Kasjaniuk-Calhoun: J C Calhoun & E C Stoudenmire

A Work in Progress:

In the small town of Eufala, Barbour County, Alabama on 28 Jun 1903, 25 year old John Caldwell Calhoun married his fellow Cottonton, Alabama native Effie Corrine Stoudenmire, age 20. Cottonton, Russell County, Alabama is where the John and Effie had their first two children. By the end of 1907 the family had migrated to Camilla, Mitchell County, Georgia, likely following the footsteps of Effie's siblings. Camilla was the birth place of John and Effie's remaing five children. By 1928 the family moved south to Sanford, Seminole County, Florida. This Calhoun clan was southern to the core and from the stories I've been told, a close knit, fun loving group of kin folks.

Note: these are my father's aunts and uncles, so all of the stories I've heard refer to them as "Aunt Katsy" or "Uncle Bud" and is how they will be mentioned below because that is who they are to me.

1) Alice Kathleen "Katsy" Calhoun was born 26 Mar 1904 in Cottonton, Russell County, Alabama. On 26 Mar 1937 at the age of 44 she married James "Jim" Thomas Hardy, Sr and became the step-mother to his eleven (I think) children. I'm told that she and Jim didn't have any children together from one source, but from another that Louis Raymond Hardy was their child. Haven't been able to cofirm who the birth mother is. Jim first married Hattie Louise Fountain and had six children. With his second wife, Carrie Starr he had five children. I was also told that both Katsy and Jim had a lot of children on their own before marrying. It's been a challenge to piece together this particular family. If Aunt Katsy was married before Jim, I have no idea who he was and how many children they had together.

Aunt Katsy and Jim Hardy at a Hardy family Reunion

Aunt Katsy

Aunt Katsy, a teacher for many years, lived at 108 Poplar Avenue in Sanford. Jim passed away in 1974 and Aunt Katsy lived another 26 years on her own. She passed away on 17 Mar 2000 and is buried next to her husband Jim at Evergreen Cemetery in Sanford.

2) Martha Laura Calhoun was born 16 Feb 1906 in Cottonton, Russell County, Alabama. In Nov 1925 she married Robert Lawton Beard in Camilla, Mitchell County, Georgia. Together they had three children: Bobbynette (b:1926, d:2001), Laurier Allen (b:1928, d:1985) and John Byron "Bunny" (b:1930, d:2002). Martha lived as a widow for 16 years after Lawton's passing in 1961 and she remarried at the age of 77, Vladimir Lacht. They lived together in Eustis and she is buried at Greenwood Cemetery in Eustis, Lake County, Florida.

Aunt Martha

3) Ezekiel William "Bud" "Zeke" Calhoun was born 22 Dec 1907 in Mitchell County, Georgia. On 24 Dec 1933 he married Emma Louise Beard in Sanford, Seminole County, Florida. Louise was the younger sister of Lawon Beard, Aunt Marth's first husband. Uncle Bud and Louise had two children: John Caldwell "Sonny" and William R "Ronnie".