Ed and Esther (Creasey) Black family history

Edwin and Esther Creasey-Black

Esther and Ed Black, ca 1940's	Esther, ca 1960's

Parents of:   Margery,    Ann,    Bob,  Dick  and  Russell

Last updated  Saturday, March 28, 2009

 Guestbook has been removed due to unsolicited "junk" contents. Familial comments will be received here and published here.

Edwin Wesley BLACK was born May 29, 1873, at Marshall, MO to William H. Black of Virginia (1851 -1931) and Martha Berzett of Kentucky (1856 - 1944) . I understand he had only one brother who died from TB at an early age.     1.) (I believe his grandparents' origin is Scotland.    barbara)        2.) 2005 - I no longer believe these are his parents. This info came from the Internet - barbara

Ed grew up on a farm and attended country school near Marshall. He eventually worked on the Chicago Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad, ending up at Lake Andes, Charles Mix County, SD. His life on the railroad ended after he was in a railroad-related   accident.  Because of this accident he wore a metal plate in his head and the sight in one eye was affected. He got a job on a local farm and one morning, while waiting for the cafe to open, he met the waitress and proceeded to court her.     (2009  notes -  In the 1920 Fed. Census the family is listed as living in Lower Brule, Lyman County, SD. He is 45, Esther is 22 and Margery is two months old. Ed's mother is listed as having been born in Iowa and his father born in Illinois.
The 1925 SD Census says he was born in Missouri;  father b. in Tennessee and mother b. Missouri.  It also shows he was of Scottish descent and blind in his left eye, which would confirm the story that he was blind due to an accident while working on the railroad and because of the blindness, lost that job on the RR.  Shows he was 51 years old, which could make him born in 1874 and I do question the names of his parents! The plot thickens!)   

Ed and Esther were married Sept., 16, 1918 at Mitchell, Davison County, SD. Their marriage certificate identifies him as William Edward!!??  No wonder I cannot find him anywhere!

Esther Belle CREASEY was  born June 8, 1897, on a farm south of Geddes to Algernon "Lonnie" and Maggie (LONG) Creasey. She attended country school, worked in the local cafes, did housework for others and cared for an elderly woman until the woman died.  Esther's brothers and sisters were: Cordelia, Sarah, Chester, Clifford,  Clinton, Lonnie (Algernon Jr.) , Lloyd,  and  Mabel.  Grandma's   mother (Maggie)  passed away when Esther was 16 years old and she and her two older sisters helped raise the five younger children. Their parents are buried at Geddes.

I have discovered that Lonnie married for a third time to a woman with three children, Anne Cooney, Lyle ("Lite") and Henrietta). He sold his holdings in Charles Mix County and he, his youngest children and his new family moved to California (Los Angeles area.)   There, he, was found dead, sitting on a park bench.

  Note: Nov., 2000 : I have since discovered that her brother, Lonnie, also died at San Diego, Ca. 7-9- 1979.)  See Creasey history

Esther and Bill Morgan, 1968

Esther began her employment as a cook at the Reliance school after Bob died and her daughters married. She continued cooking until her sons, Dick and Russell, graduated. She had a charge account with Sears & Roebuck and always maintained that she and Sears got her boys through school. She was very proud of her sons and until the day she died she was always drawn to dark-haired, dark-eyed boys. then the little blonde-haired, blue-eyed boys came along

She married Wm. J. "Bill" Morgan from Presho in May of 1951. (Please allow me to interject a thought … (We always joked that Bill apparently thought Grandma's name was "Goddamit Esther" as every time he spoke to her he began with G-----it Esther, such as, "G----it Esther, what should we do today?" "G____it Esther lets play cards," "G___it Esther, it's hot out today," that sort of thing) barbara      They put up hay for the area farmers and during the off-season they traveled to anywhere their whim took them. She worked as hard as he and his hired men did. They had a cook shack and sleeping shack that they hauled to the field where they were haying and she kept the men fed, watered and bedded down. She learned to drive a car out in those hay fields by driving along the fence line. Her lessons paid off the night Bill suffered a heart attack in the middle of the night and she managed to get him to the hospital by herself. I believe that was the only time in her life she ever had to drive.

Esther was a loud, gravely-voiced woman as were her brothers and sisters. When her siblings or their card-playing friends gathered at her house the whole place came alive with booming voices and laughter. She was always properly corseted and enjoyed wearing jewelry and dressing up to go places with Bill. She and Bill were wild card players and enjoyed their weekly games with all of their friends. She was not above clearing the table of all of the cards (in the middle of a game if things were not going well) and this gesture was not lost on me as I can clear the table (mid-game) as well as she could! She was blessed to have had a good life with Bill. She earned it. Most of the children who grew up in Reliance remember her fondly as "Grandma" or "Ma" Black.

During the off-season they traveled to anywhere their whim took them. By the time he passed away they had been to all of the united stated except for a couple up in the northeastern part of the country. Heartache over the loss of her baby (Russell) in 1974, hastened her death. She could not understand why someone so young should go before "an old woman who is through living."   She died Dec. 16, 1974 and is buried alongside Ed in Reliance. Bill has been buried beside his first wife at Presho.

Additions and corrections always welcome!

If anyone has any information at all about "Dad" Black,  the family would greatly appreciate hearing from them. I have been searching the "web" for several years and it is as though he just appeared in Missouri, went on to Charles Mix County in South Dakota, married Grandma and moved to Reliance. barbara

This wonderful 1941 photo of Dad Black with Marjo Fletcher (r) and Frances Stallman (on Dad's lap) was sent to me by Frances who received it from Margery's son, Randy.
It looks to have been taken on the south step of Ed and Esther's home in the NW corner of Reliance. The house was demolished in 2009. For me, the tam confirms the Scottish heritage. barbara

Data submitted by barbara stallman-speck, granddaughter of  Ed and Esther .