Saturday, January 14, 2017


ADDENDUM

In reference to my Uncle Bill’s letters, Juli had a question:  who was the “Bud” referred to in many of the letters?  Was it my father, another relative or friend, or did it vary?

The answer is, without exception “Bud” refers to my father.  I should have noted at the outset that all the letters I possess were addressed to my father with only two exceptions…one to Bill’s father Byron, which, like the ones to my dad; and one photocopied letter addressed to Mr. Ephraim Stradling.  There were doubtless other letters to other people, including his sister Dorothy (Dot), but I have no record of these.

The photocopied letter introduces an additional mystery that I mentioned to Juli, and attempted a quick resolution, but such was not to be.

As I said, it was addressed to Mr. Ephraim Stradling and was postmarked September 14th, 1943.  As such, it has particular poignancy to me as it is the last letter we have recorded from him before his plane was recorded missing September 23rd.  The letter inside is addressed  “Dear Pop and Aunt Mae”.  So who was Pop, and who was Aunt Mae?

Ephraim Stradling would be the brother to Byron’s mother Rose Stradling, so Bill’s Great-Uncle.  His wife was Eugina Elizabeth Williams. 

We know that Byron’s wife Myrle died when Bill was not quite two weeks old (he was born December 31st, 1921, Myrle died January 10th, 1922), Virgil and Dorothy both under 5 years old.  Since the kids were farmed out to different families, it is not impossible to believe Ephraim and Eugina had some part in Uncle Bill’s upbringing (after all, My father Virgil was raised by their Great Aunt and Uncle, Mary Stradling Cook and George Cook, who had also had a part in Byron’s upbringing when Rose died).

The “Aunt Mae” part, on the other hand, is more confusing.  Neither of Ephraim’s wife’s two names could be shortened to “Mae”.  So the plot thickens.  They had two daughters and a son.  We will eliminate the son, William, from contention.  The daughters were Myrtle, born in 1906, and Merline, born in 1909.  We have a photocopy of a photo purported to be of Myrtle and Merline holding a pre-toddler Bill on their laps, probably close to 1923 (he looks to be about a year old).  Myrtle was married to Roland Brimhall in 1923, Merline to Alma Barney in 1927, so it is possible that either of these might have had a role in Bill’s upbringing, and you could probably reduce either Myrtle or Merline to “Mae”.  They would both be Byron’s cousins, so technically not aunts to Bill, but here is what persuades me to believe Merline may be the elusive “Aunt Mae”.

In another photocopied page I have, there is a picture of Merline and Alma Standing on a porch.  On the same page is a photocopy of a picture of Bill in uniform (the one most of you have seen), and a photocopy of a news clipping reporting Bill missing in action (I will have to send this in an e-mail).  Also I have a Provo Herald Veteran’s Day Tribute insert section from November 11th, 2007, with the same photo of Bill, and this tribute: “I always loved you and was proud of you - sis (Aunt Merline)”.

So what do the rest of you think?  Who is Pop?  Who is Aunt Mae? I have some contact information for a few members of the Alma Barney-Merline Stradling Barney family.  Perhaps one of them can shed some light?

Love,

Dad
         
 

2 comments:

  1. Hopefully a UT connection will have some insight. But when you start to get into cousins who are "removed" once or twice or whatever and/or are significantly older, "aunt" Mae seems to make as much sense as anything else, especially if Bill couldn't say "Merline" (there are some difficult letter sounds in there for a toddler)

    I know that our Aunt Judy's and Jerri's kids felt more like aunts and uncles than the cousins they technically were... If we'd lived closer, I could easily see us adopting the "aunt" and "uncle" terminology for them, especially the ones older than you & mom...

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  2. Also, it makes me happy to think that Byron's kids were able to stay close in spite of being physically split up. It kind of adds a poignancy to the "Bud" letters that they were separated again so early in adulthood...

    Wonder what kind of catching up they've done since Grandpa's passing...

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