Grandma Kephart's Cook Books

I was looking through my cook books this morning and became a little bit nostalgic. I have 4 generations of cook books in my kitchen, and some recipes that go back even farther than that. So, I thought I'd highlight a few of those for this week's Tuesday Treasures post. 

These are just three of the cookbooks that originally belonged to my maternal great grandmother, Della Mae (Swinford) Kephart. She was born in Vandalia, Missouri on May 13, 1888; she died in Wellston, Oklahoma on April 7, 1976. These cookbooks were passed down to her daughter, my grandmother, Della Maxine (Kephart) Hammersmith, who then passed them to my mother, Carolyne (Kephart) Gould. My mom gave them to me many moons ago, and they're always in my kitchen. And every once in awhile I like to pull some out and see what looks good to make. But the history in these cookbooks is also really cool, so I thought it'd be fun to share them here.

The Death of Jessie Kephart McPherson

Jessie Cordelia (Kephart) McPherson was the daughter of my maternal great grandfather, John Arthur Kephart and his first wife, Mary H. Duncan. Jessie was born December 10, 1903 in Wellston, Lincoln County, Oklahoma. 

Jessie's mother died when Jessie was just over three years old. After that time, Jessie lived with her father, while her sister, Mary Alma went to live with their grandparents, Henry and Laura (Hendee) Duncan.

When Jessie was 21 years old, she married 27 year-old, Samuel Archie McPherson. They had two sons together: Warren McPherson (1925-2017) and Larry McPherson (1928-1928).

Jessie, Standing. Seated L to R: Laura (Hendee) Duncan and Henry A Duncan

Toddler is Jessie's son, Warren McPherson. Circa 1927.

Just shy of their fifth wedding anniversary, Jessie died under mysterious circumstances. Her death is our Monday Mystery for this week. The media account of the circumstances surrounding Jessie's death appeared in a Chandler, Oklahoma newspaper as follows.

Andrew Jackson Winders and His Parentage

My maternal 3rd great grandfather, Andrew Jackson Winders, is kind of a mystery. And he has inspired me to create a new blog feature: Monday Mysteries. There is a lot of misinformation and many factual errors about Andrew on Ancestry and Family Search. I focus a lot of my research on him simply because I hate the not knowing. And since there is so much misinformation, I'm hoping this post will serve as a helpful reference for future researchers of Andrew Jackson Winders. So, let me start with some simple facts about Andrew that I know to be true.

Lincoln County Oklahoma History

In my last blog post, I wrote about a recent photo discovery made of an old photo gallery built and owned by my great grandfather, John Arthur Kephart. It was so great to get that from the kind researcher at the Lincoln County Historical Society in Chandler, Oklahoma. So I asked her what book she found the photo in, and she told me it was from the Society's history book of the county, called Lincoln County Oklahoma History. That book is no longer in print, but I found a copy on Ebay--all 1,572 pages of it. I have so many ancestors from Lincoln County, I knew I had to have, so I'm glad I won that auction!

Believe me when I say that I've not yet read this beast of a book. I'm skimming and scanning my way through slowly. But I did check the index straight away to check for ancestor names, and they were there! In particular, I have found a couple of great photos and articles, both written by my great aunt, Ruby Christina (Kephart) Stephens, who is my namesake. Much of the content of the book about various local families was written by living family members, who I'm sure also provided many photos. I so love the photos! Yay!

The photo below is of my great, great grandmother, Susan Eleanor (Templeton) Kephart. Next to her is her granddaughter, my great aunt Ruby, when she was a young girl.

Nellie (as Susan was often called) was a prize-winning gardener and canner, among many other things. So I love that this photo in the book shows her with some of her canned goods. 

This next photo from the book is of my maternal great grandparents, Della Mae (Swinford) Kephart, and John Arthur Kephart. 

Until I saw this photograph in the book, I had forgotten that I had seen a real one many times before--in my grandparents' home. As soon as I saw it I could picture it hanging on Nana's wall. I love that photo of them! I only wish I had a real copy of the photo myself.  But this one is better than nothing, and it sure was nice to find it in the book.

And since my great grandfather was a photographer back in the day, and one of the only ones in Lincoln County for quite awhile, he is credited for taking some of the photos in the history book as well. As I go through the book I am bookmarking pages and making notes, and I hope to share more information from it here on the blog in the future. I have some other Swinford ancestors in the book as well. So who knows what else I may find.

I wish every county had books like this. It really is a wonderful way to travel back in time and visit the places so many of my ancestors lived. What a treasure for a genealogist like me! 

Forget Me Not Friday - Kephart Grandmothers

This week, for Forget Me Not Friday, I'm featuring two generations of my maternal ancestors: my great grandmother, Della Mae (Swinford) Kephart, and her mother, my great, great grandmother, Lavina Elizabeth (Winders) Swinford.

Lavina Winders was born in Illinois on May 21, 1852 to Andrew Jackson Winders. Her mother is unknown, and is one of the biggest brick walls in my family tree. Andrew was likely married and perhaps his first wife died. He would later marry Delila Nestleroad, who is quite often mistaken for Lavina's mother in many family trees. However, Andrew and Delila didn't marry until 1854, and Delila would only have been 14 at the time of Lavina's birth. Delila was also born in Ohio and living there when she married Andrew. So it doesn't quite add up for her to be Lavina's mother. The search for Lavina's mother's identity continues. 

Lavina would later marry Jonathan J Swinford in 1875 in Missouri. Together they would have eight children by the time they moved into the Oklahoma Territory in 1889 and become what is known as '89ers. One of those children was Della Mae, my great grandmother. You see both of these ladies in the photo. The other woman in the photo is likely one of Lavina's other daughters, either Ethel or Grace. I haven't yet figured out which one.

Jonathan and Lavina would have 2 more children, and the couple would live most of the rest of their lives in Wellston, Lincoln County, Oklahoma. Lavina died on June 6, 1915 in Wellston. Della would marry my great grandfather, John Arthur Kephart, and they too would live out their lives and die in Wellston. Della died on April 7, 1976. I still remember the day we got the news. My mom had been very close to her. It was so hard to watch her and my grandmother grieve this loss.

I love the photo of these two grandmothers of mine. And I love being able to help preserve their memory by keeping their history alive here on the blog, and in my heart.

Surname Saturday - Swinford

For my first Surname Saturday post I'd like to share the Swinford surname from my family tree. According to the Ancestry website, the Swinford surname has the following origins.

English: habitational name from places called Swinford in Oxfordshire and Leicestershire, from Kingswinford in Staffordshire, or from Old Swinford in Worcestershire, named with Old English swin ‘swine’, ‘hog’ + ford ‘ford’.

The Swinford line of my family, we believe, goes back to England. I haven't yet documented the origin source as of yet. Still on the hunt. My early Swinford ancestors in America though migrated from South Carolina, to Tennesse, to Missouri, to Oklahoma. My closest male ancestor with the Swinford surname was Jonathan J. Swinford, born 26 JUNE 1852 in McMinn County, Tennessee. His daughter, Della Mae Swinford was my maternal great grandmother. She was born 13 MAY 1888 in Vandalia, Audrain, Missouri. They are both buried in Wellston, Oklahoma, in Wellston Cemetery. Jonathan's father, my 3x great grandfather, was James Swinford, who was born in 1830 in McNairy County, Tennessee. James died in 1863 as a prisoner of war in Alton Military Prison in Alton, Illinois.

So that is a little history of my family tree's Swinford line and origins. Below is a photo of my great grandmother, Della Mae (Swinford) Kephart.