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In loving memory...
Jahaza "Hazel" (Risner) Baldridge or
"Hazel Jay"was born on 20 Feb 1905 on Puncheon Creek in Magoffin County, Kentucky. She died on 12 Oct 1998 in Rock Island, Illinois. She was buried in Rose Hill Burial
Park, Ashland, Kentucky.
When Hazel's mother Rhoda Patrick Risner died in 1907, her father, Larkin Risner, was left alone to
care for his 5 daughters. He found it to be quite the difficult task! According to his daughter, Jahazah, who was 2 1/2 years old when her mother died, her dad had his own mother,
Elizabeth "Betty" (Whitaker) Risner, who was very old herself, move in to help her son care for his children as best she could.
Lula (Louiebelle), the eldest sister (and her
new husband), eventually took on the responsibility of her youngest sister, Jahazah "Hazel" Risner, when the child was only 7 years old, just 5 1/2 years after their mother's death.
When "Jay" (as they called her then) was 10 years old, she took her first job, for "room and
board and 50 cents a week." Her duties included housework and errands, like washing dishes, trips to the store, going to get milk from a neighbor, going to fetch water, or watching the baby.
She said she was always "lucky to have had her own" room, but that she would stay with one family for anywhere from 2 weeks up to 1 year. She said
that she was able to attend school during the day (mostly what she called "six month school," from June through November) "up to the 6th year McGuffey Reader."
She had dated a little,
but, in her words, it was "nothing serious." A date back then, according to Jahaza, was walking up and down the street together or spending an evening "laughing and giggling," maybe on the
front porch. Occasionally, they may even see a movie. In the videotape she DEFINITELY wanted to make it clear that the boy would not let the girl pay for anything back then.
When she was 15 years old, she met Ernest Baldridge, who was a friend of her sister's (Electa) boyfriend. She said (with a chuckle) that he had invited her out and "then after that, I couldn't
get out of his sight...I just couldn't get away from him!" Apparently, she knew her fate was set, when during a visit to Ernest's brother in law's house, the brother in law made the comment "I believe
Ernest has found the one he wants!" It seemed to really make Hazel feel good to recount that particular memory.
Amazingly, Jahaza continued supporting herself and working in the same manner as
she had been since the age of 10 until she was about 16, when she married Ernest Baldridge (age 24). The year was 1920.
Ernest (who had moved to the area where Hazel lived before they were even
married in order to be near her), had taken work in a barber shop. At the tender age of 17 (an average age to marry and begin having kids, according to Hazel), she delivered her first child. Seven years
later, her only daughter and four years after that, she delivered her youngest child, a son.
It amazes me when I think about a 10 year old girl who had to fend for herself from day to day and still, she made it. After
everything she went through in life, she remained one of the sweetest and most caring people I've ever known and was always a blessing in my life.
To the right is a picture of Hazel at the age of 90. The year
was 1995 and it was taken as she walked her much loved dog Saffrin back from the mailbox in Westerville, Ohio.
My Mema, Jahaza "Hazel" Baldridge
died in October of 1998 at the age of 93. She was the best Mema in the world. She's missed terribly by the many children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, and yes, even great great grandchildren she left behind.
Her legacy to me is genealogy. She never knew her mother's "people" and always wanted to. I only wish I'd known that before her passing.
I know she's here with me in spirit today, happy and
content in the notion that her beloved East Kentucky hills call gently to me, ever guiding me in my quest to record the history of the Kentucky pioneers that were her unknown ancestors.
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