Remembering Pearl Harbor on the 83rd Anniversary

Whit Criswell Bryan

I haven't posted in over a month, but I never want to let Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day pass without acknowledgment. This year, only 16 survivors remain.

My father, Whit Criswell Bryan, served as a Pharmacist's Mate at Mobile Hospital #2 during the Pearl Harbor attack. I deeply regret that we didn’t talk more about his experiences. He passed away in 2001 at the age of 80.

Last year, I had the chance to watch an interview on the Pacific Historic Parks website featuring Harry Chandler, another Pharmacist's Mate stationed at Mobile Hospital #2 on that fateful day. His story was filled with details I had never heard before. There’s more to this story, and I hope to share it soon. In the meantime, I wanted to recommend this site to friends and family—it’s an incredible resource filled with powerful WWII oral histories.

If you want to know more about the families I research, click here to like my Facebook page, where you will see each post and other genealogical finds. 

Diana

© 2024 

Friday's Photo: Women and Their Purses

I never considered that leather purses, similar to those we see today, were used in the 19th century. While I could easily imagine small fabric reticules embellished with beads and embroidery, the idea of leather purses being common hadn’t crossed my mind. However, leather purses were in use as early as the 1860s and grew in popularity during the 1880s and 1890s.

The first photograph is of my great-grandmother, Harriet Louisa Albritton, who married my great-grandfather, Terrell Bryan, in Bienville Parish, Louisiana. Dating her clothing is challenging because she is draped in a crocheted wrap. If this photo had been taken around 1880 or slightly earlier, the Bryan family would have lived in Erath County, Texas.

The second photo features an unidentified woman dressed in a two-piece outfit with covered buttons and appliques, typical of fashion from the late 1870s to the 1880s. This photograph is part of the Marguerite Cook Clark collection, suggesting it originates from the Bienville Parish area.

If you want to know more about the families I research, click here to like my Facebook page, where you will see each post and other genealogical finds. 

Diana

© 2024 

"Harriet Louisa Albritton Bryan," photograph, about 1880; scanned image, from the privately held photo collection of Jane Aebersold, CO, 2013.

Unidentified woman with a purse, n.d.; digital images from the privately held photo collection of Marguerite Cook Clark (1913-1989), Waynesville, North Carolina, 2021. Photos were accessed and scanned at the home of Marguerite Cook Clark's daughter in Alpine, Texas, on April 28, 2014, September 14, 2014, and November 9 to 11, 2016. Used with permission. 

"Victorian Purses and Edwardian Handbags," Vintage Dancer (https://vintagedancer.com/victorian/victorian-purses-edwardian-handbags/ : accessed 1 November 2024).

Friday's Photo: An Unusual Photo From the Marguerite Cook Collection

This unusual photo from the Marguerite Cook Clark collection seems to be a kind of souvenir. On closer inspection, it appears that colored photographs of the faces were added to a painted or chalk-drawn background. Since Marguerite lived in Bienville Parish, the people in the photo were likely family or, at the very least, locals. Given that colored photos didn’t become widely used until the 1960s or 1970s, there’s a chance this could resemble someone reading this post. Does this look like you or a family member?

This was the only marking on the picture.

If you want to know more about the families I research, click here to like my Facebook page, where you will see each post and other genealogical finds. 

Diana

© 2024 

Unknown Couple, photograph, n.d.; digital images, from the privately held photo collection of Marguerite Cook Clark (1913-1989), Waynesville, North Carolina, 2021. Photos were accessed and scanned at the home of Marguerite Cook Clark's daughter in Alpine, Texas, on April 28, 2014, September 14, 2014, and November 9 to 11, 2016.

Who Are They? A Family Involved in a Peach Harvest in Northwest Louisiana

My title is more of an assumption than a fact. This seems to be a peach harvest, and the adults might belong to the same family. I’m not sure where this was taken, but it was probably in Northwest Louisiana, as these photos were found in the Marguerite Cook Clark Collection, most of which were from that area.

I thought that the people in the photo would be easy to find, but I have yet to positively identify any of them. 

Dating this was also difficult. The clothing might put this around 1910. 

The back of the photo has writing identifying all four persons. The man is identified as Kyle, the woman on the left is Checkie [maybe Chickie], the woman on the right is May, and the older woman sitting in the middle is Grandma Ha. . . - could be Harris, Hattie, Hallie, or any number of words beginning with Ha. 

I looked for Kyle as a given name in four years of census records in Bienville and surrounding counties. I came up with nothing but noted that Kyle could be his surname. I found this surname spelled as Kyle, Kyles, and Kiels.

Does this sound like your family? This post can be shared from my Moments in Time Facebook page.

If you want to know more about the families I research, click here to like my Facebook page, where you will see each post and other genealogical finds. 

Diana

© 2024 

Harvesting Peaches, photograph, n.d.; digital images, from the privately held photo collection of Marguerite Cook Clark (1913-1989), Waynesville, North Carolina, 2021. Photos were accessed and scanned at the home of Marguerite Cook Clark's daughter in Alpine, Texas on April 28, 2014, September 14, 2014, and November 9 to 11, 2016.

Friday's Photo: Forgotten Faces Found in the Marguerite Cook Clark Collection - Part 3, with Insights from AI

I discovered long ago that the best way to identify old photos is to keep sharing them, hoping someone with the same image will recognize them. Over the next few Fridays, I will post unidentified photos from the Marguerite Cook Clark collection. 

Marguerite Cook Clark grew up surrounded by family in Bienville Parish, Louisiana, and was my third cousin. She descends from Joseph B. Bryan, the son of Reddick Bryan and Elizabeth Regan, and Sarah Margaret Wimberly, the daughter of William Wimberly and Lucy Smith Lawson. As the family genealogist, she was the keeper of her family’s photos, documents, and letters, and I was fortunate to have the opportunity to view and scan her collection.

This post contains five unidentified photos found in Marguerite's collection. I used Steve Little's genealogy bot, Genealogy Eyes, at ChatGPT, and some of my own resources to learn more about the images. 

The man's straightforward suit and the woman's high-necked blouse with a bow are more
conservative in style, placing this photo likely in the late 1890s or early 1900s.

The man's loose jacket and the woman's striped, fringed skirt and high collar
are typical of the late 1870s or early 1880s.

The woman's hat and the man's suit and thin bowtie are indicitive of 
the time period between 1900 and 1910. 

The high lace collar, fitted bodice, and ruffled trim are typical of early
1890s fashion, especially from the beginning of the decade. The man's
vest, cravat-style tie, and well-groomed mustache also suggest the
fashion of the early to mid-1890s.

The high collars on the girl's shawls fit the fashion of the 1890s. The younger
boy's wide collar and short pants were common in the 1880s to early 1890s. 
The time period for this photo was likely around 1885 to 1895. 

Please email me if you can identify any pictures or have the same or similar images. 

Click to send 

If you want to know more about the families I research, click here to like my Facebook page, where you will see each post and other genealogical finds. 

Diana

© 2024 

ChatGPT, "What can you tell me about this image," 10 October 2024, OpenAI (https://chatgpt.com : accessed 8 October 2024). 

Edward Zapletal, Publisher and Editor, More Dating Old Photographs 1840-1929 (Toronto: Moorshead Publishing, 2011).

"Genealogy Bots: Revolutionizing Research," AI Genealogy Insights (https://aigenealogyinsights.com/genealogy-bots/ : accessed 10 October 2024).

Pauline Weston Thomas, “Edwardian Hats and Hairstyles Hat Fashion History 1900-1920,” Fashion-Era (https://www.fashion-era.com/hats-hair/hats_hair_6_fashion_history_1900_1920.htm : accessed 14 October 2024). 

Unidentified photographs, n.d.; digital images, from the privately held photo collection of Marguerite Cook Clark (1913-1989), Waynesville, North Carolina, 2021. Photos were accessed and scanned at the home of Marguerite Cook Clark's daughter in Alpine, Texas, on 28 April 2014, 14 September 2014, and 9-11 November 2016.

C. A. Giddens - Outfitter to Men and Boys - Phillipsburg, New Jersey

From the Washington Star in Phillipsburg - 1912

I have so many newspaper clippings saved on my computer, and I know my family would love to see them. Here are a few from my grandmother's Giddens family.

In 1898, Charles Giddens, my great-grandfather, owned a dry goods store at 322 South Main in Phillipsburg, New Jersey, and lived with his family at 75 Mercer Street. 

By 1906, his store was described as a clothing and dry goods store at 310-312 Main Street, and his family lived upstairs. In 1908, his store was described as an "Outfitter to Men and Boys, Clothing, Hats, Shoes, and Haberdashery." 

From the Washington Star in Phillipsburg - 1917

Charles Giddens continued to run the store until he left his wife and family to move to St. Louis, Missouri, in 1922. This last ad shows that the inventory was sold in 1921.

Selling Inventory of Charles Giddens Store 1921 04 Jun 1921, Sat Mainland Journal (Pleasantville, New Jersey) Newspapers.com 

If you want to know more about the families I research, click here to like my Facebook page, where you will see each post and other genealogical finds. 

Diana

© 2024 

"1898-1900  West's Directory of Greater Easton,"  database with images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/mediaui-viewer/tree/45260559/person/6487533712/media/0d6f3377-06d1-4cc8-a219-dd16ece3df67: accessed 15 October 2024). 

"Charles A. Giddens, 1905 New Jersey State Census," New Jersey State Archive; Trenton, NJ, USA; State Census of New Jersey, 1905; Reference Number: L-17; Film Number: 42. New Jersey, State Census, 1905, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 17 October 2024).

"C. A. Giddens," The Washington Star, Phillipsburg, N.J., 19 December 1912, page 13; digital image, Old Fulton New York Post Cards (https://fultonhistory.com : accessed 17 October 2024).

"C. A. Giddens," The Washington Star, Phillipsburg, N.J., 5 December 1912, page 13; digital image, Old Fulton New York Post Cards (https://fultonhistory.com : accessed 17 October 2024).

"C. A. Giddens," The Washington Star, Phillipsburg, N.J., 24 October 1912, page 8; digital image, Old Fulton New York Post Cards (https://fultonhistory.com : accessed 17 October 2024).

"C. A. Giddens," The Washington Star, Phillipsburg, N.J., 20 September 1917, page 11; digital image, Old Fulton New York Post Cards (https://fultonhistory.com : accessed 17 October 2024).

"Selling Inventory of Charles Giddens Store," Mainland Journal (Pleasantville, New Jersey), 4 June 1921, Saturday; digital image, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/article/mainland-journal-selling-inventory-of-ch/145788680/ : accessed 17 October 2024).

Friday's Photo: Forgotten Faces Found in the Marguerite Cook Clark Collection - Part 2 Families, with Insights from AI

"Judging by their clothing, the photograph likely dates from the late 19th century to
the early 20th century, likely between 1890 and 1910."

I discovered long ago that the best way to identify old photos is to keep sharing them, hoping someone with the same image will recognize them. Over the next few Fridays, I will post unidentified photos from the Marguerite Cook Clark collection. 

Marguerite Cook Clark grew up surrounded by family in Bienville Parish, Louisiana, and was my third cousin. She descends from Joseph B. Bryan, the son of Reddick Bryan and Elizabeth Regan, and Sarah Margaret Wimberly, the daughter of William Wimberly and Lucy Smith Lawson. As the family genealogist, she was the keeper of her family’s photos, documents, and letters, and I was fortunate to have the opportunity to view and scan her collection.

This post contains five unidentified photos of families found in Marguerite's collection. Under each photo is a quote generated by ChatGPT about the approximate time the photo was taken. I used Steve Little's genealogy bot, Genealogy Eyes, to learn more about the images. 

Please email me if you can identify any pictures or have the same or similar images. 

Click to send 

 "Based on the clothing and the setting, this photo likely dates from the early 1900s,
possibly between 1900 and 1915."

"The clothing and architectural details suggest it was taken in the late 19th century or
very early 20th century." 

"Based on the clothing and overall style of the portrait, this photo was
likely taken between 1890 and 1910. The high collars, puffed sleeves,
and formal attire are all characteristic of the turn of the century."

"This is a lovely and intimate family portrait, likely from the early 1900s based on the
style of clothing and the oval framing."

If you want to know more about the families I research, click here to like my Facebook page, where you will see each post and other genealogical finds. 

Diana

© 2024 

ChatGPT, "What can you tell me about this image," 10 October 2024, OpenAI (https://chatgpt.com : accessed 8 October 2024). 

"Genealogy Bots: Revolutionizing Research," AI Genealogy Insights (https://aigenealogyinsights.com/genealogy-bots/ : accessed 10 October 2024).

Unidentified photographs, n.d.; digital images, from the privately held photo collection of Marguerite Cook Clark (1913-1989), Waynesville, North Carolina, 2021. Photos were accessed and scanned at the home of Marguerite Cook Clark's daughter in Alpine, Texas, on 28 April 2014, 14 September 2014, and 9-11 November 2016.

My Week with AI: Podcasts, a PowerPoint, and a Timeline

Finding photos for my blog and presentations is much easier with AI. Simply imagine and
describe your photo. I asked Meta AI to create a fall scene with someone raking and
listening to a podcast. 

Two weeks ago, I posted My Week with AI: Citations, YouTube, eBay, a Will Transcription, and a Spreadsheet. That was my first post about AI, and I plan to share something I’ve done with AI at least monthly. I learn something new every time I use it, and this past week has been no different. Here are a few of my AI learning experiences from the past week.

Podcasts

My yard chores often translate into listening to podcasts and audiobooks. I always look forward to and often replay two genealogy podcasts: The Family History AI Show with Steve Little and Mark Thompson and Research Like a Pro Genealogy Podcast with Diana Elder and Nicole Dyer. Diana and Nicole have integrated AI into many of their recent episodes, while Steve and Mark's podcast focuses entirely on AI's role in genealogy. These aren't the only genealogy podcasts I listen to—there are plenty of great options. If you want to listen to genealogy podcasts, check out the Genealogy Podcasts page at ConferenceKeeper.org for many wonderful choices.

PowerPoint

I have a 60-minute how-to presentation on FamilySearch that I need to trim down to 30 minutes for one of my local genealogical society's activities. I decided to try Perplexity, a new-to-me AI platform, to help with the task. It gave me useful suggestions, including what to put on each slide and how long to spend on them. But when I asked it to create the slides, I was told it couldn't.

Just for fun, I tried the same prompts in ChatGPT. The results were similar, but ChatGPT actually created slides. However, after opening the PowerPoint from ChatGPT, I found that it consisted of only one slide with just a little text. 

Determined not to give up, I tried a different approach—I asked ChatGPT to create slides based on its own suggestions. The results were quite amusing. I had forgotten how much ChatGPT struggles to spell words on images.

I will definitely be creating my own PowerPoint slides!

A Timeline

I am a firm believer in timelines. I've been working hard on my Plymouth, Massachusetts, Reed family and created two timelines in Word documents for this family. I asked ChatGPT to extract the information from both documents and add it to an Excel spreadsheet with columns for dates, events, locations, and notes. 

I now have a nice readable Excel document, but it wasn't a quick process—it took over an hour to analyze the information. The first spreadsheet only captured 27 out of the 87 items from the timelines. I felt like I was constantly nagging ChatGPT to add or adjust entries. In the end, however, ChatGPT put together a more user-friendly document in less time than if I had done it manually.

AI may not always get everything right, but it’s helping me streamline my research and uncover new possibilities. Give it a try—it just might surprise you! 

If you want to know more about the families I research, click here to like my Facebook page. There, you will see each post and other genealogical finds. 

Diana

© 2024 

ChatGPT, "Essential FamilySearch Resources," Slide Illustrations, OpenAI DALL·E, October 10, 2024.

Meta AI, "Fall Picture with iPod," Digital Artwork, October 9, 2024. Artificially generated image of a fall scene.

Upcoming FREE Genealogy Presentation: "Ten Resources I Use Every Day: Miscellaneous Tips for the Online Researcher"

The Virginia Beach Genealogical Society is hosting a FREE hybrid presentation that you will want to attend! On Thursday, October 10, 2024, at 6:00 PM, renowned genealogist Cyndi Ingle will share "Ten Resources I Use Every Day: Miscellaneous Tips for the Online Researcher." Whether you're attending in person or joining via Zoom, this presentation will be an excellent opportunity to learn from one of the most knowledgeable experts in the field. See the flyer at the end of this post to sign up for the meeting via Zoom. 

The Virginia Beach Genealogical Society's monthly meetings are hybrid events, offering convenience for both local attendees and those joining remotely. In addition to the monthly meetings, the society hosts four Special Interest Groups that meet regularly—three via Zoom and one in person. For more about this wonderful group and its valuable resources, visit the Virginia Beach Genealogical Society's website. 

If you want to know about families I research, click here to like my Facebook page, where you will see each post and other genealogical finds. 

Diana

© 2024 

Friday's Photo: Forgotten Faces Found in the Marguerite Cook Clark Collection - Part 1

I discovered long ago that the best way to identify old photos is to keep sharing them, hoping someone with the same image will recognize them. Over the next few Fridays, I will post unidentified photos from the Marguerite Cook Clark collection. 

Marguerite Cook Clark grew up in Bienville Parish, Louisiana, and was my third cousin. She descends from Joseph, the son of Reddick Bryan and Elizabeth Regan. As the family genealogist, she was the keeper of her family’s photos, documents, and letters, and I was fortunate to have the opportunity to view and scan her collection.

Below are the first six unidentified photos in Marguerite's collection. Please email me if you can identify any photos or have the same or similar images. 

Click to send 

 

If you want to know more about the families I research, click here to like my Facebook page, where you will see each post and other genealogical finds. 

Diana

© 2024 

Unidentified photographs, n.d.; digital images, from the privately held photo collection of Marguerite Cook Clark (1913-1989), Waynesville, North Carolina, 2021. Photos were accessed and scanned at the home of Marguerite Cook Clark's daughter in Alpine, Texas on April 28, 2014, September 14, 2014, and November 9 to 11, 2016.