Emily Ann (Hanks) Sample (1885 - 1937)

Born 11 Aug 1885 in Murphysboro, Illinois

Ancestors

Wife of Walter Frances Sample — married 30 Aug 1900 in Greenbriar, Bollinger County MO

Descendants

Died 11 Feb 1937 at age 51 in rural Poplar Bluff Missouri

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Biography

Emily lost the sight in one eye in a childhood accident. Her mother, Flora (Burkey) Hanks, died on Jan. 25, 1897, when Emily was 12 and her brother, Frederick was only 5 years old. So their father, John, hired a housekeeper, Nannie Boatright. Eventually, Nannie became John's second wife. They had two sons. Joseph & John Hanks.

My grandmother, Myrtle Bertha (Sample) Brown, daughter of Emily, told me that Nannie Boatright, the 2nd wife, treated her stepchildren (Emily & Frederick) badly. So, at the age of 15, Emily married Walter F. Sample, who had worked for her father, and took her little brother, Frederick, with her to raise in her home in rural Poplar Bluff, Missouri, where Walter farmed because Emily did not want to move around any longer like she had with her father. Sister and brother, Emily and Frederick, were very close and both spent the rest of their years in or around Poplar Bluff, Missouri.

When Emily's husband, Walter, got trampled by their horse, Queen, and was left an invalid the rest of his life, Emily had to earn an income for the family. She started growing a huge garden and selling all of her produce in town to all of the well off families. This meant that Emily had to ride 20 miles each way to Poplar Bluff, MO in a horse cart over a very rough and sometimes virtually impassible dirt road in order to put food on the table for her family. This was all before Social Security or Medicare. Families received absolutely nothing from anyone except the potential charity from their family members when they were in dire straights.

My mother, Elsie Ruth (Brown) Sparkman, and her mother, Myrtle Bertha (Sample) Brown told me about all of the lovely picnics they would have at Emily's home where they would churn ice cream & eat hot dogs. They said that Emily was the kindest, sweetest and hardest working person they ever knew, and that she was a favorite throughout the rural area where they lived and to all of her clients who purchased her fancy garden produce.

Emily died of a stroke at the age of 52 and is buried by her husband, Walter, in the Bay Springs Baptist Church cemetery in rural Poplar Bluff, Missouri.

Sources

• Myrtle Bertha (Sample) Brown
• Elsie Ruth (Brown) Sparkman