Pictures of Nola are few and far between, but Jim has a number of pictures from his youth.

Around 1920, with Aunt Maud Wright at Hebron, NE.

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Also around 1920 with Aunt Maud Wright.

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Around 1926, at home on Jackson Street.

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Around 1927?

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Finally, some pictures of Jim and Nola around 13-14 years of age.

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Nola's confirmation class (she's the tall girl in the back row).

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Jim, apparently with his dog.

James Harold Mayes (Sr.) was born April 3, 1917.

Three days after he was born, he was adopted by Iver Earl Mayes and Grace Elizabeth Wright Mayes.

The story behind the adoption that Dad told me was that Grace Mayes and her mother were going somewhere in Pittsburg, and Grandmother Wright got the heel of her button-up-the-side shoes caught between the railroad ties at a crossing. A train was coming down the tracks, and it proved impossible to stop the train, pull the heel of the shoe free, or unbutton the shoe and get Grandmother Wright's foot out of the shoe. Grace Mayes had to stand there and watch her mother get hit by the train. As Gramps told me, they 'picked up' Grandmother Wright 'with a shovel and a bucket.'

Grace Mayes was so upset that it was decided that having a baby to care for could only help her - hence the adoption.

Gramps Mayes wrote on the back of this picture - "I recall vaguely my parents telling me that Grandfather P(leasant). A. Mayes gave them this wicker baby buggy when I was adopted. J. H. Mayes 9-27-1995"

Nola Elizabeth Mundt was born may 4, 1916, daughter of Theodor Albert Gotthilf Mundt and Hulda Erna Koopmann Mundt.

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On the left is Hulda Koopmann Mundt (with her sisters) and she is holding her daughter, Nola. I would guess that the picture dates from 1918 or 1919.

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Ted, Hulda and Nola Mundt - probably from 1920 or 1921.

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This is Nola and her sister Flora, probably 1923 or 1924. For reasons I'm not sure of (though part of it was probably her insecurity), I often heard Mom refer to herself as 'a little girl from the wrong side of the tracks.'

This is how I remember Ted and Hulda Mundt - from 1962.

And this is them at their 50th anniversary, Nov. 26, 1965 - with their daughters behind them (L to R) - Lorna, Nola, and Flora.

Theodor (Ted) Albert Gotthilf Mundt was the third child of August and Elizabeth Mundt. Born Feb. 26, 1893, he was 12 when his father died of tuberculosis. His older brother, John, was 17 at the time and his youngest brother, Christian, was 2. All the children were very busy, either on the family farm, or working for neighbors to provide some income for the family. (There is, of course, a lot more information in the family history books that Jim and Nola Mayes provided for their children and grandchildren.)

When Theodor was 21-22, he 'dated' a pretty girl in the congregation - Hulda Erna Koopmann.

Theodor and Hulda were married on Nov. 26, 1915.

Their first child, Nola, was born May 4, 2016. Uncle Jim has pointed out that, at that time, a young couple who had 'rushed' things were expected to stand up and apologize to the congregation. I never heard anyone say that Ted and Hulda did that, although Ted was known as a 'preacher's kid.' Nola was pretty deep into her Alzheimer's when Gramps Mayes informed me that Gramma 'always' knew that she was a 9-pound, 3 month premature baby - and that was the reason why Gramma was so insecure.

One last picture of August Mundt, which is rather unusual, because of its size - 20x16. Someone in the family thought it was worthwhile getting such a large picture some 120 years ago.

This is a much better picture of Rev. August Mundt, being the wedding photo of him and Elizabethe Ziegler, married October 9, 1888.

And this is what August Mundt looked like in those Dakota winters.

Nola Mayes wrote on the back of this photo that the man standing at the corner of the depot (follow the corner of the building down to the man in the background) with the bowler was Rev. August Mundt, c. 1887.


Rev. August Friedrich Wilhelm Mundt graduated from the Concordia College, Springfield, Il. in 1887 and was called to Ellendale, Dakota Territory. In a report to the LC-MS in 1889, he reported preaching at 13 different places and said “I cannot hold out much longer, my strength is half gone. Five or six days out on the prairie in a wagon, sometimes without food or drink, is more than a weak person can stand very long.” He was at Ellendale 1887-1901; Montrose, IL, 1891-1902; Salem, Forest Green, MO, 1902-1904; moved to Pittsburg, KS, 1904 and died of tuberculosis Oct. 31, 1905. Theodor, his third child, was the father of Nola Mundt Mayes.

MAYES FAMILY HISTORY

JIM AND NOLA MAYES

Welcome family members! We (Jim and Ted) hope to share memories and pictures here with the younger generations.