This is the last instalment of Eric’s family history. Then I get to move on to my side. Somehow that seems more exciting to me, but maybe it shouldn’t. Besides, this is a rather fun section.
Yesterday was Columbus Day, or it used to be called that before cancel culture decreed that anyone with white skin was a supremacist. I cannot despise Mr. Columbus. Though my ancestry, it now seems, traces back at least three times to native Americans, I know that if all the Europeans had stayed in Europe, my native American ancestors would still be cluelessly worshiping idols… And they never would have intermarried with the white Europeans from which I am also descended. More to come on that subject. What Eric has found for me is pretty cool.
No less important is the fact that my dear husband Eric would not be here, back home again in Indiana. I’m rather partial to my white European husband, and I’m pretty sure our descendants appreciate him too. In fact, Vivi wants to paint another portrait of us, now in our old age, as if the one that was done when we were 20 and 21 isn’t good enough anymore! Maybe we’ll take her up on it, if we can get a picture that appeals to my vanity.
But now it’s time to wrap up Eric’s side of our family. Take it away, Eric!
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OXLEY, COX, HUFF, SPENCER FAMILIES
My great grandfather on my mother’s mother’s side was Samuel Tilden Oxley, named for the man who almost became President in the race of 1876 when Rutherford Hayes was elected by a very close and questionable margin.. Samuel was born in 1875 in Dubois County, Indiana and is the only ancestor I have who fought in the Spanish American War. (1898)
Samuel Tilden Oxley
He married Pauline Alice Huff, daughter of Eleven Huff and Mary Ellen Spencer in August of 1900. Samuel and Pauline raised my mother for much of her young life.
Samuel and Pauline Huff Oxley
They had 4 daughters, to whom Samuel would refer as his “little women.'' One of those “little women'' was my grandmother Audra. Her youngest sister was Crystal, also known as Kit. As a young child, I remember my family would take road trips to visit Aunt Kit and Uncle Dewey in French Lick, Indiana. Their homestead is now at the bottom of Lake Patoka. I have fond memories of those visits, where we would stay the night and sleep on feather beds. Aunt Kit and Uncle Dewey had no hot water, and they heated and cooked with wood. They slopped the hogs right out the back door, butchered their own chickens, and served up delicious meals including biscuits and homemade preserves, and, well, fried chicken. I remember that Dewey had a razor strop hanging on the door leading to the upstairs where we slept, and I was told that he knew how to use it although I never saw him use it in any way.
Sam Oxley’s parents were Herman Oxley and Naoma Cox. The Oxley’s were the latest of my mother’s family to come to America, Herman’s father Robert arriving from England around 1850. Naoma’s father was William Cox, and her mother was Eliza Abell.
There is a family story, now legend, of how Naoma Cox at about 18 years of age, fought off an invasion of Morgan’s Raiders, a Confederate Cavalry unit. The story has it that in the summer of 1863, one of the invaders attempted to push his way through the front door of the house, and Naoma held the door shut, trapping the invader’s hand, then cut it off with a butcher knife. This had its desired effect and the bloodied invader left screaming. On a finger of the hand was a large, impressive ring, so she buried the hand in the yard, ring and all, for fear that someone would come back for it.
Eliza Abell, who died before the war, was the daughter of Frances Abell and Hannah Houston, whose families can be traced back several generations. Francis Abell’s grandfather, Enoch Abell, served as a Lieutenant from Maryland during the American Revolution. Hannah Houston’s family arrived from Scotland in the mid-17th Century.
Pauline Alice Huff was the daughter of Eleven Huff and Mary Ellen Spencer. The Huff Family is quite large, and my mother used to attend the family reunions until there were so many people she didn’t know that she quit going. She said once that there must have been 500 people at the last one she attended back in the 1940s.
Eleven Right Huff is of questionable parentage. His supposed father, William Huff, died about seven years before he was born. His mother Jane Taylor then moved from Arkansas, where William is buried, to Parkersburg, Illinois where Eleven was born in 1848. He was apparently the eleventh child of Jane Taylor, but his middle name is Right, which may be a clue regarding the last name of his biological father.
Eleven was part of the Indiana 67th and 24th Regiments during the Civil War. His heritage was questioned, since according to his enlistment papers, he had dark skin, dark eyes, and dark hair. A family portrait taken in his senior years shows several of his daughters having dark skin and African American features. His half-brother Jefferson Huff, in sworn testimony, made misleading statements in support of Eleven Huff’s military pension application and the descendants of Jefferson Huff apparently were aware of the cover-up.
Eleven Right Huff (center front) with his sons and daughters.
Pauline is in the back row, third from the left.
Eleven’s wife, Mary Ellen Spencer, was the daughter of Francis Spencer and Louisa Blunk, daughter of Amos Blunk (or Blunt). Today, in Harrison County, Indiana, where the Blunts and Blunks lived there are many with the name of BLANK.
Considering what we know about my mother’s side of the family, except for the mystery of Eleven Huff's father, her heritage is mostly English and mostly Colonial American.
Patmore – English / German
Pierce – English
Oxley – English / Scottish
Huff – English
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Yes, the story about Naoma Cox chopping off the invader’s hand is pretty thrilling! You can dream of emulating that kind of heroic deed.
Or, you can read a little deeper. Here’s a story you may have missed.
Nobody has been able to pin down who the father of Eleven Huff was, to the extent that some of his descendants decided to just make a coat of arms for the family – starting there, with Eleven. Whether or not his parentage was actually scandalous, they decided that your family is what it is, and thus, they embraced him as their patriarch.
But the daughter of Eleven in Eric’s family line, Pauline Huff Oxley, is the grandmother who was around to raise Eric’s mom, when she needed someone, Rejonnah’s own dad being somewhat less than one could hope for and her mother being, for the most part, a single but loving parent just trying to survive during the Great Depression. Sam and Pauline were surrogate parents for her, who taught her a good work ethic and how to do what was right.
Even though Pauline had no visible grandfather herself, she raised her granddaughter, who raised my husband.
There are many grandparents in 21st Century USA who’ve also stepped up to the plate to help out, and I applaud them. It is not easy, when your family has been raised, to go back and raise your grandkids. These are also heroes, but largely unsung.
Once when Lisa had five kids, her husband was deathly sick and could have died. Eric and I were faced with the thought that we might need to help out, but we had seven kids still left in the home! Let’s just say that we were praying hard for her husband to get well, but yes, we would have helped if our services had been needed.
You may not feel heroic or exceptional, but you may be in a surrogate parent position at this time in your life. You may have a special needs child. Or you may simply be a parent of small children who need an exceptional amount of time and attention. But you are so greatly needed in your family, right where God has placed you!
Here’s a verse for you to put on your bathroom mirror:
“And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.”
~Galatians 6:9
“Oh Lord God, there are parents and grandparents who are feeling depleted tonight, who need a touch from You – strength for today. You are always faithful to provide that. Give them reassurance and peace, that You are there with them in the journey, and that their effort is time well spent.
In Jesus’ name, Amen”
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