William Jesse Duke& Emma D Little

Too many men named William in our family! Most went by their middle names not by William. Our grandfather went by his middle name Jesse. I never knew him as he passed away in 1933 months before our oldest brother was born. I can tell you that my Daddy loved his father & missed him so much and was proud to be his son. At the time of Jesse death it was called "Sleeping Sickness" but a cousin thinks it was "encephalitis lethargica". Grandpa Duke mother & baby sister died in 1900. Jesse & his brother Luther dug the baby sister grave. Someone came & told them their mother died & they needed to dig another grave.(Always made me cry that they had to dig graves)

Emma D (Little) Duke was born on March 15, 1883 in Chickasaw County, Mississippi United States to Joseph Harrison Little and Susannah Adeline (Ingram) Little, and had siblings William Harrison Little, Benjamin Lloyd Little, Georgia Lela Little, Mary Susannah Elizabeth Little, Ora Becky Little, James Alex Eugene Little, Ella Lee Little, Herbert Newman Little, Linnie Helen Little, Samuel Early Little, Joseph Ottis Little, Delia Allie Little, and Edmond Victor Little. She married William Jesse Duke on May 4, 1906, and they were married until William's death on April 22, 1933. She had children Minnie Lee (Duke) Jordan, Jefferson Harrison Duke, Louis Ingram Duke, William Alec Duke Sr., Emma Sue (Duke) Ford, Joe Edmond Duke, Jessie Evelyn (Duke) Brast, Bertie Lou (Duke) Watson, and Jeannie Ethel (Duke) Kennett. Emma Duke died at age 91 years old on October 24, 1974 in Houston, Harris County, TX, and was buried on October 30, 1974 in Rosebud, Falls County.