Grace Jean McLin

Narrative:

     Grace Jean McLin was born on 1 Nov 1915 in Powell, Knox Co., Tennessee.^10,11,12
     Grace's birth certificate reflects that her name is "Jessie Grace McLin," which is what her father told the doctor who delivered Grace. But her name on all other legal documents, and the name by which she was called by everyone her whole life, is Grace Jean McLin. Her father wanted to name her Jessie after her mother's brother Howard's daughter, but her mother disagreed.⁷
     She appeared on the 1920 Federal Census of Knoxville, Knox Co., Tennessee, in the household of her parents, Alvin Ernest McLin and Daisy Mae Crawford.⁴
     Grace grew up in Powell and Knoxville and was baptized at the First Baptist Church of Knoxville as a girl. She and her mother used to ride a streetcar past the site on which the church was being built, and remembered it being under construction. Her mother told her that after it was completed they would go there, and they did. She also remembered that at that time her family had a crank phone and a "party line."⁷ She appeared on the 1930 Federal Census of Knoxville, Knox Co., Tennessee, in the household of her parents.⁵

The Loss of Her Mother --- Text Stolen from ReigelRidge.com !! ---

     When her mother became very ill, Grace was sent to camp and her sister was sent to a relative's house nearby. The girls weren't allowed to talk to or see their mother while she lay dying because their uncles were afraid the girls would cry.⁷ Her mother died on 6 Sep 1931, when Grace was 15 years old.⁷
     After their mother's death Grace and her sister Alice were sent to live with their mother's brother Harney and his wife Pearl in Mullins, West Virginia, for a year. They both hated living there, and Grace felt ugly and poor.⁷
     Grace attended high school in Knoxville and was valedictorian of her graduating class at Knoxville High School in May 1934. While attending high school she lived in an apartment in a large white house several blocks down 4th Avenue from her school. She was chosen to speak at the class's commencement, and was very nervous about the speech. Grace was the first class speaker from the business course at the school. Her father made fun of her because she practiced it so many times. A picture of her making the speech appeared on the front page of the Knoxville newspaper. in May 1934 in Knoxville High School, Knoxville.^7,19
     She took classes and worked as a legal secretary after high school, and although she desperately wanted to attend college, her father could not afford it.⁷

An Ill-Fated First Marriage --- Text Stolen from ReigelRidge.com !! ---

     She lived across the street from a boarding house. Luther Baldwin, an automobile mechanic, was one of the boarders there. Grace discovered that the man she had been seeing was engaged to someone else, and she and Luther began courting soon after that. They "ran off" to Kentucky to get married.⁷
     Grace married first Luther Webster Baldwin, son of Isaac Noah Baldwin and Maggie White, on 9 Jun 1937 in Newport, Kentucky.⁷
     Their daughter was born a year later. Luther became physically abusive to Grace about that time, getting worse over the next year. After an incident involving the baby Grace waited for him to go to work and then packed up her and the child's belongings and went to live with her mother's brother Samuel.⁷
     Grace and Luther were divorced on 24 Aug 1939 in Knox Co., Tennessee.^13,14,15
     Grace appeared on the 1940 Federal Census of Knoxville, Knox Co., Tennessee, at 3205 Wilson Ave., enumerated 20 Apr 1940, reporting she was renting her home, for $20 per month.Her daughter was listed as living with her. She was sharing the home with another divorced woman, Helen Licht and her two-year-old daughter. Laura Unthank was listed as a housekeeper as well.²⁰
     She was a stenographer in a bank in 1940, when she reported she had worked 48 hours the last week of March, and had worked 26 weeks the prior year, earning $480.²⁰

A Second Marriage --- Text Stolen from ReigelRidge.com !! ---

     Grace married second William Gordon Cobb, son of Dr. Robert Linah Cobb Jr. and Ledley Lena Logan, in Dec 1942 in Knoxville, Knox Co., Tennessee.⁷
     Grace and William moved to Oak Ridge, Tennessee, in 1944 so he could work for Tennessee Eastman at the Oak Ridge Y-12 plant.⁷
     They separated about 1955. One son was sent to live with William's sister and her husband in Clarksville, Tennessee for a time, and the other lived in Oak Ridge with friends of the family. The boys moved back in with Grace after about 6 months. Grace and William did not get divorced for years after they separated. Grace did not want to ask for a divorce because she wanted Bill to pay for the children's college education. He eventually asked for a divorce because he was interested in dating.⁷ Grace and William were finally divorced.

Moving On --- Text Stolen from ReigelRidge.com !! ---

     She returned to work as a legal secretary after they separated. Among other cases, the lawyer she worked for acted as the legal representatives of the U.S. Government in the mid-1950s when the houses in Oak Ridge were sold to the local population (the houses were built and owned by the government until then.)⁷
     Grace married third Harold William Ditchen on 5 Dec 1964 in Oak Ridge, Anderson Co., Tennessee, withe Rev. James E. Spien officiating.^16,17,18
     Her third husband died on 16 Aug 1984 in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.^17,21
     Grace died on 22 Aug 2004 in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, at age 88.⁶ She was buried on 25 Aug 2004 in Oak Ridge Memorial Park, Oak Ridge, Tennessee.⁶