Third Generation

24. Jerry DURHAM was born on 16 Apr 1867 in Illinois.¹¹ He died on 27 Jul 1953 in Eastern Oregon Hosptial, Pendleton, Umatilla County, Oregon.¹¹ Information provided by Milly Halterman

JERRY6 DURHAM (SION WHELAS5, ASAHEL4, JAMES LINDSEY3, GEORGE2, THOMAS1) was born April 16, 1867 in Illinois, probably Galatia, Saline County, and died July 27, 1953 in Eastern Oregon State Hospital, Pendleton,Umatilla Co,OR. He married FLORA MACKENZIE January 1907 in Fargo, Cass Co., ND, daughter of MURDOC MACKENZIE and ELSPETH GAUL. She was born November 11, 1864 in Woodstock, N.B., Canada, and died October 06, 1947 in La Grande, Union, Oregon.

Notes for JERRY DURHAM:
Helen Fenn reports the following about Jerry Durham. She is not sure whether Jerry or his son, Murray Milne, is her father. She can find no marriage certificate for her mother, but she was known to sign herself Violet Durham Lewis on an application for security clearance for a son after W.W.II.

Helen reports that Jerry was married to Katie Baker Pratt in Saline County, IL, in 1922.
I find a marriage record for Elizabeth Catherine Baker and George Turner Pratt, Saline County, IL, 5/27/1900. BK I PG 114.

If this is a first marriage for Jerry Durham, then Flora Mackenzie was his second and Helen Fenn's mother his third. Helen Fenn's mother believed born Emma May Wettengel, daughter of Lottie and John Wettengel. Emma appears to have chosen the name Violet but acknowledged Lottie Bingham and John Wettengel as her parents.

In 1910 Census, Jerry states Flora is first marriage. I doubt this. Too much evidence otherwise.

Further notes on file.

Date: November, 2004 I have this message from (withheld, living person) daughter of Helen Fenn. This means Helen died December 2003 and Murray in November 2003.

Dear Milly:
My mother died last December a few days before Christmas. Murray died
exactly a month earlier. But on the 1930 census it was Jerry Durham who was
married to my grandmother they were married a year according to the census.
They lived next door to her mother.

Carol

*********************************

I wrote this to Murray but got no reply. See Carol Buttram information.

Mildred Halterman
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Anna, IL 62906
October 29, 2000

Dear Mr. Durham,

I have just finished talking to you on the telephone and I want to get a letter off to you
right away. I'm sure you wonder how I came to be looking for you so I will tell you.

When my grandmother, Ella Durham Thomas, died we found in her things some pictures
that were on postcards the way they used to be years ago. They were of an older man, the older man and his son, and of a sheep farm. They were addressed to Nepthali C.Durham, but had never been mailed, probably just put in an envelope with a letter. Nepthali C. Durham was your father's brother.

There are 3 or 4 of us who have put together a list of the grandfathers all the way back
to a Thomas Durham in the early 1700's in Virginia.

It goes like this: (1) Thomas Durham
(2) George Durham and Winifred Lindsey
(3) James Lindsey Durham
(4) Asahel Durham and Jane Stembridge
(5) Sion Whelas Durham and Catherine Vantrease
Mary Jane 1841
Suzanna 1842 died young
Sara Ann 1844
Levi Durham 1846 died young
Nepthali Carroll 1847
Emily F. Durham 1849 or 1869
Joe T. Durham 1851
Asahel Glen Durham 1853, my great-grandfather.
William T. 1855 died young
Serenia 1857
Cordelia 1859
Charles 1861
Sion Whelas and Mrs. Mary Horn married July 15, 1866
Jerry Durham 1867
Emily Francis, if born in 1869.
Sion Whelas Durham died April, 1871.

Although I have much more information, I thought maybe this is all you would be
interested in at the moment.

I have Jerry Durham born April 16, 1867, in Galatia, IL. Died July 27, 1953 in
Unitilla County, Oregon. Married Flora Mackenzie, born Nov 11, 1864, died Oct 6,
1947.

If you think any of this is wrong, please let me know. And, if you have any other
information, stories, or things of interest about the family, I would appreciate your
sharing it.

Do you know if your grandmother Mary was named Horn or Robinson before she married your grandfather? I have heard both names, but I cannot find Mary Robinson anywhere.

I am very glad to have found you. My grandmother was very fond of her Uncle Nep and
often talked of him when I visited her as a child. One of our relatives was Galva
Roderick Durham who also lived in Oregon for much of his life. His children still live
there, I think. Galva was known as Rod and spent much of his life working for the
Salvation Army. Have you ever heard of him?

This has gotten to be a long letter, and I don't wish to bother you. Still, I would love
to hear from you. It would be nice to visit you, but I will never get to Oregon.
I live in southern Illinois, not far from where your father was born. The farthest west
I have ever been is Wichita, Kansas. My brother lives there.

I send you all good wishes.

Mildred Halterman

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More About JERRY DURHAM:
Burial: Elgin, Union Co., OR
Comment: 1922, Reported to have married Katie Baker Pratt in Galatia,Il
Comment2: See Notes

More About FLORA MACKENZIE:
Burial: October 09, 1947, Elgin, Union, Oregon

More About JERRY DURHAM and FLORA MACKENZIE:
Marriage: January 1907, Fargo, Cass Co., ND

Jerry DURHAM and Flora MACKENZIE were married in Jan 1907 in Fargo, North Dakota.¹¹ Flora MACKENZIE (daughter of Murdoc MACKENZIE and Elspeth GAUL) was born on 11 Nov 1864 in Woodstock, N. B. Canada.¹¹ She died on 6 Oct 1947 in La Grande, Union County, Oregon.¹¹ Jerry DURHAM and Flora MACKENZIE had the following children:

+88

i.

Murray Milne DURHAM.