February 2021 – Love Our Family History

In amongst the items in a box of Zinn ephemera, is a small box marked “Ivan.” Ivan refers to Willis Ivan Zinn, the father of Everett Zinn, and my great-grandfather. This worn cardboard box contains a collection of small items that were amongst Ivan’s possessions at the end of his life. They had been placed in this box sometime after his death.

Varied pieces of memorabilia are within the box; a small Baptist hymnal where “Amazing Grace” was marked by an old newspaper article about the origins of the hymn, a recent photo of him and his half sister Eliza Cox whom he lived with in Carnegie, Oklahoma the last few years of his life.

“Dad & Aunt Eliza Cox at the camp in Colo. – Summer 1934 (last picture of Dad we have)”

Because Ivan had moved away from his home in Kansas after his wife, Ruah, died to live with his sister, the box also held a small bundle of cards and letters. One of the letters was written on December 27, 1936 by Ivan to his son, Everett. It was one of the last letters that Ivan wrote to Everett. Listen to an excerpt and then read the whole letter here.

Excerpt from Ivan’s letter

One of my favorite cards in the box is a valentine my mother sent to Ivan, her grandfather. I don’t know the exact date, but it was between 1931-1936.

These next two are unsigned with no envelope attached. Both are beautifully intricate and elaborate.

Three Christmas cards were in the box. The first has such a cozy picture. If you like cats, you’ll love this one. It’s from Zora Zinn. She was married to Bruce Zinn, another son of Ivan’s, who passed away in 1932. He was putting up hay on a record setting hot day in July and died from a sunstroke. Zora and Bruce had been married five years when he passed. This card was sent in 1935.

Another card sent in 1934 was from Perry Zinn, a cousin, who was living in Buffalo, Oklahoma near the panhandle. Ivan was living southwest of Oklahoma City.

The last Christmas Card was actually sent to Everett and Ursula from Ivan and Aunt Eliza in December of 1936. Ivan passed in March of 1937.

There are so many things that I love about these cards. I love the old graphics and the sentiments written in rhyme. I love seeing the hand-writing and reading the personalized notes which always brings such a connection to the people we have loved and to ones that we have never known. Most of all I love these cards because they were cherished and special enough to be saved through the years. They surely brought with them such great gifts of love, joy, and comfort.

Learn more about Willis “Ivan” Zinn here.

To see the Zinn Family Tree click here.

I was going through files on Overton Asa Ellison and came upon a booklet of papers that had been stitched together at the top. It was many pages thick. I recognized the tiny handwriting on the front as Mary Ellison’s, but the handwriting changed throughout the document several times. Because I knew it would take some time to get through, I set it aside. However, my curiosity got the better of me. I wanted to know the significance of these papers.

As I began to read the pages, I quickly understood it to be a letter. Not just one, but every member of the family had written a letter and they were sewn together and mailed as a set to be sent to Overton’s children.

I so enjoyed the stories from Ursula’s and Firman’s letters that I couldn’t wait to share them with you. They are a hoot! Written in January of 1909 Ursula would have been ten years old and Firman, seven years old. This was the second time Firman tried to write with a pen, and the first time he wrote without any help. I’m sharing the main stories from both of their letters.

Ursula’s Story

I must tell you about mother killing a possum. Something kept getting after our chickens all summer and one night while Pa was gone to Missouri it come before we went to bed. They (the chickens) were roosting in a barrel out in the garden and mother grabbed the lamp and ran out there, but Firman beat her and said, “Oh, it’s a great big rat.” Mother said, “No, it’s a possum,” and shoved the lamp in Firman’s hand and hollered at me to come and get the lamp. And then she grabbed a board longer than she was herself and went to punching it. She thought it would possum as soon as she hit it, but it wouldn’t possum at all. It ran out west then across the old flower bed, and into the gooseberry bushes and mother a punching at it and I was after all the time with the big lamp. Her specks fell off but she didn’t stop to find them. Finally, it ran down among the old cabbage stalks and then she knocked him down, then she got him by the tail and carried it up to the porch and made Firman hold it by the tail til she went and got the hammer and finished the job. Firman wasn’t scared but I was trembling so I couldn’t hardly stand up, but I never stumbled and the lamp never went out.

The chase hurt mother so bad she has never felt well since. Then, Otie said he would skin the possum and sell the hide and mother went out and hunted up her specks. Mother told him to dress it right nice and we would cook it. So he hung it up like a pig and dressed it, and then brought it in with its head and feet and tail all on. And when Mother began to fix it. She went wok wok (gagging). But she wouldn’t back out, she said other people cooked them and said they were good so she would too. So she put in some sweet potatoes and roasted it and it was good but none of us wanted it. So she sat it away in a cold place til Pa came home. He ate some and some company come and they ate some but one man wouldn’t eat any more when he found out what it was. They all said it tasted like a pig. Firman thought it would taste like chicken because it had ate so many.

Firman’s Story

We went up to Barkers Christmas day. And we got a trap and it was Mackays and we went to put it back and we killed a skunk and it stunk like every thing and we went back pretty fast and Cecil and Lee and Ursula got it in their mouths. I didn’t get it in my mouth but I smelt it.

I hope this put smile on your face today!

To learn more about Ursula click here.

Pages for Mary and Overton are in the works. That’s where you’ll eventually find the rest of the letter.