Mary Josephine "Mollie" Harris Vardiman, 1885 - 1980
Saline & Adair County, Missouri
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Photos:
Mollie Harris Vardiman
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Content:
Age at death: 95
Nickname: Mollie or Molly
State: Missouri
Married: 24 Dec 1908
# of Children: 2
See narrative below.
Click on any photo to enlarge. |
Links:
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Mollie's Father: Phillip Watkins
Harris & his sisters
Phillip Harris sold Bibles |
Mollie's Mother: Almeda Holmes Harris
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Mollie's Sister, Emma Harris Morton
Solomon
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Vardiman Family ~ 1911
Vardiman Side, click on photo for labels.
Luella Mae & Callie Smith were sisters who married Vardiman brothers, John Peter and Richard Henry
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Harris Family ~1912
Miles and Mollie Vardiman middle of back row with
Mollie's siblings
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Mollie with child
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About 1915-1916
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Phil (b. 1915) & Ross (b. 1913)
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Mollie about 1917
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"Mollie's first pregnancy ended in a miscarriage of a little girl. She kept dressing their youngest son, Phil, in dresses until he
was old enough to say, "Am I a boy or a girl?" She wanted a small family since she had been raised in
a large family with nine siblings." Family story passed down to Michelle Vardiman Fansler
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Ross & Phil
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Ross and Phil, Farm Boys
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Miles Standish Vardiman in his Model T with Ross and Phil in front
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Ross, Phil and dog, Billie
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Phil Vardiman
High School Graduation ~1933
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Mollie & Miles, 1936
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1940
Left to Right: Louise & Phil, Mollie & Miles, Emily & Ross holding June
(1st grandchild)
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Mollie & Miles Vardiman
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Mollie in her garden. She always bent down from the waist.
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~ 1948 at Miles & Mollie Vardiman's house with grown boys and
grandchildren
Left to Right
Back Row:
Ross, Mollie, Louise, Phil, Miles
Front Row: June, James, Billie & Larry
Right photo: Billie
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~ 1949 Kathryn Hart Nunn (Stella's daughter), Phil Vardiman, Mollie Harris Vardiman, Emma Harris Morton
Solomon
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After Miles passed away in 1949 Mollie lived with her sister, Emma Harris Morton
Solomon. Mollie is holding her grandson, Steve who was born in 1949.
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Grandson, James Weslyn Vardiman (Ross' Son) High
School Graduation ~1962
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Mollie with grandson, Larry Vardiman and great granddaughter, Michelle Vardiman, 1968
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1972
David, Mollie, Steve
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Mollie with photo album
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These fluffy and tasty rolls made
from potato water are a Thanksgiving tradition in the Larry
Vardiman household passed down from Mollie |
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Mary Josephine "Mollie or Molly" Harris Vardiman, 1885 - 1980
Mary Josephine Harris
Vardiman was born 31
January 1885 in Saline County, Missouri. Everyone called her Mollie. The
year Mollie was born Franklin Delano Roosevelt, future president, was
three years old and growing up in New York. Laura Ingalls Wilder, future
author, was 13 years old and Martha Jane Canary Burk "Calamity Jane",
famous frontierswoman was 33 years old. Mollie was 23 years old when she
married Miles Vardiman on Christmas Eve, 24 December 1908.
They had two boys, Ross and Phillip Vardiman. Mollie
also miscarried a daughter. Mollie was 28 years old when Ross was
born in 1913. Phillip Harris came two years later in 1915 who went by
Phil. She didn’t want to have a large family because they had both come
from very large families.
Ross married Emily Burk
and they had two children: June and James Wesley Vardiman. James
became a doctor.
Phil became a large animal veterinarian.
Miles listened to the news
on the radio and was very well informed of what was going on in the
world. He loved to talk about current events. One time
Louise remembers “Mollie came out of the kitchen and flipping her tea
towel said, “Miles, Shutup.” (Talk with Frances Louise Carter
Vardiman Robinson 3 October 1997). Miles Vardiman died in 1949 at
the age of 69 years old
Mollie moved into Slater,
Missouri after Miles died. She worked in the garden a lot and
her grandson, Larry, remembers that she didn't squat to pull weeds or pick vegetables.
Instead she bent from her hips. She made pickled peaches with
cloves and other canned fruits and vegetables. She owned some
crystal dishes and cut glass. She had two or three feather beds
that the family would sleep in when they were over visiting. They
were kind of lumpy but comfortable and warm. The house was heated
by a wood burning pot belly stove. It would take an hour or two to
warm up the house in the morning. If you stood next to the stove
you would get real hot on that side but your other side would be
freezing.
Larry remembers one time when she had come out to visit his family in
St. Louis on the train. Larry and Billie rode a train back with
their Grandma and when they had to switch trains on the way Mollie
walked up and down the platform worrying that they had missed the train
and even when the train came she worried they wouldn't get on in time.
When Larry was in college he owned a motorcycle. One of the times
he went out to visit Grandma Mollie he offered her a ride. She
accepted to his surprise! They drove around the block.
There's a short movie somewhere showing Grandma Mollie holding onto
Larry as they rode around the neighborhood.
"I remember Great Grandma Mollie and her house with the black pot belly
stove. She used to rub my arm to help me fall asleep. I
loved that. I can remember her tiny floral wallpaper behind her rocking chair
that I stared at as I got sleepy while she rocked me." Michelle
Vardiman Fansler written 5 July 2010
Mollie was 95 years old
when she passed away in Kirksville, Missouri on Christmas day, 25
December 1980.
Written by Michelle Vardiman Fansler
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"Grandma Mollie lived in Slater for years. For some time she worked as a practical nurse, caring for people in their homes. She also took care of her sister Aunt Emma in their home for a long time when I was a child growing up.
She cared for her until she died in the home that you visited Grandma at. I used to call her Aunt Enema."
Email from Billie Vardiman 7/25/2010 |