3- Ethel Chamilia Wolford 1890-1935

 

Adam Wolford → John Wolford + Mary → Calvin Wolford + Eliza Pritchard  →

William Millard Wolford +Sarah Taylor → 

Ethel Chamilia Wolford (1890-1935)

Father- William Millard Wolford
Mother- Sarah Ann Taylor

Spouse- James Salem Shuff (1884-1937)

Ethel and Salem’s Children;
Clarence Shuff 1909 – 1979
Lawrence A SHUFF 1913 – 1967
Carl Alvin SHUFF 1917 – 1999
Herbert Ray SHUFF 1919 – 2015
Margie P SHUFF 1922 – 2005
Tressie Madaline SHUFF 1924 – 2013

William and Sarah’s last child, Ethel Chamilia Wolford was born 3 March 1890 in Fayette county. Sarah dies shortly after this, although death records have not yet been found. When she was five, her father remarried and started having a bunch of little brothers and sisters- she wasn’t the baby anymore. Her step mother probably had Ethel help take care of the kids, since she didn’t marry until 18- later than the rest of her sisters.
She fell in love with a car mechanic named James Salem Shuff (a brother to her sister’s husband John Shuff) and they married 7 May 1908 in Kincaid. James, who used to go by his middle name Salem, was 24 and was already a widower when they married. He grew up in Grant, Wayne county, and had worked farms with his daddy since he was a young teen. Ethel and Salem had Clarence in 1909, and Salem went to work as a conductor on the railroad.
They bought a place in Lincoln, Wayne, WV and Salem started working mines. They had six children altogether, Clarence (1909-1979), Lawrence A. (1913-1967), Carl A. (1917-1999), Herbert Ray (1919-), Margie (1922-), Tressie Madaline 1924-2013). By the time Tressie had turned five, Ethel must have been getting sick with gastric cancer- they hired Pauline Brown (who also had a daughter Catherine Brown) as a servant to help out with the house and the kids.
Gastric cancer take a years to develop, but the end of the disease leaves a body weak and in lots of pain. After 1940, the rate of gastric cancer dropped by 90%. Why? Two reasons- first, GE made cheap home refrigeration available in 1930, and second, West Virginia (and many other states) rural electrification started in 1937. At the height of the depression, Ethel passed away on 13 Jan 1935 in Wayne county, WV at just 44 years of age.

Appendix D – Ethel Chamilia Wolford Timeline
1890- 3 Mar, Fayette, WV, Birth (1900 Census, Death Index)

1900- 29 June – US Federal Census- Kanawha district, Fayette County, West Virginia.
William Wooldridge (Wolford), Head, White, Male, born Feb 1859, aged 41, married 5 years, 3 children, born WVA, Father, VA, Mother OH, Day Laborer, not unemployed, can read/write, speaks English, rents, lives in home, wife
Mary V., Wife, white, female, May 1870, 30, married, 5 yrs married, 3 children, born WV, Father WV, Mother WV.
Annie. M. Daughter, white, female, May 1886, 14 yrs old, single, born WV, Parents WV.
William M. (Jr) son, white, male, April 1887, 13 yrs old, son, born WV, Parents WV.
Ethel, daughter, white, female, March 1890, 10 yrs, single, born WV, Parents, WV.
Charley, son, white, male, April 1896, 4 yrs, single, born WV, Parents WV.
Bertha,,daughter, white, female, May 1898, single, born WV, parents, WV.
Eddie C, son, white, male, Oct 1899, 8/12 yrs, single, born WV, Parents WV.

1908-7 May- Kincaid, Fayette, WV- West Virginia Marriages Index, 1785-1971
James S Shuff, 24, widowed, born Wayne co, lives in Kincaid, James and Jennie Shuff, works car repairing
Ethel Woolford, 18, single, born Fayette, lives in Kincaid, W M Wolford
Performed by D W Walter, remarks- J S Shuff

1910- 4 May- US Federal Census, Kincaid Precinct, Kanawha District, Fayette, WV
SHUFF, James, head, male, white, 26, first marriage x 2 years, born WV, parents WV, SPeaks English, conductor, railroad, wages earner, not unemployed, can read/write, rents home, home not farm, farm ached 11, veteran 3, blind x, deaf and dumb 5
Ethel, wife, female, white, first marriage x 2 yrs, 1 child, 1 birth, born Ohio, father Ohio, mother WV, speaks English, no occupation, can read/write
Clarence, son, male, white, 10 mos., single, born WV, father WV, mother, OH, no occupation

1930-9 April- County Road, District 13, Lincoln Magisterial District, Wayne county, WV
Shuff, James S., owns home and farm, male, white, age 45, married at 21, can read/write, born WV, Father KY, Mother VA, speaks English, miner, coal mines, not a veteran
Ethel, wife-H, female, white, 41, married at 19, born WV, Parents WV, speaks English, no occupation
Lawrence A., son, male, white, 16, single, not in school, born WV, parents WV, speaks English, no occupation
Carl A., son, male, white, 13, single, in school, born WV, parents WV, speaks English, no occupation
Herbert R., son, male, white, 10, single, in school, born WV, parents WV, speaks English, no occupation
Marnie., daughter, female, white, 8, single, in school, born WV, parents WV, speaks English, no occupation
Tressie, daughter, female, white, 5, single, not in school, born WV, parents WV, speaks English, no occupation
Brown, Pauline, servant
Catherine L., daughter of servant

1935- Jan 13, Wayne County, WV- Indexed Register of Deaths Pg. 19
Shuff, Ethel C., white, female, died 13 Jan 1935, in Wayne, WV, Cancer of the stomach, parents W.M. Walford, housewife, married, recorded by registrar