Martha Azle (Mercer) McCall or “Miss Azle” as I knew her was the second wife of my Great Great Grandfather John Keener McCall (1 Oct 1872) and married him when he already had a large family of 8 kids. They had two more children together. Currently I have no record of who her parents were or what family she came from, but I do have quite a few guesses. I thought I’d write the trail I’ve come across thus far and see if it makes sense.

What I know:
1. I have her obituary: Sublimity – Martha Azle McCall, 99, died Jan. 7, 1992. She was born Dec. 1, 1892 in Danville, Ark. She moved to Stayton in 1938 from Carlsbad, N.M. She settled in Sublimity seven years ago. She married J.K. McCall on Sept. 22, 1918 in Gravely, Ark., he died in 1966. She is survived by her sons, Charles W. of Sublimity and J.B. of Cottage Grove; stepsons, G.D. of Stayton and Troy of Carlsbad; stepdaughter, Prue Sadler of Stayton; several grandchildren and several great-grandchildren. Services were held Jan. 10 at Weddle Mortuary, Stayton. Interment followed at Lone Oak Cemetery, Stayton.

2. I know that my Great Grandmother Etoyl (Montgomery) McCall who was married to Azle’s eldest step-son Robert Lee McCall said that they called her Dad “Pappy Mercer”, and she came from a poor, lower-class family. I also have some minor details about her life with her husband that was shared with my sister in a letter from the local historical society where she died.

3. I know she was born 1 December 1892, and died 7 January 1892 and was buried in the Lone Oak Cemetery in Stayton, Oregon on the 10th of January 1992. She married J.K. McCall 22 September 1918 in Gravelly, Yell County, Arkansas when she was 25 years old.

4. I know that her future husband John Keener lived with his first wife in Danville – her birthplace as listed on her obituary – in the 1900 Census. (She would have been 7 yrs old) The next census, however, him and his wife are living in the Herring Township.

5. In the 1920 Census, Azle lists her father as born in Mississippi, mother in Arkansas. In 1930, she lists both parents as being born in Arkansas.

What I’ve done:
Since I’m a self-taught amature genealogy researcher, I don’t always know the best place to start to find out what I don’t know on a person or family line. But this is what I’ve done.

1. I assumed that since she was born in Danville, she might have lived there as a child. I went through the entire Danville 1900 US Census for a Mercer family with no luck.

2. I did an open US Census search for a Martha Azle Mercer, and focused the search around Yell County, Arkansas where she was born. I found a Martha A. in Briggsville in the 1910 census, which is just 15 miles from Danville where she was born. Azle should have been 17 when the Census was taken at the end of April 1900. This “Martha A. Merser” was listed as 16, birthplace Arkansas. Her parents are listed as Silas W. (age 40, b. MS) and Martha A. (age 36, b. AR). They were married at 17. She had siblings Dovey, Dewey, Myrtle and grandfather Byrant.

Martha A. Merser - Briggsville US Census, 1910

I saw the difference in age of this Martha, and ended up putting my research to the side. I’ve been trying to focus on primary family lines first, and so I went back to the McCall side. While searching through some WW1 draft papers I ran across a Dewey S. Mercer, who stated that his nearest relative was C.W. Mercer. This sounded familiar, and I was excited to find another Mercer nearby all my McCalls so I started searching again.

The WW1 Registration of Dewey Sampson Mercer.

I decided to see if the family of Silas W. and Martha A. Merser mentioned in the 1910 Census appeared in other US Census records. After a couple frustrating name searches, I ended up going through the Briggsville Census records by hand and was lucky.

3. In the 1900 US Census I found a Wess Messer (age 30, b. MS) and his wife Minnie (age 26, b. AR) living in Briggsville, Arkansas with children named Martha, Dova and Dewey. This Martha is listed with a birthday of December 1893, and age 6. Still one year off from my Martha, but in the right month of December.

Martha Messer - Briggsville US Census, 1900

4. In the 1920 US Census I found Dewey S. (age 21) living with his father W.C. Mercer (age 48, widowed), but not Martha.

Martha's family (No Martha) - Briggsville US Census, 1920

5. I decided to focus on Dewey S. Mercer. After a few searches, I found that he had married Millie Ornduff (b. 1897, Oregon -1979, Oregon) and died in Tillamook, Oregon 17 Jan 1986. Could it be a coincidence that he ended up in Oregon, and met a wife there and died there? Perhaps this is my Martha in these census records, and she convinced her brother to come to Oregon where she was living, and there he married (perhaps a second wife). The local Tillamook historical society had a website where I got his death information, and so I emailed them for his obituary. We’ll see where the trail leads from there.

What’s next:
That’s where I’ve reached thus far. My next step is to keep following up about Dewey S., and to order Martha’s Death Certificate to see if she lists her parent’s names. I also seem to remember that there was an article written in the local paper about her because of her longevity, so that’s another avenue to explore. I’m hoping by putting this research out there, I may find a decedent of this family who’s interested in genealogy.

If you’re related to this family or have more information about them including stories, pictures and dates and family member names, I’d love to hear from you. Please leave a comment below or email me directly from the About Us page.

His wife Ellen is listed, as is his occupation as a Doctor. He’s described with a medium height and slender build with blue eyes and black hair.

Thomas Marion Montgomery's WW1 Draft Card - Front

Thomas Marion Montgomery's WW1 Draft Card - Back

Robert Lee McCall's WW1 Draft Card - Front

What’s great about the back of the card is it describes his height, build and eye color. Unlike Bob, I’ve found this a very interesting tidbit for those members of the family I’ve never met.

Robert Lee McCall's WW1 Draft Card - Back

Here’s a timeline I’ve put together for his life, to try to get a sense of the major events that happened while he was living. I hope to add more to it as I gather more information about him.

Historical Timelines: Robert Lee “Bob” McCall

If you’re related to this family or have more information about them including stories, pictures and dates and family member names, I’d love to hear from you. Please leave a comment below or email me directly from the About Us page.

Refer to his Family Group Record to find out more details about his children.

Historical Timeline: Dr. Thomas Marion Montgomery (1871-1961)

Other Notes:
“Much of his early practice was in the rural regions of Arkansas, where he traveled on horseback or by horse and buggy. His father was a doctor, as were five of his brothers, and his sister was a nurse.”
“He was a member of the first Methodist Church here.” (Stayton, Marion Co., Oregon)

If you’re related to this family or have more information about them including stories, pictures and dates and family member names, I’d love to hear from you. Please leave a comment below or email me directly from the About Us page.

While my sister was in college she took a class on the subject of genealogy. As part of her family research she collected a few items that made great additions to my collection of family history material. One of these items was a typed letter from Mable T. Overnolts, president of the Santiam Historical Society and Museum committee in 1991. She wrote the following in response to my sister’s inquiry about J.K. McCall and his wife Miss Azle:

1985 E. Cedar St.,
Stayton, OR 97383-1437
April 03, 1991

Dear Lisa,
Your letter of May 20th to the Stayton Public Library was passed on to our Santiam Historical Society at 260 N. 2nd Ave, Stayton, OR. The Library has moved into their new building at 515 N. 1st Ave., tele 503 769 3313 as of spring of 1990.

You are in luck. I am Mable T. Overnolts (retired R.N.) now president of the Santiam Historical Society and Museum committee. We have taken the building vacated by the Library that was built in 1927-1928 by the Stayton Community women’s club, and turned it into a much needed museum.

We, my husband Marvin & I, sold our east lots in Stayton to JK & Azle in 1957 where they built a fine three bedroom house at 847 E. Virginia St.

After the Oct 12, 1962 storm in our area that “downed” trees and buildings, Mr JK McCall broke out with a case of “Shingles” over his left scapula (shoulder blade) area and up the neck into his hair line. He suffered untold agony for nearly a year, and was not very well there-after.

He loved to go hunting with his sons into the John Day river area of central northern Oregon and fishing in the Lakes Wikiup, Paulina, Diamond and others of Central Oregon in the Mt. Jefferson area.

Of the children, I believe Jack (Buster as I knew him) is gone, Faye Fasholtz Ware is gone as of (Oct 7, 1912-Aug 4, 1988), surviving her are sons Charles of Seattle, John of Yakima, Wash; She was buried in Lone Oak cemetery here in Stayton. Robert Lee McCall born May 22, 1896 died March 7, 1989 at age 92. Born at Gravelly, Ark., moved to New Mexico in 1923 then to Eugene, OR. 1933 and came to Stayton in 1943. Farmed east of town about 4 miles out. He was a farmer and Army veteran of World War I. He married Etoyle Montgomery on Feb. 7, 1920 in Ark.

Survivors include wife;, sons, Robert W. of Stayton, Harold Dean of Baker, sisters, Sina Skinner of Carlsbad, NM, G. Dewey of Stayton, half brothers Charles W. of Stayton and Jim Bill of Cottage Grove.

Hope this is of help to you. A contribution to the Santiam Historical Society would be appreciated. Thank you in advance.

Sincerely, (Signed Mable T. Overnolts)

If you’re related to this family or have more information about them including stories, pictures and dates and family member names, I’d love to hear from you. Please leave a comment below or email me directly from the About Us page.