Sentimental Sunday

 

Lucy Walker Jollett Marsh died 25 Oct 1870 in Greene County, Virginia. She was daughter of my 4X great-grandparents James Jollett and Nancy Walker.

Artubine Joseph Jollett died 27 Oct 1862 in Page County, Virginia. He was son of 2X great-grandfather’s brother John Wesley Jollett and his wife Sarah Elizabeth Smith.

 

My great-grandmother Susan “Sudie” Eppard Rucker was born 29 Oct 1875.

 

 

Wendy

© 2021, Wendy Mathias. All rights reserved.

Sentimental Sunday

 

George Sampson died 17 Oct 1881 in Greenbrier County, West Virginia. He was the husband of Drada Jollett, my 3X great-grandfather’s sister.

Findagrave Mem #131982121
Coffman Cemetery, Ronceverte, WV
George Sampson
Born July 24, 1796
Died Oct 17, 1881

John Wesley Jollett died in Page County, Virginia, 18 Oct 1916. He was my 2X great-grandfather’s brother.

John Wesley Jollett and wife Sarah Elizabeth
photo courtesy Jan Hensley

Millard Davis, my grandfather’s older brother, was born 19 Oct 1894 in Shenandoah, Virginia.

Orvin and Millard

On 19 Oct 1846, my 2X great-grandfather’s older sister Lydia Jollett married George Breeden.

 

On 19 Oct 1859, my 2X great-grandfather’s oldest brother Emanuel Jollett died in Page County, Virginia of typhoid fever.

 

My great-grandparents Joseph Calhoun Rucker and Sudie Eppard married on 21 Oct 1896 in Hagerstown, Maryland.

On 22 Oct 1904, Wilson Suite was born. He married my grandfather’s cousin Alda Clift.

Alda and Wilson Suite 1934
at a Jollett Reunion

Wendy

© 2021, Wendy Mathias. All rights reserved.

On This Day - Sudie

Mary Susan Eppard Rucker
29 Oct 1875 - 14 July 1958

My maternal grandmother’s mother Mary Susan “Sudie” Eppard Rucker died on 14 July 1958.

Rucker house

I was in elementary school when she died, so my memory of her is rather faded. She had a beautiful Craftsman-style house on Fourth Street in Shenandoah, Virginia. In the parlor, the old stereoscope which she kept on a table kept me occupied quite a long time. My cousin recalls how Grandma Rucker always got mad at us when we played on the steps outside. We jumped back and forth from one side of the steps to the other – daredevils, that we were.

Sudie Rucker loved St Petersburg, Florida, for some unknown reason. She always brought back souvenirs – usually little ashtrays or other trinkets made of shells.

Sudie loved lemon drops. One time when Grandma gave her mother a box of chocolate candy, Sudie was not one bit polite. “Take it back. I only like lemon drops.” It became a family joke. Ironically enough, Grandma often had a bowl of lemon drops by her chair in her later years. Like mother – like daughter.

Wendy

© 2021, Wendy Mathias. All rights reserved.

52 Ancestors - FIRE: Family Heirlooms

I come from a sentimental family that likes to save old things and repeat old stories. With that in mind, I am repeating bits and pieces of stories from my blog about some of our family heirlooms, all related to this week’s theme.

When my sister and I cleaned out our parents’ home, we had to make many decisions about what to do with all the stuff. Which things are truly “valuable” and which have only sentiment in their favor? Should we sell it, keep it, or throw it away?

FIREPLACE GRATE

This fireplace grate belonged to my great-grandmother Mary Sudie Eppard Rucker. I am trying to imagine the day in 1958 when my grandmother and her sister and brothers stood around picking over their freshly-deceased mother’s dishes, jewelry, furniture and whatever else. My grandmother inherited many fine items, but did she really want Sudie Rucker’s fireplace grate?

I guess she did. Or maybe it was my mother who wanted it. My sister insists it was in our fireplace when we lived in Cradock and that it followed us to “the new house” in 1971.

A little over 50 years after Sudie Rucker’s fireplace grate came home with us, my sister and I stood staring at it, debating who would get it. Throwing it away was not an option - it had age, it had family history even if we didn’t know what that history was. I’m pretty sure I grunted and said, “What am I going to do with it?” But my sister had a vision for it.

 

Fireplace grate has become a planter in my yard.

FIREPLACE CHAIR

I got the fireplace grate – my sister got this chair.

 

The Jollett fireside chair

It is a fireside chair from my great-grandfather’s boyhood home in Greene County, Virginia. That dates this chair to the late 1830s-early 1840s IF it were new then. I can imagine young James Franklin Jollett sitting in that chair while tending the fire under the watchful eyes of his parents Fielding and Mary Ann. Maybe Mary Ann took a rest now and then while stirring the stew.

While the seat and back are normal size for an adult, the short legs make it look like a child’s chair. I suppose children liked the chair because it did not require climbing; they could easily plop down with both feet firmly on the floor. 

THE MAJESTIC LID LIFTER

This basket of antique kitchen tools has been on display in my kitchen for many years. Egg beaters, potato mashers, wooden spoons, and pastry cutters conjure up images of “woman’s work” and what my great-grandmother’s everyday life was like. I bet in her day Mary Frances Jollett Davis had all the modern conveniences.

She probably had a wood-burning stove like this one, a Majestic:

 

image from Google Images

I’m only guessing about the stove, but I have Mary Frances’ Majestic lid lifter that was used to lift the stove plates which covered the holes in her range top. 

The word MAJESTIC stretches across the flat part
but I could not get a good picture of it.

With this simple tool, she could lift the plate to stoke the fire or stir the ashes with the flat end. Admittedly it is not very glamorous or particularly valuable, but certainly it was important to keep it handy and not lose it.    

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.

A to Z April Challenge: I is for Iron Grate

When my sister and I cleaned out our parents’ home, we had to make many decisions about what to do with all the stuff. Which things are truly “valuable” and which have only sentiment in their favor? Should we sell it, keep it, or throw it away? To help ensure a future for our family’s heirlooms, I plan to leave a booklet for my daughters telling the stories of what they will inherit one day. (Not TOO soon, I hope!) With this challenge I begin my book of Heirlooms.

is for iron fireplace grate.

It belonged to my great-grandmother Mary Sudie Eppard Rucker. I am trying to imagine the day in 1958 when my grandmother and her sister and brothers stood around picking over their freshly-deceased mother’s dishes, her jewelry, her furniture and whatever else. My grandmother inherited many fine items, but did she really want Sudie Rucker’s fireplace grate?

Fireplace grate belonging to Sudie Rucker

I guess so.

Whether my grandparents used it in their fireplace I do not remember, but my sister insists it was IN our fireplace when we lived in Cradock and that it followed us to “the new house” in 1971.

A little over 50 years after my grandmother volunteered to take the fireplace grate, my sister and I stood staring at it, debating who would get it. Throwing it away was not an option - it had age, it had family history even if we didn’t know what that history was. I’m pretty sure I grunted and said, “What am I going to do with it?” But my sister had a vision for its use.

Wendy

© 2018, Wendy Mathias. All rights reserved.

A to Z April Challenge: D is for Doily

When my sister and I cleaned out our parents’ home, we had to make many decisions about what to do with all the stuff. Which things are truly “valuable” and which have only sentiment in their favor? Should we sell it, keep it, or throw it away? To help ensure a future for our family’s heirlooms, I plan to leave a booklet for my daughters telling the stories of what they will inherit one day. (Not TOO soon, I hope!) With this challenge I begin my book of Heirlooms.

is for doily. I’m a sucker for a sweet doily. I have inherited lovely crocheted and tatted doilies from my grandmother and from my husband’s grandmothers. I have purchased doilies at antique shops and estate sales. Frankly I no longer know which is which.

Except for this one:

This very large doily was crocheted by my maternal grandmother’s mother, Mary Sudie Rucker. My grandmother sometimes used the doily on this very same table.

At one time doilies were a sign of upward social mobility. (Remember the scene in Anne of Avonlea when Diana Barry boasts about the number of doilies she received as wedding gifts!) The lady of the manor used doilies to protect her tables from being scratched by lamps, crocks, picture frames and other decorative objects. She used doilies on her tea tray to catch spills.

You won’t see Joanna Gaines or the Property Brothers staging their homes with doilies. As warm and fuzzy as "Home Town"’s Ben and Erin are, they haven’t featured any doilies either. Alas, doilies are considered old fashioned today, but I still like them and use them as they were always intended: to protect my furniture.

Two doilies
The large one covers the table
which is not in good shape.

I love this doily edged
with crocheted pansies.

Taupe colored doily -
its twin is on the other nightstand

I could not resist a
purple and yellow doily.

Those blue points!
Had to grab this one at an estate sale.

Even if my own daughters are not enamored of my doilies, I know of one person who appreciates them. My nephew’s fiancé, who loves all things vintage, will be using my doilies at their wedding reception this coming June. It is doubtful any of the guests will appreciate the significance of the doilies, but OUR family will know that some of these doilies are nearly 100 years old, still beautiful, delicate yet strong. The connection to family will not be missed.

Mary Sudie Rucker's handiwork

I am pretty sure Sudie Rucker’s doily would make Anne Shirley and Diana Barry swoon!

Wendy

© 2018, Wendy Mathias. All rights reserved.

Sepia Saturday: Hotels and Motels

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

This week’s Sepia Saturday prompt features a lovely 1930s hotel room outfitted in the popular Art deco style. The two beds, seemingly a requirement in most hotels, immediately grabbed my attention because of this photo in my collection:

 

two double beds

The identity of this lovely woman stretched out across one of the chenille-covered beds is not known, but I know where she was and when.

It was June 25, 1941. She was in the Courtesy Court Motel located on Route 1 in St. Augustine, Florida. It says so right on the back. (Couldn’t she have included her name?)

Postcard Courtesy Court Motel
St. Augustine, Florida

There are numerous postcards for sale on eBay featuring St. Augustine’s Courtesy Court. Like most motels of its era, it was a one-story building of connecting rooms all opening onto the parking lot. There was a manager’s office and swimming pool surrounded by picnic tables and Adirondack chairs.

The postcards from the 1960s boast of such amenities as a telephone, television, and air conditioning. In 1941, however, there was a small fan sharing real estate with a lamp on the table between the beds. What do you want to bet that there was a Gideon bible in the drawer?

Postcard Courtesy Court Motel
St. Augustine, Florida

Since my great-grandmother Sudie Rucker enjoyed her annual trips to Florida, it has occurred to me that maybe this unidentified woman accompanied her or was someone Sudie visited.

Whoever she was, this mystery guest of the Courtesy Court did some touring in St. Augustine. She went to the Hotel Alcazar, which today houses the Lightner Museum. However, the nature and extent of her visit leaves a question mark. The hotel, built in 1887 to appeal to wealthy tourists, closed in 1932. It did not become a museum until 1947. Perhaps the Spanish Renaissance Revival architecture simply attracted visitors even if there was nothing going on there.

 

at the Hotel Alcazar June 25, 1941
St. Augustine, Florida

I doubt the Alcazar had chenille bedspreads.

Hop out of bed and take a tour of Sepia Saturday to see how my friends have been inspired by the prompt photo.

Wendy

© 2016, Wendy Mathias. All rights reserved.

Sepia Saturday: Don't Forget to Write

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

This week’s Sepia Saturday prompt of a street scene with people coming and going reminded me of this souvenir of St. Petersburg, Florida.

My great-grandmother
Mary Susan "Sudie" Rucker 1875-1958

This is my great-grandmother Mary Susan “Sudie” Eppard Rucker. According to my grandmother, her mother loved Florida, and so she made a point to visit every year. She always brought back a souvenir, usually some shell-encrusted tchotchke – a bowl, a box, an ashtray. One of those souvenirs sat on my grandmother’s end table for as long as I can remember. Sadly – or perhaps not – it was not among the things that were saved and divided among her survivors.

On this particular trip dated around 1950 or 1951, Sudie’s big souvenir was this photo. As the story goes, her picture was taken for the newspaper. Why? Good question. Although the full story has been lost to time, one possibility is that she was newsworthy because she was wearing a coat. Who does that in Florida?

Given Sudie’s love of travel, it is not surprising that she signed my mother’s autograph book about ten or twelve years previous with this message:

Remember me in morning
Remember me at night
Remember me while away
And don't forget to write.
Grandmother Rucker

Let’s take a walk over to Sepia Saturday and grab some souvenirs.

Wendy

© 2016, Wendy Mathias. All rights reserved.

52 Ancestors: The Old Homestead - She Ain't What She Used To Be

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.

Every generation has a place they consider a “first home” or the “home place.”  Often it is a place that evokes memories of childhood, of afternoons with grandparents, of rambles with friends through surrounding fields. One such “home place” in my family was not exactly a “home” although it became one in another life.  It was a store.

 

The Davis Store as it looked in the 1920s

My great-grandfather Walter B. Davis (1867-1934) spent most of his adult years as a carpenter like his father. He built numerous houses throughout the town of Shenandoah in Page County, Virginia. However, by 1920 he had become the owner of Davis and Sons Groceries at the corner of Sixth Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, just across the street from where he lived. At various times my grandfather Orvin and his brother Millard were the “Sons” in that business, managing things while Walter continued building houses.

Some receipts 

When I was growing up, a trip to Shenandoah to visit my cousins always included a drive by the old store building. I wonder what my grandparents thought about as they stared at the old store, which by then had been converted into two apartments.

The Davis Store as it looked in the 1980s

My grandmother Lucille Rucker Davis behind the counter

Did they recall the times when my grandmother Lucille Rucker Davis worked there?

My great-grandmother
Mary Sudie Eppard Rucker

Did they laugh recalling the time that my grandmother and her mother got in a fight that got physical? Granddaddy was just heading in to check on Grandma when Sudie Rucker stormed out of the door. “You need to get Lucille under control,” she said as she showed him her sleeve where Grandma had ripped it almost completely off. Granddaddy only laughed, but Sudie didn’t appreciate that. Inside the store, Grandma was fuming and fussing about her mother. Granddaddy laughed at that too, but Grandma didn’t appreciate that either. Granddaddy did not win any points that day.

Did they think about the time Grandma kicked a customer out of the store?  The family dog Fritz was more welcome than some patrons. One day when Grandma was working behind the counter, Effie Helton came in to do some shopping. She was a BIG woman who played on the men’s baseball team. Fritz bit her ankle, and Effie responded with a swift kick. Grandma then kicked Effie out of the store.

Momma - Mary Eleanor Davis
holding Fritz outside the Davis Store

Did they remember when Momma as just a little girl used to nap behind the counter?

Surely they laughed about the time Momma embarrassed them in front of George, a black man who sometimes helped out at the store. Whenever Momma as a child asked for some coffee, my grandparents would say, “Drinking coffee will turn you black.” One day Momma looked at George and said, “You sure must drink a lot of coffee.”

Did my grandparents wonder what became of the customers who had left their diamonds in exchange for their purchases? After Grandma died, Momma had the diamonds made into a ring.

Diamonds left at the Davis Store

My grandparents missed Shenandoah, I know, but Portsmouth had become home since World War II when job opportunities in the shipyard were too good to pass up.

In April of this year, those trips down memory lane came to a halt when a bulldozer pulled the Davis Store down. Asbestos and termite damage rendered the building beyond repair, not even worth flipping, I guess. Plus that corner lot was much too valuable for a dilapidated building to stand useless.

Demolition of Davis Store April 2015
photo courtesy of Jan Hensley

© 2015, Wendy Mathias.  All rights reserved.