The 1937 Flood:

re-posted from January 2015

In January, 1937, John and Kizzie lived near Walnut Grove and East Prairie (Missouri), during that winter there was severe flooding on the Tennessee and Kentucky side of the Mississippi. As the flooding got worse it was decided that the 3rd dike would be blown to save East Prairie and relieve flooding on the other side of the river. At the time, the family lived in a "stilt" house on the River Plain (spillway), so Kizzie and most of the family loaded up and headed for Tennessee.^{1 2}

Even as they left, the water was floorboard high on the truck they were riding in. Bertha and Red remained with Dad and moved everything they could up into the loft.

Most of the families in the flood plain temporarily moved into east Prairie - but Dad, Bertha and Red loaded up the Model T, and along with Alf Ball and his 2 wagons and 8 mules moved into a two-story house with _____(?) for 3-4 weeks during the flooding. The water was so high that it almost reached the second story. Local whiskey makers stayed in business by moving their stills into their lofts. Whiskey was obtained by floating up to the lofts.

After the water had receded, the family returned to the house, which had floated over a mile away. What was not moved out of the house or placed in the loft was lost. Unfortunately, the Family bible was in some boxes or a trunk that were lost in the flood. Evidently, at a later date, Kizzie tried to record all the family information into a new Bible, but much of that information has proven unreliable

1 The Weekly Record, January 29, 1937 / February 5, 1937: This was one of the countless flood that plague the Mississippi throughout history, there were worst floods before and since, but this was the first to impact our family and was particularly hard for the families of the River ‘spillway’ as over 500 (1500-2000 people) families were evacuated. The fear was that newly built levee would not hold in light of predictions that the river would crest at 1 foot higher than the devastating 1927 flood that broke the Dorena Levee. Over 20 feet of water flooded the spillway and 23 WPA workers died in a spillway accident when their barge carrying 150 levee workers sank in the spillway. Families would again be forced out in May as flooding threatened the spillway farmers again. Flooding this time was imminent as the levees had not been repaired, but at least the area was not plagued by the snow, sleet and freezing temperature that accompanied the January flood.

2 Onene Litrell-Curtis, Bertha Littrell-Thurman, Red littrell, & JD Littrell gdl/1994

Newspaper clipping from the “Remember East Prairie When:” facebook page.

also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohio_River_flood_of_1937

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Possible new family connection in the St. Louis area:

Article updated: see link at bottom of this article.

ALB: Hey I met this woman on FB - we could be related, her name is Michele Rogers, maiden name Littrell. Her family is from AL. Her father is Steven Littrell, Grandfather, Fagan Littrell. She didn't know what her great grandfather's name was but she does know her grandfather's( Fagan) uncle was John David Littrell. She did tell me her grandfather Fagan had several brothers..... any of these names sound familiar or look familiar. I looked on her website, didn't see any of these names.

GDL: Sorry I didn't get back to you sooner. Since my upgrade to Windows 10 (compatibility problems) I don't have access to my computer files to check the information you gave be. I'm having this problem with older hardware and software and can't say how soon I can get it resolved. The information doesn't jump out at me and I will probably need more in the long run. My current guess would be that if there's a connection it previous to her grandfather. If I don't get my genealogy software running I may have to upgrade it. If I don't have a solution by next week I'll visit the state library and use their software. I'm posting this exchange to the website in case some visitor can chime in.

The above is shared from a Facebook conversation between Alesia Littrell Burrows.

If you have information please comment or send it to: indianaglenn@gmail.com 

I will update this info as needed.

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Article updated: Jesse Luttrell/Littrell connection tentatively established:

Redneck Family Tree

reposted from 1993

     Many many years ago
     when I was twenty three,
     I got married to a widow
     who was pretty as could be.

     This widow had a grown-up daughter
     Who had hair of red.
     My father fell in love with her,
     And soon the two were wed.

     This made my dad my son-in-law
     And changed my very life.
     My daughter was my mother,
     For she was my father's wife.

     To complicate the matters worse,
     Although it brought me joy,
     I soon became the father
     Of a bouncing baby boy.

     My little baby then became
     A brother-in-law to dad.
     And so became my uncle,
     Though it made me very sad.

     For if he was my uncle,
     Then that also made him brother
     To the widow's grown-up daughter
     Who, of course, was my step-mother.

     Father's wife then had a son,
     Who kept them on the run.
     And he became my grandson,
     For he was my daughter's son.

     My wife is now my mother's mother
     And it makes me blue.
     Because, although she is my wife,
     She's my grandmother too.

     If my wife is my grandmother,
     Then I am her grandchild.
     And every time I think of it,
     It simply drives me wild.

     For now I have become
     The strangest case you ever saw.
     As the husband of my grandmother,
     I am my own grandpa!

courtesy: Douglas Baker, 1993

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