My Grandparent's Wedding, or what we know of it

The story of their wedding day was one I never heard. I never thought to ask, either, and they're long gone now. I don't know the story of how my grandparents met, either. They never talked about it and I never asked, though now I wish I had! But I do have some parts of the story. The record of my grandparent's marriage is still around and we have a portrait that my grandmother always said was their wedding picture.

LeRoy Cobb and Nyleta Powell were married on 14 December 1944 in Kansas City, Missouri.

LeRoy and Nyleta Cobb Wedding Portrait, 1944

The laws at the time required a man to be age twenty-one or over and a woman to be age eighteen or over to be married. Nyleta was of age, being 18 years old, but her groom was just 17.

In order to marry, the groom's parents had to complete an affidavit to be filed with the marriage certificate giving their consent. LeRoy's parents, Kay and Hattie Cobb, agreed to the marriage and signed the affidavit on 8 December 1944. The affidavit lists Nyleta's address as 909 W. 14th St. in Kansas City. The Cobbs lived just a few blocks away at 606 W. 17th Street. 

The General Affidavit reads:

Kay Cobb and Hattie Cobb His Wife, of lawful age, being first duly sworn, deposes and says: That They Or[sic] The Father And Mother Of Roy Cobb, A Minor Son 17 Years Old, And That They Hereby Give Their Consent For Him To Be United In Holy Matrimony To Nyletta Powell Of 909 West 14th St. Kansas City Missouri

The affidavit signed 8 Dec 1944 by Kay and Hattie Cobb.
Jackson County Missouri Marriage Records,
Image from Ancestry.com.

The marriage took place less than a week later. On Thursday, December 14th, 1944, LeRoy and Nyleta stood before Justice of the Peace Bernard W. Gnefkow and became husband and wife. It's unknown where the wedding took place. Perhaps it was at Justice Gnefkow's office at 1627 Main Street. At that time, the fee collected by a Justice of the Peace was only $5.00, a much more affordable option than a big church wedding. Nyleta wore a skirt and jacket, LeRoy a suit. It was wartime, and money was tight.

Marriage License for LeRoy Cobb and Nyleta Powell, 14 Dec 1944.
Jackson County Missouri Marriage Records,
Image from Ancestry.com.

Just months before their 43rd Wedding Anniversary, Nyleta passed away. LeRoy followed a year later. 

LeRoy and Nyleta Cobb, the photo was taken about 1981.

They never talked about their wedding during those 43 years, at least not that any of us remember. They raised two sons and two daughters to carry on their legacy. Currently, there are seven grandchildren, twelve great-grandchildren, and six great-great-grandchildren in this family that continues to grow. All because two young people went to the courthouse in 1944 and filed the paperwork to be married. 

Velma Love (Cobb) Womack Round 1921-2013

My mom, Velma Louise Cobb, was named after two of her aunts. Her first name came from her father's sister, Velma Love (Cobb) Womack, and her middle name from her mother's sister-in-law, Betty Louise (Kinser) Powell. Mom was called by her middle name Louise throughout her life. She used to joke that it could have been worse, she could have been named "Betty Love". But the jokes were all in good fun, as the two namesake Aunts were extremely close to my mom, and she to them. I was blessed to grow up with both of these great aunts in my life.

It's always been common in families to name children after a family member. Velma, the first child born to Henry Clay "Kay" Cobb and his wife, Hattie Eugene (Nicholas) was named after Kay's little sister, Carrie Love (Cobb) Shofler. Velma, like my mother, was named after a much-loved Aunt with whom she was very close.

Aunt Velma

Velma Love Cobb was born on 3 December 1921 in West Plains, Howell County, Missouri. The family, with the addition of sons LeRoy, John David (J.D.), and Bobby and another daughter, Vera, lived on a rural farm in the Ozarks. The family was poor, but they scraped together enough to survive by working together.

Excerpt from a letter Velma sent me years ago.

We "lived 5 miles South of West Plains, Mo. on the old Cobb farm. John and Nancy Cobb (Dads parents) lived there before us. They were farmers. I was 2 years old when Grandpa died & 6 years when Grandma died. They are buried at Evergreen Cemetery, 3 miles South of the old Cobb place. 8 miles from West Plains. It was a two Room House with a cellar. Mom & Dad raised 5 kids there. When I was 13 years old we moved 10 miles West of West Plains in a bigger House."

After attending the Bolivar Baptist College for a year, Velma married Wayman L Womack on 9 September 1939. They moved to Kansas City where Wayman found work at the Bomber plant before he joined the Army. Velma's dad, Kay, also moved up to Kansas City and took a job at the Bomber plant while her mom stayed in West Plains until the house was sold. Wayman's military service took the young couple to northern California where they welcomed their first child, a daughter they named Carolyn, in 1944. After his service, they settled back into life in Missouri where three sons, Larry, Steve and Gary, completed the family. For many years Velma worked at Katz and Skaggs Drug Store, or simply "the dime store" as we called it.

The Cobb kids in July of 1957.
Back: Bobby, LeRoy, and J.D.
Front: Vera and Velma.

When I was a child in the 1970s, I remember Velma and Wayman's house in North Kansas City. They lived next door to Velma's mom, Hattie. They later moved to a home on Lake Waukomis where visitors could fish or go boating on the lake. Family gatherings were important to my Aunt Velma and I fondly remember lots of special times with cousins there. Wayman died in 1980 and Velma married Harry Round in 1988. They enjoyed more than twenty-five years together before Velma passed away in 2013.

Aunt Velma loved reminiscing about the past as she looked at old photographs and our Cobb family reunions were something she truly enjoyed. Since the late 1990s, we've been getting together every few years for a long weekend. Even though she was one of the eldest family members there, she would never relax and let the younger ones do the work preparing the food and setting it out. She insisted on helping. We all learned to just give her something to do because she wasn't going to stop asking how she could help. We always spend a reunion afternoon playing BINGO and that's when we miss Velma the most. She really enjoyed BINGO - especially when she was winning!

Velma never lost her thick Ozarks accent or the odd phrases she had learned as a child. I can still hear her voice as I read her words in the old letters she wrote to me to share some of her stories:

"One of the most scary things I can remember is we had a Tornado when we lived in the 2 Room house at West Plains. It blowed our Chicken House away, Blowed our orchard up by the roots, Tree on the House, Blowed window lights out, We got under the Bed. None of us got hurt. J.D. was 11 yrs old he was praying. When I was growing up My Mother would buy enough flour with the same pattern & make me a dress, Table Cloths & sheets & curtains. My Brother & I used to take a basket of eggs, walk to the Country Store & exchange them for things we needed. We used to walk Three miles to Church & Three miles back. My dad never owned a car. He had 2 mules & wagon. It took them all day to go to town & buy Groceries. We had kerosene lamps. I used orange crates to nail on the wall to put dishes in. We made curtains out of flour sacks."

Nyleta (Powell) Cobb 1926-1987

Nyleta wasn't given a middle name by her parents, Ernest and Julia (Davis) Powell, when she was born on May 1, 1926, in Hartshorn, Texas County, Missouri. She wasn't named after a grandmother, an aunt, or any other family member alive or dead. The name was more common in Australia but very rare at that time in the United States. It makes me wonder how Ernest and Julia, a farming couple from the Ozarks, came up with the name for their second daughter, my maternal grandmother.

Growing up, Nyleta was called by the nickname Tooter. Given to her as a child when she was working really, really hard to learn to whistle, the name stuck with her throughout her life among family and close friends. When I was a little girl, I thought her real name was Tooter because that's all I'd ever heard her called. I discovered her "real" name when I was about 8 or 9 years old. My dad had filled in the simple family tree in the front of my parent's wedding Bible, my first genealogical discovery!

Nyleta (Powell) Cobb, wedding portrait taken in Dec. 1944

My grandparents were married in Kansas City, Missouri in December of 1944. Leroy Cobb was born in 1927 in West Plains, Howell County, Missouri and was only 17 when they were married, requiring the consent of his parents, Kay and Hattie Cobb. Nyleta was 18 and considered "of age". In the Spring of 1945, Leroy enlisted in the Navy. He was discharged a year later and the young couple settled down to begin their family. They lived in downtown Kansas City in a home with Roy's parents. It was there that daughter Louise came in 1947, followed by Julia in 1949, and Ronald in 1952. Nyleta worked some odd jobs during that time to supplement the family income. She packed tomatoes at the City Market and worked for her Uncle Joe Fisher at his downtown restaurant.

Leroy and Nyleta Cobb, about 1950,
at a Cobb family gathering.

In 1956, Leroy and Nyleta bought a home of their own in the Gladstone area of Kansas City. It was a small home, but even after son Randall came that year, it was roomy enough for their family of 6. When I was little, my grandma worked in the Farmland cafeteria. I think it was mostly a cafeteria for the Farmland employees, but I remember going with my mom to have lunch at Grandma's work. She worked there until she retired.

Nyleta Cobb with her daughters, Louise and Julia.
Taken in Hartshorn at her parent's home about 1951.

My grandmother enjoyed having her family near. She loved to host everyone at her house, cooking meals to feed as many as could cram around her big dining room table. In the 1970s and 1980s, three of her four children moved their families out of state. My grandma really hated that her kids were so far away, but the worst was that they took the grandchildren with them. Our family vacations were always to my grandparent's house to visit, and they made trips to see us, too.

Leroy and Nyleta Cobb, 1981
at my parent's house in North Bend, WA

Nyleta was diagnosed with cancer at age 59 and died two years later after a long, tough struggle. She was as special as her name was unusual, and is so fondly remembered by her family.

September 25, 1922, "it is hard to write a letter on the train"

This letter is from Edith A. (Duffield) Sisson, Edythe's mother, to Rayson.  She is writing on the train as she and her daughter make their way to Los Angeles. I wonder how she was feeling. At 58 years old, she had just left Ottawa, Illinois - the only place she'd ever lived - to head west to California to join her husband. In some of the earlier letters, it was clear that she was a rather nervous woman so I imagine she was a bit of a mess as she wrote this note to her future son-in-law.

Addressed to:

Mr. G. Rayson Brown.

1468 East 67 St.

Chicago Illinois.

My dear Boy :-

First I must ask you to please excuse the awful writing for it is hard to write a letter on the train. Edythe was writing to you and I just had to write too although I am awful tired. We seem to be traveling awfully slow for some reason or other if it continues we will be all week on the road. 

Rayson we surely want you to come and stay with us our home will be your home dont worry about the money question. dont worry about the board every thing will be all right until you find

(over)

work. come as soon as you can. and take good care of your-self. it is now 10-45 and we are just in Kansas City good bye my dear boy with much love from

Mother

For links to all the letters in this collection, go to https://ordinaryancestors.blogspot.com/p/edythe-and-rayson-love-letters.html where they are organized by date written.

Hattie Eugene (Nicholas) Cobb (1899-1977)

My mother’s paternal grandmother was Hattie Eugene (Nicholas) Cobb. I was a pre-teen girl when she passed away and remember many fun times spent at her home in Kansas City, Missouri in the 1970s.

Hattie Cobb in the early 1970s.
Photo from my personal collection.

Hattie was born on 3 June 1899 in Missouri. Her oldest daughter told me once that her birthplace was Marquad, Madison County, Missouri, according to an entry in a family bible. Her parents were David Lincoln Nicholas (1874-1961) and Cordelia “Cordia” Francis Hammond (1877-1970). Hattie was one of four daughters born to the couple, though one died as an infant. Her sister, Nora Belle (called Belle), was born in 1897 and younger sister Beulah came in 1903. Both of those sisters were born in Arkansas.

In the 1910 census, Hattie is living with her family in Washington, Fulton County, Arkansas. In the home next door was her mother’s brother John Hammond and his family, with several cousins near Hattie’s age. The Nicholas and Hammond children, along with a few other neighbors, attended a small school together. I believe the following photo was taken between 1912 and 1915; Hattie is holding the sign that reads “Grammar School”. I think Beulah is to her right and Belle to her left, but I’m not certain.

 "Grammar School" probably taken in Washington, Fulton, Arkansas about 1912-15. Hattie is the girl holding the sign. Photo from my personal collection.

In 1920, the family is still in the same home, but sister Beulah and her husband, Walter Wallace, were living in the neighboring home. Soon Hattie would also marry, walking down the aisle with Henry Clay “Kay” Cobb on 5 February 1921. By December of that first year of marriage, the Cobbs were in West Plains, Howell County, Missouri, welcoming daughter Velma Love. Son John David arrived in 1923, Leroy in 1927, Bobby Clay in 1929, and the baby Vera in 1933. They lived about 5 miles south of West Plains on the old Cobb farm that Kay’s parents owned before them.

Several years ago, Velma wrote out some of her early memories for me in a letter. This is an excerpt about her childhood, “One of the most scary things I can remember is we had a Tornado when we lived in the 2 room house at West Plains. It blowed our chicken house away, blowed our orchard up by roots, tree on the house, blowed window lights out, we got under the bed. None of us got hurt. J.D. was 11 years old he was praying. When I was growing up my mother would buy enough flour with the same pattern & make me a dress, tablecloths & sheets & curtains. My brother and I used to take a basket of eggs, walk to the country store & exchange them for things we needed. We used to walk three miles to church & three miles back. My dad never owned a car. He had 2 mules and a wagon. It took them all day to go to town and buy groceries. We had kerosene lamps. I used orange crates to nail on the wall to put dishes in. We made curtains [for the crates] out of flour sacks.”

Hattie’s parent's marriage ended in divorce. Her mother remarried by 1923. Cordia’s new husband, Joseph Dye, was a widow. The children all adored him as a grandfather. The Dyes had a home in Koshkonong (18 miles East of West Plains) near the railroad tracks. Hattie’s father remarried in 1932. David and his wife Gainie lived in Fulton County, Arkansas.

Left to right; Hattie, her daughter Vera, son J.D., son Bobby, son Leroy and unknown boy. Photo taken about 1939, from my personal collection.

The 1930 census lists the family in Howell, Howell, Missouri on West Plains and Lanton Road. This would be the old Cobb Farm. They moved in about 1934 to the Spring Creek community, also in Howell County, into a larger home to accommodate the family. Kay was still farming.  Soon after daughter Velma married Wayman Womack in 1939, she and her husband moved to Kansas City where he was employed at the Bomber plant before he joined the Army. Kay came to Kansas City to work at the plant, too, while Hattie stayed back until she sold the farm and then moved up with the younger kids. Hattie’s two oldest sons, J.D. and LeRoy, were both in the service during WWII along with her son-in-law Wayman. I’m sure there was a lot of worry on her mind until all three were home safe. After the war, when Kay’s job at the plant ended, he worked as a plumber before retiring. Hattie worked for a time in a Made-Rite sandwich shop. The couple also had a small farm on the property and sold some produce for extra income. The grandkids were sometimes recruited to peddle the fruit and vegetables. My mother hated doing it, but enjoyed the time in the summer with her cousins at Grandma and Grandpa Cobb’s house.

Hattie holding her granddaughter Louise in 1947.
Photo from my personal collection.

Kay died at home in 1968. Hattie remained there until she died in 1977. They are buried in Howell Memorial Park Cemetery near West Plains, Missouri.

Five Generations. Unknown what paper this was in. I'm the child on my mother's lap.
From my personal collection.

Every summer when I was a little girl I remember picnics at Great Grandma Cobb’s house. Big quilts laid out on the ground with watermelons holding them in place, picnic tables, searing hot metal lawn chairs, and cousins having a lot of fun. There were peach trees and tomato plants that we could pick from and eat if we wanted to. Often the women would be in the tiny kitchen canning peaches, a family favorite. Great Grandma Cobb always wore an apron when she was cooking and she made some fantastic food in that little kitchen. When I entertain, it's her example that I follow. Nothing fancy, just bring as much family together as you can, as often as you can, and the good times just naturally happen.

Setting up for a picnic in the early 1970s at Hattie's house in Kansas City, Missouri.
Photo from my personal collection.