Walter Snow Frost

b. 5-25-1873 d. 4-13-1948

Married Mary Purdy January 24, 1897

Children:
Homer Frost - died as infant September 27, 1912. Buried in Jacksboro, TX
William Frost -  died at 12 from complications after appendectomy operation.
Roy Snow Frost - adopted at 8 months old - son of Gladys Barber, Walter's niece, daughter of Vesta (Bess?)

Walter was born in Granby, Missouri, the eldest son of Snow and Eliza Frost. Walter said the outlaw James brothers were frequent callers to the Snow Frost's home in Missouri, and were friends of the family.

Walter, like most of the men in Granby, worked in the lead mines. When he was 19, he was attacked by a co-worker with a pickax for being a bit too friendly with the man's wife. Another man yelled a warning, Walter turned and was struck in the hip leaving him with a half-inch square scar for life.

When he was 23, he married Mary Purdy on January 24, 1897 in Granby, MO. Mary, at 17, was under the age of consent, which was 18 for women. Her mother signed the marriage license to give consent as Mary's father, Homer, was absent at the time. Click on the marriage license to see the entire document. Mary was a tiny little thing and only stood 4' 9" tall. Walter was around 5' 10" and towered over Mary. Walter and Mary had a son, Homer, on September 27, 1897 but he was either stillborn or only lived one day. See his headstone here.

In the census of June 1900, there are no children listed for Walter and Mary. From this information, it seems that they adopted a boy, William, who was born on January 12, 1900 in Missouri. He is listed in the 1910 Arkansas census at age 10. Willie died October 2, 1912 apparently from complications two weeks after an appendectomy. William is buried in Jacksboro, Texas. Walter worked as a conductor on the railroad and they had only been in Jacksboro a short time prior to Willie's passing.

Some time before the 1920 census, Walter and Mary moved to Haller Lake Precinct, in King County, Washington about 10 miles north of Seattle. The census shows that Walter was 45 and Mary was 40. Walter and his brother, Ernest, had a team of two horses that they used to clear land. The horses weighed 2,000 pounds each and were trained to surge against a stump in one direction then change directions on their own until the stump was loose and came out of the ground.

In 1922, Walter and Mary adopted Roy whose mother was Walter's niece, Gladys, daughter of Bessie Barber. See more information about Bessie (Vesta Jane) on her page.

In 1927, Walter, Mary, and Roy lived in Beaver, Oklahoma where Roy attended the school to the 4th grade. They lived in Laverne, Oklahoma in 1931 and 1932 where Roy was in the 5th and 6th grades. Walter worked at the city power plants in both Beaver and Laverne.

In 1933, they moved from Laverne, Oklahoma to Turkey Creek, Arkansas. Walter opened a grocery store in 1934 between Mountain View and Shirley.

Walter and Mary's family increased in size when Roy married Dorothy Covey in July, 1937. Allyn Dale was born the next year on Walter's birthday. More about Roy and Dorothy in their page.

In the census of 1940, Walter is listed under his nickname, Jack, which made it a little difficult to find that record. As that census shows, Roy, Dorothy, and baby Dale lived with Walter and Mary in 1940 in Shirley, Arkansas. The census was taken in Union Township in Van Buren county that year.

Walter passed away on April 13, 1948 and is buried in Shirley, Arkansas. Mary passed away in 1961 and is buried in Beaver, Oklahoma.

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