Freida Colleen Wilder was born May 28, 1936, in Page, Kentucky as the eldest daughter and eldest surviving child to Ernest Walter Wilder and Dorcas Lee Wilder. An unsubstantiated family story relates that Dorcas went into labor during a community celebration and that this was the reason were some discrepancies in her birth certificate such as her being named Fredie Kolin Wilder, listed as a boy and a twin. It's surmised that the doctor in documenting the birth misunderstood some of the questions to be referring to Colleen's elder brother Jerry Wayne Wilder who was stillborn the previous year. That said, the reasoning behind listing twins instead of a single birth can only be conjecture as Dorcas was quite adamant that she only gave birth to Colleen. As a humorous endearment, Colleen's daughter, Rene, nicknamed her, 'Fred'.
Ernest was a coal miner and by 1940, had moved the family from Page to Lynch, Kentucky. After finishing high school, Colleen started at Union College but after her freshman year, she married her first husband, William Donald Mullins, a man she had grown up with in Lynch. They divorced in 1956 but remained life-long friends. Colleen then attended Eastern Kentucky University and graduated with a degree in Commerce in 1959.
In June 1960, Colleen married Jerry Edd King in Page. In 1961, Colleen gave birth to her only child, Jean Rene King.
While Jerry was serving in the Navy, Colleen and Rene lived with Colleen's parents in Florence, Kentucky and Colleen taught school in Bellevue, Kentucky.
Colleen and Jerry practiced Judaism and Colleen's Hebrew name was Ashayrit Shulamit bat Israel.
In all, the family lived in Wetumpka, Oklahoma, Washington, D.C., Florence, Kentucky, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Lexington, Kentucky, and Harlan, Kentucky.
In 1976, Jerry died and Colleen moved the family back to Florence to be closer to her parents. She later bought the house in Burlington, Kentucky where she would live for the rest of her life.
Colleen worked as an executive secretary until she suffered a detached retina.
In 2007, she was diagnosed with metastatic colon cancer. She was home-hospiced at her daughter's home where she died in June 2007.
Sources
Source: S1000 Author: Dept. of Health, State of Oklahoma Title: Birth Certificate - Jean Rene King Publication: Name: Local Reg. No. 162, State File No. 135-61-041485; Repository: #R40 NOTESource Medium: Official Document CONT Source Quality: Excellent CONT
Repository: R40 Name: Oklahoma City, OK Address: E-Mail Address: Phone Number:
Source: S1854 Author: Gus B. Bruner, attorney at large, Harlan Co., KY Title: Letter from Gus B. Bruner, attorney to Frieda Colleen Mullins March 6, 1956 Repository: #R1 NOTESource Medium: Letter CONT Source Quality: Excellent - primary CONT
Source: S1862 Author: Sallie Smith, Rt. 1 Box 5160, Stigler, OK 74462 Title: Letter from Sallie Smith to Rene King April 1987 Repository: #R100 NOTESource Medium: Letter CONT Source Quality: Excellent - primary CONT
Source: S2705 Author: Ancestry.com Title: Social Security Death Index Publication: Name: The Generations Network, Inc.; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2008; Repository: #R6 NOTESocial Security Administration, Social Security Death Index, Master File, : Social Security Administration
Source: S2710 Author: Ancestry.com Title: Kentucky Birth Index, 1911-1999 Publication: Name: The Generations Network, Inc.; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2006; Repository: #R6 NOTEKentucky Department for Libraries and Archives, Kentucky Birth, Marriage, and Death Databases: Births 1911-1999, Frankfort, Kentucky: Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives
Source: S2849 Author: Ancestry.com Title: 1940 United States Federal Census Publication: Name: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2012; Repository: #R6 NOTE United States of America, Bureau of the Census, Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940, Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1940
Source: S999 Author: Commonwealth of Kentucky, Department of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics Title: Birth Certificate - Fredie Koline Wilder Publication: Name: County of Bell, Voting Precinct of Page; Repository: #R39 Call Number: Registration No. 62, Primary Registration District No. 4136 NOTESource Medium: Official Document CONT Source Quality: Fair - primary CONT
Repository: R39 Name: Frankfort, KY Address: E-Mail Address: Phone Number:
DNA
Maternal relationship is confirmed by an AncestryDNA test match between Rene King and her maternal first cousin. Their most recent common ancestors are their grandparents Ernest Wilder and Dorcas Wilder. Predicted relationship from AncestryDNA: <relationship between me and shared relative>, based on sharing 700 centimorgans shared across 32 DNA segments; Confidence: Extremely High.
Paternal and Maternal relationships are both confirmed by an autosomal AncestryDNA test match between Rene (King) Thompson and DLM, her 1st cousin. Their most recent common ancestors are Ernest Wilder and Dorcas Wilder, the grandparents of both Rene (King) Thompson and DLM. Predicted relationship from AncestryDNA: 1st cousin, based on sharing 700 cM across 28 segments.
Maternal relationship is confirmed by an autosomal AncestryDNA test match between Rene (King) Thompson and JAM, her half 1st cousin 2x removed. Their most recent common ancestor is Esais F. Pittman, the great great grandfather of Rene (King) Thompson and grandfather of JAM. Predicted relationship from AncestryDNA: Half 1st cousin twice removed, based on sharing 189 cM across 8 segments. Rene is the daughter of Freida Wilder who is the great-granddaughter of the common ancestor Esais F. Pittman.
Paternal and Maternal relationships are both confirmed by an autosomal AncestryDNA test match between Rene (King) Thompson and DAM, her 2nd cousin. Their most recent common ancestors are William Wilder and Martha Jackson, the great grandparents of both Rene (King) Thompson and DAM. Predicted relationship from AncestryDNA: Second cousin, based on sharing 317 cM across 15 segments.
Paternal and Maternal relationships are both confirmed by an autosomal 23andMe test match between Rene (King) Thompson and LJWM, her 2nd cousin 1x removed. Their most recent common ancestors are Reason Wilder and Catherine Wilder, the great-great-grandparents of Rene (King) Thompson and great-grandparents of LJWM. Predicted relationship from 23andMe: Second cousin once removed, based on sharing 159 cM (2.14% DNA shared) across 8 segments.
Paternal and Maternal relationships are both confident based on a triangulated group on GEDmatch who share a 222 cM segment on chromosome 15, consisting of Rene (King) Thompson, GEDmatch kit # A494083, and Carl Franklin, her 5th cousin 2x removed, GEDmatch kit # H227368, and Craig Webb, her 6th cousin 1x removed, GEDmatch kit # A329606. (Carl and Craig are 3rd cousins 1x removed.) Their most recent common ancestors are Lewis Green and Esther Kilgore, the 6x great grandparents of Rene (King) Thompson and 4x great grandparents of Carl Franklin and 5x great grandparents of Craig Webb.
Paternal relationship is confirmed by an autosomal AncestryDNA test match between Rene (King) Thompson and TLM, her 2nd cousin 1x removed. Their most recent common ancestors are Esais F. Pittman and Nancy Miracle, the great-great-grandparents of Rene (King) Thompson and great-grandparents of TLM. Predicted relationship from AncestryDNA: Second cousin once removed, based on sharing 50 cM across 4 segments.
Paternal relationship is confirmed by an autosomal AncestryDNA test match between Rene (King) Thompson and JF, her 2nd cousin 1x removed. Their most recent common ancestors are Levi Wilder and Mary Pittman, the great grandparents of Rene (King) Thompson and great-great-grandparents of JF. Predicted relationship from AncestryDNA: Second cousin once removed, based on sharing 63 cM across 3 segments. DNA test taker Rene (King) Thompson is the daughter of Freida Wilder, the daughter of Ernest Wilder, the son of the common ancestors Levi Wilder & Mary Pittman.
Maternal relationship is confirmed by a triangulated group on GEDmatch who share a 22.5 cM segment on chromosome 15, consisting of Rene (King) Thompson, GEDmatch kit # A494083, and Larry Smith, her 7th cousin 1x removed, GEDmatch kit # TQ039931C1, and John Hale, her 7th cousin 1x removed, GEDmatch kit # PF596592C1. (Larry Smith and John Hale are 8th cousins.) Their most-recent common ancestors are Thomas Hubbard and Frances Hollingsworth, the 6x great grandparents of Rene (King) Thompson and 7x great grandparents of both Larry Smith and John Hale. DNA test taker Rene (King) Thompson is the daughter of Freida Wilder, the daughter of Dorcas Wilder, the 4x great granddaughter of the common ancestors Thomas Hubbard & Frances Hollingsworth.
Maternal relationship is confirmed by an autosomal AncestryDNA test match between Rene (King) Thompson and HLA, her 2nd cousin . Their most-recent common ancestors are William Wilder and Martha Jackson, the great grandparents of both Rene (King) Thompson and HLA. Predicted relationship from AncestryDNA: Second cousin, based on sharing 118 cM across 7 segments. DNA test taker Rene (King) Thompson is the daughter of Freida Wilder, the daughter of Dorcas Wilder, the daughter of the common ancestors William Wilder & Martha Jackson.
Paternal relationship is confirmed by a triangulated group on GEDmatch who share a 16.1 cM segment on chromosome 11, consisting of Rene (King) Thompson, GEDmatch kit # A494083, and KR, her 6th cousin 2x removed, GEDmatch kit # A004372, and DJ, her 6th cousin 1x removed, GEDmatch kit # A375042. (KR and DJ are 6th cousins 1x removed.) Their most-recent common ancestors are Robert Kilgore and Winnifred Clayton, the 7x great grandparents of Rene (King) Thompson and 5x great grandparents of KR and 6x great grandparents of DJ. DNA test taker Rene (King) Thompson is the daughter of Freida Wilder, the daughter of Ernest Wilder, the 5x great grandson of the common ancestors Robert Kilgore & Winnifred Clayton.
Paternal relationship is confirmed by a triangulated group on MyHeritage who share a 9.5 cM segment on chromosome 1, consisting of Rene (King) Thompson, Garrett M. Turner, and Paul C. Their most recent common ancestor is [[Bates-1555] Clement Bates]], the 11th great-grandfather of Rene (King) Thompson, Garrett M. Turner, and Paul C.. Rene is the daughter of Freida Wilder who is the 10th great-granddaughter of the common ancestor Clement Bates.
Notes
Note N514Mother's birth certificate states that her name was Fredie Koline Wilder and that she was born stillborn. The doctor misunderstood the question on the certificate and was actually referring to Colleen's older brother, Jerry. She was actually named for her mother's favorite teacher, Frieda Osborn. Due to the mix-up with the birth certificate, I gave Mother the nickname "Fred".
Just as my father had been the first in his family to attend college, the same was true for Mother. She attended Union College in Barbourville, KY. I have the report card from the first semester of the 1953-54 school year. Elem. Shorthand - B+, Adv. Typing - A, Intro. to Business - C+, Activ. for Women - Cr, Gen Psychology - C, Eng. Comp. - C+, Piano - WP, Orchestra - B. (Considering some of the stories I have heard about her fun at Union, I understand the grades.) After her divorce from Bill Mullins (A fine man who stayed friends with Mother throughout her life.) she attended Eastern Kentucky University and graduated with a Business degree.
Mother has always told the story of going to a gypsy with some girlfriends while at Eastern. She was told that the man she would marry would be wearing a white coat and that she would be counting more money than she had ever seen. She met Dad while she was at work counting out payroll - he was wearing his lab coat.
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W > Wilder | K > King > Freida Colleen (Wilder) King