WRITING: The Inspiration Behind The Path to a Promise

My novel, The Path to a Promise, is finished and in the hands of beta readers and my editor. It will be published when the time is just right. Esther 4:14 talks about "for such a time as this." Here is the story behind my story.

President Harry Truman said, “The only thing new in the world is the history you don’t know.”

 The Path to a Promise began with the cherished memories of my paternal great-grandmother, Ollie, a woman whose quiet strength shaped my childhood. Ollie was more than a caregiver to my brothers and me; she was a source of comfort, love, and wisdom. Her stories, full of colorful life experiences—like meeting Pretty Boy Floyd and working as a Soda Jerk—captured my imagination. She gave us a world where we felt safe, loved, and free to be children. When Ollie passed away in 1975, she took a piece of my heart with her.

This is a photo of my great-grandmother, Ollie. 

Years later, as my passion for writing grew, I felt called to tell her story. In 2011, I began piecing together a timeline of her life, using her old photograph album, genealogical records, and family documents. I started writing a manuscript that used real names and places from her life, and I titled it The Logger’s Daughter. Working as a preschool teacher by day, I dedicated my nights to research and writing. Although some details were missing, I let my imagination fill the gaps and invented parts of the story to complete the narrative.

In 2013, I finished the first draft—a 250-page manuscript I printed and tucked away in a binder. Later, a popular author and friend, Angela, offered to beta-read the manuscript. Her generous feedback encouraged me to polish the story, convinced it could one day be published. I continued researching, filling in the missing dates and details from Ollie’s life.

After I retired, I returned to the manuscript with fresh eyes and renewed purpose. I revised it, changing the characters' names and settings, except for Joplin, Missouri, which remained a key location. My imagination ran wild this time, weaving in national and local historical events. The early history of Joplin, with its bootleggers and zinc miners, fired my creativity, and I poured my passion into every scene. I prayed over the story, and God blessed me with new ideas that shaped Eleanor Johnson's life path.

The Path to a Promise is based on Ollie’s life, but it’s now the fictional tale of Eleanor Johnson, a young woman who finds strength and purpose in a world dominated by men. Raised in the Ozarks, Eleanor carves out a path that takes her to the bustling city of Joplin and, eventually, to the windswept plains of Kansas, where the golden fields of wheat and sunflowers stretch as far as the eye can see.

As I wrote Eleanor’s story, I laughed, cried, and even exhausted myself with the intensity of certain scenes. The writing process was both an emotional and spiritual journey for me. Though Eleanor’s story concludes at the end of World War I, her life—and the promise of more—will continue in Book Two, A Promise Worth Keeping, which I have yet to write.

This novel is my tribute to Ollie, the woman who gave me the best gift anyone could—a lifetime of love and memories. Though she’s been gone for many years, her presence is still with me every day.

Another photo from Ollie's vintage photograph album: 

Writing about women is important to me because their stories often go untold. They are more than daughters, wives, or mothers—they are the shapers of families and communities, leading fascinating lives. In history, too many women have been reduced to just a name on a genealogy chart. I believe their stories deserve to be told, honoring their strength, resilience, and contributions to the world. Their lengthy list of duties tells us how valuable they were, and still are, to their family.

 I write about the women in my family lines on my blog.  

 

 

WOMENS HISTORY MONTH: Ozarks Hills and Hollows Granny Women

My 2nd great-grandmother, Nancy Smith Johnson, was a Granny Woman. She practiced midwifery and the healing arts in the hills and hollows of Donald County, Missouri. Her obituary notes, "The nights were never too dark nor the times too hard for Nancy Johnson to willingly lend a helping hand in time of need. She could count the dozens of babies she helped into the world and the lives she practically saved. Her cheerful disposition and pleasant smile made her most enjoyable to all around her."

Nancy was short and petite, with black hair, a thin face, a sharp jutting chin, and high cheekbones. She bore five children: Chloe Adele, Eva Oder, Otis Benjamin, Ollie Francis, and Osie May. She passed away in 1949 at Rocky Comfort, Missouri. Her parents were Benjamin Franklin and Anna Smith. Here is a photo of her with her daughter, Ollie. 

 

Her Smith family sailed from England to settle in the British Colonies before migrating to Northern Missouri. Here is a photo of the Benjamin Smith family.

In 1943, her daughter, Ollie, returned to the old home place to care for Nancy. This photo is of Nancy, her husband, Tom, Ollie, Ollie's son and two sons. The little boy standing is my father. 

Women have always been the backbone of families. They served many roles, including caring for their children, husbands, elderly parents, siblings, neighbors, and friends. Homemakers did not need a job outside the home, for homemaking included everything from making soap and doing the laundry to caring for the needy and the ill to helping perform the farm work when needed.  

 

In days long gone, women learned from their mothers and grandmothers how to care for the sick and help bring babies into the world. Their medicine usually came from the earth; the plants, flowers, and trees provided remedies to cure the sick and afflicted.

 

The most knowledgeable and experienced of these women were healers and midwives, often called Granny Women. They were known everywhere for their giving service and helping hands. Folks depended upon them to come when the need arose, and they relied on the Granny Woman's unique knowledge of herbs, roots, and concoctions. Those women had the skills and the wisdom to use the native plants for healing.

 

In the early days, doctors sometimes traveled a great distance to reach a patient, which was a hindrance for the gravely ill. Before the turn of the century, many doctors needed to be trained about germs and their deadly consequences. The states lacked standardized licensing requirements, and the quality of their education varied, so their medical practices were managed with crude effectiveness. 

 

Many women preferred the familiar Granny Woman to treat them with mild herbal remedies and deliver their babies. Traditional midwives met the concern for modesty during the birthing process, an important consideration in areas where the use of male doctors might offend an entire community.

 

 Some midwives carried a "midwife's book" to reference when complicated childbirth procedures arose. Sometimes, they used superstitious rituals to give mothers psychological relief, such as having the mother hold something that belonged to her husband to symbolically bring him into the delivery room. Their use of herbal remedies and teas helped speed up the birth process. Still, they might also use morphine tablets or quinine if the medicine was available.

 

 After the baby's birth, the Granny Woman might stay a week or longer to help with the housework and allow the new mother time to heal.

 

 Many times, Granny Women were not paid with money. Instead, they accepted whatever offering the family could provide at the time, possibly giving her meat or chickens, vegetables from the garden, or enough material to make a dress. If the family had nothing, that was all right, too.

 

As midwives became certified within their home state, they could charge money to attend births. The going rate in 1906 was $3.00. Granny Women knew how to prepare herbs, roots, tree bark, and other native plants and flowers to make healing ointments, teas, poultices, and concoctions. 

 

For example, Southwest Missouri Ozarks midwives combined sage, peppermint, black walnut, slippery elm bark, pokeroot, horseradish, elderberries, and dill weed with honey, black strap molasses, lard, onions, vinegar, and whiskey to make tonics, potions, plasters, poultices, and teas. Many a child with an earache had tobacco smoke blown into their ears as a cure. (I’m one of those children.)

 

The Missouri Medical College was initially organized in 840 as the Medical Department of Kemper College. It was the first medical school established west of the Mississippi River. In 1845, it became the Medical Department of the University of Missouri. There are a few midwives listed on the Missouri History Program website, all of whom lived in St. Louis, Missouri, for the years 1888-1892.

 

The American Medical Association was founded in 1847, and doctors eventually began to resent midwives. They looked upon the granny women as competition for business. The medical profession grew and insisted upon education, standard examination procedures, and licensing requirements for all practicing physicians. Doctors waged a campaign throughout the nation to run midwives out of business. They portrayed the women as being ignorant of medical procedures and lacking cleanliness.

 

Even though European countries were establishing schools of midwifery, American doctors were refusing to admit women to medical schools. When the American Medical Association demanded that all people practicing medicine be trained and licensed, midwifery was demolished.  

 

However, Granny Women continued to use their skills to serve their communities into the twentieth century. Ozark's folklorists have collected information about these women and their healing practices.

 

Until the New Deal programs and World War II changed the region's financial system and transportation, bad roads and the lack of money forced most country people to rely on native remedies prepared by the family's womenfolk.

 

Eventually, pregnant women began to enter hospitals to give birth, and Granny Women went by the wayside. The science of medicine scoffed at the nurturing and holistic care midwives provided for their family, friends, and neighbors.

 

The era of women's healing art in domestic medicine is now history. But if we look closely into our family history, we will find Granny Women.             

 

Among the McDonald County Historical Museum acquisitions, I found a midwife certificate. Issued on October 20, 1884, at the State Board of Health in Hannibal, Missouri, it certifies that Mrs. Delphia Hall Laughlin had practiced midwifery for ten years and was legally authorized to practice in the state. Laughlin received her certificate at Powell, Missouri, on January 1, 1885.

 

Today, midwifery is an internationally recognized profession. The American College of Nurse-Midwives includes the primary health care of women and their newborn children. A Certified Nurse-Midwife (CNM) is a woman who is educated in nursing and midwifery and who has certification according to the requirements of the American College of Nurse-Midwives. 

 

The nurse-midwifery practice manages women's health care, focusing on pregnancy, childbirth, the postpartum period, care of the newborn, and the family planning and gynecological needs of women. The Certified Nurse-Midwife practices within a health care system that provides consultation, collaborative management, or referral as shown by the client's health status.

 

Despite the evolution of medicine, Granny Women continued to practice the healing arts that had been handed down from mother to daughter. Instilled in the women, they did whatever was necessary to care for their family and friends, in sickness and health. 

 

The herb garden was grown right alongside the vegetable garden. In the fields and woods, native plants, trees, and flowers grew abundantly, offering healing properties for those who gathered and gleaned. 

 

In this modern world, some scoff at and become quite angry with the thought of people seeking holistic health and "folk," "home," or "natural" remedies. And, of course, after doctors spend countless years of study and pay for it all, they do not want to hear of someone seeking backwoods cures. 

 

But herbs are a big industry. Herbal stores and natural food stores run a brisk business. Women have always known how to care for themselves. I remember my grandmothers using herbs and plants to put a meal on the table and to heal what ailed us. I remember the herb garden near the smokehouse in the old home. I'm proud to have documentation of a Granny Woman in my family history, and I celebrate my 2^nd great-grandmother, Nancy Smith Johnson.

 

References for this article

Missouri History Museum: Genealogy and Local History Index

Missouri Medical College (http://digitalcommons.wustl.edu/missouri); an online workshop, "Herbal Lore and The Historic Medicinal Uses of Herbs"

The obituary of Nancy Johnson from the Wheaton Journal on DVD, courtesy of the MO Historical Society, of which I own a copy 

Disclaimer: In writing this article, I make no claims to persuade people to choose folk remedies over a medical doctor should a person have an illness. I write historical articles about exciting topics and especially enjoy researching women and history. With that in mind, I will give you information about midwifery in Southwest Missouri.  

WOMENS HISTORY MONTH: Living Everyday Life ~ Postmasters, Potters, Preachers, and Persecution

Laura Ellen Danley was my great-grandmother on my mother’s side of the family. She was born to Hezekiah K. Danley and Rachel (Brannan) at the end of the Civil War, and she was the oldest child of eight. She lived all of her life in the Southwest Missouri Ozarks. Hezekiah was a United States Postmaster in McDonald County for many years. He was also a preacher, and the family made their home in Thomas Hollow near Seven Star Spring. He died in 1919, and Rachel died in 1907 when she was forty. Here is a photo of Hezekiah Danley and Rachel (Brannon) Danley. 

Laura married Robert “Bob” Laney, and they owned a farm on Laney Ridge Road west of Exeter, Missouri. They were blessed with seven girls and two boys; six children were twins. Virgie and Ruby were born in 1913, and both died when they were just a few days old. Leona and Lavonna were the second set of twins. Lavonna died in 1920 when she was two years old. The third set of twins was Alta and Alma; both lived to become adults. Alma was born deaf and lived with her parents until she married later in life. Here are photos of Laura and Bob.

Laura and Bob Laney were my mother’s paternal grandparents, and we often visited them on the farm. I have lovely memories of their house, playing outdoors, exploring around the house, using a long-handled metal dipper to dip cool drinking water from the rain barrel, and all of the farm animals in the barnyard. Laura loved elephant ear plants, which grew outdoors in tubs in the front yard. 

Grandma Laney’s kitchen always smelled like ginger snap cookies. From the window over the kitchen sink, we could see the barnyard. Grandpa Laney spent much time outdoors and in the barn with his horses. He worked for the railroad for twelve years, and he and Laura were farmers who raised cattle, mules, hogs, and horses. Their orchards produced tomatoes, strawberries, apples, and grapes. They were married for over 61 years. Laura died in 1969, and Bob died ten years later.

My family of Brannans is challenging to research because the surname is spelled in various ways. Rachel was the second oldest child in a family of nine. They all lived in Southwest Missouri and had various occupations, especially farming. The men served in the Civil War; some were Confederates. Here are a few photos of the Brannan family. 

 

                           

                   

The Heminger family lived in Ohio and Indiana for a time before moving to Southwest Missouri. Many served in the American Revolution and Civil War while living in the East. Several records of the Sons of the American Revolution and the U.S. Civil War Pension documentation show where and when they served. They farmed the land. This is Mabel Heminger with her daughter, Betty, in 1915. 

The Bisels settled in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, where they are listed in numerous Quaker and Mennonite records. Joseph Henry Bisel donated land to build a church and cemetery in Tuscarawas County, Ohio; the church, cemetery, and one-room schoolhouse were named for him. My 6^th great grandfather, Aaron James, who descends from the Bisels, was an earthenware potter in Chester County, Pennsylvania. His name is listed in the U.S. Craftperson Files 1763, found on Ancestry.com.  

My 6^th great-grandmother, Eve Bisel’s father, was an Anabaptist (aka Mennonite) preacher who lived in Switzerland. He and another of the group were taken by soldiers, questioned about their faith, arrested, and thrown in jail in iron chains, where they suffered for over a year. Later, in 1717, they, along with fifty-five men and women, were taken to Mennonite Friends in Holland, then eventually sent to the United States and settled in Lancaster County. Their story of persecution was found in church records, and a newspaper printed an article about it in 1902. 

My family's side of the Danleys came from Ireland, immigrating to America in the mid-1700s. They served in the Revolutionary War. Family members settled in White County, Tennessee, where they served in the Tennessee Militia in the Civil War. This information comes from War Pension records. They served as postmasters and Presbyterian Church ministers. They were Cherokee Indians but never registered on any of the Indian Rolls.  

This March 2024 Women’s History Month, I celebrate all of my great-grandparents and their many occupations and traditional activities. Knowing the bits and pieces of their lives that are recorded in history, I know they enjoyed the good times and suffered in the troubled times. But their spirit lives on in family history.  

 

WOMENS HISTORY MONTH: Special Ordinary Homemakers

 Special Ordinary Homemakers: My Maternal Grandmothers on the Ross Family Side

My maternal great-grandmother, Nora Ethel Painter, was born on July 22, 1890, in Cassville, Barry County, Missouri. Her parents were John Douglas Painter and Elizabeth "Lizzie" Mahala Davenport. She was the second oldest in a family of six children. Cassville is a small town in the Ozarks. 1890, social life revolved around community gatherings, religious activities, and local events. Baseball, which was gaining popularity across the country, was a favorite pastime. This is a cropped photo of Ethel:

The family surprised Ethel with a party for her 16th birthday. The local newspaper reported the event in the hometown news column.

 When Ethel was twelve years old, her mother, Lizzie, passed away seven days after giving birth to a baby sister, Dollie. Dollie died four months later. Here is a picture of Lizzie, my 2nd great-grandmother:

Ethel married Daniel Lewis Ross, Sr., on October 20, 1910, in Granby, Missouri. Daniel worked in many occupations, including farming, mining, and truck huckster. A huckster was a farmer who drove into towns selling the produce from his truck. Missouri was primarily an agricultural state, with crops like corn, wheat, and tobacco being major contributors. The state also had a significant lead and zinc mining industry. So, Daniel traveled around the area, working in those occupations.  

One of their children was my maternal grandmother, Belvia Elizabeth Ross. Here’s a photo of her:

Here’s a family photo of Daniel and Ethel. Belvia is in the middle of the back row, holding my mother, Emma Faye Laney. Also, in this photograph, the woman sitting in the middle of the front row is my second great-grandmother, Mary Elizabeth (Hembree) Ross. She was Daniel's mother: 

Ethel and Daniel moved to Joplin, Missouri, in 1943 and were members of the Baptist Church. Daniel died in Joplin on September 29, 1961. They had been married for 50 years.

Ethel died on November 13, 1967, at the St. John’s Hospital in Joplin. in Barry, Missouri, when she was 77 years old. She and Daniel are buried in the Horner Cemetery in Barry County, Missouri. 

Nora Ethel lived the life of a homemaker, enjoying the events and women’s social activities of the day. She, Belvia, Lizzie, and Mary Elizabeth were not famous, they didn't have a high education and pursue notable careers. Their lives were not all high society and grandeur. Still, as we all know, “Women’s work is never done” tells a story of women working hard, caring for their family, loving God, and making the best of their lives. I celebrate all of my grandmothers' lives as remarkable ordinary women during Women’s History Month.

Here are my maternal grandmothers on the Ross/Lewis side of the family:

Belvia Elizabeth (Ross) Laney                        Nora Ethel (Painter) Ross

     Elizabeth Mahala (Davenport) Ross                             Mary Elizabeth (Hembree) Ross

                    

Curilla (Lewis) Ross, my 3rd grt-grandmother         Elvira (Sloan) Lewis my 4th grt-grandmother

                   

WOMENS HISTORY MONTH: Addie Was A Hello Girl

 Imagine that your job is a telephone operator with a local telephone company. But the era is around the turn of the twentieth century, those early days of the telephone. You sit on a stool before a giant switchboard with wires everywhere. You must learn where those wires go to connect caller to caller. That was Adeline "Addie" Cardwell’s occupation. Her death certificate lists her as a “Hello Girl” for the Southwestern Bell Telephone Company. She lived in McDonald County, in Southwestern Missouri. She was a mere twenty-four years old, born in 1890, and died in 1915. Adeline is a distant relative in one of my family trees. 

The term “Hello Girls” is early-day slang for the American bilingual switchboard operators in World War I and any switchboard operators working for telephone companies in our nation.  

It all started with World War I and General John J. Pershing's plea to improve communication between America and European countries. In 1917, the Signal Corps Female Telephone Operators Unit was formed to accomplish this feat. Thousands of women applied, but only 450 were selected; all had to be bilingual in French and English and recruited from the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T). 

 The selected women went through training at Fort Franklin in Maryland, under the leadership of Chief Operator Grace Banker, then were sworn into the U.S. Army Signal Corps. The training consisted of military training and radio and switchboard operator training. They were given navy blue uniforms with dog tags, steel helmets, and gas masks. Later, their uniforms changed to olive green. 

The Army Signal Corps women became known as “Hello Girls.” They were sent to numerous locations in Europe during the war. They relayed messages in military code about troop movements and supplies. They functioned as interpreters between the French and American military units. 

 One group of Hello Girls worked during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. That was the final Allied push of World War I. The women briefly abandoned their positions at their switchboard when their barracks caught on fire but returned immediately after the flames were extinguished. 

 After the Armistice, although the women qualified for veteran status, it took years for them to be recognized. From 1930 to 1948, Merle Egan Anderson introduced bills into Congress and finally helped the Hello Girls gain the respect they earned. In 1979, Congress added an amendment to the GI Bill Improvement Act, granting women veterans benefits, honorable discharges, and World War I victory medals. 

 Numerous websites are dedicated to the history of the Signal Corps and the Hello Girls, outlining several women and their biographies. Michelle Christides wrote her mother’s oral history of her time served in the war as a Hello Girl. 

Here is a vintage photo of a small telephone company and its Hello Girls that I bought on Etsy from BrassMouse. It's in my collection now. 

 As telephone wires were strung on poles nationwide, telephones became a favorite new gadget for homes and businesses. Switchboards needed operators, which led to hiring women for that occupation. 

 The Home Telephone Company arrived in Joplin, Missouri, in 1902, and the Joplin telephone switchboard operators answered the calls by saying, “Hello Central.” The operators knew various daily information, ranging from the weather to train schedules, and they gave that information to customers who rang up Central. Thirty-five women directed calls in the city; by estimation, they took 16,000 daily calls.  

 In 1910, the Joplin News-Herald ran a story about women working as Hello Girls at the switchboard of the Home Telephone Company. The telephone operators worked long hours and even holidays but were treated to a lunchroom that served free meals. The telephone company also provided lockers, a restroom, and baths for their workers. 

 Although Addie didn’t work for the Signal Corps, she is vital in her own way. Her legacy is essential to share with others. She helped implement new technology that arrived in Southwest Missouri, the telephone. What would the Hello Girls think about our handheld, take-anywhere cell phones we use today? 

 References:

Online at http://www.historicjoplin.org/?tag=jasper-county-missouri-history.

Online at http://www.worldwar1.com/dbc/hello.htm.

Online at Missouri Digital Heritage Initiation, online Missouri Death Certificates 1910-1959; MO Death Cert; Ancestry.com Operations, Inc./https://sos.mo.gov/records/archives/archivesdb/deathcertificates/:accessed 24 Aug 2014, Lehi, UT USA. 

Wikipedia.org/wiki/Hello Girls.

Website of the Official U.S. Army Signal Corps.

 

WOMEN'S HISTORY: March is Women's History Month

 I love genealogy. When the genealogy bug bit me in 2007, I fell in love with it and haven't recovered yet! I am fortunate to uncover tons of genealogical treasures. When I wasn't working, I scoured area courthouses, museums, historical societies, libraries, and cemeteries, met with people, and gathered photographs and documentation. I filled almost 20 three-ring binders full of family history research! Online sources such as Ancestry.com and Newspapers.com were a wealth of information. I used my paid membership to add necessary documentation to my work. I continue to use their services today.

In a "Man's World," my female family ancestors led interesting, unique, heartbreaking, funny, sad, historically-sound ways of living. My heart soared when I found the information I needed to fill in the gaps of my beloved paternal great-grandmother's life with the records I discovered. She helped raise my brothers and me; I knew a lot about her from living with her and the stories she told as we all went "walking around the block." Then, I devoted my writing time to uncovering more about all the women in my family lines. 

Each nugget of treasured facts is cherished as I build their life timelines and map their stories. I come from a line of strong, determined, Christian, and sometimes crazy women who lived life to the fullest. In the graphic below, my great-grandmother, Ollie Johnson Utter Martin Brier, stands in Kansas all gussied-up in her finest attire. She looks like she "had the world by the tail," as she would say. She was classy, from her bobbed hair and fur to her tiny waist and stocking feet. I hear the echo of her voice in my ear as I write her stories now for those who wish to read them.

In March, I'll post stories about influential women in my life. I've written about many of my ancestors, but there are many more who came before me of whom I must write about. I celebrate March as Women's History Month kicks off!