Louisa Jane GADDY HALE

2 Jul 1853 Carroll Co AR
25 May 1920 Viola Stone MO
Daughter of James Gaddy and Lydia Green
Married William Thomas Hale 18 Oct 1872 Viola Stone MO

Mrs. Thos. Hale Dead: Everett Hale of Sarcoxie, was here Wednesday on his way to Viola to attend the funeral of his grandmother Mrs. Thos. Hale who died sometime Tuesday night. She was the mother of Riley Hale of Sarcoxie, Allen Hale of Viola, George Hale of Bartlesville, Okla. Mrs. Bryan Bray of Idaho and Wesley Hale of California. She is said to have died of heart failure. She was a member of the Baptist church.
Cassville Democrat, May 29, 1920

Mrs. Thos. Hale died at Viola May 25, of heart failure. She left the following children: Riley Hale of Sarcoxie, Allen of Viola, George of Bartlesville, Okla., Wesley of California and Mrs. Byron Bray of Idaho. She had been for many years a member of the Baptist church at Viola. - Notes at findagrave - In the 1920 Census of Stone County, MO, she describes herself as a "widow," even though her ex husband, Tom, is living a couple of houses away from her with his sister, Nancy A. and her new husband, Charles M. Sparger. She lived next door to Earl Hood and stated she was unable to read or write. Her father was born in North Carolina and her mother in Ohio. She said she was born in Arkansas (probably in Long Creek Township in Carroll County, as that's where her father settled and died). When her daughter-in-law Anna Gunnells Hale, wife of George Martin Hale, died of TB in 1910, she took in the three children. They called her "big mama," not because she was particularly large, but because they considered Anna to be "mama" and that was their term for grandmother. This information came from both Beulah and Willis, both of whom also said she was very strict with them, which is not too surprising as she was around 54 when Anna died and had not had small children around the house for many years. According to Otis Thomas (Jack) Hale, son of Riley Hale, she lived "up the hill and across the road" and they never called her grandmother, either. She was always "big mama" to them as well. He claims never to have seen Jane and Tom together and presumed the divorce must have been bitter. He described the house as big with a real big fireplace in the front room, which was the only heat in the winter. The parlor was a place Jack and his siblings never went as it was only for company or to lay out the dead. The shades were always drawn and it was a dark place most of the time, so they never had any desire to go in there. She had quilting bees at the house, with the quilting frame hung from the ceiling, so the women could sit around it and make quilts, and, of course, talk to each other. Jane also made soap for the family by using the rain water and the ashes from the fireplace. The finished product was in big brown bars and it took away the dirt and maybe even some skin if you weren't careful. Jack also mentioned that Jane kept bees and had two or three hives. She was able to tell by the buzzing sounds when they were getting nervous and about to swarm. She would have Jack and the other children go out with pans or some kind of metal to pound on to make a lot of noise. When the came out and finally settled on a tree branch, Jane would put a hive under them and scrape them into it. The family also used Jane's smoke house to cure hams and bacon and to make hominy. Of course, this was all built by Tom. Jack also mentioned that Jane was the local Medicine Woman. She had a lot of home remedies, such as blowing pipe smoke into an aching ear. She had various poultices and used sassafras tea, which she made herself from the roots in the area. There was no death certificate prepared for her in either Missouri or Arkansas. She is buried in the Viola Cemetery, next to Tom, even though they were divorced in 1906.
Cassville Republican of June 3, 1920

Contributed on 11/23/23

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Record #: 833969

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