GARNET COMMODORE and ORPHA ELIZABETH CRISP MCCLANAHAN - Chapter 3

 

GOLDEN YEARS

Garnet and Orpha 

Orpha doted on her grandchildren and was a big “hugger.” Every Christmas, Orpha gave all her granddaughters a very nice glass tea set. The sets even had a platter and casserole dish with a lid. Roy’s daughters, Charleen and Kathaleen, cherished their sets and kept them in perfect condition. William’s daughters, Jane and Bessie, always broke their dishes, so Grandma gave everyone a new set every year. It became a bit of a joke that the girls expected a new tea set from her each Christmas. She also gave them very nice Easter baskets.

Orpha circa 1920 with the Studebaker

Garnet and Orpha owned a shiny 1919 Studebaker car which Orpha drove to Purcell to buy groceries. She was a pioneer among women drivers. Most women her age in rural communities did not drive. She took granddaughters, Charleen and Kathaleen, to Purcell to the grocery store in the Studebaker. She would encourage the girls to “sample grapes, an apple, pear, etc.” without paying for them!

Great Grandma Orpha McClanahan and Me, Cindy Cruz

WIDOWED

Garnet was a thin man whose posture became stooped over time. His hair remained thick as he aged but tuned white as snow. He was quite a dancer and delighted in teaching his “moves” to several of his grandchildren. His favorite phrase was “Hellohowareyou?” spoken as if it was all one word. As was the custom in Garnet’s lifetime, he was known to friends by his initials, “G.C,” rather than his full name.

Garnet suffered from stomach problems in his later years and ate raw eggs as a home remedy to relieve his digestive distress. He still craved and enjoyed his favorite foods, however. His son, Roy’s family went to see him on a Sunday not long before he passed away and he asked Roy’s wife Lela to make some homemade bread for him. He eventually succumbed to stomach and liver cancer on 22 December 1942. He died at home at age 68. He was buried in Ozark Memorial Cemetery in Joplin on Christmas Eve.

Garnet's Obituary from the Joplin Globe Newspaper

Garnet's Grave Marker
"Gone But Not Forgotton"

Orpha sold the farm implements, livestock, grain, and hay at auction on Thursday, 7 January 1943, sixteen days after Garnet died. Roy had all the money from the farm sale in his possession overnight following the auction. His flock of sheep slept close to the house every night in his barnyard. That night the sheep went wild during the early hours of the morning and made all kinds of noise. Roy was sure someone had come to rob them of the money from the auction! All four members of the family jumped into the car, still dressed in their pajamas, and spent the rest of the night with the cash in hand at his sister-in-law, Lida Smith Hodson’s home!

Roy drove Orpha about ten miles to the First National Bank of Jasper the next day to safely secure the proceeds of the auction. She deposited over $5000.00 and wrote several checks that day. $5000.00 would be equivalent to about $77,000.00 in 2021. Her cancelled checks for that date included $357.20 to Knell Mortuary for Garnet’s funeral expenses and $76.00 to H.S. Berry in payment for the memorial service. She later paid $49.00 to Carthage Marble Works for Garnet’s headstone.

Orpha and Garnet enjoyed forty-three and a half years of marital bliss. She was only 59 years old when Garnet passed and she lived a full life over the next nineteen years, even though she must have sorely missed Garnet’s company and affection.

Orpha at Her Home in Carterville

She moved away from the farm to a cozy little house on two lots at 219 West Hannum Street in Carterville, Missouri, which she purchased on 28 August 1944. It was insured for $2000. in the 1960s. Her policy also protected $500 in personal property.

Orpha’s day-to-day expenses, reflected in her bank statements, gave considerable insight into her daily life as a widow. A few scraps of paper kept safely in a small cedar box since the 1940s, and a few more from the 1960s, revealed that she used coal for heating, bought groceries on a “tab” kept at Karl’s Market at 130 East Main in Carterville, and that she liked to shop at Sears and Pennys in Carthage. She drank coffee and orange juice and bought merchandise from the traveling door-to-door Watkins and Jewel Tea salesmen. An office visit with Dr. McNew (the doctor who delivered me!) cost $4.00 in 1961.

The groceries she purchased in May 1961 included “lunch meat, dark bread, rolls, potato chips, strawberries, prunes, oleo, lettuce, oats, canned peaches, and tuna, canned Milnot, flour, orange and tomato juice, and Luden’s cough drops.

One of Orpha's Cancelled Checks for Jewel Tea Merchandise

Many of her checks were written with a pencil, rather than in ink. This was a solemn reminder that life was very different in her small Missouri town in the mid-1900s than it is for us in our world filled with all sorts of precautions against identity theft.

While living in Carterville, Orpha made the acquaintance of retired widower, Clem Lee CHRISMAN. He was a former fireman in Joplin and later worked in an area rock quarry. One thing must have led to another and they were married on 30 July 1952 in Bentonville, Arkansas. Orpha was 68 years old and Clem was 71. It is interesting that Orpha chose July 30, the same month and day, fifty-two years after her marriage to Garnet. However, her decision to marry Clem may have been the biggest mistake of her life. He must have concealed several unsavory aspects of his personality from Orpha until after they exchanged marriage vows.

The Chrisman Family.
Clem is in the center of the photo.

Clem was a man with a volatile nature. Only five months into their marriage, on 2 January 1953, Orpha filed a petition for divorce from Clem. She stated that he had “high and ungovernable temper,” subjected her to verbal and physical abuse, and “threatened her life.” Clem did not contest the divorce and her plea was granted. As part of the agreement, she asked that her former name of Orpha Elizabeth McClanahan be restored to her. It was obvious that Clem’s behavior was not limited to his dealings with Orpha. He filed for divorce from three other women in Jasper County in 1952, 1955, and 1962.

Orpha’s oldest son Curly vehemently opposed Orpha’s remarriage. Apparently, he considered it to be an insult to his father’s memory. He was so upset that he broke all ties with Orpha while she was married to Clem. After her divorce, Curly made up with her and sent her an electric blanket as a reconciliation gift!

By July of 1961, Orpha’s health was failing. Her cancelled checks were all written to Elmhurst Care Home, Dr. McNew, and Bennet Pharmacy. She was no longer able to live alone and took up residence at Elmhurst, a care home in Carterville, for the last six months of her life. She passed away on 1 December 1961 at age 78. She died of hypostatic pneumonia, but suffered from Parkinson’s, hypertensive cardiovascular disease, and cerebral arteriosclerosis, which contributed to her demise.

Orpha's Obituary from the Joplin Globe Newspaper

Orpha's Grave Marker

Sons Roy and Rure were appointed administrators of her estate one week after her death. Funeral costs had nearly doubled between Garnet and Orpha’s dates of death. Her funeral expenses totaled $1184.14 and her headstone was priced at $88.91. After the sale of her property and payment of her expenses, each of her children received an inheritance of $164.47. Each share of the estate would be equivalent to $1434.00 in 2021 dollars.