Anne Clayton’s Beliefs and Free Speech. Colorful Clayton Connections

Anne Clayton’s Beliefs and Free Speech.

Colorful Clayton Connections

by Teresa Martin Klaiber, Dec. 2019

One of the earliest marriages recorded in Aldingham Parish, Lancashire, England is that of Henry Clayton and Esther Townson 27 April 1600.[i] Lancashire is a maritime county bounded by the Irish sea. In 1648, during Henry Clayton’s lifetime, the Scots, directed by the Duke of Hamilton, and Cromwell, fought a battle at Preston within Lancashire County.  Many were slaughtered. Henry and a son Edmond both survived the battle.

Son, Edmond Clayton was born 05 April 1602 in Lancashire, England.[ii]  Edmond had a daughter Anne (born about 1628) who became a servant at Swarthmoor Hall. She was one of six known siblings including John (this compiler’s ancestor) who migrated to America and settled in British New Jersey.

Swarthmoor postcard (c2155 ebay)

 Swarthmoor Hall had been inherited by Thomas Fell.   Fell supported Cromwell yet managed to retain a position as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. His wife, Margaret Askew Fell, was one of the earliest sponsors of George Fox. George Fox, founder of the Quaker movement, arrived at Swarthmoor Hall in June 1652 as he traveled around England.  Fox had already been in jail 12 months for illegal preaching by the time he arrived at Swarthmoor. The Parish priest confronted Fox.  As a servant in the household it is likely Anne heard or even witnessed this event. 

Margaret Fell was an avid supporter of Fox. Between 1652 and her death she is said to have published many pamphlets including one titled Women’s Speaking Justified which supported the role of women in Quaker ministry.  After Thomas Fell died she remarried to George Fox in 1669. The Quakers, especially the ones known as the Valiant Sixty attempted to convert others to their understanding of Christianity, travelling both throughout Great Britain and overseas.  Anne Clayton accepted the Quaker faith with open arms.

 Some of these early Quaker ministers were women. The Valiant Sixty were itinerant preachers, mostly from northern England, who spread the ideas of the Friends during the second half of the 17th century. They were also called the First Publishers of Truth. There were actually more than sixty of them.  Among the females listed is Margaret Fell. While Anne does not appear in the list, her brother Richard Clayton, yeoman, is one of the Valiant Sixty.  After researching Anne I am a bit puzzled why she was not one of the females on the list.

On 24 March 1654/5 “Anne Clayton, late of Swarthmore, spinster, was indicted for interrupting the parson of Aldingham stated ‘Come down thou greedy dogg, woe unto thee’…”[iv] Aldingham was historically in Lancashire. Anne Clayton would be jailed, for her believes, and whipped in Lancashire Castle in 1655.[iii] 

In the Great Book of Sufferings the writer (Hookes) recorded accounts for 1654-1657 called “For Speaking the truth in Steeplehouses, Marketts and other places…” On the side of the page he recorded the name of the accused Quakers who received fines as well as jail sentences.  In a bracketed group the following women are Mary Clayton, Anne Clayton, Mary Lyongill,  and Jane Ashburner.

Anne had joined the ranks of women-preachers. Anne also wrote to Margaret Fell in October 1655 on behalf of a meeting in Lancaster and requesting a copy of news from London “wee would have thee to send us a copie of that letter [v]which thou received the last from London as shortly as thou canst conveniently.”  Anne’s brother, Richard Clayton wrote Margaret Fell the same year “...& as for the noote y thou writs of I know not whether I have receued it or not, for I have been receued 3 from thee sence I came into this contry but as for out ward things there is noe want, soe deare one if thou be free a copy of this then may send to my deare mother and sister at Lancaster.” Sharing correspondence was their only way to network with others.  Richard’s letter certainly implies that he and Anne’s mother, Margaret was also accepting the words of Fox.

“The desire to dispense with all social differences even led Anne Clayton in A Letter to the King to address the returning sovereign as her ‘dear Friend’ …’”[vi]  in 1660. She asked him to let his mind attend on reading, hearing and reject not the counsel of the Lord…and signed it “From a Love of thy Soul, Anne Clayton.”[vii]

Anne Clayton is said to have carried the Quaker message as far as Barbados[viii] prior to arrival in America. It is said that she travelled to Barbados to be with Fell family members. Henry Fell, a Quaker missionary was already in Barbados by 1656.  Margaret Askew Fell Fox had a daughter named Margaret who married John Rous of Barbados.  At this point in this compiler's research, no documented account of her preaching there has been located. 

She later married Nicholas Easton, who would become the Governor of Rhode Island, in Newport[ix].  Governor Nicholas Easton gave property to Anne, at their marriage called Easton’s Point.  After Easton’s death she married Governor Henry Bull. Anne Clayton Easton Bull sold sixty-five acres known as the Point farm to the Society of Friends. She lived until 30 January 1707.

Ann Bull signature, property of Newport Historical Society

For further reading, I recommend The Valiant Sixty by Ernest E. Taylor published in 1947.  It gives details about how the Sixty functioned and includes information on a fund that was volunteered by those with means, among those that were helped personally by the fund was Richard Clayton described as an owner of a small estate.

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[i] Ancestry.com," database, Ancestry.com, Lancashire, England, Extracted Church of England Parish Records.

[ii] Lancashire: Aldingham & Coniston - Aldingham Parish Register, 1542-1695 and Coniston Parish Register, 1599-1700

[iii] Raymond Martin Bell, Some New Jersey Families...Clayton (Washington, Pennsylvania: self 413 Burton Ave., Washington, PA 15301, 1983), .

[iv] The Household Account Book of Sarah fell of Swarthmoor Hall footnote 59 page 541

[v] Women and Epistolary Agencey in early Modern Culture, 1450-1690 page 215

[vi] Female Friends and the transatlantic Quaker community…Naomi Rebecca Pullin.Thesis, University of Warwick. 2014

[vii] https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/eebo/A79925.0001.001/1:1?rgn=div1;view=fulltext letter to King Charles

[viii] Quaker Women 1650-1690. Earlham College -Plowshares page 45

[ix] Bronner, Edwin, Dictionary of Quaker Biography

Wilson Martin, Killed Defending His Property

Teresa Martin Klaiber 2019

Oral stories are passed down in most families.  My father, John Geer Martin, told many stories of visiting the Martin’s in Lincoln County, Kentucky, as a child.  He inherited the gun carried by Wilson Martin, his 2^nd great grandfather, who was killed, on his farm in Lincoln County, during the Civil War.

Wilson Martin gun with initials “W. M.” carved in handle

 My grandfather became interested in the family history and compiled what the family dubs “the little black book,” in the 1920’s.  One known copy survives.[i]  Henry Kautz Martin wrote: “Wilson Martin died in Lincoln County, Kentucky, July 8, 1864 from a gunshot wound given by a party of men who claimed to be Union Soldiers.”  My father said he died fighting over a bolt of material, at the well, on his farm.

Walter Perry Martin (James Thomas Martin, Wilson Martin…) born eight years after the deadly incident, gave a more detailed account to his descendants. His oral story  expounded that men had taken a lot of things as well as a lot of food to eat. A daughter had hidden a bolt of blue jean cloth[ii] which was found by one of the men. The “man” tried to take the cloth from Wilson’s wife Mary Ann and the daughter. Wilson took a hatchet and hurt or killed one man while the other got away and went to get help.  In the time he was gone, Wilson and a son tried to reach the Campbell farm, which was on the same road.  They got as far as the spring when the men returned and killed Wilson and wounded his son, then rode back to the Martin farm telling Mary Ann her husband was at the spring and wanted a drink.  Mary Ann found him sitting against a tree dead….[iii]

Wilson Martin (James H., John, John, Henry Martin, John Martin) married Mary Ann Peek (Thos., Francis, John, John, John) in 1837 in Caldwell County, Kentucky.  They migrated to Jessamine County about 1843 and moved across the county line to Lincoln County in 1861.  Tax and birth records indicate that Wilson, like his father and grandfather had slaves as late as 1862.  He raised horses, cattle, hogs and children on the farm.  Wilson and Mary Ann had their 13^th child, Davis, in May 1864, just two months prior to his death.

(This picture of Wilson Martin was orginally mis-labeled when this blog was first posted. Corrected on 16 Mar 2020 after a cousin pointed the error out - thanks Arlene!)

Kentucky a border state, was known as brother against brother,  however the Union was in control by 1862.  Having slaves does not necessarily mean the Martin’s favored the South, but it is this compiler’s belief that the family was pro Confederate.

By 1864 the state was full of Union soldiers and guerillas, some not caring which side of the fence they were on. Perrin, in Kentucky A History of the State, states that “guerillas …depredations were confined to no particular class of victims…Toward the close of 1864 there was scarcely a county in Kentucky wholly free from their predatory incursions.”  The previous year, a Union officer wrote: "Gen. have just arrived here (Stanford, Lincoln Co.) ...     have killed and wounded quite a number; taken over 100 prisoners...     my horses are completely worn out.  Some ...men have had nothing to eat for 3 days...WP Sanders”[iv] Stanford was just a few miles from the Martin farm. There was a Union Camp just north of Stanford for most of the war.  Camp Nelson Burial Ground is in adjoining Jessamine County.

The best description of what it was like in Lincoln County in 1864 has been written Kentucky’s Civil War by Heritage Trail, Kentucky Department of Travel:"…After 2 yrs of warfare, an atmosphere of violence shrouded Kentucky...no major Confederate presence in the Bluegrass State, some citizens turned to savage forms of guerrilla warfare.  Many of these bushwhackers were inspired by looting, others by savagery.  Guerrilla   bands freely   roamed the state, murdering and pillaging.  Some claimed to be Union ... others Confederate ties....hit its peak in 1864...Stephen G Brubridge became Federal commander of the District of   Kentucky in Feb...as guerrilla   attacks mounted, Burbridge attempted to prevent   outrages by punishing relatives of the bushwhackers. ..realized...ineffective...ordered four guerrillas shot for    every Union man killed.  In many instances regular Confederate soldiers    and innocent Southern   sympathizers      were executed... arrested and banished citizens with impunity...In 1864   he arrested men who did not vote for Abraham Lincoln...”  Burbridge was finally removed from his post.

In January order #59 gave the Union permission to hold Confederate sympathizers personally responsible for all guerilla raids within a five-mile radius of the scene where a crime was committed. [v]  On July 5^th, 1864, on orders from Washington Martial Law was declared and a writ of habeas corpus[vi] suspended in Kentucky.[vii]  Wilson Martin was killed, three days later, on his farm.

As a visual of the turmoil became clearer, descendent Charles Henry Martin (Wilson Ray, Wilson…) wrote me: “I always thought that tales my father told when I was small were quite wild…surprised to see…about Wilson being shot on 8 July …as  I had always written that one off as the wildest of them all.”   Senator Robert Martin (Henry Franklin, James Thomas, Wilson), past president of Eastern Kentucky University when this compiler was a student there, wrote “I am sure you know he was killed by guerillas near the close of the war…carried by word of mouth…I believe all of us have heard the story many times…he lies in a unmarked grave in Campbell Burying Ground…”

Hubby and I visited the Martin farm in the 1990’s.  I felt a pull and connection as we slowly drove up Martin’s Trail Road. It was a sunny, warm day and owners were very gracious.  Like others we found no stone for Wilson or his wife in Campbell Cemetery.  Final settlement of Wilson’s estate was handled by son James Thomas Martin in May 1871.  I found that Wilson had been selected to be on a jury, in Stanford, the end of July and beside his name is simply written “dead.”  With no tombstone nor a will, we have relied on the “Little Black Book” for his death date as 8 July 1864. 

With new newspaper scans I found an article in the Louisville, Courier Journal, 18 July 1864.  The paper is citing the Danville Tribune but to date I have not been able to find either a microfilm copy or scan from this date of the original article.  The Journal gives Wilson’s death as the 7^th of July vs. the 8^th.  The article states “federal Soldiers” not guerilla’s as the culprits.  There is no mention of a son being shot nor of Wilson Martin having wounded a soldier.

“Mr. Wilson Martin a citizen of Lincoln County, residing near Turnersville, was killed on the 7th inst. by a small party of federal Soldiers, who had gone to his house under the plea of searching for a deserter. The Tribune gives no particulars but says the circumstances under which he met his death, as related to it, attach the blame to the soldiers. The affair should receive a rigid investigation on the part of military authorities. Mr. M. leaves a very large and comparatively helpless family.”

The helpless family was Mary Ann Peek Martin and her thirteen children.  My 2^nd great grandfather Henry Foster Martin was just 14.  None of the thirteen children had married at the time of their father’s death.  In October 1866 James Thomas, the eldest male, became the guardian for George, Benjamin, Wilson R, Mary E, Sarah, Edward, Robert and Augustus David Martin.[viii]  James T. took on much of the financial worries of his mother and siblings. 

Mary Ann attended the Turnersville Christian Church which sits near the turn up Martin’s Trail.  Davis the youngest was said to have “white swelling” and was “slow”. Some family state that he was that way from the trauma of the day his father was killed. All the family helped care for him throughout his life.  My father remembered him as a small child as “a very happy fellow.”

 Mary Ann lived on the farm until her death in March 1897.  Her death was reported in the Interior Journal on the 26^th.  “Death - Mrs. Mary A. Martin one of the best old women …Tues morn aged 88. She had been in feeble health for some time, but a week ago suffered a stroke of paralysis and was unconscious from that time on. Her husband preceded her to the grave many years ago, but nine children survive her, seven sons and two daughters, the former including Mr. Bud Martin of Turnersville...a large crowd attended the funeral at Turnersville church … and heard Rev W. T. Brooks preach ...Campbell bury ground.”

The farm was first announced to be sold September 1906 as a Commissioners Sale.  The land described as 166 acres on Hanging Fork remained without sale. That same year my great grandfather John Shouse Martin (Henry F., Wilson…) wrote Walter Perry Martin: “Mother said for you to use $10.00 of her money to get Davis what he ought to have or use it as far as it could go. Get him warm clothes and some that will wear well for no telling when the poor fellow will get any more…” By 1910 Davis, now 47 years old was living in the Lincoln County Crab Orchard County Home.  The farm finally sold 12 July 1909 on Court Day at the court house doors, standard practice in Kentucky, involving Commissioner deeds. It was purchased by J. W. Peake and B. F. Cain at $15.00 an acre.

James Wilson Peake/Peek (John Wilson Peek, Thos W. Peek…) married Mary Wilson Martin daughter of James Thomas Martin.   The Peake’s brought Davis Martin to live with them, having been in the county home only a short time. James Wilson and Mary Wilson Peake, daughter of James Thomas Martin and granddaughter of Mary Ann Peek Martin, were first cousins once removed.

Mary Ann Peek Martin and son Augustus Davis Martin

It is hard to imagine what strength Mary Ann Martin had to draw from after her husband was killed, a son with disabilities, a farm to manage, and trying to protect and raise the Martin brood.   This compiler’s great grandfather, Henry Foster Martin, attended Transylvania College, became a distinguished Christian Minister finally settling in Farmer’s, Rowan County, Kentucky where his picture hung in the church for many years.  Ah, more stories to share with my family and readers.

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[i] Original Little Black Book possession of Strosnider family, Greenup Co., KY2019.

[ii] Fabrics such as the cotton/wool blend linsey woolsey, cotton jean cloth and homespun were popular during the Civil War, often because of economy and availability. Jean cloth, which is essentially denim, was worn by both women and men because of its price and functionality.

[iii] Retold by Joan Martin Clark, 1981. She owns the Barlow knife carried by Wilson Martin.

[iv] OFFICIAL RECORDS OF CW Series I, p415] July 31, 1863

[v] Bushwacker and Bandits, Thos. Clark

[vi] The right of habeas corpus protects a prisoner -- it allows a prisoner to indicate that his or her constitutionally guaranteed rights to fair treatment in a trial have been infringed upon. .

[vii] Courier Journal

[viii] Ky, Lincoln, Guardianship Bk, KY State Archives, page 26

Black & Blue - Colorful Clayton Connections

Black & Blue - Colorful Clayton Connections.

Teresa Martin Klaiber, Dec. 2019

From an early age I remember being told I looked tired because I had circles under my eyes.  By the time I graduated high school my eyes looked like I might have been punched.  Physicians said it was allergies, I did not drink enough and was dehydrated, and needed more rest, a heart valve issue (discovered at age 40).  Makeup nor the photographers touch up hide or mask “the circles” in my high school graduation picture.  Even with age and glasses, the dark area cannot be hidden.

Teresa Lynn Martin 1967

I visited Bernice Graham, in Marietta, Ohio in the early 1980’s. She immediately commented that I had eyes like Isaac Calvin Clayton.  I nodded, thinking she was talking about the hazel color, as she pulled out the book, she had written[i], turning to the page with a picture of Isaac.  My mouth probably fell open because she was not referencing the color of my eyes. She was in fact referencing the deep coloration around my eyes.  Even in a black and white picture of my 2^nd great grandfather, you could distinctly see the darkness.

Isaac Calvin Clayton

It would be a few more years before my allergist would admit that genetics probably played a role, after all I still like to sleep for up to 12 hours a night. And while genetics play a role, predisposition such as thyroid disease can also play a role. 

Isaac Calvin Clayton[ii], [Alexander, John, Thomas, Thomas, Zebulon, John, Edmund, Henry] was born 17 April 1843 in Bartlett, Wesley Township, Washington County, Ohio, son of Alexander and Hannah W. Collins Clayton.

As a child I would visit Greenlawn Cemetery in Portsmouth, Ohio with my sweet, tiny, great aunt Eva Clayton Scott. “Aunt Eva” was the sister of my great grandmother, Dessie, who died prior to my birth.  She made her home with my grandmother, Katherine Halderman Feyler, since both were widowed.   As you enter the cemetery you are greeted with a beautiful Civil War Monument circled by those who served.  Isaac Calvin Clayton’s military stone faces the entrance and is one of the first stones you see within Soldier’s Circle. 

On May 2 1864 Isaac enlisted as a private in Company D of the 148^th Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry at Plymouth, Ohio[iii].  His description was duly noted on the record with blue eyes, brown hair, fair complexion and 5 feet 10 ½ inches tall.  There is no mention of the circles around his eyes.

He was mustered in the 17^th of May at Marietta for 100 days.  The Regiment was organized as an Ohio National Guard Unit. On May 23^rd the Regiment boarded a Marietta & Cincinnati train headed for Harper’s Ferry.  Shortly after leaving Marietta the train was involved in an accident.  Three men were killed and three seriously injured.  The Regiment, with Isaac, proceeded to Harper’s Ferry where it remained a short time before moving to Washington, D.C.  By June 12 they were at Bermuda Hundred.  The following day they were in General Butler’s entrenchment at the front.

Isaac was among seven companies under Lt. Colonel Kinkead that left Bermuda Hundred for City Point on 16 June 1864.  On the ninth of August Joseph Smith of Company D, S. E. Graham of Company H and another man in company A were killed by an explosion of an ordinance boat.  Sometime between May 2 and June 30 Isaac reported sick.  The total loss of the Regiment was forty, many due to illness.  On the twenty-ninth of August the 148^th left City Point for a return trip to Marietta.  They arrived in Marietta on September 5.  On the thirteenth a public dinner was given the Regiment by the citizens of the County.  Isaac mustered out the following day.  He received his honorable discharge 15 December 1864 signed by Abraham Lincoln, as President, and Edwin Stanton, Secretary of War[iv].  His discharge is in possession of descendent, Kacey Cavanagh Coleman.[v]

Four months later, Isaac married Anna Jane Graham 24 January 1865 in Bartlett, Wesley Township, Washington County, Ohio[vi].  Their first child, our ancestor, Dessie Mae Clayton was born 15 July 1865 in Bartlett[vii]. 

In early 1883 Isaac got a job with Drew Selby & Company in Portsmouth, Ohio.  By Fall of 1883 Isaac was able to move the family to Portsmouth permanently.  He went to work at Drew, Selby and Company shoe factory where Jesse Mains Graham[viii]  was already employed.

Portsmouth flooded in February 1884.  The Ohio rose an average of a foot per hour.  Flooding began the 8^th and reached its height February 12^th.  People were driven from their homes.  Family stories passed down say that during the flood Isaac bruised his hand while repairing a boat.

A callous was worn in the center of his hand.  While driving a stake at his residence, on Third Street, in April 1884, he bruised the hardened flesh, of the callous, which caused catarrh.  While catarrh is usually described as a buildup of mucus in the nose or throat, in this case it was an inflamed and purulent hand.  He continued to work for several days before calling Dr. Gibson. Gibson found him laboring with a high fever and diagnosed him with pyaemia.

Isaac Calvin Clayton died 23 April 1884.   Isaac was only 41 years old.  The obituary in the Portsmouth Times states that the employees of Drew Selby & Company attended the services “in body.” 

I will never know if Isaac was predisposed to heart disease or thyroid disease, or if an earlier ancestor blessed us both with “raccoon eyes.”   I still visit Greenlawn Cemetery and wonder at the parallels.  My thyroid was removed in 2009.  I still battle allergies. Isaac died of blood poisoning and in 2014 I was diagnosed with a blood cancer[ix].   I am drawn to this man that died far too young.  

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[i] GRAHAM Descendants Of William and Dinah Wilson Graham

[ii] Second great grandfather of compiler.

[iii] Civil War Index To Pensions 1861-1934, T288, 546 rolls (Washington, D.C.: National Archives NARA, ), T288-85, Isaac C. Clayton, D 148th Ohio Inf

[iv] microfilm publication (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, ), Civil War Pension #44468, Isaac C. Clayton

[v] Coleman resides 2019 Lexington, Fayette, KY

[vi] Clayton - Graham, (1865), Ohio, Washington County Marriages: vol 4 page 65; courthouse, Marietta, Ohio, Ohio

[vii] Family data, Feyler Family Bible, The Holy Bible: The Authorized Edition of the New Testament...revised...1881...with Complete Concordance...Comprehensive Bible Dictionary, (Philadelphia, PA: A. J.. Holman & Company, 1889); original owned in 2016 by Teresa Martin Klaiber, [address for private use], Rush, KY.

[viii] Jesse Mains Graham brother of Anna Jane Graham Clayton. Mother of Isaac Calvin Clayton.

[ix] Multiple Myeloma

THE CHRISTMAS CRY BABY

THE CHRISTMAS CRY BABY

By Teresa Martin Klaiber December 2019

Growing up, I quickly realized that each of my friends had traditions that differed from our own.  Some, with Christmas trees, would have stars topping their glory, others a pretty angel or ornate, fragile pointed glass topper.  My neighbors, the Steele’s, had pretty bubble lights that fascinated me. 

Dad and I always went to the same tree stand, as a father/daughter outing (13^th Street, Ashland, KY.  Still selling trees for various organizations nearly 70 years later) while mother got the ornaments out.    Our tree sat in the picture window when I was smaller, where one Christmas I had to wait fidgeting, knowing Santa had already come, for my father, who had been called out to deliver a calf.  When I was a bit older our tree was placed in a finished basement recreation room.  I remember that my mother insisted that each tinsel be hung “perfectly” and it was dad’s job to string the lights. I must admit most Christmas were not the norm in our household.  We often had circus performers who helped celebrate with us. 

[i]

One tradition was constant.  Once the presents were opened it was off from Ashland, Kentucky, following the Ohio River, to Portsmouth, Ohio to share a holiday dinner with grandparents.  My paternal grandmother Martin’s tree was always large and the house was full of cousins and laughter.  At times we played with the electric train that had been my dad and uncle’s when they were small.  We had already written Santa Claus at Thanksgiving, while at her house, sending it up the chimney on a puff of smoke, for Santa to catch (I will give my readers time to think then chuckle at that tradition). 

My maternal grandparent’s home, on Gay Street, was a bit more sedate. Their beautiful tree sat between the vestibule and living room.  Each tinsel individually hung carefully along with antique, German blown, ornaments.  Cranking my head, I would see it was topped, not with a star or angel, but a crying baby. I never once asked, as a child, why the baby was crying, nor, why they did not have a star on the top of the tree. 

The dining room on Gay Street was carefully set with starched white table cloth, napkins, polished silver and crystal goblets.  The table usually included Clayton and Graham cousins, including Lucille Graham, my first cousin 3 times removed.  She was a teacher and author who wrote poetry and would be asked to recite at least one during dinner.

On my last Christmas, as a single lady, my grandmother shared Christmas with us in Kentucky. She no longer was able to decorate as she had when raising her own family.  Shortly after the birth of my first son mother brought me a box.  When opened I was holding the crying baby.   Why was the baby crying?  Why did my grandparents have the baby on the tree?  Mother had no idea, only saying that the baby had been on a tree as long as she could remember.

Mother was born in 1921 in Portsmouth, Ohio.  Her older sister Betty was born in 1919 in Honolulu, where my grandfather was stationed at the time.  Betty told me that she had replaced the crepe paper gown and ribbon several times during holidays when she was growing up.  Betty also stated that somewhere in the back of her mind she thought the baby could be her father.  The baby had a tiny bit of real hair taped at the cap.

Howard Clayton Feyler was born 10 September 1893 in Portsmouth, Ohio.[ii]  He was the only child of Edward Leopold and Dessie Mae Clayton Feyler.  He started kindergarten when he was five and the same year according to a social article in the local paper had been seriously ill.  His father’s jewelry store, on 2^nd Street, ran ads by 1889 including photo supplies and cameras.[iii]  Utilizing many online photograph dating sites it is probable that the photo could fall into place in the same timeframe of Howard Feyler when an infant.  The earliest confirmed photograph I have of Howard, a toddler, was taken by A. Willis on 2^nd Street Portsmouth. One might ascertain that the baby’s hair is brown and the nose could be the same. Maybe.

Howard Clayton Feyler

My husband was transferred to New Jersey while our youngest son was still a baby.  I was already immersed in family history, traditions, and genealogy. With hubby’s blessing the then fragile crying baby graced our Christmas tree until 1980.

My youngest son was now five and the crying baby was at the very least, seventy or older and terribly fragile. If I placed the baby on the tree for another year, I feared it would fall apart.  The tiny hands were flexing, the tissue thin, tape brittle and yellowed, the ribbon faded.  With trepidation I left it with a professional framer who in turn did a wonderful job mounting and sealing it. 

I have seen one other picture of a baby tree topper sold on Etsy, described as one of a kind.  The baby also had a crepe paper skirt.[iv]  Once again I wonder who the baby is.

Our cry baby has travelled from my birth place of Portsmouth, Ohio up river to Ashland, Kentucky, to New Jersey, back to Ohio, and finally to eastern Kentucky.  I have never let go of it and while he cries, he warms my heart, not just at Christmas time but all year long, one of many treasures I cherish for the memories.

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[i] Christmas, Ashland, KY left to right , the compiler, Jimmy Lloyd, Victor Lewis and Coco the clown.

[ii] Portsmouth Daily Times, 16 Sep 1893

[iii] Porstmouth Daily Times, Oct 1889

[iv] https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&source=images&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwji7I_8k4jmAhWiJDQIHfZaC3IQjRx6BAgBEAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.etsy.com%2Flisting%2F722979145%2Fvictorian-baby-picture-jesus-tree-topper&psig=AOvVaw38VDqMinXAqCg2gYMCx29e&ust=1574867284531605