I have been participating in Amy Johnson Crow's 52 ancestors in 52 weeks. The prompt for this coming week is cousin. I had talked about in family drama -Roy Cecil Liston's extended family. Roy is most likely one of my 4th cousins on my maternal side.
I am having trouble telling the story of Roy Cecil Liston. He appears in the historical record but there are questions about his paternity. The records available don't gives us definitive answers. Below is a little about Roy and his life.
Roy Cecil Liston was Iowa born and bred. Roy was born Oct 13. 1893/94 most likely in Cumberland, Iowa. Based on very circumstantial evidence his mother is most likely Mary Margaret "Maggie' Liston. Roy lived his childhood in the fields of Cass County Iowa mainly found in his grandmother, Rachel Liston's household. Roy attended local schools until about the 8th grade.
He had traveled a few places before being drafted in the Army, Ray worked for a threshing company, and they were called to Colorado one year (1917) to thresh because of the opening of sugar beet factories for the winter there were no adults available to thresh. Roy and partner brought home a 100 lbs. of soup beans sold to them for 10 cents a pound.
Roy stood about 5 foot tall and 4 inches on a good day. He was described as short and stout in his draft registration card with dark brown hair and blue gray eyes. He would be called up by his local draft board to go to Ames Iowa to train as a mechanic. He and the others that had been called up were given a dinner send off by the women of the Congregational church. In Ames Iowa at Iowa State College, he would receive mechanic training for two months and during that time the trainees would live under the bleachers. Ray was 25 years old when he was called up for World War 1.
The record doesn't show exactly where he served in the Army, but it is known that he was discharged from Camp Jackson, SC. Roy Liston would make the rank of Sergeant First Class, SFC.
Roy would come back after the war and work as a local mechanic. His Uncle Harry (Jacob Harrison Liston) would take him, his mother, and grandmother to visit his ranch in Yuma, Colorado.
Eventually they all moved to Colorado. Ray would find a job at the Rowland garage in Akron Colorado. In January of 1924, the garage boys were almost asphyxiated one January morning when they closed the garage door to keep warm. They were so overcome that they left work for the day and slept.
Ray would meet and marry Elizabeth Sells. They were married in Fort Morgan Colorado on March 15, 1924.They had one daughter, Marjorie Caroline Liston born December 23, 1927. Marjorie was an early Christmas present to her parents. Later on, Roy would divorce Elizabeth sometime before 1945. Elizabeth and daughter would move to Missouri.
Ray did return to Cass County Iowa. He returned with the body of his grandmother, Rachel in 1929 and also accompanied the body of Mary Margaret "Maggie" Liston back to Iowa. Both Rachel and Maggie are buried in Newlon Grove Cemetary Cumberland, Iowa.
Roy would continue to work as a mechanic. There is not much of a record after 1950. Roy's Uncle Harry would pass away in 1962. Roy would pass away in 1983 in Akron, Colorado and be buried in Akron Cemetary in Akron, Washington County, Colorado.
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