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.

On This Day - Helen Killeen Parker

 

a large metal photo button

My grandaunt Helen Martha Killeen Parker was born on this day 7 June, 1903. She was the last child born to John Joseph Killeen and my great-grandmother Mary Theresa Sheehan Killeen Walsh.

Wendy

© 2021, Wendy Mathias. All rights reserved.

Sepia Saturday: Turn

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

During the month of March, I will be shining the light on my Irish roots.

This week’s Sepia Saturday prompt shows a crowd watching and likely enjoying a performance on an athletic field. With my self-imposed limitation of blogging about ONLY my Irish ancestors during the month of March, I decided to share a few photos of people with their backs turned.

Lillie Killeen at the ribbon-cutting May 1952

A HUGE crowd showed up for the dedication of the NorfolkTunnel connecting Portsmouth and Norfolk in 1952. That was the end of the car ferry service. My grandaunt Lillie Killeen was a guest of her employer and long-time friend Dr. Vernon Brooks who served on the tunnel commission.

This must be friends of my grandaunt Helen Killeen Parker. I wonder where this train was. Was it an abandoned train? Part of an exhibit in a park? 

 

John Jr., "Cutey," and "Bob" 1920

Well, wuddayaknow – here sit John Jr and his sister “Bob” looking at who-knows-who on the other side of the door. Stillllll looking for their parents in case you wondered.

Please turn around and head to Sepia Saturday for more photos and stories of crowds, performances, and people facing the other way.

Wendy

© 2021, Wendy Mathias. All rights reserved.

Sepia Saturday: Like a Dog with a Bone

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

During the month of March, I will be shining the light on my Irish roots.

NOTE: This blog has been edited to remove the photo originally identified incorrectly as HERBERT PARKER. In its place is the REAL Herbert Parker.

Sepia Saturday’s theme of the week is 3.

I’ll give you three guesses as to what I’m blogging about today.

Nope, not that. Try again.

Yep - The same picture from last week.

Several of the HomoSepians who commented suggested that since the boys did not favor one another they might be cousins rather than brothers. That got me thinking.

Herbert Parker and his father
Ephraim parker

This photo that I KNOW is my grandaunt Helen Killeen Parker’s husband Herbert has some resemblance to the little boy on the left. Going on that assumption, I went looking for a cousin who might have been close in age.

 

Herbert’s father Ephraim C. Parker had a number of siblings as did his mother Margaret Williams Parker. One likely candidate is Andrew Sivertson, son of Ephraim’s sister Elvera Parker and her husband Thomas Sivertson. Andrew was born the same year as Herbert, but the boys in the photo do not appear to be the same age.

 

Courtesy Elvera Parker Rogers
Ancestry 

The other MORE likely candidate is son of Ephraim’s younger brother Jesse Loren Parker. Jesse and his wife Bettie had several children, but the oldest, Robert, gets my vote. On Ancestry, I found this photo of Robert as a young man. Does he look like an older version of the boy on the right?

 

Robert is listed in Herbert and Helen’s wedding gift book as having given them a “steak set” – knives, I suppose. He and Herbert must have remained close friends even as adults.

But I admit, the identification of the two boys is still just a guess. (I wonder if I can get a third post out of this picture.)

Why don’t you and a couple friends visit the other bloggers at Sepia Saturday to see what they made of the theme of THREE.

Wendy

© 2021, Wendy Mathias. All rights reserved.

52 Ancestors - NAME'S THE SAME: John and Madeline

During the month of March, I will be shining the light on my Irish roots.

John Jr and "Bob" the Bronx 1921

In my never-ending search for the identity of the children known as “John Jr and Bob,” I have tried to determine who JOHN SR might be. All the photos point to someone who would have been a relative of my great-grandmother Mary Theresa Sheehan Killeen Walsh, more specifically a relative in one of the boroughs of New York City.

Captioned "Cousin Jack" 

A likely candidate would have been born probably in the 1880s or 1890s in order to have been old enough to father a child in 1917. One likely suspect was John Byrnes, son of Irish immigrants Patrick Byrnes and Elizabeth Sheehan, my great-grandmother’s sister. However, he turned out to be NOT so likely since he was only 14 when “John Jr” was born.

John did marry, though. He and his wife Madeline Kerr had two daughters, Madeline and Patricia. John was killed in 1925, not long after the birth of their second child.

The year of John’s death – 1925 –  is one reason I was surprised to see a gift from “Mr and Mrs J Byrnes, New York, NY” in my grandaunt Helen Killeen’s wedding gift book. She and Herbert Parker married in 1927. Any thoughts that the 6 teaspoons could be a gift from John’s brother Joseph were quickly dashed when I realized Joseph never married.

So who was THIS “Mr & Mrs J Byrnes”? Hold that thought.

Also in Helen’s gift book is a lemon dish and silver pickle fork from Mr & Mrs Edward Byrnes of Portsmouth, Virginia. 

A quick search in Ancestry revealed two interesting details: Edward's first name was actually JOHN, and his wife was named Madeline, Madeline Reitelbach, to be precise. So there we are: two couples named John and Madeline Byrnes.

However, there is nothing to suggest that the Portsmouth Byrnes are related to my Killeens. They were probably just friends from church. John Edward and Madeline are buried at all Saints Catholic Cemetery as are my Sheehan-Killeen-Walsh family.

Courtesy Maggie McAllister
Findagrave

As for “Mr & Mrs J Byrnes,” I have no idea, but I do have one observation that might be key: all the known New Yorkers who sent gifts were relatives.

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 - SCARY STUFF: Do You Believe in Ghosts?

In the days when cameras operated only with film, people paid for the processing of the entire roll regardless of the quality of the picture. It did not matter whether the photos turned out perfectly or a head was cut off or what should have been a precious memory was out of focus, they all cost the same.

Forgetting that a roll was complete, sometimes people took pictures on top of pictures resulting in photos like these:

Aunt Helen and maybe Aunt Mae
about 1919

My grandaunt Helen Killeen Parker recognized that her photo-fail looked like a ghost.

from album of
Violetta Davis
early 1920s

When I first saw this photo from my grandaunt Violetta Davis’s camping trip, I did not realize it was a double until I saw a clear set of legs under the top half of the man on the left.

Getting to the subject of ghosts, not of the photo-fail kind but encounters with the Dead kind, I have never seen a ghost or felt the presence of one the way some people claim to have experienced. My aunt “Scoop” told about her encounter with a ghost.

Aunt "Scoop" and Uncle Orvin Jr.

She and my uncle lived in the house built by my great-grandfather Walter Davis. One afternoon when Scoop was sick in bed, she felt someone gently rubbing her forehead. She said it was Mary Frances, my great-grandmother. Now, was this just the imaginings of a sick woman? I don’t know. I can’t make myself believe it was true, but I hope it was. 

I would LOVE to have a FRIENDLY encounter with the ghost of an ancestor.

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

© 2020, Wendy Mathias. All rights reserved.

Sepia Saturday: The Merchant

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

Pictures like this week’s Sepia Saturday prompt can be a real time-suck for me because I find myself Googling to identify the model of the cars, to determine whether products like Meadow Gold milk and butter are still available, and to find old photos of buildings identified by their signage. It’s a handsome photo, one with which I cannot compete. I have grocery stores and grocers in the family, but most have already been introduced on my blog. The good news is I still have one more. The bad news – and it’s really not that bad – is that he isn’t family.

When Barry and I were planning our wedding in 1973, the FOLK WEDDING was the rage. I guess it grew out of the “Make love, not war” / “Do your own thing” attitudes of the 1960s-early 70s. Less formal than traditional wedding ceremonies, the folk wedding often included folk tunes accompanied by guitar. So I needed a singer. And a guitar. My aunt, my dad’s sister, suggested Joanie Glynn. What? Who? “You know – the Glynns. They’re cousins,” she said and Daddy confirmed.

I’ve gone years just accepting that the Glynns are our cousins. I figured they must be those distant cousins, those 2^nd or 3^rd cousins that no one really gets to know. When I actually did the research, I saw almost immediately that they are not MY cousins at all. They are not my aunt’s or dad’s cousins either. They are not even my grandmother’s cousins. The Glynns are cousins of my grandmother’s HALF-siblings. My great-grandmother married twice; my family descends from the second husband. The Glynns are related to the first husband, the OTHER side of the family.

So here is John Joseph Glynn. 

John Joseph Glynn (1862-1942)
probably Matthew C. Glynn  (1891-1969)

John Joseph Glynn was born to Michael and Mary Irwin Glynn in Ireland in 1862, immigrated to the United States in 1884, and in 1890 married Bridget Mary Killeen, sister of John Joseph Killeen, my great-grandmother’s first husband. John Joseph Glynn and John Joseph Killeen – try keeping that straight. I guess the Irish did not have much imagination when it came to naming babies.

Bridget Mary Killeen Glynn (1863-1948)
either John Joseph Jr or Ellen Frances

John and Bridget were in Virginia by 1890 as all 6 children were born there between 1891 and 1910. John operated a grocery store at the corner of Henry and Second Streets. In the 1900 and 1910 census, they lived on Second. In later censuses, they lived on Henry. In every census except 1940, John was enumerated as a grocer or merchant. City directories through 1935 also show him as a grocer. By 1936, he was retired.

 

Portsmouth City Directory 1935

Photo albums that I have inherited from my Killeen aunts Helen and Lillie reflect the closeness of the Killeen and Glynn families.

 

September 1931
Bridget, John Joseph,
daughter Ellen, aka "Nell"

Captioned "Brothers"
possibly John Joseph Jr and Matthew
but assumed age difference is too much

Lillie Killeen with cousins
William and Margaret Glynn

"Cousin Nell"

That's cousin Nell on the right - not sure of the other 2

I have the Glynns to thank for my very existence. My great-grandmother Mary Theresa Sheehan Killeen had planned to be a New Yorker until John Joseph Killeen died in 1905 leaving her a widow with 5 children to raise. Her sister-in-law Bridget Killeen Glynn persuaded her to come to Portsmouth to be with family. According to family lore, it was Bridget who introduced Mary Theresa to her future second husband John Fleming Walsh. And as they say, the rest is history.

I’ll say this though about the Sheehan-Killeen-Walsh group, they did not and do not discriminate based on a last name. Family is family. A cousin is a cousin regardless of DNA.

There is more in store at Sepia Saturday.

Wendy

© 2020, Wendy Mathias. All rights reserved.

52 Ancestors - WEDDING: The Honor of Your Presence or Presents

My grandaunt Helen Killeen must have had a lovely wedding. The invitation was embossed, not merely printed, on cream-colored card.

 

3 Nov 1927 Thursday morning wedding
Helen Martha Killeen and Herbert Webb Parker

For someone who saved a gazillion pictures of herself and friends at the beach and on camping trips, I am puzzled by the total absence of even one single wedding photo. With no photo of the actual ceremony or reception, I must wonder if Aunt Helen wore a wedding gown or a nice suit, if she carried a bouquet or wore a corsage, if she had a number of bridesmaids or just one witness. Judging by the formality of the invitation and the list of gifts in her wedding gift book, it must have been a beautiful event with many guests.

 

The wedding gift book lists 65 gifts and guests

Some of Helen's wedding crystal
Pattern: Rose by Fry Glass

I have enjoyed researching the names of the guests in search of family connections and stories worth telling. But what I love best, though, is the list of gifts she received. Bedspreads and dresser scarves. Silver. Glassware. Those were the days. I doubt anyone asks for silver these days. Likely no one requests pickle forks, oyster forks, lettuce forks, preserve spoons or tomato servers, no matter what they are made of.

Helen and Herbert received lots of glassware: 3 dozen sherbet glasses, 18 goblets, 18 ice tea glasses, a couple sandwich plates, a couple mayonnaise bowls, some cut glass pickle dishes and sugar bowls, and any number of colored glass bowls. I was the lucky recipient of her water pitcher and matching sherbets, goblets, and ice tea glasses – not all 72 pieces though. I wonder if she exchanged some of the gifts. Who needs 36 sherbet glasses?

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

© 2020, Wendy Mathias. All rights reserved.

Sepia Saturday: 2 Kids and a Pony

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

This week’s Sepia Saturday photo of a postman delivering the mail via horse and cart reminded me of this studio photo:

It is glued onto the black paper quickly chipping away in my grandaunt Helen Killen Parker’s photo album. The two children are just another of the hundreds of mysteries and unidentified friends and family gathered in photo albums and shoeboxes. Studying the faces, enlarging the photo, reviewing family units, and comparing to other photos have produced little to help me draw any conclusions about this charming pair.

The only REAL clues lie in the other photos on the 2-page spread.

On the same page is this phuzzy photo:  

Are they the same children a few years later?

The other photos are just chips, maybe half inch wide by 1”-1.5” long like this one:

The photos seem much older than others that Helen may have taken herself, so I wonder if the photos belonged to her mother Mary Theresa Sheehan Killeen Walsh. Maybe the pictures are of her as a young girl. However, she had at least 2 brothers and 4 sisters, so a photo of just 2 children does not seem likely. Nor does it seem likely she would have had a professionally-produced photo of only two of her own 8 children.

Another thought that just today occurred to me is that maybe the two children are Helen’s father John Joseph Killeen and his sister Bridget as children. That certainly matches the family makeup. Do the photos look like they date from the 1870s-early 1880s when they would have been children in Ireland?

What about this photo of a young boy with cow? The boy certainly resembles the child in the cart. Is that a thatched roof in the distance?

Thinking out loud here on my computer screen has brought me to a realization that should have been obvious before now: as a descendant of John Fleming Walsh, Mary Theresa’s second husband and Helen’s stepfather, I need to remember that in a blended family, those unidentifiables may very well be from the “other” family whose importance cannot be denied.

Quit horsing around and make your way to Sepia Saturday for more photo phun.

Wendy

© 2019, Wendy Mathias. All rights reserved.

52 Ancestors - NATURE: Up a Creek with the Terrible Five

You’ve heard of “Throwback Thursday.” Consider this “Throwback Month.” While on vacation, it is impossible to do new research and post fresh stories, so for now, please enjoy a combined but slightly revised “throwback” from 2013 and 2017.

When I knew my grandaunt Helen Killeen Parker as “an old lady,” I never pictured her as a spirited young girl with lots of friends who enjoyed getting together for beach weekends and camping trips in the great outdoors like her photos portray.

Pictures from a camping trip along a river or lake puzzled me for a long time.

I wonder if they brought the boat with them or if it was a rental. If so, what kind of place was this?

Since Helen apparently liked taking pictures but not journaling about them, the reason for the trip was a mystery. Family reunion? Summer vacation with cousins? A getaway-weekend with friends and coworkers? I did not know. The presence of a rather grizzly older woman and a child made me think this was an outing with extended family rather than the 1919 equivalent of the senior class trip.

Maybe the older woman was simply the chief cook and bottle-washer. With all the activities Helen and her friends had planned, they surely didn’t have time to cook. 

They were too busy boating,

fishing and hunting,

 

boxing??,

listening to music,

Aunt Helen with the Victrola

and maybe just getting to know one another better.

Then I found among a small collection of greeting cards a folded cardboard on which was glued a poem. It explained everything in humorous detail.

** A triangle of paper is missing. Words in brackets represent a logical guess based on the syntax of the sentence. If no logical guess could be made with any certainty, I inserted dashes inside the brackets.

The Memorable Camping Trip

The third of July dawned bright and clear

We all left home with merry good cheer.

Going away on a camping trip

To have a good time, sure you can bet.

Lots of dancing, and things to eat

Nice place to swim, good place to sleep.

Nothing to worry about in the care of the “Terrible Five,”

Now we are lucky to be alive.

Landed at Northwest, Va., about eleven o’clock

Tired, sore and hungry, it sure was a shock.

The roads were something awful, bump, bump, bump all the way

Gee, it’s a wonder our hair didn’t turn gray.

We went in bathing to rest our poor bones

But the water [was] full of snakes, mud and stones.

About that [time] someone called,

“Dinner is [ready], come one and all.”

Everyone [ - - ] for they were starved it seemed

But what [did they] get to eat, but beans, beans, beans.

The [ - - ] under two big trees

And [ - - ] down and ate what they pleased.

After dinner we loafed around awhile, and went out in the canoe

For there really wasn’t anything else that we could do.

Then someone started the Victrola,

So we started to dance, and as we danced,

Someone said the country people were in a trance.

And if we did not stop, they would have us put in jail

And we would have to get someone to go our bail.

So we decided at last, to go to bed

But soon discovered there was no place to lay our weary heads.

So we stretched out on the ground under a tent

Then the wild animals their weird sounds sent.

They screeched and howelled and cooed

And scared us so bad we couldn’t move.

Somehow the night passed over

And Sunday came and went.

And we welcomed Monday, as some great event.

We left Northwest about half past two

And got bump after bump, until we nearly turned blue.

Arrived home about seven or that way

Only to discover that red bugs had come home with us to stay.

So I tell you dear friends, if you want to die

Just go on a Camping trip, with the “Terrible Five.”

The moniker “Terrible Five” must have been part of a running joke among the friends who seemed to enjoy getting together often whether at a riverside camp or at Ocean View. Perhaps the poem was written – AND preserved for presentation – to be read at some other gathering of “The Gang.”

Helen captioned this "The Gang" at Ocean View, Virginia
about 1919-1921

Here are "The Terrible Five" at Ocean View

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.