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My Grandmother Clayton, her four sons, and her daughter. They had settled in Essex, Missouri, and the children were orphaned in 1898, sent to a Masonic Home in St. Louis, and - for the most part - prospered as good citizens and parents in the 20th century
Claud Franklin Clayton (1890-1968) as editor of the college yearbook at the University of Missouri. He was a Phi Beta Kappa student majoring in Economics, although Philosophy and History were major interests. He went on to serve in senior capacities with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the TVA. He founded the Department of Agricultural Economics at the University of the Philippines in Manila.
My Uncle George Oscar Baker (1882-1948) was my mother's half-brother, born of my grandmother's previous marriage. She was a widow when Granddaddy talked her into marrying him. Uncle George was a first rate painter, studying in Italy, France, and the Netherlands while supporting himself as a popular cartoonist. He painted in oils and achieved success in art exhibitions in Europe and the United States. He became Art Director for J. Walter Thompson and was written up by the New York Times. He later founded the Art Guild or the Artists Guild (I'm not sure which) dedicated to finding commercial sponsors for young artists. He and my Aunt Dorothy were very kind to me when I stayed with them in their Manhattan apartment to visit the World's Fair in 1939. Uncle George had a waxed moustache and wore spats! The only man I ever knew to wear them.
John S. Clayton, Sr. on their wedding day, June 19, 1948. They were married in St. Patrick's Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C. The picture was taken at her parent's home in Foxhall Village. Mary and John had met in High School and gone together since they were sixteen. She graduated from George Washington University while he was overseas in World War II.
began a twenty year association with the University of North Carolina. Mary was secretary to the Dean of Student Affairs, and both she and her husband were active in the community. Their three children are (left to right): Susan Sears (b. November 25, 1956), John, Jr. (b. July 3, 1953), and Elizabeth Ann (b. January 31, 1951).The three children are now married and living in the Washington Metropolitan area.
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Jutta (Sprenger) Clayton was born in Berlin, Germany,
(1986)
On a recent cruise to Alaska
(1999).
John Clayton, Sr. with his gorgeous sister, Betty Virginia,
Jutta and her 3 sons, (TOP) |
My mother, LaReine Warden (1894-1993), with her adored brother, Hu, who was in combat in the First
World War, but whose heart was damaged during the great influenza epidemic
and died as a relatively young man, leaving a wife and two
sons.
All who knew my mother
recognized her to be a remarkable woman. She was highly intelligent,
testing at the genius level. With beautiful red hair, she was an
excellent bridge player and could paint, harmonize, play the piano,
cook, do light carpentry, sew (she made all our clothes when my sister
and I were young), dance, ride horseback, and help young men through
school. She ran a kindergarten, served as a buyer for a legendary
Washington merchant, was the author of two books, had articles published
in historical journals when she was in her nineties, was a co-chairman
with Eleanor Roosevelt for Bundles for Britain during the war, served on
the Arlington County Gas Rationing Board and as a "Grey Lady"
at Bethesda Naval Hospital taking care of veterans back from the terrible jungle
warfare in Guadalcanal. A member of the D.A.R. and an officer in
Colonial Dames, she was a leader in society wherever she lived. She had
few equals and no superiors. A very great lady.
Jutta
with her Certificate of Citizenship!
