Compiled by Teresa
Martin Klaiber 2023
Lewis
Combs was born 14 March 1899 in Lawrence County, Kentucky, the son of John
Combs and Martha J. Cotton. Lewis’s father died in 1903 leaving an interesting
will in Lawrence County, Kentucky. [i]
By 1910 Lewis’ mother and sisters were residing on Bolts Fork Road in Boyd County,
Kentucky on the border of Lawrence County.
When
Lewis Combs was nineteen he had become a machinist helper in Columbus,
Ohio. His widowed mother, Martha had
moved to Columbus with him. The 1917 World War I Draft gives his description as
tall, slender with blue eyes and brown hair. The Combs are then residing on
Sidney Street. By 1920 Lewis’s half-sister
Nora Perkins Johnston, widowed, is living with them along with her two children
Frank and Russell.
Shortly
after the 1920 Federal Census was taken, Lewis Combs married Julia Stephens and
went to work for Timken Roller Bearing Company.
It was said to be one of the largest employers in the Columbus area at
that time.[ii]
Ironically Timken was said to be one of the first companies to introduce roller
bearings for railroad cars.[iii]
Hunting
season, in Ohio, was open in November 1923 when Lewis along with Harry B.
Watson, Oscar Norvell and James Edward Turner set out, on Thursday, for
Trinway, Muskingum County, Ohio on a hunting trip. It was early morning of the 15th, at
5:38 AM, when they reached Frazeysburg and began to cross the tracks at Basin
Street. They were struck by a
Pennsylvania Flyer. The train was due in Columbus by 6:50 and was manned by a
Columbus crew. The conductor stated that the engineer had whistled at the
crossing just before the accident happened. Both Combs and Watson were night foreman
at Timken. Norville and Turner were Pennsylvania shop men. The automobile was owned and driven by Lewis
Combs.
According
to the Times Recorder[iv]
Lewis and wife Julia had two children: Shirley[v]
age 3 and Louis aged 18 months.[vi] Mrs. Frank Turner (Rosa L)[vii]
of Reynoldsburg was interviewed and stated she was the mother of J. E. Turner
and half-sister of Combs. James Edward
Turner was born 6 January 1899 at Black Lick, Ohio to Frank and Rosa.[viii] Lewis and James Edward, so close in age,
would certainly become close.
Lewis
Comb’s death certificate[ix]
states that he was to be buried at Ironton, Ohio on the 18th. It is
not clear why the arrangements were changed. Instead the burial took place in
Klaiber Cemetery, on Garner, Boyd County, Kentucky. Lewis’ full sister Cora had
married Reuben Harrison Lucas in Boyd County in 1910. They were living in Cabin Creek, Kanawha
County, West Virginia at the time of Lewis death but stayed in touch with
extended family in and around Boyd County. Harrison’s father Henry Kane Lucas family were
living on Glancey Fork near Denton which is over the western ridge from Klaiber
Cemetery. Harrison’s mother Lucinda Sexton Lucas was a niece of Marcus and
Catherine Sexton already buried in Klaiber Cemetery.
A
photograph can speak volumes. The first
picture was taken in 1995. Within two
years I took picture #2 and searched everywhere for any piece of porcelain
without success. No matter how well we tend the graves we cannot be in the
cemetery 24 hours a day. As of this
writing even the remaining piece is missing.
It is heartbreaking when something like this happens to our loved once
final place of rest. We have cemetery rules and hope that everyone will stop by
the house and ask permission before going up the hill to the cemetery.
Photographs copyright by Teresa Martin Klaiber. Please cite your source!
Coming
next blog… Whispers From the Grave, Martha J. Cotton Perkins Combs
[i] KY
Lawrence, Will bk, 1903 page 232
[ii]
Columbus Dispatch, 18 Aug 2010 Timken
Company brought factory jobs to Columbus
[iii] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timken_Roller_Bearing_Company
[iv]
Times Records 16 Nov 1923
[v]
James Shirley Combs
[vi]
Louis aka Lewis married 6 April 1940 Annabel Sanders in Gallia County. The m. cert states his parents are Lewis and
Julia.
[vii]
Rosa L. Perkins was the d/o Martha Cotton and first husband James Frank Perkins
[viii]
Oh Musk D cert 67745
[ix]
OH Musk D cert 67744
