My mom's brother, Allan Warner Barrett, was born in Oregon on June 10, 1922. and died on October 21, 1988. He played football at Willamette University, the first university in the west, established in Salem, Oregon in 1842. He was scheduled to play in a football game at the University of Hawaii in December 8, 1941 and was on the field warming up for the upcoming game, when the Japanese attacked the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941. The attack led to the United States' entry into World War II.
Like others of "America's Greatest Generation", Barrett dropped out of college and enlisted in the armed forces, serving in the United States Navy. My recollection is that he served as a quartermaster.
After his mother Hazel's death in 1951, he rejoined the Apostolic Faith Church in which he had been raised, founded in Portland in 1906 by Florence L. Crawford, who was affiliated at that time with William J. Seymour and the Azusa Street Revival. The conservative, fundamental denomination stresses the necessity of the born-again experience, as well as the Wesleyan teaching of holiness, and the baptism of the Holy Spirit manifested in the speaking of tongues.
Growing up in Portland, Oregon, there was always a constant tension in our family, as my mother's parents, Herbert and Hazel Barrett would encourage us to attend the Apostolic Faith services on Sunday morning. My uncle Harold, who was a firm believer in its teachings, would treat us to lunch at a nearby Chinese restaurant, a special treat, if my father would allow us to attend. Dad, who was a strict Calvinist, raised in the Episcopal Church, abhorred the demonstrative Apostolic services, with its wailing and strange languages. After years of struggle between my parents, they finally found a compromise by joining the Evangel Baptist Church, which seemed to quell the tension, at least in our immediate family.
Over the passage of time, Uncle Al left the Apostolic Church too, and became the pastor of the Stockton Wesleyan Evangelical Church, which he founded. I remember spending a fun summer living with Uncle Al, Aunt Harriett, and my first cousins Diane, Dale, Dennis, and Joy. I was itching to get away from home after two years at Glendale College, and thought of transferring to University of the Pacific, while living with my relatives.
The summer was filled with part-time jobs (the local paper box factory, selling shoes at Carl's and door-to-door sales) along with my cousin Nickie. My first car, a 1950 Ford was our transportation. Church included singing duet with cousin Diane, collecting the offering, and singing, tambourine-playing and witnessing on Wednesday nights on Stockton's skid row. I also met a young lady, Ivy, at church, and she became my romantic interest during a long, hot Stockton summer.
Uncle Al passed away on October 21, 1988 in San Joaquin, California. He was 66.
Tags: Alan Barrett
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My maternal uncle, Harold Herbert Barrett, born July 25, 1917 in Linn, Oregon and passed away on May 23, 2005 in Portland, Oregon. During his later years, he served as a missionary pastor in South Korea and made his home there.
Tags: Harold Barrett
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My maternal grand mother, Hazel May Warner Barrett with her sisters Gladys (on the right) and Anna Warner Dikeman in the middle; at Aunt Anna's home in Dunkirk, New York c.1938.
Tags: Hazel Warner, Aunt Anna Dikeman, & Gladys Warner 1938
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My paternal grandmother, Esther Slane Locke (the infant propped up in the chair, with the short haircut) is pictured with her relatives: (L-R) my great grandmother Helen J. Bowler (née Pierson), my great grandmother Julia A. Carpenter; my great aunt Helen Slane (leaning on Julia Carpenter); my great grand aunt Marion E. Bowler and my great grandmother Cora Bryant Slane.
My great, great grandfather Jackson Slane was one of the early pioneers that settled in Norwood, Ohio, a village on the outskirts of Cincinnati that was originally named Sharpsburg after an early settler named John Sharpe and renamed Norwood due to its heavily wooded location north of town. He was active in civic affairs as reported in the Cincinnati Times-Star on November 1, 1887, "There is some talk of the Foraker Club, of which Jackson Slane is President, attending the Music Hall meeting in a body next Friday night." The Foraker Club was a Republican grass-roots organization named after Ohio Governor James B. Foraker, who was a former resident of Sharpsburg and for whom a Norwood street is named. "Last night over thirty strong members of the club attended the great Music Hall meeting. It was the first organization to march into the hall...Mr. Jackson Slane, President of the Club, was at the front." Cincinnati Times-Star, November 5, 1887.
A letter was sent by the Governor thanking the group for its support. A copy of the letter was printed in the paper on November 28, 1887: Executive Mansion, Columbus, Ohio, November 14, 1887, Jackson Slane, Esq. President, Norwood, Ohio. "Dear Sir, Please thak the Foraker Club of Norwood for the splendid work they did at the recent election. Be assured I appreciate what my old neighbors have done in this behalf. Very truly yours, J.B. Foraker",
Jackson Slane was one of the leaders of Norwood's efforts to incorporate the Village of Norwood. "The question of incorporation is one that is being agitated just now. Col. P.P. Lane and Jackson Slane, Esq. are leaders of the incorporation movement." Cincinnati Times-Star, December 6, 1887.
The Jackson Slane household was also highly cultured. The aforementioned newspaper noted four days later "Last evening the South Norwood Musical and Literary Society was entertained at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Jackson Slane....all the Norwoods were represented as well as the neighboring suburb of Ivanhoe. The first number was a piano duet by Mrs. J.E. Whitaker and Miss Anna Slane."
He died on June 19, 1890, in Cincinnati, Ohio, at the age of 60, and was buried there.
Tags: Helen J. Bowler, Julia A. Carpenter, Helen Slane, etc
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My 1st cousin once removed, Helen Kent Ward; born in Washington on February 20, 1926 and died on August 8, 2009 in Sacramento County, California.
Tags: Helen Kent Ward Palmerton
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