On my mom's side...

It is pretty safe to say that every family has at least some dark spot along the line that makes them look back and shudder. Recently, I became aware that on my mother’s side we used to own slaves (even after slavery was made illegal). My great great great grandfather Henry Starnes owned a plantation in Granite Falls, Kentucky. His wife, Genelia, gave birth to JB Starnes on March 26, 1894. In that time the black woman took care of the plantation owner’s children so my great great grandfather was nursed and raised by one of the help. He ended up marrying his fourteen-year old sweetheart at the age of eighteen. After only a month of marriage, he was drafted into the First World War where he made harnesses for horses in France. When his service ended, JB came home to find his wife had run off with another man. He decided to pack up and move west and continue the trade he learned in the army. He traveled part way by train and part way in a covered wagon before reaching the town in which I was born, Lewiston, Idaho. After the Model T was introduced JB had to switch from making horse harnesses to making shoes. He married again and his wife gave birth to his son David Starnes. My great grandpa David fought in the Navy in World War Two. He met my great grandma Kathy (Helen Kathryn-whose middle name I share) in the Seattle area. She had moved up there to help with the war effort riveting planes for Boeing. Some years later they married and moved back to Lewiston. Great grandpa David took up his father’s trade of making shoes. Both of their cobbler skills were so famous that shoes made by them were even requested in Europe.  JB passed away on June 4, 1979 of sepsis. My great grandparents had three children- two boys and one girl. David became a community leader highly involved in boy scouts. Both of my uncles accomplished Eagle status. David passed away at age 65 on November 6, 1992 after developing cancer from the asbestos in the air conditioning system on the naval ship he worked on. My great grandmother is still lives and reminisces on the days of being with the love of her life.