Wallingford/Jarlov Family Trees

Conversation with Corinne Wallingford March 1994 recorded by Joan Wallingford Mickler

John Pinckney was a mail carrier. He delivered in a model T Ford which had to be hand cranked. On very cold mornings he would heat water on the wood stove and pour it over the engine to get it warm enough to start.He caught pneumonia one very bad winter. The day he died was a bitterly cold day. Virgil was 11, Roland was 8, and Edna Ruth was 6. Roland walked over to Fields Store Cemetary and watched the grave digging. In those days friends dug the grave. They had a terrible time because of the cold and the frozen ground.I asked my father and uncle Virgil once why the family left Fields Store to move to Houston. They told me they were starving on the farm - that they could not raise enough to survive.

Written by Joan Wallingford Mickler 1995

John Pinckney Wallingford

John Pinckney was born to Thomas Ginn and Annie Eliza Tucker Wallingford on October 22, 1887. His birth was noted in the family bible. He was the middle of three childen of Thomas's third marriage. His brother, Alvin Monroe was born on October 28, 1885, and his sister, Minnie Devoe, was born on June 4, 1890. John must have been named after Thomas's friend John Pinckney, a politician, who was shot to death after a wet/dry election - see the attached article.

The family lived in the Field's Store community, on a corner across from the cemetery. Thomas paid taxes on 163 acres of land. He farmed, raised cattle, and served as a constable and a mail carrier at various times. Money was probably scarce. There are very few photos of the family. A photo of Thomas, Annie, and the children was reproduced the the 1994 reunion packet. A photo of John at about age 10 is attached.

Thomas died on May 6, 1909 at the age of 81. His wife Annie was almost 50, and their children were 23, 21, and 18. Frances Smith's book, Living on the County Line, The Life and Times of the Alfred Hegar Family, describes this time period:

In the meantime, in 1909, as previously stated, after an ice cream social was held at Uncle George Hegar's house, Grandpa John Isaac Loyd died of a heart attack. He had lost his right arm during the Civil War and had been living with the George Hegars for fifteen years since the death of his wife Tabbitha. He was buried beside his wife at the Field's Store Cemetery (between Hempstead and Magnolia on FM 1488). Plans went on for Mary Emma (George's daughter) to marry George Stephenson a month later. The wedding was an all-day affair and afterwards at home when Alfred went out to the barn to feed the livestock, John Pinckney Wallingford followed him to ask for daughter Edna's hand in marriage. They were married two weeks later on June 27, 1909. The wedding took place on the gallery outside the parlor as was customary for summer weddings. Aunt Alice made the cake and decorated it with white icing which was her specialty. It was shiny and hard on the outside and soft on the inside. This time she had to cook it twice to get it just right. Edna went to live with John's mother near Joseph.

The wedding photo of John Pinckney Wallingford and Mina Edna Hegar, daughter of Alfred and Helen Loyd Hegar is attached. John and Edna lived with Annie on the Wallingford homestead. They quickly had three children: Virgil Edwin was born on March 29, 1910, John Roland on September 18, 1913, and Edna Ruth on June 12, 1916. The children were born at home. John Roland's birth certificate shows Joseph as the birthplace. I know the family did not move, so I assume that the Field's store corner was at that time in Joseph.

Maye, Edna's sister, was only eight at the time of the wedding. She attended the Springer School and the Ogg school. After Edna's marriage she went to stay with Edna and John during the week so she could attend the large four room school at Field's Store. She remembers liking the sports activities particularly. Her father picked her up in the buggy or wagon on Friday afternoons. Sunday evening she returned. The Wallingfords sometimes went to the Hegar home on Sunday. There was always lots of food, and they went home with some, too - Edna Ruth remembers ribbon cane syrup, pears, and pecans.

Harry Noe has a deed from Alvin Wallingford, Susie Wallingford, H. K. Noe, Minnie Noe, and Annie Wallingford to John Wallingford, for 71 1/4 acres of land in Waller County, for the consideration of $1200, dated October 5, 1918. Either John P. was a good farmer, or the Hegars helped out. I have a copy of a note cosigned by Alfred Hegar showing that John P. borrowed $1150 for Louis Hegar. The date is not readable so it may not be connected to the purchase.

The few photos show well dressed children. The photo of the Easter egg hunt at the New Hope church was given to me by Jimmie Smith at my father's funeral. In the larger Field's Store school photo, the teacher is Miss Archer. John Roland is 4th from the left on the 2nd row. Virgil may be 6th from the left on row 3. Edna Ruth was not in school yet.

The small school photo contains all three children. John Roland is 4th from the right on the front row, Virgil is 4th from the right on the 4th row, and Edna Ruth is 2nd from the right on row 3. Edna Ruth was a first grader. She remembers that there were double desks, and one day the girl who shared her desk wet her pants - then she says, "Oh, I shouldn't tell things like that." She says it was a one room style school with two teachers. The teacher was Miss Mayholt, a very good teacher according to Edna Ruth.

John P. farmer and had a contract for the rural mail delivery in Hegar and Hockley. John Roland remembered how cold it was on winter mornings. Edna would heat water on the wood stove to pour over the radiator of the Model T ford, and John P. would crank it. In the winter of 1922, John P. got pneumonia and died on January 18. John Roland, age 8 at the time, remembered how bitterly cold it was. He walked across to the cemetery and watched the family friends digging the grave for his father. They had a terrible time because of the cold and the frozen ground. There was no funeral. Virgil was 11 and Edna Ruth was 6. Edna and the children finished out the mail contract - not an easy job for them. Once cousin Arthur Moore loaned Edna $50 to pay back John Bruner when he paid their rent ($50 a year for 149 acres.) After John Pinckney died, Alfred Hegar paid off the property.

I asked my father and Uncle Virgil once why they left the farm. They told me they were starving on the farm - that they couldn't raise enough to survive. Edna and the children went to live with her father and mother, Alfred and Helen Hegar. Aunt Maye passed her teachers test at age sixteen, and was teaching school in Magnolia. The children attended there for a few years.

About 1925 Uncle John Page came to take the family to live with his family in Houston. The children went to West End School with the Page's six boys and four girls. Later the family got an apartment in the Heights - they moved every time they could find a cheaper place. Edna worked at a twine factory on Washington, at an overall factory, and at a blanket factory on Airline. After Virgil married Itaska, the family lived with them along with Itaska's dad and brother.

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LIVING ON THE COUNTY LINE - The Life and Times of the Alfred Hegar FamilY
By Frances Williamson Smith
Lakewood, Colorado
1991

Maye was eventually sent to stay with sister Edna after her marriage to John Wallingford. They lived in the community of Joseph where she went to a larger four-room school at Field's Store. Alfred took her over in the wagon or buggy on Sunday evening and she stayed until Friday afternoon when he picked her up again. She remembers liking the sports activities particularly.
...
In the meantime, in 1909, as previously stated, after an ice cream social was held at Uncle George's house, Grandpa John Isaac died suddenly of a heart attack. He had lost his right arm during the Civil Was and had been living with the family for fifteen years since the death of his wife Tabbitha. He was buried beside his wife at the Field's Store Cemetery ( between Hempstead and Magnolia on FM 1488 ). Plans went on for Mary Emma to marry George Stephenson a month later. The wedding was an all-day affair and afterwards at home when Alfred went out to the barn to feed the livestock, John Pinckney Wallingford followed him to ask for daughter Edna's hand in marriage. They were married two weeks later on June 27, 1909. The wedding took place on the gallery outside the parlor as was customary for summer weddings. Aunt Alice made the cake and decorated it with white icing which was her specialty. It was shiny and hard on the outside and soft on the inside. This time she had to cook it twice to get it just right. Edna went to live with John's mother near Joseph. They had two boys and a girl before he died suddenly of pneumonia in 1921. After living with her parents for almost a year, Edna and the children moved to Houston.
...

Conversation with Frances Williamson and Madelyn Hegar, Summer 1989, from Joan Wallingford Mickler:

John Isaac Loyd had a stroke at an ice cream social at his home. Mary Emma Loyd married soon after that at home on the gallery - an all day affair. After the party was over, Alfred's family went home. John Wallingford went back with Edna. Aunt Maye and Aunt Sallie, who were about 8 or 10 years old, knew what was going on. John went to the barn to ask Alfred for Edna's hand. They were married a few weeks later on the porch. Aunt Alice made the wedding cake - she had to do the icing twice. John and Edna went to live with his mother.

Believed by the family that John Pinckney would have been named after a friend and business partner of Thomas Ginn Wallingford - John Pinckney. John Pinckney was a lawyer, and later a District Attorney. TG and John had both been in Hood's Brigade in the Civil War.

Conversation with Frances Williamson and Madelyn Hegar, Summer 1989, from Joan Wallingford Mickler:

John Pinckney Wallingford was a rural mail carrier in Hegar and Hockley. Carriers bid on routes for one year and signed a government contract. When he died, Edna and the boys finished out the year on the mail route. They had to pour boiling water on the engine of their model T, so they could crank it.

Death certificate number 3101, Texas Deaths 1903-1940, page 26599.

Mail Carrier, Farmer, Constable

George Ghen Wallingford, in a conversation on 3 Aug 2010, says he thinks he remembers John Pinckney's death and burial, though he would have been very young. His only real memory was of how cold it was, which matches up with another family story of the funeral.

On 14 April 1930, for the census, Edna wa living with her three children at 112 East 4th Street, Houston, Harris County, Texas.