Sepia Saturday challenges bloggers to share family history through old photographs.
This week Sepia Saturday begins an alphabet challenge
with a photo of a Curling team from Alberta, Canada. With no curling teams in
my family and no residents of Alberta, I went looking for interesting relatives
and ancestors whose names start with “A” and I found one: Alpharetta. The first
in the alphabetta.
Alpharetta Susan Shiplett did not make a big splash in this world, from what I can tell within the limits of online research, but she certainly carried an interesting name. In the family tree, she was a niece of my maternal grandmother’s maternal grandmother.
Alpharetta was the oldest daughter of Philip Pendleton Shiplett and Jennetta Dovel. She was born 15 Nov 1861 in Rockingham County, Virginia, around the farming community of McGaheysville.
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| Photo courtesy Jan Hensley Philip Pendleton Shiplett and Jennetta Dovel with 9 of their 12 children Alpharetta is the 2nd from the left on the back row. |
In 1880, she married Joseph Harner, and the two moved right next door to her parents and went to farming like everyone else. Alpharetta and Joseph had 8 children, but only 6 survived and lived to adulthood.
Photo courtesy Jan Hensley
On the porch: Alpharetta holding baby Malcolm born 1901, Jennetta and Philip P. Shiplett,
and Joseph Harner
On the steps: Richard Howard, Della, and Mary Arbutus
Left: Maybe Joseph and woman unknown, perhaps one of the Shiplett sisters
Right: Maybe Edgar and man unknown
Joseph died unexpectedly in June 1920. In December, Alpharetta (aka Susan A. Harner) sold the farm animals and equipment.
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| Oakland 5-passenger car 1912 model |
Also up for auction
was an Oakland 5-passenger car often advertised as “Not the cheapest, but the
best” and “Finest medium-priced automobile.” My favorite slogan for the Oakland
was “The Car with a Conscience.”
In census records from 1900-1940, she was enumerated as Susan. It was probably easier than spelling “Alpharetta.” In her obituary and on her death certificate Alpharetta was the prominent name used. Her tombstone included both. She is buried in the Mt. Olivet Church Cemetery in McGaheysville, Virginia.
Joseph Marion Harner 1856-1920
Alpharetta Susan Harner 1861-1954
photo courtesy Jan Hensley
Please visit the other Sepia Saturday bloggers whose pictures and stories will surely score A+!
Wendy
© 2021, Wendy Mathias. All rights reserved.
Loved seeing these photos of Alpharetta and her family...as well as a pretty complete biography, considering!
ReplyDeleteVery unusual name, and I'm impressed you know so much about her and can identify her in photos! (So many of my old family photos are annoyingly anonymous.)
ReplyDeleteI think with a first name like "Alpharetta" I would have 'gone by' my middle name too! :) Nice to have so much information about her.
ReplyDeleteThe first time I have ever heard of such a name but I cannot say I would have liked to,have it as my name. Think of all the explanations you would continually have to make, but a fascinating Family Story. Twelve children!
ReplyDeleteSuch an interesting name, Alpharetta. And I must say she looks quite good, after having several children, in that second photo with her family. You have done her justice in this post, resurrecting and sharing her brief life along with her unusual name.
ReplyDeleteAlpharetta is an interesting name. I wonder if she went by a nickname.
ReplyDeleteLovely porch. I appreciated the headstone photo. I just saw a Zoom lecture on Cemetery Art and now am in the mood to tour some cemeteries.
An excellent match for our theme. According to Wikipedia, the city of Alpharetta, Georgia was named for a fictional Indian girl, Alfarata, who was a character in a popular song from 1844, "The Blue Juniata". Apparently Mark Twain liked the song too. For a family with twelve children, finding enough new names to keep track of everyone must have been a challenge. As you well know, those middle names and initials are all-important in untangling the branches of a family tree.
ReplyDeleteAlpharetta! I have never heard that name before.
ReplyDeleteI always love your sense of humor! Since Alpharetta was the oldest child, did they continue through the alphabetta when naming the next in line?
ReplyDeleteI went with the alphabet too, but didn't find any great A names, so I wandered on.
I can't stop laughing at Alpharetta - the first in the alphabetta!
ReplyDelete