Talmage COX and Hazel COOKSEY

Names: Hazel (COOKSEY) COX, Talmage B COX

Locations: Sulphur Springs, KY; Louisville, KY; Cincinnati, OH

Dates: 1946-1948

This was the couple that started it all! Well, Hazel really. I rescued Hazel and Talmage ("TB") from an antique store in Phoenix, Arizona, where Hazel's photo album of their courtship and first years of marriage was slowly going the way of art projects and who-knows-what. Luckily, I got there in time to salvage the actual album, and over 100 of the images. What makes this album so special--and enough to single-handedly inspire this blog--is how personal it is. Hazel wrote captions for every photo, many of which are casual snapshots of the young couple goofing off and hanging out with their friends and family. It truly is a treasure!

More about the lovely couple though. Luckily they were rather easy to track down, given the unusual name of Talmage, and relatively uncommon name of Hazel. Look for a marriage between a Talmage and a Hazel, and that's all there was to it! Let's start with Hazel, the charming woman who created the album.

Hazel L COX was born Hazel COOKSEY on 8 October 1921. According to her obituary, kindly provide by the Arizona State Archives, she was born in Ohio County, Kentucky. The obituary gives the name of a brother, Roy COOKSEY, which gave me her maiden name. She was also survived by a son, Marshall COOKSEY and a sister who married a man named TOOHEY. The sister's name is difficult to make out from the poor quality of the microfilm, but appears to be something like "Garnett". Census records did not help confirm the name of the sister, but the 1930 Census shows Hazel living in Sulphur Springs, Kentucky with her father Jesse O. COOKSEY, her mother Bertha M COOKSEY, two older brothers Blemmer (!) and Willie, and a younger brother Roy. The Kentucky Birth Index also shows that the maiden name of her mother Bertha was CRAWFORD. Hazel was a purchasing department employee at Good Samartian Hospital in the Phoenix area, and died on 17 Jul 1996. She is buried in the National Memorial Cemetery of Arizona.

According to records, Talmage B COX was born on 30 Mar 1919 in Taylor County, Kentucky, to Jollie COX and Mary HOGAN, both born and bred in Kentucky. The 1930 Federal Census, shows the family living on 112 Old Lick Gap Dirt Road in Mannsville, Taylor County, Kentucky. Talmage appears to be the oldest of the children, with a younger sister Elizabeth and a younger brother named Elmore or Edward C. Sometime between 1930 and when he enlisted in the Army on 17 September 1942, Talmage moved to Illinois--but enlisted in Louisville, Kentucky. He was a private, and enlisted for the duration of the War plus six months. At this time, he was listed has having 4 years of high school education, was not married yet, and previous work on farms. His reported height was 6' tall and 151 lbs. Talmage died almost two years after Hazel on 22 Mar 1998.

Between 1942 and the mid-1990s, all we know about Hazel and Talmage is what can be gleaned from the photo album. In 1946, Talmage took his first trip to Hazel's home, which was potentially still in Sulphur Springs, KY. Hazel and Talmage got married around October, 1946 and apparently honeymooned in Cincinnati. Most of the other moments captured on film were outside, picnicking in various parks: Shawnee Park in 1946, visits to "Tucker's Lake" and "Cox's Lake", Iroquois Park in 1947, Cherokee Park in June 1947. They spent the Easter of 1947 in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Around December 1947, the couple had their first child, Marshall Roy. From the photos around this time, it looks like the family lived in a suburban area of a city. A single page has a street address noted on it: 4202 South 2nd Street. From the rest of the images, I figured it was probably either Cincinnati or Louisville. The address didn't seem to match anything reasonable in Cincinnati, but I struck gold in Louisville--thank you Google Streetview! Check out the houses in the background of this photo (below right) of baby Marshall and Talmage, and the street view today (above right) of the 4200 block of South 2nd Street. Further proof this is the right place? Lousville has some very substantial parks by the names of Shawnee, Iroqois, and Cherokee.

The photo album contains a number of other people who consistently crop up. "Sis" is usually pictured with a man named Harold. Judging from the photographs, "Sis" appears to be the same woman also labeled as "Betty", which could feasibly be a nickname for Garnett, or she may have the middle name of Elizabeth...or it could be Talmage's younger sister, Elizabeth. Another couple featured consistently is "Iona and Paul", whose relationship to Hazel and Talmage is difficult to surmise. Both of these couples seemed to be linked to them via Talmage, as a whole page is devoted to "TB's gang" which includes both Harold and Paul.

It's amazing just how much can be discovered through a simple photo album. I'm hopeful that this book, and all of its keepsakes, will find its way into the hands of a family member. There are some leads on potential relatives of Hazel who may still be living. Up next? Writing a letter to a Mrs Garnett Toohey in Kentucky.

- B.G.