Wordless Wednesday: Fun in the snow

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.

December 1945

Judging by the smirk on this woman’s face, she’s not overly scared of that rifle.  I don’t know who these people are – just friends of my great aunt Lillie Killeen.

© 2014, Wendy Mathias.  All rights reserved.

Tombstone Tuesday: The Knights

Tombstone Tuesday is a daily prompt at Geneabloggers which asks bloggers 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.

My great grand aunt Leanna Jollett Knight and my great grand uncle James Mitchell Knight are buried in the Evergreen Church Cemetery in Greene County, Virginia.  The prettiest stone church is just across the street from the cemetery, which is enclosed by a low wall made from the same stones.  The surrounding scenery is breathtaking no matter the season. 

from Findagrave.com
photo by Jan Hensley

from Findagrave.com
photo by Jan Hensley

from Findagrave.com
photo by Jan Hensley

James M. Knight                                                              MOTHER

May 9, 1866                                                                      Leanna A. Knight

Feb. 16, 1942                                                                    Born

                                                                                            Mar. 14, 1867

                                                                                            Died

                                                                                            Sept. 20, 1936

         

© 2014, Wendy Mathias.  All rights reserved.

Census Sunday: James Mitchell Knight

Last Sunday I wrote about Ulysses Jollett’s widow Sadie and my inability to find her in the 1940 census.  Fortunately finding Leanna Jollett Knight’s widowed husband James Mitchell Knight was a snap.

click to enlarge

James Mitchell Knight (75) was living as a widower with one of their eleven children, son James Frank Knight (37 – probably incorrect age) and family including James’ wife Maggie (47), son Edward (20) and daughter Margrette (15).  Mitchell was listed as UNABLE to work and had lived with his son in White Hall in Albemarle County, Virginia, at least since 1935, the year before Leanna’s death.   At the time of the previous census, Mitchell and Leanna had been living on their own farm in Nortonsville, Albemarle County, Virginia.

James Frank owned his house valued at $700 and was a farmer.  His son Edward was a farm laborer, likely working for his father who was listed as an EMPLOYER. 

No one in this family had much education.  Mitchell, his son James Frank, and grandson Edward each had completed only 4 years of school.  Maggie completed 6 and Margrette only 3.  Based on an earlier census, I believe Margrette’s age is incorrectly recorded as 15 but should be only 10, which makes 3 years of school appropriate.

Jollett spouses with James Franklin Jollett at a reunion
about 1928
Will Sullivan, Decatur Breeden, Mitchell Knight, Sadie Jollett,
Walter Davis, Jack Coleman, James Franklin Jollett

©2014, Wendy Mathias.  All rights reserved.

Sepia Saturday: Smooth Operator

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

This week’s Sepia Saturday photo prompt depicts a row of switchboard operators at work.  A scene like this was quite familiar to my aunt Beverly Ann Slade “Betty” Anderson.  Why? Because she was part of the legend of women who said “NY-un” (9) and “FY-vuh” (5) when speaking to telephone customers.

From the very first day on the job in 1952, Aunt Betty loved working at the “toll board” or “cord board,” as it was called, as an employee of Southern Bell in Burlington, North Carolina, and then later at C & P Telephone Company in Portsmouth, Virginia. 

C & P Telephone Company
High Street Portsmouth, VA
The telephone operators were on the third floor.
from Google Maps

The woman in the back is operating the
switchboard from which she connected
calls to the desks in the business office
of C & P Telephone Company.
photo courtesy of Beverly Anderson

The basis of the job was quite simple:  just insert one or both cords to make the connection. But the challenge came when there was no direct connection.  The operators had to use a map to figure out a route and then call another phone center to serve as a link in a chain of connections. 

An article in the company newspaper 1968
shows male operators at the toll board
courtesy Betty Anderson

The job at the cord board took on a competitive edge when several calls came in at the same time requiring the same connections.  Operators would shout out the time their call came in.  It was a system of “first come - first served.”

Aunt Betty was not intimidated by supervisors (like the one in the prompt) who carefully watched and monitored every operator’s performance.  If the light came on, the operator had better answer in 30 seconds.  If a customer was on hold 60 seconds, the operator had better get back to the customer to say she is still trying to connect.  Lord help the operator if she was caught listening in on someone’s conversation.  Operators’ pay was directly tied to their good customer service.  

And the pay was good:  $20 a week.  An operator who worked a full day got two 15-minute breaks plus lunch.  Those who worked a split shift had a 15-minute break during each shift.  When Aunt Betty worked the split shift, typically 8:00-12:00 and 4:00-8:00, rather than go home, she opted to take advantage of the employees’ craft room where various workers took turns running craft classes.  Betty’s favorite was ceramics.

 In costume as part of some historical celebration,
Beverly Anderson is pictured here
 with an antique switchboard
 that was most likely used in an office.
photo courtesy of Beverly Anderson

With her record for good service and many awards for perfect attendance, it is no wonder that Aunt Betty advanced through the company.  (Yes, the phone company gave awards for perfect attendance.)  At various times she was an operator, a supervisor, a teller in the business office, and service manager handling either business customers or retail customers.

This photo of Aunt Betty
appeared in the company
newspaper  in 1968
when she was
featured for conducting
a training session on how
women can protect themselves
against crank callers.

When she retired, she had 50 people reporting to her.  Ever modest about her success at the phone company, Aunt Betty always insisted she was at the right place at the right time.  Sometimes she felt inadequate or even unworthy supervising people with far more education than she had.  But a strong work ethic and good common sense carried her far beyond her little stool at the cord board.

Aunt Betty and me Christmas 2009

If you want to connect with other smooth operators at Sepia Saturday, it's TOLL FREE.

©2014, Wendy Mathias.  All rights reserved.

Tombstone Tuesday: Ulysses and Sadie Jollett

Tombstone Tuesday is a daily prompt at Geneabloggers which asks bloggers 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.

My great grand uncle Ulysses Jollett and my great grand aunt Sadie Janiera Lamb Jollett are buried in Coverstone Cemetery (formerly the EUB Church Cemetery) in Shenandoah, Virginia.

JOLLETTE

Ulysses Finks     Janeiro S. Lamb

Jan. 26, 1883       July 7, 1880

Jan. 30, 1931       Feb. 5, 1961

©2014, Wendy Mathias.  All rights reserved.

Census Sunday: Among the missing

In 1940, four of the Jollett siblings were noticeably missing.  Of course, William Isaac was last enumerated in 1900 because he died quite young, so I didn’t expect to see him.  But the other three …?  The oldest and youngest brothers Burton Lewis and Ulysses Finks had only recently passed away, Burton in 1934 and Ulysses in 1931.  Their beloved sister Leanna died in 1936. 

But what of their spouses?  Both of Burton Lewis’s wives were long gone, so there’s nothing left to say there.

Sadie and Ulysses Jollett

Ulysses’ widow Sadie is a puzzle.  I have been unable to find her in 1940.  She was living in Baltimore, Maryland during the 1930 census, and she was there when my great grand uncle died in 1931. It’s reasonable to assume she either stayed there or returned to Virginia to be closer to family.  However, the only Jolletts in Maryland were the family members of Clarence Jollett, son of Burton Lewis Jollett, and John Jollett, son of John Wesley Jollett.  No Sadie there. 

I thought maybe Sadie could be living with her daughter Vessie Steppe in King George County, Virginia, but no.  No Sadie there. 

I even tracked down Sadie’s brothers and sisters thinking surely she would be close to them in Greene County, Virginia, but no.  No Sadie with any of them.

I’m left to assume that her name has been misspelled or transcribed incorrectly, possibly both.  Her parents didn’t make it easy for us.  Her name:  Sadie Janiera Lamb Jollett.  Sadie is not the problem.  But Janiera!  Her tombstone even says Janeiro S.  In one document she is referred to as “Jenniey.”  Sometimes she’s Lam and other times LamB.  Jollett or Jollette.  Perhaps Jolliett.  

I know she must be in the census somewhere because she didn’t die until 1961, according to her tombstone. 

Next week:  Mitchell Knight, widower of Leanna Jollett Knight

©2014, Wendy Mathias.  All rights reserved.

Sepia Saturday: A hat for all ages

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

This week’s Sepia Saturday photo prompt of a hurling team presented a real challenge for me since I have NO hurlers in the family, if you can believe that.  I did consider this photo of my grandfather’s cousins who appear ready to HURL themselves off the Skyline Drive to the valley below:

I don't know what year this was, but it must have been
in the early years of the Skyline Drive.  The overlook
appears not to be paved yet.

OK, so they don’t look like they’re in any hurry to jump.  I really just needed an excuse to use this picture!

I wish I knew who these 2
boys were.  It is dated 1925.
They were either cousins or
neighbors of the Davis family
in Shenandoah, Virginia.

The flat caps worn by the 1921 Leinster Senior Hurling team of the prompt photo caught my eye.  Many young boys of Page County, Virginia wore the flat cap in the 1920s, too.

Judging by my collection of old family photos, the flat cap was the signature accessory of several generations of Davis men.

Orvin Davis, about 1910

My grandfather Orvin Owen Davis sported one as a child,

and as a young man, probably a teenager,

Dude with attitude

Orvin Sr. and Jr. 1927

and as a young father.

His father and my great-grandfather Walter Beriah Sylvester Davis owned at least one such cap. Here he is swinging on the front porch of the Sears catalog Craftsman-style home that he built sometime in the early 1920s.  My aunt (widow of my uncle Orvin Jr.) still lives in that very house in Shenandoah, Virginia. 

My great-aunt Velma Davis (later Woodring)
about 1924.  Her dad is on the swing.

Walter wore a cap while driving a car; I wonder if he was wearing his flat cap while driving nails.

A day along the river in the spring of 1927 could find all three generations of Davis men in flat caps.  Here’s Walter with his first grandchild, my uncle Orvin Jr. who was wearing a flat cap just like the big boys.

Walter Davis and my uncle Orvin Jr.

And Granddaddy and Grandma with Orvin Jr.

My grandparents Lucille
and Orvin Davis with
Orvin Jr. 1927

Grandma's toes were gripping the ground
as hard as her fingers were gripping
Orvin Jr's strong little hand.

Walter clings to
his little grandson.

It seems Orvin Jr. was determined to hurl himself into the river!

Grab your hat and hurl yourself over to Sepia Saturday to see how others have been inspired by the hurling team of Kilkenny.

©2014, Wendy Mathias.  All rights reserved.