My Trails into the Past

Not much is known about my husband’s grandmother, Matilda Pearl “Tillie” Davey’s early life, except that her mother died young and her father had a severe drinking problem. Despite being shuffled between family and an orphan home, she survived, married, and had four children. She involved herself in community life as a member of the Christian Church, the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, and the Webb City Garden Club . Tillie was born on 18 April 1880 in Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky to Frederick Henry Davey and Matilda Wollenweber. [1] Her mother died on 1 November 1885 of diphtheria when young Matilda was just five years old. [2] Fred was left with four children under the age of eight, the youngest at two. It is unfortunate that the 1890 census was lost. Many events occurred during the twenty years between 1880 and 1900. As a child, she would not likely be found in many records. To learn more about her childhood, one needs to learn what the adults in her life were do...