Heathcock Genealogy Database - Person Sheet
Heathcock Genealogy Database - Person Sheet
NameMelody Cumi Huff 
4125, 1C3R
4125, 1C3RBirth16 Apr 1871, MO
Death16 Feb 1938, Madison Co MO Age: 66
FatherJoseph Curran Huff IV (1839-1897)
MotherMary Elvira Josephine Shepphard (1842-1915)
Spouses
Birth23 Dec 1868, Cairo, Alexander Co IL
Death14 Oct 1947, Madison Co MO Age: 78
Marriage21 Jul 1889
Notes for Melody Cumi Huff
Melody Cumi Huff was born April 16, 1871. Melody’s middle name was taken from the Biblical reference to the child that Christ brought back to life. [In thinking on this a number of times it might be assumed that Josephine had had a difficult time deliverying Melody … or that Melody might have had a brush with death as an infant ... hence the name Cumi.]
Melody and her next younger sister - Annie - were only a little over a year apart and both about the same size as they grew up. In a photo taken with them standing side by side, they were nearly identical. As children the two of them were very close, in fact, they wore the same sized shoes - but only had one pair between tnem. They took turns going to school and wearing the shoes.
Bill Midkiff’s parents - Henry Clay Midkiff and his first wife Fannie - were friends of Joe and Josephine Huff and it was natural that Bill would ask for the hand of one of his dad’s best friend's daughters. Only it was Annie who’d caught his eye, and when he’d asked for permission to court her, Joe and Josephine were adamant in their denial. Annie was too sickly and weak, having had malaria at least twice; she was always sickly as a little girl and not much better as a teenager. She'd be too weak to present him with the healthy children he'd need to help on his farm. However, there was Melody ... a little older ... just as comely ... who'd be a better (meaning healthier) wife. And as it frequently was in those days, it was best to be practical.
Bill Midkiff courted and married Melody, July 21, 1889. They were among the first newlyweds to receive the new paper marriage certificates.
William Henry Midkiff was born December 23, 1868 in Cairo, Illinois, the son of Henry Clay Midkiff, born in Tennessee and Sarah "Fannie" Carpenter, born 1845 in Gilmer, Texas.
Later, after their oldest son David Ozro Midkiff was married, David left his children with his parents and then left. Bill was so happy to have he children, he and Mitt loved kids. But Mitt was very ill and Bili had just gotten his first Social Security check …. for a whole $9.00 and there was no way to feed the grandchildren. He called the Fredericktown Welfare Department to get aid but they took the children away. This greatly grieved him.
Mitt died February 16, 1938, and Bill October 14, 1947, of nephritis. They are both buried in the little cemetery in Buckhorn, Mo. Bill’s obituary states, "William Henry Midkiff, born December 23, 1B68, died October 14, 1947. Age 79 years, 10 months and 9 days. Converted and joined the Baptist Crurch at Marquand at about 40 years of age. United in marriage to Melody Cumi Huff, July 21, 1885. Of this union 6 children were born of whom 3 survive: David Ozro Midkiff, Gideon, Mo., Mrs. Gus Streicher, Zion, Mo., Mrs. William Steven, Buckhorn. Mo., 21 grandchildren, fourteen great grandchildren.
Bill and "Mitt" - as she was nicknamed - were nearly impoverished, barely making ends meet on a 388 acre farm in Buckhorn, Mo., and living in primitive conditions. They had a two room split wood house with just lots of fresh air!
Les Bergmeier and his wife Lucy Grimes Bergmeier - a niece - recalled: "To get to the old farm was quite a task ... at least in the 1920's and 30's it was. In the summer the forest was so thick it was almost totally dark and someone had to walk in front of the car with a lantern to find the road ... if you could call it that. In certain places the road was so narrow that Dan, Everett, and Andrew [Mitt's sister Annie Grimes' children] would pick up one side of the car and carry it to keep it from careening over the edge. The road seemed to go on and on and it took nearly an hour to finally reach the cabin."
"The cabin had only two rooms and there were no real walls, just old newspapers pasted between the joists to look like wallpaper."
"The chicken coop was a lean-too attached to the back of the cabin and since they had no screens on the windows, chickens were frequently unwelcorne guests."
"Beds were corn shuck mattresses and when we stayed overnight, these were lined up wall to wall.’
Chester Martin [my father], used to stay weeks at a time during the early 1920’s and his memories are thus:
"Aunt Mitt was a swell old gal. She sure loved kids. And could she cook! I never asked what it was ... it just always smelled great!
"Uncle Bill was a character. He'd take me down to the creek and try to teach me to catch fish with my bare hands. He could do it! But l
never could.”
"Uncle Bill grew his own tobacco and had it drying on a rack right outside the back door. All he had to do was reach out and grab a leaf or two and crumble it up in that old corn cob pipe he had, I think that old pipe was permanently attached to his mouth, I can't hardly remember ever seeing him without it ."
Bill had a terrific sense of humor. Grandson Bill Kneist tells: “Grandpa would take me to the church picnics that had games for kids and horseshoes for adults ... and young people all about. Grandpa would hold my hand and we'd walk, watching the teenagers stealing off into the woods to be alone. Soon we'd pass a clump of trees and hear the rustling of branches and a giggle ... followed by another giggle. Grandpa’d look down at me with 2 silly grin on his fate, slowly shake his head and say, “If they're not careful, they'll make more souls than are saved today."
Bill and Mitt's daughter Gertie said that her two grandpas [Joseph Huff and Henry Clay Midliff] fought on opposite sides during the Civil War but that they both stole out of camp to visit their families and each other. Henry Clay Midkiff served in Company C, 2nd Missouri "h. a." [could be heavy artillery or, as a second possibility, hospital aid]. He served from April, 1864 to June, 1865, one year and two months, U. S. A.
One tale was told that one grandpa's side captured the other grandpa's outfit. The captured grandpa had to ride a mule, but as the men passed too closely to a river, the captured grandpa conveniently fell off the mule and into the river and made good his escape while the other grandpa blocked the way, to keep him from being shot.
Melody and her next younger sister - Annie - were only a little over a year apart and both about the same size as they grew up. In a photo taken with them standing side by side, they were nearly identical. As children the two of them were very close, in fact, they wore the same sized shoes - but only had one pair between tnem. They took turns going to school and wearing the shoes.
Bill Midkiff’s parents - Henry Clay Midkiff and his first wife Fannie - were friends of Joe and Josephine Huff and it was natural that Bill would ask for the hand of one of his dad’s best friend's daughters. Only it was Annie who’d caught his eye, and when he’d asked for permission to court her, Joe and Josephine were adamant in their denial. Annie was too sickly and weak, having had malaria at least twice; she was always sickly as a little girl and not much better as a teenager. She'd be too weak to present him with the healthy children he'd need to help on his farm. However, there was Melody ... a little older ... just as comely ... who'd be a better (meaning healthier) wife. And as it frequently was in those days, it was best to be practical.
Bill Midkiff courted and married Melody, July 21, 1889. They were among the first newlyweds to receive the new paper marriage certificates.
William Henry Midkiff was born December 23, 1868 in Cairo, Illinois, the son of Henry Clay Midkiff, born in Tennessee and Sarah "Fannie" Carpenter, born 1845 in Gilmer, Texas.
Later, after their oldest son David Ozro Midkiff was married, David left his children with his parents and then left. Bill was so happy to have he children, he and Mitt loved kids. But Mitt was very ill and Bili had just gotten his first Social Security check …. for a whole $9.00 and there was no way to feed the grandchildren. He called the Fredericktown Welfare Department to get aid but they took the children away. This greatly grieved him.
Mitt died February 16, 1938, and Bill October 14, 1947, of nephritis. They are both buried in the little cemetery in Buckhorn, Mo. Bill’s obituary states, "William Henry Midkiff, born December 23, 1B68, died October 14, 1947. Age 79 years, 10 months and 9 days. Converted and joined the Baptist Crurch at Marquand at about 40 years of age. United in marriage to Melody Cumi Huff, July 21, 1885. Of this union 6 children were born of whom 3 survive: David Ozro Midkiff, Gideon, Mo., Mrs. Gus Streicher, Zion, Mo., Mrs. William Steven, Buckhorn. Mo., 21 grandchildren, fourteen great grandchildren.
Bill and "Mitt" - as she was nicknamed - were nearly impoverished, barely making ends meet on a 388 acre farm in Buckhorn, Mo., and living in primitive conditions. They had a two room split wood house with just lots of fresh air!
Les Bergmeier and his wife Lucy Grimes Bergmeier - a niece - recalled: "To get to the old farm was quite a task ... at least in the 1920's and 30's it was. In the summer the forest was so thick it was almost totally dark and someone had to walk in front of the car with a lantern to find the road ... if you could call it that. In certain places the road was so narrow that Dan, Everett, and Andrew [Mitt's sister Annie Grimes' children] would pick up one side of the car and carry it to keep it from careening over the edge. The road seemed to go on and on and it took nearly an hour to finally reach the cabin."
"The cabin had only two rooms and there were no real walls, just old newspapers pasted between the joists to look like wallpaper."
"The chicken coop was a lean-too attached to the back of the cabin and since they had no screens on the windows, chickens were frequently unwelcorne guests."
"Beds were corn shuck mattresses and when we stayed overnight, these were lined up wall to wall.’
Chester Martin [my father], used to stay weeks at a time during the early 1920’s and his memories are thus:
"Aunt Mitt was a swell old gal. She sure loved kids. And could she cook! I never asked what it was ... it just always smelled great!
"Uncle Bill was a character. He'd take me down to the creek and try to teach me to catch fish with my bare hands. He could do it! But l
never could.”
"Uncle Bill grew his own tobacco and had it drying on a rack right outside the back door. All he had to do was reach out and grab a leaf or two and crumble it up in that old corn cob pipe he had, I think that old pipe was permanently attached to his mouth, I can't hardly remember ever seeing him without it ."
Bill had a terrific sense of humor. Grandson Bill Kneist tells: “Grandpa would take me to the church picnics that had games for kids and horseshoes for adults ... and young people all about. Grandpa would hold my hand and we'd walk, watching the teenagers stealing off into the woods to be alone. Soon we'd pass a clump of trees and hear the rustling of branches and a giggle ... followed by another giggle. Grandpa’d look down at me with 2 silly grin on his fate, slowly shake his head and say, “If they're not careful, they'll make more souls than are saved today."
Bill and Mitt's daughter Gertie said that her two grandpas [Joseph Huff and Henry Clay Midliff] fought on opposite sides during the Civil War but that they both stole out of camp to visit their families and each other. Henry Clay Midkiff served in Company C, 2nd Missouri "h. a." [could be heavy artillery or, as a second possibility, hospital aid]. He served from April, 1864 to June, 1865, one year and two months, U. S. A.
One tale was told that one grandpa's side captured the other grandpa's outfit. The captured grandpa had to ride a mule, but as the men passed too closely to a river, the captured grandpa conveniently fell off the mule and into the river and made good his escape while the other grandpa blocked the way, to keep him from being shot.
Notes for William Henry (Spouse 1)
1900 Census of Cowan, Wayne Co MO
Household Members Age Relationship
Wm H Midkiff 32 Head
Melody E Midkiff 30 Wife
David O Midkiff 7 Son
Girtrude A Midkiff 2 Daughter
1910 Census of Twelvemile, Madison Co MO
Household Members Age Relationship
Wm Midkif 40 Head
Melody Midkif 39 Wife
Gertrude Midkif 12 Daughter
Annie M Midkif 10 Daughter
Household Members Age Relationship
Wm H Midkiff 32 Head
Melody E Midkiff 30 Wife
David O Midkiff 7 Son
Girtrude A Midkiff 2 Daughter
1910 Census of Twelvemile, Madison Co MO
Household Members Age Relationship
Wm Midkif 40 Head
Melody Midkif 39 Wife
Gertrude Midkif 12 Daughter
Annie M Midkif 10 Daughter