The Picklesimer Siblings
Leon Garrison Picklesimer
(1905 - 1977)
Lavinia (Picklesimer)
Cowan (1903 - 1965)
Leon and Lavinia were the children of Bryson
City mayor Thomas G. Picklesimer and his wife Ellen (nee'
Leatherwood). Less than a year after their letters to Santa were
written, their father was killed when he started to jump off a train that
was leaving the Bryson City station and was caught under the wheels and crushed
to death. Their widowed mother subsequently moved the family to Jackson County. Leon's life
was stalked by tragedy. In addition to the loss of his father at such a young
age, he lost his wife, Sadie (nee' Bryson) in a tragic car accident in 1964
that nearly claimed his life as well as his daughter's. The same daughter, Kaye
Ellen, died 10 years later at the age of 18 of complications from a congenital
heart defect.
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| Source: Asheville Citizen-Times, 17 Dec 1994 (John Parris article) |
Lauren Sylvia (Conner) Lee
(1899 - 1932)
The nature of the childhood illness that Sylvia refers to in
her letter is unknown. She married Carl Lee and had a child, Harry, who
died 18 days after birth. Sylvia died in Virginia in 1932, and her
body was brought back to Judson for burial. She was the aunt of Swain County
historian Merrell Jenkins Riddle.
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| Source: Asheville Citizen-Times, 18 December 1909 |
The Roane Siblings
Hester Roane Fisher (1900
- 1987)
Margaret Roane (1907 -
unknown)
Sam Roane (1903-1985)
Robert Roane (1904-1987)
The Roanes were the children of Charles
T. and Mary Belle (nee' Rogers) Roane. Charles was a US
Marshal during Grover Cleveland's administration, and subsequently served as the sheriff
of Macon County for 8 years. In 1909, he was running a hotel in Judson with at
least 3 of his children. However, his eldest son, Sam, was living with
his uncle Robert Roane and his wife Mary (Siler), who had
adopted him. (Robert Roane was a 2-term Swain County sheriff, a state senator,
and a co-owner of the Roane and Varner store in Whittier).
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| Source: Asheville Citizen-Times, 18 December 1909 |
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| Source: Asheville Citizen-Times, 21 December 1909 |
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| Source: Asheville Citizen-Times, 17 Dec 1994 (John Parris article) |
By 1910, the family was living
in Bryson City (according to these letters). Unfortunately, none of them (aside
from Sam) appear in that census. Sam may have been living with his
uncle and aunt due to family discord or breakup. At some point before 1920,
Mary and Charles divorced. She married Dr. Robert Orr and moved to Texas,
taking some of the children with her. After Dr. Orr's death in 1921, she moved to
California. The majority of the children seem to have followed - Hester and
Robert both lived in California for most of their lives and died there. Sam,
after a lengthy tenure in Western North Carolina, eventually made it to
California and died there.
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| Source: Asheville Citizen-Times, 23 December 1910 |
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| Source: Asheville Citizen-Times, 23 December 1910 |
Merry Christmas!
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| Source: Pinterest |
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Sources:
Ancestry.com
Asheville Citizen-Times, December 1909, 1910, 1994 (specific dates in captions)
Newspapers.com
Pinterest
