Sepia Saturday: She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy

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

This week’s Sepia Saturday prompt features a tractor. Generations of my family walked behind plows and drove wagons pulled by oxen and horses. But after the turn of the century, most of my ancestors left the farm for careers in carpentry or with the railroad. My husband’s family, on the other hand, continued to farm, some of them even today.   

As a young married couple just starting out in 1938, my in-laws Ervin and Helen worked for large farm owners.  

Ervin Mathias on some heavy-duty tractor

For a time they lived in an old farmhouse on the Gardner farm in Bridgewater, Virginia.

Farmhouse Bridgewater, Virginia
where Ervin and Helen lived

Later Ervin and Helen worked on the Wampler farm in Weyers Cave, Virginia. While Ervin managed the cattle, Helen assisted Mrs. Wampler with meals, care of the Wampler children, and household chores. 

What is the cart being pulled by the tractor?
It appears to be separating the grain.

Right: Helen (just 16)  with baby Donald
Left:  Mrs. Wampler, daughter, and son

Farmhouse in Weyers Cave, Virginia

From there they moved to Timberville and rented from the Ryans, a family that became life-long friends of the entire Mathias family.  The Ryans are orchard farmers, growing both peaches and apples.  

Left: Virginia Ryan and Nancy
Right:  Helen Mathias and Linda

Eventually Ervin and Helen saved enough money to buy some land from the Will family along Little North Mountain Road in Timberville. Ervin’s skills in carpentry were put to the test in 1946 as he built the house that 8 children called home until they each moved out and established their own families.   

Mathias homeplace
1940s craftsman style

Ervin became a carpenter full-time and a farmer part-time. A few dairy cows supplied the family while beef cattle were raised and sold for added income. Ervin also built a chicken house for Helen who became a reluctant chicken farmer. 

Free range chickens 1940s
(not sure which farm this was
but these are not Helen's chickens)

In her later years, Helen said she hated taking care of chickens. Ervin had wanted to give her a source of income, a little independence, as well as “something to do.” However, Helen never wanted chickens. They had 8 children; she already had plenty to do. 

Perspective is a funny thing. 

Helen's chicken house in 1983

The Twins Barry and Brenda
about 1952

If you think this tractor is sexy, wait ‘til you see the others at Sepia Saturday.

© 2015, Wendy Mathias.  All rights reserved.

Wordless Wednesday: Men of the Eastwind #12

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.

When my dad was stationed aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Eastwind in 1946-47, he took pictures of his shipmates during tours to Thule, Greenland but didn’t provide names.  Maybe the family of these sailors will find my blog and share their story.

© 2015, Wendy Mathias.  All rights reserved.

A to Z April Challenge: Theme Reveal

This week as I was looking through some of my genealogy research and deciding where to store it all, I came across a large zippered pouch courtesy of Foster Funeral Home in Portsmouth, Virginia. Inside was my grandparents’ funeral “stuff”:  Guest books.  Sympathy cards.  Cards attached to floral remembrances.  Even a warranty from the casket company. Yeah, that’s a keeper.

I opened each wrinkled and torn envelope, and held lovely old cards of vellum. Messages penned in blue expressed sadness and also memories of good times. Cards once attached to sprays described the gladiolas, mums, carnations, and other flowers sent to remind us that we were not alone in our grief. Suddenly I was smiling. 

Nostalgia? Perhaps. But I realize the names are also clues that might advance my family research. Names grouped together indicate a possible family connection. One person signing for another practically guarantees to seal the deal. What’s a family historian to do? Start digging!

“Who came to the funeral?” will be my contribution to the A to Z April Challenge.

© 2015, Wendy Mathias.  All rights reserved.  

Sepia Saturday: A Scrapbook Finds a Home

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

This week’s Sepia Saturday prompt reminds me of the old saying, “You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink.”  In this case, you can lead me to the prompt, but you can’t make me follow it.  (There is some water, however.)

Icebergs. Rugged terrain blanketed in snow. Inuit people paddling in kayaks. The moon shining down on a black ocean. 

Daddy's scrapbook 1946-47

Memories from a 19-year old boy’s year on the cutter Eastwind supplying military bases in Thule, Greenland are gathered carefully in a leather-bound scrapbook.

This scrapbook has been working overtime the past several weeks as photos of my father’s shipmates have been the focus of a series I call “Men of the Eastwind.” While they have not been successful at coaxing family members to step forward and share their stories, a better opportunity has come along.

One reader named Intense Guy sent me a link to the Custom House Maritime Museum in Newburyport, Massachusetts because of its collection of Coast Guard memorabilia. He suggested maybe there would be some information there, particularly since the annual Eastwind reunions are held at the museum. 

But the museum did not have the names of servicemen. Instead they had an offer. The curator and Executive Director expressed interest in taking the scrapbook if I wished to donate it. They viewed the collection of photos as part of the Coast Guard’s post-World War II history. Apparently they actually looked at my blog because the curator commented on my dad’s “artistic eye.”

Historic value. Wow. I wish I could say something profound, but all I can I say is, “Wow.” Sixty-nine years ago, my father was a high school graduate with his eye on a G.I. Bill that would fund a college education. Now a collection of amateur photos taken by a young sailor with a little time on his hands could be on display, showing the world what it was like to be in the Coast Guard in Greenland in 1946-47.

My sister and I discussed whether to keep the scrapbook for family or pass it on. It didn’t take long to conclude that Daddy would think donating the scrapbook to the museum would be absolutely the coolest thing ever. I’ve scanned the most interesting photos. Daddy appears in only about five, and really – how many pictures of icebergs does anyone need? 

As I write this, the scrapbook is on its way to the Custom House Maritime Museum in Newburyport. The plans are to enlarge some of Daddy’s pictures for display as part of a special Coast Guard exhibit being staged over the next several weeks.

Wow.

Please visit Sepia Saturday to see who else is horsing around.

© 2015, Wendy Mathias.  All rights reserved.

Wordless Wednesday: Men of the Eastwind #11

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.

When my dad was stationed aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Eastwind in 1946-47, he took pictures of his shipmates during tours to Thule, Greenland but didn’t provide names.  Maybe the family of these sailors will find my blog and share their story.

© 2015, Wendy Mathias.  All rights reserved.

52 Ancestors: Luck of the Irish

Amy Johnson Crow of No Story Too Small has issued a challenge:  write one blog post each week devoted to a specific ancestor.  It can be a story, a biography, a photograph, an outline of a research problem – anything that focuses on one ancestor.

DNA testing is not for sissies.  It can turn your world inside out and render your research null and void.  I can’t say I was shocked or even upset to learn my Slades are not Slades after all; they are Calhouns.  It is just an interesting fact of life that demands my attention. 

It never occurred to me that legitimate Calhouns would not share my interest in getting to the bottom of this NPE – “Non-Paternal Event,” as it is called in the world of DNA and genealogy.  Of my two exact matches, only one has contacted me.  I’ll call him “Mr. Calhoun #1.”  He has identified all of his Calhouns who were in Georgia and Florida, but none of them were the Calhouns who lived near my Slades.  Our shared exact match, “Mr. Calhoun #2,” hasn’t responded to my inquiries.  Could it be he doesn’t want to admit one of his ancestors might have behaved badly? 

While I am busy looking for my mystery ancestor in census records in Georgia and Florida, people smarter than I am are studying the entire human race, identifying their migration patterns and haplotypes.  At the invitation of various project administrators, I have agreed to join a number of studies, the latest of which seeks to “establish the hierarchy of the various SNPs currently known to be associated with the Irish Type II haplotype and discover more branches that are there amidst the significant number of men carrying this genetic signature. As these branches are identified, we will be better able to determine the possible origins of this prominent subclade centered in the south of Ireland.”  When I read this, all I hear is “wah waah wah waah.”

Fortunately, Mr. Calhoun #2 posted his direct line at Family Tree DNA with his oldest known ancestor to be Noah Calhoun born about 1765 and resident of Florida thanks to a Spanish land grant in 1818. Next in line is a son:  one John C. Calhoun, born at the right time to be the neighbor of my 3X great-grandparents Stephen and Margaret Slade in 1860 Lafayette County, Florida. 

Excerpt from Lafayette Co, Florida 1860 Census

The John C. Calhoun living near the Slades was listed as single, age 37.  He was a farm hand from Georgia working for William White.  Finding him before and after 1860 is tricky.  

1850 Santa Rosa, Florida

In 1850, there was a John C. Calhoun, age 37 from Georgia, living in Santa Rosa, Florida, the same place that Noah Calhoun supposedly died.  John C. and his wife Pamelia had two daughters, Mary age 6 and Martha age 1.  But in 1860, Pamelia is gone.  According to Find A Grave, she died in 1853 and is buried in the Old Calvary Cemetery in Santa Rosa. 

That makes it entirely possible for John C. Calhoun, the farm laborer in Lafayette, to have been a widower free to move on.  However, the whereabouts are unknown for the daughters and a son John Pinckney Calhoun born in 1853.

Those who have posted family trees on Ancestry present a number of versions of the life of John C. Calhoun.  All say he was the son of Noah Calhoun, and some even add a mother, either Rebecca White or Elizabeth Baggett.  Some say John C. was married to Pamelia and had two daughters; some say Pamelia with two daughters and one son (John Pinckney); others say Mrs. Calhoun and one son William J.  All have John C. deceased in 1879 Lafayette County, home of the Slades.  The dates suggest it is even possible the researchers knew only a piece of the truth and that combined, they might present a more accurate picture:   John C. plus Pamelia, plus FOUR children:  Mary born 1844, Martha about 1849, William J. about 1851 and John P. about 1853.  Unfortunately, no one included any documents to prove the dates or relationships. 

1885 Lafayette Co, Florida

One researcher even includes a second wife for John C. Calhoun named Sarah Ann Elizabeth Hobbs.  A marriage date of 1862 is given along with three more children, again without citation.  In the 1885 Florida census, Elizabeth Calhoun was on her own with her three sons, which supports the theory that John C. Calhoun had died by then, supposedly in 1879 if other researchers are correct. 

So while circumstantial evidence pointing to this John C. Calhoun as my ancestor is very strong, there is another possibility.

In the 1860 Lafayette County, Florida census when John C. Calhoun and the Slades were near neighbors, they were separated by James and Nancy Douglas.  Nancy was the widow Nancy Slade when she married in 1853.  Could Nancy Slade and Noah Calhoun have crossed paths that resulted in the NPE who became my 3X great-grandfather? 

Short of a tell-all diary or a will naming an illegitimate son, the mystery might never be solved.  I just might need some “Luck of the Irish” type help from my DNA group projects.

© 2015, Wendy Mathias.  All rights reserved.

Sepia Saturday: Happy Together

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

This week’s Sepia Saturday prompt features a flight attendant hugging a puppy.  No puppies were better loved than my granddaddy Slade’s hunting dogs.   

 

Fred Slade Sr. and Beagles

Fred Slade Sr. and his hallmark cigarette and pups

He kept a kennel at the home of his sister and brother-in-law, Margaret and George Moore. 

My dad always used to say that the dogs ate better than the family did.

I can believe that.  I have 24 photos of Granddaddy’s dogs.  But photos of my granny – less than half that many. 

Even though I don’t have many pictures as proof, my granddaddy adored my granny, maybe even more than he loved those Beagles. Pictures from the 1940s and those taken before 1982 when Granny passed away depict my grandparents exactly as I knew them --

Fred and Julia Slade, 1940.

always smiling

Unknown friend, Julia and Fred Slade 1940

always optimistic

Fred and Julia Slade in the mid-1950s

 always cheerful and upbeat

and always devoted to each other.

Granny and Granddaddy Slade
Late 1970s but certainly no later than 1981

Hugs and puppies await your visit to Sepia Saturday.

© 2015, Wendy Mathias.  All rights reserved.

Wordless Wednesday: Men of the Eastwind #10

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.

When my dad was stationed aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Eastwind in 1946-47, he took pictures of his shipmates during tours to Thule, Greenland but didn’t provide names.  Maybe the family of these sailors will find my blog and share their story.

© 2015, Wendy Mathias.  All rights reserved.

Sepia Saturday: The Babbs Stories

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

This week’s Sepia Saturday prompt suggests music and dancing.  According to my mother, Daddy was a good dancer while she was not.  His mother taught him.  The thought of my granny dancing fills my imagination with all kinds of pictures.  Sadly, there are no real pictures of such joy when a mother and son are dancing. 

However, Daddy put those lessons to good use, supplying me with one good photo.  My dad attended at least one high school dance.  The BIG one.  Maybe it was a prom or maybe the Senior dance for the Class of 1945.  I don’t know for sure, but it was important enough for the school to take a group picture.

Daddy is in the second row, third boy from the left as well as third boy from the right.
Babbs is partially hidden but is on Daddy's right.

Daddy’s date was a girl called Babbs.  But theirs was not a love story. 

Me with my two grandfathers.
Momma and Daddy are at the door to our trailer. 

Babbs married a boy who graduated with Daddy named Jimmy Boggs.  Like our family, Jimmy and Babbs lived in one of the little trailers on Copely Hill in Charlottesville, popular among the married students at the University of Virginia. 

A long week of study often led to relaxed weekends at football games or shared meals in the cramped quarters of those white trailers.  Momma and Daddy used to laugh when they recalled “the Babbs stories” from those days.

Babbs Story #1

Sometimes when they got together, they played Twenty Questions.   It was Babbs’ turn.  One of the questions was “Was he a politician?”  Babbs’ response was, “I guess you could say he dabbled in politics.” After Jimmy, Momma, and Daddy used up their twenty, Babbs proudly revealed the answer that had stumped students of law and of architecture:  Adlai Stevenson.  Imagine their reaction – a mixture of laughter and anger and frequent echoes of “dabbled in politics” said with a combined exclamation point and question mark.

Babbs Story #2

Babbs was sitting at the table with paper and pencil.  “How do you spell porken?” she asked.  The others were puzzled.  “Porken?  What’s that?”  In all sincerity and innocence, Babbs said, “I’m working on my grocery list and I need ‘porken beans.’” 

For more stories of dancers and musicians and those dabbling in blogging, visit my friends at Sepia Saturday.

© 2015, Wendy Mathias.  All rights reserved.

Slaves in the Rucker Family

For many years whenever the conversation touched on slavery, my family would state with much pride that we had no slave owners in the family tree.  However, that’s not exactly true.  They probably didn’t mean to lie; they just didn’t know the whole story.  While it’s true that the Davis and Jollett families were much too poor to own slaves, the Ruckers were large land owners requiring slaves to plow, plant, reap, and serve, according to the thinking of the day, that is. 

In February, Schalene Dagutis of Tangled Roots and Trees created the Slave Name Roll Project to encourage bloggers to share the names of any slaves they found in their research into deeds, wills, and other documents.  Such a noble gesture to help others in their search for their roots should inspire us all to step up. 

Orange Co. VA Will Book 1, 1735-1743, pages 299-300

(Transcribed on pages 2-3 of "The Rucker Family Genealogy" by Sudi Rucker Wood.  Old Dominion Press, Richmond, VA 1932.  Reprinted 1991 Heritage Books)

In the name of God amen I Peter Rucker of Saint Marks Parish in the County of Orange planter being weak in body but of pursued mind and memory knowing that it is appointed for all men once to die do make and ordain this my Last will and Testament in manner following:  Imprimis I do order that all my Just Debts and funeral charges be paid and satisfied. Item I lend unto my beloved wife Elizabeth Rucker all my Estate both real and Personal During her natural life and after her Decease to be Devided in the following manner. Item I give and bequeath unto my beloved Daughter Margaret Tinsley and my Son In-law Isaac Tinsley a Negro boy named Yorkshire to them and their heirs forever. Item I give and bequeath to my beloved Son Ephraim Rucker a Negro Girl named Phillis to him and his heirs forever. Item I give and bequeath to my beloved Daughter Ann Cook and my son in law Shem Cook a Negro girl named Jeny to her and her increase to them and their heirs forever. Item I do Desire that all the Remainder of my Estate both real and personal after my wifes Decease as aforesaid to be sold by my Exr. hereafter named at public auction to the highest bidder on six months credit for Current Money the Buyer giving Good Security and the money arising by Sale to be Equally Devided amongst my beloved Children by name as followeth Thomas Rucker, Elizabeth Pierce, William Rucker, Mary Offell, James Rucker, Ephraim Rucker and Ann Cook and to their heirs forever, and lastly I do Constitute and appoint my beloved Sons James Rucker and Ephraim Rucker to be my Whole and sole Executors of this my last will and Testament hereby revoking and Disannulling all other Testaments and wills by me made Confirming this and no other to be my Last will and Testament in witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and Seal this 18 day of January 1742/3. 

Signed Sealed

Published in the presence of Wit: Wm. Jackson, Wm. Offell, Michl. Holdt.

Peter (X) Rucker

23 Feb. 1743 [1744].

Presented in Court by James Rucker and Ephram Rucker who gave bond with Michl. Holt, George Holt and Richd. Mauldin Junr. securities. Proved by Wm. Jackson and MIchl. Holt.

© 2015, Wendy Mathias.  All rights reserved.

Wordless Wednesday: Men of the Eastwind #9

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.

When my dad was stationed aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Eastwind in 1946-47, he took pictures of his shipmates during tours to Thule, Greenland but didn’t provide names.  Maybe the family of these sailors will find my blog and share their story.

© 2015, Wendy Mathias.  All rights reserved.