Ona Mae was the daughter of William Lisha Vanderpool and his first wife, Louisa J Radabaugh.

After her mother, Louisa, died in July of 1892, Ona Mae was raised by her aunt and uncle, Mahala and Seth French of Mercer County, MO. Mahala Radabaugh French was her mother's sister.

Home in 1900: Marion, Mercer, Missouri (1 Jun)
Seth French, 39, Feb 1861, MO-IN-OH, Married 9 years, Farmer
Mahala French, Wife, 44, Nov 1855, OH-OH-OH, Children 0/0
Onamay Vanderpool, Niece, 11, Apr 1889, MO-MO-IL

She married George DeKalb Davis, September 1909 in Kansas City, KS, and they had ten children.

1925 Iowa State Census: (1 Jan)
Location: Deer Creek, Mills, IA
Ona Vanderpool
Birth Year: abt 1889
Birth Place: Missouri
Marital Status: Married
Relation to Head: Wife
Mother: Eliza Radabaugh
Mother's Birthplace: Missouri
Father: Will Vanderpool
Father's Birth Year: abt 1865
Father's Birthplace: Missouri
Marriage Place: Missouri
G D Davis, 38, IA
Ona Davis, 36, MO
Gerald Davis, 14, IA
Clestia Davis, 12, IA
Ethel Davis, 10, MO
Thelma Davis, 7, IA
Edna Davis, 5, IA
Clarence Elmer Davis, 3, IA
Hazel Davis, 3, IA
Rosco Davis, 1, IA

Oregon Death Index:
Name: Davis, Ona M
County: Portland, Multnomah
Death Date: 8 Feb 1942

Ona's life, 1920s - 1942 , Southwest Iowa
Ona Mae Vanderpool Davis by Barbara K. Irick Chambers: Our maternal grandmother died in February 1942 before I was born in April. I never knew her, but I think I would have liked her. Mom (Thelma Davis Irick) has spoken of her often when she recalls her own childhood in the 1920s and 1930s. Grandma Davis was born April 6, 1889, in Mercer County, MO to William L. and Louisa J. (Radabaugh) Vanderpool. Her mother died in 1892 when Grandma was only three years old. Perhaps her father was unable to care for such a young child at that time, because Grandma was raised by an aunt and uncle, Mahala and Seth French of Mercer County, MO. Mahala was her mothers sister. Her father remarried in 1894 to Fannie L. Manuel and they had eleven children. This family moved to Iowa between 1910 and 1917. Mom recalls visiting Grandpa and Grandma Vanderpool and their large family of Ona's half brothers and sisters. Her half-brother Willis (Uncle Bill) and his wife Ruth lived in Malvern, IA and we visited them many times. Mom was close to them and their daughters Joanne, Eleanor, and Marlene (her cousins). Ona Mae Vanderpool and George DeKalb Davis were married September 9, 1909 in Kansas City, MO. They did not have an easy life. They had ten children and worked hard to provide for them. Grandma was a very hard worker. Doing laundry for a family of 12 was a big task. Of course, as the children were old enough, they were expected to help. Mom remembers when they got their first washing machine. She described it as having a handle to work the dasher, and a handle to roll the wringer. But it make washday much easier than the scrub board and wash tub. Grandma almost always hung laundry on the line outside, even in very cold weather when the laundry would freeze dry. But in the dead of winter when the weather was very bad, lines were strung in the house for laundry to dry. Grandma was very fussy about how her laundry was hung on the lines. Like items were hung together and everything was hung straight and even. Mom taught me to hang laundry in the same manner. Ironing involved sprinkling (dampening) and rolling clothes, and sometimes keeping the basket in the cellar or cave so that the clothes wouldnt start smelling sour before the ironing was completed. Irons were heated on the wood burning cookstove. A big family eats a lot. Grandma made homemade bread 10 loaves at a time. She kept a pot of coffee on the back of the stove to keep warm and drank it throughout the day. When times were tough, the family did not always have great meals, but they didn´t go hungry. She sometimes made a simple meal of bread or biscuits and water gravy. She must have had a garden. Mom remembers canned fruits and vegetables, and the making of sauerkraut. She made her own cottage cheese by setting a crock of milk on the back of the stove to ``clabber´´ until it formed curds. On special occasions she liked to make oyster dressing for stuffing turkey or chicken. Meals were always a family occasion. It was a rule that no one began to eat until Grandpa sat down and was ready to eat. She knew how to gather wild greens and other edibles. She loved to go hiking in the spring to gather new, fresh greens. She could identify wildflowers. She loved to hike anytime, and Mom remembers long walks in the woods, or sometimes to visit a neighbor or even to go to town. Grandpa did farm labor and carpentry work. But he didn´t always have work, and Grandma had to help with income. She took in laundry, or did house cleaning. It´s difficult to imagine how she managed that along with caring for her own large family. She also was a competent midwife. One time a neighbor was ready to give birth and the doctor could not be located. Grandma delivered the baby, and the doctor stated that since Ona did the delivery, he would willingly sign the birth certificate. She had a sense of humor - she had to. Grandpa was a tease and a jokester and he taught his sons well. But apparently she could give as well as she could take. She was always busy. Mom said she never saw her idle. In the evening after supper, she sat down with mending or handiwork (she liked to crochet). Sometimes she read to the kids. Sometimes the evening´s entertainment was music with Grandpa playing the fiddle and one of the older girls (Ethel?) playing the pump organ. The family lived in many different houses over the years, and some houses were not fancy. But Grandma believed there was no excuse for a dirty house. She sometimes papered closets with newspapers in order to have clean walls. Whatever else the day might bring, she insisted on making the beds and doing the dishes at the very least. Mom was the fourth oldest of the ten children. She can´t remember ever seeing or knowing Grandma pregnant. Grandma often wore ``Mother Hubbard´´ dresses which were loose and flowing. The babies were born at home when delivery time came, and the other children were sent outside, if possible. When they were invited back in, they found a new brother or sister. Grandma (and probably Grandpa) never talked to the children about the facts of life. When Mom entered puberty, she didn´t know what was happening to her. Grandma told her to talk to one of her older sisters. Who explained to them? When Aunt Peggy married and first became pregnant, Grandma was appalled when she showed Mom some baby clothes she was making. Peggy told Grandma that she wouldn´t have her sisters grow up as ignorant as she did! Grandma kept the front room or parlor of the house closed off from the rest of the house, and the children could not play in there. Heavy curtains or blinds hung at the windows to keep out the sun. When Grandpa came in from work, the front room was a cool place for him to relax. Life was not always hard work. On Saturday nights there might be a barn dance or gathering at someone´s house. They rolled up the rugs and pushed back the furniture, played music on instruments, and danced while the children watched from the stairs. And there were visits to family in Oscaloosa. The entire family piled into the car, Grandma prepared a picnic lunch to eat along the way, and it was most of a day's drive. Grandma taught her children independence. When my parents were early married and had their first argument, Mom went crying to Grandma, who told her to go back home and solve it herself. She told Mom, ``You married him, I didn´t´´. When Mom and Dad (Irvin) were courting, Grandma was sure it was a mis-match. Dad was a very quiet, reserved person and she thought he was egotistical and arrogant. Mom was a chatterbox (Grandpa used to tell her she had a long tongue and no brains). But after Mom and Dad were married, Dad and Grandma became very good friends. In fact, Dad called her his best friend. Grandma suffered from asthma, and Dad brought her brandy for her cough. She always had to hide it from Grandpa. As Grandma got older, her health suffered. Uncle Gerry, the eldest, lived in Oregon and in 1941 he convinced Grandma and Grandpa to come out there because he thought it would be better for her health. They packed up the youngest children in their car and went to Oregon. She died out there and Grandpa brought her back to Iowa to be buried in the Emerson cemetery. Mom was pregnant with me when her parents left for Oregon. She hadn´t told her mother yet, but Grandpa told Mom that as they pulled away, Grandma said, ``Well, it looks like we´re going to have another grandchild.´´ Mom said Grandma seemed to know when someone was pregnant almost before the woman herself knew. In Mom´s words, ``She could tell the day after the baby was conceived.´´