Person Page 1,686

William Walter ("Bill") Love

Parents

Father	Samuel Ebzan Love, Sr. (b. February 1827, d. 29 January 1910)
Mother	Sarah Elizabeth ("Sally") Darnell (b. 22 April 1849, d. 21 November 1895)

Person Exhibits

Love, William Walter

Love, William Walter

William Walter Love

William Walter Love

Biography

Burial		William Walter ("Bill") Love was buried in Colusa, Colusa County, California, USABG.1
Person Source		He had person sources.2
ChildParent2,2
Anecdote		(Original compilation by Beverly Loomis (bevloomis@yahoo.com), based on family interviews and census records, updated 2017.) William Walter Love , known as Bill, was born in Tennessee.  He was borm  24 Feb 1874, although 21 Feb 1875 is erroneously listed on this death certificate.  He told his children he was raised on a plantation by a "black mammy," that his father married twice and had a total of 16 children, and that he (Bill) was the "black sheep" of his family.  In the 1880 census in Knoxville, Tennessee we find William W. Love, age 6.  His father is listed as Sam Love, age 50, and his mother as Sarah E. (Darnell) Love , age 33 (lived from 1849 to1895).  Additional research revealed that Sam Love's full name was Samuel Ebzan Love-- he usually went by Ebzan--(lived from 1827 to1910) and his occupation was blacksmith.  Bill eventually followed his father into this field.  Sarah was Ebzan/Sam's 2nd wife. Also in the 1880 household are Ruth Darnell, age 54, mother-in-law, and six other children, siblings of Bill:  Margarett C. Love (age 13, born about 1867), Milton F. Love (age 12, born about 1868), Mary J. Love, (age 9, born about 1871), Correen A. Love (age 7, born about 1873),  Musiadora Love (age 2, born about 1878), and Charles D. Love (age 1, born about 1879).  Bill also had 6 older half-siblings born to his father and his father's first wife. About 1880, Bill’s father moved the family from Tennessee to Alabama because of better work opportunities for blacksmiths in the city of Birmingham.  Two more siblings, Eugene Love, born about 1885, and Clyde Love, born about 1887, were born in Alabama.  Bill’s statement that his father had 16 children turned out to be reasonably accurate. In the 1900 census, Bill is a single boarder, age 26, living in Pleasant Valley, Missouri, working as a blacksmith.  On January 16, 1904 when Bill was 29, he married Myrtle Dot O'Ryan , who was 18.  They met when Bill was a boarder at Myrtle Dot's mother's (Josephine Ingmire O'Ryan) boarding house.  The 1910 census shows them living in Neodesha with 2 young daughters and Myrtle Dot's mother.. Bill and Myrtle Dot had seven children, five girls and two boys, born in 3 different states.  Their first-born daughter, Jessie, died of diphtheria when she was 7 years old in 1914.  The children were: 1.  Jessie Louise Love, 1907-1914, born in Kansas, died young 2.  Ruth Jeanette Love, 1909-1995, born in Kansas, married 1st Milton A. Loomis, 2nd Harold Brinton Allison 3.  Doris Eleanor "Dorie" Love, 1913-1997, born in Oklahoma, married John Hofius (divorced) 4.  Helyn Estelle Love, 1916-1996, born in Arkansas, married 1st Ted Gessler, 2nd Warren Smith, 3rd Jess Bryant, 4th Byron A. Olson 5.  Joseph W. Love, 1918-2002, born in Arkansas, did not marry 6.  Paul Clyde Love, 1921-2006, born in Kansas, married Florence Irene Clark 7.  Betty Rhea Love, 1922- , born in Kansas, married Clarence Vigario Normal 0 Bill used his blacksmithing skills in the oil fields and worked as a wildcat oil field laborer. He was away from home a lot and went where the work was, often Texas and Oklahoma.   He and Myrtle Dot moved often and lived in several states including Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, and California.  In first grade about 1917, daughter Ruth remembers going to three different schools.  v:* o:* w:* .shape Normal 0 The 1920 census shows Bill living with wife Myrtle Dot, their first 4 children, and his mother-in-law, Josephine O'Ryan, in Fayetteville, Arkansas.  His occupation was listed as “blacksmith, out of town.”  By 1921 they were back in Neodesha, Kansas.  From there, they briefly moved to Missouri.  Family members remembered Bill as a hard worker, but also as a “wanderer and a drinker.” Myrtle Dot disliked moving so often.  When they moved into a pleasant house in Noel, Missouri with a garden and a piano, she told her children that she really hoped Bill would settle down  But very soon thereafter Bill sold everything, including the piano, to finance another move.  About 1927 Bill moved the family across country to southern California.  The 8-person family crowded into one car, and, with the family dog riding on the running board, drove about 1,500 miles over the newly-opened Route 66 through Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico and Arizona to southern California. By 1930, census records show Bill, Myrtle Dot and the 6 children in San Antonio, Los Angeles County, California, his occupation recorded as “blacksmith in the manufacturing industry.”  They lived for a time in Maywood, and also in Downey on Elizabeth Street. In California, the children’s recollection was that Bill drank even more heavily than before. Daughter Ruth recalls once finding his hidden bottle, pouring out the whiskey and replacing it with vinegar.  Ruth recalled her father uttered every swear word he could think of when he took a swig of the vinegar.  Sons Joe and Paul recalled helping their father build a fence when he could barely stand or walk straight. About 1931, tired of Bill’s drinking and the frequent moves, Myrtle Dot divorced him.  Youngest daughter Betty recalled she was 9 years old when Myrtle Dot told Bill to leave the home.  The 1940 census lists Myrtle Dot as divorced and head of household.  Bill’s whereabouts in the 1930s and 1940s are largely unknown.  Bill's children did not have many positive memories of their father.  They remembered him as a heavy drinker who could become abusive when drunk.  They said they felt protective of their mother because Bill sometimes treated her badly.  On the more positive side, Myrtle Dot's cousin Juanita Wakefield wrote in a letter that she loved to have Bill visit because he was a such a good talker and storyteller.  Bill's daughter Dorie, reportedly his favorite of the children, remembers that Bill sent bushels of pecans home from Texas and regularly sent money to Myrtle Dot, who was “good at stretching a dollar.”  When Bill was home, family members said he liked to bring friends home with him and “talk about the world.”  Years later, when Myrtle Dot learned of Bill’s death, she cried.  Her son Joe asked her why she was crying when he had treated her so badly and she told him, “Well, it wasn’t all bad, you know, we once had something.” Bill died at age 75, on 11 July, 1949 in Colusa, California, where he had reportedly been working on a nearby ranch.  He died in Colusa Memorial Hospital of kidney and heart failure.  Some of the information on his death certificate, reported by Dorie, is incorrect; she had not seen him since she was about 18.  She incorrectly named his parents as William Love and Lillian Mitchell and his birth date as 21 Feb. 1875.  He is buried in Colusa Community Cemetery.  His grandson Robert M Loomis, who never knew him, is the only family member known to have ever visited his grave.
CauseOfDeath3
Birth	24 February 1874	He was born on 24 February 1874 in Morristown, Hamblen, Tennessee, United StatesBGO.2
Residence	1 June 1880	He lived at West State StreetBG in Knoxville, Knox, Tennessee, United StatesBGO, on 1 June 1880. Name: William W. Love, Age: 6, Birth Date: Abt 1874, Birth Place: Tennessee, Record ID: 6742::10716363, Race: White, Gender: Male, Relationship: Son, Marital Status: Single, Father's Birth Place: Tennessee, Mother's Birth Place: Tennessee, Occupation: At4
Residence	1900	He lived in Pleasant Valley, Wright, Missouri, USABG, in 1900. Age: 26; Occupation: Blacksmith; AbleToSpeakEnglish: Yes; CanRead: Yes; CanWrite: Yes; EnumerationDistrict: 0152; MonthsUnEmployedPastYear: 10; MaritalStatus: Single; RelationToHead: Boarder5
Marriage	16 January 1904	He and Myrtle Dot O'Ryan were married on 16 January 1904 in Neodesha, Wilson Co., Kansas, USABGO.6
Residence	1 March 1905	He lived Age: 29 in Altoona, Wilson, Kansas, USABG, on 1 March 1905.7
Residence	1910	He lived Age: 34; MaritalStatus: Married; RelationToHead: Son-in-law in Neodesha, Wilson, Kansas, USABGO, in 1910.8
Residence	1920	He lived in Fayetteville, Washington, Arkansas, USABGO, in 1920. StreetAddress: Off Huntsville Road; Age: 43; Occupation: Black Smith; AbleToSpeakEnglish: Yes; CanRead: Yes; CanWrite: Yes; EnumerationDistrict: 147; HomeOwnership: Rent; Industry: Out of Town; IsEmployed: Wage or Salary; RelationToHead: Head; MaritalStat9
Residence	1922	He lived Occupation: Blacksmith in Neodesha, Kansas, USABGO, in 1922.10
Residence	1925	He lived Age: 49; MaritalStatus: Married; RelationToHead: Head in Neodesha, Wilson, Kansas, USABGO, in 1925.11
Residence	1930	He lived in San Antonio, San Antonio, Los Angeles, California, USABG, in 1930. StreetAddress: Elizabeth Street; Age: 54; AbleToSpeakEnglish: Yes; AttendedSchool: No; CanReadWrite: Yes; ClassofWorker: Wage or salary worker; EnumerationDistrict: 1363; HomeOwnership: Owned; IsEmployed: Yes; LiveOnFarm: No; OwnedRadio: Yes; Registration12
Separation	about 1931	He and Myrtle Dot O'Ryan were separated about 1931 in CaliforniaBG.3
Death	11 July 1949	He died on 11 July 1949 at age 75 in Colusa, California, United StatesBG.

Citations

1. [S1518] Kirk Family Tree, William Walter Love
2. [S360] Ancestry.com and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1880 United States Federal Census
3. [S579] Loomis/Love/Ingmire/Garcia Family Tree, William Walter Love
4. [S360] Ancestry.com and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1880 United States Federal Census, Year: 1880; Census Place: Knoxville, Knox, Tennessee; Roll: 1265; Page: 123A; Enumeration District: 145
5. [S580] Ancestry.com, 1900 United States Federal Census, Year: 1900; Census Place: Pleasant Valley, Wright, Missouri; Roll: 908; Page: 18; Enumeration District: 0152; FHL microfilm: 1240908
6. [S471] Scott Family Tree, William Walter Love
7. [S2356] Ancestry.com, Kansas State Census Collection, 1855-1925, Kansas State Historical Society; Topeka, Kansas; 1905 Kansas Territory Census; Roll: ks1905_170; Line: 23
8. [S526] Ancestry.com, 1910 United States Federal Census, Year: 1910; Census Place: Neodesha, Wilson, Kansas; Roll: T624_459; Page: 12B; Enumeration District: 0221; FHL microfilm: 1374472
9. [S7063] Ancestry.com, 1920 United States Federal Census, Year: 1920; Census Place: Fayetteville, Washington, Arkansas; Roll: T625_84; Page: 14B; Enumeration District: 147
10. [S6690] Ancestry.com, U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995
11. [S2356] Ancestry.com, Kansas State Census Collection, 1855-1925, Kansas State Historical Society; Topeka, Kansas; 1925 Kansas Territory Census; Roll: KS1925_165; Line: 16
12. [S7064] Ancestry.com, 1930 United States Federal Census, Year: 1930; Census Place: San Antonio, Los Angeles, California; Roll: 172; Page: 7B; Enumeration District: 1363; FHL microfilm: 2339907