#52Ancestors - Week 3 - Favorite Photo!

Well, so far so good. It's Week 3 and I'm still on track with the #52Ancestors Challenge! This week's prompt is "favorite photo." That's kind of a tough one, for me, because I have so many beloved photos! However, I've decided to narrow it down to two that always make me smile; and that, despite the fact that I don't have an actual personal memory of when they were taken, both photos hold a special and very endearing place in my heart. 

My Favorite Photos

Both of these photos were taken at the same location - at my grandmother's home in Louisburg, NC. It's my understanding that I lived there with my paternal grandmother, Anna Green, from sometime in my infancy, until I was a toddler - around two years old. If that's true, I'm guessing that perhaps the first photo, showing me with my brother, Arthur, may have been taken when my parents brought me to Louisburg, from Ohio; but, I really don't know. Arthur and I are on my grandmother's bed, where I always slept (with her) in later years, when I would spend part of my summers there. I remember that bed very well. (It was actually one of two in the room, because my Aunt Sue slept in there also, before she married and moved to New York.)

This is me (right) with my brother, Arthur, on our grandmother's bed in Louisburg. We were 17 months apart, and the best of friends. Sadly, Arthur died (of liver cancer) when he was 23 and I was 22. 

This second photo was also taken at the Louisburg house, but this time in the "front room," most certainly on one of our Sunday trips to Grandma's house, with all 6 of us (parents, 3 brothers, and me) packed into our blue and brown station wagon for what is now a 2 hour and 45 minute drive, but was most certainly closer to 4 hours in the 60s and 70s. I do have very vague memory of my maternal grandmother, Mary Thomas, traveling with us a time or two - and here I have photographic proof that it actually happened! Grandma Thomas lived just "across the water" from us, in Norfolk, and she eventually ended up moving in with us in the late 1970s.

My two grandmothers: On the left, my maternal grandmother, Mary Davis Thomas, who lived in Norfolk, VA (but was born in Warren County, NC). On the right, my paternal grandmother, Anna Beatrice Green Yarborough, who lived in Louisburg, Franklin County, NC. 

(Photo colorized on MyHeritage.com)

Family Time!

In an effort to get my family more involved in sharing our history, I've invited all of my kin to contribute, as they may desire, to the #52Ancestors posts. Many of my connected family lines don't know each other; and, I believe that this way of sharing our stories and photos could really benefit all of us. I do hope for more participation, but (for now) I am pleased  to introduce my second-cousin, Willa-Jo Greene, to my readers. Willa-Jo is the first relative to contribute to these posts, and I'm so excited and grateful! Willa-Jo is sharing this photo, taken in 2015 on the steps of her back deck, at the conclusion of her 50th birthday celebration. Willa-Jo describes this photo as follows: "This photo of my immediate family, 3 nieces, one nephew and three cousins was taken in September 2015 on the back steps of my house in Beltsville MD on the occasion of my 50th birthday."

In this photo:  Karen Greene Braithwaite, Diana T Bedden, Georgia M Braithwaite, Avanna D Davenport, Tiberius C Braithwaite, Natalia Sanders Parker, Willa-Jo M Greene, Ava D Greene, William Greene, Renate Yarborough Sanders, George R Greene, Jr.

I will add that the MRCA (most recent common ancestors) for all of us in the photo are our (William, Willa-Jo, Ava, George, Karen, and Renate) great-grandparents, John Wesley Green and Susan Georgiana Dunston. My daughter, Natalia, I descend from their daughter, Anna Beatrice Green; and, the rest of these siblings and first-cousins (and their children) descend from their son, William Lawrence Greene (who added an e to the end of his name). 

Thanks, Cousin Willa-Jo, for your contribution! Bravo!

(I have told my family members that they can still send photos after the post has been done, so more may be added after the original posting date.) 😊

Thanks for reading!

Renate

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Amanuensis Monday - I'm Sorry, Grandma

I know that the title I've chosen for this post is a strange one, especially given that I don't bear any responsibility for what happened to my grandma. But, having lived a life that hasn't been particularly easy, and because I'm realizing more and more how much I seem to have inherited that stroke of fate from the (strong) female ancestors who preceded me, I can't help but to empathize with my Grandma Anna (Annie?) Yarborough for having to endure what seems like it was probably an exasperating ordeal to prove her date of birth.
So, what's this all about?  (I'm glad you asked!)
Some of my readers may recall that I recently lost an aunt.  She was last of my Yarborough grandparents' children, and she still lived in the family home, which was built by my grandfather (her father) and his brother(s), over 100 years ago.  I am the heir to this property, and I've been trying, a little at a time, to carefully go through all of the mounds and piles of STUFF that's built up and been left behind there.  My aunt, who lost both of her brothers (my dad and my uncle) just a month apart in 1997, reacted, in part, by becoming somewhat of a hoarder - in particular, a paper hoarder.  I am sure (with no exaggeration) that she had not discarded a single piece of paper since that fateful year, but the problem was seemingly beginning to develop, even before that.  So, yep - that leaves Renate, the genealogist, who wouldn't dream of just going in and trashing it all, to go painstakingly through every piece of mail, every manila envelope, every greeting card, etc., to look for possible clues to and/or evidence of my family history. But, I'll write more about that in another post.  Now, for the point of this one.
Yesterday, on one of my trips to the house, I was going through a dresser drawer that was stocked full of what appeared to only be old bank statements.  (These were from the 70's.)  As much as I wanted to just shred and chuck them, I knew better, because I've learned that anything can be anywhere in that house! (Don't get me started about the letter from my grandfather to my grandmother, written in NINETEEN TWENTY-ONE, which I found on my very first venture.  It was on the shelf of my aunt's headboard, mixed between some bills from 2012! But, I digress...)
Anyway, I stuck to it, and lo and behold, about 3/4 of the way through the bank statements, I noticed three neatly folder sheets of slightly yellowed paper.  Wondering what they might be (and getting excited), I opened the first one.  Here it is.

 Wow!  I've read posts from others about how their ancestors had to try to prove their birth dates, but I'd never seen any documentation from any of mine.  Even though I've worked with the Delayed Birth Records in Franklin County many times, those were just the actual records, but not the correspondence which led up to them.
The next paper I opened was this one.  I'm assuming my grandma had sent them a letter stating that she had contacted the Census Bureau, and her insurance company.  (I didn't find that letter.)

 The biggest surprise was third of the three documents, a hand-written letter from my grandmother to the SSA.  I was quite baffled at first, because I knew this wasn't my grandmother's handwriting, nor did she "talk" like this.  But, then I figured it out.  My Aunt Sue (who was a secretary at the time) had penned this letter for my grandmother.  Although I know she wasn't illiterate, I'm beginning to gather that, perhaps, writing wasn't her strong-suit, so she probably asked my aunt to write this for her.

The letter reads as follows:
                                        927 So. Main St.
                                        Louisburg, NC

                                        June 8, 1957

Mr. John H Ingle, Manager

District Office

Social Security Administration

Raleigh, N.C

Dear Mr. Ingle:

     I am enclosing a copy of the Census Bureau 

record to try to establish proof of my age.  

     You will note that there is a difference in

the spelling of the first name.  I was always told

that my first name was Annie, but I've been called

Anna, and have always used Annie for official business

of any kind.  Is this acceptable or will I have to try

to do something about this?

     I will appreciate any help you can give me.

I am,

                                    Sincerely Yours,

                                   Annie G. Yarborough

                                   (SSN cut off for privacy.)

Needless to say, there had to have been correspondence before and after this.  I just feel so bad to learn of all the back-and-forth that my grandmother apparently had to go through, just to prove her birth.  She was a such a hard working woman, widowed after just a few years of marriage, and having raised 3 children, 3 step-children, and helped to raise the children of other relatives, all while working as a domestic and doing the best she could for everyone.  Given the year that this was, I can't help but wonder if maybe she was trying to go over to Japan, where my father was stationed, to help him with his newly-adopted son, my brother, Henry. I'll bet anything that's what it was.  I also wonder how it is that she already had a SSN, if she didn't have a birth certificate?  And, since she did, couldn't they have used whatever documentation she'd provided for that? Why couldn't this just have been a bit simpler for her?

I guess I know the answer to that.  As I just shared with a friend a few days ago, nothing ever just goes smoothly for me, and I've always been told, "You're just like your grandma." So, there ya go!  (And, I wouldn't have it any other way!) :)

Renate

Permalink to this post:  /2014/04/amanuensis-monday-im-sorry-grandma.html

Amanuensis Monday - My Grandmother's Poem

When we were growing up, my brother, Arthur, and I used to each teasingly "claim" one of our grandmothers as our own.  Our paternal grandmother, Anna Green Yarborough, was, "MY grandma", and our mother's mother was "his".  I'm not sure how or why this started, but I did have an extremely close relationship with my Grandma Yarborough, and my Grandma Thomas was always a bit more of a mystery woman to me, even though she lived closer to us, in Norfolk.  I've always been aware of the many traits I inherited from my father's mother, but, as time goes on, I'm finding that there's quite a bit of my Grandma Thomas in me, too! 

I've been writing poetry since I was in junior high school, but for the most part, I've kept my writings private. (The exception has been the many motivational pieces I've written for students to perform.) Several years ago, while exploring some of the items left in the dresser drawer in the room my grandmother once occupied at my mom's house, I came across this poem.  I was delighted, yet baffled.  Did my grandmother really write this?  I never, ever would have even imagined her penning a poem, especially not something as fabulously insightful as this one.  I just didn't know this side of my grandmother at all!

I remember getting on the computer and searching for the lines of the poem, to see if perhaps someone else had authored it.  Nothing came up. I even did it again, before starting this post.  Still, nothing.  I recently learned that this poem was read at my grandmother's funeral in 1986, but I have no memory of hearing it, then.  The person who mentioned it to me referred to it as, "that beautiful poem that was written by your grandmother".  I think that with that, along with the inscription and dedication which follow the poem, it's time for me to accept what I found so hard to believe.  My "brother's grandmother" (lol) was a poet!

It is with enormous pride that I present the poem, "You Say I'm Growing Old?", written by Mary Davis Hill Thomas, January 24, 1960, and dedicated to her children, Howell, (Mary)Anne, and Jane.

You Say I'm Growing Old?

You tell me I'm glowing? I tell you that's not so

The house" I live in may be worn out, 

That of course I know.

It's been in use a long, long while, it's weathered many a gale

I'm really not surprised you think it's getting somewhat frail.

The color on the roof is changing, the windows getting dim,

The walls are a bit transparent and looking rather thin.

The foundation not so steady as once it used to be,

My "house" is getting shaky, but my "house" isn't me.

My few short years can't make me old, I feel I'm in my youth.

Eternity lies just ahead, a life of joy and truth.

I'm going to live forever there, as life will go on - it's grand.

You tell me I'm getting old? You just don't understand.

The dweller in my little "house" is young and bright and gay,

Just starting on a life to last throughout eternal day.

You only see the outside, which is all that most folks see.

You tell me I'm getting old? You mixed my "house" with me.

As Mary Thomas 
                                               feel(s) about herself this January 24, 1960
                                                                                        Mary H. Thomas

On the back of the original was this inscription:

To my children Howell, Anne, and Jane

Sunday afternoon, January 24th

reading poetry at Y.W.C.A. 927 Park Ave. Norfolk

compared my present life and my future home

ove on the other side of this sheet of paper

                                             Mary Thomas

I'm so proud of my grandmother for writing this phenomenal poem, and just for being the strong, beautiful woman that she was.  I know so much more about her, and the life she lived, because of my research, and I am grateful to have been chosen to share her story, and that of my other ancestors, with the world.

To learn more about my grandmother, Mary Davis Walker Hill Thomas, click here (for a post about both of my grandmothers) and here, here, and here for a 3-part series I wrote about the losses my Grandma Thomas experienced in her life.

Thanks for reading!

Renate

The poem, "You Say I'm Growing Old" was written in 1960 by Mary Thomas, and is the express property of her descendants.  It is not to be used or copied without crediting the author.

Permalink to this post: http://justthinking130.blogspot.com/2014/03/amanuensis-monday-my-grandmothers-poem.html

News on the Maternal Side - A Random Act of Genealogical Kindness

Recently, I've posted tributes to my two grandmothers, Anna Yarborough, and Mary Thomas.  In, "The Stuff I'm Made Of  and Grandma's Hands (for the CoAAG), I noted some of the hardships, sacrifices, and losses that each of my grandmothers had to overcome in order to successfully raise their families and maintain the homes which they were each left to manage alone.  I recognized, as I wrote, and then read over these posts, that the inner strength, tenacity, and perseverance which I possess are not traits that I developed on my own, but instead are deeply ingrained survival skills which have been passed on to me, not only from these two strong and resilient women, but, also from their mothers and grandmothers before them.

I return to this subject now, because yesterday, I was the recipient of a magnificent, and very surprising act of kindness on behalf of another researcher.  Hollis Gentry, a professional genealogist and DAR researcher, had been a part of a discussion which I was involved in on Afrigeneas a week or so ago, where the conversation was centered around the free preview that ProQuest was having for some of it's holdings - specifically a few African-American Newspapers.  As excited as I was, the one newspaper that I was interested in searching, the Norfolk, VA Journal and Guide, was not included in the free preview.  However, this researcher, who apparently had taken note of my disappointment, craftily visited my blog, pieced together what she could of my Norfolk ancestors' names and surprised me yesterday with an email which had attached to it NINE newspaper articles related to my maternal ancestors!  As it turned out, Hollis (whom I've never met and had never chatted with before) had made several attempts over a few days to get the articles to me, to no avail.  But her persistence paid off, and like magic - she gave me the most direct and personalized view that I've had, to date, of my mother's family.  I was, and still am, overwhelmed with gratitude towards Hollis for the the time and effort she has put towards finding and sharing these documents with me.  Not only that, but in subsequent emails, she has complimented me on my writing and my blog, and as a person with roots in Norfolk herself, has given me vital encouragement as to how to move forward in researching my maternal ancestors.  So, Hollis Gentry, I do hope you're reading this because I would like to publicly thank you for all you've done!

Stay tuned for upcoming posts in which I will share the articles that Hollis found for me.

Blessings, all!
Renate