Using the Attendees at Lela Ann (Loveless) Lancaster’s Funeral to Discover Residences

Lela Ann Lancaster, my maternal great-grandmother, died on 17 May 1951.[1] She had died in Wichita Falls, Texas, at the state hospital. The doctor’s handwriting is nearly illegible so the cause of death is difficult to determine. She was conflicted with Parkinson’s Disease which probably contributed to her death. Her funeral was three days later.[2]

Lela Ann (left) with Warren, daughter Pansy, granddaughter Lela Nell, and son Wayne, c. 1935

Obituary Tells Story of Life
Two obituaries were published on the same day in the Stephenville Empire-Tribune on two different pages. One gave information about her life and the funeral, and the other was about who attended her funeral. The transcription of the first is here:

"Mrs. Warren G. Lancaster"
   Funeral services for Mrs. Warren G. Lancaster, 55, who died at 4:30 a.m. Thursday at a Wichita Falls Hospital, were at 3 p.m. Sunday at the First Baptist Church with the Rev. Felix Gresham and the Rev. Ernest Rippetoe officiating.
   Arrangements were made by the Trewitt Funeral Home.
   Mrs. Lancaster had been ill for more than five years and at Wichita Falls for about two weeks.
   A native of Arkansas, Mrs. Lancaster came to Erath County 46 years ago and had lived in Stephenville for 27 years. She was a member of the Oak Grove Baptist Church.
   Besides her husband, she is survived by two sons, Major R.D. Lancaster of Larson Air Force Base, Moses Lake, Wash., and Wayne Lancaster of Austin; a daughter, Mrs. Tom Johnston of Walnut Creek, Calif., a sister, Mrs. Ida Hester of Midland; five brothers, T.M. Loveless, J.C. Loveless, and Z.T. Loveless, all of Conway, Ark., WH Loveless of Fort Worth, and RJ Loveless of Stephenville; and four grandchildren.
   Burial was in Upper Green Creek Cemetery.[3]

Typical of obituaries and newspaper articles from that time, her first name was not mentioned. A clue to her maiden name is the listing of her five brothers who were named Loveless. With an article like this, published after the funeral, I learned that it was held at the First Baptist Church with two ministers presiding: Felix Gresham and Ernest Rippetoe, however, she was a member of the Oak Grove Baptist Church. Could one of the two ministers have been from her church? Why was the funeral not held at her church? An online search for Oak Grove Baptist Church turned up nothing, however, in notes I had written when my grandmother and I visited Erath County in 1995, Lela Ann played the organ at the Lone Oak Church. We drove by the location out in the country and the church was in disrepair and not being used.  The First Baptist Church was in Stephenville and probably more convenient for the attendees and perhaps larger in size.

Surviving her were her husband, Warren G. Lancaster, her sons, R.D. and Wayne Lancaster, and daughter, Mrs. Tom Johnston (Pansy). Also, her siblings Ida Hester, T.M. Loveless, J.C. Loveless, and Z.T. Loveless, all who lived in Arkansas, and W.H. Loveless and R.J. Loveless, who lived in Texas. Lela had ten brothers and sisters with Minnie dying in 1872, Emma in 1880, and Lon in 1933.

Obituaries can be so full of information that we take for granted when we first locate them. I transcribed it, entered it into RootsMagic, and probably put down the burial date. Yet, there is so much more information about other people in this obituary that I should make note of.

Her brother, R.D. had the rank of major in the Air Force. He was at Larson Air Force Base in Moses Lake, Washington. I can use this obituary as the source of a residence fact. Her other brother, Wayne was living in Austin. Her daughter was living in Walnut Creek, California. The same is true for her siblings who live in Arkansas and Texas. This obituary places them in a place and time.

Who Attended the Funeral
The other obituary focused on the attendees at the funeral. Again, this will list many people and it is important to analyze the relationship of each attendee to the deceased.

"Attend Funeral for Mrs. W.G. Lancaster"  
     Several out-of-town friends and friends of Mrs. Warren G. Lancaster, who died last week, were in Stephenville Sunday for the funeral services.  
     They were:  A daughter, Mrs. Tom Johnson, husband and daughter of Walnut Creek, Calif.; two brothers, W.F. Lancaster and wife, and Earl, both of Slaton;  three sisters and their husbands, Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Self and Mr. and Mrs. W.H. Loveless of Fort Worth, and Mr. and Mrs. Walt Fraley of Ropesville.  
     Other relatives were Mr. and Mrs. Jack Lancaster of Seagraves, Mr. and Mrs. Weldon Tudor of Ropesville, and Bill Martin Hester of Midland.  
     Out-of-town friends attending were:  Mr. and Mrs. J.C. Sikes, Jr., Fort Worth;  Mr. and Mrs. W.P. Mongik, Dallas; Babe Southerland, Dallas; W.A. Self, Fort Worth; J.T. Self, Dallas;  E.W. Self, Fort Worth, and Mr. and Mrs. J.M. Self, Fort Worth.
     Mrs. Lancaster's sister and her brothers were unable to attend.
     Pallbearers were Emmet Moon, Oliver Holcomb, Elmo White, Arch Evans, Ernest Smith and H.V. Collins."[4]

Because so many came from out of town, this is probably the reason this article was included in the paper. The immediate family members are repeats from the other obituary, but some additional addresses are included:

• Daughter, Pansy, her husband, Tom Johnston, and their daughter (my mother Lela Nell), from Walnut Creek, California.

• Brother, W. F. Lancaster and wife, and brother, Earl Lancaster, from Slaton, Texas.

• Three sisters: Mrs. Herbert Self and husband of Fort Worth (who was really her sister-in-law, Margaret Lancaster). Mr. & Mrs. W.H. Loveless of Fort Worth (Hutts was her brother and his wife, Josephine, was her sister-in-law). Mrs. Walt Fraley and husband of Ropesville, Texas was also her sister-in-law, Pearl Lancaster.

The above were easy to sort out. The other relatives took more sleuthing:

• Jack Lancaster could be Earl Lancaster’s son. Earl Lancaster would be another brother-in-law. 

• Bill Martin Hester was the son of Ida B. (Loveless) Hester.

• Mr. & Mrs. Weldon Tudor confused me. Pearl Lancaster married Weldon Tudor, so how could she be listed twice, but checking my database, her son was also called Weldon. So, Weldon Tudor was Lela Ann’s nephew.

The listing of friends will be harder to determine. I recognize the surname Self but none of those people are in my database. R.D. Lancaster married Barbara Sutherland, so Babe Southerland may be related to her.

I had better luck determining who some of the pallbearers were. Emmet Moon was married to Lela’s cousin, Faye Loveless, daughter of Lela’s deceased brother, James Oscar Loveless. Arch Evans was married to Thelma Welch, a distant cousin.

Conclusion
So next time you have an obituary listing a residence for family members, take the time to add that residence information in your genealogy database. It might come in handy in solving a genealogical problem.

#52Ancestors-Week 32: Favorite Discovery

This is my seventh year working on this year-long prompt, hosted by Amy Johnson Crow (https://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/) at Generations Cafe.

I write each week in one of my two blogs, either Mam-ma’s Southern Family or My Trails into the Past. I have enjoyed writing about my children’s ancestors in new and exciting ways.

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[1] "Texas Deaths, 1890-1976," digital image, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/1983324 ) > Death certificates > 1951 > vol 055, certificates > image 312 of 563, #27274, Wichita Co, 1951, Lela Ann Lancaster; citing Texas Department of Health Bureau of Vital Statistics.

[2] “Mrs. W. G. Lancaster,” Stephenville Empire-Tribune (Texas), 25 May 1951, p. 5, col. 7.

[3] “Mrs. Warren G. Lancaster,” Stephenville Empire-Tribune (Texas), 25 May 1951, p. 5, col. 7.

[4] Attend Funeral for Mrs. W. G. Lancaster,” Stephenville Empire-Tribune (Texas), 25 May 1951, p. 4 col. 5.

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