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Charles Thomas Ragland was born, probably in 1844, in Henry County,
Kentucky..family moved to McCraken and Ballard Counties while the children
were still young. The following account was told to my grandmother, Thelma
Ioma (Ragland) Sanders while still a girl. The following is the ONLY thing Charleswould say about his family. He refused to talk about it any further, and until 5 years ago, we didn’t know the names of any of his family members. We found those in a book about the Raglands.

My Mother is an only child. Her mother went to heaven not knowing anything about her fathers family, and I would like to try to at least help my Mom find out who her distant cousins
are.

As told by Charles Thomas Ragland:

At a young age, probably late teens, or early 20's, he returned from
(somewhere..the war, we think) and his mother drew a hot bath for him.
After he had lowered himself into the hot water, she came in with a
broomstick and started beating him with it..yelling something about what he had "done". Charles had no idea as to what she was talking about, but he was given his inheritance,a horse, and told to leave the family. He was being disowned.

What we found out:

We don't know exactly when Charles left his home. He may have stayed in
Paducah for a short time at a boarding house, and that information is questionable but came from a friend that found a Charles Ragland in a boarding house listed on a census.

Charles traveled at some time to Arkansas, settling in Ozark. He took up
work as a book keeper in a store called Conatzers. Coincidentally, my Grandfather Samuel Sanders, who would some day be son-in-law to Charles,(but after Charles passes on), traveled down the mountain from his home at Mountain
Top, to sell goods in Ozark, and may have even met Mr.Ragland.

While working in Ozark, Charles met my Great Grandmother, Melinda Jackson
James, 1st cousin to Jesse and Frank James. They fell in love and married. In a strange twist to this story, a man named Edward Lingo JR. asked for the hand of Melinda from her father. He refused, saying it would not be right for Melinda to marry ahead of her older sister Tiny. Edward Lingo instead married Tiny, and became brother-in-law to Melinda. Remember Edwards name, you are going to hear it again in this
strange story.

After Charles and Melinda married, they moved to Tom Bean, Texas, where my
grandmother, Thelma Ioma Ragland, and her older sister Carrie, and brother
Ray were born. Charles ran a store there, and they were a very happy and
successful family during that time. He made it clear to his family that he
did not want to talk about where he had come from, or the circumstances
surrounding his loss of family. He only mentioned that he had a brother who was a Baptist Preacher, and a sister. He said that Thelma looked like his sister, and told the story of his mother whipping him.

Tiny, Melindas older sister who had married Mr. Lingo, became ill, and died.
Ed Lingo then started "bothering", (as my grandmother put it), her mother,
Melinda.

One day, Charles Thomas suddenly left for Oklahoma, taking his gun, which he
never used, with him looking for Ed Lingo. Charles went back home to Texas in a coffin, his pocket watch and gun gone. My grandmother Thelma was 14 years old when her father died.

Ed Lingo then married Melinda, so that they could combine both families,
since Melinda felt she needed to care for her sisters children. They moved the family to Durant, Oklahoma.

When Thelma was around 16 years of age, Samuel George Sanders (mentioned
above) came riding up, coming to visit HIS Uncle Ed Lingo! Samuel and Ed
were related through a Sanders/Lingo marriage.

Thelma and Samuel fell in love, and married in 1923. On a trip to their new
home, the train had a lay-over in Missouri. Samuel decided to get a haircut there at the station, and had Thelma wait outside on a bench for him. She noticed a woman walking back and forth in front of her on the walkway, and as the woman would pass, she would look at Thelma in the face. Finally the
woman approached Thelma, and asked just one question: "Would you be the
daughter of Charles Thomas Ragland?" When Thelma answered, "Yes!", the woman
burst into tears and ran off.
Apparently Thelma DID look just like Charles’ sister, or at least like her father.

Years later, when Thelma and her brother Ray were grown, and Melinda had
passed away, Ed Lingo called Thelma and asked if she and Samuel would come
and take him to see Ray, that he had something to give him. No one could
stand Ed Lingo, but at the thought of seeing her brother, she agreed. Thelma
and Samuel would drive to Ed Lingo’s house and spend the night, then drive
on to Rays house the next morning. Thelma and Samuel arrived at Ed’s house
and spent the evening talking with him. During the conversation, he
mentioned again that he had something to give to Ray. He decided to show it
to Thelma and Samuel. Imagine their surprise when it turned out to be
Charles Thomas' missing gun! Thelma was seething, but did not show it. Ed
didn't realize that she and her brother Ray were aware that their father
returned in a coffin without his gun!

That night, while Ed was asleep, Thelma went in and took the gun, hiding it
under Samuel’s "medicinal" whiskey bottle in the suitcase. The next morning when they were to leave, Ed couldn't find the gun, and thought
he had misplaced it. Thelma played her game, and acted as if she were trying
to help him find it, knowing all along that it was hidden in her suitcase.
When they arrived at Rays house, Thelma gave the gun to her brother in
private.

We have only one picture of Charles Thomas, and he is old in the picture. (see PHOTOS>FAMILY>RAGLAND

Charles Thomas' parents, and siblings are as follows:

James R. Ragland
wife: Agnes A. Abernathy

children:
Charles Thomas Ragland
wife: Malinda Jackson James

Sarah Elizabeth Ragland
husband: James Harper

Robert Luther Ragland (Baptist Minister)
wife: ? name died of Pneumonia Barlow Dec. 16, 1906

Melissa Ann Ragland
husband: William H. Simpson

Martha Alice Ragland
husband: P.O. Foree

William N. Ragland
wife: ?

Mary A. Ragland
husband: ?

I am asking that if anyone knows anything about this family, or has heard
any stories simular to what Charles told, please let me know!

Jacqueline Jeanne (Birchett) Schwenke

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