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Angie (Walker) Oliver Wilson
(1877-1954)

 

Angie Oliver

Angie (Walker) Oliver was born in 1877 in or near Millersburg, Green Township, Iowa County, IA, the daughter of William "Crawford" and Electa (Minard) Walker. As a girl, she moved with her mother to Dedham, Carroll County, IA.

When she was 14 or 15 years of age, on Jan. 18, 1892, Angie married Kentucky native J.T. Oliver ( ? - ? ), believed to be "Joseph," who was living in Brookfield, Linn County, MO at the time. Justice of the peace George W. Bailey officiated. Because Angie was underage, her mother provided her written consent to the union.

The couple produced one known son, Thomas "Oley" Oliver.

The Olivers made their home in or around Kirksville, Adair County, MO. An article in the gossip columns of the Kirksville Weekly Graphic reported in October 1896 that "Mrs. J.T. Oliver and little Ola returned Tuesday from a two weeks' visit with Brookfield relatives." Two months later, on Dec. 11, 1896, the Graphic noted that Angie and son Oley "left Wednesday morning for Brookfield to visit Mrs. Oliver's mother, and will remain until after the holidays."

The marriage collapsed and there is evidence that J.T. was jailed circa 1897, when his name appears on a May 1897 list printed in the Chariton (MO) Courier, stating that the local municipality was billed $61.70 in reimbursement for the cost of his board as a prisoner. If correct, this left Angie as a single mother for all intents and purposes. She and Oley are known to have moved back into her mother's home, and the two women remained together for decades.

In 1900, when the federal census again was taken, the 23-year-old Angie was listed as widowed, and residing with her mother and baby son in Kirksville, Adair County, MO. She was employed that year as a nurse. Their home was on McPherson Street. Also living under their roof that year was 16-year-old boarder Minnie Porter. 

Angie, Oley and Electa remained in Kirksville for at least a decade, and are shown on the 1910 census of Adair County. At that time, the 33-year-old Angie is listed as married, for 18 years, and no longer working as a nurse but rather as a farm manager. Oley, age 17, labored on the farm. Electa, age 68, was listed as widowed.

 

Angie's home in 1951, Denver, showing a panorama of 16th Street and the city's business district as seen from the Daniels & Fishers Towers.

 

By 1920, Angie and Electa were living together on Smith Street in Brookfield, Linn County, MO. At the time, Angie (still shown as a widow in that year's census) was employed as a laborer in a shoe factory. 

Angie in the early 1920s wed again to N.G. Wilson ( ? - ? ) and relocated to Sterling, CO. Her mother joined them in the move and died under their roof on June 18, 1924.       

She appears to have remained in Denver for the balance of her life and to have taken back her maiden name. The federal census record for 1940 shows her and here 23-year-old grandson sharing a home in Pleasant View, Jefferson County, CO. In December 1941, she suffered the heartbreak of the tragic death of her grandson Clark.

Angie and her son are known to have returned to Brookfield to see her brother Marion and family at Christmas 1949. They were marked under the same roof in the 1950 census of Berkeley Heights on the outskirts of Denver, with Oley working as a raiser of bulldogs. 

When Angie's older sister Mamie Rice died in Wichita in March 1951, the obituary in the Wichita Eagle named Angie as a surviving sister, living at the time in Denver.

Angie passed away in Denver on Sept. 2, 1954. Funeral rites and interment were in the mile high city. An obituary was printed in her hometown newspaper, the Brookfield Daily News-Bulletin.

~ Son Thomas "Oley" Oliver ~

Son Thomas "Oley" Oliver (1893- ? ) was born on Jan. 20, 1893 in Brookfield, MO. 

As a boy of 17, in 1910, he lived with his mother and widowed grandmother in Benton, Adair County. He stood 6 feet, 4 inches tall and weighed 273 lbs. in manhood. Within a year or two he relocated to Arkansas and lived in Newport, Jackson County.

When he was 21 years of age, on April 11, 1914, Oley was united in matrimony with 17-year-old Mary Elizabeth Robinson (1897- ? ), a native of Newport, AR. 

Together, they produced two sons, both born in Arkansas -- Robert Elbert Oliver and William "Clark" Oliver.  

Circa 1915-1917 the family made a dwelling-place in Newport at the address of Dewey Avenue. Within a short time they moved cross-country to Colorado. The federal census enumeration of 1920 shows them in Brush, Morgan County, CO, where Oley had secured employment as a blacksmith.

The marriage dissolved in divorce. Mary appears to have wed again to Frank Swanson by 1941 and made her residence in Denver.

During the early years of World War II, Oley was required to register for the military draft. He declared that his address was Box 359, Route 5 in Denver, and that his employer was Nevada Consolidated Copper Company of Ruth, NV.

The United States Census of 1950 lists Oley and his widowed mother together in Berkeley Heights in Denver's outskirts. That year, he earned income raising bulldogs. His married son lived just a few houses away.

Oley died in Denver in April 1969.      

Son Robert Elbert Oliver (1915-1980) was born on Nov. 25, 1915 in his mother's hometown of Newport, near Little Rock, AR. Dr. E.L. Watson assisted in the birth. Robert in boyhood moved with his family to Brookfield, MO and thence to Colorado. After his parents' marriage broke up, he went to live with his grandmother Angie Oliver and is shown under her roof in Pleasant View, CO in the 1940 U.S. Census, working as a farm laborer. He stood 6 feet, 5 inches tall and weighed 180 lbs. as a young man. Circa 1940, he married Winifred Lucia (Nov. 21, 1902-1982), a native of Colorado who was 13 years older than he. No evidence exists to suggest that they reproduced. Their first home together was in Arvada, CO. At that time, he was employed by Jake Tepper. The federal census enumeration of 1950 shows the pair in Berkeley Heights near Denver, with him earning a living as a plasterer. His widowed grandmother and divorced father dwelled just a few households away. In 1954, at the death of his grandmother Angie Oliver, he was named in her Brookfield Daily News-Bulletin obituary and at the time made his dwelling-place in Denver. Robert passed into the arms of the heavenly host in 1980. Burial was in Crown Hill Cemetery in Wheat Ridge, CO. Winifred endured for another two years. She died in Sept. 1982.

Son William "Clark" Oliver (1917-1941) was born on May 4, 1917 in Newport, near Little Rock, AR. As a child he lived in Brookfield, MO before a migration with his family to Denver. Clark stood 6 feet, 6 inches tall and weighed 190 lbs. in young manhood. He secured a position in Denver with the Ingersoll & Mullens garage. At the age of 19, on Oct. 15, 1936, he was joined in wedlock with Dorothy Mae Lyons (June 7, 1916-1996), daughter of Finley "Boots" and Lula (Hamner) Lyons of Brookfield. The wedding was held in Denver, conducted by the hand of Rev. Wayne L. Walters of the Community Church. They went on to bear a brood of three -- Clark William "Bill" Oliver Jr., Margia Mae Bailey and Sandra Ann Henry. Dorothy was a 1936 graduate of Brookfield High and, said the Brookfield Argus, "enjoys a large circle of friends here." The family first lived in Denver at 2161 Tremont Place and then moved in the city to 2632 West 26th Avenue. His emplyer in 1940 was L.R. Fry, a plumbing and heating business. They returned to Brookfield in the fall of 1941 with Clark having found a job as a taxi driver. During that time they lived at the address of 441 Peck Street. On a fateful midnight hour November1941, he was critically injured whien the taxi he was driving overturned at the junction of Highway 11 and F -- along the Country Club Road -- near St. Catharine, MO. Three passengers were Mrs. William Gray, Clarence Morris and Oliver Banning. Reported the Argus, "Clark was employed by the Gray taxi of this city and had received a call from the filling statin of Clarence Morris, near St. Catherine and was returning to Brookfield... [when] the car overturned." With his skull fractured and bleeding into the brain, he was taken to McLarney Hospital in Brookfield and died there two days later on Nov. 21, 1941. Funeral services were led by Rev. I.D. Borders of the Presbyterian Church, with burial in Rose Hill Cemetery. His obituary was published in the Brookfield Argus. Dorothy outlived her first husband by more than half a century. After six years as a widow, on May 17, 1947, she again tied the knot with Alfred Leroy Palmer (1917-1972). He was the son of George and Flora (Hotchkiss) Palmer and a veteran of World War II, having served with Company F of the 244th Infantry. The federal census enumeration of 1950 shows Alfred, Dorothy and her children under one roof in Brookfield, with Alfred employed as a drag line operator for a construction company. Evidence suggests that they may have relocated to Oklahoma City. Over the years, Dorothy held a membership in the Ladies Auxiliary of the United Transportation Union. She was rendered a widow again at Alfred's death on March 19, 1972 in Oklahoma City. Death spirited her away at the age of 79, in Pioneer Nursing Center in Marceline, MO, on Feb. 1, 1996. Her remains were laid to rest in Rose Hill Cemetery. 

  • Grandson Clark William "Bill" Oliver Jr. (1937-1991) was born on Dec. 7, 1937 in Arvada near Denver, CO and was a small boy when his parents returned to Brookfield, MO and his father was killed. He left school after the eighth grade and worked as a farmer for Harold Saffey. He joined the U.S. Navy in 1955 and is considered a veteran of the Korean War and Vietnam War. Circa October 1956 he is known to have served aboard the USS Wiltsie, flagship of Destroyer Squadron 11, deployed to the Far East. While in the service, he studied and passed his graduate equivalency diploma (GED). On Oct. 13, 1957, William wed Brookfield resident Patsy Sue Faught ( ? - ? ), with Rev. W.E. Craig leading the rites. William is known to have been a father. He was honorably discharged from the Navy on Dec. 5, 1958. For a few months after his return home, he worked in stock service for Gates Rubber Company. As of 1959, the Olivers lived at 124 Midway, with him employed by Colorado Fuel and Iron Corporation. When that job didn't work out, he appears to have re-enlisted in the Navy in September 1959 and to have continued his military service until August 1973. He returned to Brookfield and on July 2, 1977, at the age of 36, exchanged marital vows with 26-year-old Sandra Kay Kennedy ( ? - ? ). The nuptials were conducted by Rev. Harry L. Rigsby of Brookfield's United Methodist Church. He died on March 13, 1991. On June 19, 2015, his ashes were deposited in the columbarium of Arlington National Cemetery, Court 9, Section 24, Column 11. 
  • Granddaughter Margia Mae Oliver (1939-2017) was born on Feb. 20, 1939 in Arvada, CO. She moved to her parents' hometown of Brookfield as a young girl. Margia was a 1959 graduate of Brookfield High School. On Feb. 17, 1962, she was united in matrimony with Larry Bailey ( ? - ? ). The two sons born to their union were Terry Bailey and Richard Bailey. The pair first lived in Liberty, MO and then in 1968 migrated to Oklahoma City. Margia spent her working career providing child-care services. The family held a membership in the Putnam City Baptist Church. Said a newspaper, "Her hobbies were shopping and more shopping, going to the beauty shop to have her hair perfectly styled, and water skiing without getting her hair wet... She will be remembered for her unconditional love for her family and friends." Death enveloped her at Ranchwood Nursing Center in Yukon, Canadian County, OK at the age of 78 on March 1, 2017. A reception was held in the annex of the Putnam City Baptist Church. Her obituary appeared in the Oklahoma City Oklahoman.

    Great-grandson Terry Bailey was in Oklahoma City in 2017.

    Great-grandson Richard Bailey put down roots in Oklahoma City.

  • Granddaughter Sandra Ann Oliver (1940-2009) was born on Sept. 5, 1940 in Denver before moving in infancy to Brookfield, MO, her parents' hometown. On Feb. 26, 1960, at the age of 19, she entered into marriage with Dale Franklin Henry (Jan. 15, 1939-2013), son of Harold Franklin and Lucile (Adams) Henry of Brookfield. They lived their lives in Brookfield and Laclede, MO. Their duo of children were Kevin Henry and Lisa Foster. Dale was a veteran of the U.S. Army, having served with the 101st Airborne. For 30 years, he was employed as a truck driver for Churchill Trucking, and he held a membership in the Teamsters Union. Said an obituary, Sandra "worked at the Sale Barn and The Helm Street in Brookfield, and Stanley's Restaurant in Laclede. She was a member of Brookfield Eagles auxiliary where she was chairman of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Fund." Their marriage ended in divorce, and on Nov. 29, 1986, he married again to Marilyn DeWitt (1931- ? ) and moved to Braymer, MO. Sandra's final home was in Laclede, MO. Sadly, at the age of 68, Sandra died on May 16, 2009. The remains were lowered into the sacred soil of Rose Hill Cemetery in Brookfield. The family made the request that any memorial contributions be made to the Petska Cancer Fund or National Kidney Foundation. Dale lived for another four years. He succumbed to the angel of death at age 74 in Braymer on May 14, 2013. Burial took place in Laclede Cemetery.

    Great-grandson Kevin Henry ( ? -living) has dwelled in Marceline and Keytesville, MO and been a companion of Kim Morgan.

    Great-granddaughter Lisa Henry ( ? -living) is a graduate of Brookfield High School. In 1986, she tied the marital cord with Donald Foster ( ? -living). They have made their home in Meredosia, IL (2009) and Winigan, MO (2013). 

 

Copyright © 2011, 2017, 2024 Mark A. Miner