Arthur and Mallie, their children and Burnell

Arthur and Mallie, their children and Burnell

This photo, provided by Wanda Wake Holder, shows Arthur Wake, Jr. (b. 1888, d. 1969) and Mallie Jane Meadows (b. 1902, d. 1984). Their children, left to right, are Alma Louise Wake, Arthur Junuar George Wake, Delcie May Wake and Helen Francis Wake.

Not pictured in this photo are Arthur’s children from a previous marriage to Rosella Watson, Evaline Wake, who died as an infant, and Burnell Wake, who came to live with the family when he was school-aged. The photo below shows Burnell on the upper left:

Top row, left Burnell B. Wake and right Charles Fields (Junuar Wake’s stepson)

My grandmother, Helen, told me he was abandoned by his mother on the family doorstep as a baby. Arthur gave Burnell to one of his childless sisters (I don’t know which one) to raise as her own son. Everyone kept quiet about the arrangement until it was time for Burnell to start school. Back in those days, a child had to have a mother as well as a father listed on an official birth certificate to attend school. So Arthur’s sister was forced to return Burnell to Arthur to allow him to enroll in school.

Up until then, Burnell didn’t realize that he was being raised by his aunt rather than his mother, so it came as a big shock to him. Understandably, it also took some adjustment to get used to his new family. Helen told me he was a big trouble-maker as a child and then wild as an adult and ended up having an alcohol problem. But he eventually cleaned up his act and married someone when he was in his 40s.

I don’t have any more details than that, it would be great to have this story verified by someone else and possibly expanded.

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