If you've read any of the Moran Place blog, you may have the impression that no matter how distant the relationship the family kept in touch. You would not be wrong.
John Bell Tansil was born July 13 1881 in Dresden Tennessee, to Egbert Erasmus Tansil and his wife Laura Lucy "Jackie" Bell. When Tansil married his first wife, Lillian Summers, in February, 1908, they sent an invitation to C.H. (Brud) Moran. I gave up trying to figure out the relationship between Brud and John Tansil but I can tell you Tansil's relationship to Kent Moran looks like this: nephew of wife of brother-in-law of 2nd great-aunt of wife of 1st cousin 2x removed!! Thank goodness Ancestry.com supplies that information!!
Lillian Summers was the daughter of Henry M. Summers and Mary Elsie White of Peoria, Illinois. Lillian and John tied the knot on February 12, 1908 in Peoria. After their honeymoon they returned to Memphis where John had been living and working as an attorney.
On the back of the envelope, Brud penciled in the following: "The ladies! Our arms are their defense, Their arms our recompense." "May your joy be as deep as the ocean, Your trouble as light as its foam." I'm thinking that maybe Brud attended the wedding and perhaps he gave the toast. It's actually a combination of two different sayings. "The ladies" was published in a book called Good Fellowship published in 1905. "May your joy" is part of an old traditional Irish saying.
Sadly, the good tidings did not last very long. Lillian died June 24 1914 in Memphis. She was pregnant at the time and cause of death was listed as "pernicious vomiting pregnancy" with "shock and suppression urinary". Although the death certificate said Lillian was interred at Forest Hill in Memphis her parents had her body shipped to Peoria for burial with the family in
Springdale Cemetery.
It doesn't appear that John went through a lengthy mourning period since he married Amelia J. Murphy December 17 1914 in Perry County Arkansas. Census records show that John and Amelia had moved to Billings Montana by 1920. By 1930 John is single according to Census records. Actually John and Amelia divorced and she was married to Richard Nethercott. Sadly though, Amelia died January 20 1932 in Memphis. The death certificate said she committed suicide with mercury bichloride. Amelia was interred at
Stephenson's Chapel in Memphis with her family. Her husband Richard died in 1947 of liver cancer and was interred at
Forest Hill Midtown, Memphis.
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| Helen Fletcher |
John married his third wife, Helen Fletcher, on August 12 1931 in Billings, Montana. She was the daughter of Gayle Fletcher and Estella Walker.
John Bell Tansil was the US District Attorney for Montana from 1935 till his death in 1950. He was also a senior partner at the firm of Tansil and Sutton in Billings. He had been chairman of the Yellowstone Democratic Central Committee, a member of Alpha Tau Omega and Phi Beta Kappa. He died December 11 1950 and was interred at
Mountview Cemetery in Billings.
Helen Fletcher Tansil was born with perfect pitch. At a young age, Helen attended Ward Belmont Girl's Finishing School in Nashville TN where she studied piano and social graces. Later she attended the University of Washington and the Chicago Musical College where she studied under Rudoph Ganz, Percy Grainger and Leopold Godowsky. She returned to Billings and opened her own music studio. The wedding of Fletcher and Tansil was the society event of 1931. The Tansil home became the social center of Billings Society. After suffering a stroke in her later years, Helen lived at the St. John's Nursing Home. When interviewed by a local reporter Helen said she remembered when "breeding counted for something and 'old money' still outranked 'new.' After lighting a menthol cigarette Helen looked out at farmland turned city and remarked: "It's not the same anymore." (Source: The Billings Gazette June 3, 1979)
Today I thought I'd share a couple of pictures from a more recent generation of the Moran Family.
