Life can be fairly uneventful if you stop and think about it. Our days are generally filled up with the ordinary. Work, school, sleep, pay taxes...you get it. But once in a blue moon, a mystery will raise its head. We will see, hear or feel something that seems to have no immediate plausible explanation. Just about everyone has a story to tell of such experiences. Some trust in science to elucidate the enigmatic in due time. Others look to Heaven or the spiritual realm. And some will just chalk it up to coincidence or luck.
Before sharing one such story pertaining to my second great grandmother Julia Barclay McCord, let's take a look at her place in the family tree.
Julia was the grandmother of my grandfather Cleve Joy Bayne.
Before sharing one such story pertaining to my second great grandmother Julia Barclay McCord, let's take a look at her place in the family tree.
Julia was the grandmother of my grandfather Cleve Joy Bayne.
As shown above, she was the daughter of William McCord and Rebecca Nichols. Julia was the fifth of seven children, born in Trimble, Kentucky right in the middle of the raging war between the States.
By the time she was eighteen, she had met and married James Wesley Bayne. The couple had eight children of their own, seven boys and a girl. Although James was born in Indiana, and the two were married in Madison, they finished out their days in Milton, Kentucky. Julia and James are buried side by side at Moffett Cemetery, situated on a hill overlooking the Ohio River.
By the time she was eighteen, she had met and married James Wesley Bayne. The couple had eight children of their own, seven boys and a girl. Although James was born in Indiana, and the two were married in Madison, they finished out their days in Milton, Kentucky. Julia and James are buried side by side at Moffett Cemetery, situated on a hill overlooking the Ohio River.
Story Time
Although I am at present unsure of her religions affiliation, Julia was said to be a woman devoted to prayer. One night when it was particularly foggy, she awoke from a sound sleep, lit a lantern and walked out towards the banks of the Ohio.
One of her sons had been serving as a soldier overseas during World War I. Communication by mail or otherwise were virtually non-existent at the time, particularly in that area, so there was no contact from the young man as to when he would be returning.
The story continues with Julia coming to the side of the river. After a short stretch of time waving the lantern in the dark, a boat emerged out of the fog bearing her son. Having returned from his service in the military, he got on a boat on the river at sundown. He had been lost in the stubborn fog while trying to find his way home. Julia had no idea of his status, whether he was still alive, much less of his wandering in the depths of the fog at such a late hour. Yet there she was, wakened by something, sensing that she needed to be there, a light in the darkness.
One of her sons had been serving as a soldier overseas during World War I. Communication by mail or otherwise were virtually non-existent at the time, particularly in that area, so there was no contact from the young man as to when he would be returning.
The story continues with Julia coming to the side of the river. After a short stretch of time waving the lantern in the dark, a boat emerged out of the fog bearing her son. Having returned from his service in the military, he got on a boat on the river at sundown. He had been lost in the stubborn fog while trying to find his way home. Julia had no idea of his status, whether he was still alive, much less of his wandering in the depths of the fog at such a late hour. Yet there she was, wakened by something, sensing that she needed to be there, a light in the darkness.
In attempting to identify which of the seven sons was out on that boat, all evidence points to Virgil Talmage Bayne. He enlisted in November 1917, served in Company C of the 331st Infantry, and was honorably discharged in August 1919. To read more about his service as an officer in the Cleveland police force, click here. |