Fannie (Bytheway) Wilcox and William Wilcox

This is the story of Fannie (Bytheway) Wilcox and William Wilcox. This original story was prepared by Betty Ann Bytheway in 2007 and I added just a few things I knew about. Just to keep things straight here are the players:

Edward Bytheway 1867-1950) and Mae Laura (Widdup) Bytheway (1883-1946).
Edward and Mae’s children Blanche, Fannie, Margaret Gwynne, John Edward and Robert Winston.
John Edward Bytheway and his wife Emogene.
John Edward’s children Betty Ann, John Edward Jr. and Margaret Alana.
Patricia M. Wilcox is the niece-in-law to Fannie, daughter presumably to Charles Wilcox who is two years younger that William Wilcox.

William Wilcox (1902-1992) was born in Sardis, Harrison County, West Virginia to Chas Wilcox (1873) and Anna Wilcox (1878). Other members of his family from Clarksburg are Charles Wilcox (1904), Gertrude Wilcox (1907), Helene Wilcox (1913), and Reba (Rebecca nicknamed Buck?) Wilcox (1816). William married Agnes Wilcox about 1928 where the census shows him as living in Clarksburg, WV and he was divorced before moving to Bermuda where he married Fannie Grace Bytheway. He worked as a civil engineer in Pennsylvania designing and building bridges and dams including the Conemaugh Dam which is where he most likely met Fannie Grace Bytheway during the early civil engineering surveys. William's second married was to Fannie Grace Bytheway in Bermuda in September 1941. They later moved back to the Saltsburg PA house in 1947, one year after Fannie's mother Mae Laura died.

Fannie B. Wilcox, 94, of Saltsburg, daughter of Edward Bytheway (1867 - 1952), died Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2006, in Latrobe Area Hospital. She was born April 7, 1911, in Moween to the late Edward and Mae L. (Widdup) Bytheway. She married William Wilcox in Bermuda, lived there for six years and then lived in Saltsburg for most of her life. Mrs. Wilcox graduated from California State Teachers College, where she was a member of Delta Kappa Gamma sorority, and was a teacher in Loyalhanna Township and the Saltsburg School District for 28 years before retiring in 1974. She was a member of Saltsburg Presbyterian Church; the Order of the Eastern Star, Apollo; AARP Round Top Chapter, Export; the PSEA, and the Indiana County Retired Schoolteachers Association. Also predeceased by her husband, William S. Wilcox, who died in 1992; sisters, Blanche Bytheway, who died in 1988, and Lt. Col. Margaret Bytheway, who died in 2003, and brothers, John Bytheway, who died in 2001, and Robert W. Bytheway, who died in 1997. Surviving are many nieces and nephews.

William married Agnes Wilcox about 1928 where the census shows him as living in Clarksburg, West Virginia. Fannie’s niece-in-law said that William divorced his first wife because she spent all his money! Perhaps this is why Fannie was so frugal – afraid of William and spending all his money.

Fannie Bytheway and William Wilcox met while William was working on the Conemaugh Dam completed in 1952. Fannie was teaching grade school in Saltsburg. John Edward Bytheway (22Aug1916-05Jan2001) and his wife Emogene (Cora) Cochran Bytheway, Fannie and William Wilcox often double dated. Emogene always said William was a good dancer.
When William and Fannie were going to marry, William was already in Bermuda. Margaret Gwynne always called him “a yellow belly” to leave the U.S. during wartime. Margaret never called him this to his face. William had to have a job for Fannie before she could come to Bermuda. She quit her teaching job in Saltsburg and worked at the PX on the base. They were married in Bermuda in September, 1941. Fannie was 30, William was 39.

The Bytheway home in Saltsburg was built in 1935 and paid for with money inherited by Mae Laura (Widdup) Bytheway (1883-1946). Emogene always said Mae was a very sweet lady but sickly the entire time she knew her. John Edward had to quit Bucknell University to help his father Edward clear the lot to build the home.

Fannie and William returned from Bermuda in 1947 and moved into the Bytheway home in Saltsburg with their suitcases, rent free.
While Fannie and William were living in the house after their return from Bermuda, they not only didn’t pay rent to Fannie’s father Edward, they didn’t pay for the food either. William tried to claim his father-in-law Edward as a dependent on his income tax return, the red flags went up with the IRS and William was caught and fined!

Edward’s (1867-1950) first wife, Margaret Ann Jones had a daughter Jane Phoebe Bytheway. Margaret Ann’s name shows up in an obituary from Paintertown having died 02Mar1893 at the age of 23. Edward remarried Mae Laura; he was 16 years older than Mae. The story was that Mae was standing on a hill and yelled “You who!” to Edward and he looked up. That’s when Edward picked Mae. Edward fathered children into his mid-fifties; he was 48 when John Edward was born and 54 when Robert Winston was born. We believe that Mae Laura had a set of stillborn twin boys between John Edward and Robert.

Edward was Superintendent of Mines, Emogene said that he would go into a mine, put his back up against the mine and be able to tell if the mine was safe or not.

In Edward Retirement at the Saltsburg home he raised chickens for a hobby. The chicken coop was behind the garage. We don’t know how many chickens he had. He provided Emogene and her mother lots of eggs. When Mae passed away January 1950 we believe he gave up on raising chickens.

Edward was very much opposed to divorce. Fannie never told him that William Wilcox was divorced from Agnes Wilcox when he lived in Clarksburg, WV. We wondered how Fannie could keep that secret all her life. Before Betty Ann Bytheway left for college in 1964, Emogene told her William Wilcox had been married before and divorced. One Sunday evening shortly after school had started, Jeanne Miley, who lived on the same wing as Betty Ann asked her about William Wilcox. Jeane Miley was from Clarksburg, West Virginia where all the Wilcoxes resided.
No one in the Wilcox family never owned a home. They always rented. William said he never bought anything if he didn’t have the cash to pay for it upfront. Perhaps this is the reason for never buying a home. He never bought a brand new car; he always bought a demonstrator – cheaper.
Back in 1973 while sitting at John Edward’s Pittsburg home on Thanksgiving Day, Betty Ann’s husband Hardy and John Edward were talking about charging all their gas on credit card. They both mentioned how they had received free tanks of gas by using by using their credit card. At the time, a stamp cost 15 cents. William Wilcox told how he only used 15 gallons of gas a month and always paid for it with cash because charging his gas would cost him another penny per gallon.

Not only did Fanny and William move into the Bytheway house in Saltsburg, they never bought dining room furniture. The bookcases and china closet were Mae Laura’s and remained in the same places in the house. After Williams’s death, Fannie gave the table to Patricia Wilcox.
In the bedroom upstairs, the master bedroom (front room that overlooks the main road and side yard) had knobs missing from the dresser and chest drawers. The boy’s bedroom had Hollywood beds with a cheap table. Blanche had bought her maple bedroom suite. Fannie and Williams bedroom furniture was very cheap; some of the drawer pulls were very loose.

Something Betty Ann always noticed is things never changed, furniture in the living room may wear out and get replaced, but furniture pieces always stayed in the same place. Also noticed were there weren’t pictures on walls, only those that were bought as Christmas gifts. Once they were hung, they were never taken down, no matter how out of style they had become.

The crisscross curtains that were in the living room, dining room and bedrooms are like the ones Mae Laura always had hanging in her windows. The curtains in the kitchen and bathrooms were purchased at K-Mart.

During calling hours for Fannie, we heard some interesting stories about Edward and the Bytheway family. The lady that told the story lived and resided in Mooween. Her father was an electrician who had eight children. She told us that the would ask their father if the could go to the movies, and when he told them “no”, they would go down to Mr. Bytheway and tell him the story, then send him up to talk to their dad and Mr. Bytheway would make everything alright for the kids to go to the movies. We think he was well respected and admired because of his position in the community and probably his age was influential as well. She also told us how the Bytheway’s had a big party every summer in their backyard and everyone was invited. When they lived in Mooween, they lived in the company house that set back from all the other homes. It had a very large lot. She told how they would have lights all around the yard. It must have been the “social event” of the summer.

Edward passed away 19 January 1950. He had been ill for a short time. Margaret Gwynne went up to check on hi in the morning. She asked him what he would like to eat for breakfast. She came downstairs, fixed him an egg, toast, juice and coffee. When she had it ready on a tray, she took it upstairs, but it was too late, he was gone.

Mae Laura was sick for a number of years. She lost her eyesight towards the end of her life. Margaret Gwynne was very good to both her parents; she would buy her mom dresses all the time. Mae Laura died in Margaret Gwynne’s arms in September 1956 at the age of 62. This was so difficult for Margaret, Emogene said it ward to console Margaret. Margaret once said she suspected Mae Laura to be diabetic because of her sweet breath. Lost eyesight is also another symptom of high blood sugars.

Upon Fannie and William’s return from Bermuda, William began buying stock in AT&T. He continued buying shares annually, sometimes ten shares for Fannie too. He had the means to buy these shares because he never had to come up with a down payment or make a mortgage payment, pay rent or buy furniture. Once Edward was gone, he had Fannie, Blanche and himself all pay one-third of the utility bills (gas and electricity), but not water because it was well water and food. There was an egg timer by the phone and Fannie always reminded you it was her nickel. Once William was gone, she would call and talk and talk. He controlled her.

William Wilcox may have seen Fannie as his means to make his fortune. The house was always the Bytheway’s. Because John Edward was the executor of his dad’s estate, he was paying the taxes and homeowner’s insurance. Shame on Fannie and William for not stepping up to the plate and taking responsibility for their own expenses; they didn’t have kids to feed, clothe and educate. John Edward was paying taxes on two homes, his in Pittsburg and the other one in Saltsburg, along with making the mortgage payment on his own home. No wonder that John Edward’s family was always the low one on the totem pole. Betty Ann wished he would have made Fannie and William pay rent and then it could have been divided three ways, John Edward, Margaret Gwynne, and Robert Winston. William and Fannie lived in the house for 40 years before paying cash to Margaret, Robert and John Edward in 1987. Wouldn’t it be nice if we didn’t have to come up with money for a down payment, no mortgage and a partially furnished home for 40 years? This is how he amassed his fortune; it wasn’t a happy life there. One good note is that Blanche continued to live in the house until the day she died. She had a small upstairs bedroom.

There was never a Christmas tree for the holidays; the only Christmas decorations were the Hummel angels from Margaret Gwynne on the mantle, the red music box ornament and the choir of Angles from Margaret. Blanche did enjoy dressing up in a red Santa Clause suit to entertain the nephews and nieces the one Christmas Robert Winston and his family visited Saltsburg (about 1962).

There was always fighting going on during the holidays. It’s no wonder that the Bytheways didn’t celebrate holidays or birthdays. While John Edward was overseas during the war, Emogene would go over to the Bytheways loaded down with gifts for everyone in the house and come home empty-handed. John Edward always took much pride in his tree at his home in Pittsburg. The Bytheways didn’t decorate or give kids gifts for Christmas. Fannie was known to mail a check to the nephews and nieces on Christmas.

Once William Wilcox passed away, Fannie found out she had a lot of money. She was directed to the S&T Bank in Indiana to their Wealth Management Department. She linked up with Jack Bennett. When she told Betty Ann, Betty Ann said she know him and his whole family. His sister and Betty Ann graduated together. Jack was one year behind Betty Ann. His mom used to drive her home on rainy days from the junior high. Fannie had to Betty Ann that John Edward and Betty Ann had Power of Attorney for Fannie and that John Edward was the Executor. In 2001 Betty Ann report they were still finding money that William Wilcox had hidden away without Fannie’s knowledge. Fannie had to pay some hefty fines on the money. As time went on, Jack Bennett put Jim Rheis in charge of Fannie’s affairs. This may have been done due to her stubbornness and unwillingness to change. She held onto stocks even thought they were doing poorly (i.e. GM) because William Wilcox bought them. William started buying bonds in 1945, but in 1973 he converted them to H Bonds. After William Wilcox died, she lived the way William Wilcox did, whether or not it was appropriate today. Fannie didn’t talk to anyone about her material affairs. She didn’t realize how much the bank was charging her monthly and didn’t listen to them or take their advice. For many years after William’s death, Fannie was still heartbroken and nearly in tears because she had lost her loved one.

I’ve been doing a little research into who I thought was a cousin Patricia M. Wilcox. She was a recipient in Fannie’s Last Will & Testament along with my siblings Edward, Robert, Susan and William. She inherited 3/36 of the estate. I thought her father was our Uncle Bill Wilcox's younger (by 2 years) brother Charles Wilcox but I was updated by Betty Ann that she wasn't a cousin. Her three daughters inherited her estate.
Patricia Wilcox was married to Paul Wilcox who was a nephew of William Wilcox. They had three daughters and lived in the South Hills, Pittsburg, PA. Paul had cancer and died not long after William Wilcox. He wasn't that old. Patricia was born on February 18, 1936 and died on June 6, 2007 at 71 years old. Patricia lived at 5173 Cherryvale Dr., Pittsburg, PA., in 2007 in a home owned by Paul L. and Cynthia A Varnum. The house was purchased October 2007 (Fannie’s first distribution of inheritance??); the house was foreclosed by the Federal National Mortgage Association on 18Dec2012 and sold 01Feb2013. Cynthia was probably one of her three daughters?

Paul W Wilcox was born on June 27, 1933 and died on December 28, 1992 at age 59. Paul Wilcox (1933) is the son of Charles Wilcox (1904) and Cleo Wilcox (1909). Charles is William’s younger brother. Paul’s siblings are sister Mina Joyce Wilcox (1929) and brother Charles Wilcox (1930).

Other relatives of Pat are Wallace W. Ilkins, Nancy Jean Varnum, Carolyn A Wilcox, Cynthia A Wilkins and Lois E Wilkins. She has estimated annual revenues of $50,000.00 at her death; Fannie's inheritance from her death in 2006 was $55,200. She never had a chance to enjoy her final inheritance distribution December 2007!