Wordless Wednesday: Strangers among us

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.

Unknown family from album of Helen Killeen Parker
about 1920

This photo in Aunt Helen's album intrigues me.  I am guessing these are relatives in New York.  The woman COULD be my great-grandmother Mary Theresa Sheehan Killeen Walsh, or maybe it's one of her sisters.  Is the older man her brother John?  Or none of the above?

Writer's Blog Hop

I was invited by Cheri Hudson Passey, also known as Carolina Girl, to participate in a Writers Blog Hop.  It’s sort of a “pyramid scheme meets chain letter” event in which no one is harmed and everyone wins.  As I traveled back through Cheri’s blog to the writer who invited her and then the writer who invited her to the writer who invited her, I found that this “hop” isn’t just for family historians.  There are travel writers, romance writers, poets, journalists, mommy bloggers, and every other kind of writer imaginable with no connection to one another except by their passion for writing.  Each writer answered the same four questions offering some insight into “the writer’s life.” 

What am I writing or working on?

My blog is my only writing project.  Of course, in my head, those blog posts will one day become a book.  There was a time when I thought I could put together a collection of all the resources available for Jollett research – you know, one of those BIG 3”-thick tomes full of photos and copies of family bibles, census records, deeds, wills, and appraisals –, but I’ve abandoned that idea.  Laziness and logistics, I suppose.  Probably a series of “coffee table books” will come of my efforts.

Because I accepted Amy Johnson Crow’s challenge to write about 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks, I’m not blogging as frequently as in the past.  That’s because I am doing more research in preparation for those weekly posts.  I decided to focus on my oldest ancestors, regardless of the particular line or surname, forcing me to do some due diligence in collecting the facts.  The downside is the posts are not “attractive,” being nearly void of any photos or images.  The upside is I’m updating old research and documenting my sources more accurately.

How does my work differ from others of its genre?
As a family historian, my work differs only in that it’s the story of MY family.  Connecting with other researchers showed me the value of studying collateral lines, and so the title of my blog, “Jollett Etc” reflects how my research has expanded to include other surnames besides Jollett.  Most of my blogs are written in story form even though they will vary in the degree of completeness.  Photo albums that have been passed down to me from 3 grandaunts on both sides of my family have inspired the majority of my posts.  Since none of my aunts bothered to provide much detail about the who-what-where-when-why of their photos, my Nancy Drew skills have been tested in order to sleuth out a story. 

Why do I write what I do?
My mother got me started on genealogy in the pre-Internet days when she wanted to join the DAR.  She dragged me in to help her with the research.  I have since carried on her work although DAR membership has still managed to elude us.  In 1998 I started a Jollett website on Geocities with the intention of collecting primary sources related to the Jolletts of Virginia.  When Geocities shut down, I sat on my research not knowing what to do with it until a friend suggested I start a blog.  However, since the only blogs I knew of were dedicated to home decorating and cooking, I couldn’t imagine how genealogy would fit into blog format.  My thought processes were stuck in Geocities mode where family tree charts and transcriptions of deeds and wills formed a body of knowledge.  “Chronological” was the only thing that made sense to me. 

Stumbling upon Thomas MacEntee and Geneabloggers was a real epiphany.  I didn’t even know there was such a huge genealogy community blogging away.  Answering a variety of daily prompts got me started when I didn’t know where to begin.

I posted a few blogs but I never LOVED my blog until I discovered Sepia Saturday and the A to Z April Challenge.  The weekly photo prompts at Sepia Saturday always inspire me to find SOMETHING in my family’s history, often stories I would never have thought to write about.  The A to Z April Challenge freed me from the Geocities mindset.  The responses I got from people who were not genealogists at all gave me confidence in my writing and allowed me to write in the moment, no matter how random or seemingly disconnected the stories were.  Sepia Saturday and A to Z helped me realize I could separate personal narrative from the dry data of genealogy research.  One day when I’m ready to put that coffee table book together, I can rearrange my stories into something that creates a more cohesive picture.

  

How does my writing process work?

Typically I start with PANIC.  I keep an excel spreadsheet-type calendar where I list planned blogs along with their due dates and completion dates.  My goal is to write ahead, so when a due-date inches closer, panic sets in.  I then try to distract myself by reading other blogs.  Doing so insures that the feelings of being unworthy by comparison and not doing justice to my family will increase all sense of panic.  That’s when I become the most creative.  Honest. 

A sideline to panic mode is a phone call to my sister.  I’ll either ask her a question about a particular event in our family history or I’ll whine about not knowing what to say about an old photo.  Her natural wit and irreverence never fail to inspire a new direction for a blog post. 

I am by nature an obedient child, a rules-follower.  The conventions of good writing are important to me:  starting strong, ending strong, building bridges between thoughts with transitional markers.  However, I’m always drawn to bloggers who write in a more conversational tone than I usually do.  It’s difficult for me to “loosen up,” so when I include a fragment, it’s for effect – for dramatic emphasis or to create a casual and less formal style. 

My writing space, on the other hand, defies all the rules of good writing.  Clutter.  Post-it notes surround my computer that is in desperate need of screen-cleaner.  Photo albums, college yearbooks from 1923-26, and history books stay near my feet.  If I put them away, I’ll just need them again, so why bother?  The flurry of notes and scraps and unreadable scrawl ever remind me of the need to organize this mess before someone nominates me for a feature on “Hoarders.”

The blog tour continues next week with Nancy Messier of “MyAncestors and Me.” 

52 Ancestors: #27 - Madison SHIFLETT

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.

James Madison SHIFLETT, my third great granduncle, was either the first or second son of Jacob Shiflett and Polly Jarrell.  The ages of Jefferson Shiflett as reflected in census records and obituary suggest he was the first born.  However, Jacob’s will lists Madison first and Jefferson third; whether the list was intended to be chronological is not clear. 

Unlike his brother Jefferson, Madison stayed close to home.  In 1836, he obtained a land grant for 59 ¾ acres next to his father’s land in a section of upper Orange County that two years later became Greene County, Virginia. 

In 1844, Madison married Lucinda SHIFLETT.  They had at least 4 children, but sadly they just didn’t seem to stick.  One died as an infant; one was shot and killed as a teenager; one simply disappeared after the 1860 census.  However his daughter Rebecca managed to live a long time, marry, and produce plenty of grandchildren. 

Apparently by 1860, Madison was already a widower.  In June he was enumerated along with his three children living with his brother-in-law and sister, Pemberton and July Ann Catherine Lamb.  In August, Madison was enumerated again, but this time he was on his own living with his children next door to his mother Polly Jarrell and brother Burton. 

In 1870, the 60-year old Madison married a 25-year old Parrenia Herring.  As creepy as that sounds today, those obvious May-December marriages were very common.  They had one daughter.

 Three Generations:

James Madison SHIFLETT ( 1809 Orange Co, VA – May 1887 Greene Co, VA ) & m1) Lucinda SHIFLETT (1819 –  Before 1870) 13 Dec 1844 Greene Co, VA ; & m2) Parrenia HERRING (1845 - ) 3 Jul 1870 Greene Co, VA

Madison and Lucinda had the following children:

1. Matthew SHIFLETT ( 1847 Greene County, VA - )

2. Burton SHIFLETT ( 1849 Greene County, VA - 20 Oct 1866 Greene Co, VA )

3. Rebecca Jane Catherine SHIFLETT ( Aug 1850 Greene Co, VA - 1936 Albemarle Co, VA) & Burton MCALISTER ( Feb 1842 – 1933 Albemarle Co, VA ) 06 Aug 1867 Greene Co, VA 

• Lucinda C. MCALISTER ( Apr 1868 Greene Co, VA - 23 Apr 1933 Albemarle Co, VA ) & John F. WALTON  16 Jul 1914 Albemarle Co, VA
• William B. MCALISTER ( Aug 1871 Albemarle Co, VA – 1939 ) & Martha UNKNOWN ( Dec 1863 - ) about 1898
• Parthena Alice MCALISTER ( 1873 Albemarle Co, VA - )
• John Turner MCALISTER ( 1875 Albemarle Co, VA – 1961 ) & Virenda J. FRAZIER (25 Feb 1878 Greene Co, VA - 26 May 1955 )  02 Jan 1900 Greene Co, VA
• Laura A. MCALISTER ( Mar 1878 Albemarle Co, VA – 1962 ) & Richard Franklin GARRISON 01 Jun 1929 Albemarle Co, VA
• Mary Lee MCALISTER ( 17 Apr 1881 Albemarle Co, VA - 01 Oct 1917 Albemarle Co, VA ) & James Nathaniel FRAZIER (16 Jul 1886 Greene Co, VA - 23 Aug 1953 Charlottesville, VA ) 18 Jan 1911 Albemarle Co, VA
• Richard Harrison MCALISTER ( Mar 1883 Albemarle Co, VA - 1958 Albemarle Co, VA ) & Lillie A. GARRISON (09 Apr 1881 Augusta Co, VA - 1965 Albemarle Co, VA )
• Emmitt Franklin MCALISTER ( 25 Sep 1885 Albemarle Co, VA - 07 Jan 1957 Albemarle Co, VA ) & Fannie Catherine SHIFLETT ( 1895 Greene Co, VA – 1985 )  09 Mar 1912 Greene Co, VA
• Edward F. MCALISTER ( Mar 1888 Albemarle Co, VA - )
• Bernard Dabney MCALISTER ( Jan 1890 Albemarle Co, VA  -  12 Jan 1919 Albemarle Co, VA ) & Beattie WOOD 29 May 1911 Albemarle Co, VA
• Myrtle Blanche MCALISTER ( May 1894 Albemarle Co, VA -  31 Jan 1933 ) & Samuel Watts WALTON (1892 Albemarle Co, VA - 1963 Albemarle Co, VA )

4. Noah W. SHIFLETT ( 10 Apr 1856 Greene Co, VA - 12 Sep 1856 Greene Co, VA )

Madison and Parrenia had the following child:

5. Ardenia SHIFLETT ( 1872 Greene Co, VA - )

© 2014, Wendy Mathias.  All rights reserved.

Sepia Saturday: Back to the Future

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

This week’s Sepia Saturday prompt depicts back-slapping and hand-shaking, politics at work.  The prompt brought to mind a set of puzzling photos of my grandaunt Lillie Killeen in the midst of some kind of celebration that had “politics” written all over it. 

Lillie Killeen to the left of the man in the center

Puzzling because first of all, I never knew Lillie to be political.  She was always just the sweet maiden aunt who orbited the dining room table making sure everyone got seconds on the ham. 

Secondly, the nature of the occasion is confusing.  On the edge of each photo is the date:  May 1959.  The bunting and toll booths suggest this could be the dedication of the new tunnel connecting Norfolk and Portsmouth, but that took place in 1952.  Nope, that’s not it.

Was it a political rally?  But why at the tunnel?

The man in what appears to be a Navy uniform made me think this could be the commissioning of a battleship newly built at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard.  

However, I couldn’t imagine that two cities would stop tunnel traffic for that. 

I turned to Mr. Mike who lived for a time in the Hampton Roads area thinking he might recognize the location and occasion.  He agreed that the place looked like the Downtown Tunnel.  His most valuable help, though, was this observation about that date, May 1959:  maybe the film stayed in the camera or in a canister for 7 years before it was ever developed, he posited. 

And apparently that’s exactly what happened.  (Is Mr. Mike ever wrong??)

A little Google here and a little GenealogyBank there brought the story into focus.  This photo of Governor John Battle delivering the keynote speech at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the opening of the tunnel looks much like the one from Lillie’s camera, right down to that one twisted bunting. 

Photo courtesy Norfolk Public Library Digital Collections

Still, I couldn’t figure out how Lillie qualified for those credentials pinned to her suit and to sit among dignitaries.  She lived like the proverbial church mouse, so it is inconceivable that she had made any grand financial contribution to the cause. Fortunately, a human-interest news report in advance of the completion of the tunnel provided the answer.  It turns out that one of the members of the tunnel commission was a former mayor of Portsmouth, Dr. Vernon Brooks.  Lillie was Dr. Brooks’ secretary and bookkeeper, and life-long friend.   Obviously she was his special guest. Mystery solved.

Lillie Killeen center
I BELIEVE this is Dr. and Mrs. Vernon Brooks
since there are several photos in which they appear.

In 1952, the opening of the tunnel was indeed a time to celebrate.  It was seen as the “FIRST STEP” in solving our traffic woes.   Thirty-four years later, the toll revenue bonds were paid off and tolls were removed.   A year later in 1987, a parallel tunnel opened allowing two lanes of traffic going east and two lanes going west.  And now 62 years after Lillie joined the honored guests at the ribbon-cutting ceremony, we are once again looking for the “FIRST STEP” in solving our traffic woes.  Despite public outcry, tolls are back in place – but not the tollbooths, thanks to EZ Pass – to help fund a new tunnel and other road projects.

Where else but in Hampton Roads would you drive through a tunnel and then cross a draw-bridge to get to the other side?

A warm handshake and a welcome await you at Sepia Saturday.  It’s toll-free.

© 2014, Wendy Mathias.  All rights reserved.

Wordless Wednesday: A Bush in Winter

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.

Velma Davis (Woodring)
and good friend Olive Williams
1928

Even without its leaves, the Weeping Mulberry was a favorite spot to pose for pictures.  Crazy!

This is the 10th picture in a series of photos taken with the Weeping Mulberry at my great-grandparents’ home in Shenandoah, Virginia.  

© 2014, Wendy Mathias.  All rights reserved.

52 Ancestors: #26 - Burton SHIFLETT

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.

Week 26 - it's the halfway point in the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge.  Half a year already?? 

Burton Shiflett and Nancy Elizabeth Frazier were my third great-grandparents, just one of MANY couples created by the intermarriage of Shifletts and Fraziers of Greene County, Virginia.  In fact, one of Nancy’s brothers married one of Burton’s sisters. 

While there was a lot of love between the two families, there was also a lot of fussin’ and fightin’ and feudin’.  Probably nothing changes the family dynamic quite as dramatically as killing one’s own, and that is exactly what happened in October of 1860. 

Nancy was made a widow at the hand of her oldest brother, Leland Frazier (aka Leland Shiflett).  Ironically, in 1840, Leland Frazier was a member of the Committee of Vigilance for Greene County.  The purpose of such groups of private citizens was to maintain law and order particularly where local government was inadequate, which seems to have been the case in Greene having been established for only two years. 

Yet twenty years later, Leland stood indicted for the murder of his brother-in-law, Burton Shiflett.  He pleaded “Not Guilty.”  While I have not found the motive, the means was stabbing.  It took several days for a sequestered jury of his peers to find Leland Frazier guilty NOT of murder but of Voluntary Manslaughter.

From the Greene County Circuit Court Law Book, pp. 116-117

 “We the Jury find the prisoner is guilty of Voluntary Manslaughter, and fixed his term of imprisonment to four years in the penitentiary house, Nov. 20, 1860.” And thereupon it being demanded of him, if anything for himself he had or knew to say why the Court should not now proceed to pronounce judgment against him according to law, and nothing being offered or alleged in delay of judgment, It is considered by the Court, that the said Leland Shiflett commonly called Leland Frazier be imprisoned in the public jail and penitentiary house of this Commonwealth for the space of four years, the period of the Jurors in their verdict ascertained. And the prisoner is remanded to jail.”

Voluntary Manslaughter suggests Leland killed his sister’s husband in the heat of the moment, that there had been no premeditation.  Perhaps Burton had even provoked the incident.  I wish I knew what they were fighting over.

THREE GENERATIONS: 

Burton SHIFLETT ( 1814 Orange County, VA - 22 Oct 1860 Greene Co, VA) & Nancy Elizabeth FRAZIER (14 Feb 1811 - 22 Jan 1895 Rockingham Co, VA )  01 Dec 1834 Albemarle, VA

1. Ola SHIFLETT ( 1835 –  Before 1850 )

2. Jacob Haskell SHIFLETT (About 1836 – Before 08 Oct 1871 ) & Lucretia JOLLETT ( 18 Sep 1838 Rockingham Co, VA  - 31 Dec 1911 Rockingham Co,VA )  05 Aug 1858 Page Co, VA

• Mary E. SHIFLETT ( May 1859 – Before 1955 ) & George R. MAYHEW ( Jul 1947 New York - )  17 Mar 1879 in Page Co, VA
• Martha F. S. SHIFLETT ( 1863 - Before 1955 ) & George W. MCCAULEY ( Aug 1852 – Before 1920 ) 08 Jun 1882 Rockingham Co, VA

3. John Conway SHIFLETT ( 02 Jun 1840 Greene Co, VA - 09 Feb 1917 Albemarle Co, VA ) & m1) Lucretia SHIFLETT  (1846 Greene Co, VA – Before Jul 1880 Greene Co, VA )  07 Dec 1863 Greene Co, VA  ; & m2) Nancy  J. SHIFLETT ( May 1848 - ) ; & m3) Mary D. SHIFLETT ( 1849 – 1924 ) 28 Jul 1880 Greene Co, VA 

John Conway and Lucretia SHIFLETT had the following children:

• Eudora A. SHIFLETT ( 01 Jul 1866 - 28 Dec 1932 ) & John Lewis GIBSON ( 1863 - ) 18 May 1884 in Greene Co, VA
• Joseph Ottobine SHIFLETT ( 30 Mar 1868 - ) & m1) Edie COLEMAN 10 Mar 1909 Augusta Co, VA ; & m2) Rosa L. ROBERTS ( 1892 - )

John Conway and Nancy J. SHIFLETT had the following children:

• John Conway SHIFLETT JR. ( 05 Oct 1877 - 27 Apr 1947 ) & Alice E. SHIFLETT (01 Aug 1887 - 02 Dec 1973 )  11 Oct 1901 Albemarle Co, VA
• Lucy Ann SHIFLETT ( 05 Oct 1877 - 30 Sep 1947 ) & Adam K. WYANT ( 02 Nov 1855 - 21 Jan 1941 )

John Conway and Mary D. SHIFLETT had the following children:

• Maude B. SHIFLETT ( Feb 1883 - 31 Oct 1957 ) & George Burress SHIFLETT (17 Sep 1872 - 21 May 1948 ) 29 Dec 1904 Albemarle Co, VA
• Wilford Clement SHIFLETT ( 05 Apr 1888 - 05 Aug 1961 ) & Lutitia Jane “Lishie” MORRIS (1885 – 02 Dec 1965 ) 27 Oct 1921 Greene Co, VA
• Woodford H. SHIFLETT ( 20 May 1890 - 02 Feb 1926 ) & Louise LEWIS ( 21 Aug 1896 – 02 Jul 1964 ) 06 Mar 1916 Albemarle Co, VA

4. Lucy Ann SHIFLETT ( 1843 Greene Co, VA - 1884 Greene Co, VA ) & James Franklin JOLLETT ( 17 Nov 1836 Rockingham Co, VA - 03 Jun 1930 Augusta Co, VA )  12 Nov 1859 Greene Co, VA

• Burton Lewis JOLLETT ( 1860 Greene Co, VA - Before 05 May 1934 Greene Co, VA ) & m1) Louisa SULLIVAN ( 1861 – Before 1900 ) 20 Jan 1881 ; & m2) Cornelia MORRIS ( Nov 1844 – Before 1920 ) 19 Sep 1900 Greene Co, VA
• Emma  F. JOLLETT ( 01 Feb 1863 Greene Co, VA - 10 Apr 1945 Shenandoah, Page, VA ) & Andrew Jackson “Jack” COLEMAN (29 Jul 1858 Greene Co, VA - 04 Oct 1947 Shenandoah, Page, VA ) 26 Nov 1880 Greene Co, VA
• Laura E. JOLLETT ( 30 May 1865 Greene Co, VA - 30 Jul 1947 Shenandoah, Page, VA ) &  William J. SULLIVAN  (13 Jan 1866 - 22 May 1942 in Shenandoah, Page Co, VA  ) 14 Jan 1886 in Greene Co, VA
• Columbia Ann Leanna JOLLETT ( 14 Mar 1867 Greene Co, VA - 20 Sep 1936 Greene Co, VA ) & James Mitchell KNIGHT (09 May 1866 Greene Co, VA - 16 Feb 1942 Greene Co, VA  )01 Mar 1885 Greene Co, VA
• Mary Frances JOLLETT ( 10 Jan 1870 Greene Co, VA - 22 Feb 1950 Harrisonburg, VA ) & Walter Beriah  Sylvester DAVIS (12 Sep 1867 Rockingham Co, VA - 31 Oct 1934 in Shenandoah, Page Co, VA ) 11 Feb 1890 Greene Co, VA
• Sarah Catherine “Sallie” JOLLETT ( 11 May 1872 Greene Co, VA - 07 Jul 1944 Washington DC ) & George Thomas CLIFT 30 Mar 1891, divorced 1914
• Victoria Elizabeth JOLLETT ( 19 Mar 1878 Greene Co, VA - 02 May 1944 ) & Decatur Bainbridge BREEDEN (15 Sep 1877 - 27 Sep 1952 Washington DC ) 1902
• William Isaac  JOLLETT ( Jan 1880 Greene Co, VA - Jul 1903 Newport News, VA )
• Ulysses Finks JOLLETT ( 26 Jan 1883 Greene Co, VA - 30 Jan 1931 Baltimore, MD ) & Sadie Janiero LAMB ( 07 Jul 1880 – 05 Feb 1961 ) 23 Nov 1903 Greene Co, VA

5. Francis M. SHIFLETT ( 1844 Greene Co, VA - )

6. Jeremiah SHIFLETT ( 1847 Greene Co, VA - )

7. Nancy Frances SHIFLETT ( 1849 Greene Co, VA -  1926 Fairfax, VA ) & William Gordon MORRIS JR.  (1851 Greene Co, VA – Before 1900 Greene Co, VA ) 20 Sep 1872 Greene Co, VA

William Layton MORRIS ( 1874 Greene Co, VA -  03 Feb 1895 ) & Ida Mary DAVIS ( 25 Jun 1869 - )  12 Dec 1890

• Upshur MORRIS ( 1875 – 1891 )
• Addie MORRIS ( 27 Mar 1876 - Apr 1901 ) & Henry ARMENTROUT ( 1875 - )
• Lemuel Belvin MORRIS ( 16 Dec 1877 - Oct 1947 ) & Emma  C. UNKNOWN 1906
• Marvin Tollie MORRIS ( 07 Aug 1878 Greene Co, VA -  1943 ) & Virginia  RHINEHART ( 1872 - )
• Ethel MORRIS ( Jul 1881 - After 1940 ) & Peter DAVIS (1866 - ) 1908 Greene Co, VA
• Vessie Lelia MORRIS ( 15 Feb 1883 - 06 Mar 1950 Fairfax, VA ) & Paul Edgar RHINEHART ( 1873 - )
• Margaret Elizabeth “Maggie” MORRIS ( 13 Sep 1884 - ) & Unknown WILLS
• Blanche Cornelia MORRIS ( 27 Feb 1887 - 25 Dec 1968 Greene Co, VA ) & Levin P. SMITH (1880 – 1971 )
• William Gordon “Bill” MORRIS III  ( 12 Feb 1891 - 09 Jul 1968 Greene Co, VA ) & Dorothy SNIVLEY.

8. Susan Clementine SHIFLETT ( 22 Jun 1851 Greene Co, VA - 29 Dec 1928 Greene Co, VA )  & George Austin MORRIS  (06 Apr 1848 Greene Co, VA - 14 Nov 1934 Greene Co, VA )  12 Dec 1870 Greene Co, VA

• Ida Belle MORRIS ( 15 Oct 1871 Greene Co, VA - 02 Apr 1917 Greene Co, VA ) & George Allen KNIGHT (11 May 1867 - 08 Sep 1948 Greene Co,  VA )  11 Jul 1894 in Greene Co, VA
• Francis Monroe MORRIS ( 21 Jul 1873 Greene Co, VA - 10 Aug 1936 Albemarle Co, VA ) & Ludelia MORRIS (06 Oct 1877 Greene Co, VA - 17 May 1958 Greene Co, VA )  28 Dec 1899 in Greene Co, VA
• Leviston Ervin MORRIS ( 01 Mar 1874 Greene Co, VA - 25 Dec 1957 Albemarle Co, VA ) &  Roberta Ella MORRIS (17 Mar 1878 Greene Co, VA - 30 Mar 1958 Greene Co, VA )  28 Dec 1899 Greene Co, VA
• Altie Zora MORRIS ( 02 Dec 1876 Greene Co, VA - 29 Dec 1954 ) & Charles PERKEY ( 19 Dec 1872 Rockingham Co, VA -  02 Jan 1943 ) 23 Dec 1902 Greene Co, VA
• Mary An n MORRIS ( 02 Dec 1878 Greene Co, VA -  18 Jun 1947 Greene Co, VA ) & James Charles SULLIVAN (11 Jul 1875 Greene Co, VA - 21 Mar 1913 Greene Co, VA )  19 Sep 1900 Greene Co, VA
• John Paul MORRIS ( 30 Mar 1880 Greene Co, VA - 21 Dec 1916 Greene Co, VA )
• Rhoda Green MORRIS ( 17 Nov 1882 Greene Co, VA - 22 Apr 1902 Greene Co, VA )
• Columbus Abell MORRIS ( 02 May 1884 Greene Co, VA - 20 Apr 1964 Pennsylvania ) & Elizabeth “Bessie” COLLINS  ( 16 Aug 1891 Pennsylvania - 11 Nov 1938 Greene Co, VA )  1913
• Sylvester E. MORRIS ( 22 Feb 1886 Greene Co, VA - 12 Nov 1967 Charlottesville, VA ) & Nettie Jane MORRIS (28 Apr 1909 Greene Co, VA - 26 Apr 1978 Greene Co, VA )   05 Aug 1930 Greene Co, VA
• Myrtle Nelson MORRIS ( Feb 1887 Greene Co, VA - 01 Mar 1970 Gordonsville, VA )  & m1) Iola CRAWFORD (1890 Greene Co, VA - ) ; & m2) Anna COLLIER ( 10 Aug 1886 Greene Co, VA -  Jan 1965 Gordonsville, VA )  05 Aug 1930 Greene Co, VA
• Willie Lee MORRIS ( 27 Feb 1889 Greene Co, VA - 15 Jul 1918 France )
• George Washington MORRIS ( 1892 Greene Co, VA - 1892 Greene Co, VA )
• Julia Catherine MORRIS ( 02 Apr 1893 Greene Co, VA - 01 Jun 1979 Alexandria, VA ) & George C. GILMER        ( 10 Aug 1884 Rockingham Co, VA - 08 Sep 1962 Charlottesville, VA )   03 Jul 1918 Greene Co, VA
• Eveline Marie MORRIS ( 12 Mar 1895 Greene Co, VA - 26 Jul 1976 Great Falls, Fairfax, VA ) & Robert Lee COLLIER  (28 Dec 1889 Greene Co, VA - 05 Jan 1963 Loudoun Co, VA)  22 Jun 1922 Albemarle Co, VA
• Mabel Alice MORRIS ( 12 Dec 1897 Greene Co, VA - 27 Jun 1966 Baltimore, MD ) & Isaac Jackson RICE
• (20 Dec 1893 Tyler, WV - 16 Jun 1965 Ann Arundel, MD )
• John Joseph MORRIS ( 24 May 1907 Camden, NJ - 11 Nov 1957 Charlottesville, VA ) & Genevieve EDDINS ( 16 Nov 1914 Madison Co, VA - 30 Mar 2011 Charlottesville, VA )

9. Victoria SHIFLETT ( Mar 1854 Greene Co, VA - Before 1930 ) & Ambrose VERNON 26 Dec 1875 Greene Co, VA

• Ira McClellan VERNON ( 1876 Greene Co, VA - )  & JoAnn “Josie”  MARSHALL ( 1877 - ) 27 Jan 1898 Greene Co, VA
• Madie VERNON ( 1878 Greene, VA - )
• Unnamed VERNON ( Mar 1880 Greene Co, VA )
• John F. VERNON ( Oct 1881 Greene, VA - )
• Lucy Ann VERNON ( 13 Jun 1884 Greene, VA - 03 Feb 1972 ) & Beauregard George SNOW ( 1877 – 1961 )  23 May 1906 Greene Co, VA

10. George W. SHIFLETT ( 20 Apr 1856 Greene Co, VA - )

11. Unnamed male SHIFLETT ( 1857 Greene Co, VA - 10 Mar 1857 Greene Co, VA )

© 2014, Wendy Mathias.  All rights reserved.

Sepia Saturday: Cooling Her Heels

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

This week’s Sepia Saturday prompt is people standing in water.  

When my mother attended Shenandoah College from 1946 to 1948, there probably wasn't much for students to do in their spare time.  Saturdays found the co-eds hanging out on the school lawn

 

Possibly Momma's roommates

College friends
Momma is second from the left

Or tickling their toes in nearby Cooks Creek

 

Or even walking in the creek.

Unknown friend

On the back of the photo to the right:
It's such a beautiful snap
I thought you'd like to have it.

But sometimes that need to let loose took one college sophomore out of the icy river water right into HOT WATER with the college Dean.

 

Reprimand from the Women's Student Government Association
for making noise and keeping students awake

And not just once.

 

Oh no -- Campus Restriction!
No Snack Bar?  That had to hurt!

It seems my prim-and-proper-you’d-better-behave-or-else mother was sent to COOL HER HEELS before the Student Government numerous times.  Since she saved the index card reprimands, she must not have been too ashamed.

Somehow I doubt she would have found such behavior from me to be amusing though.

Wade into the soothing waters of Sepia Saturday. 

© 2014, Wendy Mathias.  All rights reserved.