Samuel "Sammy" Creighton Toalson Jr was born on Oct 19 1920 in Moline, Illinois. He was these second child of his parents Juanita Nichols and Samuel Toalson Sr. His parents had a tumultuous relationship. After the birth of his younger brother William in 1923 the fighting between Juanita and Sam Sr reached its peak and Juanita filed for divorce on the grounds of extreme cruelty. However the couple reunited just a year later and were remarried in February 1925 and welcomed another son in December. Two more boys joined the family in 1930 and 1934.
Sammy attended Cordova Community High School, where he would meet his future wife Barbara Guinn. Despite their reunification Juanita and Sam Sr's relationship was still unhealthy, she repeatedly reported his violent behavior to the police but the couple remained together. In early 1940 Sam Sr was hospitalized for pneumonia which he struggled to recover from and in August suffered a heart attack and died.
On December 24 1940 Sammy and Barbara tied the knot. They moved into an apartment in Peoria, Illinois close to Sammy's job at the Caterpillar Tractor Company where he worked as a mechanic. In 1942 they welcomed their son Samuel. In 1943 Sammy was enlisted into the US Navy. While he was still in training in Virginia, and eventually Florida, his wife and son were able to visit him often. But then he was shipped out and spent a year in the Pacific theater. He arrived home just before Christmas 1945.
After his return home he got a job working for Merchants Motor Freight Inc as a truck driver traveling between Moline and Omaha. On March 1 1950 while en route to Des Moines Sammy's truck collided with another tractor trailer. He was pinned in the cab of his truck and died before rescue workers were able to cut him out of the cab. His son was only 7 years old.
Sammy was survived by his wife, son, mother, older sister and 3 of his brothers.
Samuel Toalson Jr is my 3rd cousin 2x removed
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