Sepia Saturday challenges bloggers to share family
history through old photographs.
This week’s Sepia Saturday photo is of a sales clerk
behind the counter of a shell shop, but what caught my eye was the sign in the
cabinet. The pointing hand is much like
the one in this photo:
The sign points folks driving along the Amicus Road in
Greene County, Virginia to the home of Logan Jollett, grandson of Burton Lewis Jollett. The home has been in the Jollett family for at least three
generations, the land probably even longer.
 |
| Fredericksburg Free Lance 1 March 1904 |
Burton Lewis was the oldest child of my 2X great-grandparents
James Franklin Jollett and Lucy Ann Shiflett. He was named for his grandfathers
Burton Shiflett and Fielding Lewis Jollett. Burton Lewis grew up to be a
significant figure in Greene County. For many years he was Justice of the
Peace. He also was elected as a delegate to the Republican conventions.
The Jolletts were often in the news, not just for
political reasons, but also social. The Greene
County Record and Greene County
Register were both 4-page publications that included world and national
news on the front page and agricultural matters on the last page. In the middle
were local news and ads. The local section covered personal news of anyone and
everyone in the surrounding vicinity – illness, deaths, marriages, and who was visiting, even
when those visits were within the same community. Yes, big news.
In 1904 Burton Lewis’s children made the social column
when they visited their grandfather James Franklin Jollett, just across the
mountain:
A couple years later Fleta Jollett made the news again
spending the winter with the family of Charles D. Wyant in Rockingham County.
 |
| Harrisonburg Daily News Record 30 Nov 1909 |
A story that appeared in the social pages February 1,
1923 was about Burton Lewis’s visit with his sister Leanna Knight, who lived
just a couple miles away. According to the Greene
County Record, “the whole family enjoyed his visit very much indeed,
especially the boys hearing their uncle tell about one of the guide posts of
his life – promptness – and the way young people of today should do and act.”
As adults, Burton Lewis’s children were still the topics
of interest for the social columns. Lewis Jollett and his children even made
the news in nearby Harrisonburg:
 |
| Harrisonburg Daily News Record 5 Sep 1923 |
 |
| Harrisonburg Daily News Record 22 Sep 1924 |
 |
| Harrisonburg Daily News Record 4 Dec 1928 |
As a teenager, Logan, Lewis’s son, made the news when his
high school drama troupe won first place in a one-act competition and he won a
personal award as best actor.
 |
| Richmond Times Dispatch 15 Dec 1940 |
With such interesting and inspiring goings-on among the Jolletts, who would not want a wooden hand pointing the way to the home of such an accomplished family???
Wendy
© 2017, Wendy Mathias.
All rights reserved.
Isn't it great to find so many news articles about ancestors?! And it's so much easier now with OCR. Is the hand sign still on the fence, or ++ your or does someone else in your family have it? I think it would be a great "heirloom."
ReplyDeleteA rather clever take on the prompt. And interesting too. Good show!
ReplyDeleteA great link to the theme image. And I love the newspaper extracts - it seems that the content of the papers was more "real" if not more interesting back in those days. A long visit by a relative would pass untold in these modern times.
ReplyDeleteHow wonderful that a visit and stay with relatives was actually newsworthy. Love the sign.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE the social notes in the old newspapers from the Gardiner, Maine area...gives you a true sense of community, doesn't it? Great post -- will keep an eye out for one of those talented Jollets...
ReplyDeleteI have never participated in Sepia Saturday, but I love how you take those photos and find a connection! And, I love newspapers and all the little social stories.
ReplyDeleteGreat connection with the hand pointing. I enjoyed hearing about the visits of the Jolletts of yore. They sure knew how to enjoy being in the public eye.
ReplyDeleteI remember when folk art was less "art" and more real folk. It used to be common to see rural houses decorated with colorful handmade charms. It made it easy for people to recognize places in the years before road signs and house numbers.
ReplyDeleteYou have eagle eyes - even after you pointed it out I had trouble finding the sign in the cabinet.
ReplyDeleteYou are great at picking out something different to write about. It seems rather an odd-shaped hand in the prompt photo, but you had a great match. All those reports of who was visiting are certainly a thing of the past, from a simpler time!
ReplyDelete