Tombstone Tuesday - 20 April 2010

This marker is for my maternal great-grandfather, William Homer Mix. His parents were John and Mary Mix and he was the baby of the family. There were 6 to 8-ish children (sorry, haven't quite nailed down a possible couple oldest siblings). William was father to 10 children of his own.

From my research so far, it looks like he spent his entire life in New York state in either Tioga, Tompkins, or Ontario counties. He worked as a carpenter, farmer and farm laborer in the federal census records I've been able to find for him.

He married my great-grandmother, Cornelia Akins, on Christmas Day in 1904. Unfortunately, they divorced in 1935. He never re-married.

I never heard a lot of stories about him from my grandmother, she was just shy of 15 when they divorced. One of the few things she shared was a memory of the family all together in the kitchen for a meal, the kids being wild and noisy and her father saying to her mother: "Nelia, can't you control these kids?!"

Sure, easy for him to say when there are 10, count them, 10 kids running around!!! :-) Man oh Man, it was a different world when large families were the norm!!