Sunday, April 17, 2011

Sunday's Obituary: Lola Tapley Dawson

Lola Tapley Dawson was the daughter of Franklin Morgan Tapley and Laney Minton Tapley.  Her father and my grandfather were brothers; thus we were first cousins, 1x removed.

Lola passed away May 9, 1964.

This obituary is an example of how much joining GenealogyBank.com has helped me in my research.  I could not find where Lola was buried.  I did not know that after her first husband had died, she had remarried.  Even if I had known, I did not know her new last name.  However when searching on GenealogyBank, I am able to include key words in a search; thus, by including "Tapley" as a key word, I was able to find Lola's obituary... which told me her new last name was Dawson.  Of course, finding her obituary told me where she was buried.  And knowing her last name pointed me to another article about Lola.

It seems that Lola had some difficult times in her life.  After being married to her first husband, Virgil Powell, for 38 years, he passed away in 1950.  Only eight years later, in 1958, her only child, Virgil Willard Powell, died from a heart attack at the VERY young age of 42.

Lola and her first husband, Virgil Powell.  
In 1959, she was involved in what had to have been a terrifying auto accident:


I hope the remainder of her years were less trying for her.











Can anyone give me an idea of when this photo was taken??

3 comments:

  1. Sorry, I'm not good with dating photos. I love the hat though. It must have weighed a ton!!

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  2. Hi My name is Tapley Dawson...crazy to see that name attached to someone else. This is a first for me!... Our Tapley roots are base in Maine via Mass. mid to late 1600's. The Dawson side is northern New Jersey..

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  3. While I feel sure the Southern Tapleys are related to the Maine Tapleys, it would be way, way back. Our ancestor came into Virginia from England in the early 1700's. Thanks for stopping by!

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