Ancestor Archives: Nancy Jane Roark (1889-1953) Part Two

 

by Rocky Macy

Nancy Jane Roark was born on May 18th, 1889, to Samuel James and Nancy Anthaline (SCARBROUGH) ROARK in the community of Hart, McDonald County, Missouri.  She married Daniel Alexander SREAVES at the home of Justice of the Peace H.C. “Clay” HALL in McDonald County, Missouri, on the evening of March 12th, 1913.  Nancy Jane passed away at St. John’s Hospital in Joplin, Jasper County, Missouri on February 5th, 1953.

Nancy Jane (ROARK) SREAVES was my maternal grandmother.

Throughout her life, Nancy Jane was known by her family and close friends as “Siss.”  She was even listed on her and Dan’s wedding license as “Siss Roark.”  The spelling of that nickname varied on documents from “Sis” to “Siss,” but I have a letter that she wrote to her brother-in-law, Jess SREAVES, during World War I, in which she signed her name as “Siss,” so that is the version which I use here.  If it is spelled otherwise, such as “Sis” in this profile, that reflects how it was spelled in whichever source document was being referenced and cited.

The 1890 census burned in a warehouse fire, but two remaining census records - 1900 and 1910 - exist in which Siss was still residing in her parents’ home.  In 1900 she was an 11-year-old listed as “Nancy J. Roark,” and in 1910 she was 21-years-old and the census taker recorded her name as “Sissie Roark.” Siss was also mentioned several times in the ”Hart” section of the local newspaper between 1906, when she was almost seventeen, and when she married Dan at the age of twenty-three in 1913.  In most of those entries she was listed as “Sis,” but her name was noted as “Siss” in a couple.  Those newspaper mentions follow, sequentially:

“Pineville Democrat” (March 2nd, 1906)  “Hart Happenings”  page 1:
“Miss Sis Roark returned from Johnson, Ark., last week where she has been on a visit to her brother, Jno. Roark and family.”

“Pineville Democrat”  (March 1st, 1907)  “Hart Happenings”  page 1:
“Misses Ethel and Sis Roark, Leona Crawford and Orpha Pogue spent Sunday with Clyda Smith.”

“Pineville Democrat”  (March 15th, 1907)  “Hart Happenings”  page 5:
“Miss Della Williams spent Sunday with Sis Roark.”

“Pineville Democrat”  (July 6th, 1907)  “Hart Happenings”  page 1:
“Misses Sis Roark and Etta Darr are on the sick list.”

“Pineville Democrat”  (May 28th, 1909)  “Hart Beats”  page 4:
“Misses Siss Roark and Orpha Pogue took dinner at J.M. Smith’s Sunday.”

“Pineville Herald”  (March 14th, 1913) page 5:
“License to Marry:  Dan Sreaves and Sis Roark, of Seneca.”

Pineville Democrat  (March 21st, 1913)  page 4:
“Dan Shreaves and Siss Roark of Hart were married by H.C. Hall here Wednesday evening.”

By the time of the 1920 census Siss and Dan had been married just over seven years and they were listed in their own household.   That census recorded her as Nancy J. “Neaves” of Buffalo Township, McDonald County, Missouri.  The census said that she was thirty-years-old, able to read and write, and had no occupation -  a distinct irony in describing a farm wife who worked everyday from before daylight until after dark!  Also present in the home were Daniel “Neaves” (age 31), a son, “Hearoldene Neaves” (Harold Dean Sreaves) (5), a daughter, Mary R. “Neaves” (3), and a nephew, Ivan Roark (8).

(Ivan Lafayette ROARK was Siss’s nephew, the son of her older brother John Henry ROARK and his wife, Phoebe (GRUNDEN) ROARK.  Ivan was born on September 18th, 1911, and was the couple’s fourth child and fourth son.  Less than three years later, on August 7th, 1914, Phoebe gave birth to a baby girl, Edna Gladys ROARK, but it was a troubled delivery and the mother died a week later on August 14th.  The baby girl died a couple of months later on October 9th, 1914.  Somehow the family reached an undoubtedly hard decision and placed young Ivan in the home of Siss and Dan where he became an automatic older brother to their son Dean who had been born in April of 1914.  Ivan grew up in the SREAVES’ household.)

As an example of what life was like in the SREAVES’ household just before the 1920 census was taken, here is a transcription of a letter that Siss wrote to Dan’s younger brother, Jess SREAVES, who was working at a hospital in Boston as a part of the World War I effort.  The letter was given to me many years ago by Mary SREAVES CLOTFELTER, Jess’s daughter.  It was written in pencil, addressed to “William Jesse Sreaves, Boston, Mass General Hospital No. 10,” and postmarked in Seneca, Missouri on the afternoon of May 20th, 1919.  The postage was three cents.  In that two-page letter Siss wrote:

“Seneca, Mo

“Dear Brother,  We got your letter.  Was real glad to hear from you.  Ruby is at your Mother’s.  She seems real nice.  When do you think you will be home.  I hope soon.  Dan is plowing corn.  He has just about got it over two times.  We have not heard from Claude for over a month but he was well when we heard.  I guess he got your letter for he don’t hardly ever get one.  Mother worries so much about him.  Her and Papa said for you to send them your picture if you have one.  Do send them one for they would be glad to get one.  I was sure glad you sent us one.  Write soon & a long letter.  

“Siss & Dan”

The 1930 census listed Siss correctly as Nancy J. Sreaves, but had her age incorrectly as thirty when she would have actually been forty.  Dan’s age was given as 31 when he would have really been forty-one.  Others residing in the household were Dean Sreaves (16), Ruth Sreaves (13), Nead (Ned) Sreaves (9), Larine (Florine) Sreaves (7), Chistine (Christine) (6), Bettie (Betty) L. Sreaves (5), and Ivon (Ivan) Roark (18).

Ten years later in 1940 the census recorded Siss as Nancy Jane Sreaves, age 50, an unpaid family worker who had a fourth grade education.  Also in the family were Dan Sreaves (51), Ned Sreaves (20), Florine Sreaves (18), Christine Sreaves (17), Betty Lou Sreaves (15), and Floyd Sreaves (10).  During the interim between 1930 and 1940 Ivan ROARK had gotten married and left home, Mary Ruth SREAVES had also gotten married and left home, and Harold Dean SREAVES had been placed in a mental hospital in Nevada, Missouri. 

The seven SREAVES children were, in addition to Ivan ROARK who was born in 1911 and probably came to live with them in 1914, were:  Harold Dean (1914-1968), Mary Ruth (1916-1995) (Mrs. Fred MARBLE), Ned Roark (1920-1970) (married Gwendolyn WALLACE), Ruby Florine (1921-1986) (Mrs. Garland MACY), Virgie Christine (1922-1999) (Mrs. A.G. “Bob” DOBBS), Betty Lou (1926-1996) (Mrs. Dalton MACY), and Floyd Edgar (1930-2017) (married 1. Shirley MEANS, and 2. Carolyn LANKFORD).

Harold “Dean” SREAVES was to some extent a family secret, and I did not even hear of his existence until his death in 1968 - at which time I was twenty.  A cousin who was also born in 1948 told me that she, too, had been unaware of Dean.  One story that I heard later was that Dean had developed a fever as a result of measles, and the fever had left him mentally impaired.   Margaret (ANDERSON) SMITH (Ethel SREAVES ANDERSON’s daughter) told me that the two oldest children, Dean and Mary Ruth, had typhoid fever when they were in their early teens, and that could have also been the fever that left Dean impaired.   I heard through the family story mill that Dean, as an older teen, had been discovered standing in someone else’s home in the middle of the night and that was when Dan and Siss realized that he needed more help and supervision than they could provide.

Siss apparently had trouble reconciling herself to the fact that Dean was unlikely to ever leave the placement at State Hospital No. 3 in Nevada, Missouri.  On January 7th, 1939, she wrote a letter to the staff of that facility regarding Dean’s condition.  The superintendent of the hospital  responded to her letter two days later:

“January 9th, 1939

“Mrs. D.A. Sreaves
Route 1
Seneca. Mo.

“Dear Madam,

“Replying to your inquiry of January 7, we regret to say there has been no change in the condition of your son, Harold Sreaves.  He is in good health and is well satisfied here, but his conduct has not improved and his mind is impaired much the same as it always has been.

“Sincerely yours,
“Orr Mullinax, M.D.
Superintendent”

Nevada, Missouri, where Dean was confined, is about eighty-five miles from Seneca, but a visit would have required a full day away from the farm.    Siss and Dan were able to visit Dean on occasion, and someone in the family told me that Dean knew them when they came, and that he would refer to his father as “Old Daddy.”  Harold Dean SREAVES passed away at that hospital on April 28th, 1968, after spending at least thirty years there as a resident patient.

Siss SREAVES began exhibiting heart issues in the 1930’s, a condition that finally brought about her death nearly two decades later.  My uncle, Floyd SREAVES, the youngest of Dan and Siss’s seven children, told me about his mother’s first stroke.  He said they were gathered at the dinner table and that “Daddy returned thanks.”  After that Siss began laughing and telling them that everything on the table was out of the garden except for the bread - but as she was finishing that remark she had her first  stroke and was rushed to the hospital.  Uncle Floyd said that his mother could not speak plainly for quite a while after that.

Uncle Floyd also talked about Siss’s insistence on planting certain vegetables on certain days, and he said that when Dan jokingly disagreed, she would plant hers and he would plant his when he thought it was right, and they would see whose crops came up first.  Floyd said that his mother did a lot of canning, an endeavor that was common in farm families.

Uncle Floyd also told me about a near tragedy involving him and his mother.  It was a cold winter day and all of the older kids were in school, but Floyd was home with Siss because he was still too young for school.   They were in the main room and she came into contact with the wood stove and caught her dress on fire.  Floyd said his mother was very scared, but he “grabbed her” and got her outside where he set her in a tub of laundry water.  Floyd said that Siss was scarred from that incident.

(Farm women catching their voluminous dresses on fire from wood stoves was not an uncommon occurrence at that time.)

Mary (SREAVES) CLOTFELTER was Jess SREAVES’ daughter and a cousin to Siss’s children.   Mary told me those cousins of hers were “a family of fun-loving kids.” 

Margaret (ANDERSON) SMITH, a daughter of Dan’s sister, Ethel (SREAVES) ANDERSON, was also a cousin who spent a lot of time around Dan and Siss’s children.  She told me how much Siss liked to embroider, but was conflicted about whether it was an appropriate activity to engage in on Sundays.  Apparently Siss, who was very religious, felt compelled to bring the matter up with her pastor.  She explained to the pastor that it helped with her “nerve problems.”  The pastor must have given his blessing on the matter because Siss continued to embroider - even on Sundays!

Margaret said that Siss stood up for her family, had good principles, and was a fun person to be around who was often laughing.  She said that Siss made most of the children’s clothes.  She also mentioned that Siss was often sick.

Margaret told me that she and her mother, Ethel, and Siss were all attending to Gramma SREAVES (Dan’s mother, Mary Jane Ellis SREAVES)) the day she passed away.  She said that her grandmother had asked Ethel to kill a hen and make chicken and noodles.  Margaret said that she and Siss had just raised Grandmother SREAVES up in bed when she suddenly died.

Although she began having strokes in the 1930’s, Siss SREAVES managed to live long enough to see all of her children reach maturity, and all except for Dean marry and start their own families.  She passed away on February 5th, 1953, at St. John’s Hospital in Joplin, Missouri.  Dan, who was a passenger in my parents’ car and heading home after Siss died, became ill in the car and had to be taken back to the hospital and admitted.  He was so sick - and no doubt distraught - that he was unable to attend her funeral.

Although my younger sister and I were left outside in the car during the funeral (I was four and Gail was two), today I somehow have possession of a copy of her funeral book - something I undoubtedly came across in my mother’s things when she passed away.  One of the things included in that book was a list of signatures of “relatives” who attended the service.  They were, in order of signing:

Glen Tucker, Jess and Lula Sreaves, Marvin Sreaves, Harry and Ethel Anderson, Grace Tucker, Margie Tucker, Hycle Tucker, Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Tucker, Margaret Pogue, Carol Nunn, Christine Dobbs, Ruth Marble, Bob Dobbs, Floyd Sreaves, Shirley Sreaves, Betty Lou Macy, Ned Sreaves, Gwendolyn Sreaves, Dalton Macy, Joe and Fannie Ulmer and family, Mr. and Mrs. Gene Scurlock, Florine Macy, and Garland Macy.

Also included among those funeral papers is a page of typed notes that appear to be what the minister used in the eulogy.  It follows:

“Nancy Jane Roark, familiarly known as “Sis,” was the daughter of Samuel and Nannie Roark.  She was born in McDonald County, Missouri May 18, 1889.   All her life was spent in Southwest Missouri, most of it in the Seneca area.

“On March 12, 1913 she was married to Dan Sreaves.  To them were born three sons, Harold, Ned, and Floyd;  four daughters, whose names are now:  Mrs. Fred Marble of Hickman Mills, Mo.  Mrs. Garland Macy and Mrs. A.G. Dobbs of Goodman, Mo. and Mrs. Dalton Macy of Wichita, Kansas.

“The deceased was converted at the Hart Baptist Church in her early youth but upon her marriage to Mr. Sreaves, transferred her allegiance to the Methodist Church, to which he belonged.  At the time of her death she was a member of the Swars Prairie Methodist Church.

“Mrs. Sreaves’ final illness began about three years ago.  She died in St. John’s Hospital in Joplin at 1:50 p.m. February 5, 1953 at the age of 63 years, 8 months, and 18 days.  Her husband has been critically ill in the same hospital and is unable to be present here.  All the children survive and are his comfort in this hour.  Two of her sisters also survive:  Mrs. Pete Nunn and Mrs. Earnest Tucker, both of Seneca, and there are 14 grandchildren.  

“Many have commented on the sweet patience with which she endured her long illness, and the confidence which she had in the wisdom of God’s plan.” 

While Dan and Siss were members of the Swars Prairie Methodist Church, both of their funeral services were at the Swars Prairie Baptist Church and they are interred in that church’s cemetery - not far from their son Floyd, his daughter, Debbie, Dan’s parents, Siss’s parents, and even one set of Siss’s grandparents and a large host of other relatives and friends of a lifetime.

They truly are at rest among family, now and forevermore.