Tag Archive | Hazel (McKinley) Layton

L. L. & Ida

Feb28

L. L. & Ida (Sullivan) McKinley, wedding photo
Lebanon, Indiana, 1890

Levi Lee McKinley and Ida (Sullivan) McKinley were my great great grandparents. L. L., a carpenter, was born 7 December 1871 in Marion County, Indiana to John F. and Lucy (Kelly) McKinley. Ida was born in 1873 in Boone County, Indiana to Daniel and Mary (Davis) Sullivan. L. L. and Ida married at Lebanon in Boone County on 21 December 1890.

Ida Sullivan c. 1888, Indianapolis

L. L. McKinley, c. 1888, Lebanon

Ida died on 16 October 1938 in Elizaville, Boone County. She was buried in Elizaville Cemetery. L. L. was killed in a car accident a few miles north of Indianapolis on 3 July 1951. He was also buried in Elizaville Cemetery.

L. L. & Ida had four children:

Hazel (Layton)
10 December 1891 – 13 October 1980
Hazel was my great grandmother, the mother of my grandfather Joe Layton. I documented her family here. There are more photos of her here.

Mabel Fern
1893 – ?
I’m still working on tracking down Mabel Fern.

Glyda Ester (Easterly)
2 August 1896 – 9 July 1950
Glyda married Jerome Easterly in Marion, Grant County, Indiana on 12 September 1916. They lived in Massillon, Stark County, Ohio, where they had 5 children: Franklin Leroy, Jerome Stokes Jr., Mable Fern (Calvin Lint), Eunella (William Pannell), and Ida Jane (Walker). Glyda died on 9 July 1950 in Massillon. She was buried in Rose Hill Memorial Park.

Lowell P.
26 October 1898 – 24 May 1951
Lowell worked at the Anaconda Wire & Cable Company in Marion, Indiana for 14 years. He died after several years of declining health. He was buried in Elizaville Cemetery.

L-R: Hazel, Mabel, Ida, Lowell, L. L., Glyda.
c. 1909

Sunday’s Suggestion: Smile Occasionally

Sep4

To illustrate my point, allow me to introduce you to my Great Grandmother Hazel (McKinley) Layton, also known as: The Most Consistently Miserable-Looking Person Ever.

The lesson I have learned from Great Grandmother Layton (who passed away two years before I was born) is that you should occasionally smile in photographs, even if you aren’t particularly happy, if only because you don’t want future generations to look at you and wonder, “What the hell is wrong with her?”


But, wait! Weren’t people usually frowning back then? Well, yes, many of my family’s old photos feature unhappy-looking people. However, several photos prove that Hazel chose not to smile even when others seemed to be having a good time.

The closest she comes to a smile is in this photograph with her niece, Ida Jane Easterly, although I could be mistaken. It might just be a grimace – her shoes do look awfully uncomfortable.

I’m sure Great Grandmother Layton was a fine woman who just did not enjoy being photographed. But I can’t help it – I will always think of her as the family grump.

Charles & Hazel

Aug9

Charles & Hazel Layton Family, 1928

I recently completed my first generation of Layton family genealogy, documenting the lives of Charles and Hazel (McKinley) Layton and their children. Charles and Hazel were my great-grandparents, but they both passed away before my birth, so I never met them. Two of their children, Max and Don, died during my lifetime, but I do not remember them.

I am not including in this post the full page of single-spaced, ten-point footnotes that accompany the master copy! I am also not including any information about children of the Layton brothers, my mother and her cousins.

Charles & Hazel Layton, 1956

Charles Layton was born in Kansas on 29 July 1891. He married Hazel McKinley, daughter of Lee and Ida (Sullivan) McKinley, on 25 December 1911 in Lebanon, Boone County, Indiana. Charles worked for the International Harvester Company until 1942, when he took over operation of the Greensburg Implement Company with his sons. He died 7 July 1965. Hazel died 13 October 1980. They are buried together in South Park Cemetery, Greensburg, Indiana.

Charles & Hazel had five sons:
Max Edwin, Forest Dow, Wilmer Reid,
Donald Neill, and Joseph Dale.

Max was born 24 July 1912 in Southport, Indiana. On 15 June 1941, he married Mary Maxine Nelson. He joined the US Navy during World War II.  Max passed away 12 February 1986 in Centerville, Wayne County, Indiana. Maxine passed away 4 January 2009. They are buried together at South Park Cemetery.

According to Max’s son, the Veteran’s Adm. plaque that marks Max’s grave was made with the wrong date. He actually died on 12 February 1986.

Dow was born 16 February 1915 in Brewersville, Indiana. He married Dorothy Schortemeyer on 29 September 1935. They divorced in 1937. On 18 September 1940, Dow married Lucille Martin. On 10 October 1941, he underwent an appendectomy, and on 15 October 1941, he died of generalized peritonitis. He is buried at South Park Cemetery.

Wilmer was born 1 September 1916 in Indiana, and died in Indianapolis on 1 May 1918. He was buried in Indianapolis, but was later removed to South Park Cemetery in Greensburg.

Don was born 20 June 1919 in Westport, Indiana. On 15 October 1949, he married Sara Jane Springmier. Sara passed away 6 January 1980. Don passed away 1 April 1 1989. They are buried together at South Park Cemetery.

My grandfather, Joe, was born in Burney, Indiana on 29 May 1923. He married Sara Kathryn Buell on 10 December 1947 in Greensburg, Indiana. He worked with his father at the Greensburg Implement Company until the early 1950’s. He operated Layton’s Store for Men from 1960-1966. He worked at Stover Winstead Implements on the south side of Indianapolis in the 1970’s. Sara passed away 23 June 2003. Joe passed away 21 August 2007. They are buried together at South Park Cemetery.

This stone marks the graves of my grandparents.