Mamie Hope Van Epps (1897-1993) was by all accounts an extraordinary person. She was the only daughter of Cora Bateman and Elmer Van Epps, having two full brothers (Charles and Glenn Van Epps), two half-brothers from her mother (Levi Nazer and William Henry Nazer) and at least one half-brother from her father (Fred Van Epps).
The Van Epps children were born in Waynoka, Oklahoma, but by the time Mamie was seven, the family had moved to a farm in Robinson, Kansas, where her grandmother, Mary Howe Bateman (my second great-aunt) lived. One or more of Cora’s brothers also lived in the area. The year 1909 was a difficult one for the family. Things were not going well between the parents, Cora and the children were now living in Everest, Kansas. On June 2, Mamie’s half-brother, Fred Van Epps, who was 20 years old and about to get married, shot and killed himself in Oklahoma. Sixteen days later, Mamie herself was shot accidentally, by her mother, who mistook her for a burglar. It appears that she fully recovered, though.
For the next few years, Cora and the children struggled, with everyone pitching in to help. Then, in 1914, when Charles was 19, Mamie, 17 and Glenn just 14, their mother died. It is in their mother’s will that we find out that she has two other sons, Levi and William Nazer, who she leaves $25 each. Mamie is left $50, and her brother split the remainder of the estate after the bills have been paid.(Will of Cora Van Epps, Newspapers.com - Brown County World - 13 Nov 1914 - Page 4)
Mamie now starts working full time, in 1915, she joins the Hiawatha Steam Laundry as their bookkeeper. While working there, she takes some civil service exams in Leavenworth, and despite not having gone to high school, manages to score high enough to land a job with the adjutant general. The local newspaper is quoted as saying “The success of Miss Mamie Van Epps, the laundry worker who has secured a civil service appointment in Washington at $1,100 ayear, is another instance of what: an ambitious boy or girl can do when they try. Miss Van Epps' schooling has been limited; she has worked for the support of her widowed mother. Business men and others who know Miss Van Epps have always had a good word for her because of her unusual activity. She studied and prepared herself for the examination and passed with creditable grades.” (The Kansas Democrat - 14 Feb 1918, p. 5)
Mamie seems to enjoy her time in Washington, sharing her experiences in letters, telling in one report to the local newspaper “that she is working in the Receiving and Recording Department of the Sanitary Division of the General Surgeon's office. She helps in keeping the record of the sick and wounded in the different hospitals here and in France. Recently, in her days' work, she found that her brother, Charlie, had the mumps while he was at Jefferson Barracks.” (Brown County World - 8 Mar 1918 - Page 4).
In all she spends about 2.5 years in Washington, coming home for visits, and in February 1920, when her father, Elmer Van Epps dies. By summer, she has advanced as far as she can without a diploma, and leaves Washington to work in the railroad office in Detroit, Michigan. In September, she comes home and finishes high school, where she is awarded the first of several scholarships she receives to attend Kansas University. She is featured in an article in 1922 Topeka Daily Capital where she describes how she can pay her fees, board, room, laundry bill, insurance dues, books and still have money to buy a new spring bonnet on $1.10 a day. Among her many jobs are working in the school cafeteria, child care, waitressing, and her most unique – contacting each female high school graduate offering to send an itemized account of her expenses at the University of Kansas and tips for living frugally, for the sum of 15c. (Brown County World - 14 Apr 1922 - Page 6). But it isn’t all work for Mamie, as she is active in several activities, including the Snow Zoology Club where she is an officer, as well as being a member of the K. U. delegation to the International Student Volunteer Convention in Indianapolis. She receives her A. B. Degree from the University of Kansas, and will later earn a B.S. from the University of Arkansas in home economics.
In September 1924, Mamie marries Willmont Stacey Van Epps in Benton, Arkansas. She is 28 and never married before, he is 36 and recently divorced with one child. His previous occupation was as a physician and surgeon, specializing in eyes, but after his marriage he settles on his farm. It is interesting to note that on his marriage license he claims to be 36, or 12 years older than Mamie, but in every census for the rest of his life, he is actually 20 years older (Arkansas, Marriage Certificates, 1917-1969). When he dies, in 1952, after 28 years of marriage, he is 75 years old (Arkansas, Death Certificates, 1914-1969).
Mamie worked as the county and district home supervisor of Farmers Home Administration in Little Rock for 16 years. After her husband’s death in 1952, she moves to Missouri, where she becomes the Lawrence County, MO home agent in December 1953, only to resign her post six months later, to go to New Mexico to teach native Americans. (Although if this actually happened, I can find no reference to it). Sometime around 1955 she became the home economics adviser for the State Department for three years in Cochbamba, Bolivia, South America (obituary The Monitor, McAllen, Texas - 24 Mar 1993 – p. 42), coming home in May 1958 (Florida, U.S., Arriving and Departing Passenger and Crew Lists, 1898-1963).
Mamie married and outlived two more husbands, Ralph Barnum in 1958, until he died in 1963; and Elmer Reynolds in 1964, until his death in 1981. Following her marriage to Ralph, she moved to Texas, where she lived out her life, dying in McAllen, Texas on 24 Mar 1993.
She lived a full life that spanned most of the twentieth century. She lived through two world wars, the depression and throughout it all sought to help those people hardest hit by serving in a variety of government positions. And she spent her retirement years doing genealogy!
A note about sources My sources included the following: 1900, 1910, 1930, 1940 US Census; 1905 Kansas State Census; Arkansas Marriage Certificate; Texas Death Certificate; 1925 University of Kansas Yearbook, 1958 Florida Arriving Passenger list.Thirty articles from various newspapers in Kansas, Missouri, Washington, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas, accessed through Newspapers.com
Recommendation for further study – I see I haven’t accessed the 1920 or 1950 US Census, and I only have one official marriage certificate, the other marriages are documented through newspaper accounts. I would like to learn more about the common surname she shared with her first husband, and whether they were related in any way. I would also like to learn more about her three half-brothers, about whom I know very little.
How she is related to me – She is my 2 cousin twice removed, our common ancestors are Nancy Mudgett and Nathan Howe, Jr (my 3rd great grandparents), from Great Valley, NY.
Thanks for reading, and please feel free to leave comments and suggestions.