Sepia Saturday: The Terrible Five

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

This week’s Sepia Saturday prompt offers many ways to interpret it, but my eye keeps going to that white tent, I suppose because it makes me think of the tents my grandaunt Helen Killeen Parker may have camped out in in her glory days. I have written about her camping trip before HERE. 

I thought it was a darn good story, impossible to improve upon, until I found a poem that recounted the events of that very trip, which I wrote about HERE. 

The end of the poem combines a bit of teasing and an inside joke, but reading between the lines reveals the fondness for a group of friends.

So I tell you dear friends, if you want to die

Just go on a Camping trip, with the “Terrible Five.”

It occurs to me that in every group of friends there seems to be that one person or that little core that holds everyone together. They’re the fun ones. They’re the trouble makers that make even trouble fun. In Helen’s crowd around 1918-1921, they were known as “The Terrible Five.”  Not a single one of the five is my family - that I know of, anyway. But I can’t stop wondering about them. I guarantee no one in my family cares, but I just need to know who they were. It’s a curiosity thing. A genealogy thing. I can’t help myself.

After studying photo after photo, I think I figured out 3 of the 5. The first guy on the left is Pete. 

But Pete who? “Pete” isn’t always a diminutive of “Peter.” I knew a man named Albert Clifford who was known as “Pete.”

The guy on the far right is Mitz Ollice. The photo with Lucille Fritzinger was taken probably not long before they married.

 

I could find no other pictures with people identified to match the dark-haired fellows. That light-haired guy in the middle appears in lots of pictures though. One photo turns out to be the perfect gift for this curious family historian.

There he is with a gun.

Helen's friends Jerry, Gertie, John, Pickles and ??
on a canal boat ride

What does that say? Rayell? Rayill? Roy ice? I knew it would be a longshot, but I searched Ancestry for Rayell, Rayill, and even Roy born about 1900 living in Portsmouth, Virginia. Nothing.

Closeup of the patch on the sweater

I noticed the patch on Whatshisname’s sweater and zoomed in. CRC. That meant nothing to me, but I Googled that too. CRC. CCR. Nothing.

On a whim and really just giving in to frustration, I went back to Ancestry and searched for “Roy Ice” born about 1900 living in Portsmouth. And what do you know - there he was! ROYCE! Chester Royce Crawford, to be exact. CRC! (I bet those crazy friends of Helen’s dubbed him “Roy ice.”)

In stalking Royce Crawford through Ancestry, FamilySearch, and online newspapers, I learned an INTERESTING thing, a SAD thing, and a FUNNY thing.

INTERESTING - Not only did Royce work for the railroad, just like Helen’s husband Herbert, but also he rented a room from Herbert’s parents, the same house where Helen and Herbert lived in the downstairs apartment. Now that’s a friendship!

SAD - Royce never married. He died much too young at the age of 58. Ironically, Royce was predicted to be the second of Helen's friends to marry. 

Royce was 2nd from the right
and predicted to be the second to marry

FUNNY - When Royce was 10 years old, his fifth grade class at Berkley Elementary School in Norfolk, Virginia presented a Christmas program consisting MAINLY of original poems, stories, skits, and songs. Royce’s contribution was a recitation of “The Mischievous Stocking.” I suspect his was an original piece. He seems like the mischievous type!

 

Look out - here comes Royce!

Please visit my friends at Sepia Saturday where you can pitch a tent, but just don’t pitch a fit.

Wendy

© 2019, Wendy Mathias. All rights reserved.

52 Ancestors - SURPRISE: Buyer Beware

In the world of genealogy, just about every discovery comes as a surprise. Therefore, nothing should be a BIG surprise. After you get used to the presence of Black Sheep ancestors who stole a horse or beat their wife or killed someone, a simple lawsuit between neighbors seems to be just a mild hiccup in someone’s day. However, I confess to being a bit surprised by the events of 1867 that led John W. Jollett to enter into a lawsuit against his neighbor Monteller Utz.

John Wesley Jollett and his wife Sarah Elizabeth
photo courtesy of Jan Hensley

John Wesley Jollett was my 2X great-grandfather’s older brother. He was a farmer, a father of five, a veteran of the Civil War, storekeeper, postmaster and most memorably a respected Methodist minister in the Naked Creek community of Page County, Virginia. The church known today as Jollett United Methodist Church stands on land he donated for the purpose of building a church.

Jollett church

Utz vs Jollett

Despite all the good he might have done, there is a bit of a black-mark against his character. If you were to ask Monteller Utz, John W. Jollett flat-out duped him into buying a worthless horse.  

Clip from image #4
Page Co, VA Chancery Cause Utz v Jollett 139-1869-024 

Details of the suit and counter-suit reveal that Utz needed a work horse and Jollett had one to sell for $150. That equates to almost $2700 today. Utz did not have cash but trusting Jollett’s word that the horse could pull anything put behind it, he willingly signed a note promising to pay the agreed amount within two and a half months.

That after said horse was in his possession he ascertained by fair and repeated trials that he did not suit him and did not measure up to the positive representations of said Jollett, but on the contrary refused to work at all and in fact proved worthless to your Compt [Complainant]. Your Compt further states that he offered to return the horse to said Jollett who refused to receive him and indeed declined to accept any proposition of compromises, several being made by your Compt, with a desire to adjust the matter amicably and without material injury to himself.

Utz took the horse home and put it to work, at least he tried to. Apparently Utz tried several times to work with the horse but it just refused to work at all. Utz wanted out of the contract. Jollett refused. Not only did Jollett refuse to take back the horse, but also he would not even compromise with his dissatisfied neighbor.

Was the man of the cloth a man of his word?

Why Jollett would not take back the horse is anyone’s guess. Maybe he reasoned “a deal is a deal.” Maybe he thought Utz was wrong about the horse. Or - gasp! - maybe he didn’t want to be saddled with a worthless horse either. (NOTE: pun intended)

Utz had a witness, one who agreed with him. Frank Eppard said he knew of the horse even before Utz purchased it and that it was indeed worthless as a work horse. Nevertheless, the Court sided with John W. Jollett and compelled Utz to pay the $150, plus 6% per year dated from January 1867 until paid up. The case was finally dismissed in 1879.

If Monteller Utz was telling the truth, then Jollett’s behavior seems surprisingly un-Christianlike, especially for the one preaching “Do unto others” and “Love thy neighbor as thyself.”

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.”

Wendy

© 2019, Wendy Mathias. All rights reserved.

Sepia Saturday: Hats Off to the Man in a Hat

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

This week’s Sepia Saturday prompt features a series of photos of a man in a hat. I cannot replicate the effect of motion with a series of photos like the prompt, but I found one dandy photo of a man in a hat.

 

Richard Hosier (1816-1899 Nansemond County, VA)
photo courtesy Jake Dog on Find-a-grave

The man is my newly discovered 3X great-grandfather, Richard Hosier. The Hosier line surfaced when I discovered my great-grandmother Mary Morrison Slade accidently OR on purpose tricked me into thinking her family was from Tennessee. However, a death record for her sister revealed the connection to the Hosiers who had been in Nansemond County, Virginia at least since the mid-1700s, if not earlier. Nansemond County, now known as the city of Suffolk, is just minutes from my house.

In census records Richard Hosier was just your regular farmer. 

from the Norfolk Virginian (Virginian-Pilot)
24 Apr 1888

He married twice, had a large number of children, and buried both wives before succumbing to cancer. Upon his death in 1899, his remarkable life came into the light. His obituary even included subheadings!

from Virginian Pilot
26 Sep 1899
Newspapers.com

Town of Suffolk

The Checkered Career of An Octogenarian is Ended.

(Special to Virginian-Pilot)

Suffolk, Va, Sept 25 - Mr. Richard Hosier is dead, aged 84 years. The end came at 6 o’clock this morning in the home of a son, former Councilman J. Walter Hosier, Kilby and Wellons streets. The deceased had been in failing health twelve months, being first attacked by a cancer. He was semi-conscious about a week before the end. The funeral will take place at 11 o’clock tomorrow morning from the Christian Church, to which Mr. Hosier belonged.

Richard Hosier was the oldest person but one in Suffolk. The oldest is Mr. Sylvester Oliver, who is past 90 years. His two wives are buried. Six children survive - Mrs. M. E. Philhower, Magnolia; Mrs. H. C. Smith, Boston; S. S. and J. Walter Hosier, Suffolk; R. T. Hosier, West Norfolk; W. P. Hosier, Burlington, N.C.

WAS SENTENCED TO DIE

Mr. Hosier had a checkered career in the civil war. Being too old to enter the regular Confederate services, he and other aged men got shot guns and harassed the enemy by a sort of guerilla warfare. He was better acquainted with the Dismal Swamp than any contemporary and his knowledge was valuable. Mr. Hosier was three times made a prisoner of war. Once he was sentenced to die, which sentence was commuted to hard labor.

SWAM LAKE DRUMMOND

Mr. Hosier escaped the guards, and after many days of hardship and danger got back to Nansemond. In Captain Robert Arnold’s book telling of “Early Recollections of the Dismal Swamp,” Mr. Hosier is stated to have swam across Lake Drummond, where it was seven miles wide, while escaping the Federals. He is said to have been attacked by a serpent while on the lake and afterwards vanquished a bear when he landed. The bear skin was the only clothing he had in which to proceed to civilization.

Hosier’s story made the papers all over Virginia including those in Lexington and Arlington. The book mentioned in the obituary by Robert Arnold is actually entitled The Dismal Swamp and Lake Drummond: Early Recollections, published in 1888. It is available in full at HathiTrust Digital Library.

I won’t lie - Richard Hosier is my new favorite ancestor.

Grab your hat and walk, run, or even swim on over to Sepia Saturday.

Wendy

© 2019, Wendy Mathias. All rights reserved.

52 Ancestors - AT THE LIBRARY: The Good and the Bad

Nothing beats conducting serious genealogy research in your jammies. Late at night or on a cold rainy day, I love to hunker down at my computer to see if the Library of Virginia has added anything new to its digital collections, especially the Chancery Causes from county courts throughout Virginia. Not all the cases have been digitized, but most of the counties where my ancestors lived have their chancery causes online for all to see. For free.

The search button allows visitors to search by plaintiff, by defendant, by any surname mentioned in a case, and by county. What a surprise when Madison County came online and there was a case involving a Jollett. Specifically, the case was William Tate vs James Jollett, dated 1821.

Since Madison County is so close to Culpeper County, Orange County, and Greene County where my known Jolletts were, surely this James Jollett had to be mine too. Maybe he was even my 4X great-grandfather. One look at his answer to the complaint, and I knew for sure I was correct. His signature is similar to the signature on a petition he signed requesting the state to create a new county for the convenience of citizens living too far from the Orange County seat.

 

Signature 1838 in petition to form Greene County

Signature 1821 in response to William Tate

So what had Grandpa James Jollett done to land him in chancery court? 

William Tate's side of the story

According to William Tate, James Jollett sold him some land in 1788 to which he did not have rights. Tate further elaborated that he was made aware of a problem with the deed when two men named Churchill Blakey and James Watson tried to obtain a patent on the same land. That led Tate to enter a caveat, a legal notice that certain actions cannot be taken without informing the caveator. Mounting a defense cost Tate about $25-$30, which equates to roughly $537-$644 today. And he wanted Jollett to pay.

from Tate's complaint dated 28 Sep 1820
Madison County, VA 1821-009

To the County Court of Madison sitting in Chancery. Your orator William Tate, humbly showeth to the Court that sometime in the year 1788 he purchased a tract of land of one James Jollett who assured your orator that he had a good title to the same, and being in possession of a deed which he called a title deed he assigned the same viz to your orator, & this was the only written conveyance which s[aid] Jollett made to your orator, & put him in possession of the land & for the purchase money thereof your orator executed his note to s[ai]d Jollett for the payment of the purchase money to the amt. of £11. Your orator further says that the s[ai]d Jollett has no title to the same, 

James Jollett's side of the story

James Jollett was not quick to respond - it took 8 months! - but finally he did respond. Jollett said that in fact, Tate never finished paying him but had taken possession of the land just the same. Because he was aware of Tate’s caveat and suit against Blakey and Watson, Jollett had delayed suing Tate for the balance. As he pointed out, Tate won that suit by proving he had a clear title. Shortly thereafter, Tate sold the land to Linn Banks and was paid four times what he himself had paid Jollett. Now all Jollett wanted was for the case to be dissolved and for Tate to pay his costs “most unjustly expended.” Jollett's lawyer argued most eloquently:

from Jollett's response dated 10 May 1821
Madison County, VA 1821-009

How is it possible then that this Court can pretend to arrest the judgment which this respondent has obtained against s[ai]d Tate? Is not the title of the land good which this respondent sold to s[ai]d Tate? Has not s[ai]d Tate sold this identical land? And has he not received the full amount of the purchase money for the same? All of these interrogations must be answered affirmatively. The complainant sets up a flimsy pretext in his Bill upon the subject of the costs, which he paid in the prosecution of his suit against Watson & Blakey, whatever he may of paid by argument or otherwise this respondent [continued on next page: cannot be responsible for the same]

It did not take long for the Court to find in favor of Jollett. Tate was required to pay James Jollett £22, plus 5% yearly from October 15, 1788, plus court costs and Sheriff’s commission until paid up. He was given credit for having paid £11 at the initial sale.

It took Tate four years to satisfy the Court at which time the injunction was dissolved on November 25, 1824, and finally dismissed with court costs February 24, 1825. Justice is not swift.

Nevertheless, it is good news that my ancestor was on the right side of the law. However, as interesting as chancery causes might be, it is not always good news to find a relative involved in a court case. Thanks to the Chancery Causes available through the digital collections at the Library of Virginia, I learned that a minister in my family was sued by a neighbor for selling him a horse that was no good, that my 3X great-grandfather was sued for non-payment of debt and later for fraud, and that the ugly details of a great-grandaunt’s divorce case are there for everyone to see.

As they say, “Be careful what you wish for!”

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.”

Wendy

© 2019, Wendy Mathias. All rights reserved.

Sepia Saturday: Jelly Beans and Kidney Beans

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.

Hop in your car and enjoy the ride to Sepia Saturday.

Wendy

© 2019, Wendy Mathias. All rights reserved.

52 Ancestors - LIKE TO MEET: Poodle Woman

This week’s 52 Ancestors challenge is just a cruel joke: someone we would like to meet. Seriously, Amy? Can I just say "the whole fam damily"?

While I certainly would like to meet my oldest known ancestors just to ask, “Who’s your daddy,” I have no way to expand on it. Instead I think I would like to meet this woman:

 

Sheehan sister 1915 and probably Cutey

The human mother of this poodle named Cutey and whoever that other poodle was.

 

One poodle was named Cutey; the other is unknown.
This photo dates at the time John Jr. was born in 1917.

The mother or grandmother of these two children, John Jr. and “Bob” who was definitely a girl.

 

John Jr and "Bob" with their grandmother (?) AND Cutey
at a beach in New York, possibly Rockaway Beach

Woman AND Cutey, "Bob," and John Jr.
Dated March 1922
Back of photo says "while they had whooping cough"

This little family constellation DRIVES. ME. CRAZY.

Why? Because these photos are from a more recent time - 1917-1920ish. Surely I SHOULD be able to identify them.

But I can’t.

All I know is that they are related SOMEHOW to my great-grandmother Mary Theresa Sheehan Killeen Walsh and that they PROBABLY lived in New York City.

 

1921 New York
Two older women might be sisters of Mary Theresa Sheehan Killeen Walsh.
Younger woman in the center is possibly mother to "Bob" and John Jr.

Poodle Woman, who are you?

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.”

Wendy

© 2019, Wendy Mathias. All rights reserved.

Sepia Saturday: Look What Is In Store

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

This week’s Sepia Saturday prompt features a corner store with the side wall boasting a large advertisement for cigarettes. My great-great grandfather Franklin Rucker opened a butcher shop in Shenandoah, Virginia sometime between 1870 and 1880.

Side of the Rucker Meat Shop, Shenandoah, Virginia
photo from Shenandoah: A History of Our Town and Its People

In 1900 when this photo was taken, the thriving business advertised smoking tobacco “Standard of the World” alongside a picture of a cow. It is difficult to discern whether the cow represented the butchering business or the tobacco company, most likely the former although who can forget that a camel was a popular mascot for its namesake brand.

The Rucker Meat Shop was not the only store in the family. My great-grandfather Walter Davis opened a store at the corner of Sixth Street and Pennsylvania Avenue in the same little town of Shenandoah.

Davis Store 1920s

The Davis store was just one empty lot over from where my mother grew up, so she spent many an hour there while her mother waited on customers.

Mary E. Davis and dog Fritz with a friend
outside the Davis Store about 1939

The quality of my old photos is too poor to get a good read on what was advertised in the windows or on the exterior walls. One sign says “LEM-N BLENND.” At the time this photo was taken, Lem-n Blennd was either a non-carbonated fountain drink, syrup, or candy. Apparently the concoction went through various lives from its inception to its final sale to Heinz.

Inside the store, packaging and signs are even more difficult to read. Fortunately, Duke’s mayonnaise, Hershey’s candy and Kellogg’s cereal are easy to recognize.

 

My grandmother Lucille Rucker Davis behind the counter

What else was for sale in the Davis store? Why, cigars and smoking tobacco, of course. Cremo was an American-made cigar made popular in the 1930s as the best 5¢ cigar.

A better view of the Stud logo.

Stud was a smoking tobacco produced by the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company in North Carolina. That fuzzy white figure in the logo was a white horse rearing up on its hind legs. Stud promoted itself as being for the smokers “who like to roll their own.”

There seems no easy or logical way to wrap up this blog post, so I will leave you with something my mother always used to say: “Put that in your pipe and smoke it.”

Please visit Sepia Saturday to read how others interpreted the prompt.

Wendy

© 2019, Wendy Mathias. All rights reserved.