Ida Ophelia Gilley 1880-1953 (101)

Ida Ophelia Gilley was born on 8 Sep 1880 near the township of Hookerville in Burleson County, Texas, to James Andrew Gilley and Almira Elizabeth Decker. Her marriage license confirms her maiden name, and she can be found living with her parents in the 1900 Federal Census, which confirms her connection to her parents.

Ida was a petite woman, with long dark hair and dark eyes to match. Some of her descendants believe that she may have had native American blood, however nothing has been proven along those lines. Her grandparents were pioneers in Texas, so they were well established by the time she was born. Her family owned land in several counties in Texas, but they lived on the farm in Burleson County.

Ida was a talented young lady, who was skilled with words. She won an award for elocution at an early age:

The Caldwell News-Chronicle (Caldwell, Tex.),
Vol. 18, No. 45, Ed. 1 Friday, March 25, 1898,
Page 1 | The Portal to Texas History

With such a gift, it was only fitting that her first job was as a reporter. Between May of 1898 and October of 1900, Ida worked for the local newspaper, the Caldwell News-Chronicle,  as a Rural Correspondent, with the pen name of "Plato." She wrote news about what was happening in her hometown of Hookerville, including who was visiting whom, who was sick and who had gotten well, upcoming nuptials, obituaries, farm news, and pretty much anything else that she deemed newsworthy locally. Here is a sample of one of her articles:

Caldwell News-Chronicle. (Caldwell, Tex.),

 Vol. 20, No. 41, Ed. 1 Friday, March 9, 1900

As a young adult, she also worked as a clerk at her uncle Thomas Gilley's dry goods store in Caldwell, Burleson County, Texas. That is where she and William Sumrow met. She helped him with his purchases, and he took an immediate interest in this bright young woman. 

Thomas F. Gilley's Dry Goods Store, about 1900

They were married on the 3rd of May 1903. Her marriage license gives the following:

"Marriage License. To any Person Authorized by Law to Solemnize Marriage--Greeting. You are hereby commanded to solemnize the Rite and publish the Bans of Matrimony between Mr. William E. Sumrow of Duncan in the Indian Territory, aged 33 years, and Ida Ophelia Gilley of Duncan, in the Indian Territory, aged 22 years, according to law, and do you officially sign and return this License to the parties named.

"Witness my hand and official seal this 1st day of May A. D. 1903. C. M. Campbell, Clerk of the United States Court, signed J. W. Speake, Deputy

"Certificate of Marriage. I D. W. Garvin, Minister of the Gospel, do hereby certify that on the 3rd day of May A. D. 1903, I did duly and according to law, as commanded in the foregoing license, solemnize the Rite and publish the Bans of Matrimony between the parties therein named. Witness my hand, this 9th day of May A. D. 1903, signed D. W. Garwin, Minister of the Gospel

"My Credentials are recorded in the office of the Clerk of the United States Court in the Indian Territory, Southern Judicial Division, Book C, Page 12. Filed and duly recorded this 11th day of May 1903. C. M. Campbell, Clerk of the United States Court"

Ida Gilley and William Sumrow were living in Duncan, Chickasaw Nation, Indian Territory (now Oklahoma) at the time of their marriage. William & Ida claimed that they were married while on board a train. It is unknown which train, or which line they were traveling for this romantic marriage ceremony, or who may have gone with them on their day. We can guess at a few of their special guests.

Ida Ophelia Gilley posing in her wedding dress.

William's brother, James was living in Duncan at the time, and had recently married himself. Ida's aunt Anna (Gilley) Elsey and uncle Thomas Ellis Elsey also lived in Duncan. William & Ida lived either with or near her aunt and uncle for the first couple of years of their married life. They later named a son after Ida's uncle, Thomas Ellis Elsey.

Ida and William had the following children:

1) Merritt Blair Surow b. 13 Apr 1904 in Altus, Jackson, Oklahoma; d. 16 Aug 1965 in Bexar, Texas m. Sophie Lokey

2) James Oran Sumrow  b. 9 Jan 1906 Denton, Denton, TX; d. 13 Nov 1990 Roswell, Chaves, New Mexico m. Adaline Smith

3) Vera May Sumrow 6 Apr 1907 Denton, Denton, TX; d. 1 Apr 1995 in Alvin, Brazoria, TX m. 1st Clyde Russell Owens, 2nd ____ Scarborough

4) Zora Elizabeth Sumrow b. 26 Feb 1910 Denton, Denton, TX; d. 2 Sep 1999 Jacksonville, Duval, FL m. 1st James Lee Owens, 2nd ___ Suggs, 3rd ____ Da Aman

5) Infant Daughter Sumrow b. 16 May 1912 Denton, Denton, TX; d. 16 May 1912 Denton, Denton, TX

6) William Franklin Sumrow b. 5 Sep 1913 Denton, Denton, TX; d. 5 Aug 1975 Chactaw, Oklahoma, Oklahoma m. Crystal Hale Lokey

7) Thomas Ellis Sumrow b. 11 Nov 1917 in Denton, Denton, TX; d. 20 Jun 1972 in Houston, Harris, TX m. Eunice Parker

8) Royce Sumrow b. 28 Sep 1920 Papalote, Bee, Texas; d. 15 Dec 2008 Huntington Beach, Orange, CA m. Allene Hyatt Whitcomb

9) Weldon Sumrow b. 13 Jul 1923 in Winters, Runnels, TX; d. Jun 1946 Hico, Hamilton, TX m. unknown

About 1905, Ida, William and their baby son, Merrit, moved back to Texas. Ida's father may have been ill at the time, or may have died, since we have not been able to pinpoint his date of death. At any rate, it would seem that she went home to be near her mother during this time of grief. It is believed that Ida inherited property from her father. We know, at any rate, that she and her husband had purchased or inherited land spread over several counties during the following decades. William spent the greater part of his life working his own farm, and overseeing the work on his tenant farms as well. Ida worked hard as a farmer's wife, and raised their numerous children. With six strapping boys, and two strong girls, there was plenty of help to keep the farm going.

Ida (Gilley) Sumrow can be found in Denton County, Texas for the 1910 Census.

Ida (Gilley) Sumrow and her family were living in Bee County, Texas for the 1920 Census.

Ida (Gilley) Sumrow and her family were in Willacy County, Texas for the 1930 Census.

Ida and William were Baptists, following in a long tradition in William's family, but about the year 1930, they became interested in some new ideas that were being offered by the Bible Study movement. This group begun by Charles T. Russell and Joseph F. Rutherford, would later evolve into the Jehovah's Witnesses. Ida and William had always been deep thinkers, and this opportunity to study the scriptures in depth had great appeal for them. The questions that they began to ask soon got them in trouble in the Baptist church where they regularly attended, and they were asked by their pastor to please stop coming. They were asking too many difficult questions, and the ensuing discussions were becoming too heated.

This rejection from their pastor pushed them closer to the Bible Study group, and they became ardent followers in the movement. Like the Jehovah's Witnesses, Ida and William soon began to reject the celebration of holidays and anniversaries of every kind. They became resistant to the incursions of modern media, which they saw as worldly temptations, so they refused to listen to radio broadcasts and later to television.

Their strictness in religious observation may have served their needs at the time, but it was repellant to their growing family. William was already a stern disciplinarian at home. Combining his readiness to punish with this expanding view of what were punishable offences, turned him into a tyrant. The result was domestic abuse that took a terrible toll on the children. It created a rift in family ties that had life long repercussions for the children, and grandchildren.

William had promised each of his boys that they would each be given a farm when they reached the age of twenty-one, if they would stay to help on the farm until then. This only added to his armament. Now, he could threaten them with the loss of their inheritance if they didn't stay around to work. As their home became more intolerable, each of the boys had to make the difficult choice about whether to leave or to stay and take the abuse. Only Merritt lasted out the twenty-one years. The rest paid the steep penalty of losing valuable land inheritance by leaving their parents' home early. It was just too uncomfortable at home.

One can only imagine the toll this must have taken on Ida as well. She was much less strict by nature, and by upbringing, than William. As each of her boys made the decision to leave home, it must have been heart-wrenching for her. On the one hand, she probably believed that what her husband was asking of them was right, but she also probably recognized that his cruel manner of enforcing his rules exacerbated the boys' defiance. There was very little she could do as each of her children slipped away.

Ida and her husband were living as boarders in Roosevelt County, New Mexico for the 1940 Census. 

In the 1940s, Ida developed an ugly dark mass of tissue on the end of her nose. The doctor diagnosed this as skin cancer, and recommended that it be removed surgically before it had a chance to spread. In those days anesthesia was not widely used, and was considered dangerous. In order to remove the cancerous tissue the doctor burned it away with a red hot tool. He wanted her to be alert, so that he would know when he had burned down to healthy tissue, some of which he also burned away in case it too may have been contaminated. When the pain would become too severe, the doctor would give Ida a few moments to recover her composure, then begin again. It is difficult to image the kind of agony she must have endured.

After the procedure was completed, Ida had to wait for several weeks for what was left of her nose to heal, and for the swelling to go down. Then she was fitted for an artificial nose, made of metal. She wore this when she went into public, and for most of the later family photographs that she appears in. Over time, she became less self-conscious about her nose, and even had some pictures taken without the prosthetic on.

The Sumrow family about 1950--from left, Oran, Vera, Bill, William, Ida, Merrit, Zora, Tommy and Royce.
Missing is the youngest son Weldon who had passed away in 1946.

In 1949, Ida's husband passed away. He had been taking the air conditioner out of the window to prepare for the cooler fall weather, when he tripped on a hose. The air conditioner fell onto his chest, crushing it. William left all of his property to his eldest son, Merritt, with provision for his wife to have possession of their home until her demise. Though this gave Ida a place to live, she found it terribly lonely. Her solution was to spend a portion of each year with each of her children. This gave her an opportunity to spend time with her grandchildren and to improve the relationships with her sons.

Her strict religion continued with her through the end of her days. One of her granddaughters shared this memory of Ida:

"She was small and slender and stoic. I don't ever remember hearing her laugh. When she came to visit my mother, Zora, in Atlanta, we had the TV on in our home, as they came over to visit my 1st husband and me. My children were babies. Back to the TV: She thought it was a very evil thing and turned her back on it, refusing to look at it. She wasn't mean - just very strict. I remember once visiting them in New Mexico and I said, "Hot Dog", over something. (I was about eight yrs. old.) She gave me a good tongue-lashing, but I didn't know what I said that was so bad. God rest her soul. She was so lonesome and lost after Grandfather died. She would spend 2 months with one offspring and move on to another."

Though she was generally a serious woman, she was also warm-hearted. One of her daughter-in-laws remembered her fondly, and often spoke about how tenderly she treated her grandchildren and how affectionate she was even with the in-laws. Ida enjoyed her visits with her children and their growing families to the fullest.

In time, Ida's body began to weaken. Though she had gone through that extreme procedure with her cancer, it continued to spread to other parts of her body. Eventually, it developed in her brain. This weakened her whole body, and caused a great deal of stress on her heart. Shortly before she died, she had gone to stay with her son, Tommy, in Roswell, Chaves County, New Mexico. On the evening of 20 June 1953, Tommy came home from work, and found that she had laid down for a nap and died. Her death certificate gives the following information:

Place of Death: Roswell, Chaves County, NM

Place of Residence: 506 Pecan St., Hico, Hamilton County, TX

Name: Ida Ophelia Sumrow; female; white; widowed; housewife

Mother and Father's names: Unknown

Death Date: June 20, 1953

Birth Date: Sept. 8, 1879

Birth Place: Caldwell, Texas

Spouse: William E. Sumrow

Informant: Tommy Sumrow

Cause of Death: Acute Coronary Decl.; Chronic Myaconditis

Ida is buried in Hico Cemetery, in Hico, Hamilton County, Texas. She has a double grave marker that she shares with her husband. Her side reads, "Mother Ida O. September 8, 1880 June 20, 1953."