Family History - Posted by Kimberly (Ferguson) Anderson

Family history
My grandmother, Stella Victoria Myers married John Edward Ferguson in 1910 and gave birth to her first child, Anna Luella in 1911. She would be having babies for the next 25 years, giving the gift of life to 13 children in all. That fateful fall of 1936, Luella and Viola were already married, each having two boys of their own (Edgar Wilton born to Viola and Hollis in August and George Edward born to Luella and Dock in September of that year.) That left seven mouths to feed . Berta Zovadia, Charles Beachel (nearly 17), Joseph Hershel (15), John Estil, Mitchell Myers, Cora Ethel, Marshall (or Franklin Delano, as was his given name) not yet 3 years of age, were all at home. [Earnest Russell, first born son, died tragically 2 years before at age 1934, bleeding to death on the operating table as the doctor attempted to amputate his infected leg. Two other children had died as well, Edward J and Frances Ruth, neither living to see their second birthdays.
November 1, 1936, the Ferguson Home burned to the ground, forcing the family of 9 to seek refuge with Luella. Luella and Dock lived in the 2-room, “Annie White” House, already full with Wallace (age two) and newborn son, George. Twelve days after the fire, Ma-ma delivered her thirteenth baby, Virgil Garner, on November 13. November 14, 1936, Charles Beachel, who had just turned 17 on November 5, was shot and fatally wounded, dying the following day in a Dayton Doctor’s Office. On the day of the shooting, Beachel worked part of the day with Dock at…, came home to freshen up, put on a suit, sat down to play 3 sacred songs on the organ, bid his mother and one-day old baby brother good-bye and left. Since no eye-witnesses ever “told what they knew,” the truth of the events of that Saturday evening have gone to the grave with those who were present. [27-year-old Wesley Green was said to have threatened Beachel to not return to the restaurant where his young sister-in-law Lily waited tables and when he did, Wesley Green pulled a gun on Beachel and shot him in the side and back as he retreated. Beachel collapsed on the front porch of the establishment. My brother, Larry and I have seen the suit coat bearing the bullet holes and blood stains, preserved in Luella-fashion in her bedroom chifferobe.]
In the days surrounding those horrific events, both John and Joe left home, living with Viola and Luella, respectively.
Not even 18 months later, in April of 1938, Pa-pa suffered a stroke, that damaged the left side of his body. In June, that same year, Ma-ma also had a stroke, paralyzing her right side. The morning of her stroke, Ma-ma’s cow had gone dry and she was on her way to Luella’s. As she forced one foot in front of the other, the ground seemed distant. She managed to finish the 2 mile walk from her house to Luella’s, where, after collapsing on the porch, she would remain for the next six weeks, bed-ridden and unable to care for her family. The four youngest children, on hearing of their mother’s sudden illness, were sent to be nurtured once again under Luella’s care. As they made the trek to their big sister’s house, the four joined hands to travel the hot, dusty journey together.