My maternal great grandmother was born Luella Drucilla Slack on 15 March 1868 to John Gardner Slack and Elizabeth Hahn. The birth was in Paris township, Stark County, Ohio. Luella was the 8th child of the family which would eventually have 11 children, one dying prior to her birth and another living a short time in 1875. She was known by "Lulu" to everyone within the family and it wasn't until the records were reviewed that her official name of Luella Druscila Slack was determined. My mother told me that Lulu was very upset that none of her grandchildren were named after her. Although I was a great granchild, my mother took the responded to her request, resulting in my middle name being Lulu, not Luella. Even her wedding certificate to Howard Harrison Yoder on 28 March 1894 lists "Miss Lulu D. Slack" as the name of his bride. However, the 1880 census with the family address had changed to Brown, Carroll County, Ohio, does list her as Luella D. This area border with Paris, Stark County. Research on the land John Slack owned is still continuing. Two of her older siblings are school teachers (Adella and Tobias). One wonders whether they were schooling Lulu in the 1880's. Howard and Lulu married in 1894. He was the son of James Longacre Yoder and Mary Clark. Howard grew up in Fox township, Carroll County. It may have been a Clark connection that introduced the two, as Adella married into the Clark family. But no stories of their initial meeting exists. Howard and Luella had 3 children. Earl Vern born in 1895 (my grandfather), Mary Elizabeth born in 1900, and Leah Fay born in 1908. They lived on Murray Avenue in Minerva, Carroll County where Howard owned a meat store. The picture below shows the Murray Avenue home with Lulu sitting on the front porch. Lulu was a good mother who cared about her children and worried about their education. When her only son went into World War One, she wrote letters and corresponded with him regularly about what was happening at home and in Minerva. In 1934, Howard passed, and shortly thereafter Lulu moved to Canton to be closer to her youngest daughter Leah. She lived there until her death in 1958, at the age of 90. She died of coronary heart disease. She is buried in the East Lawn Cemetery in Minerva Ohio. Meanwhile, I was called Little Lulu by my father at the beginning of my life, and then Emmy Lou during my early school years. However, as I entered junior high, Emily became the norm. I didn't understand the Lulu at that point, but I still made sure that it was on each of my diplomas as I worked through to my doctorate degree. Today Lulu means something so much more, as I continue to learn about my great grandmother. 1. Ohio, County Births 1841-2003, Stark, birth registers, 1867-1874, vol. 1, page 14, entry 278, unnamed "Slack" born to John Slack and Elizabeth Hahn, Paris township, reported by B.S. Dibbs, FHL 333256. 2. Marriage Certificate, original, 28 March 1894, Howard Harrison Yoder and Miss Lulu Slack, married by Rev. M.J. Maxwell, Filed in Probate Court Carroll Co. Ohio, personal archives, Yoder family. 3. East Lawn Cemetery, Minerva, Stark County, Ohio, tombstone for Lulu D Yoder, 1868-1958, picture taken by Dorothy Yoder (grand-daughter) 1977.
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January 2022
About this BlogThis blog has been designed to serve two purposes. The first is to leave the written histories of my ancestors.
The second purpose is to offer some of my own stories, so that my children and grandchildren can learn more about my direct family and my childhood. Categories |