Ella (Ellie) Bundy Ott

Blufe Ott, Ella Bundy Ott, and Lessie Ott

I feel that it's important to know one's lineage.  How many times have we heard someone say; "I wish I had asked them more questions and now it's too late."   I am fortunate to be a part of a family that values family history.  I grew up listening to the stories about my ancestors. 

I think that for a generation or so  people lost the desire to learn about their lineage.  The focus was on building a future and not being too concerned with the past.  With the recent influx of television shows such as "Who Do You Think You Are?" there has been a resurgence of interest in ancestry. 

A few months ago I decided to write about my ancestry.   This is my second blog in this series. This is the story of my paternal grandmother, Ella (Ellie) Bundy Ott.

My Granny Ott was born February 9, 1888, either the second or third child of 14 children born to John Henry and Mary Docia Baker Bundy.  There was a baby girl named Belle who I am unsure of her birth date.  Based on the birthdates of all the children I believe Belle was the second child.  Also, I am unsure of how long Belle lived. Granny Ott was born at Concord, Arkansas; a little community along Crooked Creek.   The Bundy family was poor and had a hard time getting by but by all accounts they were good people. 

My granny, being the oldest girl, helped to raise her younger siblings.  She worked hard, learned to cook, sew and do farm chores.  When she was little she and her older brother Charlie were splitting firewood.  Charlie accidentally cut off the end of the middle finger of her right hand. She went on to become one of the best seamstresses in the area and used the thimble on the stub of her finger.

When she was 18 she married my grandpa, William Blufford "Blufe" Ott.  As a little girl I asked her how she had met my grandpa.  She replied, "He wrote me a letter."  I asked why he would write a letter to someone that he didn't know.  She explained that he was getting older (age 27) and was looking for a wife and (in her words),"He just heered tell o' me."  I thought that was quite funny.  They lived a good distance apart so they corresponded by letter and eventually married on March 25, 1906.  I don't know how many times they had actually seen one another before their marriage.  She did tell me once that he rode his horse a long distance to see her.  As an aside - there were 14 Bundy kids and 14 Ott kids and my Granny, two of her sisters, and her aunt all married 4 Ott brothers.  This made for a lot of double cousins and many of us grandkids look very much alike.

Granny and Grandpa began their married life at a little community called Cattail Springs, Arkansas which was very near the Ott homestead where Grandpa was raised and his parents still lived.  On January 29, 1908 their first child, a daughter named Lessie, was born.  On August 24, 1909 a second daughter, Joyce was born.  The story goes that Granny went in to labor and Grandpa got on his mule to go get his mother.  Granny said that she could still hear the hoof beats when she had a hard pain. She had two more pains and the baby was born.  My Aunt Lessie was 19 months old and my granny held on to Aunt Lessie's gown tail to keep her from wandering off.  The umbilical cord was wrapped around my Aunt Joyce's neck and Granny reached down and unwrapped it, all the while, holding on to Aunt Lessie's gown tail.  They stayed like that until Grandpa and my great-grandma, Barbara Catherine Ott arrived.  Aunt Joyce weighed 12 pounds!  My Aunt Opal was born March 25, 1913 and while an uneventful birth she weighed in at 11 1/2 pounds. 

At the time of Aunt Opal's birth the family was living along the White River on land that is in the area of the White River bridge near Cotter.  Grandpa, his brothers Marv and Charlie were farming there.

Sometime between 1913 and 1915 Grandpa and Granny bought his parents' homestead which is in rural Marion County, Arkansas in a community called Blue John.  They paid $1000 for the farm.
Aunt Ethel was born May 17, 1915 after they had moved to the Ott homestead.

My dad was born May 2, 1926.  He was born premature, only weighing about 4 pounds.  Being the youngest and only boy he was a bit spoiled by his older sisters.

Lessie Ott Bryant, Sherman B. Ott, Ethel Ott Pace, Joyce Ott Briggs Keeter, Opal Ott Marchant

Somewhere along 1933 and 1934 Grandpa had broken his arm and later fell from a wagon and broke his leg.  His bones were not healing well and he had been confined to the house. On February 24, 1934 Grandpa said that he was going up to the barn (he could hobble at this point) to shuck corn for the hogs and shell some for the chickens.  While he was gone a couple of neighbors came to ask if they could borrow Grandpa's saddle.  Granny said that she would never loan his saddle or his gun without asking his consent.  She went to the barn and looked in the feed room but he wasn't there. She sent my Aunt Ethel to walk down to the bottom field to look for him but she didn't find him.  Granny and my dad, who was 8 years old, went around to the back of the barn. Granny tried to open the door to one of the stalls and it was wired shut from the inside.  She peeked through the boards and saw my grandpa hanging from the rafters.  She cried out; "Oh he's hung himself!"  My daddy, being a little boy looked up into the trees.  He later said that he thought his dad was in the trees.  My mother once asked my granny what she did when she saw him and she said, "I knelt down and prayed."  She sent my Aunt Ethel for help and then the coroner was sent for.  The coroner had to come from Yellville, which is about 14 miles away and at that time it took a long time to get there.   There was nothing that my granny could do but wait.  The following was taken from the Mountain Echo:

Mountain Echo, Yellville, AR Wednesday, 28 Feb 1934, pg 1 Good Citizen Takes Own Life The many friends of Mr. Blufford OTT were horrified Saturday morning when they learned he had committed suicide that morning by hanging himself in his barn at his home on Blue John, near Ware's Chapel. Coroner Wm. LAY was notified and requested to come and hold an inquest over the body, which he did, about 3 o'clock that afternoon. The following parties were impaneled as a jury: J. H. MEARS, Quince OTT, Irly BURRIS, E. L. KIRKWOOD, Lester OTT, Andrew JONES, Fred MEARS, Bill LINCK, Lee MEDLEY, Dr. J. I. THOMPSON and Alfred HALL. After viewing the body and taking what testimony was available, they returned a verdict as follows: "That he came to his death by hanging with suicidal intent." Mr. OTT had always been considered as one of the county's best citizens -- had always engaged in farming and stock raising, and was honorable and upright in every way, and his family and his friends are at a loss to know as to what caused him to commit this rash act, except that he had been in poor health for some time, and also brooding over financial conditions. Funeral services were conducted at 2 o'clock Sunday evening by Rev. G. B. KEETER, and interment was in the Ott cemetery near his home, in the presence of many sorrowing relatives and friends. Of his immediate family he leaves a wife and four daughters and one son, aside from several brothers and sisters. The Echo joins the many friends of the family in extending condolence to them in their sorrow.

There was an ice storm and the funeral was held in Granny's house.  There was so much ice on the ground that the men had trouble carrying the casket to the cemetery which is only a short distance away.

This was during the depression and times were hard.  Granny, Aunt Ethel (the older girls were married by this time), and my daddy continued to farm, grow a garden, and hunt for food.  She hired her nephew that first summer to help her farm and the next summer she hired a neighbor to help her.  She would work outside all day and sew for people at night.  The neighbor girls would hold a kerosene lamp so that she could see to sew dresses for them.  Daddy, having been born prematurely was a small boy.  He would try to plow and the plow would get him down.  He would cry and get back up and do it again.  That old turning plow now resides in a flower bed in my front  yard.

Aunt Lessie married Guy Bryant March 30, 1928.  They eventually moved to Black Oak, Arkansas where they farmed and raised their twin sons, Billy and Bobby.

Aunt  Joyce married Cecil Briggs on June 4, 1932.  They were both teachers, she elementary and Cecil, a math teacher at Yellville-Summit School.  Cecil passed away on October 11, 1939.  The following is the obituary from the Mountain Echo:

Mountain Echo, Yellville, AR 11 Oct 1939 Local School Teacher A Victim Of Apoplexy A heavy pall of sorrow enveloped this entire community Wednesday morning of last week as news was spread of the death of Cecil BRIGGS, popular instructor in mathematics in the Y-S High School, which occurred at his home in Summit at 4:15 that morning. Mr. BRIGGS had been in his usual good health until about 2:45 Tuesday afternoon, when he was stricken with apoplexy while he was hearing a class at the school. He was taken to his home by Mr. J Q. ADAMS, superintendent of the school, and from the beginning it was known that his condition was serious. He became unconscious shortly after he reached his home, and notwithstanding all that medical aid could do, he passed away at 4:15 o'clock Wednesday morning. The body was prepared for burial and lay in state at the home until 2 o'clock Thursday afternoon, when it was removed to the High School Auditorium, where in the presence of one of the largest crowds of sorrowing friends and relatives ever in attendance at a funeral in this community, services were conducted by Rev G B KEETER, county superintendent of schools, assisted by Rev. Otha McCRACKEN, member of the school board of the Midway District, and John Q. ADAMS, superintendent of the Yellville-Summit School. Burial was in the Georges Creek cemetery, in charge of the Holt Undertaking Company. Active pall bearers were Messrs. John Q. ADAMS, Cecil MATHIS, Cleo MARTIN, Harry MORROW and Audie SLAGLE, all teachers in the Y-S School, and Thurman WOOD, teacher in the Georges Creek School. Mr. BRIGS was 30 years of age and was born and reared in this county. At an early age he began preparing himself for the teaching profession, and for the past several years was recognized as one of the best and most progressive young teachers in this section. For the past three years, prior to the present school term, he was principal of the Midway School, and under his direction it was built into one of the outstanding rural schools in North Arkansas. Evidence of his popularity in that community was shown by the great number of people - patrons and pupils - of that school who were in attendance at his funeral. It is hard to understand why one just entering into the prime of manhood, with a course of great usefulness charted before him, should be called away as was Cecil BRIGGS. But we realize that it is not for us, even in our sorrow, to question the decision of the Divine Father, who in his wisdom, doeth all things for the best, and we must believe that somewhere in his realm had been selected a place for even greater service, and Cecil was called to fill the place in that great home beyond this earthly life. Mr. BRIGGS is survived by his wife, the former Miss Joyce OTT, his father and step-mother, Mr. and Mrs. Jewell BRIGGS, Sr., two step-brothers, Jewell, Jr., and Leon BRIGGS, and two step-sisters, Misses Neva and Virginia May BRIGGS. His grandfathers, Mr. J J BRIGGS and Mr. Alfred WATTS, also survive, as well as a number of other near relatives throughout this county. To all of them the heartfelt sympathies of a host of friends go out in their great sorrow.

On January 22, 1944 Aunt Joyce married Carl Keeter.  They had no children together but Uncle Carl had a son, Aubrey, by a previous marriage.

Aunt Opal and Earl Marchant were married April 19, 1929 and had a daughter, Earlene.

Aunt Ethel and Jack Pace were married on November 26, 1937. They had no children.

My granny wanted Daddy to continue his education so they moved for a time to Summit, Arkansas so that he could go to school.  He graduated from Yellville-Summit School in 1943.

Following his graduation he went to Kansas to work the wheat harvest.  It was there that he received his draft notice.  He was mustered into the army on December 21, 1944 at Camp Joseph T. Robinson, Little Rock, Arkansas.

Daddy served in the Pacific Theater in the Philippines and later in the Japanese Occupation.  Granny was left alone on the farm.  There were times that she wouldn't hear from Daddy for months then she would receive several letters at once. Daddy was discharged from the US Army 24th Division, Company M, 19th Infantry on Nov. 20, 1946 at Ft. Sam Houston, TX.  Granny tells the story of how she was outside and she saw the top of a hat as someone was coming up the road.  As the person got closer she recognized that is was Daddy. I can only imagine the joy that she felt when he got home.

On September 9, 1950 Daddy married my mom, Lou Ann Clough Ott.  They moved into the house with Granny and farmed the land and milked dairy cows.   My sister, Judith was born in 1951, I came along in 1955, and my brother, Bruce, was born in 1956.  Granny helped with us so that Mom could work on the farm with my dad and later outside the home.  We spent countless hours with her.  She taught us to read, do math, and she told us a lot of stories. 

Granny dipped snuff and chewed Kentucky Twist tobacco so there were always spit cans around and if you ever got bee or wasp stung she had the tobacco juice to doctor you right up.

My granny was the most Godly woman I have ever known.  I jokingly say that I was raised in the Church of Ellie Ott.  Every morning at breakfast we had church and every night we read the Bible.  She had a scripture quote for all occasions and not only could she quote them she could tell you where you would find the verse(s) in the Bible.  One of her favorites (or maybe we just needed to hear it often) was Matthew 5:39 "but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right. cheek, turn to him the other also".  My mom recently said to me that not many women could say that their mother-in-law was one of the finest women who ever lived.  And she was.

When I got married I wanted Granny to make my wedding dress.  She had been one of the best seamstresses in the area when she was younger and she made many of our clothes as we were growing up.  She was 85 by this time and she had to sit in a chair by the bed to cut the dress out.  She sewed that heavy bridal satin to make me the dress.  That touches my heart as I think back on it.  Her hands were rough and scratchy from years of hard work and I would try not to flinch as she pinned and basted the dress to fit me.

Granny lived to be 93.  She passed away on March 3, 1981.  She lived from the times of horse and buggy to seeing a man walk on the moon.  So much changed during the span of her life but she never lost her faith or her sense of humor.  I am thankful that I got to be her granddaughter.

** Side note:  One of Granny's favorite sayings (if we ever got a spot of something on our clothes) was, "It will never be noticed on a galloping horse."