2004 May Family Reunion Prestonsburg, Kentucky Weekend of September 10-12, 2004 More family treasures from Salley Allen May & descendants based on notes from Marquita Sivis Otis THE LILY QUILT Reuben May, a carpenter by trade, came to Beaver Creek in FLoyd County in the early 1820s. While there he built a house for George Allen, met his daughter "Sallie," fell in love and married her in 1825 when she was 15 years old. Reuben died 15 years later, leaving Sallie with nine children ranging in age from birth to twelve years old. More about this family is posted at: /family/essays/8th-May-Generation/Reuben.html In the winter of 1873 Sallie pieced the LILY QUILT and her daughter-in-law Susan Milam May, wife of Daniel Wesley May, helped her quilt it the following sping. Sallie died soon afterwards. The quilt was given to Susan May and then to her daughter Sally May Stratton. When she died in 1972 it was passed down to her daughter, Mildred Katherine Stratton. In the summer of 2002 her daughter, Kathy Waddell was going through some old trunks that belonged to her Grandmother Sally May Stratton and found the LILY QUILT. It was labled in one corner: "Lily Quilt, Pieced in the winter of 1873 by Sallie Allen May, Susan Milam May helped quilt it in 1874." In May of 2004, Kathy Waddell, a great-great-granddaughter of Sallie Allen May, very graciously gave the quilt to her 2nd cousin, Marquita Otis, also a descendant of great-great-granddaughter of Sallie Allen May. By this date the quilt was 130 years old and Kathy wanted it to be shared with as many of her cousins as possible. FOOL'S PUZZLE QUILT Sally May, daughter of Daniel Wesley and Susan Milam May and granddaughter of Reuben and Sallie Allen May, pieced this FOOL'S PUZZLE QUILT in 1893 when she was 19 years old. After her marriage to Isaac Solomon Stratton in 1900, she completed the quilt. In 1912 he was ordained a minister in the Freewill Baptist Church and was well-know throughout Floyd County. This quilt was passed down to Sally's daughter, Emma Katherine Stratton, and then to her granddaughter, Mildred "Kathy" Flannery Waddell. In 2003 Kathy very graciously gave it to Marquita Sivis Otis OLD SIDE-SADDLE - PHOTO HERE - Kathy Waddell also gave Marquita an OLD SIDE-SADDLE Sally used when she rode 85 miles on horseback from her home in Jeffersonville, Kentucky to Floyd County to marry Isaac Stratton. Today Marquita's son, Timothy Dale Otis, is —with great care— restoring the OLD SIDE-SADDLE, as much as possible, to its orignal condition.