Bessie Dixie (Scott) Agner (1925 - 1996)

Born 16 Nov 1925 in South Carolina, United States

Ancestors

Wife of Howard Leonard Walker — married 28 Sep 1940 (to before 1962) in Ninety Six, Greenwood, South Carolina, United States [uncertain]

Wife of Michael Donovan — married 5 Oct 1962 in Chicago, Cook County, Illinois

Descendants

Died 5 Apr 1996 at age 70 in Greenwood, Greenwood County, South Carolina, United States

Problems/Questions Profile managers: M. Meredith [send private message], Katbird Meredith [send private message], Jodi Frey [send private message],

Research Goals:

* Locate the marriage record to Dan Agner. (?SC or GA)

Biography

Bessie Dixie (Scott) Agner was born on 16 Nov 1925 in South Carolina, United States, daughter of John Gideon Scott (1879 - 1934) and Emily Elizabeth (Spence) Scott (1892 - 1956).

Her siblings were:

1. Laura Rebecca (Scott) McGarity (1912 - 1990)
2. Woodrow Wilson Scott (<1914 - 1968)
3. William Lee Scott (1917 - 1955)
4. Louise Scott (1919 - 1979)
5. James Marcus Scott (1922 - 1988)
6. Margaret L. Scott (1923 - 1926)

Bessie (14) married Howard Leonard Walker (34) (1905 - 1968) on 28 Sep 1940 in Ninety Six, Greenwood, South Carolina. Their children were:

1. Leonard Woodrow Walker (~1943 - 2004)
2. Laurie Elaine (Walker) Meredith (1944 - living)
3. Dorothy Jean (Walker) Boos (1947 - 2022)
4. Douglas Howard Walker (1949 - 2020).

Bessie (36) married Michael Donovan (52) (1910 - 1981) on 5 Oct 1962 in Chicago, Cook County, Illinois.

Bessie married Dan Devore Agner (1914 - 2001).

The John Gid family Bible records Bessie Dixie Scott was the youngest child of john Gideon Scott and his wife, Emily Elizabeth Spence. She was born in South Carolina prior to the Great Depression. Her father died in 1934 in the midst of the Great Depression.

Bessie met a handsome soldier, Howard Leonard Walker and it must have been love at first sight as they apparently married and started their family in 1943.

Bessie was recorded on the 1940 census in the home of her mother, Emily Scott in Ninety-Six, Greenwood County, South Carolina. By October 1940 Howard was living in Columbus, Georgia i when he completed a Draft Card. His wife was listed as Mrs. Bessie Scott Walker. He was employed by Newton D. Baker Housing Pro at Ft. Benning.

Howard and Bessie Scott married on September 28, 1940, in Ninety-Six, Greenwood, South Carolina.^[1]

Allegedly, their oldest son, Leonard Woodrow Walker was born September 1943. Oral family history indicated he was born in Memphis, TN; however, newspapers accounts from 1943 make this debatable. It would be nice to have his birth certificate for absolute proof.

The 1943 City Directory for Memphis, Tennessee indicates Howard Walker was a carpenter and he and his wife, Bessie lived at 577 Jefferson Avenue in Memphis.

The September 23, 1943 Greenwood (South Carolina) Index Journal made notation that Pvt. Howard L. Walker is at home on a brief furlough visiting his wife, Mrs. Bessie Walker. So who knows, was the carpentery work slow and he joined the army again or was the City Directory published after they had moved back to South Carolina? Was Bessie staying with her family when the baby was born or had she moved back with her mother after the baby and while her husband was in the army? The birth certificate for Leonard Woodrow Walker would answer some of these questions.

Bessie was definitely living in Ninety-Six in 1944 when the newspaper recorded she and her mother, Emily Scott visiting Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Burroughs of Ninety Six.

When her oldest daughter was born the newspaper made mention that "Cpl and Mrs. Howard Walker, Ninety Six, a girl, date (name and date omitted to protect privacy of Living).

By 1947 the Walker family has moved back to Memphis, Tennessee and apparently they lived there for several years.

This writer is not sure when Bessie left her family, but by 1955, when her brother, William Lee Scott, died, she was living in Chicago and her name was recorded as Mrs. Bessie Walker. She was still living in Chicago in 1956 at the death of her mother, Emily Scott .

Bessie married Michael Donovan 1962 in Chicago, Illinois. Little is known of him or of their marriage.

Bessie was listed as Mrs. Michael Donovan of Chicago, Illinois in 1968 when her brother Woodrow Scott died. In 1979 she was recorded as Mrs. Bessie Donnavan of Brook, Illinois.

This writer has not located a divorce record for Bessie and Howard Walker; a divorce record or death record for Michael Donovan nor a marriage record for Bessie's third husband, Dan Agner.

She was married to Dan Agner before 1988 and living in Greenwood, South Carolina, where she lived the rest of her life, dying in 1996.

Sources

1. ↑ Name: Howard L Walker Sex: Male Spouse's Name: Bessie Scott Spouse's Sex: Female Marriage License Date: 28 Sep 1940 Marriage License Place: Ninety Six, Greenwood, South Carolina, United States Marriage License Place (Original): Ninety Six Household Role Sex Age Birthplace Bessie Scott Wife F Digital Folder Number: 007746159 Image Number: 00081 Citing this Record "South Carolina, County Marriage Licenses, 1911-1951", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:ZZD7-H5PZ : 8 September 2021), Howard L Walker, 1940.

John Gid Family Bible Pages- Electronic copy in possession of this writer.

1930 U.S. Federal Census of John Scott family, Ninety Six, Greenwood County, South Carolina.

1940 U.s. Federal Census for Emily Scott, Ninety Six, Greenwood County, South Carolina.

1940 Georgia Draft Card for Howard Leonard Walker.

The Index-Journal, Greenwood, South Carolina for family notes including obituaries and other news regarding the Scott family.