to Kentucky from Virginia. William Coakley (1788-1838), my 4th great grandfather, was the one who started a life in Kentucky for his family. He came from King George County, Virginia sometime between 1817 when he was married in Virginia and 1818 when his first child was born in Green County, Kentucky.
What causes a man who is living in an area of relative culture and sophistication to move to a wild and rough frontier? This was a hard and dangerous life. From the end of the Revolutionary War in 1783 until 1790 more than 1500 Kentucky settlers had been killed in Indian raids. But less than 30 years later, William Coakley packed up his new wife and moved into the area. Why? There is no way to know for sure but we do know several facts that might have influenced William’s decision. We know that William was not the first born son. He would not have inherited the family land if his family followed the traditions of the time. We also know that Green County Kentucky had incredibly fertile land and attracted many settlers who built tobacco plantations. William was a farmer and this would have been attractive to him.
1942 – I washed today Marie came out Going to get my hair fixed Tomorrow. Dad got his head hurt yesterday by elevator.
1943 – Butain was low Dad Took tank as he went in with Marie & I thought he would never come home Went to see Smith
1944 – No entry
1945 – No entry
1946 – No entry
1942 – Dad & Bud worked Marie is off we walked up Town. Marie & Bud went up Town tonight I ironed today.
1943 –Smith is still in Jail She got a Laywer for him Dad worked Day lights. I must xmas shop pretty soon.
1944 – No entry
1945 – No entry
1946 – No entry
The “she” referred to in Grama’s 1943 entry was probably Smith’s wife.
1942 – Dad & Bud worked Marie is off we walked up Town. Marie & Bud went up Town tonight I ironed today.
1943 –Smith is still in Jail She got a Laywer for him Dad worked Day lights. I must xmas shop pretty soon.
1944 – No entry
1945 – No entry
1946 – No entry
1942 – Dad & Bud went to work I went to Bank Marie came out Dad got card 2B. Dad got his head hurt. Took Marie home at 8 oclock.
1943 – (Law) They picked Smith up at work today on suspicion of Rape a young girl at air Base was suppose to happen last night.
1944 – No entry
1945 – No entry
1946 – No entry
The card 2B referenced in the 1942 diary entry referred to the Selective Service classification 2B. 2B meant that you were deferred because of your occupation in a war industry. Grampa was a driller in the oil industry.
1942 – Dad & Bud went out Day light Marie Didn’t come out but Don Wingfield was here for dinner we took him to Buss.
1943 – George came by and wanted us to go out To Dinner Tomorrow We are not going. So George & Smyths went To show
1944 – No entry
1945 – No entry
1946 – No entry
Wandering Through My Roots 