William eddins mcmath biography for kids

VIRGINIA KATHERINE MCMATH was born on July 16, 1911 in Independence, Missouri. Her mother, Lela Owens McMath had recently separated from Virginia's father, Eddins McMath, and brought Virginia up with the help of her parents, Walter and Saphrona Owens of Kansas City.

The separation was not a pleasant one, and Virginia's father twice kidnapped her (once when she was less than a year old and again two years later) during a custody dispute with Lela. Finally the two divorced and young Virginia went to live with her grandparents in Kansas City while her mother worked for two years in Hollywood writing screenplays, and later in New York City where Virginia joined her for a time.

Also living with her grandparents in Kansas City were several of Virginia's cousins, one of whom couldn't pronounce her name and called her "Jinja." Needless to say, it stuck.

In 1920, Ginger's mother married insurance salesman John Logan Rogers and the family of three moved to Fort Worth, Texas.