The Milton Oliver Lawyer Story

The story of the "Milton Oliver Lawyer" family on the occasion of the 88th birthday celebration of his son, "Milton Delmer Lawyer".

The ancient art of story-telling is still the method used by cultures throughout the world, at gatherings such as this - to keep alive the memories of family and friends. So, today, I am going to be a "Storyteller" using words to describe the pictures that you see before you.

Living as a nomad, I'm not always around for family celebrations. But fortunately, I was nearby for the 88th birthday party for my uncle, Milton Delmer Lawyer. Two of his children, Bev and Brian, hosted a picnic that brought our family together for the first time in many years. Bev told a wonderful family story that you can read below.

Nomad Barb

This tale begins in the 19th century with the births of Milton Oliver Lawyer in 1882 and Mary Elma Fike in 1881. Sometime around the turn of the 20th century, they met, fell in love and married. It was the beginning of the Milton Oliver Lawyer family and that union has brought us here today June 25, 2006.

By 1918, they had produced four very handsome sons:
• William Earle (1908)
• Strafford Hunter (1912)
• Tolbert Fike (1913) and last but not least
• Milton Delmer (1918) the baby of the family.

The LAWYER BOYS spent their young years living, working and playing on a beautiful and large farm in Thurmont Maryland and eventually grew up, fell in love and married.
• Earle married Ethel
• Strafford married Mary
• Todd married Gacki and
• Milton married Gayle Elizabeth Spessard.

By 1940, the Milton Oliver Lawyer family had grown to ten and Milton Delmer was wearing four hats - that of son, brother, brother-in-law and husband.

The marriage of Milton and Gayle introduced another family to the growing Lawyer family. Gayle's mother and father; Anna Grace and Charles Augustus Spessard; her brother Hagen; and her sister Catherine, who by then had already been married to Earl Oliver Cowan for several years.

So, now, there were many wonderful, interesting adult characters in this expanding family and Milton Delmer had added son-in- law to his growing list of monikers.

Click on photographs for a larger view.

The union of Milton Oliver, soon to be known as "Gran-Gran" and Mary Elma, soon to be known as "Nannie" (the grandchildren were coming), had created growing communities of people all connected by one word "FAMILY".

It wasn't too long after all of the Lawyer boys had married that fatherhood came calling. Strafford and Mary had the first grandchild, Mary Ellen and soon after, Joan, Straffy and Barbara (three daughters and a son). Tolbert and Gacki had a son, Calvin Lee; Earle and Ethel had a son, Bill; and Milton and Gayle had Beverly Gayle and my brother Milton Jr.

At the same time the Lawyer grandchildren were coming into this world, another community of family members was expanding as well. Gayle's sister Catherine and her husband Earl had become the parents of six children.
Pete, Ronnie, Shirley, Gene, Orlan and Patty (see photograph above).

By the time Milton Delmer was 25, his wardrobe of hats was considerable: he was a son, brother, husband, brother-in-law, son-in law, father and now uncle. And another uncle was about to play a part in his life. It was 1943, it was War-time and Uncle Sam came calling. When Milton Delmer accepted the call to serve his country, in the United States Army Air Corps he again donned another hat, that of a soldier.

When Milton returned home from the War, his life took another direction completely when he and Gayle opened a small restaurant called "The Donut Shop" on Summit Ave in Hagerstown MD and a restaurant on Franklin St. called "The Gayle Restaurant". The Donut Shop closed after four years of operation and the Gayle Restaurant was sold to Hagen Spessard and remained open into the 1950s. New experiences again had given him yet, another moniker - that of entrepreneur.

The mid 1950s created another growth spurt for the Milton Oliver Lawyer family as two of those original Lawyer boys, Strafford and Milton and their wives decided it was time to have a few more Lawyer babies, and so - Strafford and Mary had David and Jan - and Milton and Gayle had Brian Dean (my brother) in 1956.

The 1940s - 1950s were very special times for all of the communities of people lucky enough to be a part of the Lawyer, Spessard and Cowan families. Church every Sunday - holiday and reunion gatherings - summers with cousins and grandparents and everyone could see that family members loved and respected one another and enjoyed being together.

Milton and Gayle and their children were by the 1950s also spending time flying the friendly skies as Milton had become a pilot, bought an airplane and named it Rudolph. Another new hat for MIlton to wear, that of aviator.

Seventy years had passed since Milton Oliver and Mary Elma had come into this world and all of these events had brought our family to the 1960s. Milton, Gayle and Brian were getting ready to make a big change in their lives as I and my brother, Buddy had graduated from school and were ready to venture off into the world. They bought another business, this time, in Smithsburg Maryland and called it Smithsburg Auto Body and they moved to that town as well. Another entrepreneurial effort that is still in operation today.

Milton's daughter (yours truly) married Donald Wright ( 1st husband ) from DuQuoin Illinois and soon gave Milton and Gayle new hats to wear - that of grandfather and grandmother . Barry Gene Wright was born in 1962 and Scott Milton Wright in 1964. And....a new community of people became of part of The Family - The Vernon and Virginia Wright family from DuQuoin Illinois. A second marriage (1969) occurred for Milton & Gayle's daughter when she married Jim Wiedeman and again another community of people became a part of the Family - Jim and his two sons, James R. Wiedeman Jr, and John R. Wiedeman.

From the 1960s on - Milton, Gayle and Brian built a rewarding life in Smithsburg encountering many friends along the way, many of whom are here today. But they still had one more treat coming their way. Their oldest grandson, Barry, had married Tammy Fraley in 1986...and in 1988 they produced the first great-grandchild for Milton Gayle and named her Tasha Nicole. Next came Kristen Elizabeth and Barry Gene Jr. And again a new community of people had entered the lives of The Lawyer Family. Cathy and David Fraley from Shepherdstown West Virginia.

It's quite possible that the MILTON OLIVER LAWYER FAMILY will one day have a community of people to call family in Guam, as the love of Scott Milton's life is a young lady named Chai from Guam. And so it goes...a family is born into this wonderful world - and as it grows it expands into little communities of people from near and far away.
A network of people that we call family and friends.

About the Author
Bev Lawyer Wiedeman spent 20 years working in the fashion industry. She loved helping women find suitable looks that made them feel better about themselves. Now, she has transferred her skill of meeting people's needs to selling collectibles on eBay. Bev says, "When a buyer finds an item that takes them back to their childhood days or they find an item to add to their collection and they write to tell me about it - that, too is very rewarding." Click here to view Bev's eBay page.