#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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Mysterious Monday - What's Happening Here?

Back in 2010, I scanned this photo while visiting my cousin, Harold Green, in Louisburg, NC.  As you can see, the picture is "dirty", but still, it depicts a scene of some event, and I believe it may be of significant interest, if I/we could just figure out what that event was!

I posted the picture on Facebook, to the Franklin, Granville, Vance and Warren Genealogy Group, and we've been having a good discussion, there.  Because of that, I thought it would be a good idea to bring the photo here, to get more opinions about it.

I have always thought that this was probably the scene of either a baptism or a burial.  At first, I also wondered if maybe there had (possibly) been a lynching, but I think I'm straying away from that idea.  What I do know/see is this:
1. Almost all of the people appear to be dressed in white/light-colored clothing.
2. There appear to be two main groups of people, walking in opposing directions.  A large group of mostly women are coming up the path toward the camera.  And, a smaller group (of what we can see) of men appear to be approaching the scene from the bottom left.
3. There are two carriages: One looks like it has a flatbed, and the other looks more like it might be a buggy.
4.  A lady with a small child stands alone in the center of the picture.
5.  It looks like there's at least one small child in a basket of some type near the center of the picture.
6.  There is (what we think is) an electric pole with climbing spikes in it near the forefront of the picture (on the right).

This appears to be a baby or small child (with a hat on) in a basket.
It also looks like there are a couple of darker-clothed people in this close up.

Although I can't prove it, I'm sure the setting has to be in Franklin County (Louisburg), North Carolina.  The picture was in an album that belonged to my cousin's grandmother, Mary Helen "Pidgy" Green, who lived from 1876 - 1959.  Other than this, the collection consisted only of family pictures.  This picture was an 8x10.  It was the only one of that size in the album.

My cousin (who is now 89 years old) was very reluctant to show me the pictures, or to discuss family history with me. (More on that, later.)  It had taken me years just to get him to allow me to see these, and other pictures that he has at his home, and to allow me to interview him.  I had taken my scanner with me, and I was going as fast as I could, because I knew that he was going to cut me off (which he did).  I want to try to get him to let me borrow the picture for a short time, so that I can get it professionally cleaned, but first I have to get my nerve up to ask him.

What do you see, and what do you think is happening, here?

Renate



Mysterious Monday - A Very Odd Photo

Today, I've decided to share one of the many photos I have in my possession of unknown (family?) folks.  I can remember seeing this one when I was younger, perhaps a teenager, in our garage where a couple of old photo albums were kept.  I have no idea who the people are in this picture, but it has always intrigued me, on a number of different levels.

I've theorized a few different interpretations of this photo, but none with any level of certainty.  No one in my family seems to know anything about its orgins, but I'm assuming by the "x" mark over the head of the guy in uniform, that he must be the subject with whom we have a connection.  I am so baffled by the other character, the pose, and the ---- well, the EVERYTHING about this picture!



I don't want to give away any of my ideas, so as not to influence yours.  Please, dear readers, leave me comments on your interpretations of this photo, or if you have actual knowledge (like, perhaps, what kind of uniform the man on the right is wearing), please share it with me.

The photo is on a 3 & 1/4 x 5 & 1/4 postcard, and I did a bit of research to attempt to get a date range for it.  According to the information I found on the site Photos Made Perfect, this postcard was produced by Kodak between 1918-1930.  I was able to determine this by the AZO stamp box, which has two triangles pointing up, and two pointing down.  Also, it's obvious that picture is posed in front of a backdrop showing the US Capital building.  I'm not sure if that means it was taken in Washington, DC or not, but I guess it's something to consider. 

I welcome, and invite your ideas!

Renate