It is known that William (my direct ancestor) and his brothers John and James, first settled in Cumberland County in
Pennsylvania territory. What is not known is exactly where they were born. Oral history says they were born in Northern Ireland,
but I’ve found no documentation of that. From DAR records, I know William was born in 1742.
William served in the Pennsylvania Militia during the Revolutionary War. He married his first wife Agnes McKeehan (thought to be McKean from DE). He married a second time to Agnes McCurdy in Newville, Pennsylvania. Shortly after that they migrated South to GA. The book The McCurdys of Stone Mountain Georgia says that they went to GA to help found a Presbyterian Church. From GA, William moved to Williamson County, TN, which is just south of Nashville. William died there in 1807. His wife moved back to GA, apparently to be with her children (not defined). His son, John, chose a different direction and moved West,. He eventually landed in Bolivar, MO, but Bolivar was not a defined town, until it was founded later in 1835. It may have been named for Bolivar, TN, where John had a previous layover.
In MO, John’s grandson, James Matthew Appleby married Nancy Jones from NC. They lived in Ft. Scott, KS, where my grandfather,
Wilson Otho Appleby was born. My father, Russell Gilmore Appleby was also born in Ft. Scott, KS. The Applebys migrated at some point to OK. I have an 8th grade graduation certificate for Russell there.
Mother was a teacher in Shawnee, OK, where I believe my father was working in a department store. They were married secretly in Oklahoma City, OK, since female teachers were not allowed to be married. As the depression began in 1929, my father lost his job. Because of the pregnancy, Mother also lost her job (My brother Dale was born in Shawnee in 1930), so they moved to CA to be with Mother’s family.
I was born in CA in 1931, when family was still struggling financially. Uncle Hugh came to the rescue. Single and 29 years old, he had a good job with the Associated Press. He promised if the family would move back to Oklahoma City, he would guarantee a roof over their heads and food on the table. Quite a proposition for a single man to make for a family of seven (Grandmother, Grandfather, Mother, Aunt Dorothy, Uncle Clyde, and his two young nephews: Dale and I)! He further stipulated that Mother must divorce my father, which she did. That resulted in my never having met my Father. Further information is contained in my memoirs, to be produced at a later date.