Edgar Benjamin Wallmann is today’s birthday boy. Edgar was born on November 30, 1899, so today would be his 126th birthday. Edgar was the son of Ambrosius and Agnes (Hoffmann) Wallmann. He was baptized at Immanuel Lutheran Church in New Wells. We can take a look at his baptism record from that congregation’s books below.

Edgar is found in the 1900 census at the age of 6 months. His father was a farmer in the Shawnee Township.

Although I have no documentation for it, Edgar’s father probably died during the next decade, and his mother then married William Polson in 1909. Edgar is called a 10 year-old stepson in the 1910 census entry shown here. William Polson was a farmer in the Shawnee Township.

Edgar was confirmed at Immanuel, New Wells in 1913. Then, in 1918, Edgar had his World War I draft registration completed. It gives him a Neely’s Landing address and says that he was doing farm work for Payton Hains.

I failed to find Edgar in the 1920 census. That was also the year in which he got married. So, we will now take a look at the woman who would become Edgar’s bride. Her name was Ollie Franklin Golightly, who was born on December 3, 1899. Ollie was the daughter of Theodore and Lydia (Rodden) Golightly. Ollie was probably born in Charleston, Missouri. That is where we find her living when the 1900 census was taken. She was also called 6 months old in her first census entry. Her father was a farmer. Charleston is located in southeast Missouri between Sikeston and Cairo, Illinois.

When the 1910 census was taken, Ollie was 10 years old.

This photo of the Golightly family was probably taken at about this time. Ollie is standing at the left.

Ollie is found as still being single and living with her parents when the 1920 census was taken. This census entry says she was 22 years old, but I think she was only 20. This time, her father was a miller at a stave mill.

I found a photo of Theodore Lightly working at the stave mill. He is the man on the left. Also, I could not resist showing this photo of Theodore sitting in a barber chair which was reportedly taken in 1920.

Here is a photo of Ollie that I think may have been taken prior to her marriage.

I have no documentation for it, but Edgar Wallmann reportedly married Ollie Golightly on December 4, 1920 in Cairo, Illinois. At some point in his life, Edgar must have made the decision to remove one of the “n’s” at the end of his name. The Wallman’s had 4 children, three sons and a daughter. I located a document which indicates that Edgar enlisted in the National Guard in 1926.

When the 1930 census was taken, we find the Wallman’s living in Charleston where Edgar was doing odd jobs. There was one child in their household.

The Wallman’s were no longer living in Missouri when the 1940 census was taken. They were living in Fort Supply, Oklahoma. Edgar was a carpenter for a concrete construction business. All 4 of the Wallman children can be seen in this entry.

Edgar had his World War II draft card completed in 1942. He was working at the Lone Star Defense Plant in Texarkana, Texas.

I found an Ancestry.com family tree that says Edgar and Ollie were divorced in 1948, and Edgar possibly married again. This 1950 census entry from Chattanooga, Tennessee shows an Edgar Wallman with a wife named Mary, along with a 1 year-old child. The problem is that Edgar is called 38 years old. He would have been about 50 years old at the time. However, it does say Edgar was born in Missouri.

Edgar Wallman died in 1975 at the age of 75. The Social Security death index shown here indicates that he died in Chattanooga. This gives some credence to the 1950 census entry being the one for the correct Edgar Wallman.

Edgar Wallman is buried in the Tyner Cemetery in the Chattanooga area. His gravestone gives him a different date of birth, but the death index above gives the correct one.

Ollie Wallman died in 1990 at the age of 90. Her death certificate shown here was completed in the state of Virginia. It says she died at Eldercare of Franklin County in Rocky Mount, Virginia. It does indicate that Ollie was divorced.

Ollie is buried in the Franklin Memorial Park Cemetery in Rocky Mount, but there is no gravestone photo on Findagrave.com.

There are several family trees on Ancestry.com that include more photos of the Wallman’s. I will place a few more of them here.

I found some Ancestry.com family trees that trace the Golightly family back to the 1600’s in colonial Virginia.