Matthew, hello! Unbelievable that we are still able to connect after so long, and wonderful at that! So many times emails are so obsolete that it never happens. How can I NOT still be interested. I'm not getting any younger, and those elusive
Flemings of that line have consumed many hours of queries on boards; emails between other people who did not turn out to be the right line etc. Just so great of you to pick the ball up and carry it.
From all I have heard or read, Ladora was a wonderful woman, and my great grandfather, William
Fleming, a lucky man to have her as his second wife (I descend from his first wife, Mary Emma
Hamlin through their son Claude). Is it safe to assume you have a picture of William and Ladora and know how they met? I only have one picture of them together to my name (when they were senior citizens, it looks like), and I never saw or possessed a copy of it until a few years ago, when the last of William's granddaughters through his son Claude passed away (she lived halfway across the states from us, never had children of her own, and hoarded them until she was in the last of her life). How very sad that I could not have known more about them throughout my life, particularly while there were still people alive to ask questions of. I knew OF them, but nothing that satisfied my desire for knowledge of my family on that side, and Frances
Fleming was the only grandparent I was fortunate enough to have for very long (I was only 13 when I held her hand as she took her dying breath..I loved her dearly).
I am still chasing William's parental lines to no avail (Samuel and Thomas are family names). I know for a fact that William and Ladora both died at Carol's house in Collinsville, OK, and were taken back to Neosho for burial (been there..). Have the obits for them, courtesy of
McDonald County G.S. and Retha Mitchell, but believe it or not, neither
Oklahoma nor
Missouri has been able to provide me with a death certificate for William Henry
Fleming. I was able to get one for Ladora from the State of
Oklahoma.
My mother Claudia May
Fleming (1911-1993), also spent many summers at Riverside, and was very close to her Aunts Carol (
Poole nee Flemming/used double "m") and
Nell (
Wiley nee
Fleming). She was particularly close to her Aunt Carol and
Uncle Clyde (
Poole). I was in high school when Carol died, and even after all of those years of not being able to see each other, my mother was heartbroken over her death. I distinctly remember many tears, as they were very close, and I still have the original letter from Great Aunt Carol to my mother, when she was widowed. My mother, Claudia, was the eldest of three daughters of Claude
Moore Fleming and his second wife Frances Kyle. He was married previously, but she was not, and being 33 years of age at marriage, would probably have been considered a spinster at the time. Grandmother
Fleming was wonderful, and I loved her, and I still have letters we exchanged when I was a child. My mother Claudia (1911-1993)was a great oral historian, and during my childhood, I heard her speak of your
Murray and Joe (ie,
Combs), so I take it
Murray Sr. was your great grandfather..
I also have a couple of letters on Riverside Inn letterhead. They evoke so much nostalgia in me! In 2002, my husband and I went on a questing trip to
Oklahoma and
Missouri, and we went to the Riverside site (now and RV park). I swear to you, my mother was looking over my shoulder the whole time! We weren't sure we had the right place.. UNTIl I saw the little cabin that had the hinged wall that could be lifted in hot weather to let the breeze through, and saw the paths to the "cabins in the tree tops", and the river where my grandmother Frances kept watch for water moccasins when the girls swam (one was hiding under a brush pile from a recent flood, my husband didn't tell me he saw it's tail sticking out!). I know it sounds corny, but this beautiful metallic blue and turquoise butterfly landed right beside me in the middle of the road, and stayed by me until we walked on.. just too coincidental for words after nearly a century.
I would love to share information with you, as I have been doing research on my family for nearly ten years, and this bunch has really been a challenge, despite their obvious status in the area. There just doesn't seem to be anyone else out there that is researching them. I have become a "civil war bore" as a result of researching William and other family's civil war military histories. Really interesing. Please feel free to contact me. Would just love to hear from you. Carolyn