The Double Wedding of the Sisters Kennerly, 1891

You are invited to attend the marriage of Helen Kennerly to A.B. McCans, and Maude Kennerly to J.D. Tanner, Wednesday morning, April twenty-ninth at half past ten o'clock, eighteen hundred and ninety-one, at the residence of S.J. Kennerly, Cottonwood Street, Gainesville, Texas.

This wedding invitation was found in the attic of Moran Place among the papers of Fannie Moran.

It's not certain at this time if there is a familial relationship between these families and the Morans but I would not rule it out.

Helen and Maude Kennerly were the daughters of William W. and Martha (Mattie) McGehee Kennerly. Based on research and perusing family trees William Kennerly was born in 1833 in Franklin County, Tennessee.  He died Feb. 20 1881 in Smithville, Georgia.  He married Martha McGehee about 1867 based on the fact that in the 1880 Census their daughter Helen was 12 years old. William died Feb 20 1881 in Georgia but was interred in Featherston Cemetery in Franklin County, Tennessee.  Mattie was born Oct 22 1844 in Griffin, Georgia. On her death certificate her name is listed as Mattie F.C. Kennerly.  I found a tree on ancestry that listed her full name as Martha Frank Oliver McGehee. Her parents were James Andrew McGehee and Sarah "Sally" Hamilton Harper both of South Carolina. The informant was W.H. Beaty, the second husband of Helen Kennerly McCans Beaty.  Mattie died on august 20 1919 in what was then known as Polytechnic, Texas but is now a part of Fort Worth.  She was interred at Oakwood Cemetery in Fort Worth.  Helen Kennerly was born Dec. 9 1868 in Georgia while Maude was born Feb 29 1872, also in Georgia.

William was the son of Samuel and Helen Kennerly.  Here is the makeup of the Kennerly home as it appeared in the 1850 Census for Franklin, Tennessee:
Samuel Jackson Kennerly, age 47, merchant, Real Estate valued at $2000, Birthplace Tennessee
Helen (Taylor) Kennerly, age 36, Tennessee
William W. Kennerly, age 16, Tennessee
Leathy J. Kennerly, age 14, female, Tennessee
George T. Kennerly, age 7, Tennessee
and his twin brother
John P. Kennerly, age 7, Tennessee
James H. Kennerly, age 5, Tennessee
Archy Jordan, age 22, Physician, Tennessee
George R. Kennerly, age 46, Farmer, Tennessee
In addition to those named above Samuel and Helen Kennerly had another son named Samuel Jackson Kennerly born in Jun 1849, but not listed in the 1850 Census. He moved to Gainesville, Texas by 1881.

Martha appears in the 1850 census  for Pike, Georgia with her family:
J.A. McGehee, age 41, physician, real estate valued at $80, born in South Carolina
S.H. McGehee, age 38, South Carolina
Maude R. McGehee, age 15, Georgia
Jane H. McGehee, age 12, Georgia
Stephan G. McGehee, age 9, Georgia
Martha F.C. McGehee, age 7, Georgia
Sarah C. McGehee, age 5, Georgia
Charlotte E. McGehee, age 3, Georgia
Susan L. McGehee, age 1, Georgia

William appears in the 1860 Census for Marion, Buena Vista, Georgia, in the household of John Matthews.  His occupation was school teacher. He was 27 years old.

1860 Census for Martha McGehee not located at this time.

1870 Census for W.W. Kennerly not located at this time.

1880 Census Lee, Smithville Georgia
William W. Kennerly, age 47, School Teacher
Martha Kennerly, age 35, wife, Georgia
Helen Kennerly, age 12, daughter, Georgia
Maude Kennerly, age 9, daughter, Georgia

After the death of her husband William Kennerly, Martha moved to Texas with their daughters Helen and Maude.

In a double wedding ceremony April 29, 1891, Helen married Alexander Bailey McCans and her sister Maude married James Donnell Tanner at the home of their uncle Samuel Jackson Kennerly.

Helen and her first husband A.B. McCans had six children: Alexander B. Jr, Josephine, Maude L, Lindsey Harper McCans, Helen and an unamed infant that died in 1899.  The family lived in Gainesville, Texas, a place I've written about before.  Most likely the McCans knew J.T. Edwards and his wife Josie Gardner who were from Weakley County, TN and had moved to Gainesville.  Another Moran and Weakley County connection would be Rufus Franklin Scott who married the sister of John Williamson Moran, Martha Helen Moran.  They moved to Gainesville in 1858 and were prominent citizens as were the Gardners.  Helen and A.B. named one of their daughters Josephine Gardner McCans.  I find it interesting that Alexander B. McCans Jr became a banker and the Moran family helped found the Dresden Bank.

A.B. McCans died in 1898 and was interred at Fairview Cemetery in Gainesville.  After his death, Helen became a dressmaker and  in the 1900 Census Alexander Jr, Maude and Josephine were living in the Masonic Orphans and Widows Home at Justice, Texas.  Helen married William Herbert Beaty on Dec. 25 1903 in Bryan, Texas.  They had three children: Jennie, Samuel and William H. Jr.  Helen Kennerly McCans Beaty died in 1941 and is interred in Shannon Rose Hill Memorial Park Cemetery at Fort Worth as is her second husband W.H. Beaty.

Maude Kennerly and her husband James Donnell Tanner appear in the 1910 Census for Pontotoc, Oklahoma.  James is 52 years old, born in Alabama and was a bookkeeper.  Maude is 38 years old and had 6 births and 6 living children: Val (son) age 17 TX, James D. age 14 TX, Martha age 10 OK, Willie W. age 7 OK, Hellen P. age 4 OK and Robert W. age 2 OK.  Maude Kennerly Tanner died May 5 1956 and is interred at Highland Cemetery in Pawnee Oklahoma.  Her husband, James Donnell Tanner died October 30 1910 and is interred at Mannsville Cemetery in Mannsville Oklahoma.

As always, the research is subject to corrections.  If there are descendants of Helen and Maude still surviving we hope this information proves useful to them and that they will enjoy seeing the wedding invitation of the sisters Kennerly.

James A. Scott, Gainesville Texas 1891

James A Scott was the son of Dr. George Lackey Scott (born in Dresden Tennessee) and Mary Applewhite Manion.  His grandfather was William Shanks Scott who is interred in the Scott Family Cemetery in Weakley county.  

In this letter James mentions Uncle Rufi and Aunt Mat.  Rufi was Rufus Franklin Scott, George Lackey Scott's brother, who married Martha Helen Moran, John W. Moran's sister.  You may remember that Rufus and Martha made the move to Texas in 1858.  James also mentions Bettie Watkins, a girl he danced with and apparently had been sweet on but was too slow to take action since he says another man moved in and took her.  That's actually kind of sad considering that his death certificate indicates he was single.  It also tells us that he was Court Clerk at the Court of Civil Appeals and that he died from pneumonia with contributing factors being a fractured hip and diabetes.  He was born March 24 1864 and died January 23 1942.  James A Scott is interred at Fairview Cemetery in Gaineseville Texas with his parents and many other Scott relatives.

Gainesville Texas

June 4 1891

Miss Fannie Moran,

      Dresden Tenn.

My Dear Cousin,

You did not keep your word old girl, you promised to send me one of your pictures when I sent mine, and you had better start it down here or I will come over there and make things pretty warm for you.  (So he sent Fannie a picture which means we might actually have him here but he's not identified)

Cousin Fannie I appreciated your nice and interesting letter very much, was glad to know my Coz would answer my letter.

Uncle Rufi and Aunt Mat are in Kansas City and everything seems very lonesome up at his house now.  I was up to see Cousin Annie yesterday evening a little while made a fashionable call something like the one I made in the evening when you were here and left without any on knowing I was going.

The young people had a picnic yesterday and the Christian Church one to day, up on Washita River in the

Indian Territory had a special train and just think of it I did get to go to either one of them, had to work as usual, have not been any place since you left here.

Say Coz Fan, did my Tennessee Cousins think I ought to have horns? because I was raised in Texas well anyway I suppose you have convinced them that Texas people look like any other people have you not?

What do you think Miss Bettie Watkins (the girl I danced so much with) has gone back on me, I let another fellow get ahead of me, as usual I was too slow.

Well give my kindest regards to Cousin S- and little Marion and your father and write soon to your

Texas Cousin

  James A Scott

The Scott Family Cemetery is located near Martin Tennessee on private property.

Gainesville Texas Court Square ca 1885

This image was taken about 1885 in Gainesville Texas.  I was able to identify the place using some of the names on the shop signs.   John Moran's sister Martha and her husband Rufus Franklin Scott moved from Dresden to Gainesville in 1858 in a "rockaway carriage".  In a letter posted here, one of Kent's relatives writes with the story of how Martha and Rufus made their way in a wagon train "manned by their three slaves".  There's a picture of the Scott family on that page as well.

Merchants:

Robert D. Gillenwaters was a grocer and the only one I've been able to positively identify at this time.  He was the son of Rev. Edward Campbell Gillenwaters who also was a furniture dealer in Gainesville. Robert's mother was Eliza Jane Harris Gillenwaters.  He married Camilla "Mela" Manion Elliott.  Robert died in September 1900.  His wife Camilla appears on the 1900 Census census rolls as an inmate at the State Lunatic Asylum in Austin.  Camilla was the daughter of Camilla Jane Manion and Dr. M.A. Elliott.  He served as 1st Asst. Surgeon with Co. E 9th Cav. Texas.

J.L. Noth & Co. Saddles and harness

Rubey's Shoe Store, boots, shoes & hats

Bone Bros. Dry Goods

Atkinson & Bro. Boots, Shoes.  Hats & Gents Furnishing Goods

Cheatham & Haley Drugs.

To the far left you can see the iron fence of the courthouse.

Josie Lee Gardner, 1865 - 1950

Josie Lee Gardner
1865-1950

Genealogy provides a lot of mysteries.   If I were to wait on every mystery being cleared up before I posted, well, I'd never post and I really want to get things out there. And sometimes mysteries are cleared up while I post.

This cute sprite is Josie Lee Gardner.  Josie was born January 1, 1865 in Gardner, Weakley County, Tennessee or possibly Nashville.  This photograph was taken at the J. H. Van Stavoren Studio in Nashville, Tennessee.  She looks like she's perhaps 5ish which means the photograph was taken about 1870.

Agnes Hunter
Cowardin Gardner
1829-1897

Josie's father was John Almus Gardner and he deserves a post of his own.  But briefly the town of Gardner Tennessee was named for him.  He was the first president of the Nashville and Northwestern Railroad.  He was active in politics and served six years as a state Senator in Tennessee. To see a picture of the Gardner home and family on the front porch visit Rootsweb.

His first wife was Ritty Terrell. After her death in 1848 he married Agnes Hunter Cowardin.  John and Agnes were the parents of many children but Josie was their last child and the baby of the family.

Josie was born in 1865 in the town that bears her fathers name, Gardner Tennessee. In about 1887/88 she married Charles W. Pyle.  They had one child named Charles Sherman Pyle. Charles either died or they divorced because Josie marries James T. Edwards in 1898 and they appear in the 1900 census living in Gainesville Texas with her son Charles.

James T Edwards, Josie G. and Charles S. Pyle 1900 Census for Gainesville Texas.

Meyer Brothers Druggist Directory
1907

Here's a mystery that was solved during the writing of this blog entry.  I remembered a post on another blog of mine called Victorian Hoarders.  I had come across a picture from Gainesville Texas of a drug store named Edwards The Live Druggist.  The streets are crowded with people, perhaps it was the opening day?  Anyway, as I was writing I connected the dots.  Josie Lee Gardner married James T. Edwards.  They moved to Gainesville Texas.  James' occupation as listed in the 1900 census is "druggist."  Then I located online a copy of the Meyer Brothers Druggist with a list of Pharmacists that are also Bankers.  J.T. Edwards of Gainesville TX is on that list.  The Mysterious Case of Edwards The Live Druggist is now closed!  So just remember, before there was a Walgreens, CVS or Rite Aid the good people of Gainesville Texas had Edwards the Live Druggist!

Edwards The Live Druggist

In addition, I had filed away a newspaper clipping that I found dated March 1, 1895 from the Gainesville Register about the grand opening of a new drugstore in Gainesville...EDWARDS THE LIVE DRUGGIST

March 1, 1895 Gainesville Register

Transcription of WHO CAN BEAT IT?
This picture we present to the readers of the Register, is one every man, woman and child in Gainesville should be proud of.  With but one exception Gainesville can boast of the biggest retail drug store in Texas.  This the drug store that had 4235 PEOPLE in its store in one day.  This is the drug store that is putting up more prescriptions than any other two drug stores in Gainesville.  This is the only drug store in Gainesville that keeps open from 5:30 in the morning till 12 o'clock at night.

We do this to accommodate the people and to get your trade.  We are living in a progressive age and a man has got to thoroughly understand the drug business these days to make a success of it.  A man that can't make a success of selling drugs don't understand his business.

WHEN YOU BUY DRUGS


Go to a competent druggist.  When you have a prescription to be filled carry it to a man that is competent to do such work.  We are making a success of our business and thoroughly understands the drug business and the filling of prescriptions in every detail.

Economical Prices have told the tale at
EDWARDS The LIVE DRUGGIST
----

Josie and James appear again in the 1910 Census for Gainesville but by 1920 James has died because Josie (Mrs. James T. Edwards is how they listed her in 1920) is now a widow.  I felt frustrated because I had not been able to find anything about his death.  I continued looking for him in the Texas databases to no avail.  Then when I was looking for someone else I located the death certificate of  James Thomas Edwards.  He died in 1917 in Dresden Tennessee of Bright's disease, an antiquated term meaning kidney disease.  He was buried, as are many Moran relatives, in Sunset Cemetery, Dresden Tennessee.

Josie died on March 5, 1950 in Wichita Falls, Texas.  According to the death certificate Josie had been a librarian at the County Library.  She spent the last 20 months of her life at the Wichita Falls State Hospital where she died at 7:55 in the morning on March 5, 1950.  Cause of death was lobar pneumonia.  Josie is buried in Fairview Cemetery along with many of her family including her father John Almus Gardner, mother Agnes Hunter Cowardin, a brother Earnest Morehead Gardner, a sister Fanniebel *Fannie* Gardner Rollins, and her son Charles Sherman Pyle.

Tennessee to Texas in a Rockaway Carriage, 1858

My Dear Scott and Kenney:
John Moran, your great grand-father was the brother of my grandmother, Martha Helen Moran.  She married my grandfather, Rufus Franklin Scott.  They were all born in Dresden Tenn.
In 1858 my grandmother and grandfather drove to Gainesville, Texas, in their "Rockaway" Carriage with their own wagon train.  Manned by their three slaves, who were wedding presents.
Their five sons were born in Gainesville:
Will -Real Estate
Dr. Arthur Carroll, chief surgeon of the Santa Fe Railroad and founder of Scott and White Hospital in Temple, Texas.
Moran, a judge in Ardmore, Okla.
Oscar Franklin (my Dad) farming, real estate and with five friends "wildcat" drilling for oil in Oklahoma and Texas.
Berry: died of T.B. soon after graduation at Auburn Uni.
I'm sure Martha Helen Moran Scott and her son, Oscar, would love for you each to have one of her Sterling Silver serving spons.
I give them to you with much, much love from all of us.
Fondly
Auntie Ir
Thanksgiving 1974.  Dresden Tenn. with you all. Yippee!!


That letter was sent to my husband and his brother back in 1974 when they were teenagers living at the Moran family home from their cousin Mary Irvine Scott Sheperd.  Her grandmother, Martha Helen Moran Scott, was the sister of my husbands great grandfather John Williamson Moran.  In addition to the letter we have several pictures of the Scott family.  The picture below is from about 1880.

Rufus Franklin Scott 1828-1905

Martha Helen Moran Scott 1833-1901

William J. Scott 1859-1917

Moran Scott 1863-1925

Arthur Carrol Scott 1865-1940

Oscar Franklin Scott 1871-1931

Berry L. Scott 1873-1903

Orlean Scott - 4 months old, 1893

We came across another picture of Orlean Scott, one of the Scott cousins from Gainesville, Texas.  The first image we found of Orlean she was 6 years old.  This one is a baby picture taken December 1, 1893 and was sent to Fannie Moran, just like the first one was. Orlean was born in 1893 and died in 1979.  The Moran children called her "Annie Orlean."  My husband explained that  "Annie" is really a corruption of "Auntie" and they called one of their Irvine aunts "Annie Ir."  Pronounce the Ir the same as Irvine but without the "vine."

I don't know what Orlean looked like as an adult but she was cute as a bug when she was 6 months old!

Orlean Scott, 4 months old

To Cousin Fannie from
Little Orlean Scott
Taken Dec 1st 1893
age four months

Dr. Arthur Carroll Scott Sr. renowned Cancer Specialist

Martha Helen Moran was one of John Williamson Moran's sisters.  She married Rufus Franklin Scott and they moved to Gainesville Texas.  She and Rufus had five sons: William, Moran, Arthur, Oscar and Berry. Arthur Carroll (also seen as Carrell) Scott was born 1865 and died in 1940.

Arthur Carroll Scott Sr.  packed a lot into that 85 years.  He graduated from Bellevue Medical College in 1886 winning an internship to Western Pennsylvania Hospital.  He returned to Gainesville and married Maud M. Sherwood and began private practice in 1889.  He was appointed Chief Surgeon in 1892 of the Gold, Colorado and Sante Fe Hospital in Temple Texas.  He and Dr. Raleigh R. White Jr formed a private partnership in 1897 and in 1904 they founded they Temple Sanitarium which the directed together.  Dr. White died in 1917 and Dr. Scott established a partnership with Dr. B.V. Brindley Sr and Dr. M.W. Sherwood.  The hospital became the Scott and White Hospital in 1922.

Dr. Scott was in internationally respected authority in the diagnosis and treatment of Cancer.  In 1933 Scott and White Hospital received accreditation from the American College of Surgeons as a cancer treatment center, the first in Texas.  Dr. Scott was active in local organizations and numerous medical organizations. The hospital he helped co-found became a multi-specialty treatment facility and is renowned throughout the United States.  Dr. Scott even has an historical marker dedicated to him by the Texas Historical Survey Committee.

Here is a Christmas card from Dr. and Mrs. Arthur Carroll Scott Sr., to his Moran cousins in Dresden, TN.  The envelope is missing but we know it pre-dates 1940 as that's when Dr. Scott passed away.