Sandy Hook Parents Inflict Serious Damage on Remington Arms

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

Although there is clearly no way to ever achieve absolute  justice over the loss of an innocent child's life, or any life for that matter, a group of parents of nine of the children who were killed in the Sandy Hook school massacre in Connecticut in 2012 did receive some justice yesterday when they reached an agreement for a $73 million payout from insurers for the Remington Arms Company.   The parents had been in court for the past seven years trying to attach some legal blame to the company that made the assault weapon that killed their children.

Remington's insurers had previously offered to settle for $33 million, but the parents refused that offer. The settlement which was agreed to yesterday  not only awards that group of parents $73 million, but, almost as importantly, it allows the parents to make public all of the company's documentation that was uncovered during the discovery phase of the court proceedings.  Much of that documentation deals with the gun manufacturer's marketing strategy,  an ad campaign aimed at young, and often unstable, men.  The ads sometimes ran on violent video games, and one, in particular, used the phrase:  "Consider Your Man Card Reissued."

Remington, and surely other gun manufacturers as well, considered their own "Man Cards" to be invincible thanks to federal legislation that protected arms manufacturers from liability over the harm caused by their products.    That protective legislation was, of course, written by lawmakers whose pockets were stuffed with cash from the NRA and other gun lobbyists - and much of which was originally funded by the gun manufacturers themselves.

The lawsuit by the Sandy Hook parents took a different tact.   Instead of going directly after Remington for its manufacture of the deadly weapon that killed their children, the plaintiffs instead used Connecticut consumer protection laws to attack the company over the way that it marketed its weaponry.  They were able to make a case that the troubled young man who killed their children had been exactly the type of individual that Remington was enticing to buy its guns.

According to the lawsuit, Remington violated Connecticut's unfair trade practices act when it "knowingly marketed and promoted the Bushmaster XM15-E2S rifle for use in assaults against human beings."   Joshua Koskoff, the lead attorney representing the families, told USA Today that "the marketing essentially glorifies violence and the military use of the weapon to young men."

Remington has declared bankruptcy twice in the past two years, and its future as an arms manufacturer looks to be unclear.  A judge still has to approve the settlement before any money will change hands or the damning documents can be released for public viewing, but there seems to be a sense that the tide may have finally begun to turn against the once untouchable American arms industry.

Nicole Hockley, a mother of one of the children who was killed at Sandy Hook and a member of the group that brought the lawsuit against Remington,  noted to the press that the parents "can't wait" to release the thousands of internal documents that they acquired during this prolonged legal battle.    She said they "paint a picture of a company that lost its way choosing more aggressive marketing campaigns for profit, with no thought to the impact."

Joshua Koskoff, the attorney for the families, summed up yesterday's victory this way:  "The immunity protecting the gun industry is not bulletproof."  

Perhaps in the future the gun manufacturers will feel the need to employ more care and diligence in how they peddle their "Man Cards."

Eminem Kneels for Kaepernick and for All of Us

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

Kudos to rapper Eminem who used his entertainment platform at Sunday’s Super Bowl to kneel in solidarity with NFL outcast Colin Kaepernick.  The rapper used the halftime show of the National Football League’s most important event of the year to stage his social protest.  He made his point, and he made it well.

There are some news reports circulating which state that the NFL had warned Eminem in blunt terms not to kneel during his performance - and other reports saying that the football overlords knew that the protest was coming and chose to let it happen. But regardless of the NFL’s action or lack thereof on the matter, Eminem chose to do it his way and ended his performance with a kneel seen round the world.

The national anthem was not playing while Eminem knelt, but his gesture apparently managed to trigger a particular segment of the viewing public - an indication that their wrath may have been rooted in something more than just a misguided sense of patriotic fervor.

Freedom of speech matters, fair policing practices matter, and black lives matter.  Thank you, Eminem and Colin Kaepernick, for reminding us of those often uncomfortable, but always important, truths.  You make us better people!

Stand Strong, Parkland!

 

by Pa Rock

Retired Educator

The mass killing at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, occurred four years ago today.  It was just one deadly school shooting among literally hundreds that have occurred in American schools over the last thirty years.  Seventeen students and staff were killed by a deeply troubled teen gunman, a significant number, but there had been even deadlier school shootings before the one at Parkland.

Parkland was unique.   The fact that it happened on Valentine's Day helped to cement the event into the public memory, and because the school served an upscale and well educated population, a quick response was generated from the school community that was more active and focused than reaction had been in many other communities which had suffered school shootings.

There seemed to be a determination born in Parkland to forgo the standard "thoughts and prayers" drivel, and instead generate a meaningful response - to get active, make some noise, and turn the heat on politicians to toughen gun laws.  Student and parent activists from Parkland lobbied the Florida legislature and Congress in an effort to keep the focus on the important issues of gun control and school safety, and they also held rallies nationwide to promote their causes.

Today, four years after the shooting at their high school, some parents and students are still active with the cause, and others are well into their college years but still maintaining ties to the Parkland activist community.   Bringing gun violence under control still seems to be a key focus of their lives.

The NRA has bleated and bellowed about the young activists from Parkland, trying to make them appear as spoiled brats and children of privilege who are just seeking attention.  Conservative news outlets like Fox have heaped scorn on them as people betraying their station in life, and bothersome insects like Marjorie Taylor Greene even spent time stalking and heckling one of the better known activists.

Usually school shootings, like bad memories, just fade away.  They happen with such frequency that is hard to maintain enough outrage to ever force any meaningful change.   But the people of Parkland, and especially the young people of Parkland, are still pissed off, and no amount of name-calling and intimidation from gun groups and right-wing zealots will ever force them to back down.  

The survivors of Parkland are still fighting the good fight, for themselves - and for us.  We need to be thinking of them today - and for all of the victims of gun violence - and letting them know that there are still people in the United States of America who believe in the sanctity of life and the right to live lives that are free of fear.

Thank you, Parkland, for standing strong for all of us!

One Smith Family (Part 11)

 

by Rocky Macy

(More profiles of the heirs to the 1920 estate of William C. SMITH of Newton County, Missouri.)

26.  J.W. CLINE was born James William L. CLINE in Pope County, Arkansas, to James D. Martin and Martha Parthena F. (SMITH) CLINE on April 3, 1870.   James William’s mother, Martha Parthena F. (SMITH) CLINE was William C. SMITH’s younger sister, which made her son, James William L. CLINE, William’s nephew.

James William L. CLINE has been identified eight different ways on the eight public documents that have so far been revealed as pertaining to him.  From the earliest to the latest, his name was given as:  James W.L. CLINE,  J.W.L. CLINE,  Wm. CLINE,  James W. CLINE,  J.W. CLINE,  William J. CLINE,  J. Will CLINE,  and finally,  J. Wil CLINE.  

James William L. CLINE entered the public record at the very young age of three months.  The 1870 US census for Illinois Township, Pope County, Arkansas, contained a listing for his parents and three toddlers, with James W.L. CLINE being the youngest at just 3/12 of a year.  Also in the home were two older sisters, Cassandra J. (3) and Lydia F. (2) CLINE, as well as the parents, James D.M. (29) and Martha P.F. CLINE (25).

By 1880 the family was located at Holly Bend Township, Pope County, Arkansas, and present were the parents and six children.  The census taker listed all of the given names by initials only.  Present in that household were:  J.D.M. CLINE (39, head of household),  M.P.F. CLINE (36, wife),  C.J. CLINE (12, daughter), L.F. CLINE (10, daughter),  J.W.L. CLINE (9, son),  J.A. CLINE (7, son),  B.D.H. CLINE (5, son),  and  H.M. CLINE (2, son).

The census of 1890 was destroyed by a fire, and by 1900 both parents in the CLINE family were deceased:  (Martha Parthena F. (SMITH) CLINE  had died in 1896, and James D. Martin CLINE had followed three years later in 1899).   The oldest son (and subject of this profile) “Wm” CLINE (30), was heading a household that included four of his younger siblings in Holly Bend Township, Pope County, Arkansas, (probably in the home that his parents had established) when the census taker arrived in 1900.  In addition to “Wm,” the family included Cassie CLINE (33), John CLINE (27), Melvin CLINE (17), and Allie CLINE (13).

James William L. CLINE married Safronia (WALLACE) DAVIS sometime between 1900 and 1910,   When the 1910 census was taken for “Holla” Bend Township, Pope County, Arkansas, their household included James W. CLINE (40), Safronia CLINE (35), Fay DAVIS (15), Edgar DAVIS (12), and Delvey DAVIS (10).

(A death certificate on file with the state of Arkansas notes that “Fronia” Elizabeth CLINE  was born October 27, 1875, in Arkansas and died at the age of eighty-four on March 3, 1960, in Russellville, Pope County, Arkansas.  The death certificate stated that her father was Calvin WALLACE.   The cause of Fronia’s death was listed as “senility.”   There was also an entry for “Sophronia” Elizabeth CLINE and the internet “Find-a-Grave” site.  It gave her date of birth as October 27, 1876 (one year later than the date on the death certificate), and her date of death as March 3, 1960.   That site said she was the widow of E.T. CLINE and William Van DAVIS, it named two of her children:  Ollie Ree DAVIS and Emma Faye DAVIS,  )

The 1920 US census for Illinois Township, Pope County, Arkansas, had an entry for a married couple who were living by themselves  William J. CLINE (49) and “Euphronia” E. CLINE (43).

James William L. CLINE passed away in Russellville, Pope County, Arkansas, on February 17, 1925, at the age of fifty-four.  His death certificate lists his father as “J.D. CLINE” and his mother’s maiden name as “Mattie SMITH.”   At this time it is unknown where he is buried.

27.  J.A. CLINE  was born John Andrew CLINE in the state of Arkansas to James D. Martin and Martha Parthena F. (SMITH) CLINE on January 17, 1873.  John Andrew’s mother, Martha Parthena F. (SMITH) CLINE was William C. SMITH’s younger sister, which made her son, John Andrew CLINE, William’s nephew.

John Andrew CLINE first appeared in the public record as “J.A.CLINE” in the 1880 US census for Holly Bend Township, Pope County, Arkansas.   The census taker who took his family’s information that year used initials for all of the given names.  Included in the household, from oldest to youngest, were the father, J.D.M. CLINE (39), his wife, M.P.F. CLINE (36), daughters C.J. CLINE (12) and L.F. CLINE (10), and sons J.W.L. CLINE (9), J.A. CLINE (7), B.D.H. CLINE (5), and H.M. CLINE (2).

The 1890 US census was destroyed by a fire, so the next available census was the one taken in 1900.  The CLINE parents passed away before 1900 - Martha Parthena F. (SMITH) CLINE in 1896, and James D. Martin CLINE in 1899 - and when the census taker arrived in 1900 five of the siblings were residing in their own household, likely the home established by their parents, in Holly Bend Township, Pope County, Arkansas.  

The 1900 census for that household included “Wm” CLINE (30) as the head, Cassie CLINE (33), John CLINE (27), Melvin CLINE (17), and Allie CLINE (13).

John CLINE (37), had hired out as a farm laborer in Dardanelle, Yell County, Arkansas,when the 1910 census was taken.  He was living in the home of Needham COWGER (30) and Ora COWGER (25).  That census revealed that he was single and that he was able to read and write.

John Andrew CLINE registered for the World War I draft in Pope County, Arkansas, on September 12, 1918.  That registration revealed the first official recording of his date of birth:  January 17, 1873.  It listed his relative as J.W. CLINE of Pottsville, Arkansas.  The registration also indicated that his full name may have possibly been :John Andrew Jackson CLINE, a name that would have been in keeping with his family’s propensity for each member having two middle names.  John was described in the draft registration as being a white male of medium build with black hair and black eyes.

John Andrew CLINE has not been located in the census for 1920.

John A. CLINE was living in Illinois Township, Pope County, Arkansas, when the 1930 census occurred.  He was a 57-year-old farm laborer who was described as a “boarder” in the home of Elie SIPES (a male, aged 72), Margaret SIPES (74), and their daughter Ella SIPES (44).  According to that census, John A. CLINE was still a bachelor in 1930.

John Andrew CLINE made his final appearance in the public record through the census of 1940.  At that time he was 67-years-old and living with his younger sister, Martha “Allie” REED (53), in Tulsa, Tulsa County, Oklahoma.  Also in that household were Allie’s husband, Edward Earl REED (60), and a family of six lodgers whose last name was CROSSLEY:  Boyd (37), Marie (36) Ivan (15), Ruby Louise (13), Reba Fern (9), and Eleanor Jean (6).

The date, place, and circumstances of John Andrew CLINE’s death are not known to this researcher at this time.

28.  Allie REED  was born Martha Alene CLINE in Russellville, Pope County, Arkansas to James D. Martin and Martha Parthena F. (SMITH) CLINE on January 9, 1887.  Allie’s mother, Martha Parthena F. (SMITH) CLINE was William C. SMITH’s younger sister, which made her daughter, Martha Alene “Allie” CLINE, William’s niece.

A delayed birth certificate that was filed on Allie on January 16, 1943, in the state of Arkansas provides Allie's full name as well as her date and place of birth.  The certificate was attested to by her brother-in-law, J.W. REED.

Allie’s mother, Martha Parthena F. (SMITH) Reed passed away in 1896 when Allie was just 9-years-old, and her father died in 1899 when she was twelve.  Because the 1890 census was destroyed in a fire, Allie’s first appearance on existing census records was in 1900 when she was the youngest member of a household in Holly Bend Township, Pope County, Arkansas.   The five family members were all siblings and all CLINEs:  “Wm” (30), Cassie (33), John (27), Melvin (17), and Allie (13).

Allie married Edward Earl REED (born February 20, 1880) sometime between 1900 and 1910.   When the 1910 census taker arrived at their household in Holly Bend Township, Pope County, Arkansas, there were three members in the household, all REEDs:  “Edd” (30), Allie (23), and Eunice (3).  That census revealed that Allie was able to read and write, and that she had given birth to only one child.

The census enumeration date, that date on which whoever was alive and in residence was to be counted, had traditionally been in late spring or early summer (often in April), but in 1920 the Census Bureau moved the date up to January 1st, a time that government officials figured the harvest would be over and most citizens involved in farming were likely to be available for the census.  That census was therefore able to capture the presence of 80-year-old William C. SMITH of Newton County, Missouri.  William passed away a few weeks later - on February 8, 1920.

William C. SMITH had been a widower for several years by the time of his death, and he was also childless, but he did have a history of inviting others, usually relatives, to share his home.  That was the case at the beginning of January, 1920, when the census taker encountered Allie REED and her family living with William in his home in Seneca, Newton County, Missouri.

Present in that household were William C. SMITH (80), Edward E. REED (38), Martha “E.” REED (32), and Eunice E. REED (12).  (Allie REED later became one of the forty-seven heirs to the estate of William C. SMITH that the six plaintiffs tried to partition out of the inheritance.)

By 1930 Martha A. REED (43) and her husband, Edward E. REED, were still residents of Seneca, Missouri, but their daughter, Eunice, had left the household.

Martha REED (53) and Edward Earl REED (60) were living in Tulsa, Tulsa County, Oklahoma, in 1940.  That census indicated that they had been residents of Seneca, Newton County, Missouri, at least as late as 1935.  Also in their household was Martha’s (Allie’s) older brother, John Andrew CLINE (67), and six individuals with the surname of “CROSSLEY”:  Boyd (37),  Marie (36),  Ivan (15),  Ruby Louise (13), Reba Fern (9), and Eleanor Jean (6).

According to information obtained from the internet Find-a-Grave index, Edward E. REED died in Russellville, Pope County, Arkansas, on April 2, 1955, and is buried at the Pisgah Cemetery in Pottsville, Pope County, Arkansas.  A one-line obituary notice in the “Daily Oklahoman” newspaper out of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, on July 29, 1969, stated:

"Fairland

REED, Martha, 82.  Services pending."

Martha Alene “Allie” (CLINE) REED would have been eighty-two in July of 1969, and Fairland, Oklahoma, is on the route between Seneca (15 miles away) and Tulsa (81 miles away).  Perhaps that is where her daughter, Eunice, was living.

Martha A. REED, according to her own entry in the internet Find-a-Grave index, died in 1969 and is buried at the Pisgah Cemetery in Pottsville, Pope County, Arkansas.  She is buried next to her husband, Edward E. REED.

29.  Cassie CLINE was born Cassandra J. CLINE in the state of Texas to James D. Martin and Martha Parthena F. (SMITH) CLINE in August of 1866.  Cassie’s mother, Martha Parthena F. (SMITH) CLINE was William C. SMITH’s younger sister, which made her daughter, Cassandra “Cassie” J. CLINE, William’s niece.

Cassie was the oldest child born into the CLINE household.  Her first appearance in the public record was with the US census of 1870 in Illinois Township, Pope County, Arkansas.  Present in the family at the time of the census were the following, all CLINEs:  James D.M. (29), Martha P.F. (25), Cassandra J. (3), Lydia F. (2), and James W.L. (3/12).

By 1880 the CLINE family was residing in Holly Bend Township, Pope County, Arkansas.  That census taker chose to record all given names by initials only.  Present in the household were:  J.D.M. CLINE (39, the head of household), M.P.F. CLINE (36, J.D.M.’s wife), C.J. CLINE  (12, a daughter), L.F.  CLINE (10, a daughter), J.W.L. CLINE (9, a son), J.A. CLINE (7, a son), B.D.H. CLINE (5, a son), and H.M. CLINE (2, a son).

The census for 1890 was destroyed in a fire and the next available census record was that of 1900.  The CLINE parents passed away prior to 1900, Martha Parhtena in 1896, and James D.M. in 1899, and by the time of the 1900 US census five of the CLINE offspring were living together in a household, possibly the old family home, in Holly Bend Township, Pope County, Arkansas.  The census taker listed William (“Wm”) first in the head-of-household position.  The five members of that household, all CLINEs, were:  Wm (30), Cassie (33), John (27), Melvin (17), and Allie (13).

By 1910 Cassie J. CLINE (44) was living in the household of her sister, Lydia, who was recorded as “Liddie” F. REED (41).  Also in the household were Lydia’s husband, John F. REED (64), and their six children, all REEDs:  Lee F. (17, a son), Aerie (16, a daughter), Minnie A. (14, a daughter), Oscar N. (10, a son), Altie N. (8, a daughter), and Ruth H. (6, a daughter).

The 1920 US census represented Cassie CLINE’s last known entry into the public record.  At that time, which would have also been near the time of the inheritance from her uncle, William C. SMITH, Cassie was a resident of the Arkansas State Hospital for Nervous Diseases in Ward 8 of Little Rock, Pulaski County, Arkansas.  She was fifty-two-years-old and the census taker listed her marital status as “widowed,” although there is no current evidence that she had ever been married.

(More profiles of the heirs to the 1920 estate of William C. SMITH of Newton County, Missouri, will follow in the coming weeks.)

Herschend Family Entertainment Invests in Its Employees

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

A little over seventy years ago the Herschend family of southwest Missouri managed to acquire control of Marvel Cave near Branson.  The family went into the cave tour business, but the cave could only accommodate so many visitors at a time, so the family began developing a few hillbilly attractions outside of the cave to keep the tourists entertained while they were waiting on their tours.  Those entertainments also provided a nice revenue stream.

The entertainments developed into Silver Dollar City and before long it became one of the major theme parks in the United States.  The Herschend family also helped to develop the famed country music theatres of Branson.  Today Herschend Family Entertainment owns twenty-five major tourist attractions across the United States and into Canada.  Their holdings include Silver Dollar City, Dollywood, the Harlem Globetrotters, and even several large aquariums.  The family business employs over 11,000 full-time, part-time, and seasonal employees.

This week Herschend Family Entertainment announced that it was instituting a new program that would provide free college tuition, fees, and textbooks to all of its employees, and that employees would be eligible for that generous perk from their very first day of employment.  The program will be available for several schools and will cover a wide range of degrees and programs.

At a time when many corporations seem to be picking the pockets of employees in order to stuff the pockets of the bosses, it is refreshing to see a company that shows an interest in helping their workers to better themselves and their situations.

Herschend Family Entertainment is looking toward a brighter future with a better educated workforce, and one can't help but suspect that their friend and partner, Dolly Parton, helped to inspire and encourage this generous initiative. 

 Helping employees obtain education and training is a movement that needs to be spreading across America's corporate landscape.  Kudos to the corporations, like Herschend Family Entertainment, that have the foresight and courage to invest in their people!

Toiletgate: Flush, Dammit, Flush!

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

Running for President wasn't really an idyllic endeavor for Donald Trump.  He didn't have some grand personal vision for the improving the state of the nation or ts people.  Trump was just an aging grifter who wanted to stoke his ego, settle a few old scores, and make as much money as he could off of the presidency.  He knew from the outset that his political strength would be with the slow-witted and gullible, and those were the voters that he relentlessly cultivated.

Trump did not bring much in the way of original thought to the White House because he was not known for his thinking skills.  He possessed no idealism nor a sense for the betterment of humanity.  With Trump, it was all about Trump - first, last, and always!  Any originality that did emanate from the Trump White House always focused on his needs.

Like that odd tirade that he unleashed a couple of years ago about low-flow toilets and sinks.  When he did his business on the presidential commode, he wanted to be able to whoosh it away with one simple, yet powerful, flush - and he whined loudly about having to occasionally double-or- triple-flush.  He was a real estate tycoon and he had better, more productive ways to spend his time than with flushing!

But now it is beginning to look as though Donald John Trump may have had ulterior motives in wanting to soup-up the White House toilets.

Presidents are required to safeguard their records, all manner of historical artifact or communications generated from their time in office,  and when they leave office their records MUST BE, by law, turned over to the National Archives.  Among other things, the Presidential Records Act of 1978:

" . . . established that Presidential records automatically transfer into the legal custody of the Archivist as soon as the President leaves office."

That transfer of records to the National Archives did not happen, at least with some records - including some stamped both "Secret" and Top Secret," when the Trump administration rolled out of town in January of 2021.  Just last week, in fact, representatives of the National Archives traveled to Trump's Mar-a-Lago complex in south Florida and seized fifteen boxes of presidential records that had been illegally taken and stored in Florida.

That seizure of presidential documents seems to have opened the floodgate for stories about Trump's impulse to keep his affairs private - even if "his" affairs were really the nation's business.  Stories re-surfaced about Trump routinely tearing up documents after he had finished with them, and then aides would struggle to piece and tape them back together.   The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) has said that Trump tore up "numerous" documents when he was President, documents that were supposed to have been preserved.

(Some credited Trump's long history of being involved in lawsuits as his impetus for always trying to destroy the paper trail of anything he had been involved in.)

There is, however, even more to this latest surge of stories about Trump hiding or destroying records from his administration.  Maggie Haberman, a reporter for the New York Times, is apparently going to press with a book focusing on the Trump single term as President.  Among other things, her book will reveal that members of Trump's staff recalled finding Trump's White House toilet clogged with documents.  Trump has called those stories of flushed documents "categorically false."

The fact that Donald Johnny used his presidency to rage against low-flow toilets is finally beginning to make sense!

Flush, dammit, flush!

My Happy App

 

by Pa Rock

Road Warrior

I had a nice drive to Mountain Home, Arkansas, this morning for my six-month visit to the dermatologist.  He carefully scanned by aging flesh and announced me good to go for another six months.  This was the first visit in several years where he did not "freeze off" some bothersome growths, or, worse yet, do some surgical snipping.

So I hauled by baggy carcass out of his office around eleven a.m. and headed home, a fifty-five mile drive.  As I left Mountain Home I pulled into the local McDonald's for an iced tea for the road, and while I was at it I picked up a bag of cheeseburgers for lunches.   It was at McDonald's where my internal boiler got fired up for the first time today.

McDonald's - as well as several other local fast food joints - have begun promoting their new "apps" for ordering.  I don't have any of these "apps," and I don't want any.  It's all I can manage to do just to make calls on my telephone, and I don't want to add to the confusion by using the phone to place an order when I am sitting at the damned drive-up window anyway!

I don't know who benefits from me sitting in front of the ordering speaker and tapping my order into the phone instead of just saying it over the speaker.  Does someone save a few steps because of the way that I place an order?  I doubt it, but yet they persist in asking me, over the speaker, if I will be using my "app" today.

And not only do the McDonald's employees sound disappointed in me personally when I tell them my order instead of tapping it in, they also reward the youngsters who possess these wonderful "apps" with special food deals - clearly a case of age discrimination!

There's a nice looking little cafe just down the road from that particular Macky-D's, and when that cafe puts in a drive-up ordering window, if it ever does, McDonald's can kiss my happy "app" goodbye!

Republican Day of Reckoning

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

The Republican Party has been playing footsie with extremists since the late 1940's when political snakes like Joe McCarthy and Richard Nixon were building their political careers with communist watch hunts.   Nixon, through his "southern strategy," brought the once proud Party of Lincoln below the Mason Dixon Line and made it a haven for the old southern racist politicians who felt they had been betrayed by the likes of Franklin Roosevelt and Lyndon Johnson.

Gradually a two-tiered Republican Party emerged, one where the power ultimately rested with old money Brahmins, and the political power was generated by an angry white base that could be easily stirred up and directed into appropriate action.

It was a sweet deal and it worked as long as everyone stayed in their lanes.

But something happened in 2016 and the Brahmins lost control.  The country was coming off of two terms with a black Democratic President, and many in the Republican Party were frantic in their desire to reclaim the White House for white America.  Things were so chaotic within the GOP that an outsider, a television huckster who had never run for political office, managed to somehow obtain the party's presidential nomination.  

Many in both parties assumed the political outsider would lose the election, but the candidate ignored accepted political behavior and decorum and ran a reality show type of campaign that appealed to individuals in both parties who felt they had been ignored for too long - and the outsider won.

Donald Trump, as President, had a certain amount of control over the federal government as well as the Republican Party, and many within his party rushed to ingratiate themselves to him, a fealty that for most was hard to break, even after he left office four years later.  And even though Trump had been soundly defeated in his re-election bid, he left office claiming that he had somehow been cheated, and much of his following remained steadfast and vocal in their support of him.  

Republican politicians were given a choice:  they could remain openly affiliated with Trump, or they could suffer the wrath of the masses.

And now most are stuck to him,  unable to extricate themselves from the Trump orgy of lies, greed, neglect, criminality, and racism that permeated the government and the nation for four years.

Ronna Romney McDaniel and her Republican National Committee are riding uncomfortably in Trump's back pocket, or his golf bag, and so is Kevin McCarthy, the minority leader in the House, and a host of other GOP politicians, some of whom know better but feel unable or afraid to leave the safety of the pack.

By being bound to Trump, these sorry politicians and pundits are also bound to his irresponsibility, his his criminality, and his insanity.   They have made themselves co-owners of things like the January 6th attack on the US Capitol - and feel forced to peddle misinformation and outright lies.

Now, however, with the Republican National Committee going over the dam with its bizarre "legitimate political discourse" statement, the Brahmins are finally finding the wind to begin bellowing.  This week they fired one of their political big guns - Mitch McConnell - at Trump.  Mitch snarled back at the RNC and told them that it is "not their job" to single out Republicans for criticism - read:  "Leave Cheney's daughter alone!" -  and that the mayhem of January 6th was indeed an attack on the US government.

A day of reckoning appears to be at hand for members of the Republican Party.  They can continue to blindly follow Donald Trump as he leads them over the cliff, or they can kneel to Mitch and the Brahmins.

Pass the popcorn, please!

Killing Police Officers Is Not Legitimate Political Discourse!

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

In a bizarre attempt to rewrite history, the Republican National Committee last week passed, by a voice vote, a censure resolution of two Republican members of Congress:  Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois.  The two had gotten on the wrong side of the GOP’s party bosses when they volunteered to serve on the House committee that is probing the events surrounding the attack on the US Capitol by Trump supporters on January 6, 2021.

But the fact that the RNC chose to eat two of their own members of Congress wasn’t the major headline to come out of that highly political and vindictive measure.  The big news was in the wording of the censure.  Included in the GOP vitriol was a statement that the two GOP members of Congress had participated “in a Democrat-led persecution of ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate political discourse.”

Many people, especially intelligent people who watched the treason and treahery unfold on television, found that nugget of revisionist history to be impossible to swallow.

Five police officers died as a result of what happened at the Capitol on that fateful day, events that the leaders of the Republican Party now want to recast as “discourse."   Assaulting and killing police officers is hardly something that one would do over tea.

Some members of the surging rabble were shouting about their desire to hang Mike Pence, and a gallows had been conveniently erected on the grounds of the Capitol.  Were those vocal threats of lethal mayhem the stuff of Republican legitimate political discourse?

And then there was the person - or persons - who took a dump on the floor of the Capitol and proceeded to spread their excrement along the floor and walls of that venerable and historic building.  That was discourse you could smell - and even slide in!

Stealing computers and personal items from the offices of members of Congress?  That, too, is one way of making a statement!  Discourse, damnit, discourse!

All of that wonderful, wonderful legitimate political discourse - and then a couple of maverick Republicans try to paint those brave patriots as being somehow un-American when all they were really doing was exercising their constitutional right to free speech through bear spray, flagpole javelins, piles of poop, graffiti, broken windows busted doors, and a hangman’s noose or two.  

Cheney and Kinsinger should be thankful that a censure was all they got!  God help them if the Republican Party had chosen instead to confront them with some good, old-fashioned, legitimate political discourse!

The current leadership of the Republican Party has no honor - and certainly no shame.  Their souls are as sullied,ravaged, and broken as our nation's Capitol was on January 6, 2021. Ronna, and Mitch, and Kev, you may not have the integrity to feel embarrassed for what the GOP has become under your watch, but rest assured that America is embarrassed for you!

Legitimate political discourse, indeed!

One Smith Family (Part 10)

 

by Rocky Macy

(More profiles of the heirs to the 1920 estate of William C. SMITH of Newton County, Missouri:)

21.  Clarence SCARBROUGH was born Clarence L. SCARBROUGH to James William and Matilda Louisa “Lou” (GONTERMAN) SCARBROUGH in Des Moines, Jefferson County, Iowa, on November 24, 1900.  His father, James William SCARBROUGH, was the youngest child and only son of William C. SMITH’s oldest sibling, Mary Jane (SMITH) SCARBROUGH, which made James William SCARBROUGH William’s nephew, and his son, Clarence L. SCARBROUGH, William’s grandnephew.  

Clarence L. SCARBROUGH’s birth and christening are both matters of public record in the state of Iowa.  He next appeared in the public record with the US census of 1910 at which time he was listed as nine-year-old Clarence L. SCARBROUGH in the Kirwin, Phillips County, Kansas, home of his parents, William SCARBROUGH (42) and “Thal” SCARBROUGH (39).  (Matilda Louisa was born in 1880, and her actual age in the 1910 census would have probably been twenty-nine.)  Also in the household were three younger siblings:  “Selvia” SCARBROUGH (7), Nancy M. SCARBROUGH (5), and “Darwin N.” SCARBROUGH (4).

(Note:  “Darwin N.” SCARBROUGH was never mentioned again in the public record, and he appears to have actually been Samuel W. SCARBROUGH who was born on April 1, 1906, to James William and Matilda Louisa (GONTERMAN) SCARBROUGH - though it is unclear at this time why Samuel was called Darwin during the census of 1910.)

James William SCARBROUGH (born December 13, 1868, in Sien, Texas) passed away in Kirwin, Phillips County, Kansas, on August 12, 1911.  Sometime between the date of his death and 1915, the children and their mother moved back to Iowa where the kids appeared in the Iowa state census of 1915.   In that state census Clarence SCARBROUGH was recorded as being 14-years-old and a resident of Eldon, Wapello County, Iowa.  He was further noted as being a single white male whose father had been born in Texas and whose mother was born in Iowa.

Clarence L. “SEARBOROUGH” registered for the World War I draft on September 12, 1918, as a resident of Nemacolin, Greene County, Pennsylvania.  That registration recorded his date of birth as September 12, 1900 (instead of November 24, 1900), an error of two months and two weeks which would have made him eligible for the draft on the day of his registration.  The draft registration listed Clarence's occupation as a laborer, and said that his mother, Lula BROWN of Whittier, California, was his nearest relative.  

(Clarence’s father, James William SCARBROUGH, had passed away in 1911, and his mother  married a man named Charles Alexander BROWN sometime before the census of 1920 when she and Charles and their son and her older children were residing in Whittier, Los Angeles County, California.  The mother went by the name “Lula BROWN” from that point onward.)

Clarence did serve in the US Army during World War I and for a couple of years after the war ended.  His US National Cemetery Interment Control Form states that he was a Private in the QMC (Quartermaster Corps).  It also shows that he was a Christian and that he had enlisted as a resident of the state of New York.  He was discharged on July 30, 1921.

Clarence was serving in the US Army when the 1920 census was taken, and, as of this time, his census entry, if one was taken, has not been located.  After leaving the military in July of 1921, he next appeared in the public record nearly four months later when he married Marie STICKELMAN in Manhattan, New York City, New York.  According to an unattributed biography included at the internet “Find a Grave” index, James and Marie had two children, Dorothy and Franklin.

Clarence L. SCARBROUGH passed away in Bergen County, New Jersey, on August 26, 1928, at the age of twenty-seven.  He was buried at the Cypress Hills National Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York City, New York.

22.  Sylva L. SCARBROUGH was born to James William and Matilda Louisa “Lou” (GONTERMAN) SCARBROUGH in the state of Iowa on February 23, 1902.  Her father, James William SCARBROUGH, was the youngest child and only son of William C. SMITH’s oldest sibling, Mary Jane (SMITH) SCARBROUGH, which made James William SCARBROUGH William’s nephew, and his daughter, Sylvia L. SCARBROUGH, William’s grandniece. 

Sylvia was entered into the 1910 US census as 7-year-old “Selvia” SCARBROUGH residing at the home of her parents, William (42) and “Thal” SCARBROUGH (39) (actually 29) of Kirwin, Phillips County, Kansas.  Also in that household were Sylvia’s older brother, Clarence L. SCARBROUGH (9), her younger sister, Nancy M. SCARBROUGH (5), and a 4-year-old younger brother listed as “Darwin N.” SCARBROUGH.

(Note:  “Darwin N.” SCARBROUGH was never mentioned again in the public record, and he appears to have actually been Samuel W. SCARBROUGH who was born on April 1, 1906, to James William and Matilda Louisa (GONTERMAN) SCARBROUGH - though it is unclear at this time why Samuel was called Darwin during the census of 1910.)

James William SCARBROUGH (born December 13, 1868, in Sien, Texas) passed away in Kirwin, Phillips County, Kansas, on August 12, 1911.  Sometime between the date of his death and 1915, the children and their mother moved back to Iowa where the kids appeared in the Iowa state census of 1915.  That census revealed Sylvia “S.” SCARBROUGH as a 12-year-old living in Eldon, Wapello County, Iowa.

The SCARBROUGH children’s mother, Matilda Louisa (GONTERMAN) SCARBROUGH, had married Charles Alexander BROWN sometime before the 1920 census was taken, and she and her new husband had relocated the family to Whittier, Los Angeles County, California.  From that point on Matilda Louisa was known in the public record as "Lula M. BROWN."

    

The 1920 US census found Sylvia SCARBROUGH still residing with her mother, new stepfather, and three siblings and a new half-brother in Whittier, Los Angeles County, California.  At the age of 17, Sylvia was the oldest child in the household.  Also listed in the 1920 census were Charles A. BROWN (the head of the household, 28), Lula M. BROWN (38), Garret M. BROWN (4), Nancy M. SCARBROUGH (16), Samuel SCARBROUGH (13) and Theodore SCARBOROUGH (8).  (Theodore had been born on May 20, 1911, in Kansas City, Missouri, less than three months before his father’s death.)

According to the city directory of Whittier, California, for 1922, Sylvia had married James BUTLER and was living on North Newlin Avenue.  Four years later, in 1926, she registered to vote in Whittier as a “Socialist” and stated that her occupation was that of a housewife.

The 1930 US census found James H. (28) and Sylvia L. (28) “BUTTER in Whittier, California.  Also in the household were James W. “BUTTER” (7), Leona M. “BUTTER” (4), and Edwin G. DUN (5, who was listed as a son to both parents). A later Social Security document revealed that James W. BUTLER's middle name was "William."

Sylvia registered to vote three times in the 1930’s, each time from the same address.  In 1934 her party affiliation was listed simply as a lower case “c,” but in 1936 and 1938 she registered as a “Democrat.”

James H. “BUTLEY” (38) and his wife, Sylvia “BUTLEY” (38), were living in Montebello, Los Angeles County, California, when the 1940 census was taken.  There were two children in the household:  James W. “BUTLEY” (17) and Leona M. “BUTLEY” (14).  Edwin G. DUN had disappeared from the household by 1940.

Sylvia L. (SCARBROUGH) BUTLER passed away in Los Angeles, California, on November 14, 1943, at the age of forty-one.  She is buried at the Rose Hills Memorial Park in Whittier, Los Angeles County, California, the same cemetery where her mother and her sister, Nancy, are buried.

23.  Nancy M. Scarbrough was born (according to the state of Oregon’s Record of Births) “Matilda Ann SCARBROUGH”  to James W. and Matilda “A.” SCARBROUGH in Portland, Oregon, on June 27, 1904.  All other sources list her official name as “Nancy Matilda SCARBROUGH.”  Nancy’s father, James William SCARBROUGH, was the youngest child and only son of William C. SMITH’s oldest sibling, Mary Jane (SMITH) SCARBROUGH, which made James William SCARBROUGH William’s nephew, and his daughter, Nancy Matilda SCARBROUGH, William’s grandniece. 

Nancy’s second entry into the public record, after her birth record in Oregon, occurred in the 1910 census when she was a five-year-old in the household of her parents, William SCARBROUGH (42) and “Thal” SCARBROUGH (39) (actually 29) in Kirwin, Phillips County, Kansas.  Also in that household were Nancy’s three other siblings, all SCARBROUGHs:  Clarence L. (9), “Selvia” (7), and “Darwin N.” (4).

(Note:  “Darwin N.” SCARBROUGH was never mentioned again in the public record, and he appears to have actually been Samuel W. SCARBROUGH who was born on April 1, 1906, to James William and Matilda Louisa (GONTERMAN) SCARBROUGH - though it is unclear at this time why Samuel was called Darwin during the census of 1910.)

James William SCARBROUGH (born December 13, 1868, in Sien, Texas) died in Kirwin, Phillips County, Kansas, on August 12, 1911.  Sometime between the date of his death and 1915, the children and their mother moved back to Iowa where the kids appeared in the Iowa state census of 1915.   In that state census Nancy SCARBROUGH was recorded as being 10-years-old and a resident of Eldon, Wapello County, Iowa.   That census entry also stated that Nancy had been born in Oregon, her father in Texas, and her mother in Iowa.

Nancy’s mother remarried sometime around 1915 to Charles Alexander BROWN, and they had a son, Garrett M. BROWN who was born around 1916.  By 1920 the Brown family was residing in Whittier, Los Angeles County, California, and Nancy’s mother was going by the name “Lula M. BROWN.”

The 1920 census listed the newly created BROWN household as:  Charles A. BROWN (28), his wife, Lula M. BROWN (38), their son, Garrett M. BROWN (4), Sylvia SCARBROUGH (17), Nancy M. SCARBROUGH (16), Samuel SCARBROUGH (13), and Theodore SCARBROUGH (8).

Within the next year or two (1920-1922) Nancy M. SCARBROUGH married  Chester William “Frenchie” HEDGES.  She was listed in the 1922 city directory for Whittier, California, as Nancy M. HEDGES.   The 1930 US census found the family, Chester and Nancy and two small children, in Montebello, Los Angeles County, California.  The household included:  Chester W. HEDGES (36), Nancy M. HEDGES (25), Constance E. HEDGES (5), and Vivian E. HEDGES (3).

By the time of the 1940 census the family had added an additional child as well as one other member, and they were at home in Whittier, Los Angeles County, California.  The household included five immediate family members, all HEDGES:  Chester W. (46), Nancy M. (35), Constance (16), Vivian (13) and Donald (3).  Also residing with the family was Jannet M. BROWN (24) who was described as a “sister-in-law” to Chester, the head of the household.

Nancy M. HEDGES spent her entire adult life in the Los Angeles area as evidenced by her name being included in many city directories between 1922 and 1966, the year of her death.  Nancy was also a regular Republican voter with California voter registration records dating back to 1930 and covering most years thereafter up through 1966, the year of her death.

Nancy Matilda (SCARBROUGH) HEDGES passed away on February 2, 1966, in Los Angeles County, California.  She is buried at the Rose Hills Memorial Park in Whittier, Los Angeles County, California, the same cemetery where her mother, and her sister, Sylvia, are buried.

24.  Samuel W. SCARBROUGH was born Samuel William SCARBROUGH in Kirwin, Phillips County, Kansas, to James William and Matilda Louisa “Lou” (GONTERMAN) SCARBROUGH on April 1, 1906.  Samuel’s father, James William SCARBROUGH, was the youngest child and only son of William C. SMITH’s oldest sibling, Mary Jane (SMITH) SCARBROUGH, which made James William SCARBROUGH William’s nephew, and his son, Samuel William SCARBROUGH, William’s grandnephew.

Samuel SCARBROUGH appears to have made his debut into the public record under an assumed name.  Samuel, who was identified in World War I draft registration files as having been born on April 1, 1906, seems to be inexplicably listed on the 1910 census of Kirwin, Phillips County, Kansas, as “Darwin N. SCARBROUGH,” a 4-year-old male in the household of William SCARBROUGH (42) and his wife,  “Thal” SCARBROUGH (39) (actually 29).  The other three children listed in the household were, all SCARBROUGHs: Clarence L. (9), “Selvia” (7), and Nancy M. (5).

James William SCARBROUGH (born December 13, 1868, in Sien, Texas) passed away in Kirwin, Phillips County, Kansas, on August 12, 1911.  Sometime between the date of his death and 1915, the children and their mother moved back to Iowa where the kids appeared in the Iowa state census of 1915.   In that state census Samuel SCARBROUGH was recorded as being 8-years-old and a resident of Eldon, Wapello County, Iowa.  He was further noted as being a white male whose father had been born in Texas and whose mother was born in Iowa.

Samuel’s mother remarried sometime after James William SCARBROUGH’s death in August of 1911 and before the 1920 census.  Her second husband was Charles Alexander BROWN, and they had a son named Garrett M. BROWN who was born around 1916.  By 1920 when the US census was taken, the family had moved to California and settled in Whittier, Los Angeles County.  The former Matilda Louisa “Lou” (GONTERMAN) SCARBROUGH referred to herself as “Lula M. BROWN” from that point onward.

Present in the BROWN household of Whittier, California, in 1920 were Charles A. BROWN (28), his wife, Lula M. BROWN (38), and their son, Garrett M. BROWN (4).  The youngest four of Lula’s five other children were also residing in the household, all SCARBROUGHs:  Sylvia (17), Nancy M. (16), Samuel (13), and Theodore (8).

A Whittier, California, city directory entry indicated that Samuel was living on his own in Whittier in 1922 and working as a driver.  He would have been 16-years-old, at most, at that time.  

Samuel W. SCARBROUGH married Leona D. BUTLER in Los Angeles, California, on August 25, 1925. Sometime before the 1930 census was taken, Samuel SCARBROUGH married his second wife, Angelina “Ina” CLINE.   

When the 1930 census was taken, Samuel and Ina and two young children were living in Montebello, Los Angeles County, California, and he reported that he was working as a “rough neck” in the oil fields.  They were residing in a rented home and owned a radio.  Samuel stated that he had been 18-years-old when he was first married.  Present in the household in 1930 were the following four individuals, all SCARBROUGHs:  Sam W. (23), Ina C. (23), Asa J. (2), and Sylvia J. (0).

There has been no record revealed yet to indicate what became of Samuel’s first wife, Leona D. BUTLER.

Samuel W. SCARBROUGH did not appear to have been a regular voter, but he did register to vote in the Los Angeles area in 1932, 1934, 1936, 1938, 1942, 1956, and 1962 - each time as a Democrat.   In his 1938 voter registration he gave his occupation as “worker,” and in 1942 he declared himself to be an “oil worker.”

The 1940 US census revealed that Samuel W. SCARBROUGH (34) and his family were living in a rented house in Montebello, Los Angeles County, California, and that they had been at that address in 1935 as well.   In addition to Samuel, the household included his third wife, Doris V. SCARBROUGH (31), Asa James SCARBROUGH (12), David Roy SCARBROUGH (1), a son to Samuel and Doris, and Marshal G. TUCKER (9), a stepson to Samuel.  Samuel’s third wife was Doris A. VERSELL.

No record has been found to indicate what became of Ina (CLINE) SCARBROUGH, Samuel’s second wife, but a young girl who appears to be their daughter, Sylvia, is listed on the 1940 census in the household of an uncle and aunt, A.B. (34) and Edith CLINE (29) who were living in a CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) camp in Logan, Clark County, Nevada.  Sylvia was 10-years-old and had been born in California.  Also in that household was her young cousin, Beverly Joan CLINE (3), the daughter of A.B. and Edith.

Samuel William SCARBROUGH registered for the World War II draft in Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California, on October 16, 1940.  He stated on the form that he had been born in “Kerwin,” Kansas on April 1, 1906, and that he and Doris A. SCARBROUGH were the members of his household.  Samuel listed his occupation on that document  as an “SRA Crossing Guard.”

Samuel stated that he was “separated, with dependents” when he enlisted as a private in the US Army on January 27, 1944.  His enlistment was for the duration of the war or other emergency, plus six months.   His enlistment form stated that he had been born in Kansas but was a current resident of Los Angeles, California.  It also stated that he had a “grammar school” education and was a semiskilled chauffeur and driver of buses, taxis, trucks, and tractors.  Samuel’s official dates of service in the US Army were from February 17, 1944 through November 20, 1945.

Not much is currently known of Samuel’s life after his military service other than he did register to vote in 1956 and 1962, both times as a Democrat and as a resident of Los Angeles, California.  

Samuel William SCARBROUGH passed away in Los Angeles County, California, on October 12, 1980, and he is buried at the Desert Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Palmdale, Los Angeles County, California. 

 

25.  Theodore L. SCARBROUGH  was born Theodore Lonzo SCARBROUGH in Kansas City, Missouri, to James William and Matilda Louisa “Lou” (GONTERMAN) SCARBROUGH on May 20, 1911.  Theodore’s father, James William SCARBROUGH, was the youngest child and only son of William C. SMITH’s oldest sibling, Mary Jane (SMITH) SCARBROUGH, which made James William SCARBROUGH William’s nephew, and his son, Theodore Lonzo SCARBROUGH, William’s grandnephew.

James William SCARBROUGH (born December 13, 1868, in Sien, Texas) passed away in Kirwin, Phillips County, Kansas, on August 12, 1911, when his youngest child, Theodore Lonzo SCARBROUGH, was less than three-months-old.    Sometime between the date of his death and 1915, the children and their mother moved back to Iowa where the kids appeared in the Iowa state census of 1915.   

The Iowa state census of 1915 was young Theodor’s first appearance in the public record.  He was listed as being 4-years-old and a resident of Eldon, Wapello County, Iowa.  Theodore was further noted as being a single white male whose father had been born in Texas and whose mother was born in Iowa.

Theodore’s mother remarried sometime after James William SCARBROUGH’s death in August of 1911 and before the 1920 census.  Her second husband was Charles Alexander BROWN, and they had a son named Garrett M. BROWN who was born around 1916.  By 1920 when the US census was taken, the family had moved to California and settled in Whittier, Los Angeles County.  The former Matilda Louisa “Lou” (GONTERMAN) SCARBROUGH referred to herself as “Lula M. BROWN” from that point onward.

Present in the BROWN household of Whittier, California, in 1920 were Charles A. BROWN (28), his wife, Lula M. BROWN (38), and their son, Garrett M. BROWN (4).  The youngest four of Lula’s five other children were also residing in the household, all SCARBROUGHs:  Sylvia (17), Nancy M. (16), Samuel (13), and Theodore (8).

Theodore Lonzo SCARBROUGH married Hazel V. OWEN  in Los Angeles, California, on August 12, 1929, and the newlyweds had formed their own household by the time of the 1930 census.  That census recorded them as Theodore L. SCARBROUGH (18) and Hazel “B.” SCARBROUGH (18).  (Hazel would have probably actually been 16-years-old when the census taker arrived.)   The 1930 census revealed that the couple was living in a rented home, owned a radio, and Theodore was working as a “roughneck” in the oil fields.

Theodore L. SCARBROUGH registered to vote in 1932 and 1938, both times as a Democrat and both times as a resident of Los Angeles.  On the 1938 voter registration form he listed his occupation as a “steel placeman.”

The 1940 census found Theodore L. SCARBROUGH (28) living on Laurel Avenue in Downey, Los Angeles County, California.   His first wife, Hazel, was no longer in the household, and he had a new wife, Julia Finch BUTLER, who was recorded in the census as Julia F. SCARBROUGH (26).  Theodore and Julia had a 5-year-old son, Edwin H. SCARBROUGH who was also residing in the household.  A later social security document revealed that Edwin’s middle name was “Hubert.”

The 1940 census revealed that the couple were living in a home that they owned and that in 1935 they had been residents of a “rural” section of Los Angeles County, California.  It further stated that Theodore had completed one year of high school and Julia had completed four years of high school.

Twenty-nine-year-old Theodore Lonzo SCARBROUGH registered for the draft while living in Whittier, Los Angeles County, California, on October 16, 1940.  He disclosed his middle name on that form - which had never before been included in the public record - and also noted that he had been born in Kansas City, Missouri.  He further stated that he worked for the Coneico Electric Company.  Interestingly, he cited Hubert BUTLER as his next-of-kin.

Theodore L. SCARBROUGH registered to vote at least four times during the 1940’s, each time from Los Angeles, and each time as a Democrat.  In 1942 he listed his occupation as a “steel placeman.” He registered twice in 1944 from two different addresses, once as an “oil worker,” and once as a “steel placeman,” and he registered again in 1948 when he did not state an occupation.

Theodore continued voting into the next decade when he registered as a Democrat from Los Angeles in 1950.  In 1958 he moved to Orange County and registered there as a Democrat.  Two years later in 1960 he again registered as a Democrat in Orange County.

Theodore Lonzo SCARBROUGH died on January 27, 1977, in Orange County, California.  His widow, Julia Finch SCARBROUGH also passed away in Orange County on November 28, 2002 - twenty-five years after her husband had died.  Theodore and Julia are both buried at the Memory Garden Memorial Park in Brea, Orange County, California.

(More profiles of the heirs to the 1920 estate of William C. SMITH of Newton County, Missouri, will follow in the coming weeks. The next installment will feature members of the "CLINE" family of Pope County, Arkansas.)