Starting Sept. 30, 2014, Genealogy.com will be making a big change. GenForum message boards, Family Tree Maker homepages, and the most popular articles will be preserved in a read-only format, while several other features will no longer be available, including member subscriptions and the Shop.
 
Learn more


Home Page |Surname List |Index of Individuals |InterneTree |Sources


View Tree for Bess Gay OldfieldBess Gay Oldfield (b. November 06, 1894, d. December 06, 1973)


Picture of Bess Gay Oldfield
Bess & Virginia

Bess Gay Oldfield (daughter of Alfeus Oldfield and Ada Stroud)447 was born November 06, 1894 in Eau CLaire, Wisconsin447, and died December 06, 1973 in Eau CLaire, Wisconsin447. She married Ernest Ewald Fischer on 1912 in Texas447, son of John Fischer and Emilia Kuehn.

 Includes NotesNotes for Bess Gay Oldfield:
Provided by Jim Kosmo
One humorous story Gram loved to tell occurred in Montana. At that time race car driver Barney Oldfield was one of the most famous sports figures in America. He held virtually all speed records. So, whenever someone was driving too fast it was a common phrase to say, "Who to you think you are? Barney Oldfield?" Well, Bessie, who claimed to have gotten a lesson from the famous driver, and who was a bit heavy in the driving foot herself was clocked going very fast across the open road in Montana by a state trooper. He pulled her over, asked for her license and spilled out the popular quote, "Who do you think you are? Barney Oldfield?"

"No, just his niece," she replied. The officer glanced at her license, his composure slipped slightly and he responded, "You really are."

Well, it was a great story although I suspect there was a bit more to it inasmuch as I assume her license read Fischer, not Oldfield, but hey that's just a detail. And, the relationship with Barney was a bit more distant than uncle. Still, a pretty good story.

Another grand event for Gram occurred in 1952 when she came to Boy Scout Camp Phillips in Northern Wisconson to bring me home after a two week stay. All the campers and leaders assembled by the flag pole, stood at attention one more time while the flag was lowered and received one last message from the camp director while our parents (or grandparent) waited in the nearby parking lot. Grams, who was an absolute tea-totler, somehow had acquired an old whiskey bottle that she felt was a perfect flask for carrying her beloved very strong coffee when on the road. While we stood at attention I heard several scouts begin to giggle. Then one whispered in a fairly loud voice, "Wow, look at the old lady hitting the bottle." To my horror it was Grams downing a shot of coffee from her whiskey bottle.

Grams only finished eighth grade in school and she almost never went to church, except for special ceremonies, but she was the most intelligent, highly principaled person I have ever met. After my father was hospitalized we went to live with Gram and she became a second mother to me. I learned so much from her and to this day I often quote advice that she offered so freely -- probably appreciated more today than when I was a teenager. She read constantly, worked crossword puzzles everyday and picked a new word out of the dictionary every single day of her life. She was constantly learning. She was an excellent seamstress, a highly skilled gardener and a person who consoled and counseled many friends, neighbors and relatives. The back door was always open and there was seemingly a constant flow of people walking in to talk with that fiesty grandmother.

More About Bess Gay Oldfield and Ernest Ewald Fischer:
Marriage: 1912, Texas.447

Children of Bess Gay Oldfield and Ernest Ewald Fischer are:
  1. +Virginia Marilyn Fischer, b. March 10, 1914, Blue Island, IL447, 448, d. July 23, 1997, Eau CLaire, Wisconsin449, 450.
Created with Family Tree Maker


Search for Family - Learn About Genealogy - Helpful Web Sites - Message Boards - Guest Book - Home
© Copyright 1996-99, The Learning Company, Inc., and its subsidiaries. All rights reserved.
© Copyright 1995-97 by Matthew L. Helm. All Rights Reserved.