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`*.¸.*´ Thank you so much to all of you who have left flowers and tokens for Lule Lee, your kindness is deeply appreciated!

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My aunt was the daughter of Flossie Jane Howard and Bithel F. Colston. Bithel Colston was my grandmother Flossie's first love. She left home when she was 18yrs old so that her and Bithel could be together. Theirs was a love story equal to a Shakespeare play.

My great grandfather (Flossie's father) did everything possible to keep them apart. Since she was the oldest girl he wanted her at home to help take care of all her younger siblings and to help work the farm. After she left home her father eventually found her and brought her home against her will. She must have been pregnant with my aunt at that time. Their love story ends tragically. Bithel was found hung in a barn. My grandmother was told he had committed suicide. However, his family later discovered that Bithel had also been shot in the back of the head. No one was ever prosecuted for his death, death records state that the cause of death was a suicide.

Lule Lee was born on Nov. 28. 1928. Her death certificate says she passed away from malnutrition related to acute gastroenteritis. She was 1 yr, 9 mos, and 15 days old. John Howard was the informant on the death certificate. Flossie Jane Howard and Bithel F. Colsten are listed as her parents. I am having trouble locating Lule's grave in Ste. Genevieve. My father thinks that, my grandmother's father was so mean, it would be just like him to have buried her at Crestlawn Cemetery and throw a stone on her grave with no markings. Crestlawn is where many of the Howard family/ancestors are buried.

During genealogy research, you will sometimes come across hidden treasures and hidden secrets. Lule Lee Colston was a hidden treasure. If you knew my grandma Flossie, Lule Lee would have been more precious to her than silver or gold.
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