I think we've all heard the story of the beginnings of our family in the small town of Coaling (also known as "Cooley"), Alabama. We're familiar with the Cooley side of the story, but this tidbit is about the Washington side of the family. The Washingtons, who are they? I'll tell you what I know. George Washington (He was named for which great American?) and his wife Gracie (nee Hargrove) had settled there to raise their family. Like the Cooleys, the Washingtons were a farming family. They were blessed with four daughters; Calladonia, Mary (born June 1874), Julia and Elizabeth. Once she was old enough, Mary would marry her neighbor, George Cooley in 1893. While living in Alabama the couple would have three children, but only two survived; Edward born in 1895 and Curtis born in 1899. In the early part of the twentieth century, the family would move to Missouri, where George would find work as a coal miner. This is where their daughter, Georgia Elizabeth "Lizzie" was born in 1904. George and Mary would move their family to Iowa in 1910, eventually settling in Enterprise. Unfortunately, Mary would not live to see her children grow up. She died in May of 1917. She is buried in Elmhurst Cemetery in Des Moines, Iowa.
