I found an old postcard of E.D. Wakenight Supply Company on the website, ActiveRain.com. There are six people standing in front of the building. I believe the first person on the left is Eugene Delbert Wakenight.
Eugene Delbert Wakenight
Born: 26 JUN 1888 in Boelus, Howard County, Nebraska
Father: Edward Dallas Wakenight (1857 to 1927)
Mother: Susan R Koehler (1862 to 1954)
Spouse: Odeen Smith (1889 to 1982)
Married: 25 AUG 1912 in Searcy, White County, Arkansas
Child: Florriedeen Wakenight (30 JUL 1913 to 4 MAR 2014)
Died: 27 SEP 1972 in Searcy, White County, Arkansas
Burial: Oak Grove Cemetery
Timeline:
1890 Unknown (the 1890 Census was destroyed in a major fire)
1900 Kelso Precinct, Howard County, Nebraska
1909 Death of sister, Carrie
1910 Gentry, Benton County, Arkansas
1912 Marriage to Odeen
1913 Birth of daughter, Florriedeen
1917 Searcy, White County, Arkansas
1920 Searcy, White County, Arkansas
1927 Death of father, Edward
1930 Searcy White County, Arkansas
1940 Searcy, White County, Arkansas
1942 Searcy, White County, Arkansas
1954 Death of mother, Susanna
1955 Death of brother, Orville
1972 Death and burial
Occupation: electrician (1910 and 1920), plumbing show proprietor (1930), electrical and plumbing shop owner (1940)
Records:
1900 to 1940 US Census Records
Arkansas, County Marriages Index, 1837-1957
World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918
U.S. World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942
Social Security Death Index
The U.S., Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current
Variations of Surname: None
Spouse:
Odeen Smith:
Odeen was born on 17 OCT 1889 in White County, Arkansas. She died on 3 MAR 1982 in Searcy, White County, Arkansas.
Odeen’s father was John A Smith. He was born on 6 APR 1848 in Alabama. He died on 31 AUG 1912 in Searcy, White County, Arkansas.
Odeen’s mother was Olive “Ollie” Tepa Walker. She was born on 17 JUL 1851 in Mississippi. She died on 20 AUG 1908 in Searcy, White County, Arkansas.
Daughter:
Florriedeen Wakenight:
Florriedeen was born on 30 JUL 1913 in Searcy, White County, Arkansas. She died on 4 MAR 2014 in Benton County, Arkansas.
She married Thomas Brown Lyle on 16 JUL 1944 in Searcy, White County, Arkansas. One known child was born to this marriage:
Linnie Lee Lyle (1946)
Thomas Brown Lyle was born on 29 AUG 1893 in Pine Bluff, Jefferson County, Arkansas. He died on 17 FEB 1956 in Pine Bluff, Jefferson County, Arkansas.
Florriedeen’s Career:
Article from the DAR.org website:
Florriedeen Wakenight Lyle: Teacher to the Imprisoned
“Florriedeen Wakenight Lyle had been teaching for six years as a public school teacher in Searcy, Ark., when she saw the job posting: Teachers were needed at the Japanese-American Relocation Center located in Jerome, Ark., about three hours from her hometown. She jumped at the opportunity.
“My students were from Hawaii, and they were the most patriotic children I had ever met,” she recalls. “They knew all about the Army, Navy, and Marines, and they knew all the typical patriotic songs and wanted to sing them.”
After three years, Mrs. Lyle, with her late husband, Thomas, moved to Phoenix, Ariz., for a public relations job at the Gila River War Relocation Center, another internment camp for Japanese-Americans.
After the war, the couple settled in Benton, Ark., and had a daughter, Linnie. Today, Linnie lives with Mrs. Lyle in Benton and they’re both members of the Provincia De La Sal Chapter.
This July, Mrs. Lyle thought her daughter was taking her to lunch, but when they arrived at the restaurant, the entire chapter was there for her surprise 95th birthday party. “I was so surprised I didn’t know what to do,” she says. “The DAR has been so wonderful to me.”
Every Veterans Day the chapter hosts a memorial service at the Benton courthouse, and each year at 11 a.m., Mrs. Lyle rings an old school bell—the same bell she rang at the same time on November 11, 1918, when word reached Arkansas that WWI had ended.”
Florriedeen’s Obituary:
“Florriedeen W. Lyle, 100, of Benton passed away Tuesday, March 4, 2014. She was born July 30, 1913, in Searcy to the late Delbert and Odeen Smith Wakenight.
Mrs. Lyle was a member of First Presbyterian Church in Benton and a retired teacher in the Benton School District.
She was preceded in death by her parents and her husband, Thomas B. Lyle, in 1956. She is survived by her daughter, Linnie Lyle of Benton.
A private graveside service will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday, March 8, at Dalewood Cemetery, 2122 West Pullen St. in Pine Bluff. Visitation is set from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday, March 7, at Ashby Funeral Home.
Memorials may be made to the Saline County History and Heritage Society, Herzfeld Library, or Girl Scouts Diamonds of Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Texas.”
Obituary originally located on the following website for the Benton Courier: https://www.bentoncourier.com/content/florriedeen-w-lyle
It has now been taken down.
Notes:
I found an old postcard of E.D. Wakenight Supply Company on the website, ActiveRain.com. There are six people standing in front of the building. I believe the first person on the left is Eugene Delbert Wakenight.
For more information on this part of the Wakenight family, please visit Sharon Strow’s website, “Descendants of Daniel Wakenight.”
Creating Your Family Tree
Interested in building a great family tree? Remember these important steps:
Look in your photo albums. You may have old pictures that your parents or grandparents gave you. Or, ask them for copies of photos that they have in their possession. Many people will write names and dates on the backs of photographs. Letters, diaries, and family bibles are also an excellent source for births, marriages, and deaths.
Talk to your older relatives to find out about your ancestry. They may relate stories about an ancestor that you can add to your family tree. Family history is usually not found in newspapers. It is more of a verbal memory that is passed down from generation to generation.
Find the right family tree builder that suits your needs. You can choose one that has a paid subscription like Ancestry.com. There are also free sites like FamilySearch.org.
When you start building your family tree, add documentation to your ancestor’s profile. The records can include birth, marriage, death, census, military, city, and county directory listings. Any information that you can find will help create a life story about your ancestor.
If you have a unique surname, like Wakenight, you may find databases on the internet that are useful in your search. I use SurnameDB.com for my English surnames. There are many others on the internet for other countries like Ireland, Italy, and Germany.
Genealogy is the study of a person’s “line of descent.” As you create your family tree, you would typically start with one individual and go “back into time.” You would add their parents, grandparents, and so on. There are also family trees that go “forward into time.” Many of these family trees start with a famous person, such as a president or royalty, and move forward into the present time. The purpose of this type of pedigree is to establish a person’s bloodline to that famous person.
There is no limit on how big your family tree can grow. The blank canvas is there for you to use. Cherish your family history, and it will be there for generations to come!
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