Cali

Chiari 1 Malformation is the technical name to what happened to her. It is the same thing that the Rigsby boy here in Gunter had about three years ago. It just came about different.

Cali’s arm had no feeling in it last weekend or she said it didn’t feel right. She also was hoarse on Sunday. Peyton was home in bed with 102 fever and strep throat. So Mindi thought Cali might be getting this. Last Monday she had a basketball game, and played the worst game ever. Dribbled and shot left handed, Mindi said ok we are going to pediatrician on Tuesday. He checked her, ran lots of test, and told her this is serious and needed to see a specialist. He could get her in on Wednesday to see a neurologists at Cook’s Children in Ft. Worth. Wednesday she was put through every test possible, and even got a MRI/Cat scan approved by insurance for that day. They wanted her to stay in FT Worth for appointment on Thursday to see what was next. She wanted to wait until today, because all the family was headed to Galveston for vacation - 3 sisters and 8 kids.Doctor said no to her.  Thursday morning everyone left for Galveston, but her and Cali. They did pack the car for Galveston, just in case, whatever they did was not going to happen until today. Wrong!

They told her Cali was scheduled for surgery at noon on Friday. They then spent all day Thursday doing more tests and pre-op. Her C1 vertebrae is the one that controls all the senses, so they needed a base line. The fluid was building up, pushing on the nerve which caused the loss of feeling in her right arm and her no voice. They could tell that it was affecting the inside of her mouth. 

Surgery was Friday. The surgeon did find some scar tissue, that he has no idea how it got there (meningitis - undetected as a child or an injury). He carved out the C1 vertebrae that was fused to the scull. He made a larger opening in the scull so the fluids could flow more easily. By Friday night, she was already getting feeling back in her arm. By Saturday, everything had come back but her hand and fingers. Yesterday it was just her fingers. 

The doctors and surgeons all said that she is a case they will be talking about for years. She beat all odds very quickly. She did have only a few issues with oxygen and fluid in her lungs, Saturday night and she was nauseated when she first tried to walk. However, she did have a good night, and they will probably let her come home today. Normally they stay in ICU two days and the hospital 5-7 days after this surgery. 

God’s part was the cancelation of another patient so Cali could see the neurologist on Wednesday at Cook’s. She got to have surgery on Friday, because of another cancellation of someone else. Everyone in the hospital could not believe that all this took place in less than a week and that they even got insurance to approve everything so quickly. Also the healing so fast and that she did not have to go through a lot of pain. I say this knowing that she still has a long way to go. She is very mellow and somber. She is not eating much, and is going to be restricted for a while on what she can do, which is going to be very hard on her. But God is good - all the time.

DNA

I did my ancestry DNA test. Here is what I found out:

Scandinavia  39% (Range:19%—59%)
Ireland/Scotland/Wales  22% (Range:6%—37%) 
GreatBritain 14% (Range:0%—37%)
EuropeWest 7% (Range:0%—15%)
IberianPeninsula 7% (Range:0%—15%)
EuropeSouth 6% (Range:0%—15%) 

Brick Wall

Anyone who has done research hits a "brick wall".  Usually it is about a person that can not be located or a person with no documentation.  My brick wall goes back to one of the first posts and that is to answer the question why my great grandparents came to Grayson County or Gunter, Texas. I have found some good information on several of them, but my dead end is still why did Calvin Burgess and Cora Lee (Pierce) Francis come to Gunter. Here is what I have found:

The Francis/Francies Family in 1907 or 1908. (Left to Right), Sitting: Elvin Sion, James Maddox, Sena Elizabeth and Calvin Birdwell, Standing: Homer Guardin, Margaret Edna, Flora Ellen, William Burney, Mary Molly and Nancy Joan II.L.d._Elvin_Fox_Edited.jpg

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SENIA ELIZABETH FOX d/o Calvin and Margaret

II.L.a. SENIA ELIZABETH FOX
B: 9 Jul 1852 Fair Garden, Sevier County, Tennessee
M: 4 Jan 1872 Fair Garden, Tennessee
     James Madison Francis (27 Nov 1850-12 Feb 1917)
D:  20 Mar 1932-Wynnewood, Oklahoma

Senia was the oldest of Calvin and Margaret’s children.   She
married James Francis.   Senia is buried in Oaklawn Cemetery in
Wynnewood.   Senia was known as “Lizzie” and was “very
short, a little bitty thing, with brown/black hair”.  James Francis’
mother was said to have died in childbirth with one of her
children and his father (name unknown) reportedly remarried.  
All of Senia’s brothers and sisters except Priscilla moved to
Oklahoma.  Children of Senia and James Francis were:

1. Mary Molly Francis (17 Feb 1873/7 - 7 Aug 1950).   She
married Jim Roberts.   They lived near Sulphur, OK and later
Molly moved to Oklahoma City.
2. Calvin Burgess  Francis (5 May 1875-13 Aug 1955.  His
middle name may be Birdwell, as he was sometimes called Bird. 
He married Cora Pierce and lived around Gunner, Texas, near
Sherman.
3. Jo Ann (or Nancy Joan) Francis (13 Nov 1877-1968).  She
married Francis Strawn and lived in Howe, Texas
4. Elvin Sion Francis (9 May 1880-9 Jun 1938).   He did not
marry, living with his mother until her death.
5. Homer Gaurdin Francis (2 Jun 1882-28 Mar 1945).   He
married Ida Belzora Losson (Ida Bell or Bell) Losson.   She was
the daughter of William Riley Losson/Lawson and Martha
Frances Parilea Alice Reeves.   Homer and Bell were married 26
Mar 1910 in Wynnewood, OK.   Homer died in Shamrock,
Texas.   Homer and his wife are buried in Dozier Cemetery,
Collingsworth Co, Texas.
6. Flora Ellen Francis (14 Nov 1884-11 Sep 1976).   She
married Adolphus (Dolph)  Gardner, a son of James W. Gardner
and Emily Cornwell/Cornwall Lawson/Losson Gardner.
7. Margaret Edna Francis (29 Jun 1887-12 Mar 1977).   She
married Benjamin (Ben) Gardner, a brother of Dolph Gardner.
8. William Burney Francis, born 1 Nov 1892 in Springtown.,
Parker County, Texas.   He married Dora B. Vineyard on 9 Jan
1916.   Dora was born 11 Sep 1898 in Thackerville, Love
County, Oklahoma.   William Burney died 14 Dec 1971 in
Wichita Falls, Texas.   Dora died 16 May 1985.   They are
buried in Woodlawn Cemetery, Wynnewood, Oklahoma.
9,10.   Twins (sons?) died at birth.

In The Paper

Daddy did not talk about his war years. I have always said that this is one of my biggest regrets - not learning about his war years. I found this article while doing some of our family research. Evidently, he was involved in some very impressive events during the war. This award was "for outstanding performance of duty against the enemy."

Large Family - 12

I chose to combine two post Large Family and 12. George Marlow and Sallie Lucille had twelve children. This is the homeplace that was bought about 1905 between Tioga and Gunter. This is one of the earliest pictures we have of the place. Evidently it was named "The Lone Oak Farm." Oh, it these walls could talk - the stories they could tell. 

The following picture was taken about 1938 at Easter.

"Uncle"

Jessie Clark Scoggins, or "Uncle" to the family, was my grandfather's, George Marlow Scoggins, brother. He was born in Van Alstyne, Texas to William Anderson and Sarah Scoggins. He was the youngest of their children. I remember Daddy once telling me that he was "different". I never questioned what was different about him. Then last summer when we were visiting with a cousin talking about the family she made the same comment, but she went on to tell us how he was different. 

He always lived with his parents. After they passed away in 1920, he moved in with Papa and Granny. He raised chickens and sold the eggs for money to buy groceries to help feed the family. By the time I came along he was just an older man, sitting in the corner of the room in a rocking chair, that we called "Uncle".

At The Courthouse

Last week Diana and I visited the Grayson County courthouse records room. They showed us how to use the computer to search records filed in the books. One of the books had marriage licenses.  We didn't get to stay a really long time; but in the short time we were there, I did find this document of my grandparentts.