Shep's Place Family Tree

Marriage License
No. 1825 Gallia County, ss. Affidavit for Marriage License.

For Mr. Ezra C. Nida
His age 30 yrs.
Residence Ruby, Gallia Co.,Ohio
Occupation Merchant
Father's name Lewis Niday
Mother's maiden name Martha Perkins
If previously married, how often No

M Goldie Burnett
Her age 19 yrs.
Residence Ruby, Gallia Co., Ohio
Occupation None
Father's name R.W. Burnett
Mother's maiden name America Sheets
If previously married, how often No

Name of person expected to solemnize marriage John J. Thomas
Personally appeared Ezra C. Niday who being sworn says, that the statements above set forth are correct and true to the best of his knowledge and belief. That the parties thereto are not nearer of kin than second cousins.

Sworn to and subscribed before me, this 7th day of December A.D. 1904
W.T. Minturn Probate Judge

Ezra C. Niday

Being satisfied there is no legal impediment to said marriage, license is granted this 7 day of December 1904 as follows:
I, W.T. Minturn Judge of the Probate Court within and for the County and State aforesaid, have licensed and do hereby LICENSE AND AUTHORIZE
Mr Ezra C Niday and M Goldie Burnett to be joined in marriage.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name and affixed the seal of said Court at Gallipolis, this 7 day of December A.D. 1904.
W.T. Minturn Probate Judge.

I hereby Certify, That on the 7th day of December 1904, I solemnized the marriage of Mr. Ezra C. Niday and M Goldie Burnett
Returned and Filed Dec 10 1904
John J.Thomas JP

Upon his return to Gallia County, Ezra lived with the Richard & Susan Houck family. Their son Rufus W. Houck was Ezra's best friend. Homer Houck told me that Rufus and Ezra were co-owners of the store at Ruby; or it could have been that the store was owned by Rufus' parents. Rufus had built a hall over the store for the Junior Order of American Mechanics.

Rufus was a school teacher at the school which Goldie Burnett attended, and they were engaged to be married. Tragedy struck on April 14, 1903. Both Rufus and his father Richard were killed in a sawmill explosion. Rufus was 27 years, 7 months and 27 days old. Susan Houck lost her husband and son; Goldie lost her fiance; and Ezra lost his best friend.

Ezra took Goldie to Rufus' funeral in his buggy. Their mutual affection for Rufus brought these two together, and 18 months later they married. They began their married life at Susan Houck's home until they were able to rent a home, which was probably in Houck Hollow where Mamie was born in 1905. In 1907 Goldie had a stillborn baby. Burnett came along in 1910.

When Burnett was about four years old--1914-- Ezra decided to go into partnership in a grocery business with a good friend named Kheune in Huntington, West Virginia. We have a picture of him wearing an apron in the store. He was off to a good start, and Goldie was expecting another child when both Mamie and Burnett developed scarlett fever. Both were very sick. Soon after that, a baby girl, Martha Eloise, was born on September 27, 1915. Goldie's sister Welth was probably there to help her, but Goldie was so homesick for Gallia County and her family that Ezra agreed to leave Huntington.

The Huntington saga lasted only six months.

Upon their return to Gallipolis, they rented a little house on top of the ledge where Halliday Heights is; then they bought a two-story house south of Al Scarberry's, not far from Mamie Niday Robinson's. It was at this time that Ezra was a Watkins salesman, travelling by horse and buggy out in Guyan and Harrison Townships to sell various Watkins' products from door to door. Ezra stayed overnight with people, who surely enjoyed the company of this friendly extravert. The Nidays stayed in the little house on the hill until Ezra worked as county recorder at the court house; then they sold the house on Garfield Avenue and rented a house on Third Avenue. Ezra decided to run for country recorder, which was an elected poisition. He had made many friends out in the country, so had no trouble being elected. Goldie was his assistant.

Eloise like living on Third Avenue ‎[332 Third Ave.?]‎, right in town. She remembered, "when I had a bad sick spell ‎[was it rheumatic fever?]‎, I was alone a lot because Mom worked at the court house, too. I walked to the library a lot. I remember skating at Womeldorf's, which was very smooth for skating. The house next door to ours belonged to the widow of a doctor, Mrs. Cromlish. She told Mom what to do for me ‎[when I was sick]‎."

"On the other side of our house was a nice brick home which belonged to Mrs. Thomas whose husband was a banker. She always wore one of those velvet things around her neck. I used to visit Mrs. Thomas. I was 8 or 10 years old then. Her life was so different from anything I knew."

"I remember that our house was big with a stairways in the front and back. It had a big kitchen and an upstairs porch. It was a really nice home. One Christmas Mom and Dad had company during the evening, and I went to sleep. When I woke up I got to see some of my presents.

"Francie Kerr ‎[Ezra's half-brother's son]‎ wanted to buy a grocery store on Third Avenue, but didn't have any place to live; so Mom let him and Mellie stay upstairs. Mellie was a nice person, very kind and easy going. Their oldest son ‎[was his name Newton?]‎, who also lived upstairs, was drown in the Ohio River. Dad liked Francie. He was with Dad when he died."

"Mamie loved her life on Third Avenue. She was in high school. Mom and Dad had money then. She did loads of things and was popular."

"Across the street from us there was a nice two-storey double house where the Sawyers lived. They were Ruth Doepping's parents. We could hear music coming from their house. They were very musical. They had Sawyer's Music Store."

"My dad bought me a violin because I wanted to be in the school orchestra. Dad took me to buy the violin. Not long after the conductor left, and that was the end of it. I probably didn't care too much for the violin anyway. Dad also took me to the dentist for the first time."

"Miss Meal was my first and second grade teacher at the Garfield School ‎[where Willis Funeral Home is now]‎. A man taught third and fourth grades, and that is as far as it went."

"I remember playing hopscotch. I did a lot of that on the sidewalk. But I don't remember anyone else of my age around. "

"Two men came to town as travelling salesmen. They came to our house because they knew Dad. Before they left, they gave me a beautiful pen and pencil set. I was really impressed."

"Dad was having pains in his arms and didn't know what it was. His doctor thought that it was "nerves." Dad thought that it could be from using the very large typewriters at the court house, so he decided to leave the court house and to make a living on a farm on Garfield Avenue. He bought land from the Allens, built a barn in which he could hang the tobacco and started cultivating the bottom land. The barn was on the corner of Garfield Avenue and Allen Drive. We had a cow at Beilstein's ‎[where the Woods lived during Martha's childhood; now, the Harders]‎, which we milked every day. We might have had a hog someplace. We had chickens next to the Sheets' line, near where the privy was. This was at 101 Garfield Avenue."

"I can remember men coming to our house on Sunday mornings. They would sit outside and talk and have a good time. One was Morris Bane. Another was Henry Kerns, who worked at Haskins & Tanner and always looked perfect.

"I walked to school in town unless I got a ride. We had a car until Dad died. Mom didn't drive. A lot of people had cars, but it wasn't usual. I remember playing across the road in a field. There was a girl across from Arthur's.

The Beilsteins had a granddaughter Elizabeth. She and I played together. Her mother and dad were divorced, but her dad Edward lived there with his parents. I went to Columbus to visit Elizabeth. Her mother remarried a Stelzer. Elizabeth had a brother Lewis. Mrs. Beilstein was a practitioner of Christian Science. It was very involved. They had money at some point, then lost it all. I remember going in a surry with fringe on top to the ice plant to get ice with Mrs. Beilstein driving the horse."

"Albert Merriman was probably 16 years old when he gave me piano lessons. I went to his home for the lesson. I practiced on Elizabeth Beilstein's piano. They lived up the street before the divorce. Before long, Albert went off to Harvard University. End of lessons."

"I worked for Ed Beilstein in the grocery store after my dad died. I saved enough for a winter coat."

"My dad used to give me money for dancing. Whatever the music said, I did ‎(like Katharine, Eloise's granddaughter)‎. I listened to the radio and took down the words to the songs and would sing along with the radio. I wanted to sing with a Big Band.

"I remember White's Greenhouse. Mr. Sam, White had a daughter Alice who lived in Portsmouth. She had several children and would bring the kids to visit her mother, and I would play with them. I remember one summer there was a small building below the greenhouse. We cleaned it up and made into a theater. I have no idea who all were in that. My song was, Among My Souvenirs, and I would display trinket souvenirs as I sang. I was about 10-12 years old. I of course didn't know that sourvenirs were memories!"

"My Sunday school teacher at the Baptist church was Mr. Rhinehart."

"My friendship with Helen McNeeley started about then."

"I knew that I was good in arithmetic because in the 5th and 6th grade I would finish math first so that I could take messages to the teachers. My math teacher was Henry Halley, who was also the principal. The same thing happend in the 7th and 8th grades with Mr. Swigart. He looked like what I thought a German looked like with blonde hair and blue eyes. He was nice to me."

"Mamie married when I was 11 or 12."

"One year when we lived at 101 Garfield Avenue before Dad died, they gave me a small desk for Christmas, and I set to work to be a real estate agent."

"An Odell boy was driving the car when there was an accident in which Burnette was injured. He was in the hospital ‎(liver & ribs)‎ for a long time. The Odells, who had plenty of money, didn't help Mom at all. She had to sell some lots of land which Ezra had bought in order to pay the bills."

"Burnette was an alcoholic. He used to go on binges, then come home, ill, and stay in bed for days. Mom really worried about him."

According to Thomas Thornton, Ezra, before he got married, had a store at Ruby ‎(Gallia Co.)‎, near Emory Niday's farm. At this time he was living with the Houck family. Ruby was named for Ruby Smith.

YESTERDAY by Bob Withers ‎[photograph of a general grocery store with three men standing, all wearing aprons. One of them is Ezra Niday.]‎

Business was booming in 1916 when this photo was made inside the John Kheune Grocery Co. on Main St. in Guyandotte.

Grocers in the store are, from left, Ezra Niday, who was a co-owner, James McIntrye, stockboy, and Mr. Kheune. The Kheunes were in the grocery business in Guyandotte for years, sharing space on the street with other stores belong to Mary Lyons, John Beale and, at first, Robert Owens.

The store is typical of the period, right down to the gaslights and wooden icebox next to Mr. Niday.

Sunday

Funeral services for Ezra C. Niday will be conducted Sunday at 11 a.m. by Rev. Lunsford, of Chesapeake at his late home on Garfield ave., Interment in Mound Hill cemetery under the direction of A. E. Tope.

There were floral tributes in profession ‎[profusion]‎ for the funeral services of Ezra C. Niday which were held at his late home at 11 a.m., Sunday. Rev. Sheets and Rev. Lunsford assisted at the services and the burial was under the auspices of the Jr. O. U. A. M. ‎[Is that the Junior Order __ of American Mechanics?]‎ of which he was a member. One of the largest funeral processions ever seen here followed his body to its last resting place in the beautiful Mound Hill cemetery. Many relatives and friends came from a distance.

Leaves have their time to fall
And Flowers to wither at the North Wind's breath,
and stars to set--but all,
Thou hast all seasons for thine own,
O Death.

We know when moons shall wane
When summer birds fromfar shall cross the sea,
When autumn's hue shall tinge the golden grain
But who shall teach us when to look for thee?

Ezra Calvin Niday, son of Louis and Martha Perkins Niday was born May 10th 1874, in Harrison County, O., and passed to the Great Beyond on Nov. 15th, 1928 aged 54 yrs, 6 mos. and 5 days.

He was married Dec. 7th 1904 to Goldie Burnette. To this union three children were born--Mamie, now Mrs. Frank Robinson of Gallipolis and Burnette and Eloise at home.

Besides the faithful wife and loving children there remains to mourn his untimely passing, one grandson little Jimmie, two brothers, Emory of Crown City and Addison of Ripley W.Va., and two half brothers William and Tartus Kerr of Wood County, Ohio.

In 1907 he joined Hopewell Baptist church and was baptized. After moving to Gallipolis he affiliated with the Baptist church of that city. His life and disposition was sweet and kindly and he will be sadly missed not only by his dear wife and children but by the host of friends and acquaintances whose numbers are legions, and who will testify to his kindly and friendly smile and greeting.

We can not doubt that when the sudden call came for him last Thursday morning and he was ushered into the presence of his Maker, it was with the same sweet smile on his face.

We can not say and we will not say that he is dead, he is just away.
He loved his little family and was ever mindful and attentive to their every need.

His going away has left us lonely and broken hearted but we rejoice when we reflect that our dear husband and father now has a better home than ours--in that mansion not built with hands--eternal in the heavens.

CARD OF THANKS
We wish to extend our thanks and deep appreciation to our friends and neighbors for their kindness to us during our sad bereavement in the loss of our dear husband and father, to all those who sent flowers, to those who sang so beautifully, to Rev. Ira Sheets for his consoling words, to those who donated cars, and to A.E.Tope, the undertaker, for his excellent services.
Mrs. E.C. Niday
and Children

Nearby was an ad:
ALBERT E. TOPE
FUNERAL HOME
Telephone 202 No. 6 Pine St.

Also in a Gallipolis Daily Tribune, probably before the previous one:

FUNERAL SERVICE FOR EZRA C. NIDAY SUNDAY
Funeral services for Ezra C. Niday will be conducted Sunday at 11a.m. by Rev. Lunsford, of Chesapeake at his late home on Garfield ave., Interment in Mound Hill cemetery under the direction of A. E. Tope.

On the day of his death on the front page of the Gallipolis Daily Tribune ‎(price two cents)‎ EZRA NIDAY DIED SUDDENLY WHILE RABBIT HUNTING

Ezra Niday, 45, former Gallia county recorder and member of a prominent family here, dropped dead from a heart attack while hunting Thursday morning on the farm of his brother, Emory Niday of Lincoln Ridge. Mr. Niday had left home early Thursday morning with F. ‎[Francie]‎ E. Kerr in Mr. Kerr's automobile. The two had planned to spend the day hunting rabbits on Lincoln Ridge.

Mr. Niday was stricken in a field on his brother's farm at about 11 or 11:30 a.m. He had been hunting with Mr. Kerr all morning. They had taken lunch with them.

Mr. Niday is survived by his wife and three children, two daughters, Mrs. Frank Robinson, and Miss Eloise Niday and a son Burnett Niday, all of this city.

A.E. Tope was called and took his ambulance out to Lincoln Ridge to bring home the body Thursday afternoon.

Immediately under the above article was this one:
SAMUEL H. BROWN DIES AT HOME IN MUDSOC

Was One of Last Two Remaining Veterans
of Civil War In Walnut Twp.

Samuel H. Brown, 86, Civil War veteran, died at his home in Mudsoc Wednesday. He was one of the last two veterans of the Civil War left in Walnut township. Ed Glage is now the only veteran remaining...........

Also on the front page of the Gallipolis Daily Tribune on Thursday, November 15, 1828:
‎[?]‎00,000 OHIO HUNTERS AFIELD AS SEASON OPENS NOVEMBER 15
State League of Sportsmen Reports Greater Cooperation of Hunters
And Farmers This Year
Of the 400,000 licensed hunters in Ohio it is estimated that at least ‎[?]‎00,000 were afield on the opening day of the rabbit and pheasant season November 15th. The food value of the game produced in Ohio is enormous when the fact that at least half a million rabbits were taken the first day... The number killed is probably much larger than half a million. Most hunters will bag at least one rabbit. Some may get none but a majority will kill from three to five. Many will get the limit of five. The average weight of dressed rabbits is about two pounds. Each hunter is entitled to two pheasants. Thirty per cent of the hunters will kill at least one pheasant.

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Information on good quail hunting in Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee or Alabama can be given by writing the game commission in those states, in the capital city. Good duck and turkey shooting in Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, North Carolina, Texas and Louisiana can be enjoyed in the winter months....