Claude Roy Truitt was my Boo's [Alice's] husband [my Gran's dad]. I know of not one single family story of good ol' Claude that's been handed down. Zilch. Nothing. Well, my mom did tell me "he was a jerk." Her words, not mine. Yikes! How would you like to be remembered like that by one of your grandchildren? I know that that thought gives me great pause, and I don't even have grandchildren yet [and won't for a very long time].
Of course, I've done a lil' work on his family story because if he is remembered as a "jerk," then his story has got to be good, right? [This is how my warped mind works...]
Well, Claude [who went by his inititals, C.R., which makes me wonder, did he not like his name?], was born 12 Aug 1875 as Claudius Roy Truitt in Paducah, McCracken County, Kentucky to LeRoy W. and Magdalen A. (McGee) Truitt. He is now buried in the section Bethany, once known as the Garden of Gethsemane, in Forest Park Lawndale Cemetery in Houston, Texas.
I find it interesting this pattern that I have found in my mom's maternal line. They are all Catholic, and after (apparently) marrying "jerks", they've all divorced them [except for my parents, of course]. Then, no one talks about the big "D" word, but indeed, they did get divorced. In fact, these women never remarried, and these "jerks" all remarried, including good ol' Claude/Claudius/C.R. What's so "funny" about him though is that he remarried someone with the same name as his first wife, Alice. This is not the first time I've seen this occur in my research, but it does get me to thinking. [Uh-oh.] What were they thinking? Did they think this was some kind of do-over, or something? To top it off this second Alice, who outlived him, is not buried near him. I find that interesting. Did she think he was a jerk, too? Well, one thing is for sure, he couldn't call her by the wrong name. You know, if he ever said something like, "One of these days, Alice, one of these days, Pow, right in the kisser." The question is, though, did she tell him, "aaaah, shyuuuddup"?
Video courtesy of northbreed1 on YouTube.
Really cute story! And yes, she probably did tell him "Aaaah, Shyuuddep!". Even us "non-jerks" hear that sometime!
ReplyDelete~Regina
A good lesson to learn from Claude - being a jerk is a legacy that can outlive ya!
ReplyDeleteHow many times a day would I like to say that?
ReplyDeleteThis story is adorable.
ReplyDeleteIt's always good to read some good stuff from you.
I love how you went one step further and wondered what made him a jerk in the first place. I do think his story is worth investigating and I bet that you could find some good details that lead him down that path. Oooo, don't you just love drama. You would soon wonder if you're doing something wrong if all of your ancestors lived long lives, happily married with all their children surviving them all with ancestors from the Mayflower! LOL I LOVE reality. It makes life so much more interesting!
ReplyDeleteI love the tie-in to the Honeymooners. What woman today would stay with Ralph Cramden?!
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments! I have a lot more work to do, but he definitely interests me.
ReplyDeleteAnd Jean, apparently none of the women in my mom's family would've stayed with Ralph Cramden. LOL.
~Caroline