Emma Lee Cooper (Dalton Russell)

On April 10, 1904 Edward Lee Cooper, a farmer, married Ella Mae Young in Ross County Ohio.  He was a widower with two sons, Arthur Lee and Floyd Matthew.

On October 15, 1905 Emma Lee Cooper became  the oldest child born in (Roxabel) Twin, Ohio to Edward Lee Cooper and Ella Young.  They would go on to have seven other children together.  
In 1910 Emma Lee lived with her parents and four siblings on Greenfield Pike in Twin, Ohio.
On January 21, 1920  Emma Lee lived with her parents and six siblings on Sulpher Lick Road, Union, Ohio.

William Filmore Dalton (born June 9,1899 in Circleville, Ohio) enlisted in the National Guard on July 24, 1917, served in Co F 372 Infantry as Private in Meuse-Argonne Defensive Sector. American Expeditionary Forces from March 30, 1918 to February 11, 1919, and was discharged March 5, 1919.  After the war he married and then divorced Margaret Seward.

Emma Lee (back left) had four younger sisters:  Anna Elizabeth (back center), Mable Alve (back right), Nana Louise (front left) and Esta Mae (front right).  Emma Lee also had two younger brothers:  George Robert and William Edward "Buzzy".

At the tender age of sixteen Emma Lee Cooper married William Filmore Dalton, a cement finisher, on March 6, 1922.  Their first son, William Filmore Dalton, Jr., was born in Circleville, Ohio on October 5, 1922.  A second son, Edward Wayne Dalton was born in Cleveland, Ohio on November 25, 1923.  On January 3, 1926, their only daughter, Emma Jane Dalton, was born in Chillicothe, Ohio.  In 1926 William, Emma Lee, and their family were living at 29 W 7th Street, Chillicothe, Ohio; he was working as a plasterer..

William Filmore Dalton and Emma Lee Cooper had four children:  William Filmore Jr. (right), Edward Wayne (right), Emma Jane (center), and Dennis Leon (not pictured).

In 1928 William and Emma Lee were living at 570 Linn Street, Chillicothe, Ohio.  On October 25, 1928 their third son, Dennis Leon Dalton, was born in Chillicothe, Ohio.

Four generations:  Emma Jane Byrd (left), Ella Mae Young (right), Emma Lee Cooper (back), and Emma Jane Dalton (front)..

On April 8, 1930 William Filmore Dalton, Sr. (in building construction) and Emma Lee Cooper were living with their family at 1137 Medill Street in Columbus, Ohio.

Emma Lee lost her mother, Ella Young on July 20, 1930.

On May 6, 1932 William Filmore Dalton, Sr. was taken to jail in Chillicothe, Ohio.  On May 18, 1932 Emma Lee Cooper moved with her children from Circleville, Ohio to Chillicothe, Ohio.  On September 26, 1932 William Filmore Dalton, Sr died in the Chillicothe, Ohio hospital of post-surgery complications two weeks after an accident.  He left Emma Lee Cooper, then only 27, with four children between the ages of four and ten.

1930s:  Emma Lee Cooper contracted tuberculosis and spent time in the Mt Logan Sanatorium.

1935:  Emma Lee Cooper and her children were living in Chillicothe, Ohio.
01/21/1937:  Emma Lee Cooper relinquished real estate in Circleville, Ohio to Edward Dalton (father-in-law).

1928-1937:  Jerome Russell (born 04/30/1900 in Middletown, Ohio) was living at 42 W 4^th Street, Chillicothe, Ohio.

05/03/1937:  Emma Lee Cooper married Jerome Russell in Covington, Kentucky.

1938-1940:  Jerome Russell (car washer, laborer) and Emma Lee Cooper were living with her children at 231 S Walnut Street, Chillicothe, Ohio.

04/08/1940:  Jerome Russell and Emma Lee Cooper with her children (William, Edward, Jane, and Dennis Dalton) were living in Chillicothe, Ohio (241 Mechanic Street). Jerome worked as a laborer at the Federal Hospital for $700/year; William worked as a road construction laborer for $520/year; Edward worked as a car washer. They were renting at $13/month and sharing a duplex with Emma Lee’s brother William Cooper, his wife Minnie and daughter Lois.

1942-1945:  Jerome Russell (caretaker, warehouseman) and Emma Lee Cooper lived at 241 Mechanic Street, Chillicothe, Ohio. 

1942-1945:  All of Emma Lee Cooper’s sons (William, Edward, and Dennis) served in the military during WWII.  William enlisted in the Army 02/20/1941 and was released 12/30/1945; reenlisted 11/07/1950 and released 05/02/1955.  Edward enlisted in the Army 02/20/1941 and was released 05/05/1943.  Dennis enlisted in the Navy 06/27/1946, mustered on the USS Boxer 07/01/1946.

1945:  Jerome Russell and Emma Lee Cooper were living with her children William Filmore Dalton, Jr, Edward Wayne Dalton (driver) and Emma Jane Dalton (maid at McCarthy Hotel) at 231 Mechanic Street, Chillicothe, Ohio.

10/27/1946:  Emma Jane Dalton married Brownley Thornton Stewart and moved to his home in West Virginia.

1947-1953:  Jerome Russell and Emma Lee Cooper were living at 33 W 7th Street, Chillicothe, Ohio.

1949:  Dennis Leon Dalton married Betty Richardson.

1949:  Edward Wayne Dalton married Patricia Ann Diggs.

1950:  Dennis Leon Dalton and Betty Richardson were living at 635 Lower Valley Pike, Springfield, Ohio.

1952-1960:  Edward Wayne Dalton (houseman, waiter, bar tender) and Patricia Ann Diggs were living at 183 Locust Street, Chillicothe, Ohio.

1951:  Emma Lee Cooper’s father, Edward Lee Cooper, died in Chillicothe, Ohio.

1952:  William Filmore Dalton, Jr and Elizabeth Rhodes were living at 52 W 7th Street, Chillicothe, Ohio.

In August 1952 Emma Jane Dalton, with husband Brownley Thornton Stewart and daughter Donna Jerrie Stewart, visited her mother Emma Lee Cooper in Chillicothe, Ohio.  It was Jerrie's first trip to visit to her grandmother's home. Jane was asked to make her famous pies for her family.  While they were baking she decided to take a long bath to recover from the eight hour drive; she was six months pregnant.  When the pies had finished baking, her mother was taking them out of the oven.  One was transferred to the counter, and as she turned to get the second there was a loud scream.  Jerrie had crawled to the stove and put her hand on the oven door.  Jane had difficulty getting out of her bath, but made it to the kitchen to see a very large blister cover Jerrie’s entire palm.  A doctor was called to bandage her hand and give her something for the pain. 

1953:  Emma Lee Cooper and Jerome Russell moved to 617 19^th Avenue, Middletown, Ohio.

1953-1955:  Dennis Leon Dalton and Betty Richardson were living at 332 W Clark Street, Springfield, Ohio.

1956:  Emma Lee Cooper survived breast cancer after a double mastectomy.  Emma Jane Dalton (with her daughters) spent a month in Middletown, Ohio caring for her mother.

1957:  Dennis Leon Dalton and Betty Richardson were living with Emma Lee Cooper at 617 19th Avenue, Middletown, Ohio.

12/1959:  The Stewarts spent Christmas with Emma Lee Cooper in Middletown, Ohio.  (This is believed to be the only Christmas the Stewarts did not spend at home in West Virginia.)

09/1963:  Emma Lee Cooper divorced Jerome Russell.

1960s-1983:  William Filmore Dalton, Jr. lived with his mother, Emma Lee Cooper, at 617 19th Avenue, Middletown, Ohio.

In the late 1960s William Filmore Dalton, Jr. drove his mother Emma Lee Cooper to West Virginia to visit his sister/her daughter.  But one of these trips proved to be very hazardous for him.  He managed to arouse a whole beehive while taking target practice against the side of an old outhouse. He proved to be very allergic to their stings and had to be rushed to the local clinic for emergency care.  This delayed their return to Ohio.  On the morning of their departure he managed to hit a cow which had gotten out of its field.  This further delayed their return while the car was being repaired. 

12/1978:  Emma Lee Cooper spent Christmas with the Stewarts in West Virginia.  This was her last visit to West Virginia. 

04/04/1981:  Jerome Russell died in Middletown, Ohio.

09/15/1983:  William Filmore Dalton, Jr. died while fishing on the Sciota River near Chillicothe, Ohio.  His brother Dennis, who was supposed to fish with him, arrived to find Bill leaning against a tree dead of a heart attack.

02/1985:  Donna Jerrie Stewart surprised Emma Lee Cooper with a visit to Middletown, Ohio.

09/28/1986:  Emma Jane Dalton died in Morgantown, West Virginia.

01/1987:  Emma Lee Cooper moved to Dennis Leon Dalton’s home in Columbus, Ohio.

06/28/1988:  Emma Lee Cooper moved to Edward Wayne Dalton’s home in Chillicothe, Ohio.

02/09/1990:  Emma Lee Cooper died in Chillicothe, Ohio.

04/08/1990:  Edward Wayne Dalton died in Chillicothe, Ohio.

07/10/1998:  Dennis Leon Dalton died in Columbus, Ohio.