Life History

Other facts

Notes

• I was given Reedie's name by Charles Christian, the son of her first husband Matthew Christian, by Matthew's second wife, Ruth Bledsoe.
  
  "My Dad's first wife Reedie Joan Meek returned to Chickasha, Okla and raised my half brother Ralph Christian. I visited Ralph and his wife Ann in Chickasha and continued to send Christmas cards until his death several years ago.".
  --  Charles Christian, email to Orville Boyd Jenkins, January 2008
  
  But another genealogist, Alice Boydstun, reports Reedie's full name as Reedie Ione Meek.  She cites Reedie's children Charles and Nila Ruth.
  
  "Reedie Ione Meek:  Personal knowledge of children, Charles and Nila Ruth of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, given independently of each other, Kern-Schneider-Kiesaw Funeral Home, Clinton, OK 73601"
  --  Alice Boydstun, comment on 1910 census record on Ancestry.com, 15 December 2008, accessed 10 October 2014
  
  1920 Federal Census, Washita County, Oklahoma, 7 January, Bessie Township, District 184, page 2A, Hse #27, Family #30
  Dew, Ray Head Rents M W 27  MO OH MO Farmer (b abt 1892)
  Dew, Reddie Wife F W 24  No children OK US KS (b abt 1895)
  Dew [Christian], Ralph [Step-]Son M W 8  OK MO OK (b abt 1911)
  Dew, Charles Son M W 7mos  OK MO OK (b abt 1919)
  Willard, Arnel Boarder M W 70 IL US US (b abt 1850)
  
  The child Rallph above is Joan's son from her first husband Matthew Henry Christian, from whom she was divorced.
  
  1930 Federal Census, Washita County, Oklahoma, 24 April, Turkey Creek, District 28, page 6B, Hse #125, Fam #132
  Dew, Ray Head Rents M W 39  First married at age 27 MO OH MO Farmer
  Dew, Reedie Wife F W 35 First married at age 23 OK KS OK
  Dew, Charles Son M W 10 Single OK MO OK
  Dew, Niley Dau F W 8 Single AR MO OK
  Christian, Ralph F Step Son W 19 Single OK OK OK
  
  Note that the 1930 census reports that Reedie was first married at age 23.  If she is 35, that means she was born about 1895, it could have been 1894.  That is consistent with the record in the 1920 census.  If she was fist married (to Matthew Henry Christian) at age 23, that would make it 1918.  But in January 1920 her son Ralph Christian is already 8, meaning he was born about 1911.  Since in 1920, she is age 24 and already married to Ray Dew, she must be reporting the age at which she married Ray, not when she was first married, which is what the census asks.
  
  More specific marriage dates are provided by Alice Boydstun, who has searched the marriage records and obtained information from Reedie's daughter.
  
  Marriage to Matthew Christian 28 Nov 1910 (Age 15) Mountain View, Kiowa, Oklahoma
  Marriage Record, Kiowa County, Oklahoma, Book 3, p. 309
  Marriage to Willis Albert Raymond Dew 27 Oct 1917 (Age 22) Foss, Washita, Oklahoma
  Personal knowledge of her dau, Nila Ruth Browning, told to John & Alice Lynne Boydstun 8 Jun 1970 and again in correspondence 24 Sep 1989.
  --  Alice Boudstun, Ancestry Trees, http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/44425054/person/6200707349?ssrc=&ml_rpos=4
  
  So if her son Ralph was born in 1911, how old was Reedie when Ralph was born?  The birth year on her gravestone is 1895.  1895-1911 makes her only 16 when she had her first child.  Between 15 and 16, so married at an early 15 or maybe even 14 years old?  On the outside, if born in 1894, she could have been almost 17 when Ralph was born.
  
  Gravestone of Ray and Reedie Dew, Clinton Cemetery, Clinton, Custer County,Oklahoma
  Dew
  Reedie  1895-1938
  Ray  1891-1955
  
  Her birth and death states were added to her memorial on Find a Grave when I submitted this information..
  
  Reedie Dew
  Birth 1895 Kansas
  Death 1938 Oklahoma
  Spouses:
  Matthew H. Christian (1892 - 1972)
  Willis A Ray Dew (1891 - 1955)
  Children:
  Ralph Fletcher Christian (1911 - 1986)
  Charles E Dew (1919 - 2009)
  Same marker as Ray Dew
  Burial Clinton Cemetery, Clinton, Custer County, Oklahoma, Plot: 2-L27
  Created by Dolores Colwell Willis Jan 24, 2012
  --  Find A Grave Memorial #83935143, http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=83935143

Sources

• 1. Email Sources
• 2. 1930 Federal Census, Washita County, Oklahoma
  • 24 April, Turkey Creek, District 28, page 6B, Hse #125, Fam #132
• 3. 1920 Federal Census, Washita County, Oklahoma
  • 7 January, Bessie Township, District 184, page 2A, Hse #27, Family #30
• 4. Find a Grave Memorial Registry
• 5. Gravestone of Ray and Reedie Dew, Clinton Cemetery, Clinton, Custer County,Oklahoma
• 6. Ancestry Comments
• 7. Ancestry Trees
• 8. U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014
• 9. 1940 Federal Census, Grady County, Oklahoma
  • 18 April, Chickasha, District 26-17, page 61B, Hse #17, Rented $10