Joe Luschen Clyde Carlton (1913 - 2000)

Born 24 Sep 1913 in Woodville, Jackson, Alabama, USA

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 19 May 2000 at age 86 in El Cajon, San Diego, California, USA

Problems/Questions Profile manager: John Weathers [send private message]

Biography

Joe Lucian/Luschen "Clyde" Carlton was born in Alabama to Albert Hardeway and Cynthia "Belle" Carlton. He was the youngest son of their ten children. He was likely named after his father Albert's youngest brother Lucian/Luschen David Evans.

When Clyde was around 8 years old, his family left Alabama by train and moved to Hobart, Oklahoma. Clyde and his older brothers played together in a band with Clyde playing the banjo, and they eventually frequented honky-tonks as young men.

While attending school at a rural Kiowa county school, Clyde met Liza Anna Foster whose family lived on another farm in Kiowa closer to Gotebo. The two dated on and off while attending school, but it never turned into anything serious. One of Liza's first cousins Iza Reba Foster had been married to one of Clyde's older brothers Charlie Brooks Carlton for a few years at this point.

In 1936, perhaps at a family gathering for Charlie and Iza that brought Carltons and Fosters together or perhaps through a chance encounter at a honky-tonk, Clyde and Liza briefly rekindled their relationship resulting in Liza becoming pregnant with a son Fred Weathers. By the time that Liza found out that she was pregnant, she and Clyde were no longer together, and Clyde had met and fallen in love with his future wife Ethel English. Rather than ruin their happiness, Liza decided to not tell Clyde about her pregnancy and under pressure from her parents and the social norms of the era decided to give their child up for adoption.

Ethel English was a very devoted Christian and Clyde was very devoted to her. Thus, under her influence, Clyde gave up his "sinning" ways of frequenting bars and honky-tonks and transformed himself into "good husband material". The couple married on Christmas Eve in 1936.

Less than a year later, Clyde and Ethel welcomed the birth of their first child Ruthie. Two years later, they had another daughter Jeanie who sadly passed away at the age of 3 around a year before the birth of their third daughter Laverne.

Clyde's family picked cotton together and were poor. Work became hard to find in Oklahoma and so Clyde moved his family to San Diego, California where he and Ethel had two more children Dorothy and Wes.

Clyde worked any way that he could to make ends meet and provide for his family performing jobs such as a gardening and carpentry. He made extra money by boxing on the side and although he was a short man, Clyde was a formidable boxer and his frequent victories led to a host of challengers who dreamed of taking him down in a match. Eventually, Clyde landed a more stable job working for the El Monte Water District as a pipe man. He retired from this job many years later and kept on living on a home near a major pump house as the caretaker for a mini-farm with pigs, chickens, cows, and a couple of acres for a small family garden.

Although he had a temper that surfaced on occasion, Clyde was a kind, quiet, and gentle man. He taught his grandchildren how to whittle and play dominoes and 42. He would work on the family cars in a shop where he liked to escape from the world. He loved fishing, singing, playing horse shoes, and continued to play his banjo for his grandchildren despite having left his honky-tonk days behind. He was an elder in his church, and he would sometimes play Santa Claus for the water district and hand out presents to the children of his coworkers and his grandchildren.

During the last 10 years of his life, Clyde developed Alzheimer's disease. For the last 5 of these years, his daily care became too much for Ethel to handle by herself and so Clyde had to enter a nursing home.

Clyde died on May 19, 2000 in El Cajon. He left his body to science. His family held a small service at Skyline Wesleyan Church where they shared stories celebrating Clyde's life.

Sources

• Fletcher, Pauline Carlton. Ancestors & descendants of Albert Hardeway & Cynthia Belle (Reed) Carlton : 1720-1981.
• Rather, Dorothy. Personal recollection as told to Weathers, John.
• Pontsler, Scott. Personal recollection as told to Weathers, John.
• Foster, Liza Anna. Non-identifying portion of interview in adoption papers for Ferdinand Murrell Weathers told to Weathers, John.
• Ancestry.com 1920 United States Federal Census Publication: Name: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2005. For details on the contents of the film numbers, visit the following NARA web page: NARA. Note: Enumeration Districts 819-839 on roll 323 (Chicago City.Original data - United States
• Ancestry.com 1930 United States Federal Census Publication: Name: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2002.Original data - United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Fifteenth Census of the United States, 1930. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1930. T626
• Ancestry.com 1940 United States Federal Census Publication: Name: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2012
• Selective Service Registration Cards, World War II: Multiple Registrations Publication: Name: The National Archives; Location: Oklahoma; Date: 24-Sep-1913
• Ancestry.com U.S. WWII Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947 Publication: Name: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.; Location: Lehi, UT, USA; Date: 2011
• Ancestry.com U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989 Publication: Name: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2011
• San Diego Union-Tribune, The (CA) San Diego Union-Tribune Obituary Publication: Name: San Diego Union-Tribune, The (CA); Date: Tuesday, May 23, 2000; NOTESept. 24, 1913-May 19, 2000 Joe Clyde Carlton, 86, of El Cajon died Friday. He was born in Alabama and was a retired carpenter. Survivors include his wife, Ethel; daughters, Ruth Dehaven, Lavern Ponstler and Dorothy Rather, all of San Diego; son, Wes Carlton of Dallas; 13 grandchildren; and 15 great-grandchildren. Services: 10 a.m. today, Skyline Wesleyan Church, 2930 Jamacha Road, El Cajon. Arrangements: Funeraria Aztlan Mortuary. "San Diego Union-Tribune, The", California, GenealogyBank.com (https://www.genealogybank.com/doc/obituaries/obit/0FD964A1C6C3BF17-0FD964A1C6C3BF17 : accessed 13 May 2017) JOE CLYDE CARLTON
• Ancestry.com U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 Publication: Name: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2015
• Ancestry.com Social Security Death Index Publication: Name: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2007.Original data - Social Security Administration. Social Security Death Index, Master File. Social Security Administration.Original data: Social Security Administration. Social Security