"Keep your standards high and never let other people do your thinking for you." -Emmett M. O'Rear, March 17, 1996

My maternal grandfather, Emmett Marshall O'Rear, was always fascinated by genealogy and fortunately kept very good records of our family’s history. When I was in high school I was assigned a genealogy project that required us to research our family history and write a paper on the findings. I knew my grandpa would be thrilled with this project so I immediately called him and asked for his help. A couple weeks later, my grandpa and grandma exceeded my expectations by writing the following letter. I have always wanted to share this letter with the family, so I scanned each page to post on my blog. I typed the text just in case the scanned copies are hard to read, but I prefer to read the letter in my grandpa and grandma’s handwriting... I love their penmanship! It looks so artistic. There are a few markings on the letter where I took notes for my paper, so disregard anything in pencil. I hope you enjoy this as much as I do... I am so proud of where I came from!! Thank you Grandpa and Grandma for the wonderful memories that will forever be in our family for generations to come. (Click on any picture to make it bigger)




March 17, 1996
Dear Lilli,
I am really glad to hear that you have an interest in genealogy. You are very fortunate to have been born into a family whose past is very rich in memories and records of the part your family has paid in the history of both the area where you live and this country.
Let me begin by telling what I know about our earliest history in the founding in Virginia. The Marshall’s came from England in 1650. The O’Rear’s came from France in 1688. Most people assume that we are Irish, but actually they were French Huguenots and were aided by the Irish in escaping the French persecution.
Both families lived in the same county, Fauquier, and when the revolution started both families volunteered and fought together. Thomas Marshall was on George Washington’s staff (you can see a picture of him in the boat) “Washington Crossing the Delaware.” Thomas Marshall’s son John formed up a regiment and Richard Marshall and Daniel O’Rear both served with him. He later became the second Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court.
When the revolution ended Thomas Marshall was given several thousand acres of land in Kentucky, the town of Mt. Sterling was founded there. The O’Rear’s left Virginia and went to Mt. Sterling, KY. In the year 1819 our Marshall ancestors left Virginia and moved to the area which is now Marshall, MO. (60 miles E. of Kansas City).
In 1839 John Wesley O’Rear left Kentucky and moved to Missouri. He brought with him his wife (Nancy Crenshaw) and infant son (David O’Rear).
During the Civil War, 1861-1865, due to the state of Missouri being a slave state (the last one admitted to the Union) both the Marshall and O’Rear families fought on the Confederate side and were slave-holders. With Missouri and Kansas having a common boundary, and Kansas being an abolishist state there is much fighting and bitterness going on for many years before the war started. I remember as a child in the 1920s and 30s hearing countless stories from old people who had participated or were the victims of that violent period.
You will note that the O’Rear and Marshall families had been associated in three different areas constantly over the years 1688-1911. 1911 being the year my mother and father married. Shortly after they married, they moved to Virginia, Idaho where my brother David was born in 1914. This venture prompted by my mother’s older brother Porter Marshall. They were not happy there so they returned to Longwood, MO where my father had been born and my grandfather, David H. O’Rear was finishing out his last years in the home of his oldest, Emmett, who I was named after. He was (my grandfather) a man of very strong beliefs. A leader in the community, a circuit court judge, very successful, and very highly respected. He fought with Quantrel off and on during the Civil War and had several close calls which nearly cost him his life. His brother also rode with Quantrel and was shot down in cold blood by a squad of Union soldiers on the street of Marshall, MO.
After my mother and father returned from Idaho I was born in Longwood, MO in 1919. My father had a general store there.
My father was a very restless man. He married my mother when he was 28 years old. He had never had a job, and was living off the income from property given to him by his father. Spending his time in Hot Springs, Ark. and Denver, Col.
By 1925, after buying and selling six different businesses his inheritance was gone and we moved to Detroit, Mich. He was now 43 years old and as he always said, “It had never ever crossed his mind what it would be like to work for another man. And the only reason we never left Detroit was because he was never able to get enough money together to get out.” However, not having money didn’t stop his wanderlust. He just changed his method of venting it. Between 1925 and 1940 we lived in 17 different rented houses. In 1940 I gave my parents the money to make a down payment on a house which they lived in until my mother’s health forced them to move to Florida. I believe that was 1956.
Your grandmother and I moved your mother and her three sisters to Phoenix, AZ in 1959. We had encouraged my mother and father to move over to Arizona from Florida so we could all be together. I believe your mother will tell you that she and her sisters had happy remembrances of those years with their grandparents.
Hope you find this interesting and helpful. It is a fact of life that the more you know about your forebears the better you will understand yourself. I think you can see that you have every reason to be proud of the blood that flows in your veins.
Keep your standards high and never let other people do your thinking for you.
I remember something my mother told me when I was quite young. “If you would never want to be known to have done something, then don’t do it!”
Love, Grandpa Emmett M. O’Rear
P.S. we have a lot of old pictures of people on your chart and will sort the out.



March 17, 1996
Hill
Patrick Freeman Hill (your great great grandfather) was born near Cabot, Arkansas right before the Civil War. His father was a captain in the confederate army who was killed. His mother was taken captive by Union Army (this is assumed because she left one day to forage for food and was never seen again). We have a picture of her (an old Daguerre type). Your great great grandfather was left an orphan and was taken in and raised by the Wilson** family in Cabot, Arkansas. One of the Wilson girls was named Martha James. When they grew up, they married. Patrick Freeman Hill became the county extension agent and lived a comfortable life. He had 9 daughters, one of which was my mother, Esther Evelyn Hill (your great grandmother). Esther Hill attended Arkansas State Normal College – graduated and became a teacher. She had known Burryl Pendergrass most of her life and married him when he left for France in WWI. During the time he was overseas she moved to Gulf Port, Mississippi and had a job with the government testing blood samples. When I was a girl I remember seeing her microscope and pictures of the laboratory where she worked.
**The Wilson family came to Arkansas from Virginia. Aunt Linda has information regarding the dates.
Pendergrass
William Archibald Pendergrass (your great great grandfather) was born near Atlanta, Georgia, about 30 miles west in a town named for his family “Pendergrass, Georgia.” Your great great grandfather’s family moved to Searey, Arkansas when he was young boy. The Civil War started when he was only 14 years old. He was old enough to be a flag Standard Bearer for the Arkansas 8th infantry. Uncle Rod has a letter written by your great great grandfather telling of his experiences. This letter was found when the Lonoke County Court House was torn down. There was a cornerstone and various citizens had buried mementos for posterity to find and this letter was one of the items. William A. Pendergrass married Virginia Barner in Searey, Arkansas. Your great grandfather, Burryl Pendergrass was born there. William Archibald (your great great grandfather) was a circuit preacher. He rode a donkey to various settlements who were without a preacher of their own. This was very common in those days. He was an educated man and had a large library. The books were all destroyed when their house burned to the ground. He died when he broke his neck falling from a tree. Your great grandfather, Burryl, was the youngest in the family. His mother died when he was a baby, so he was now a young orphan. His oldest sister Dell was married and took him to live with her. He attended Hendricks College (Uncle Rod has his college yearbook). He left college to join the army during World War I. He was sent to France and served in the Medical Corps. He married Esther Hill before he left for France. After the War they settled in Cabot, Arkansas where I was born. He had a mercantile business there but went bankrupt when a bad depression hit the country. Then he moved the family to Detroit, Michigan in 1923. A lot of people from the south moved to Detroit at that time because they could get work in the auto industry. I was raised in Detroit. I met your grandfather at Murray Corporation where we both worked. We married and he was drafted (World War II) and sent to the Philippines and then on to Japan. He was in an advance party that consisted of 75 men who set foot on Japanese soil 10 minutes after the peace treaty was signed between U.S. and Japan. Your mother knows the story from here on.
Love, Grandma O’Rear

Grandpa also gave me a copy of my maternal family tree:

Here is a copy I created in case the scanned copy is hard to read (If anyone knows the missing DOB and DOD please let me know!):

And this is a letter Grandpa wrote me right before I graduated from high school... I just wanted to share because it means so much to me. The part where he says "feelings are a double-edged sword and can cut both ways" has really stuck with me. It's the honest truth and I wouldn't change my sensitivity for anything in the world...

3-6-2001
Dear Lilli,
Thanks for your nice letter. I wish you could read it thru my eyes and see yourself as I see you. I must tell you that I am very pleased with your talents. You are probably not fully aware of how beautifully you come across in the written word.
First of all you are a very sensitive person, and you feel things very deeply. You must realize that feelings are a double-edged sword and can cut both ways. Your sensitivity is a great blessing and will be a joy all your life, but you must be prepared to handle an occasional hurt, which is the price you must pay for your sensitivity.
Ralph Waldo Emerson said about this; “All the world lies before you, and is yours for the taking. So take whatever you want, but don’t forget to leave its price in its place.”
I was pleased to hear of your interest in graphic design. As you know I have spent my life dreaming up and developing original ideas. It has been a source of great pleasure to me and it never stops. You would be amazed at the ideas which bombard my mind every day of my life.
About your family. You have every right to be proud of your family. The blood in your veins came from people who played a big part in the history which made this country what it is today and don’t forget the price to be paid to keep it the same for your children to come.
Love, Grandpa O’Rear