Ethel Marguerite (Light) Armstrong (1900 - 1991)

Born 11 Dec 1900 in Geary, Blaine Co OK

Ancestors

Wife of Mansel Grant Armstrong — married 17 Oct 1920 in Hydro, Caddo Co OK

Descendants

Died 7 Jan 1991 at age 90 in Hydro, Blaine Co OK

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Katherine Patterson [send private message]

This person was created through the import of Shortened files.ged on 30 December 2010. The following data was included in the gedcom. You may wish to edit it for readability.

Death

Date: 7 JAN 1991

Place: Hydro, Blaine Co OK

Note: Most of Hydro is in Caddo County, but the nursing home and the cemetery are in Blaine County.

Note

[1]

1930 Caddo Co OK, Hydro Twp, ed 36, p 7A

1920 Caddo Co OK, Hydro Twp, ed 60, 160-162

1910 Caddo County OK, town of Hydro, roll 1245, sheet 7, dist 65, 1-80

Memberships: Eastern Star, Worthy Matron (1949). Ms. Maple Lawn Manor, 1988.

The life of Ethel Light is a chronicle of Oklahoma. She started life in a railroad family in territory days, her mother making a home in a sodhouse on a homestead claim, her father traveling with the Rock Island Railroad, later settling as station agent in Hydro; she grew up in the depot, married Mansel Armstrong in the waiting room, and lived in depots at Driftwood and Gracemont. Ethel represents the values and strength of the Oklahoma woman in service to her country, community, church, and family. An early photo shows her as a girl at the front of a Women's Christian Temperance Union parade in her town. A 1918 letter from the president of the railroad commends her for purchasing World War I Liberty Bonds with her entire salary. She attended the University of Oklahoma and taught for six years in a one-room schoolhouse. After starting a family, the Armstrongs moved to Fair Acres Farm in Hydro, where Ethel raised chickens, canned her own fruit and vegetables, and encouraged her four children to excellence. She was active in the Demonstration Club, a group of women who met monthly to share skills and activities. My grandmother taught Sunday School, emphasizing foreign missions; she was thrilled to visit my family at a mission school in Colombia in 1978. In her late 70s, Ethel became an author, writing a history of her hometown, Hydro Heritage. She continued her whole life winning ribbons at the Hydro Free Fair, writing articles for the local newspaper, and setting a standard of patriotism, education and service. Ethel lived and wrote the history of our State.

US Passport, issued 2 May 1978.

She copied this poem by Leslie Pinckney Hill while Sunday School Superintendent at the Hydro United Methodist Church:

Lord, who am I to teach Thy way?

To little children day by day,

So prone myself to go astray.

I teach them love of all mankind

And all God's creatures, yet I find

My own love lagging far behind.

Lord, if I'm still their guide to be

May these little children see

Their teacher leaning hard on Thee., , ,

Text: 1930 US Census, Caddo Co OK, Hydro Twp, ed 36, p 7A. Light, William R, head, mw, 68 wid, 36, no yes, MN OH IN, farmer; Armstrong, Mansel G, son-in-la, mw 32, mar 26, no yes, OK IL MO, farmer; Ethel M, dt, fw, 26 mar 19, no yes, OK MN NE; Evalyn M, granddaughter, fw 3 1/2 s, OK OK OK; Mansel E, grandson, mw 1 8/12 s, OK OK OK

@S42@ SOUR

Text: 1920 US census, Caddo Co OK, Hydro Twp, ed 60, 160-162: Mansel Armstrong head 22 sg rd & wr OK IA MO cashier railway depot, William R Light head 58 mr rd & wr MN OH IN agent railway depot, Mary E wife 47 mr rd & wr NE PA IL home, Ethel A dau 19 sg rd & wr OK MN NE stenographer seed houses, Evelyn F dau 15 sg in school rd & wr OK MN NE.

@S55@ SOUR

Text: 1910 US census, Caddo County OK, town of Hydro, roll 1245, sheet 7, dist 65, dwelling 1, family 80. Light WR head of house mw 49 m 13 MN OH IN English agent depot can read & write, Mary E wife fw 40 m 13 3 2 NE PA IL can read & write, Ethel dau fw 9 s OK MN NE can read & write, in school, Evelyn dau fw 6 s OK MN NE can read & write.

@S38@ SOUR

Text: Smith, A. Clarence, ed. Who's Who in Caddo County. Anadarko OK: The Anadarko Tribune, 1926, 61

Sources

Text: Charles Ross Shultz, A Genealogy of the Descendants of Michael Shultz. Privately published, 1943. In possession of Kathy Patterson.

Text: Masonic Cemetery, Hydro OK, transcribed by Katherine Patterson at time of death of each of her grandparents. Photos in Cemeteries File.

Text: Ethel Marguerite Light, delayed birth certificate no. 1604-082, filed 14 Feb 1961, Oklahoma State Board of Health-Bureau of Vital Statistics.

Text: Ethel Light Armstrong obituaries, undated clippings from unidentified newspaper.

Text: Ethel Armstrong, funeral card.

Text: Ethel Light Armstrong, death certificate no. 1317 (1991), Oklahoma State Board of Health--Bureau of Vital Statistics. Certified copy.

Text: Caddo County Marriage Book 10: 403, Court Clerk's Office, Anadarko OK.

Text: "Mr. and Mrs. M. G. Armstrong Celebrate Golden Wedding Anniversary Over Week-end," undated clipping probably from the Hydro Review.

Text: Canadian County Marriage Book page 127, County Clerk's Office, El Reno OK.

Text: Mary Ellen (Light) Dorsey's own Bible record. This Bible was in the possession of Ethel (Light) Armstrong and is now in the possession of Kathy Alvis Patterson.

Text: Hydro, Oklahoma, 1901-1998, Ramona Armstrong Duff et al, 1999.