Golladay Lake of Grenada, Mississippi

Dr. David Golladay Lake

Son of George Lake and Davidella Golladay

David Golladay Lake was born in 1871 and was called by his middle name "Golladay". He had one sister (Minnie) and four brothers (George, Yerger, Alvin, and Harper). He was raised in Grenada, Mississippi, became a dentist and practiced his profession away from Grenada.

The DR. GOLLADAY LAKE Controversy

When I first visited the Odd Fellows cemetery in Grenada, I noticed the grave monument of Golladay Lake was askew from the rest of his family. It was almost as if there was an effort made to distance his grave from the rest of his family members. I later learned that some of the Grenada townsfolk suspected Golladay of plotting the murder of his sister, Minnie Barbee.

Betty Hinson wrote of these suspicions in her book "Golladay Hall, The Barbee/Lake Family Murder". Betty's health was poor and she was not able to do much research on Golladay Lake during the years when he lived outside of Mississippi. When I talked to Betty about her book, I told her that I would do further research to help answer some the unresolved questions. Betty wanted me to keep her up-to-date on my findings. Unfortunately Betty passed away in 2006. I intend to continue this research and uncover some of the mystery surrounding Golladay Lake.

Golladay was mentioned in the Memphis Medical Monthly in an article in 1903 about Prosthetic Surgery. It told of a case where Golladay Lake, D.D.S., extracted four teeth and made a bridge for false teeth as part of a facial reconstruction. procedure. Golladay was still in Memphis in 1906, as he applied to the United States Patent Office for a patent on 17 December. He was listed as "Golladay Lake of Memphis, Tennessee".

Golladay next moved to Cleveland, Ohio and was there by 02 January 1908. He lived at 1208 Euclid Avenue. The last patent that he filed from Cleveland was on 22 November 1911 for a "gas-heater". Since Cleveland was an industrial and manufacturing area, it is presumed that Golladay moved there to promote his inventions.

By May of 1914, Golladay had moved to Manhattan. The 1915 New York City directory shows him living on W. 97th. and he is listed as an inventor. The name of his business was Golladay Patents.

U.S. PATENTS RECEIVED BY GOLLADAY LAKE

PATENT #	DESCRIPTION	FILING DATE
830336	Churn	23 Jan 1906
873055	Vehicle Top support	17 Dec 1906
1008604	Hand protector	02 Jan 1908
1112423	Thill - Coupling	02 Nov 1910
1008602	Cereal percolator (for boiling coffee, tea, etc.)	14 Feb 1911
1008603	Heat Distributer and Accumulator for Cooking Vessels	21 Apr 1911
1038157	Gas Heater	22 Nov 1911
1158135	Hygienic Hot Plate	11 May 1914
1592831	Lock nut	28 Sep 1925
1634619	Device for fastening covers	11 Mar 1926
1815919	Cigar and cigarette holder	13 Mar 1928
1945049	Display device	21 May 1931
2216202	Minnow bucket	04 Aug 1938
2491008	Fishing pole holder	04 Nov 1946

These patents can be viewed on Google Patents by doing a search for "golladay lake".

Apparently Golladay resumed his dental practice as the census on 13 January 1920 listed Golladay as a dentist who was living at 257 W. 92 St. in Manhattan. His brother Alvin Lake and wife Marion lived near him in the West End.

HARPER AND ALVIN LAKE IN NEW YORK

Harper and Alvin worked as cotton brokers. The name of their firm was Lake Brothers. It was located on 15 William Street in Manhattan.

It was initially believed that they never married, but this was not the case. Harper married Margaret Elaine Stiff on 19 August 1915. He met her on a business trip to Texas. They are not buried beside each other, so further research is needed to determine if she died while they were still married or if they divorced.

Alvin Lake married twice. When he died, his estate was awarded to his first wife. The Court ruled that Alvin’s divorce from his first wife was invalid.

Minnie was in New York visiting with her brothers when Alvin died suddenly on 19 July 1925. He was 45 years old when he died.

After Alvin's funeral in Grenada, Minnie returned to New York with her brothers. Golladay and Harper had some business matters to attend to there, but planned to come back to Mississippi for "an indefinite stay" with Minnie. She was upset over Alvin's death and wanted her family to be around her. In the 1930 U.S. census, Golladay was shown as living with his sister Minnie in their childhood home on Margin Street in Grenada.

Harper appeared to be fairly well off in 1928, as he made provisions in his will for several family members. It is interesting to note that while he made Minnie Barbee the administrator of his estate, he specifically noted "I want her to be fair with my brother, Golladay Lake, providing for him preferably a fixed income for him sufficient for his comfort and upkeep". However, the stock market crash of 1929 likely changed Harper's financial situation.

Harper passed away from heart failure on 20 February 1931. The Great Depression was underway and times were hard. A little over a year later on 07 May 1932, Minnie Barbee was murdered.

Golladay was no longer living with Minnie at the time of her murder. It stated in Minnie's obituary that Golladay was living in New York City and that he was unable to attend her funeral because of an illness. In the "Administrator's Notice to Creditors" on 20 May 1932, Golladay listed 5 27^th Street in Grenada as his mailing address.

Minnie was a widow and had no children, so Golladay inherited her estate. Her personal estate was estimated to be worth $1,000 dollars. Funeral home records show that Minnie's funeral service cost $690.54 and was paid for by Dr. Golladay Lake. Golladay also filed a request in chancery court to borrow $286.88 against Minnie's estate to pay the 1931 property taxes to the city of Grenada, which were delinquent in June of 1932 These two bills add up to $977, so it does not appear that Golladay inherited much money from Minnie's estate.

Golladay had lived as a boarder all of his life and apparently had no interest in owning and maintaining a house. He closed his childhood home and never lived in it again. He must have enjoyed fishing during his retirement, as his last two patent applications were for fishing equipment.

This page last updated on August 17, 2009