TURN OF THE CENTURIES

1900s vs. 2000s

I have heard from people who said they are related to Jesse James (Wild West gunslinger), Martha Washington, and other famous people.  I am also related to celebrities.

On my mother's side, one of my great-grandmothers' maiden name was Costner. Her Dad's side (his name was David Jefferson Costner) orginated in Germany. Several generations before Granny, were two Costner brothers, Peter and Jacob. Jacob was my ancestor, and Peter was actor Kevin Costner's ancestor. :-)
    So this means that I am a distant cousin to Kevin Costner, who played on "Dances with Wolves", "The Postman", "Field of Dreams", etc.!  :-)
    Someone said on my great-grandfather's side (his surname was Stacy, and he was the one married to the Costner - see above), somewhere I am related to actor James Garner (he played "Maverick" in the 1950s). I believe it because my grandfather, JD, and James Garner both were tall, dark wavy-haired guys, with a square shaped face. :-)

Nancy

     The most interesting relative I knew was my great-grandmother, Mary “Mollie” Costner Stacy. She was born in January, 1896, and died in 1990 at age 97. She was a good Christian lady who taught her kids (including my grandfather) about the Bible. I was told she was a beautiful woman when she was young…she was tall and had wavy hair. I used to call her “Granny”, as so did most other people.
    Mollie’s parents, David J. Costner and Letha Stephenson both died in their 40s while she was a teenager. She ended up raising her two brothers, Jim and Walter, after they were gone…then later the two boys started living with other relatives after she got married.
When she was in her late teens, she met a young man her age named Clarence Throop. They got married in 1911, and Clarence died at age 19 five months later. Mollie was already pregnant when he died…so when the baby was born in 1912, she named the boy Clarence Throop, Jr. Mollie lived with Clarence Sr.’s parents at the time, and when the doctor delivered him, he told her “He’s a real buster” (meaning he’s a big baby), so that was the baby’s nickname that followed him throughout his life: “Buster“.
When Buster was 2 years old, Mollie met an older man in his 40s (she was in her early 20s) named Robert O. Stacy, an Irishman. Stacy was my great-grandfather, and he was short statured, plus had a Irish temper. Stacy was a widower who left his state (he had 2 other children), and arrived in Arkansas when he met Mollie and Buster. Buster and Robert Stacy liked each other, and also liked Mollie, so he married her in circa 1914. She was 22 and he was 44 when they married. Together they had 6 children (including two more who died in infancy)….one of those kids was my grandfather, J.D.
Mollie was a custodian and perhaps a teacher as her professions when she worked. She became a widow in the 1940s when Robert O. Stacy died at age 75 (he was partially blind at the time of his death).
     Mollie was also an amazing woman….when she became blind from glaucoma in around her 70s, she still sewed, and other things as if she was sighted. She also talked on a CB radio (a fad in the 1970s) with her handle as “Granny from the Rocking Chair Base”. She also listens to the Bible on tape. She also kept her trailer in order so she can find her way to things she needed. She also loved walks (with one of her kids) around the block. When I was 2 days old, she came to see me….and she was asked if she could see me, she replied, “I could only see Nancy’s outline of her face”….I was one of her 13 great-grandchildren.
    I still remember she had a sense of humor….she would laugh at stories that were funny that we told her. I was told she lived a hard life when she was younger (like taking care of a baby, and her two brothers by herself when others died), and her life story was so interesting.
   I am so glad I met her…she was a very sweet lady, and an amazing one that is….after all what she’s been through. <smile>

Nancy

I have been the "Editor" of a family newsletter during the 1990s called "The Stacy News" for my relatives on my mother's side of the family. I started doing the newsletter in 1991 and ended the run in 1999. I did it all by computer with a desktop publishing program, then printed out the newsletter. After that, I made about 30 copies of the newsletter to be mailed to all of my relatives every month (the expense of stamps, etc. was by donations).  My older brother, Tony, took over the task by using a website, then sends the results by email.  Currently, a 2nd cousin, Sharon, now does the newsletter by Microsoft Word and sends our newsletter by email. Both of them did a wonderful job on the newsletter, after succeeding me! :-)

Nancy