Tombstone Tuesday - Charles and Mary Elizabeth Clark

Great-Grandfather and Great-Grandmother, Charles Clark 1870-1943 and Mary Elizabeth Durbin Clark 1861-1949.  Family lore tells the story of Mary Elizabeth Durbin being attacked and raped by boys on the neighboring farm.  She bore a child, refused to marry either of the boys, but gave the child their last name.  She was never ashamed of what happened and spoke out about it when her family tried to hush her up.  She fell in love with Great-Grandfather and they eloped against her parents wishes.  Charles was 18 and Mary Elizabeth 26 when they married - unheard off and another scandal for the Durbin's.  Charles and Mary were blessed with seven children, and together they raised her first son.  My father remembers Mary always wore boots and loved to go out side and play with her grandchildren.  He said she would place tag in those boots and always tagged her fair share during play.

Comments

Anonymous said…
My husband is a Dial and while discussing the "family tale" of Elizabeth Durbin and Charles Dial their version is different. There's always 3 sides to stories: his, hers, and the truth. His goes like this... Elizabeth and a young man named Dial (likely Charles) fell in love. He loved her enough to want to get married, but her family said 'absolutely not'. She became pregnant and because he couldn't have her, he either left town or even killed himself. The Sr. Charles was never heard of again and there are no records. Elizabeth shortly thereafter married Charles Henry Clark and he raised her son Charles (jr.) Dial as his own. When Charles (jr.) grew up he started using his last name 'Dial' exclusively.
Charles (jr) started using a middle initial 'C' because he discovered another Charles Dial in the area. His son Zennie was my husband's grandfather. There was a Michael Z Dial close by the Morris Durbin lot in 1889. My husband's brother is Michael Zennie Dial. Relatives there in Loudon Township have never been told an authoritative word if there's any connection.

Carla Dial
candleladylsmo@kc.rr.com
July 8, 2010 at 3:02 PM
Amy Urman said…
Carla

Thanks for the input, the story I heard was third of fourth hand down the line. Your right of course hers, his, and the truth all very different. There certainly were Dial's in the area that the "Father" could have hailed from. I think that at this point a DNA test would a great idea. The Durbin family seemed to be quite pious so your story would fit the bill also. Perhaps we can persuade a Charles Dial relative and descendents from the families of the area to donate some samples - that would be interesting!
July 9, 2010 at 6:11 PM
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