Aunt Gertie married several times after she divorced Mr. Nalley. The men I have been able to account for were Ephraim "Eph" Wright. Eph was a brother to George Lewis Wright. George was married to Aunt Gerties younger sister Laura. Aunt Gertie was also married to Wesley Barger, Albert Loy Hamilton and M.L Guthrie. It was the next marriage that caused Aunt Gertie to almost bite off more than she could chew. Aunt Gertie would soon find herself in a bit of trouble. Keep in mind as you read this there are two sides to every story. Ill let you form your own conclusions as we proceed.
Aunt Gertie married a man named Walter Estes. Mr Estes owned a store in Caraway, Craighead County, Arkansas. On 10 January, 1943 Aunt Gerties 17 year old son Barney Nalley and her brother T.A Esterline age 18 robbed and killed Aunt Gerties estranged husband Mr. Estes in his Store. Aunt Gertie herself was initially charged with the murder as well. Uncle T. A and Barney both claimed Mr. Estes had made threats towards Aunt Gertie and they acted in self defense in order to protect Aunt Gertie. That claim evidently did not hold up in court. Upon the boys admission of guilt and having plead guilty to 2nd Degree Murder, Aunt Gertie was exonerated and let go. It would seem to me that old cousin Barney was a bit of scoundrel himself and he got what he deserved. "Two wrongs dont make a right" my momma always said. To read more about what happened during this fiasco see the Newspaper link under the Document tab above. Newspaper Article appeared in the Jefferson City Post Tribune on 6 May, 1943 For more News Clippings on Aunt Gerties Family Click the link under her name entitled Gertie in the News |