Our Family Story

My Grandmother as a Young Girl

Sat, 06 Sep 2008 01:23:07 GMT

Thought I would share a photo my mother gave me recently. The girl standing in the middle in the back is my grandmother, Iva Myrtle, known to her friends and family as Myrtle or Myrt. She was my Mom's mother, and I never got to meet her, but I know I take after her in many ways -- loving to read, loving to write, keeping letters and newspaper clippings, bubble gum wrappers from dates, making up stories for the kids, and a host of other things.

Seated in the center are Samuel Lewis Hook and his wife Eler Elijah Blisset Hook, for whom my Mother was named. In the back left is Timmy Lee Hook (known to us as Uncle Tim), my Mamaw (Myrtle Roberts to be), and Lena Luney Florence (known to us as Aunt Florence -- Aunt Florence married a Dowell, but as far as we know it was a different line of Dowells, no relation to my Dad). The little boy in the center is Shelton Coleman (known as Uncle Shel), and the smallest boy, on the left in front, is Raymond Estil (Uncle Estil).

I can remember Uncle Tim and I remember going to visit him and his wife, Aunt Effie in Hardinsburg. The house they lived in was (and still is) next to the library, and I remember their porch was covered in red tile. I never knew the others, but I remember Uncle Estil's wife, my Aunt Annie Mae. It was her house that was destroyed in the April 3, 1974 tornado that I wrote about in April.

I think my grandmother was around 12 or 13 here, although she could have been as old as 14. Mom says in a lot of her pictures she looked older than she was. She was a pretty little thing, wasn't she? In most pictures of my Great-Grandfather Hook he has white hair and a mass of white whiskers, but in this photo he is quite the handsome devil, isn't he? My mother was named after this grandmother, Eler, and her other grandmother, Frances Roberts. My Eler Beth is named after both of her grandmothers too. I hope it's a tradition that will continue.

Tags: Samuel Lewis Hook, Eler Elijah Blisset Hook, Tim Hook, Myrtle Hook Roberts, Florence Hook Dowell, Shel Hook, Estil Hook

Bissetts, Allens, and Hooks

Tue, 06 Nov 2007 09:52:59 GMT

I am looking for anyone with information on or ties with Bissetts, Allens, and Hooks, from Breckinridge County, Kentucky.

Tags: Bissett, Allen, Hook

Lonzo and Myrtle Roberts

Tue, 06 Nov 2007 09:51:11 GMT

Lonzo Roberts, my maternal grandfather. I have no idea what year this was taken. My uncle John looks so much like him in this picture.

Iva Myrtle Hook Roberts, my maternal grandmother.

Mamaw, with her roses.

Tags: Lonzo Roberts, Iva Myrtle Hook Roberts

Jeff Dowell, Jr. 1922 - 2002

Sun, 20 May 2007 20:36:12 GMT

Five years ago, May 19, my father died. I just wanted to share a few pictures of him, and of the beautiful gravestone that Mom picked out.

My mother's maternal grandparents........

Sun, 21 Aug 2005 01:39:03 GMT

This is my Great-Grandfather Samuel Jasper Hook and my Great-Grandmother Eler Elijah Bissett Hook.

They were my mother's maternal grandparents. She was named Eler after this grandmother. You can tell she had a lot of Native American in her, can't you? I don't know a lot about their early years and am hoping to find out more.

My great-grandfather Sam Hook with my mother's oldest brother, Leland Roberts, and my great-grandmother Eler Hook with my mother's sister, Elnora Roberts.

February 1947

Sat, 18 Jun 2005 18:17:37 GMT

My Parents right after they were married, February of 1947.

Jeff and Eler Dowell

This picture was taken at my Gradfather Roberts' farm in Union Star, Kentucky. My father was just getting ready to turn 25 years old, and my mother was 23.

Jeff Dowell, Jr. at one year old

Wed, 01 Jun 2005 23:29:59 GMT

Jeff Dowell, Jr., bottom right. He was just a baby here. Next to him on the left is his brother James. Uncle Jimmy died in the late 1970s. He had married my mother's sister, Elnora; her only sister. Their three children and the seven of us, therefore, were "double cousins". In the back row are their two brothers Theodore (Uncle "Thidore", as everyone in the family pronounced it), and Burton. Uncle Theodore and Uncle Burton also married sisters, Cecil and Vera Roberts, respectively. Cecil and Vera were my mother's first cousins. So these four Dowell brothers married two sets of Roberts family sisters; two daughters of Lonzo Roberts (my grandfather), and two daughters of Blaine Roberts (my great-uncle). Uncle Burton died in the 1980s and Uncle Theodore in the late 80s or early 90s. Aunt Cecil died in the 70s, and Aunt Vera is still with us. She visits Mom often. She has Parkinson's Disease, but seems to be holding her own.

Back, left to right: Theodore Dowell, Burton Dowell; Front, left to right: James Dowell and Jeff Dowell, Jr. (My Dad). These are the four youngest boys of Jeff and Lucy Dowell at that time. There would be one more boy and two more girls born in the next few years to make a total of 12 children in all before my gradfather died in 1928. This picture was taken in the back yard of my grandparent's house. This house was still lived in by my Grandmother Dowell when I was born. I can remember visiting her there often. She died before I turned five. She had lived there with the second oldest of her sons, Uncle Harlan, until her death. Then for a few years her youngest son, Uncle Leonard lived there with his family until the house burned down around 1975.

Gunner's Mate 1st Class

Sun, 29 May 2005 23:26:44 GMT

Jeff Dowell, 1922 - 2002

This is my Dad, Jeff Dowell, Jr. in 1943. He was Gunner's Mate 1st Class aboard the USS Tappahannock, a tanker servicing ships in the Pacific Theater during World War II.

He was about 21 years old, 5'11", with very pale blonde hair and blue, blue eyes. He was neat and trim and looked good in his US Navy uniform.

The USS Tappahannock was a tanker. My father told stories of how he would have to send a connecting line over the water to the ship they were servicing, and to do this he would shoot it over the water with his 4-10 shotgun. My mother still has that gun.

I have not written in this journal for a long while. I've been busy, but also I've been a little depressed and down lately. The three-year anniversary of my father's death just recently passed, and I think that has been weighing on my mind more than I had realized. He died May 19, 2002 and was buried on May 23. My Mom and two of my sisters were up visiting today and my mother brought some of her old photos that I had asked for. I wanted to scan them into my computer so I could copy them. That got me to thinking about Daddy and I wanted to share this handsome photo of him with my journal. I'll probably write some more a little later. I will also put this entry in my other journal, http://journals.aol.com/helmswondermom/DustyPages/entries/1233

For more information and pictures on USS Navy Oilers or on the USS Tappahannock:

AO-43 USS Tappahannock

Mattaponi class Fleet Oiler:
Displacement: 21,750 tons
Length: 520'
Beam: 68'
Draft: 30'6"
Speed: 17 knots (max); 10.5 knots (econ)
Armament: 1 5"/38 DP, 4 3"/50 DP, 4x2 40mm, 4x2 20mm
Complement: 242
Capacity: 135,000 barrels
Geared turbine engines, single screw, 12,800 hp
Maritime Commission T2-A (MC-K)type
Built at Sun Shipbuilding & Drydock Co. and commissioned 22 Jun 1942
ex-SS Jorkay

Additional Links:

"Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships" -- USS Tappahannock
The parent directory for more information on this class and type
Reunion links for scheduled reunions
and possible contacts for crew lists
Sources of ship's documents: logs, action reports, etc.
-- mostly from the National Archives

Written by helmswondermom . (Link to this entry)

Under Construtions

Sun, 04 Sep 2005 14:38:07 GMT

I will return soon, hopefully, to re-do this site. I am interviewing my mother for some info.

Fri, 24 Jun 2005 04:48:55 GMT

This is my dad in his sailor's outfit. I guess this would have been around 1946 when he got back from the war. He's straddling the fence at my Uncle James' house.

This is mom at about the same time. She is sitting on the steps of their house on US 22. Isn't she pretty?