Wordless Wednesday: Watermelon Time

Wordless Wednesday is a daily prompt at Geneabloggers that asks family historians to create a post in which the main focus is a photograph or image.

Helen Killeen Parker about 1920

Beneath this photo my great-aunt Helen Killeen Parker wrote this caption:  Watermelon Time.

Yep, it sure is!

© 2014, Wendy Mathias.  All rights reserved.

Sepia Saturday: Yours Till

Sepia Saturday challenges bloggers to share family history through old photographs.

This week’s Sepia Saturday prompt is every family historian’s dream:  the family bible.  That record of births and deaths has been at the core of many a fight when dividing the family treasures.  My sister and I didn’t have that worry because there was no family bible to fight over.  

We eyed a different object of desire – an autograph book.  

Autograph book belonging to Mary Eleanor Davis Slade
entries dated 1940-1941

One day while Momma was undergoing chemo treatments, my sister and I sprawled out across the bed with her and pulled out the autograph book.  Unlike most things that were packed away, the autograph book was always nearby in a valet on the dresser.  We had read it numerous times.  Oh, there are no famous signatures, just silly poems written by Momma’s friends back in 1940 and 1941 when she was about 11-12 years old.  Yet we always laughed hysterically as if reading them for the first time. 

That day Momma said, “All the nice things in this house and you’ll probably fight over who gets the autograph book.”

Hmm, wuddayaknow, look who has it.

Silly poems, bad spelling, and promises of devotion penciled on faded pastel pages of pink, yellow, and green reflect the innocence of the pre-teen years and the emerging interest in BOYS.  I don’t know if the autograph book stands on its own or if it’s one of those “you had to be there” to appreciate it.  So at the risk of failing to amuse, I am sharing some of my favorite entries. 

Dec. 25, 1940

Shenandoah

Dear Mary,

When you get married and live on a hill send me a kiss by the whipperwhill.  [sic]

Anne Staples

[a friend who lived one street away]

May 29, 1941

When you get married and move down South remember me and my big mouth

When you get married and married [sic] and have twins.  Don’t come to me for safty [sic] pins.

Three little words

Forget me not

Your Frined [sic]

Iris Budd

[a neighborhood friend in Cradock]

Dec. 25, 1940

Shenandoah VA

Dear Mary,

Do as your mother bids you, and do it with grace.  And when the boys try to kiss you slap them in the face.

Yours till the Mississippi River runs dry.

Margaret Jennings

[a friend who lived next door]

Dear Mary Eleanor,

Don’t kiss a boy with the eyes of blue

He’ll kiss you once and ask for 2

Don’t kiss a boy with the eyes of gray

He’ll kiss you once and turn you away

Don’t kiss a boy with the eyes of black

He’ll kiss you once and turn his back

Don’t kiss a boy with the eyes of brown

He’ll kiss you once and turn you down

Your truley [sic]

Marjorie Sue Runyon

[a school friend in Portsmouth]

Dear Mary Eleanor

Your heart is not a play thing

Your heart is not a toy

But if you want it broken,

Just give it to a boy.

Yours until the Statue of Liberty trucks down Broadway

Love, Mary Jane

PS Forget me not

[Mary Jane Via, a friend from school in Portsmouth]

Dear Mary,

I love you, I love you

I love you so well

If I had a peanut

I’d give you the shell.

Yours until the ocean wears pants to keep its bottom dry.

Love, Mary Lee Hodges

[I think this is actually Grandma’s friend]

Dear Mary Eleanor,

First comes love, then comes marriage,

Then comes Mary Eleanor with a baby carriage.

If [name has been erased] lived across the sea

What a good swimmer Mary Eleanor would be.

When you get married and move to France

Save me a piece of lace off your wedding pants.

Down in the valley stands a big, big rock

With 3 little words forget me not.

A box of candy, a couple of kisses

Will change your name from Miss to Mrs.

You may fall from tops of buildings

You may fall from far above

But when you fall the hardest

Is when you fall in love.

Love, Joanne

[a life-long friend Joanne Palmer Stainback]

I saved the best for last:

Dearest Mary Eleanor,

I know you like Pearce

But who could help it,

With his eyes that are so fearce [sic];

His black wavy hair

Makes your heart jump in the air.

You have all the boys on a string
But when you get ready to sing

Well, we won’t say what happens.

There was a boy named Billy

But he was so silly.

With those blue eyes of yours

You knock the boys out of doors.

Then there’s David

When he looks at you with his brown eyes

You go to him and confess your lies.

This is all s - - -

But who gives a d - - -

I DON’T!

Love (Mike)

(Worm)

Yours till this all comes true.

“Mike” was really Momma’s BFF, Betsy Ward.  

Even as I write this, I’m laughing about “Pearce … with eyes that are so fearce.”  What imagery!  What spelling!  But at least it’s original. 

Now I've been inspired to leave you with my own original poem:

When you get married and start a blog,

Don’t ask me to walk your dog.

Yours till Sepia Saturday turns blue.

© 2014, Wendy Mathias.  All rights reserved.

Wordless Wednesday: Rice Flakes?

Wordless Wednesday is a daily prompt at Geneabloggers that asks family historians to create a post in which the main focus is a photograph or image.

This photo was among pictures belonging to SOMEBODY on my mother’s side of the family.  Could this be a salesman from the Heinz company calling on the Davis Store on Sixth Street in Shenandoah, Virginia?

Heinz Rice Flakes, sponsor of the “Tarzan” radio show in the 1930s, was advertised as “the cereal that is different” because it was “the cereal with a vegetable effect.”  Mmmm yummy. 

© 2014, Wendy Mathias.  All rights reserved.

Mystery Monday: Forum Brings Hope

Mystery Monday is a daily prompt at Geneabloggers encouraging bloggers to share mystery ancestors or mystery records – anything which is currently unsolved.  With any luck fellow genealogy bloggers will lend their eyes to what has been found so far and possibly help solve the mystery.

Searching, part 8

Following the suggestion of fellow-blogger Jacqi Stevens, I recently posted a query in the Lingle Genforum and in the Rockingham County, Virginia forum on Rootsweb.  I stated that I am trying to confirm John and Elizabeth Lingle Armentrout as parents of Mary Ann Armentrout, my 3G grandmother who was married to Fielding Jollett.  I referenced Martin and Anna Maria Lingle Schneider/Snyder as sponsors at the baptism of “Maria Armentrout.” 

Within an hour of posting on Rootsweb, I heard from Jan Hensley, a dedicated researcher of families in Rockingham County, with whom I have collaborated from time to time on Jollett and Sampson research.  She provided a couple more pieces to the puzzle.

First of all, Jan told me about a chancery cause in Rockingham County between Emanuel Hansberger and Charles Yancey (1835-002) that lists the descendants of Jacob Lingle, the first.  Elizabeth is listed as the daughter of Jacob Lingle, the second.  It states further that she “married John Armentrout of Rockingham, the said John is dead but the said Elizabeth is still living.”

Why I like this clue:  even though it does not list Elizabeth’s children, John’s being dead before 1835 is consistent with the fact that in 1837 Mary Ann and Fielding sold the land she had inherited from her father “John Armentrout, deceased.”

Second, Jan added that also listed among the children of Jacob Lingle, the second, is Elizabeth’s sister Mary who married Martin Snyder.  From the chancery cause, “Martin Snyder and Mary his wife are both dead leaving children and heirs Barbara Snyder who has since intermarried with a certain Philip Parrat of Rockingham, Elizabeth who married a certain Christian Sellers and removed to the state of Indiana, Mathias Snyder of Rockingham, and Catherine who married a certain Jacob Freeze of Rockingham….”

Why I like this clue:  For the first time, I see “Anna Maria Schneider” Anglicized as “Mary.”  Keeping my fingers crossed that the German custom of naming a child for the sponsor at baptism has held true in the case of my Mary Ann.

And finally, in subsequent emails, Jan encouraged me to “follow the land,” to pin down any clues that might be in deeds.  When I casually added that I would also follow up on the sale of Mary Ann’s inherited land to Henry Kisling, Jan told me this:  that Christina Lingle, the sister of Jacob Lingle, the second, married Christopher Kisling and that Henry was their son. 

Why I like this clue:  Isn’t it obvious?  Fielding and Mary Ann Armentrout Jollett must have sold the land to her COUSIN.  The Armentrout-Snyder-Lingle-and now Kisling connection gets stronger and stronger.  

Yes, it’s circumstantial.  But in the court of law, enough circumstantial evidence is enough to convict. But in the world of genealogy, the jury is still out.

© 2014, Wendy Mathias.  All rights reserved.

Sepia Saturday: The Neptune Party

Sepia Saturday challenges bloggers to share family history through old photographs.

This week’s Sepia Saturday prompt featuring a costumed woman warrior reminded me of a puzzling collection of photos that had belonged to my maternal grandmother’s brother Ray Rucker.  Every time one of them came into my field of vision, I wondered what these sailors in the most powerful Navy in the world -- the defenders of freedom -- were doing in those crazy costumes.

Neptune Party:  The Royal Family
Click to enlarge

So, it turns out these were some of the main characters in a naval tradition that dates back over 400 years in the western seafaring world:  the line crossing ceremony.  Which line?  Why, the equator, of course.

Whether a test of a sailor’s ability to withstand a long and rough voyage or merely a way to boost morale, the tradition of the Neptune Party has been a rite of passage for many a sailor transforming from a “Slimy Pollywog” (a sailor who has never crossed the equator) to a “Trusty” or “Honorable” Shellback. 

Ray was a sailor onboard the USS Colorado when this particular ceremony took place, but his photos do not clearly reveal whether he was among the experienced Shellbacks or if he was being initiated into the “mysteries of the deep.”

The festivities varied from ship to ship, but no doubt Ray experienced the standard features of the Order of Neptune.

1.  Typically the ceremony began with King Neptune, the mythical god of the sea, coming aboard to exercise his authority over the seas and the ship.  With a trident in hand, he served as judge ruling on charges that the Pollywogs were not real sailors at all, and that furthermore they had not shown proper respect to the god of the sea.  King Neptune was often portrayed by the ship’s commander or other high ranking officer.

The Royal Police
Click to enlarge

The most experienced Shellbacks dressed in costume as members of King Neptune’s Royal Court.  Usually the characters included King Neptune, Amphitrite (Neptune’s wife), Davey Jones (Neptune's scribe), the Royal Baby, and the Royal Barber.  

Other appropriate characters could be included as well, and  some Trusty Shellbacks might have dressed as pirates as part of the Royal Police.

2.  Pollywogs entertained the Royal Court with a talent show or even a beauty contest with sailors dressed as women. 

3.  Davey Jones presented subpoenas to the Pollywogs to appear before the Royal Court and answer charges lodged by the Shellbacks.

4.  Court was held after breakfast which had been rendered inedible by the addition of hot sauce or other spices.  King Neptune assigned punishments that included wearing clothes inside out or backwards, crawling on hands and knees through garbage, being swatted with pieces of fire hose, being pelted with rotting fruit, and being treated with “truth serum” (hot sauce rubbed on the face following a shave).  The Royal Barber used hand clippers to cut the Pollywogs’ hair in various directions – never intending the results to be worthy of a tip.

The Royal Baby
Click to enlarge

5.  Next the Pollywogs knelt before King Neptune to kiss the Royal Baby’s belly which was covered with grease.  Often the Baby grabbed the Pollywog’s hair and rubbed his face all over his belly to make sure the sailor was duly covered.  In some cases, the Baby flung mustard in the Pollywog’s face.  The “honor” of being the Royal Baby was usually given to the ugliest guy on the ship.  Some honor!

6.  The final step in the transformation to Shellback was a royal bath in sea water often contained in a canvas pool on deck, a “baptism” of sorts.  The new Shellbacks received a certificate, and the event was recognized in their service records with date, time, latitude, and longitude.

Pollywogs go head-first into the Royal Bath.
The caption on the photo is difficult to read, but it says:
USS Colorado Neptune Party

The latest crop of Shellbacks in the "royal bath"

The Neptune Party was a fun time, according to many sailors.  In recent years, however, there have been reports of unspeakable abuse during the line crossing ceremony.  In the early 1920s when Ray was a Pollywog, the ceremony likely was a highlight in a sailor’s memories of life at sea.

Sources:

“Line-Crossing Ceremony.”  Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 2013. Web. 9 July 2013.

Moore, David.  “Pollywog or Shellback: The Navy’s Line Crossing Ceremony Revealed.”  Veterans United Network.  Veteransunited.com.  2013.  Web.  9 July 2013. http://www.veteransunited.com/network/the-navys-line-crossing-ceremony-revealed/

“Pollywog to Shellback.” Destroyer Escort Sailors Association.  DESA.org. 2011. Web. 9 July 2013.  http://www.desausa.org/pollywog_to_shellback.htm

For more stories and photos of costumes, warriors, and theatrics, head on over to Sepia Saturday.  I promise you won’t have to kiss any bellies. 

© 2014, Wendy Mathias.  All rights reserved.

Wordless Wednesday: A Boy and Baby

Wordless Wednesday is a daily prompt at Geneabloggers that asks family historians to create a post in which the main focus is a photograph or image.

This faded photo was among several pictures of children in the photo album belonging to my great grandmother Mary Frances Jollett Davis. As I’ve come to expect and accept, these children are not identified.  They must be relatives, but who?

© 2014, Wendy Mathias.  All rights reserved.

Mystery Monday: A Stumble in the Search for Mary Ann

Mystery Monday is a daily prompt at Geneabloggers encouraging bloggers to share mystery ancestors or mystery records – anything which is currently unsolved.  With any luck fellow genealogy bloggers will lend their eyes to what has been found so far and possibly help solve the mystery.

Searching, part 7   

My study of the 1810 Rockingham County, Virginia census thrilled me with the possibility of finally discovering the parents of Mary Ann Armentrout, second wife of my 3G grandfather Fielding Jollett.  I had hoped the 1820 census would add weight to my theory.  However, it does nothing for it although it doesn’t hurt either.

Why?  Because somebody had the bright idea to alphabetize the census rather than list residents geographically which would have preserved the neighbor connection that is so useful in finding relatives, particularly women whose names just disappeared upon marriage.

But on the plus side, John is still there (with his last name spelled “Armentrought”), with a household that resembles the one from 1810, only 10 years older.

	1810	1820
Males under 10	-	1 – possibly John Jr. (1816)
Males 10 - 16	-	-
Males 16 - 18	-	-
Males 16 - 26	-	-
Males 26 - 45	-	-
Males over 45	1 – John Armentrout	1 – John Armentrout
Females under 10	1 – possibly Linda (1805)	-
Females 10 - 16	1 – possibly Elizabeth (1798)	1 – possibly Linda (1805)
Females 16 - 26	1 – possibly Maria (1795)	2 – possibly Elizabeth (1798) and possibly Maria (1795)
Females 26 - 45	-	-
Females over 45	1 – Elizabeth Lingle Armentrout	1 – Elizabeth Lingle Armentrout

The 1830 census shows no John Armentrout in Rockingham County.  It’s possible he had moved to a different county, he was living in someone else’s household - maybe one of his children’s, or he had died.  At any rate, in 1837, Mary Ann Armentrout and Fielding Jollett sold some land she had inherited from her late father John.

Feeling that my leads had dried up, I recalled a recent blogpost by Jacqi Stevens at A Family Tapestry.  In her series on using social media in genealogy, she reminded me that even the old stand-bys like Rootsweb and Genforum are a form of social media, albeit “low-tech.”  So off to Genforum and Rootsweb I went in search of surname forums and information on the Lingles, my most likely candidate for a mother for Mary Ann. 

Fortunately there had been an inquiry related to Jacob Lingle, Elizabeth’s father.  UNfortunately, the thread was old – like 2001 old.  Still I dashed off an email to 2 of the respondents on the thread.  The AOL email bounced back.  The email to the Juno account is still out there.  Juno!!  Juno??  Who uses that anymore?  Is it even still around?  Hmm – that might come back too.

But in that dusty thread was a shiny nugget.  The original poster said her ancestor was Barbara Snyder, daughter of Martin Snyder/Schneider and Anna Maria LINGLE.  This is the same couple that served as sponsors at the baptism of Maria Armentrout, the one I HOPE was later known as Mary Ann.  The Schneiders were not doing just a neighborly favor for John and Elizabeth Armentrout; there was a family bond.

I admit it’s just another little tidbit that amounts to nothing in the quest to pin down Mary Ann’s parents.  Maybe it’s time I try to revive that Lingle surname forum with a little inquiry of my own.

© 2014, Wendy Mathias.  All rights reserved.

Sepia Saturday: Son of a Beach

Sepia Saturday challenges bloggers to share family history through old photographs.

This week’s Sepia Saturday photo prompt is a familiar rainy-day scene featuring an umbrella. But umbrellas are not just handy in rain as this old family photo suggests.

John Jr. and poodle, maybe named "Cutey"
Click to enlarge

The pint-size umbrella probably afforded little protection from the sun.  Honestly, it might have been more at home in a Banana Daiquiri or Mai Tai.

John Jr., poodle, and Bob
(Yes, I know - it looks like a girl.  But it's Bob.)
Click to enlarge.

These children are John Jr. and Bob.  John and Bob Who?  That’s what I want to know.  














Photos spanning the years 1917-1921 are glued into a small green soft-cover album that probably belonged to my great-grandmother Mary Theresa Sheehan Killeen Walsh.











John Jr. and Bob are the only people identified.  

John Jr, Bob, poodle, and maybe Mary Theresa's sister
Click to enlarge

The adults are unknown to me, but occasionally there is an air of familiarity – the shape of a woman’s face, the body-type.  Intuition says it is one of Mary Theresa’s sisters and that the pictures are of either Sarah or Josephine and grandchildren.  It certainly can't be Delia because her children were only slightly older than these in the photos.

The little I know – or THINK I know – is that Mary Theresa often visited relatives in New York, her sisters I suppose and maybe a brother.  This beach could have been Coney Island.  It could have been Brighton Beach.  It could have been Rockaway Beach.  Since Rockaway was known as the “Irish Riviera” because of the large Irish population there in Queens, it was likely the destination of my distant relatives, whoever they were.   Some of the photos are labeled “Richmond Hill,” a neighborhood in Queens.  However, others are labeled “Bronx,” so I can’t be sure what beach drew them there that day.

Regardless of where they were, they had a grand time it seems.  Even their pet poodle enjoyed a romp in the surf.  

Which brings me back to the topic of umbrellas and this old saying:

It’s raining cats and dogs.  Don’t step in a poodle!

Rain or shine, there’s something good happening at Sepia Saturday.

© 2014, Wendy Mathias.  All rights reserved.

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday: 2 More Boys

Wordless Wednesday is a daily prompt at Geneabloggers that asks family historians to create a post in which the main focus is a photograph or image.

Here is another set of boys, this time from my dad’s side of the family.  It was among photos belonging to my great-grandmother Mary Theresa Sheehan Killeen Walsh or her daughter Helen Killeen Parker.  There is no identification - surprise surprise.  The picture was taken at the Campbell Studio in Norfolk, Virginia.  Because Mary Theresa had only one boy, I suspect the picture might be her nephews Matthew and John Glynn, sons of John Joseph and Bridget Killeen Glynn. 

Matthew was born in 1891 and John in 1893.  Would you date this photo around 1899? 

Of course, I could be totally wrong about the family.  It's possible that the photo is from Helen's husband's side.  Maybe one of the boys is Herbert Parker himself.

© 2014, Wendy Mathias.  All rights reserved.