1850

Census of Sumner County, District 7:

Samuel McKain, age 55, white male, machinist
Elizabeth McKain, age 52, white female
Melissa McKain, age 30, white female
John McKain, age 12, white male

Adjoining entry:

Iredell McKain, age 32, white male
Manesi McKain, age 27, white female
James McKain, age 10, white male
Louisa Elizabeth McKain, age 8, white female
Malissa Jane McKain, age 4, white female
(Margaret Tennessee McKain was born after the census)

Adjoining entry:

Houston McKain, age 26, white male, teacher
Ann McKain, age 21, white female
Zarelda McKain, age 4, white female Martha Ann McKain, age 2, white female
James McKain, age 1, white male

1851, Nov. 6

"I Samuel McKain for and in consideration of the love and affection of my two grand-daughters, Louisa E. McKain and Zirula McKain, I give them: I give to Louisa McKain, daughter of I. McKain, my son, one horse, Tom. I also give to her one bureau, one bed, bedstead furniture, and one dressing table. I give to Ziruld McKain, daughter of H. McKain, my bay horse, Bill, to have and hold forever. Granted under my hand this 6 of November, 1851." by Samuel McKain

1852

Iredell McKain died.

1852, Mar.

Samuel applied for two bounty land grants, one for each term of service in the War of 1812. It appears that he got two 80 acre land grants.

1852, Apr. 1

Elizabeth Mayberry McKain, age 54, wife of Samuel McKain died.

1852, May 28

An inventory of Iredell McKain's estate was entered into court records, and the court set aside provisions to support his widow, M. McKain, for one year to include items such as: 300 pounds of bacon, 700 pounds of pork, 75 pounds of coffee, 150 pounds of sugar, 200 pounds of cotton, etc.

1853, Jan. 22

Samuel McKain of Sumner County, Tennessee bought 100 acres in Dyer County, Tennessee, Civil District 8 from Samuel Henderson as witnessed by Houston McKain.

1854, Aug. 12

Samuel McKain as administrator of the estate of Iredell McKain, settles debts against the estate.

1860

Census from Hendersonville, P. O.

Samuel McKain, age 60, Sheriff, born Tennessee
Malissa Hamilton, age 38, (Samuel's Daughter)
John F. Hamilton, age 22
Virginia Hamilton, age 20

1867, Sep. 24

Samuel was married to Jane Latimer by Charles F. Clendenning, J. P.

1869, Oct. 4

Court Minute Book for Monday, 10,4,69.

Robert Hamilton appointed guardian of M. A. Hamilton and M. J. Hamilton. Securities entered by John Clendenning and Samuel McKain.

1870, Aug. 6

Census of Sumner County, District 9:

Samuel McKain, age 75, white male, born Tenn.
Jane McKain, age 46, white female

1871, Feb. 14

Samuel's War of 1812 survivors pension Number 15,276 commenced for eight dollars per month.

1872

Samuel McKain bought two parcels of land at a tax sale.

1878

Map #1235 in the Tennessee State Archives, Nashville, shows S. McKain residing on the south side of Long Hollow Pike approximately one mile east of Drake's Creek, District 7, Sumner County. This is approximately three miles west of Douglas Chapel, where Long Hollow Pike crosses Station Camp Creek. A large white house occupied by a Mrs. Gourley stands today8 near this map reference. She said that an older home was torn down to build her present, newer home.

1880, May 15

In his will, Samuel McKain gave his beloved wife 79 acres where she then lived. After her death, the land was to be sold and divided between Samuel H. McKain, son of Houston McKain and the daughters of Iredell McKain. He gave $500 to John F. Hamilton. Also he gave Houston McKain a tract of land in Dyer County, Tennessee, on which he then lived containing 74 acres more or less. He also gave $100 to Minnie Latimer. The executors were Robert H. Latimer and Jane McKain.

1880, Jun. 18

Census of Sumner County, District 7 (District being approximately 10 miles west of Gallatin near Hendersonville / Drake's Creek).

McKain, Samuel, white male, age 84, farmer, born Tenn., Farther born N. C., Mother born N. C.
McKain, Jane, white female, age 55, wife
Latimer, Minnie, white female, age 4, niece
McKain, James, black male, age 15, servant

1881, Nov. 13

Samuel McKain died. Later in the month, Jane McKain applied for a widow's pension. She was supported by a statement from Dr. James Franklinwho said that he had known the late Colonel McKain for 50 years or more, and that Jane's statements were true. Jane received the pension of $12 for Samuel's service in the War of 1812, until her death in November of 1907. Samuel is buried beside his second wife Jane in the small Frazier Cemetery, which is located on the north side of Long Hollow Pike approximately 1-1/4 miles east of Drake's Creek. The inscription on Samuel's tombstone reads:

"Affliction sore, long time I bore, physicians skill in vain; till Christmas pleased, to give me ease, and rid me of my pain."

1882, Jun. 9

Robert H. Latimer, executor to the will of Samuel McKain, wife Jane McKain;

Creditor Claims: J F. Hamilton (grandson)
S. M. Taylor
James McKain (grandson)
Leander Kizer
Caroline M. Latimer (niece)

Houston McKain

1823, Mar. 15

Houston McKain was born in Sumner County, Tennessee, a son of Samuel and Elizabeth McKain.

1846

Houston McKain married Sarah (Sallie) Ann Madrey9 of Sumner County. Sallie was born in North Carolina.

1846, Dec. 26

Zarelda McKain was born.

1848, Jun. 3

Martha Ann (Sis) McKain was born.

1850, Feb. 28

James Franklin (Doc) McKain was born.

1850

As we have seen earlier, Houston, Sallie Ann, and their three children, Zarelda, Martha Ann, and James were living next to Samuel McKain and Iredell McKain in Sumner County.

1851, Dec. 2 S.

Elizabeth was born.

1853, Jan. 22

Houston witnessed Samuel McKain's purchase of 100 acres in Dyer County.

1853, Sep. 24

Samuel Houston McKain was born.

1855

M. Josephine McKain was born.

1857, Aug. 14

Lucy F. McKain was born.

1859, Nov. 2

Eugenia A. McKain was born.

1860

Houston was farming 74 acres owned by his father in the Newbern District of Dyer County, Tennessee This property was located a few miles north of Rehoboth Methodist Church of Roellen, Tennessee.

1861, Jul. 24

Alzora McKain was born.

1863, Apr. 3

Tennessee Dixie McKain was born.

1863

Civil War: In November of 1863, General Nathan Bedford Forrest, C.S.A., one of the Confederacy's most successful cavalry generals, was ordered to west Tennessee with 600 men to raise a new cavalry force and organize existing commands. Since this was behind Federal lines at that time, his recruiters were forced to operate in dense woods and bottoms.

1863, Nov. 18

Houston enlisted at Tirgo, Tennessee in the Army of the Confederate States of America, for a period of three years.

By mid-December some 3500 unarmed new recruits were enroute to Mississippi. Through freezing rains, they were pursued by four Federal columns totaling 15000 men, but by stealth and daring, Forrest managed to extricate these recruits with but slight loss.

At Como, Mississippi, 43 miles south of Memphis, Forrest set up his headquarters. He had troops from 16 different commands, with companies ranging in strength from 13 to 35 men10.

1864, Feb. 5

Forrest reorganized and consolidated his troops in camp at Como, Mississippi. The 15th Consolidated Tennessee Cavalry was formed from Stewart's Regiment Tennessee Cavalry, Logwood's Regiment Tennessee Cavalry, and Street's Battalion Mississippi Cavalry. Company H of the 15th was formed from various companies of Stewart's Regiment. The 15th, about 300 men11, was then placed in Brigadier - General R. V. Richardson's Brigade, Brigadier - General J. R. Chalmer's Division.

1864, Feb 21

Then Chalmer's Division moved to Grenada and thence to West Point, Mississippi, where under the command of Major- General Forrest, it helped meet and repulse a large Federal Cavalry force of 7000 under General Sooy Smith, U.S.A. The 15th fought dismounted, and within an hour after the enemy broke and retreated, Richardson's Brigade (including the 15th) was ordered back to Grenada and down the Yazoo River to meet a raiding force of Federals.

1864, Mar. 5

After an attack upon a Federal expedition of infantry supported by gunboats that was occupying Yazoo City, the15th was described thus:

"The 15th and its gallant and dashing Colonel Logwood behaved well. Its' flag bears ten bullet holes through its' folds and one through its' staff, as honorable mementos of the fierce struggle it passed."

The Federals withdrew down the Yazoo River on the next day Colonel Duckworth, then Colonel Neely assumed command of the brigade.

1864, Mar.

In late March, Neely's Brigade routed a Federal force at Brownsville, Tennessee. This was in support of Major - General Forrest's raid into Kentucky.

1864, May 11

Houston McKain is shown on the muster rolls for this day as: 1st Sergeant for Company H of the 15th Consolidated Tennessee Cavalry Regiment, C.S.A.12

1864, May

In late May, Chalmer's Division, including Neely's Brigade, was dispatched to Central Alabama south of Birmingham (Montevallo) to protect that area from Federal raids.

1864, June 1

Then Neely's Brigade was detached to report to Brigadier - General Gideon Pillow in order to protect coal and iron works near Anniston, Alabama (Blue Mountain).

1864, Jun. 24

Next Neely (with the 15th) joined Brigadier - General Pillow in a raid upon Sherman's communications which culminated in an attack on LaFayette, Georgia.

1864, Jun.

In late June, Neely's Brigade, under Brigadier-General Pillows command, joined in an attack upon a Federal garrison at Oxford, Georgia, some 50 miles east of Atlanta.

1864, Jul. 10

Neely's Brigade returned to Forrest's command at Okolona, Mississippi.

1864, Jul. 14

Dismounted, Neely's Brigade of 600 men was used as reserves at the battle of Harrisburg, Mississippi (Tupelo). Here General S. D. Lee, C.S.A. fought Federal forces under Major-General A. J. Smith; forcing them to return to Memphis.

1864, Aug.

In mid-August, Chalmer's Division, including Neely's Brigade, fought a number of engagements with Federal cavalry in and around Oxford, Mississippi.

1864, Aug. 21

To blunt a Federal thrust into Mississippi by 18,000 men, Major-General Forrest staged the Memphis raid in the early morning hours of August 21. The troops in this raid were picked from his entire command and included detachments of the 15th Tennessee Cavalry. This action included a charge to the Hotel Gayoso, which just missed capturing several Union Generals, some of who escaped in their night clothes.

Lieutenant-Colonel Logwood was to support the charge upon the Gayoso House by placing detachments of the 12th and 15th Tennessee Regiments to hold the junction of Main and Beale, Shelby and Beale, and the steamboat landing at the foot of Union Street. As his troops charged into Memphis, they burst through a line of infantry and dispersed a battery that was busily charging its' guns.

After helping the advance group search the Gayoso, they then began to retire by 9 a.m. The raiders returning on DeSoto Street to Mississippi Avenue found a Federal gun battery with strong supporting infantry blocking the retreat. Company I of the 15th was sent forward to take the battery, but it was repulsed. Reinforced by Company H of the 15th, the battery was again charged and taken, and the raiders successfully withdrew. The raid had its' desired result of pulling the Federal force in Mississippi back to protect Memphis.

1864, Aug. 30

General Order Number 73 reorganized Rucker's Brigade to include the 15th Regiment of Tennessee Cavalry.

1864, Sep. 24

Next the 15th was engaged at Athens, Alabama. Major- General Forrest reported that the 15th charged the flank of the Federals and drove them from their breastworks, killing several and capturing eight.

1864, Sep. 25

The 15th helped to capture a major railroad fort north of Athens, and was then sent back to Mississippi with 820 prisoners and captured arms. Rucker's Brigade the reshoed in Corinth, Mississippi in preparation for the next action.

1864, Oct. 30

The 15th Regiment participated in a raid behind Federal lines in west Tennessee and was engaged in battle at Paris Landing on the 30th of October, where they helped capture the Federal gunboat Undine and the transport Venus. These boats were then manned by the troopers (horse marines) of the 15th and proceeded upriver toward Johnsonville, Tennessee where these inexperienced sailors were defeated by superior numbers of Federal gunboats.

1864, Nov. 4

The 15th then participated in the destruction of Federal warehouses and gunboats at Johnsonville.

1864, Nov. 6

On the night of the sixth with heavy rains and a rising river, the 15th Tennessee crossed the Tennessee River at Perryville by using two captured small boats from the Undine. The horses were made to swim. They crossed thusly into middle Tennessee to join with General Hood's forces at Mount Pleasant and support him in his invasion of Tennessee.

1864, Nov. 23

On the night of the 23rd, Rucker's Brigade, including the 15th, routed a large Federal force at Fourche Springs, Tennessee.

1864, Nov. 24

Lieutenant-Colonel Dawson of the 15th was killed in hand to hand combat at Columbia, Tennessee while leading his regiment in the charge.

864, Nov. 30

Next the brigade fought its way to Franklin, Tennessee where it joined Chalmer's Division on the left flank for the bloody frontal attack of Confederate cavalry and infantry upon 30,000 entrenched Federals. After the Federals retreated that night, Chalmer's Division was ordered to pursue them.

1864, Dec. 15&16

At the battle of Nashville, 22,000 Confederates faced 50,000 entrenched Federals. Here Federal cavalry and infantry with the support of gunboats, attacked the Confederate left flank (Rucker's Brigade). After two days of fighting, including being cut off, the Confederate retreat back to Alabama began.

1864, Dec.

For eleven days and nights, Major-General Forrest's troops, including the 15th, covered the retreat as rear guards of General Hood's army. Fighting through freezing cold, rain, snow, and thaws they permitted General Hood's troops to cross the Tennessee River into Alabama. Only 75 men of the 15th returned from this campaign.

1865, Jan

In early January, the west Tennessee troops of Rucker's Brigade were furloughed for 20 days to their homes behind Federal lines to rest and secure new clothes and horses.

1865, Feb.

Troop losses forced another consolidation, and the 15th Regiment became a part of Nixon's Regiment of Tennessee Cavalry.

1865, May

This regiment participated in battles near Selma, Alabama and was included in the surrender of the western Confederate forces at Gainesville, Alabama on May 4, 186513.

1865, May 9

Lieutenant-General Nathan Bedford Forrest made his famous farewell address to his troops at Gainesville, and the command was paroled.

After the war, Houston McKain, this big, tall, heavy set former cavalryman returned to farming and teaching.

1865, Oct. 15

Bedford Forrest McKain was born, named for General Nathan Bedford Forrest, C.S.A. in whose command Houston served during the Civil War.

1869, Jul. 18

Norah McKain was born.

1870, Jul. 18

Census of 8th Civil District of Dyer County shows Houston and Sallie McKain and eight of their children ranging in age from 19 years to 2 years.

1871, Mar. 1

William Iredell McKain was born.

1877, Apr.

State of Tennessee Supreme Court (Walkins vs. Wyatt)

These two men met in court to determine which had a prior right to recover a judgment for supplies which were secured by the 1875 cotton crop of Houston McKain of Dyer County.

1879

The Dyer County District 8 Tax Book shows Houston McKain, with J. F. McKain and Sam McKain, living on 75 acres of land with an assessed value of $900.

1880, May 15

Samuel McKain willed to Houston McKain the 74 acres of land in Dyer County, Tennessee on which he then lived.

1880, Jun.

Census of 8th District of Dyer County shows Houston McKain, 57, a farmer, and Sallie McKain, 52. Also living with them are eight of their children ranging in age from 32 to 9 years. Martha Ann, age 32, is show as a widow. Bedford, age 14, Norah, age 11, and William, age 9 are shown as attending school

1884, Nov. 29

Houston McKain and his wife Sallie Ann McKain of Dyer County sold a lot, a part of their home place, for $25 to the Colored Presbyterian Church for use of a church and a school.

1888, Dec. 5

Houston McKain, for $1, sold a two year old bay mare to his son-in-law, W. H. Self, as collateral for a $30 loan.

1895, May 8

Houston McKain died and was buried in plot 11 of Rehoboth Methodist Church Cemetery of Roellen, Tennessee. When Sallie died in 1906, she was buried beside him. Inscription on Houston's tombstone: "Resting in the hope of a glorious resurection". Inscription on Sallie's tombstone: "I know that my redeemer liveth".

1906

The family farm and house passed to Houston's youngest son, William Iredell McKain.

1871, Mar. 1

Will was born in Dyer County, Tennessee, the last child of Houston and Sallie Ann Madrey McKain. He received only a formal sixth grade education, although he likely gained additional instruction from his father. He grew to be a tall (6 foot, 4 inch) man with brown eyes, dark hair, and a mild disposition.

1895, Aug. 11

Will married Hettie Earl (Sister) Chitwood14, fourth child of Shedrick Alvonza (Bud) Chitwood and Matilda Ann Tatum15 They resided in the Holland Road home at this time.

1896, Jul. 23

Lorene McKain was born.

1897, Oct. 15

Floyce Bedford McKain was born.

1899, Nov. 19

Klyce Kelly McKain was born.

1900, June 2

Census of 8th Civil District of Dyer County:

McKain, William, white, male, born March 1871, married 4 years, born in Tenn., both parents born in Tenn., farmer, reads, writes, English speaker, owns farm.

McKain, Hettie E., wife, white, female, born August 1877, married 4 years, born in Tenn., parents born in Tenn, mother of 3, 2 living.

McKain, Lorene, white, female, born July, 1896.

McKain, Klyce K., white, male, born November, 1899.

1901, Sep. 30

Cular Ann McKain was born.

1903, Jul. 15

Willie Maud McKain was born

1904, Dec. 26

Twins Elihu and Addie were born, but both died in 1905.

1906, Jan. 1

Delilah (Lila) McKain was born

1906

Family farm passed to Will McKain upon the death of his mother.

1908, Feb. 20

Tommy McKain was born, but died in 1911.

1910, Jun. 6

Cleo McKain was born.

1912

Will sold the family farm for the then unheard of price of $100 per acre. The family then moved to a home on the old wagon road near Delphus School (Rehoboth).

1912, Mar. 8

James Edward (Ed) McKain was born. Will became a road commissioner for Dyer County.

1914

Will built a 14 room house in Roellen and took in boarders.

1914, Jul. 15

Sybil Sue McKain was born.

Will did well financially and sent his first three children to college. He even owned a new 1916 Dodge automobile with a "silent starter". He was into many things: he ran a furniture store in Roellen and held a county road grading contract for eight miles of dirt road, using a horse drawn grader.

1917

Will and the family moved to the old home on Holland Road.

1918

The family returned to Roellen in the same house. Will was a deputy sheriff of Dyer County for a while, and also ran a contract wheat thrasher with a crew of 22. The workers would cut the wheat and bring it to a central mule powered thrasher. Ed McKain, age 6, was the water boy using a pony cart with a water barrel.

1919

The family moved to a home near Delphus school.

1919, Apr. 2

Shedric Earl McKain was born.

1920

The family moved to Dyersburg, Tennessee when Will bought a meat market there.

1921

After a failure of the business, Will returned to farming and moved the family to farm near Unionville, Dyer County. Will built a home there, for he was a master carpenter.

1925

The farm proved to have poor soil, so Will sold the farm, put most of the family on the train, and he, along with his son Ed, moved their possessions to Memphis by mule wagon.

The family settled in the Normal District of Shelby County. Will began farming near the intersection of the rural roads of Park and Getwell. However, his primary occupation for the next 12 years was that of a carpenter, and he built several houses near his own home in the 600 block of Normal Street. Will then retired but continued with remodeling jobs and gardening until about the age of 75.

Will and Hettie lived in an extended family environment with 24 children and grandchildren living within a half-mile of their home. They celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in 1945. On occasion, a family picnic was held in nearby Audubon Park.

1959

William Iredell McKain died at home at the age of 88 and was returned to Roellen, Tennessee to be buried in Rehoboth Methodist Church Cemetery.

1970

Hettie lived eleven more years, died in Memphis at the age of 93, and is buried beside her husband.

James Edward McKain, Sr.

1912, Mar. 8

James Edward (Ed) McKain, a son of William Iredell and Hettie Earl McKain, was born in Delphus16, Tennessee in a house (since burned) on a 120 acre farm owned by his father. The birth certificates at that time were done after the fact in Dyersburg only about once a month or so by the doctor, because the roads were bad in the winter and spring. It appears that there was a mix-up in the records with James Edward and his cousin Billy Chitwood, who was born on February 6.

Ed lived here until they moved to Roellen in 1914, and thence back to "the old home place", grand-dad's house, on Holland Road. He remembers muddy dirt roads, and his older brother, Klyce, leaving (1917) in a snowstorm for W.W.I. He and his father would take the wagon into Dyersburg on Saturday's for supplies. Ed remembers getting 10¢ for an ice-cream and a movie (silent film).

1921

After a brief move to Dyersburg, the family moved to Unionville where they stayed in a large white house until Will McKain could build a house for them on their farm. Ed's job was to work the cows before and after school.

1925

In 1925, Ed (age 13) helped his father move the family's possessions to Memphis by mule wagon. They settled in the Normal district of what is now Memphis. Ed had to help with the family finances and started with a paper route. Grades 7, 8, and 9 were at the Training School on the Normal School campus. His father made him a nanny goat harness for a small wagon that Ed would drive through the neighborhood. This outfit later went to Shedric, his younger brother.

1927

Ed got a job caddying at Galloway Golf Course near Poplar and Highland. On Saturday night after a movie at the Normal Theater, he and his friends would walk to the clubhouse and sleep on the floor so they would be first in line to caddy the next morning.

1928

Ed attended Messick High School where he met Ruth Frances Duncan, a neighborhood girl. He graduated in June, 1930.

1930

After high school, Ed went to work for Standard Brands (1930 to 1942), a food manufacturer and distributor. Ed and friends took a trip to New York City via an old Ford Model T which required frequent attention. The trip was by mostly gravel roads and was quite an adventure for the young men. Ed was six foot two inches tall, 180 pounds, had sandy colored curly hair, and blue eyes. (As a young man his nickname was "curly".)

1931, Aug. 6

James Edward McKain married Ruth Frances Duncan in Marion, Arkansas. The wedding was not publicized, since Ruth was in a school of nursing that did not allow married students.

Ed traveled for Standard Brands for six years in Arkansas to Paragould, Jonesboro, Blytheville, and the like. He would stay out two nights in boarding houses, return to Memphis and repeat the process. He worked six days a week. In Memphis, they rented a variety of houses on: Camellia, Agnes, Greenwood, and Walker Streets.

1933, Oct. 19

James Edward McKain, Jr. was born in Memphis.

1935, Oct. 15

Richard Duncan McKain was born is Memphis.

1939

The family bought a home in Normal to be close to both sides of the family. The house was in a rural area, but had indoor plumbing and coal burning stoves. They began to fix up this house with gas heat, insulation, new kitchen, porch, etc. The family were members of Buntyn Presbyterian Church.

1942, Dec. 20

John Joseph McKain was born in Memphis. Ed McKain changed jobs to the National Biscuit Company (Nabisco) where he worked nearly 32 years till retirement.

1944, Mar.

World War II had been underway for several years, and manpower was in short supply. Even though Ed was 32 years old with a wife and three children, he was drafted into the U. S. Navy. He went through basic training at the Williamsburg, Virginia Seabee base and was assigned to a Destroyer Escort for Atlantic convoy duty.

He shipped out of Newport aboard the Leslie B. Knox as a Seaman. On his first voyage they were in a convoy of 15 escorts and 102 merchant ships bound for Bizerte, Tunisia.. This convoy was out for 21 days, and on the first evening after they passed through the Straits of Gibraltar, they came under air attack by 12 to 15 German planes. Ed's battle station was as loader on a forward three inch gun turret. They stopped enroute at Marseilles, France. While on shore leave in Tunisia, he took a six hour, 75 mile train ride to Tunis. The train was so under powered that the passengers had to alight and walk up several of the steeper hills, while the engine built up steam. In Tunis, they took escorted tours of the Casbah. Ed's second convoy trip was again to Tunisia. The third trip was to Palermo, Sicily.

1944 / 1945

Ed was ashore for minor surgery at the naval hospital in Saint Albans, New York. When he again reported for duty, he was assigned to the D. E. 328 USS Fitch. The balance of his convoy trips were to Cardiff, Wales, Plymouth, England, Liverpool, England (twice), and Ireland.

While on North Atlantic duty the crew would wear fleece lined leather jackets against the cold. On one trip, Ed was nearly washed overboard by a huge wave. There were lots of Sonar contacts on these trips, but they didn't lose any ships. Ed's battle station aboard the Fitch was a loader for a 40 mm gun.

1945, Oct.

Ed's last three months of service were spent at the Milington Naval Hospital near Memphis.

1948

After the war, Nabisco began to furnish new reliable cars for their salesmen, and at that time the family began to take vacations. In 1948, they went to Chickasaw State Park, Tennessee, which at that time was a significant trip over gravel roads. Vacations then became an annual event with trips to: Great Smoky Mountains; Atlanta; New Orleans; Colorado Springs (1951); and Branson, Missouri.

1956

Vacation this year was to: Michigan; Ontario; Niagara Falls; New York City; Newport, R. I. (to visit Jim McKain - James E. McKain, Jr. - who was in O.C.S. training); and return through Washington, D. C.

1957

Annual family vacation trips continued to such various places as: Mammoth Cave; California; Florida; and the Pacific Northwest; etc. On some of these trips, Frances (Frankie) Duncan, Ruth's mother, was a welcome addition.

1968, Aug.

Memphis State University began buying surrounding property in 1958 in order to expand its' campus. After eight years of a dwindling neighborhood, Ed and Ruth sold their home and moved to a new home in Heritage Village, a Memphis subdivision. By this time all of their children had left and they were alone once again.

1975

Ed retired from Nabisco after nearly 32 years of service, not counting W.W.II service. They lived quietly in Memphis with plenty of relatives in the area, but none of their boys or grandchildren lived nearby.

1991, Jul.

Ed and Ruth sold their home in Memphis and moved to Mesa, Arizona to be near their youngest son John, his wife Ruthie, their grandchildren Mark and Kim and their spouses Paula and Tyler. Ed and Ruth resided in "The Wells", a retirement community that well suited them. They enjoyed Arizona and their family including great-grandchildren Ian James McKain born on November 23, 1992 and Charles Joshua Cederstrom born on March 21, 1995.

1994, Nov. 9

Ed McKain suffered a massive stroke at his home in "The Wells" and was admitted to Valley Lutheran Hospital. Till the end of 1994 he was at "The Citadel", a nursing home or back in the hospital.

1995, January

Ed was brought to the home of his son John, where he fought to rehabilitate, with some limited success; but a continuing series of smaller strokes continued to impair his viability. In February the efforts at rehabilitation ceased once his further deterioration was apparent. At that time he went to bed, never to rise again.

1995, April 15

Surrounded by his wife Ruth, sons Dick and John, and Saturday daughter-in-law Ruthie, Ed McKain died at 1:15 p.m. at his son's home at 3740 North Hawes Road, Mesa. Internment was April 19 at Mountain View Memorial Gardens in Mesa, Arizona.

1996, March 3

Ruth Francis Duncan McKain, although optimistic and full of Sunday life, died in her sleep of a heart attack while recuperating from pneumonia in Valley Lutheran Hospital, Mesa, Arizona. She is buried beside her husband of 63 years.

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