Nancy Ann Brumley Eaton is my grand-great aunt, she was born on January 3, 1850, to Willis Brumley and Mary Johns in Richland, Gasconade, Missouri. I have little information to go on for Willis and Mary except to say Mary “Polly” died in 1861 in Mount Sterling, Missouri. She was the second child in a family of four children, William “Bill” 1847, Amanda Elizabeth 1855, and John Brumley 1859.
Her father went on to marry a second time to Nancy J Vaughn and Nancy now had a half-brother and sister, Alice Florence 1869, and Isaack Walter Brumley (my great-grandfather) 1875.
Nancy Ann was a big sister to all and while her father was away working to feed his family either on the railroad or other business ventures, she was the one who took care of everyone. The family moved around between Gasconade, Maries, and Osage counties.
She married Henry Clark Eaton on January 7, 1877, in Osage County, Missouri. Clark and Nancy started their own family, John Arthur 1881, Cynthia Ann 1883, Mary Ellen 1885, Ida Florence 1887, Stella Mae 1890, and Benjamin Franklin Eaton 1892. They lived their lives in the Cooper Hill area of Osage County.
They were a hard-working family with lots of relatives living around them to socialize within the county. I remember when I was visiting a family member in the 1980’s she told me that her nickname was “Aunt Coon”. I asked how she got that name, and she did not recall.
Clark Eaton was only fifty years old when he died in 1897. Nancy Ann remained close to her family, her children, and grandchildren. The story goes that Charlie Pointer wanted to marry her and he proposed several times, and she said no several times. Charlie Roark Pointer finally convinced her to marry him so in 1922 in Osage County, Missouri they tied the knot. Charlie was seventy-six and Nancy Ann was seventy-two.
Nancy Ann and Charlie lived happily ever after, until his death on November 29, 1934, she died on June 30, 1935. She was eighty-five and he was eighty-eight.
I remember visiting Osage County back in the 1980s with my mother Nancy Gertrude Brumley Weik. It was a quaint little place, but the fun part was going to Linn the county seat and going back into time. We were able to go back into the vaults where all the incredibly old records were stored. There were huge records books that were heavy and dusty. It made me think no one had ever looked at these record books before me, it was a thrill. I could have stayed there for hours looking up different relatives and discovered what their life was like so many years ago. If you are looking for a road trip, I would recommend it. The courthouse was a unique building and included the benches out front where three older gentlemen chatted with us about days gone by and we enjoyed asking them if they knew any of our ancestors.
Thank you for reading my blog post.
Brumley Family Branches 