Beginnings: Harley

Harley Umberfield Garrett was born on Monday, September 11, 1892, in Clarke Co., Iowa, and was the last of seven children* born to Charles Robert Garrett and Catherine McGuire. He was born when his mother was 46 and his father nearly 50. His oldest sibling was 24 at the time of his birth, and he was cared for by one of his sisters, Martha F. (Flora). He was named after a Harley Umberfield Greenlee for whose family Martha F. worked. (Interestingly, his older brother was named "Charley", and he had a nephew whose name was "Arley.") Anyway, Harley did not like the middle name very much, and when anyone would ask him what his middle name was he would say "Useful" or "U only." He must have taking some kidding from his future classmates for his initials-HUG.

*The genealogical record that I have shows four daughters and three sons born to Charles and Catherine, but each of their obituaries mentions that there were eight children in the family. The unrecorded child was another daughter who must have died before 1890 and must also have been born between federal censuses. Several of the daughters were called by nicknames, including Flora and Fannie, but I am confident that they referred to Martha Florence and Mary Francis respectively. Several genealogists have published family trees indicating that these were not the same individuals, thus causing confusion.