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From the Valdo James Smith Research document, The Sudburys of Virginia and Tennessee.
MILDRED V. YATES, the ninth and last child of J.J. and Nancy Yates, was one
of the family's most colorful characters. She was born on March 26, 1886, in Dyer
County, Tennessee, and moved with her parents first to Texas, and, later, to
Olunulgee, Indian Territory, sometime around 1900. In 1907 (or thereabouts) she
married BENJAMIN MARTIN, a barber and patent medicine salesman, who was
quite a character himself. Ben was about four years older than Millie, and came
from Illinois.
Almost all of what is known about "Aunt Millie" and her husband Ben derives from
stories told to Valdo Yates Smith and passed on by him. However, some additional
information has been obtained from the 1910 census, where Millie and Ben are
listed as living in McAlister Township, Pittsburg County, Oklahoma, about 50
miles south of Olunulgee.
To hear Valdo describe Ben Martin was a delight. Ben was a tall, handsome man,
with dark hair and a curly beard, "a good lookin' son of a gun". He was a "happygo
-lucky guy", "quite a talker", a charmer "with the gift of the Blarney". Valdo
remembered going into Ben's barber shop as a young boy and watching his uncle in
action.
Millie's relationship with Ben must have been somewhat tempestuous. He had the
reputation of being something of a "tomcat", and it was this propensity which
brought a dramatic end to their marriage, probably sometime around 1915. As
Valdo told it, Ben came home late one night, after having been "where he shouldn't
have been". Millie was waiting up. As he started to come through the door, she
threw a knife at him, which buried itself in the door jamb "right close to his head".
According to Valdo, "that's the last any one in the family ever saw of him."
However, reports did filter back that Ben subsequently made his living "out west
somewhere" giving medicine shows and selling "snake oil" out of the back of a
wagon.
Another story Valdo Smith told about Millie probably dates from after Ben Martin's
departure. One night Millie woke up to find a man in her bedroom. She turned on
the light and said, "Who are you?" The man said something like, "I'm a murderer,
and I'm going to steal something." Millie said, "What do you want'?" He replied,
"Money." She said, "Just a minute, I'll get out of bed and help you look. If I can
find any, I'll give you half of it." The burglar gave up in disgust and left.
Valdo remembered that Aunt Millie was a "very handsome woman", and fearless;
"she wasn't afraid of the Devil himself." After her husband Ben left, she continued
to live in Okmulgee for some time with her two sons. The last information known
about her is found in Nancy Sudbury Yates's obituary from 1923, in which Millie
is identified as Mrs. Ben Martin, living at 705 South Okmulgee Avenue,
Okmulgee, Oklahoma.
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