Zera Sue Clayton

Brief Life History of Zera Sue

When Zera Sue Clayton was born on 13 September 1927, in Cherokee, Alabama, United States, her father, Willie Clayton, was 17 and her mother, Luna Jenkins, was 22. She married Gordon William Benefield on 4 December 1943, in Cherokee, Alabama, United States. She lived in Sand Rock, Cherokee, Alabama, United States in 1930. She died on 4 January 1988, in Houston, Harris, Texas, United States, at the age of 60, and was buried in Houston, Harris, Texas, United States.

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Family Time Line

Gordon William Benefield
1923–1976
Zera Sue Clayton
1927–1988
Marriage: 4 December 1943

Sources (3)

  • Zera S Clayton, "United States Census, 1930"
  • Zera Sue Clayton, "Alabama County Marriages, 1809-1950"
  • Zera Sue Clayton, "Alabama, County Marriages, 1809-1950"

Spouse and Children

Parents and Siblings

World Events (8)

1929

13 million people become unemployed after the Wall Street stock market crash of 1929 triggers what becomes known as the Great Depression. President Herbert Hoover rejects direct federal relief.

1929 · The Great Depression Arrives

Like most of the country, the economy of Texas suffered greatly after the Stock Market Crash of 1929. Thousands of city workers were suddenly unemployed and relied on a variety of government relief programs; unemployed Mexican citizens were required to take one-way bus tickets to Mexico.

1944 · The G.I Bill

The G.I. Bill was a law that provided a range of benefits for returning World War II veterans that were on active duty during the war and weren't dishonorably discharged. The goal was to provide rewards for all World War II veterans. The act avoided life insurance policy payouts because of political distress caused after the end of World War I. But the Benefits that were included were: Dedicated payments of tuition and living expenses to attend high school, college or vocational/technical school, low-cost mortgages, low-interest loans to start a business, as well as one year of unemployment compensation. By the mid-1950s, around 7.8 million veterans used the G.I. Bill education benefits.

Name Meaning

English: habitational name from any of numerous places, in Yorkshire, Lancashire, Staffordshire, and Sussex, named Clayton, from Old English clǣg ‘clay’ + tūn ‘enclosure, settlement’.

Dictionary of American Family Names © Patrick Hanks 2003, 2006.

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