On April 3, 1932, Emma Elizabeth Wilson was born in rural Virginia, in her childhood home, the historically and architecturally famous Mount Prodigal. Her parents, Clemmie and Hubert Wilson - tenant farmers, named her after both of her grandmothers. In those days, everyone had their babies at home - they weren't even near a hospital. Betty was the third of five girls. Her mother had two boys who passed away before Betty was born. When asked about Betty's best childhood memory she answered, "Where I was born there was quite a large section of woods and I can remember roaming through the woods, in the summer particularly, and picking huckleberries and getting bitten by chiggers. [laughs] But those were happy days. And sliding down red clay hills-where I was bom in Virginia there was a lot of red clay hills. Since it was a farm we really weren't close to any other children, so I was close to my sisters."
Betty proudly states, "I was born when Hubert Hoover was president- the 31st president of the United States. That was during the depression... Franklin Roosevelt became president the following year." When asked if the depression affected her family she replied, "No, not really. We lived on farm and we always grew food to eat anyhow, we had large gardens, my mother canned all of the food-which is what farm families did. And of course they slaughtered the hogs." It was a hardlife on the farm. Her father plowed the fields with a horse. He had a horse and buggy. She remembered vividly riding in the buggy to visit her grandparents - getting back late at night, all four girls squeezed into the buggy. She remembers her parents always being busy. She explained, "They were very simple people on the farm. And back in those days we didn't have TV and we seldom had a radio that worked because we had to use batteries because on the farm there was no electricity or running water. It was a very simple life. We had kerosene lamps. And we went to bed early." Her and her sisters' chore was to keep the wood box full -they had to bring in wood for the stove. Betty reminisced, 'Those may have been the days - but I wouldn't want to go back to no electricity."
Betty's family lived in one room of Mount Prodigal because it was so big. She remembers her grandmother coming to visit them and staying upstairs. Her grandmother would pound on the floor with her cane when she wanted something. During one of her visits, she passed away. After that Betty and her sisters were afraid to go upstairs. Betty remembers the house having a red roof and a slave cemetery. After the owner of Mount Prodigal died they moved to a smaller farm. When asked about WWll Betty recalled, "I was very young. I just remember the rationing. As my mother used to can everything the fruits and preserves and sugar was rationed so I remember she always had to get stamps for sugar. And I can remember the women in the neighborhood who were able to go out to work would go to Newport News, Virginia where they had a shipyard, and of course women did the work in those days, but when the men came home they all lost their jobs.
During the school year Betty and her sisters were gone all day. They had to walk a mile each day to the bus, and a mile home, through the winding country roads. It took forty-five minutes after they got on the bus because they lived back in the country. When she was in school they didn't have kindergarten. The school she went to until fourth grade was a one room school called St. Martins School. She graduated high school in 1949, when she was seventeen, after completing eleventh grade - the following year her school implemented a twelfth grade. Betty graduated second in her dass, making her Salutatorian. She was featured on the front page of her school newspaper. With her shorthand and typing skills Betty moved to Baltimore right after graduation to start her career.
When asked what had the biggest impact on who you've become, she replied, "Well I always like to think that my English teacher in high school had the greatest effect on me. I always liked her and she always spoke well. And of course my mother and father too."
In 1949 Betty moved from the farm to Baltimore, where she had family. She found her first job as a file clerk. Betty met Richard Coyne at a Marine Corps dance. Around Four months later they were married on February 15, 1958. Their wedding was at Quantico Virginia Marine Corp base during a tremendous blizzard. Following the wedding Betty and Richard took a cargo ship to Hawaii - it had two bunks. It was used for moving troops. They lived in Hawali for 2 years.
Betty and Richard had their first child, Genevieve Mary Coyne, in December 1956 and their second child, Patricia, in November 1959. Then they moved to New York were they had there third, Elizabeth, and fourth, Richard, child. They later divorced.
In 1990 Betty and daughter Genevieve moved Minneapolis Minnesota.
Betty proudly states, "I was born when Hubert Hoover was president- the 31st president of the United States. That was during the depression... Franklin Roosevelt became president the following year." When asked if the depression affected her family she replied, "No, not really. We lived on farm and we always grew food to eat anyhow, we had large gardens, my mother canned all of the food-which is what farm families did. And of course they slaughtered the hogs." It was a hardlife on the farm. Her father plowed the fields with a horse. He had a horse and buggy. She remembered vividly riding in the buggy to visit her grandparents - getting back late at night, all four girls squeezed into the buggy. She remembers her parents always being busy. She explained, "They were very simple people on the farm. And back in those days we didn't have TV and we seldom had a radio that worked because we had to use batteries because on the farm there was no electricity or running water. It was a very simple life. We had kerosene lamps. And we went to bed early." Her and her sisters' chore was to keep the wood box full -they had to bring in wood for the stove. Betty reminisced, 'Those may have been the days - but I wouldn't want to go back to no electricity."
Betty's family lived in one room of Mount Prodigal because it was so big. She remembers her grandmother coming to visit them and staying upstairs. Her grandmother would pound on the floor with her cane when she wanted something. During one of her visits, she passed away. After that Betty and her sisters were afraid to go upstairs. Betty remembers the house having a red roof and a slave cemetery. After the owner of Mount Prodigal died they moved to a smaller farm. When asked about WWll Betty recalled, "I was very young. I just remember the rationing. As my mother used to can everything the fruits and preserves and sugar was rationed so I remember she always had to get stamps for sugar. And I can remember the women in the neighborhood who were able to go out to work would go to Newport News, Virginia where they had a shipyard, and of course women did the work in those days, but when the men came home they all lost their jobs.
During the school year Betty and her sisters were gone all day. They had to walk a mile each day to the bus, and a mile home, through the winding country roads. It took forty-five minutes after they got on the bus because they lived back in the country. When she was in school they didn't have kindergarten. The school she went to until fourth grade was a one room school called St. Martins School. She graduated high school in 1949, when she was seventeen, after completing eleventh grade - the following year her school implemented a twelfth grade. Betty graduated second in her dass, making her Salutatorian. She was featured on the front page of her school newspaper. With her shorthand and typing skills Betty moved to Baltimore right after graduation to start her career.
When asked what had the biggest impact on who you've become, she replied, "Well I always like to think that my English teacher in high school had the greatest effect on me. I always liked her and she always spoke well. And of course my mother and father too."
In 1949 Betty moved from the farm to Baltimore, where she had family. She found her first job as a file clerk. Betty met Richard Coyne at a Marine Corps dance. Around Four months later they were married on February 15, 1958. Their wedding was at Quantico Virginia Marine Corp base during a tremendous blizzard. Following the wedding Betty and Richard took a cargo ship to Hawaii - it had two bunks. It was used for moving troops. They lived in Hawali for 2 years.
Betty and Richard had their first child, Genevieve Mary Coyne, in December 1956 and their second child, Patricia, in November 1959. Then they moved to New York were they had there third, Elizabeth, and fourth, Richard, child. They later divorced.
In 1990 Betty and daughter Genevieve moved Minneapolis Minnesota.
On April 3, 1932, Emma Elizabeth Wilson was born in rural Virginia, in her childhood home, the historically and architecturally famous Mount Prodigal. Her parents, Clemmie and Hubert Wilson - tenant farmers, named her after both of her grandmothers. In those days, everyone had their babies at home - they weren't even near a hospital. Betty was the third of five girls. Her mother had two boys who passed away before Betty was born. When asked about Betty's best childhood memory she answered, "Where I was born there was quite a large section of woods and I can remember roaming through the woods, in the summer particularly, and picking huckleberries and getting bitten by chiggers. [laughs] But those were happy days. And sliding down red clay hills-where I was bom in Virginia there was a lot of red clay hills. Since it was a farm we really weren't close to any other children, so I was close to my sisters."
Betty proudly states, "I was born when Hubert Hoover was president- the 31st president of the United States. That was during the depression... Franklin Roosevelt became president the following year." When asked if the depression affected her family she replied, "No, not really. We lived on farm and we always grew food to eat anyhow, we had large gardens, my mother canned all of the food-which is what farm families did. And of course they slaughtered the hogs." It was a hardlife on the farm. Her father plowed the fields with a horse. He had a horse and buggy. She remembered vividly riding in the buggy to visit her grandparents - getting back late at night, all four girls squeezed into the buggy. She remembers her parents always being busy. She explained, "They were very simple people on the farm. And back in those days we didn't have TV and we seldom had a radio that worked because we had to use batteries because on the farm there was no electricity or running water. It was a very simple life. We had kerosene lamps. And we went to bed early." Her and her sisters' chore was to keep the wood box full -they had to bring in wood for the stove. Betty reminisced, 'Those may have been the days - but I wouldn't want to go back to no electricity."
Betty's family lived in one room of Mount Prodigal because it was so big. She remembers her grandmother coming to visit them and staying upstairs. Her grandmother would pound on the floor with her cane when she wanted something. During one of her visits, she passed away. After that Betty and her sisters were afraid to go upstairs. Betty remembers the house having a red roof and a slave cemetery. After the owner of Mount Prodigal died they moved to a smaller farm. When asked about WWll Betty recalled, "I was very young. I just remember the rationing. As my mother used to can everything the fruits and preserves and sugar was rationed so I remember she always had to get stamps for sugar. And I can remember the women in the neighborhood who were able to go out to work would go to Newport News, Virginia where they had a shipyard, and of course women did the work in those days, but when the men came home they all lost their jobs.
During the school year Betty and her sisters were gone all day. They had to walk a mile each day to the bus, and a mile home, through the winding country roads. It took forty-five minutes after they got on the bus because they lived back in the country. When she was in school they didn't have kindergarten. The school she went to until fourth grade was a one room school called St. Martins School. She graduated high school in 1949, when she was seventeen, after completing eleventh grade - the following year her school implemented a twelfth grade. Betty graduated second in her dass, making her Salutatorian. She was featured on the front page of her school newspaper. With her shorthand and typing skills Betty moved to Baltimore right after graduation to start her career.
When asked what had the biggest impact on who you've become, she replied, "Well I always like to think that my English teacher in high school had the greatest effect on me. I always liked her and she always spoke well. And of course my mother and father too."
In 1949 Betty moved from the farm to Baltimore, where she had family. She found her first job as a file clerk. Betty met Richard Coyne at a Marine Corps dance. Around Four months later they were married on February 15, 1958. Their wedding was at Quantico Virginia Marine Corp base during a tremendous blizzard. Following the wedding Betty and Richard took a cargo ship to Hawaii - it had two bunks. It was used for moving troops. They lived in Hawali for 2 years.
Betty and Richard had their first child, Genevieve Mary Coyne, in December 1956 and their second child, Patricia, in November 1959. Then they moved to New York were they had there third, Elizabeth, and fourth, Richard, child. They later divorced.
In 1990 Betty and daughter Genevieve moved Minneapolis Minnesota.
Betty proudly states, "I was born when Hubert Hoover was president- the 31st president of the United States. That was during the depression... Franklin Roosevelt became president the following year." When asked if the depression affected her family she replied, "No, not really. We lived on farm and we always grew food to eat anyhow, we had large gardens, my mother canned all of the food-which is what farm families did. And of course they slaughtered the hogs." It was a hardlife on the farm. Her father plowed the fields with a horse. He had a horse and buggy. She remembered vividly riding in the buggy to visit her grandparents - getting back late at night, all four girls squeezed into the buggy. She remembers her parents always being busy. She explained, "They were very simple people on the farm. And back in those days we didn't have TV and we seldom had a radio that worked because we had to use batteries because on the farm there was no electricity or running water. It was a very simple life. We had kerosene lamps. And we went to bed early." Her and her sisters' chore was to keep the wood box full -they had to bring in wood for the stove. Betty reminisced, 'Those may have been the days - but I wouldn't want to go back to no electricity."
Betty's family lived in one room of Mount Prodigal because it was so big. She remembers her grandmother coming to visit them and staying upstairs. Her grandmother would pound on the floor with her cane when she wanted something. During one of her visits, she passed away. After that Betty and her sisters were afraid to go upstairs. Betty remembers the house having a red roof and a slave cemetery. After the owner of Mount Prodigal died they moved to a smaller farm. When asked about WWll Betty recalled, "I was very young. I just remember the rationing. As my mother used to can everything the fruits and preserves and sugar was rationed so I remember she always had to get stamps for sugar. And I can remember the women in the neighborhood who were able to go out to work would go to Newport News, Virginia where they had a shipyard, and of course women did the work in those days, but when the men came home they all lost their jobs.
During the school year Betty and her sisters were gone all day. They had to walk a mile each day to the bus, and a mile home, through the winding country roads. It took forty-five minutes after they got on the bus because they lived back in the country. When she was in school they didn't have kindergarten. The school she went to until fourth grade was a one room school called St. Martins School. She graduated high school in 1949, when she was seventeen, after completing eleventh grade - the following year her school implemented a twelfth grade. Betty graduated second in her dass, making her Salutatorian. She was featured on the front page of her school newspaper. With her shorthand and typing skills Betty moved to Baltimore right after graduation to start her career.
When asked what had the biggest impact on who you've become, she replied, "Well I always like to think that my English teacher in high school had the greatest effect on me. I always liked her and she always spoke well. And of course my mother and father too."
In 1949 Betty moved from the farm to Baltimore, where she had family. She found her first job as a file clerk. Betty met Richard Coyne at a Marine Corps dance. Around Four months later they were married on February 15, 1958. Their wedding was at Quantico Virginia Marine Corp base during a tremendous blizzard. Following the wedding Betty and Richard took a cargo ship to Hawaii - it had two bunks. It was used for moving troops. They lived in Hawali for 2 years.
Betty and Richard had their first child, Genevieve Mary Coyne, in December 1956 and their second child, Patricia, in November 1959. Then they moved to New York were they had there third, Elizabeth, and fourth, Richard, child. They later divorced.
In 1990 Betty and daughter Genevieve moved Minneapolis Minnesota.
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"SOFTLY AND TENDERLY.
HEAVEN IS CALLING"
Gravesite Details
Buried with her daughter Genevieve
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