John
Ruben
Tope, son of Corwin E. Tope and Lucy Donley, was born 24
November 1897 in Paint Valley,
Holmes Co., Ohio [
notes 1, 2], and died 1 June 1977 in
Lakeville,
Holmes Co., Ohio [
note 3]. He married Ruth Carrie Raby on 23
June 1918; divorced 4 March 1932. He next married Elsie
Elizabeth Hollett on 4 July 1937. Elsie was born 3 August
1910 in Camaridge, Guernsey Co., Ohio [
note 4] and died 13 August 1991
in Loudonville, Ashland Co., Ohio [
note 5].
John and Ruth had
eight children;
four boys and four girls.
"As a young
boy,
John had to work as hard as a man.
He was the oldest
and, of course,
the majority of the work fell on his shoulders.
His father
Corwin,
demanded, even to his grandchildren, "If you want to eat, you first
have to work."
Times
were hard back then, but were
to become even
worse. John worked
on the Pennsylvania Railroad. Ruth
was a
perfectionist
who enjoyed her flowerbeds until she was just too exhaused to
work in
them. Her children were close
together and her body, not being as
sturdy as some,
took its toll. The
two flights of steps in her house, having
a baby on the
way and one hanging onto her skirt, for eleven years, was more
than she could
physically and emotionally take.
On
Sunday, May 30, 1931, they
separated.
John took her and their
youngest son, Donald Glenn, and daughter,
Lucille, to
Ruth's mother's in Shreve, Ohio. She was one month pregnant with
Clara Rose at
the time. Lucille
was put in an orphanage and later John brought
her home with
him. Lucille still
remembers that day with tears in her eyes.
Ruth was
emotionally and physically unable to care for Donald and Clara Rose.
John had more
than he could handle with six children and trying to find a
housekeeper to
take on such a large chore, so Donald and Clara Rose, for their
own welfare, had
to be adopted out. Donald was adopted by Lake Webb and has
not been seen
since he was a little boy. Attempts
to contact him have failed,
but he is sure
to have had a much better life than his older brothers and sisters.
Clara Rose was
adopted by June McKibben and was raised only seven miles from the
rest {of the family}. She
has become a
successful businesswoman.
John and
Ruth's
divorce was final on Friday, March 4, 1932.
Bill moved
out to his
Grandpa Corwin's.
John
had a housekeeper, Edna, who stayed for a
short
time. The one who, in deepest
regrets, stayed the longest, was Frances {---}. It's
doubtful a meaner woman ever lived.
She'd look out
the window, then
pull the shades and beat the kids with a rubber hose or a belt.
There was little
money even for food then. Many
a meal consisted of beans, mush, and oatmeal.
In the living
room was a couch with a wood back (about head level)
and
when the kids
sat down, they banged their heads.
Bill remembers
with a smile the time he took his weekly bath and afterwards was trying
to warm himself by the pot-belly-stove. Much to his surprise, as he
bent over, his
bare bottom touched the hot stove which left the mark of a rose
on his posterior.
The kids had a
family dog who was a mutt named Towser.
He died when he was
18. He
was deaf, blind, and
could no longer chew. The
kids held a funeral when
he died.
Bill was nine or
ten when he went to live with his grandfather Corwin.
John Jr. (Steve,
as we call him) went to live with his uncle, Lloyd Tope when
he was fourteen
years old. Carrie remembers one time when she got a spanking.
Shewas so mad she
cut down one of her Dad's white cherry trees. Then she really
got a whipping.
She also remembers Easter at George Shaffer's
They had a large
feastroom full of
people. After dinner the kids went out and looked for eggs
around the garden.
{Five years after his divorce,}
John married Elsie Elizabeth Hollett, who raised the
children who
remained home. She stepped into a big job having no children
of her own and
raising a ready-made family. She's "Mom" to John's kids and
"Gram" us
grandchildren. Times were hard in early days, but she hung in
there and raised
the children as though they were her own. She'll always be
"Mom" to them.
John worked on the Pennsylvania Railroad
for forty-three years. After he retired, he had a fix-it shop
with a sign "Old John's Shop" where he worked on lawn mowers
and generators. After he passed on, his granddaughter, Becky
Carr, the writer, designed the emblem for his tombstone as a favor to
her grandmother, Elsie. It was the Pennsylvania Railroad
emblem with the tools he used."
Note:
- Except as noted, all information on this page
is
from The History of the Tope Family, 1982, by Becky Darr. Text in {} was added by the webmaster. [Return to text]
- World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918. [Return to text]
- Ancestry.com and Ohio Department of Health, Ohio Deaths,
1908-1932, 1938-1944, and 1958-2002, Provo, UT, USA: The Generations
Network, Inc., 2006, Certificate: 043392; Volume: 22909. [Return to text]
- Ibid, Certificate: 070328; Volume: 24587. [Return to text]
- Ibid, Certificate: 028115;
Volume: 20445. [Return to text]
Go to top
Updated
Today's date: