February 23, 1945 (Friday)
- Jill Johnson Tewsley
- Feb 23, 2024
- 4 min read
Updated: Feb 23, 2024
EDNA RECEIVES TWO LETTERS
Snowed again last
night - colder to-day.
Hank to Ed
home this P. M.
Read a nice long
letter from Maybelle O. J.
She is completing plans
for her funeral in the
event of her death wants
me to make one song
selection for her.
Rec'd air letter from
Fern Aldrich of Texas telling
of the sudden death of
May Aldrich, Howard's
mother in Florida. Howard
+ Warren bringing remains
for burial to Bowne Center
cemetery.
Well of course I needed to know more about Maybelle O. J.
At first, I thought it was Maybelle A. J., not O.J. But a quick call to my dad helped me out. Dad said Maybelle was a Johnson and that she had been a nurse but he didn't recall the exact relationship.
I did a little digging and found May Bell Johnson listed on our Ancestry.com family tree. From there I was able to determine that she was likely the woman I was looking for.
Maybelle Olive Johnson, according to her obituary, began training as a nurse in 1899 at Baptist Hospital in Chicago. She continued to work and train as nurse until ill health caused her retirement.
When Maybelle wrote to Edna in 1945 about her funeral plans she had been mostly bed-ridden for over ten years. It would be another 12 years before she passed away in 1957 at the age of 79.
Maybelle was the daughter of John Chandler Johnson and Mary Nash
Edna's mother-in-law is Eleanor Nash.
Eleanor (Edna's mother-in-law) and Mary (Maybelle's mother) are sisters.
Also, Edna's father-in-law is James Chandler Johnson. James and Maybelle's father John Chandler Johnson are brothers.
James and John married sisters Mary and Eleanor.
Edna is married to Henry Alden Johnson, Sr. The son of James and Eleanor.
So, Maybelle is Henry's cousin.
Now that we got that all figured out, I am sad to say that I don't know much more about Maybelle. But I do have a fascinating story to share about the sisters Eleanor and Mary.
Eleanor and Mary were born in Ohio to Alden Nash and Olive Noyes Poole. Eleanor and Mary were two of nine children born to the couple.
Alden Lorenzo Nash (1836-1837)
James Morrison Nash (1838-1916)
John Merton Nash (1841-1844)
Daniel Lorenzo Nash (1843-1935)
Elenor Louisa Nash (1847-1897)
Mary Elizabeth Nash (1849-1923)
Alden Jay Nash (1851 - 1931)
John Augustus Nash (1854 - 1922)
Francis Rosalia Nash (1857 - 1946)
In 1852, when Eleanor was five and Mary just three-years old, their father Alden Nash sold his property in Ohio, loaded his family into a covered wagon and travelled to Bowne Center, Michigan.
In 1966, Olive Nash Bergy (the daughter of John Augustus Nash) recorded the story she had been told about the journey, writing it down on paper.
"In October 1852, two years before my father (John Augustus Nash) was born, Grandfather (Alden Nash) sold his property in Welshfield, Ohio and he and grandmother (Olive Noyes Poole Nash) and their 5 children aging from 1 year - 14 years, came to the wilderness of Michigan with a covered wagon.
Alden had a one horse buggy for his wife and his sister Clarissa Waterman to travel in. They crossed Lake Erie from Cleveland, Ohio to Detroit, Michigan and were soon on their way to a new world and a new life.
Uncle Dan (Daniel Nash) rode in the wagon and held onto his two sisters - Aunt Mary (Nash), 3 years and Aunt Eleanor (Nash), 5 years - to keep them from being bounced out of the wagon. Uncle Dan was only 9 years old. Uncle Jim (Nash) was 14 years old and Uncle Alden Nash II was a baby of 1 year. My grandfather was 41 years old and Grandmother was 36 years. The going was rough as they went over logs, mud, and bad roads day after day."
If you want to read the entire account of the journey, just click the link below.
.
Parents of the nine Nash children, Alden Nash and Olive Noyes Poole Nash.
The name most bestowed upon individuals in the Nash and Johnson lineage seems to be Alden.
Alden Nash named two of his own sons Alden.
Eleanor named her own son Henry Alden (Edna's husband).
Henry's sister Lydia named one of her children Alden. This Alden...Alden Nash Porritt had a twin sister Olive. She died when she wasn't quite a year old but Olive was a commonly given name in my lineage for awhile as well.
Henry and Edna named one of their sons Henry Alden (Hank).
Many of Hank's grandchildren were given Alden as a middle name.
My own son is named Alden.
I hope it is a name what will continue through the generations so that the story of Alden Nash himself and the stories all of the Aldens who came after him will live on in our family history.
I know I will share more of their stories on this blog at some point in the future. Especially those of Alden Nash himself. Until then, in case you have ever driven a stretch of road in Kent County, Michigan name Alden Nash ....the answer is yes. Read more about it here: https://lowellsfirstlook.com/alden-nash-man-of-mystery/
Update:
After I published this post, my parents found a picture of Maybelle O. Johnson in her nurses uniform.
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