Genealogy Photo a Day 13: Document

Genealogy Photo a Day is a month-long challenge coordinated by Genealogy Girl Talks.

I love stumbling into a document I wasn’t even looking for. 

This marriage bond for Nancy Jollett and Hiram Garnes surfaced during a research trip to the Rockingham County, Virginia court house. My goal that day was to find Davis documents that would satisfy the DAR standards for proving lineage to a Revolutionary War patriot. But heck, I was there anyway, so why not check the index for Jolletts too.

And there it was: a marriage bond for Nancy Jollett. Who? The two Nancy Jolletts I knew of were Jollett by virtue of marriage. Nancy Walker married my 4X great-grandfather James Jollett and Nancy Glass married their son Simeon Jollett. So who was this young Nancy Jollett getting married in Rockingham?

One clue was the bondsman George Sampson. George was married to Drada Jollett, daughter of James and Nancy Walker Jollett. Perhaps Nancy was a sister to Drada. If so, then there is another question to answer: why was she not living in Greene County with her parents?

Look for me on Instagram (@Wendymath27) and Twitter (@Wendymath).

  

Wendy

© 2016, Wendy Mathias.  All rights reserved.

Genealogy Photo a Day 12: Occupation

Genealogy Photo a Day is a month-long challenge coordinated by Genealogy Girl Talks.

I never knew my granduncle Arthur Henry “Woody” Woodring, but my mother always said he and Velma were the fun aunt and uncle. It is easy to see why since in every photo, he has a big smile.

Except in this one. It’s his Game Face.

 

Woody Woodring, catcher
Summer 1926
playing for the Shenandoah shops

Woody was a professional baseball player for a time. He worked on the electrical force of the Norfolk & Western Railroad in Shenandoah, Virginia. In the 1920s N&W sponsored a number of sports teams including basketball and baseball teams that competed against teams from other towns along the N&W line.

Woody was playing on the shops team even while he began his professional baseball career as a catcher in 1924 for the Martinsburg Blue Sox, evidently playing both at the same time. The Blue Sox were part of the Blue Ridge League comprised of six level D (Rookie) teams from Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Maryland.

In those days, the team with the best record for the season became the league champions.  It was Woody’s first year on the team but the Martinsburg Blue Sox’s third straight championship title. The play-off system didn’t start until 1928, the same year that some major league teams started affiliating with the minor teams.  Woody’s team was affiliated with what was then the Philadelphia Athletics.  Other teams were affiliated with the New York Yankees, Cleveland Indians, Detroit Tigers, St. Louis Cardinals, and Washington Senators.

When I told Woody’s story in 2012, it appeared his last season was in 1929. However, I have since discovered that is not so. Apparently the Blue Ridge League continued. In 1930, Woody was released from the Blue Sox and picked up by the Cumberland (Maryland) Colts, an affiliate of the New York Yankees. At some point he returned to the Blue Sox as manager as well as a playing member. A news article dated May 31, 1934 reported he resigned as manager because it interfered with his business interests – whatever they were.

Look for me on Instagram (@Wendymath27) and Twitter (@Wendymath).

Wendy

© 2016, Wendy Mathias.  All rights reserved.

Genealogy Photo a Day 11: Green

Genealogy Photo a Day is a month-long challenge coordinated by Genealogy Girl Talks.

This ruffle top lemonade pitcher is one of the many family heirlooms that have come to me. Unfortunately, I do not know its real history. Since it had been in the home of my grandaunt Violetta Davis Ryan, the pitcher might have belonged to her mother Mary Frances Jollett Davis. Or Violetta might have inherited it when her sister Velma Davis Woodring passed away. Then again, it is entirely possible Violetta bought it herself from an antiques dealer.

The hand-painted deer in snow seems to be an unusual design. Most ruffle top pitchers that I have seen in shops and online have painted flowers and vines.

The lemonade pitcher was quite popular in the Victorian era when lemonade was often served as an alternative to alcohol. In fact, Lucy Hayes, wife of President Rutherford B. Hayes, was nicknamed “Lemonade Lucy” because no alcohol was allowed in the White House during her husband’s presidency.

I wonder if Lucy Hayes owned ruffle top pitchers.

Look for me on Instagram (@Wendymath27) and Twitter (@Wendymath).

Wendy

© 2016, Wendy Mathias.  All rights reserved.

Genealogy Photo a Day 10: Time

Genealogy Photo a Day is a month-long challenge coordinated by Genealogy Girl Talks.

When our parents passed away and my sister and I cleaned out their house, we divided the family heirlooms as fairly as we could. There were four clocks that had been in the family for many years, how many we do not know. She got two and I got two.

Not a one of them works.

My sister took our maternal grandfather’s Techtron clock with its nautical design featuring a ship’s wheel and drawing of an anchor. The Techtron is notorious for being difficult to repair. 

At least she has the beautiful Seth Thomas Adamantine mantle clock from our great-grandmother Sudie Eppard Rucker. If we could get the thing to work consistently, the hourly chime would be delightful.

As for me, I took these.

The Ansonia porcelain clock that belonged to our grandaunt Velma Davis Woodring is lovely and complements my living room décor perfectly. The Seth Thomas mantle clock belonging to our grandaunt Helen Killeen Parker is hiding out in a bedroom, not ticking at all, forever 6:40. As the old joke goes, at least it is correct twice a day.

All these clocks need repair. We just can’t find the time. (Har Har – yeah, I kill me!)

Look for me on Instagram (@Wendymath27) and Twitter (@Wendymath).

Wendy

© 2016, Wendy Mathias.  All rights reserved.

Genealogy Photo a Day 9: Brick Wall

Genealogy Photo a Day is a month-long challenge coordinated by Genealogy Girl Talks.

The sisters and brothers of my great-grandmother Mary Theresa Sheehan Killeen Walsh have constructed a brick wall that would make Donald Trump drool.

 

Is this John Sheehan in 1918?

Who is this man standing APPROPRIATELY in front of a BRICK WALL? The baby has been identified in other photos sometimes as “Bob” and sometimes as “Barbie.” Yes, it’s a girl. I THINK this man is the grandfather. But is he Mary Theresa’s brother John Sheehan? Or is he the husband of one of her sisters?

Since the man is dressed in some sort of uniform, I can easily rule out a couple of the husbands.

• Not Patrick Hederman, Johanna’s husband. He was a porter in a grocery store and a coffee roaster.
• Not William Christian, Delia’s husband. He ran a dry cleaners.
• Possibly Patrick Byrnes, Elizabeth’s husband. He was a chauffeur. Is this the uniform of a chauffeur?
• Possibly John Nagle, Margaret’s husband. He was a bank guard. This uniform bears some resemblance to a police uniform. 

Narrowing down the possibilities is further aided by another clue: Bob/Barbie’s brother John JR. Clearly there must be a John SR. I was excited to discover that Elizabeth and Patrick Byrnes had a son John. However, he was born in 1903, making him too young to be father of John Jr. in 1917. Margaret and John Nagle also had a son John, but he was born in 1911, again far too young to be John Jr’s father.

Perhaps John SR was husband to one of Mary Theresa’s nieces. 

New York City 1921
Mary Theresa Sheehan Killeen Walsh with "Bob" and John Jr.
and probably their mother. Is this woman her niece?
Could she be the daughter of John Sheehan?

However, only Johanna had children old enough to be parents in 1917. Her son John never married. Her daughter Catherine married a man named Charles Fraundorf and they had only one daughter.

So I think the man must be Mary Theresa’s brother John Sheehan. Do you know how many John Sheehans lived in New York City in the early 1900s? Attempts to pinpoint the correct John Sheehan have been frustrating with nothing to show for my efforts.  

The Brick Wall stands.

Look for me on Instagram (@Wendymath27) and Twitter (@Wendymath).

Wendy

© 2016, Wendy Mathias.  All rights reserved.

Genealogy Photo a Day 8: Home

Genealogy Photo a Day is a month-long challenge coordinated by Genealogy Girl Talks.

When the Jolletts started holding family reunions around 1914, they convened annually at the home of James Franklin Jollett in Jollett Springs, Augusta County, Virginia, until his death in 1930. Photos from those reunions offer only brief glimpses of the Jollett home. I can tell it was a two-story white clapboard farmhouse with an addition, likely a kitchen. The roof was tin. Grape vines growing on trellises probably offered some respite during humid summers. The best feature, though, was that the Jolletts possessed the quintessential icon of the American dream home: a white picket fence.

Reunion 1921 - the Jollett sisters and brothers and spouses
Standing: Laura Jollett Sullivan, Sadie Lam Jollett, Ulysses Jollett, Leanna Jollett Knight, Mary Frances Jollett Davis and Walter Davis (my great-grandparents), Sallie Jollett Clift, Victoria Jollett Breeden, Decatur Breeden, James Ira Sullivan
Seated: Will Sullivan, Jack Coleman, Emma Jollett Coleman, James Franklin Jollett
(my 2X great-grandfather) and his wife Eliza Jane Coleman Jollett

I assume the photos were taken in the back yard, but it is difficult to say.

When I get a ride on that Time Machine, I plan to visit the Jollett home place to see for myself.

Look for me on Instagram (@Wendymath27) and Twitter (@Wendymath).

Wendy

© 2016, Wendy Mathias.  All rights reserved.

Genealogy Photo a Day 7: Gratitude

Genealogy Photo a Day is a month-long challenge coordinated by Genealogy Girl Talks.

I wish I had photos for all the new-to-me cousins who deserve my gratitude for reaching out to me with questions, corrections, and updates about our shared ancestors. They have enriched my life and my genealogy research. I especially appreciate those who enjoy collaborating to solve a puzzle. If I start naming names, I will leave out someone important, so I’ll mention only Shirley Ziemer by name because I have a picture of her.

 

Wendy and Shirley

Shirley and I have gotten together a couple times and have chatted by phone. Most often though we email since she lives in Indiana and does not get to Virginia often. She and I have collaborated on the family of John Sampson and Clarissa Jollett, her 3X great-grandparents. Clarissa was sister to my 3X great-grandfather Fielding Jollett.

Look for me on Instagram (@Wendymath27) and Twitter (@Wendymath).

Wendy

© 2016, Wendy Mathias.  All rights reserved.