52 Ancestors - SPORTS: The Bookie

In March 2020, when COVID-19 was just taking hold here in Virginia, I received an email from the most recent owner of my grandparents’ house in Portsmouth. She was installing new insulation in the attic and discovered several boxes of STUFF that belonged to my parents and grandparents. One of the most confusing “treasures” is this order book.

Order Book

It is about 6” wide and 14” long with a soft cover. The pages are arranged with columns that probably allow for entries of debits and credits. However, the entries look nothing like what a storekeeper or other businessman might record. Flanking a mysterious series of numbers are on the left a date including day of the week and on the right a name.

I believe this is the record book of a Bookie. Soooo, who was the Bookie in the family?

Steve and Catherine 1936

I know of one for sure – Steve Barany, husband of my grandaunt Catherine Walsh Barany. However, this book probably was not his. For one thing, Steve and Cat divorced. When she moved in with her sister, it is not likely she brought Steve’s belongings with her. For another thing, most of the items in the attic were from my mother’s side of the family, not from my father’s side except for a few books and souvenirs of his college life.

There is nothing familiar in the handwriting to help eliminate someone or point to another. However, some of the names entered in the book point directly to my father’s father, Granddaddy Slade. There are MANY listings for Morrison, the same surname of Granddaddy’s mother Mary Morrison Slade. I searched several of the other names on Ancestry for clues connecting them to my grandfather. Many names came up as possible neighbors or at least people in the close geographical area.

 

My dad's parents: Julia and Fred Slade Sr

Could my sweet granddaddy have been taking illegal gambling bets on boxing matches, horseracing, baseball games, football games, cock fights and who knows what else?

Frankly, yes. He had been in prison for tax evasion and moonshining, so illegal gambling probably fit right into his wheelhouse. 

I have tried to make sense of the numbers, but knowing nothing about figuring the odds and placing bets prevents me from presenting anything intelligent here. This is what I see:

• The left page is almost always marked “Day” while the right page is marked “Night.”
• The wide column contains 3 sets of numbers, mostly 3-digit but some 2-digit numbers. In every instance the 3^rd number is the difference when you subtract the 1^st number from the 2^nd number.
• The last number is always 4 digits. The round numbers suggest maybe they represent money, dollars and cents without a decimal point.

Another point of interest is that the entries are in blocks of roughly a week with each day carefully dated. It occurred to me that maybe the last number is the payout; however, every person has a number in the column. If the last number was a payout, there were no losers. That seems illogical. The last number must mean something else.

I don’t know why, but I decided to divide the 3^rd number by the last number. In every weekly group, the “answer” within that week is almost the same. For example, 111 divided by 2220 is .05, as is 154 divided by 3080, and 93 divided by 1860. Does that mean the payout was .05 percent? Was Granddaddy’s fee .05%? See – I’m not a gambler, much less a Bookie.

Suddenly I noticed a pattern in the Day and Night entries. Looking across the corresponding day from day to night, I noticed that the second number during the day became the first number at night. The night’s second number became the next day’s first number. And so the pattern repeated through the week.

Repeating pattern of numbers in the Day and Night sides of the book

 So just what am I looking at?

 

Amy Johnson Crow continues to challenge genealogy bloggers and non-bloggers alike to think about our ancestors and share a story or photo about them. The challenge is “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks.”

Wendy

© 2021, Wendy Mathias. All rights reserved.

Sentimental Sunday

 

My grandaunt Helen Killeen Parker died 11 Oct 1980.

Helen Parker 1957

My grandaunt Catherine Walsh Barany was born 12 Oct 1909.

Cat at home in DC

My great-grandfather Stephen Slade died 14 Oct 1928.

My great-grandfather John Fleming Walsh died 15 Oct 1918.

The only known photo of John F. Walsh
(these 2 chips are about 1")

My grandfather Orvin Davis died 16 Oct 1963.

Granddaddy and me 

Wendy

© 2021, Wendy Mathias. All rights reserved.

Sepia Saturday: Cat in the Hat

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

This week’s Sepia Saturday photo inspired any number of interpretations. However, I just could not resist the urge to be silly. No story, really, just photos of my grandaunt Catherine Walsh Barany – aka “Cat” – in a hat.

Cat in the middle

My great-grandmother Mary Theresa
and grandaunt Cat 

Ohh Cat fur!

My fav - Cat in THE Hat

Hats off to my fellow bloggers at Sepia Saturday!

PS - Thanks to Mr. Mike's comment from 2 Sepias ago, I updated my post because now I know "Where in the World" my grandaunt Lillie Killeen and her friend were.

Wendy

© 2021, Wendy Mathias. All rights reserved. 

52 Ancestors - VALENTINE: To Mother

My dad’s favorite grandmother was Mary Theresa Sheehan Killeen Walsh. Judging by all the greeting cards glued into a scrapbook, she must have been a sentimental woman.

 

Two of Mary Theresa's scrapbooks

Not in the best of shape 

Among the many Valentine’s Day cards is this one from her daughter Catherine, known to family and friends as “Cat.”

Mary Theresa was obviously close to her youngest two daughters, Cat and “Tate” (Teresa), both of whom lived in Washington DC. 

Mary Theresa and Cat
either 1936 or 1937
(similar photos show both dates
so they must not have
remembered when)

The three traveled back and forth visiting one another. This particular letter covers several topics that more easily could have been handled by a telephone call – confusion over travel plans and the return of a dress.

Thursday Nite

Dearest Mom:

Guess you think I have deserted you but I have been quite busy for the past few days and just didn’t get a chance to write you.

Tate was over last night and she was reading your letter and she said you told her you were coming up on the 10^th. Then I

 

Page 2 is on the right; page 3 on the left

realized that you were probably looking for us to come down but I didn’t know because you didn’t tell me when you were coming up. Did you mean in your letter that if we came down last week that you would have come back with us? I didn’t plan on coming until I knew definitely that you were coming because I didn’t want to make a trip down and

then you say you would have to wait a couple of weeks longer. Mom if you will just drop me a note and let me know when you can come we will come and get you and you know it will be perfectly alright to bring the kids if you think they won’t worry you too much. Let me know please.

Mom, I took back the dress and they gave me my money back. I

The "kids" are my dad and 
his brother

didn’t know just why you didn’t keep it so I thought I would wait until you were here then we could get another one.

Did both the kids pass? I surely hope so.

Well Mom I will be looking for a note from you telling us just when to come for you so let me know.

Until then I will say so long.

All my love

Cat

 

 

Mary Theresa died a month later.

I suppose it was a sign of the times that they wrote letters instead of making a phone call. And what a gift that Mary Theresa kept the cards and letters – at least some of them anyway – as a testimony to their loving relationship.

Amy Johnson Crow continues to challenge genealogy bloggers and non-bloggers alike to think about our ancestors and share a story or photo about them. The challenge is “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks.”

Wendy

© 2021, Wendy Mathias. All rights reserved.

52 Ancestors - CONTEXT: Reading Between the Lines

A young Mary Theresa

My dad did not have the easiest of childhoods. As a little boy, he lived in the home of his grandmother, Mary Theresa Sheehan Killeen Walsh. Probably his father’s run-ins with the law over his moonshine enterprise accounted for the financial instability that necessitated the multi-generational living arrangements there on Charleston Avenue in Portsmouth, Virginia.

The Walsh home on Charleston Avenue about 1920

A maiden aunt lived there too as did an alcoholic uncle whose VERY important job in the shipyard could not wait for his hangovers to subside. It was Mary Theresa’s job to sober him up and get him to work. According to my dad, it was not a good environment, but Mary Theresa was a stabilizing force who took care of everyone.

Daddy’s aunt Helen Killeen Parker (and my grandaunt) saved a couple letters that Mary Theresa wrote during visits with her youngest two daughters who lived near Washington D.C. I suppose we all expect mothers to care for their children when they are sick, are relieved when a marriage is a happy one, and are generally just gentle and kind. The letters reveal Mary Theresa to have been exactly that. Still, there is just something about the tidbits of news she shared and the words she chose that make me see her more clearly.

 A Loving Mother

The warmth of the greeting to “My Dear Helen” is matched by the complimentary closing: “fond love to all, Mother” and “fondest love to all from Mother.”

Mary Theresa’s visit in 1937 may have been prompted by the illness of her youngest daughter Theresa, affectionately known as “Tate.” Apparently Helen shared her mother’s worry as well, judging by the apology in the opening of the letter: “I know you are anxious about Tate and I should have written at once. Well She is better, no more pain nor cough and insists on doing everything around here herself.” I sense Mary Theresa may have been amused by Tate’s recovery: “I think Tate will be alright now. Of course she thinks my coming cured her.”

Tate was the baby of the family and according to family lore she was Mary Theresa’s “pet.” But Mary Theresa wanted to be fair to all her children. Her 1936 visit was a long one – three weeks. Apparently she stayed part of the time with Tate and part of the time with Katherine (“Kat”). “I think now that I have seen how both girls are I will terminate my visit. Really I have been mighty happy for nearly three weeks. Steve & Kat didn’t want me to leave them but I had spent more time with them so I wanted to even up my trip by staying a few more days with Jim & Tate.”  “even up my trip” – LOVE that!

 

Mary Theresa's two youngest daughters and their husbands
Steve and Kat Barany
Jim and Tate Crewes

Committed to Family and Church

Daddy always described Mary Theresa as a strong woman who kept the family chaos under control. I see her sense of commitment to family in the letters. When she visited Tate and Kat, she did not take the grandchildren with her. One time, she left my father and his brother, “Sonny” and “Buddy,” with their older cousin Evelyn, known to family as “Ebby.”  “I don’t like leaving the children too long but I had a nice letter from Ebby this morning and they are behaving real good.”

It is obvious she was a proud grandmother who did not hesitate to boast about my dad’s accomplishments as a 9-year old: “Helen, am sending you the letter I got from Sonny don’t you think it is good, all the news he put in it. Keep it for me.” Oh, what I wouldn’t give to see that letter. Unfortunately, it did not get saved with this one from 1937.

Leo "Buddy" and Fred "Sonny"
probably about 1937

Often we see our children’s good behavior and successes as validation of our parenting. Mary Theresa certainly did not have it easy taking care of multiple families under one roof, but somehow she kept everything going. She was the one who made sure my dad and his brother went to school and to church. She also saw to it that they served the church as altar boys.

The church was obviously important to her. In one letter, she expressed regret at not being able to visit with the Rosemunds longer: “They wanted me to stay with them longer but I wouldn’t be able to get to Church.”

In the same letter she rattled off a laundry list of activities for the day including seeing “The Prisoner of Shark Island” at the movie theater. Afterwards they visited a Catholic church and the 5&10. Wow –  could the day get any better? Why, yes, it could and it did. She took a long nap at the Rosemunds and afterwards they enjoyed dinner at 8:00. In a self-deprecating way, she said, “Some class.”

Compassion for Others 

The way Mary Theresa spoke of the people she met during her visits makes me smile. As she wrote about the Rosemunds, she said, “I declare Helen they are awful nice.” The words “I declare” make me think she must have been especially touched by them. She also wrote with warmth about Mrs. Williams, an employee at Tate’s husband’s place of work, who was such a good seamstress, and Reta Greely, Tate’s good friend who “can drive real good” and took them all around Quantico and Washington D.C.

 

Mary Theresa and Kat in Washington D.C.
1936 or 1937
(photos obviously taken on the same day are captioned differently)

Inquiring about folks at home might be just a polite thing to do, but Mary Theresa did more than that. Apparently Helen’s mother-in-law suffered from frequent headaches. (I wonder if they were sinus headaches or even migraines.) “Well I hope Mrs. Parker is getting stronger and not suffering with her headaches. Tell her to get ready to come back with me next time I am coming. I know she would love this place. . . .  I think it is beautiful around here.” The implied invitation and desire to share her good times speaks volumes about the kind of person Mary Theresa was.  

Happy in Her Life

Probably the one attribute that stands out in both letters is her satisfaction with her life. Her letters exude gratitude for every little kindness shown her and pleasure with each outing whether it was taking a walk or drive or seeing another movie (“It’s just grand every night a different picture.”). Her positive view was very much like my dad’s approach to life. He too was always optimistic in business, even the risky ventures. He too was cheerful and positive – most of the time, anyway – and grateful for all the blessings of his life. I think Daddy and Mary Theresa must have been very much alike.

My dad loved his grandmother. He spoke of her always with admiration and fondness. Oddly, he called her Mary Theresa, never Granny or Grandmother. Maybe he just wanted to be sure we didn’t forget her name.

Amy Johnson Crow continues to challenge genealogy bloggers and non-bloggers alike to think about our ancestors and share a story or photo about them. The challenge is “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks.”

Wendy

© 2019, Wendy Mathias. All rights reserved.

Sepia Saturday: Mary Theresa in DC

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

This week’s Sepia Saturday photo featuring the handsome Taft Bridge in Washington D. C. brings to mind this photo of my grandaunt Catherine Walsh Barany, my paternal grandmother’s younger sister.

 

Kat Barany 1936

It’s not the Taft, but it is SOME bridge in the Washington D. C. vicinity  oops Niagara Falls.

[EDITED: Thanks to Mike Brubaker, I now know these photos were not from the trip to D. C. but from a trip to Niagara Falls. No wonder I could not find the name of the bridge! Unfortunately, if Mary Theresa wrote home about seeing the Falls, the letter did not survive.]

My great-grandmother Mary Theresa Sheehan Killeen Walsh rode the bus to northern Virginia to visit her two youngest daughters, Kat and Tate and their husbands. The sisters lived not terribly far apart, and they liked getting together to show their mother the sights. On this particular trip, Mary Theresa divided her time staying roughly a week with one before moving on to stay with the other.

In a letter dated March 10, 1936, Mary Theresa wrote all about her visit with Kat and Tate, but not once did she mention a walk across a bridge, going to a park that had a view of a bridge, or even seeing a river.

 

Mary Theresa and Kat in Niagara Falls 1936 [ edited ]

However, Mary Theresa did report on all the things she did. She was especially impressed that they could go to so many different movie theaters and catch a different picture every night. One in particular was “The Prisoner of Shark Island.”

Never heard of it. It sounds like a horror movie but it was actually the story of Dr. Samuel Mudd who was imprisoned for treating President Lincoln’s assassin in 1865. The movie was directed by John Ford.

Other highlights included visiting the Rosemunds (who?), Willie Edwards (who?), and George and Mandy (who?). She had lunch out, visited a Catholic church and a 5 & 10 cent store. What a juxtaposition!

The Rosemunds showed Mary Theresa a fine time. Here is what she said about their driving tour:

“Old man Fleming” was my great-grandfather, John Fleming Walsh who had died in 1918. I wonder what she meant by calling him that.

Since she saw the national cemetery, surely she also saw the Arlington Memorial Bridge.

 

Arlington Memorial Bridge
from Wikimedia Commons

Please cross the bridge to Sepia Saturday.

Wendy

© 2017, Wendy Mathias.  All rights reserved.

Sepia Saturday: A Man, A Dog, and A Stick

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

This week’s Sepia Saturday prompt expresses the joy of summer at the beach with a man jumping over a twisted beach towel held by two women. My photo contains some of the same elements: a dog and a man who is not jumping, but judging by his tan, it must have been summer.

 

Stephen Barany

The man is Stephen Barany. In an earlier Sepia Saturday post I told about his marriage to my grandaunt Catherine Walsh Barany, about his being a bookie, and about their eventual separation. I thought there was nothing else to learn. But then I was given two scrapbooks that had belonged to my great-grandmother Mary Theresa Sheehan Killeen Walsh. In them she had glued greeting cards. That’s when a sentimental Stephen Barany emerged.

Even though Aunt Cat signed both of their names to cards sent to her mother, Steve sometimes sent his own. According to family lore, Steve and Mary Theresa had a special bond, far from the stereotypical mother-in-law/son-in-law relationship.

In the movies and on television, bookies are often portrayed as the slimiest of low-life beings. Funny how a sweet vellum card can remind us that people are much more complex than images coming out of Hollywood.

Jump over to Sepia Saturday to see what fun others are having today.

Wendy

© 2016, Wendy Mathias. All rights reserved.

Wordless Wednesday: Easter Cards

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 are just a few of the Easter cards sent to my great-grandmother Mary Theresa Sheehan Killeen Walsh.

from her sister Delia Christian

from her daughter Catherine and her husband Steve Barany

from her granddaughter Ebby Holland

© 2016, Wendy Mathias.  All rights reserved.