Tombstone Tuesday: Sallie Jollett Clift

Tombstone Tuesday is a daily prompt at Geneabloggers which asks us to create a post including an image of a gravestone of one or more ancestors; it may also include a brief description of the image or the ancestor.

Image Source:  Findagrave.com
Photo by Judy Campbell

Sarah Catherine "Sallie" Jollett Clift

11 May 1872 -  7 July 1944

 

Sallie (I wrote about her HERE and HERE) is buried in the EUB Church Cemetery, also known as Coverstone Cemetery, in Shenandoah, Virginia where many of her sisters and brother are also buried.  It’s lovely to visit this cemetery where so many of the family are together one last time. 

Black Sheep Sunday: Sallie Jollett Clift

Black Sheet Sunday is a daily prompt at Geneabloggers asking us to create a post with the main focus being an ancestor with a “shaded past.”

For the record, I don’t believe for one minute Sallie Jollett Clift was a black sheep.  But she has a bit of a reputation in our family lore.  Not deserved, I say.

11 May 1872 - 7 Jul 1944

Those whispering behind her back said she ran a house of ill-repute.  I understand how that rumor got started. 

Sallie and her husband George divorced in 1914.  What’s a woman to do?  She took in boarders.  In 1920 and in 1930, she is listed as a keeper of a public boarding house. 

George and Sallie Clift
with children Vernon and Daisy
who died in a fire in 1897

In 1920, the two boarders listed worked for the railroad.  Now I can see how maybe these men invited women “to see their etchings,” but there’s nothing to suggest Sallie was acting as a madam. 

In 1930, no boarders are listed at all.  Sallie’s grandchildren were there.  I doubt she could run a bawdy house with babies under foot. (Click on the image to enlarge it.)

The other reason I don’t think she was a black sheep is that Sallie was present at all the family reunions posing happily with her sisters.  Mary Frances Jollett Davis was a church-going woman who had her own hymnal.  Emma Jollett Coleman dressed in the dark somber clothing associated with the Dunkards, and her husband was the official prayer-deliverer at family events.  I doubt these two would have tolerated Sallie’s presence if she was up to no good.

Standing: Laura Sullivan, Victoria Breeden,
Sallie Clift, Mary Frances Davis
Seated:  Emma Coleman

Victoria Breeden, Sallie Clift, Mary Frances Davis,
Leanna Knight, Laura Sullivan, Emma Coleman

Standing:  Emma Coleman, Laura Sullivan, Mary
Mary Frances Davis, Sallie Clift, Victoria Breeden,
Ulysses Jollett
Seated:  James Franklin Jollett and Eliza Coleman Jollett

Of course, this is just my take on it.  If Sallie was running a brothel, then it’s because she was doing what she could to take care of her sons, daughter, and grandchildren.  Maybe that would make her a grey sheep.

Wendy

Funeral Card Friday: Velma Hilda Davis Woodring

Funeral Card Friday is a daily prompt at Geneabloggers that asks us to post images of memorial cards and stories about the person memorialized.

My great-aunt Velma Hilda Davis Woodring was my maternal grandfather’s youngest sister.  She was born in Shenandoah, Virginia, in 1908 and died of liver cancer in 1968 in Harrisonburg, Virginia. 
 
Her funeral card is very plain.  In fact, it seems rather homemade.  Here is the cover:

Inside the service is printed on a single piece of paper and attached to the cover with a single staple in the fold.

The 2 ministers who conducted the service are members of the family.  Forrest Racy was married to Velma’s cousin, Leota Sullivan.  Arthur Maiden was married to Velma’s and Leota’s cousin Minnie Coleman.  It must have been an especially emotional service for Arthur since he had married Velma and Woody in 1927 (read about that HERE).

 

The active pallbearers are a real mystery to me, but my cousin recognized some of the names.  James F. Logan, Jr. was a teacher at Waterman Elementary when Velma taught there, and  he was very loyal to her. James O'Donnell was the principal at Waterman and later was promoted to an admininstrator with the Harrisonburg school system.  Joseph Hiner was probably a teacher, but my cousin is not sure.  E.S. Ashby was an educator and a good friend of both Violetta and Velma. Joseph Ziler was a dear friend from Martinsburg. He, his wife, and daughter Mary Jo visited with Velma quite often. My cousin thinks Joe was the principal at the school where Velma taught in Martinsburg, West Virginia.

Wedding Wednesday and Treasure Chest Thursday: Velma Davis and Woody Woodring

Wedding Wednesday is a daily prompt at Geneabloggers that invites us to share wedding photos and announcements of our ancestors’ weddings.  Treasure Chest Thursday is a prompt focusing on family heirlooms. 

Velma Hilda Davis (1908-1968) and Arthur Henry Woodring (1904-1951)

Velma and Woody (you can read more about him HERE) married January 15, 1927, in the parlor of the home built by her father, my great grandfather, Walter B. Davis.  This house is still in the family, so it’s fun to compare how the house looks then and now.
 

Their wedding book was probably a gift from the minister, Arthur Maiden.  Arthur was married to Velma’s cousin, Minnie Coleman.

When I spied this photo of wedding gifts in Velma’s scrapbook, my jaw dropped.  Look carefully at the pitcher in front of the picture on the sideboard, and the tea set on the table. Click on the photo to enlarge it.

Now look at the next 2.  Look familiar?

These are among the treasures that have been passed down to me.  The purple pitcher (probably a chocolate pot, judging by the shape) is made of glass.  The original picture makes me think there should be glasses to go with it, but I don’t have them.  The tea set is lusterware from Japan. The photo here makes the blue look much more intense than it really is.  Lusterware was the latest trend in wedding gifts at that time, somewhat like a precursor of fondu sets and rice cookers, I guess. 

Mystery Monday: Trick or Treat?

Mystery Monday is a daily prompt at Geneabloggers that asks us to share mystery ancestors or mystery records – anything in our family history research which is currently unsolved.  With any luck fellow genealogy bloggers will lend their eyes to what has been found so far and possibly help solve the mystery.

The TRICK is that this post is not a mystery at all.  I just needed a place on Geneabloggers to put it.

The TREAT is these 2 funny photos of my parents at a Halloween party in 1959. The women had to dress as men, and the men had to dress as women.  Ooooh, they were a frisky bunch back then!

Here is Momma, Mary Eleanor Davis Slade (1929-2005).

My sister had just been born in January, but look how slim and trim Momma was already. 

And here's Daddy, Fred Robert Slade, Jr. (1928-2009).  Now we know what he would have looked like with hair!

I wonder where Daddy got that dress.  It couldn’t be Momma’s – she wasn’t that big. 

What were they reading?  Maybe they were playing Charades. 

Happy Halloween, Everyone!  I’m off to see if I can SCARE up anymore ancestors!

Randy Seaver's Saturday Night Fun

Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings pointed us to the BBC News website to determine our place in the current world population as well as our place in all of history.  The numbers are really just estimates, but check the website to see how they calculate it.  It's easy -- just enter your birthdate in the fields and click on GO.

I was the 2,574,049,084th person alive at that time, and I was the 75,774,910,192nd person to have ever lived. 

Then I entered the next day's date to find out how many people were born on my birthday.  I share my day with 127,966 people.

Here's how it looks in graph form:

Sports Center Saturday: Woody Woodring

Sports Center Saturday is a daily prompt at Geneabloggers that asks us to discuss our ancestor’s love of sports.

We’re a baseball family.  For better or for worse, we root for the Atlanta Braves while my sister’s family cheers for the Baltimore Orioles and Boston Red Sox.  When my nephews were playing, their dad coached Pony league ball and travel ball, and now he coaches the high school team.  Our daughter played fast pitch softball in Little League, travel ball, and high school.  My cousin Glenn was a collector of baseball memorabilia and even paid for his 3 daughters’ braces just selling baseball cards.  As we say in the South, “We’re eat up with it.”

So to have a professional ballplayer in the family is a big deal. 

Arthur Henry “Woody” Woodring is no one famous. I didn’t know him either, but he was married to my great-aunt Velma Davis.

1949

Even after looking at numerous photos, studying the census records, and trying to learn about old ball teams, I still know very little except this:  Woody was born in Pennsylvania about 1904.  In the 1920 Waynesboro, Pennsylvania census, he was working in a factory and his mother was running a boarding house; his father is not listed. Woody and Velma married in 1927, but he is nowhere to be found in the 1930 census although she is living with her parents in Shenandoah, Virginia, and is listed as married.  Woody died in 1951, in Martinsburg, West Virginia, where he and Velma lived.  At the time he was a salesman for a meat packing company.

So, what about that baseball career?  Why wasn’t he listed in the 1930 census?  I’m going to guess Woody was traveling, playing ball somewhere.

Judging by his uniform, he played baseball for the Shenandoah Indians, one of the top teams in the Shenandoah Valley League, which was started in 1923. 

I wish I could identify his teammates.

Look at that glove.  Was he a catcher?














These people look authoritative.  My guess is a manager and umpire.

Today the SVL is funded by Major League Baseball as part of the National Alliance of College Summer Baseball, an association of 8 summer leagues.  To date the league has produced over 1000 major league baseball players.

Shenandoah Ball Park 1951
Image scanned from Shenandoah:
A History of Our Town and Its People

Unfortunately, I don’t know the particulars of Woody’s career except that it didn’t last.  Maybe the Depression got in the way. 

My mother always remembered Velma and Woody as “the fun ones” in the family.  They didn’t have kids of their own, but they enjoyed entertaining their niece and nephew. 

Woody and Uncle Orvin Jr.
in 1928

It seems throughout his life, Woody enjoyed all kinds of sports including hunting and fishing.