Millie Ellen Carter (221.2)

Born: 6/22/1889 Jefferson, Adams County, Ohio

Died: 12/18/1966 Toledo, Lucas County, Ohio

Parents: William M. carter and Harriet Alice Windsor

Spouse: Arthur Herman Yelton (Kenton County, KY - 3/13/1909)

Children: William Sanford Yelton 1910-1988 / Edgar Otto Yelton 1911-1994 / Mary E. Yelton 1913-2001 / Mildred Yelton 1915-2018 / Ruth Arline Yelton 1917-2004 / Leonora B. Yelton 1919-2007 / Ralph “Blondy” Herman Yelton 1921-2004 / Stanley Dedrick Yelton 1927-2004

Bio:

Millie was born to a large farming family in Southern Ohio near to the Ohio River. Corn and wheat would have been the main crops surrounding young Millie while cotton would have also been present. By 1900, she is going to school along with her six siblings aged 14 to 2. Her older brothers work on the owned farm as laborers along with her dad. Her oldest brother Clinton, aged 14, has only completed the second grade. while the average road was dirt and the average mode was horse and mule, 1900 was also the year that the railroad reached the county.

Arthur and Millie’s Marriage Certificate

March 13, 1909

On March 13, 1909, Millie married Arthur Herman Yelton in Kenton County, Kentucky, a man from Northern Kentucky and close to her age who also comes from a large farming family. By 1910, Arthur has moved his young family into a rented farmhouse in Bonar on which he works. The crop of the area at the time is predominantly cotton, while keeping hogs and/or chickens was also common in the area. Being only 40 miles South of Cincinnati, it is possible that the young Yelton family begin to hear about automobiles. Although her husband has registered for the war without claiming exemption, the fact that he is married to Millie with a child likely holds him back from being drafted.

By 1920, the family house in Bonar has expanded. With six kids, Millie is in charge of keeping house. Millie’s day would have been dominated by heating water, preparing meals, dressing the kids, and hand-washing dishes. Vegetables were canned in the Summer, and bread was baked as the regular meal. Three of Arthur and Mary’s kids have been born across the state line in Ohio (Edgar, Mildred, and Ruth).

A map of Falmouth

1936

Falmouth Post Office

1941. Retrieved Scenes from Falmouth, Kentucky

“Jon, Ed, Ellen, and Miller”

Holding fish, c. 1950-1960

Arthur has moved his family to Falmouth by 1930. With all of their kids, Arthur and Millie live in an owned house worth $1000 on Mullins Avenue. At age 42, Arthur works as a house carpenter while Millie keeps house and looks over their many children. He makes a wage although he works on his own account, and they own a radio. Their relocation to town is strongly reflected in the census and within the family. Their neighbors on their street include contractors, grocery store workers, and factory workers. Millie’s 16-year-old daughter Hattie works at the Levy Pants factory while two of his sons are general laborers. The most expensive house on the street belongs to 85-year-old Ben B Hitch, a veteran of the Civil War, at $5000. The cheapest house is rented by Mr. WC Jenkins and his wife Violette at $10 a month. WC works as a laborer on the county road.

By 1940, she lives on State Street in Falmouth with her seven kids, aged 24 to 7. Her oldest daughter Mildred works as a maid in a private home while his youngest kids attend school. The highest grade Millie attained was fifth grade. Falmouth is slowly starting to modernize around the Yelton family. It is likely that the town would have had a hardware store, a grocery, and a bank; big time-metropolitan to the cotton farm. Rationing was beginning to take effect, limiting the amount of gas, sugar, and tires available to the people of Falmouth.

Arthur and Millie Later in Life

The kids have all moved out by 1950 other than a young man named “Paul”. He is 19 and is listed as a son of Arthur and Millie although I am not sure of the relation. They have moved houses, now living on Wilson Street. There is not much information available for Arthur and Millie between the 1950s and the mid-60s. It is assumed that they lived in Toledo, where she died in 1966 and he died in 1967.