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| Harriet Jane Salyards - Age 16 |
Harriet Jane Salyards was born on October 2, 1924, in Columbus, Ohio, to Wyatt Johnson Salyards and Mary Grace Miller Salyards.
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| Wyatt Johnson Salyards with Oma, and Mary Grace Miller Salyards |
The original of the picture of Mom above is an 8x10 that Mom gave to Dad shortly after they were married. The inscription on the picture in Mom's handwriting says, "Your Ever Loving Wife Harriett. Yes, Harriet is spelled with two t's on the portrait! Somewhere along the line Mom decided she preferred that spelling over the spelling on her birth certificate. Even her gravestone, which she had partially engraved when she ordered Dad's headstone, has Harriett with two t's. It wasn't until the last year or so of her life that she insisted Harriet be spelled with one t. She would get so aggravated that her checks, insurance cards, mail, just about everything had her name spelled with two t's. Of course she wouldn't believe any of us when we tried to tell her that it was all her doing It was funny! She would not have been happy at all with her headstone. Then again, that is the spelling she used the entire time she was with Dad.
A few facts and oral history:
- If I remember correctly, Mom was named after her Grandmother Harriet Jane Johnson who passed in 1923, the year before she was born.
- Mom's dad died on her seventh birthday. Mom talked about it often. I don't know exactly what happened, possibly a heart attack. Whatever it was, I believe he got sick quite suddenly and was dead within a couple of days. I remember Mom saying that he had come home from work feeling very bad one day and that he went to bed and didn't get back up. Grandma was left to raise eight children on her own. Oma, the oldest, was 16 and Ruthie, the youngest, was 3 months old. Oma married shortly after her father's death, and Ruth went to live with friends for a couple of years so that Grandma could work and get her footing. I don't remember the name of the couple that took Ruth in. I know that they were friends of the family, had no children of their own and they lived a couple of hours away.
- Mom had eight siblings. A little boy (Wyatt Johnson Salyards, Jr.) died around the age of two before Mom was born. No one seems to know for sure what happened. I remember Mom and Aunt Lucy talking about it a few times. There was a story about their dad coming home from work and the baby jumping into his arms and dying. Apparently it wasn't something that Grandma talked about very much.
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| Wyatt Johnson Salyards, Jr. |
- Here is some additional information from my cousin, Dawn Gatton, about Wyatt Jr.:
Ohio Death Certificate has Salyards spelled wrong – they have him as
Wyatt J Salwards Jr.
Ohio Death Certificate #27856
He had been seen by J. E. Kershner M.D. from May 1, 1922 to May 9, 1922.
The Dr. last saw Wyatt alive May 8, 1922. Wyatt died at 10 PM on May 9, 1922.
Wyatt is buried in Union Cemetery (in Columbus, OH), Lot 88, Section 1915,
5th space from the North West Tier. The undertaker was Glenn L. Myers.
There is no marker.
- When Wyatt Sr. died, Mom said that his brother, Jack (I think), came to visit Grandma and let her know that he was not going to help her financially and she might as well put the kids in an orphanage. Grandma told him that the good Lord gave her the kids, and the Good Lord would help her to take care of them. Mom said that he was really mean. He was a preacher, but apparently not a nice person. Mom said his wife was very sweet.
- Mom said that her dad used to buy her Bi-Lo baby dolls. She had several. She said she didn't think they could really afford it, but every now and then her dad would bring her home one. I don't know if they were normally birthday gifts, or what. Mom loved her Bi-Lo dolls and she kept them for years. She had them packed in a chest in her mom's attic. One day, two of her nephews (Oma's boys) Albert and Harold Spang went up into the attic and took hammers to the dolls heads. They destroyed all of them. Mom was fit to kill. If Grandma had not stopped her, she said that she would have killed them. This may have happened when Mom was living with Grandma after Ernie was born. Dad was still in the Navy then.
- The picture below was taken by a photographer when Mom and her brother Russell were out playing one day. In those days photographers went door to door. Mom knew her mom wanted to have their picture taken, so when the photographer came around Mom and Russ let him take their pictures... dirt and all. It wasn't exactly what Grandma had in mind for their pictures, but she bought them anyway! From what Mom said, Grandma was fit to be tied! This picture was taken in 1929. At the time, Mom lived at 40 East Engles St., Columbus, OH, and was five years old, or close to five.
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| Harriet Jane Salyards - Age 5 |
- Mom's brother Keith lost an arm due to a train accident. Keith and his dad were walking home from somewhere and they had to cross a train track. Keith was too close to it when a train came by and his arm was sucked under the train and severed. Mom said that her Dad always blamed himself for the accident. I wish I could remember the details better! Mom used to tell stories about how Keith could do anything with his one arm that other people did with two.
- According to Aunt Murt (Mom's sister, Martha), per my cousin Dawn, this is what happened as far as the train accident goes: Mom told me that Grandpa and Keith had gone down to the RR track to pick up coal that would fall off of the coal cars. A train went by and Keith’s arm was taken off. I don’t know if he fell or was picking up coal too close to the track. It would be interesting to hear what Aunt Ruth heard. It is interesting how siblings remember things differently.
- The picture below is a list of all of Mom's siblings as well as Spouse and Children:
This picture is of Mom with Grandma and all of her sisters:
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| Back Row Left to Right: Lucy and Martha (Murt) Front Row Left to Right: Harriet, Ruth, Mary, Oma |
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| Pages 2 and 3 |
