My grandaunt Velma Davis and her friend Thelma Hockman on a hike up the Massanutten Mountain near Harrisonburg, Virginia in October 1924. She documented the trip in her college scrapbook. Read the story HERE.
My grandaunt Velma Hilda Davis Woodring passed away from
cancer on 5 July 1968.
Sweet 16 1924
My last visit with her was difficult. As a teenager, I
just didn’t know how to sit and visit with someone I knew was dying. Weeks
later when we got the call with the sad news, my mother burst into tears. She
always said that of her aunts and uncles, Velma and her husband Woody were the “fun
ones.”
When I was a teacher, I refused to use a red pen to mark
students’ papers. Too many negative connotations. Students always referred to
teachers’ comments on their papers as “bleeding all over the page.” My pen of
choice was green or purple and sometimes a pencil. In my view these were more
friendly, more encouraging, at least I hoped so. After all, getting it right is
good.
In genealogy research, getting it right is important. There are plenty of flawed family trees on Ancestry
without me contributing to the confusion with more bad information. I pride myself on being a careful researcher,
so discovering I’ve posted something in error distresses me. Here are some of
my biggest and best blunders along with the new and improved version setting
the story straight – unless I discover otherwise.
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.”
When
people ask if we are going to sell our home in Chesapeake and retire to our
vacation home at Smith Mountain Lake permanently, I respond with an emphatic
NO. My daughter’s family is here. My SISTER is here. I cannot imagine being far
from either of them. My sister and I are not close in age, but we are every bit
as emotionally close as our grandaunts Violetta and Velma. You can’t say one
name without saying the other.
Violetta
and Velma loved one another deeply and enjoyed being together. They especially
loved traveling. In 1939 they traveled together to the New York World’s Fair.
New York World's Fair 1939 Postcard belonging to Violetta Davis Ryan
They
were on a motor trip to New Orleans when they received word of their brother’s
death in 1951.
Violetta
traveled to Hawaii just a few short years after it became the 50th
state.
Honolulu Passenger and Crew List 1953 from FamilySearch
In
1954, Velma arrived in New York aboard a ship from Rotterdam.
New York Passenger List 1954 from Ancestry
It
is no surprise that Velma always imagined that the two of them would travel the
world together. That is why it is so puzzling that in the late 1950s-ealry
1960s Velma took a job teaching in Korea for the Department of Defense Dependents
Schools. DoDDS serves the children of military stationed overseas with the
purpose of ensuring that American children get an American education.
Velma
was widowed young, so there was nothing keeping her in Harrisonburg except the
love for her sister. So why did she leave?
The
only theory my cousin and I can devise is that Velma HATED Violetta’s business
partner with a passion. We know Violetta rented a building to John for his
piano and guitar business (I am withholding his full name to protect the
privacy of his family who, frankly, do not deserve protection but so be it).
Somehow Violetta became entwined with John’s wife and child as well. Wherever
Violetta went, they were sure to follow. Violetta often arrived at my
grandmother’s house with John’s wife and son in tow, much to everyone’s dismay.
Nobody
liked them. NOBODY. NO. BO. DY. They were leaches. Violetta, a well-educated,
well-respected woman, was somehow sucked into being a benefactor to this
low-life family that always reminded me of the Snopes clan in William Faulkner’s
Yoknapatawpha trilogy. (“They were just Snopeses like colonies of rats and
termites are just rats and termites.”)
What
hold they had over Violetta is a mystery. She was too smart and too good for
them. Why couldn’t she see them for the money-grubbing users they were? Had I
been Velma, I might have gone to Korea too.
Actually, she seemed to enjoy teaching and
serving as principal for the DoDDS.
Velma with students of the DoDDS Korea
Some
of these photos may have been taken when she was principal. The classroom looks
typically American. The artwork displayed neatly on the bulletin boards and
stapled artfully above the blackboard reminds me of every classroom I ever sat
in during my own school days.
A
unit on the Vikings would not be complete without drawings of ships.
Snowflake
snowmen? The perfect activity for a lesson on um, er, uh, weather? Geometry?
Whatever, you have to admire the kid who put the snowman in a hammock.
Playground
equipment at the DoDD School looked exactly like what I enjoyed at recess in Virginia in the 1950s and 60s.
That is probably Velma cut off in the dark coat.
Velma’s
job in Korea made traveling to Japan and India easy.
Velma is in the hat, 6th from the right
What an adventure! Velma is sitting in the middle
Ill
health eventually brought Velma home. She lived in one of Violetta’s apartments
where Violetta took care of her in her final days.
Love
wins.
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.”
Sepia Saturday challenges bloggers to share family
history through old photographs.
This week’s Sepia Saturday prompt made me take another
look at a couple photos of my grandaunt Velma Davis Woodring and her friends.
The date was 25 March 1925. The place, Edge Lawn Inn.
Elise Taylor, Velma Davis, and
Thelma Hockman
March 25, 1925
Since in 1925 the girls were students at Harrisonburg
Teacher’s College (now James Madison University - Go DUKES!), I could not
imagine why they would have been staying at an inn. And where was it?
Elise Taylor, Leta LeVow and
Thelma Hockman
March 25, 1925
A search for the Edge Lawn Inn brought up a brief mention
of it noting it was south of Harrisonburg. By “brief,” I mean THAT was the
extent of the information. No picture. No history. Not even an exact location. My
inquiry at the Harrisonburg Rockingham County Historical Society produced
nothing either.
So I gave up on trying to find out more. After all, what
is there to be gained other than perhaps a little factoid that had nothing to
do with Velma or her friends?
Leave it to Sepia Saturday to make me look again. A broad
Google search for a misspelled Edge Lawn - I typed “edgelawn” - gave me this ad
for the Edge Lawn Inn.
from Automobile Blue Book, vol 2
on Google Books
Velma Davis, Leta LeVow, and
Thelma Hockman
March 25, 1925
The picture of the inn rang a bell. I remembered another
photo of the same group of girls in front of a house that I always assumed was
the home of one of Velma’s friends. I reasoned that the girls probably spent
the weekend with a friend from school. I knew it was not Thelma Hockman’s house since she lived next door to Velma in Shenandoah. Maybe it was Leta LeVow’s
house in Waynesboro. Maybe it was Elise Taylor’s home in Staunton.
Velma Davis and Thelma Hockman
Elise Taylor
March 25, 1925
I checked the date. 25 March 1925.
I checked the clothes. Same clothes.
The house was apparently the Edge Lawn Inn.
Using my online newspaper subscriptions, I found several
mentions of the Edge Lawn Inn as the venue for reunions, birthday
parties, card parties, bridal showers, and other social events. The Edge Lawn
Inn placed an ad promoting its Thanksgiving Dinner menu. A small notice
advertising dishes and furnishings for sale hinted that perhaps updating was underway
at the Edge Lawn Inn. Coincidentally - or not - there was an estate auction next
door to the Edge Lawn Inn on March 25, 1925. Were the girls there to bid?
I saved the best for last. The news article is not about
the Edge Lawn itself but about its former owner. What a headline!
from Harrisonburg Daily News Record 14 Oct 1927 Newspaperarchive.com
There you have it - the sum total of what I have learned
about the Edge Lawn Inn.
However, I learned quite a bit about the Automobile
Blue Book in which the ad appeared. Published between 1901 and 1929, the Blue
Books were a series of guides for people traveling the United States and Canada
by car. The highway system was in its infancy. Roads were built for local
travel, not intercity. The Blue Books relied heavily on maps and landmarks
denoting when and where to turn since road signs did not always exist. Originally
the aim was to provide point to point directions along routes connecting
automobile supply businesses, auto repair and auto maintenance businesses.
Advertisements were primarily for hotels, restaurants, auto dealers, and
garages.
Unlike today’s GPS devices that point to shortest or
fastest routes, the Blue Books followed the routes that offered interesting
scenery and places for rest and maintenance.
Places for rest - like the Edge Lawn Inn. “Nothing too
good for Tourists.”
Follow the route to Sepia Saturday - no Blue Book
necessary.
This is a continuation of LAST APRIL’s challenge about
HEIRLOOMS. 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!)
is for the Korean dishes that were purchased by my
grandaunt Velma Davis Woodring when she was a teacher and principal for the
Department of Defense Dependents School in Seoul, Korea back in the 1960s. She
brought back lots of souvenirs for all of us - jewelry, kimonos, dolls, AND
dishes.
This set is very pretty in colors of very dark green and
white, metallic gold, and a band of dark red or maroon. The overall pattern
appears to be daisies or maybe some similar flower. Since the design does not
feature Korean ladies or cultural scenes, the set was probably not produced
merely as souvenirs.
Included in the set are dessert plates, a tea set complete with sugar bowl and creamer, sake
set, and some random pieces that I cannot identify. Possibly one is a rice
bowl. A tall piece with lid might serve to hold tea. I have no idea. I have
never used these dishes; they are merely decorations filling one shelf of the
corner cupboard in my living room. They are thin and delicate. Surely we would
scald our lips should I ever serve hot tea in those thin, translucent tea cups.
My cousin inherited some of these dishes as well. At a
party she hosted for her co-workers in the Foreign Language Department at James
Madison University, a couple of the Asian instructors were fascinated by the
sake set. They explained to her that the script inside each cup was a poem.
Sepia Saturday challenges bloggers to share family
history through old photographs.
This week’s Sepia Saturday prompt shows a man standing
beside one of those 1930s-1940s cars that my family refers to as “jelly bean” or
“kidney bean” cars because of the bulbous shape.
Anyone who is obsessed with family history and challenged
by trying to identify people in unmarked photos has surely heard of Maureen Taylor, the Photo Detective. She is everyone’s go-to expert on finding clues in
old photos. With her instruction, even the casual family historian has learned
to pay attention to details like styles of clothing, use of props, and what the
photo is printed on.
In my best imitation of the Photo Detective, I decided to
try my hand (and eye) at dating photos by studying jellybean cars.
Photo 1
Wendy and a Nash Statesman Custom
Can you date a photo with just a partial view of a car,
specifically the wheel? Why, yes, you can. When I zoomed in, I could read
“Statesman Custom.” Hmm, not familiar. With the aid of Dr. Google, I learned it
was a Nash, an American car manufactured between 1916 and 1954, and then until
1957 after the creation of the American Motors Corporation. Since I know that
adorable child, I used those sturdy walking shoes and balancing fists to narrow
down the years the photo was taken to 1952 or 1953. Therefore, the car had to
be older than that.
Even someone who doesn’t know the child can date this photo if they pay close attention. As I studied wheel after wheel, I noticed that in early Statesman Customs, the model name appeared closer to the door, not over the wheel like in my photo. Then look what happened in 1952.
1952 Nash Statesman Custom
The folks
at Nash moved the model name over the wheel.
MY GUESS - 1952 (early 1953 at the latest)
Photo 2
The deckle edge is a sure sign that this next photo dates
between the 1930s and 50s, but the car will surely point you to the later years
of that range. Knowing these people made it easy to guess the make of this car
and year. My father was a Ford man, so I guessed his father was too. The grill,
the hill-shaped hood, the vented door window all cry FORD. My grandparents
never had much money, so I could not imagine they bought a new car very often.
Therefore, I started with 1949. However, from 1949 through 1951, the shape and
placement of the fog lights or signal lights did not match my photo. The 1952
Ford however introduced the propeller-looking light mounted on the edge of the grill
in a direct line below the headlights. But was it the Mainline, Crestline, or
Customline Ford? The answer probably lies INSIDE the car, but I will guess the
Mainline, certainly not Customline as my grandparents’ finances probably would
not have allowed it.
1952 Ford Crestline looks similar
to my grandparents' car
MY GUESS - 1952 or later
Photo 3
Glenn on Granddaddy's Buick
The ultimate “jelly bean” was my grandfather Orvin Davis’s
Buick. I do not know how many cars he owned in his lifetime, but I know this
Buick with its iconic VentiPorts and gunsight hood ornament was his last. It
was the car he chauffeured me and the neighborhood kids in to buy penny candy
at the drugstore. It was the car that carried us across the state every summer
to visit my cousins. As a child, I thought it was the biggest, heaviest, and
ugliest machine ever imagined. I was probably right.
But I digress - back to my
detective work. I tried zooming in to read the name of the model etched across
the grill. The best I can decipher is that the word is 5 letters, so that
eliminates the Roadmaster. It could say Super. It could say Eight. From what I
can tell, they were the same thing, but I find more photos showing “Eight,” so I
will go with that.
Cropped - small image from a large photo
Granddaddy's Buick
Since the 1948 Buick Super Eight had more of that jelly bean
shape with a semi-fastback style than Granddaddy’s car which had more
definition, his car probably dates after 1948. The metal strip on the
windshield seems to have been eliminated from the 1950 models. Therefore, it
seems likely the car was a 1949 model, and because I know the car was still
around in 1963, dating this photo more accurately will require studying the
little boy and his clothes. MY GUESS - 1949 model but photo around 1953
Photo 4
Violetta Davis and Dick Ryan
between 1935 and 1941
One last jelly bean car is this one. I confess it has
given me a fit. Knowing the people, I can say for sure the car dates before
1941 which is the year Violetta’s husband Dick Ryan died. The object of most of
my research was this wing-like rear fender. I compared cars from 1935 (they
married in 1936). Apparently that wing fender was popular among car
manufacturers.
The Chevrolet, Lincoln, and Buick had a rear fender most
like the one on Dick Ryan’s car.
Next I tried comparing the small rear window and exterior
spare tire holder. The search was hampered by the fact that most of the
pictures I found were of cars that have been restored by auto enthusiasts who
might have altered the exterior. But for the most part, most cars did not have
the same slope as Dick’s car.
Then I remembered I have another picture showing the
front of the car.
First two women are unknown
Violetta and her sister Velma Davis Woodring
Once again, like Dick’s car, the front fenders on the
Chevrolet, Lincoln, and Buick had the same gentle slope like a sliding board.
The other cars’ front fenders were more like a hill with a definite stop where it met the
running board.
Furthermore, the shorter length and VERY pronounced vent
on Dick’s car eliminated most of the contenders which had narrow vents and long
front ends.
But I could find no car with a vent like this one. The
very pronounced vent on the Buick seemed somehow related but not an exact
match. I was beginning to think the car rehab artists of today may have
substituted the vents. I put my research aside for another day.
Then BOOM - just like that, this picture popped up:
1935 Ford Slantback
Look at the side vents. Look at that slope and spare tire. This has to be the car.
And that led to this YouTube video.
It’s long with a lot
of talking. But I sat through it because my grandaunt and uncle had that car: a
1935 Ford Slantback which had NO TRUNK, by the way. The car in the video has not
only the very large vent but also the same molded lines around the window and
along the slanted back. One of the interesting features of this car shown in
the video is the ashtray that spins around like a revolving door. Violetta was
a smoker, so she probably liked that.
MY GUESS - 1935 or 1936
I am no Maureen Taylor, but studying the details of old
cars has been a fun little exercise for me. Admittedly, there was no new
revelation, no new connections to anyone, just little factoids to add to my
family history.
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 purple glass. More specifically, it is Wisteria
by Fostoria. It was the fine wedding crystal of my grandaunt Velma Davis
Woodring. In the division of “THINGS,” my mother took the crystal for me, and
my cousin Bobbie took Velma’s china. It was the sweetest pattern of yellow and
purple flowers on ivory colored china. I imagine the china and Wisteria crystal
made a beautiful table.
Water goblet and tall sherbet
Juice glass in front
One of the unique features of the Wisteria crystal is
that it appears to change colors. APPEARS to. Fluorescent lighting makes the
glass look blue. Collectors know if they see blue glass to take it into natural
light to test for that beautiful wisteria purple.
Unfortunately, much of Velma’s crystal was chipped, so
Momma and Bobbie threw many pieces away not knowing that some crystal can
actually be repaired. Such a pity. So I inherited a few water goblets, a few
champagne/sherbet/martini glasses, and a couple juice glasses (or maybe they
are shrimp cocktail glasses??).
The pattern is rare but Replacements and eBay
occasionally have Wisteria available for purchase. I toyed with the idea of
adding to the collection, but it is pricey. Currently Replacements is selling
the champagne/sherbet for $22. One dealer on eBay wants $27 while another is
offering 3 for $96. Replacements has no water glasses, but there is one - and
ONLY ONE - on eBay for $45.
Velma did not limit her love of purple to fine stemware.
She also had candlesticks and a bowl which was either an ice dish or a flower
bowl used as a centerpiece. One Wisteria double candlestick on eBay is on offer
for $92 (plus another $22 in shipping costs).
One more purple glass piece is this one.
We have always called it a chocolate pot because of its size
and shape, but I am not sure chocolate pots were ever made of glass. It is too
tall for a syrup pitcher. I thought it was too small for lemonade until I
remembered that there is a picture of it on display with Velma’s wedding gifts.
Look - the pitcher is surrounded by small tumblers which
appear to be of the same glass. OK, Lemonade Pitcher, it is.
But wait - Lemonade pitchers didn’t have lids. So I’m
back to “I just don’t know.”
I wonder what became of the tumblers.
The Lemonade Set is on the buffet, next to the silver platter.
I have designated Velma’s purple glass to go to my
younger daughter who is truly Velma’s rightful heir. Just like Velma, she loves
jewelry and she loves purple.
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 needlepoint pictures.
Among the numerous things Momma inherited when she and my
cousin cleaned out our aunt Violetta Davis Ryan’s home in 1990 were three
completed needlepoint projects. Well, ALMOST complete. Three sets of cotton
canvas had been worked with needlepoint yarn in the petit point style. They are
the handiwork of my grandaunt Velma Davis Woodring, Violetta’s sister.
Velma was the artsy one. She painted. She sewed. She
quilted. She did needlepoint. What her plans were for the three canvases is not
known.
The design for each is a girl in profile. One holds
flowers; one holds an umbrella.
The third? I can’t remember. The third one was missing
some stitches. Now the whole thing is missing. Maybe we actually threw
something away.
Anyway, Momma had the two cleaned and framed.
The
needlepoint pictures look girly and as such are perfect bedroom pictures. And
that’s where they hang today - in a guest bedroom.
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 milk glass.
Growing up, I always thought we were semi-rich. Not
really rich-rich. Not Hollywood rich. But pretty darn well-off. I thought for
sure my grandaunts Violetta Davis Ryan and Velma Davis Woodring were rich.
Violetta owned multiple apartment buildings. Velma was a world traveler, taught
in Korea, and routinely brought us amazing gifts of jewelry, kimonos, and rice
dishes.
They HAD to be rich, right?
My sister and I have had many good laughs over some of
the heirlooms and not-so-heirloom-worthy items we have inherited from our “rich
aunts.” Case in point: milk glass plates.
My plates on the dining room wall
My sister's collection
A stack of these things! Recognizing
they are Depression glass, we anticipated back in 2009 that they would be
selling at a good price, but eBay put our greed in check. Plates exactly like
ours were advertised at $4 and $5. Today they are still selling in that price
range with an occasional one for $10. A square one like my sister’s is $20.
Our little collection is a microcosm of milk glass history representing patterns sold by the main manufacturers Westmoreland, Hazel-Atlas, and Anchor-Hocking.
The size of the plates made me think they were used for dessert, but I have learned that milk glass was never used for dinnerware. Milk glass was used mainly in vases, jars, pitchers, cake stands, cruets, salt and pepper shakers, and sugar bowls and creamers. Milk glass plates were purely decorative.
My dining room wall of plates
Our plates might not represent the most desirable objects
from the past, but grouped together, they fulfill their intended mission to
delight the eye. The lacy edge of each plate is interesting on its own.
Even someone who doesn’t know the child can date this photo if they pay close attention. As I studied wheel after wheel, I noticed that in early Statesman Customs, the model name appeared closer to the door, not over the wheel like in my photo. Then look what happened in 1952.
