Did you know that actor, director and screenwriter John Huston lived in Greensburg for a little over a year? A couple of months ago Suzanne Rumsey asked me about that. It's true that he lived in Greensburg for a while. Suzanne wondered if I had written a column about it. And I had, twice over the years. The first was just that he had lived here and the second was what residents remembered about Huston's grandmother, Adelia Richardson Gore and his mother Rhea Gore Huston while they lived here.

Joann Robbins was about 6-years-old when she accompanied her father Dr. Charles Overpeck on housecalls. Joann received the gift of a little cabinet from Adelia and especially remembered the parrot rumored to use foul language at times. Helen Davis did Rhea's hair when she was visiting her mother until one day when Helen refused to shampoo and groom Rhea's monkey. Mary Pearl Burkert remembered sitting in The Palms just off the square when Huston and his wife would also be there. She said they didn't pay them much attention because they were too interested in what happened at school that day. Billie Baldwin lived in the 400 block of N. Franklin and Adelia lived in the 600 block. Once when Adelia's dog got loose Billie was asked to take it home. As she got to the house the parrot kept yelling “thief, thief,” so she left the dog and ran home.

Suzanne wanted to learn something about the Huston or Gore families. “I think her name was Adelia Gore and she was the grandmother of John Huston. She was said to be the mother of John's mother. The timing would be approximately 1927 to 1937, I believe. My Grandparents, Madge and Earl Joseph Walters and my mother, Kathryn (Walters) Smith lived in the "Steadman's Double" at that time. It is still there on West North Street, just west of Ireland, on the north side of the street. Mrs. Gore lived in that neighborhood.”

She said that her grandmother took care of Mrs. Gore's parrot while she was touring in Europe with her family and they brought back an amber bead necklace from Europe for her. I have that necklace and just wish to tie this all together.”

John did live here with his grandmother Adelia Gore for a year, probably as he was beginning to write screen plays. He no doubt needed a quiet place to write. John's father was Walter Huston who was a leading actor in his day. He was in many films, probably best known for “The Treasure of the Sierra Madrei” which was directed by his son, John. John's mother was Rhea Gore who was Walter's first wife. She was a newspaperwoman who traveled all over looking for news stories. She was the daughter of John Marcellus Gore (John, whose middle name is Marcellus, is named for him.) and Adelia Richardson Gore. Walter met her when she lived in Marietta, Ohio. John Marcellus Gore was the son of Thomas P. Gore and John's great-great-grandfather.

It's reasonable to assume that John visited his grandmother because his maternal grandparents had raised him until he was 14 years old, but I haven't been able to determine why Adelia was living here at the time. Was she related to one of the Richardson families that lived and still live here? I couldn't find any reference to Adelia being related to the Richardson family here but you'd think that she has a family member or possibly a college friend that caused her to live here for a few years.

I didn't find any reference to any other Gore living here. Thomas Pryor Gore is mentioned in Harding's 1915 history of the county as one of the celebrities who had spoken at Chautauqua here. Thomas Pryor Gore was born in 1870 and died in 1940. He was a United States Senator from Oklahoma from 1907 until 1921 and from 1931 until 1937 who was most famous for being blind. He had been blinded as a child and he was also the maternal grandfather of writer Gore Vidal. There doesn't appear to be any relation between him and Al Gore.

Apparently she moved around. In 1929 John Huston had eloped with Dorothy Harvey and

Adelia was living in an upstairs apartment at 110 1/2 North Franklin. That's the east side of the square next to Links. In 1931-32 she lived at 622 N. Franklin and apparently working as a housekeeper. It's a mystery that I would love to solve but doubt it's possible unless John talked with his daughter Anjelica Huston about his year in Decatur County. Say, there's an idea. Anyone know her address?