Friday's Photo: Happy Halloween and Thank You Mom!

My brother was Casper the Friendly Ghost and I was a witch for Halloween in 1965. Mom made my costume. 

About 30 years later, my daughter wore the same witch costume.

Thank You Mom!

Diana

© 2014

From the Files of Marguerite Cook Clark: Georgia Ann Frances Bryan Pitman Wimberly

Marguerite Cook Clark
1913 - 1989

I know a lot about Georgia Ann Frances Bryan Pitman Wimberly of Bienville Parish, Louisiana. I have written about her in two of my posts, but had never seen her obituary until I was given the chance to look through the files of Marguerite Cook Clark. 

From old letters, I believed that Georgia Ann Frances had her own child, but from her obituary, it appears the child was her sister's child. The child may be Sarah Catharine Watts as she was living with Georgia Ann Frances in 1870. 

The author of the obituary was Josie S. Cook, niece of Georgia Ann Frances. Ironically, Josie was the daughter of Georgia Ann Frances' brother and wife, Joseph B. and Sarah Wimberly Bryan, but she was adopted and raised by James  (half-brother to Joseph) and Alice Wimberly Bryan (sister to Sarah). 

Georgia Ann Frances
Bryan Pitman Wimberly

Find more information about Georgia Ann Frances Bryan Pitman Wimberly, visit the links below. 

Friday's Photo: Georgia Ann Frances Bryan

Friday's Photo: Georgia Ann Frances Bryan - Another photo and more of her story.

Georgia Ann Frances Bryan

 
Diana

© 2014

Sources

Family photographs and documents from the collection of Marguerite Cook Clark. Accessed April 28, 2014 and September 14, 2014. Used with permission.

Family photographs and documents from the collection of Diana Bryan Quinn.

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: #41 Floyd William Thompson

The solid lines indicate that the connection to the family is documented while
the dotted lines indicate that direct evidence has not yet been found to
make the connection. Click on the family tree to see a larger image.

No Story Too Small

Floyd Thompson was second son and one of five children born to John A. Thompson and Mattie Hairston. Floyd was born May 10, 1889 in Erath County, Texas. His father died when he was young. It was said that around the age of 16 he made the 139 mile trip from Erath County to Baylor County on horseback to work for his Uncle Phillip Hairston. During a phone conversation with his daughter Juanita, she told me that he got so lost that he ended up in Oklahoma. He slept in ditches and one night in someone's barn or home. 

This photo is labeled Floyd Thompson. It has been assumed that one of these
young men is Floyd. However, if not, could this be his sons Clarence and Bowie? 

The story told by Floyd's daughter, Juanita, was that Phillip Hairston needed someone to help him farm. I am sure that was true as Phillip and his wife moved to Baylor along with my grandparents, Myrtie (their daughter) and Redic Bryan. Both the Hairstons and the Bryans bought land to farm, but by 1908 Redic sold his farm and his family was living in Big Spring while the Hairstons were living alone on their farm in the Levelview section of Baylor County. 

At the Hairston home in Levelview. Floyd is behind the horses. My great-grandfather Phillip Hairston is standing next to grandchildren Buster Bryan and DeRay Bryan. The age of the children gives the photo a date of about 1909 or 1910. 

Bits and pieces found in the Baylor County Banner indicate that Floyd enjoyed life in Baylor County.  He attended parties, picnics, and singings. His brother Aaron joined him for two seasons in 1909 and in 1910, he purchased "The Enterprise Buggy." In August of 1912, he married Ora Ellen Cox.

Juanita wrote, "Floyd, Ora, Aunt Bertie, and Terrel Hammet set their wedding date; for a double wedding and they wanted it kept a secret. They set the date for August 17, 1912 hoping their secret would be kept. PM their special day the two couples left their home to be married by a Church of Christ preacher in Seymour, Texas. To their surprise when they got one and three quarters of a mile from their home at a cross road, there waiting at each road were their friends to follow them all the way to the church. When they arrived the preacher met them outside and stood between the buggies and performed the ceremony." 

The first time that I saw the name Floyd Thompson was on the back of this photograph

of a double wedding in Baylor County. 

From left to right: Terrell Hammett and Bertie Cox - Floyd Thompson and Ora Cox.

Terrell Hammett was the nephew of my grandfather, Redic Bryan. 

Floyd Thompson was the first cousin of my grandmother, Myrtie Hairston Bryan. 

Bertie and Ora Cox were sisters, daughters of Thomas Alvin Cox and Eliza Hannah Allen.

When first married, Floyd and Ora lived with my great-grandparents; Floyd's Uncle Phil Hairston and his wife Lodema. They only lived with them for a few months as by December of 1912, they were living in the Wiggins place on Benjamin Road. They welcomed a son, Clarence Edmon Thompson in 1913, Andy Bowie Thompson in 1914, and Ina Lucille Thompson in 1916. After she was born, the family moved to the Langley place in Plainview. Juanita Pearl Thompson was born April 29, 1918 and on October 16, 1920, Uelma Thompson was born. 

Juanita, Clarence, Ina Louise, and Andy Bowie

According to the 1920 census, Floyd Thompson's family lived on Levelview Road in Baylor County; very close to Ora's parents, Thomas and Eliza Cox. Floyd continued to farm and Ora sometimes sold eggs. 

In 1929, the youngest Thompson child, Uelma, died after being badly burned in a fire. Juanita said that watching her sister die was the hardest three weeks of her life. In her history of the Thompson family, she wrote how so many friends and neighbors helped by sitting with Uelma. 

Uelma Thompson 1920 - 1929

The house had burned to the ground and their landlord built them another home.  Floyd continued to farm and the 1930 census places him in Baylor County. Two more children were added to the family. It appears that the Thompson family remained in Baylor County through most of the thirties; however, the census record and a newspaper article place Floyd, Ora, and their two youngest in Wilson, Lynn County, Texas in 1940.

Ora and Floyd Thompson

Throughout most of the 1940s, the Thompson family was back in Baylor County; living in the Hash Knife and Red Springs communities. Click on the links below to read news about Thompson family happenings during the forties. 

Ora Thompson had the Baylor County Banner sent to Clarence. 

Ina Louise (Mrs. Stanley Elkins) came for a visit.

Sgt. Andy Bowie Thompson is visiting his parents. 

Sgt. Clarence E. Thompson is in France

Visiting Family 

Mr. and Mrs. Stanley Elkins 

The Thompson family lived in Red Springs

Cox Reunion

One of several Old Settlers Reunions attended in Baylor County

Ora and Floyd Thompson - undated

In the 1950s Floyd and Ora were reported to have lived at Howe Ranch and in Olney, Texas. Click on the links below to learn about the Thompson family in the fifties. 

Mr. and Mrs. F. W. Thompson attended the 1952 Old Settler's Reunion

Mrs. Lewis Cox passed away

A Family Visit 

A 50th Anniversary 

A New Baby

Tommy Thompson

Family Reunion

Read what Floyd had to say

In 1961, Floyd is described as retired in an article about a Thompson Reunion. They were living in Olney, but would soon move to Bowie, Texas. Floyd died in Bowie on July 15, 1968.

Just yesterday, Floyd's youngest daughter wrote the following about her father. 

He worked on farms and ranches his entire life. He was respected by those whom he worked for. He took great care in watching over whatever task he was given. As I grow older, I realize how well he did in taking care of us. 

Floyd William Thompson  1889 - 1968

Diana

© 2014

Ancestry.com. Texas, Death Certificates, 1903–1982 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013.

Baylor County Banner [Seymour] 19 Nov. 1909: Microfilm.

Family photographs and documents from the collection of Diana Bryan Quinn.

Family photographs from the collection of Juanita Thompson Gleghorn. Accessed September 2001. Used with permission. 

Family photographs from the collection of Nadine Thompson Waugh. Accessed September 2001. Used with permission. 

Harrison, O. C., editor. The Baylor County Banner. (Seymour, Tex.), Vol. 15, No. 29, Ed. 1 Friday, April 22, 1910, Newspaper, April 22, 1910; digital images, (http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth429901/ : accessed October 25, 2014), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, http://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Seymour, Texas.

Harrison, O. C., editor. The Baylor County Banner. (Seymour, Tex.), Vol. 24, No. 22, Ed. 1 Thursday, February 24, 1921, Newspaper, February 24, 1921; digital images, http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth429490/ : accessed October 25, 2014), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, http://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Seymour, Texas.

The Vernon Daily Record at Newspapers.com." Newspapers.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Oct. 2014. <http://http://www.newspapers.com/image/43837746/

Gleghorn, Juanita Pearl Thompson. The Thompson Family, The Early Years. Duncan, Oklahoma. Print.

Year: 1920; Census Place: Justice Precinct 4, Baylor, Texas; Roll: T625_1774; Page: 7B; Enumeration District: 14; Image: 680.

Year: 1930; Census Place: Precinct 4, Baylor, Texas; Roll: 2289; Page: 9A; Enumeration District: 0006; Image: 206.0; FHL microfilm: 2342023.

Year: 1940; Census Place:  , Lynn, Texas; Roll: T627_4098; Page: 14B; Enumeration District: 153-9.

Friday's Photo: Another Mystery Photo From the Quinn Family

This photo once belonged to Mary Anne Quinn Meaney and was sent to me by her daughter, Mary. 

Mary Anne Quinn Meaney was an older sister of my husband's grandfather, William Quinn. She traveled from County Galway in Ireland to Indiana, in 1905, to live with an Aunt, Mrs. Dwyer. I would love to know how Mrs. Dwyer was related to the Quinn family as I have never found the connection. 

Mary Ann moved to Kentucky and married Lawrence Meaney. Although she remained in Kentucky, she kept in touch with her Quinn siblings and passed several Quinn family photos on to her daughter. This is one photo without a name.  

Diana

© 2014

From the Files of Marguerite Cook Clark: Mary Marguerite "Maggie" Martin Cook

Mary Marguerite "Maggie" Martin Cook
1887-1970

Mary Marguerite "Maggie" Martin Cook was the mother of Marguerite Cook Clark. This obituary is one of almost 100, from the Ringgold, Louisiana area, found when searching the files of Marguerite Cook Clark. 

Marguerite Cook Clark
1913-1989

Maggie Martin Cook saved most of the obituaries that date from the late 1800s into the 1970s. 

Maggie was my father's second cousin. Her grandfather was Joseph B. Bryan, older brother to Terrell Bryan, my great-grandfather.

Watch for more obituaries as I plan to post all that were found, as well as many of the photos and documents found in the files of Marguerite Cook Clark. 

Diana

© 2014

Sources

Family photographs and documents from the collection of Marguerite Cook Clark. Accessed April 28, 2014 and September 14, 2014. Used with permission. 

Friday's Photo: Found on eBay

Charles W. Giddens
1892-1972

I have saved searches on eBay for some family names and hometowns of some of my ancestors. My grandmother grew up in Phillipsburg, New Jersey so every time that something is posted for sale in eBay with "Phillipsburg" in the title or description, I receive an email. 

I think that I have or have seen every postcard made in the late 1800s and early 1900s in Phillipsburg so when I saw this one I looked carefully - why would there be a statue of a famous person from Cuba in Phillipsburg. Then, I realized that it wasn't in Phillipsburg, but sent to Mr. Charles Giedon Jr.  (really Charles Giddens, Jr.) at 310 Main Street in Phillipsburg on March 2, 1909. Charles Giddens, my great - uncle, was my grandmother's brother and just 16 years old in 1909. 

Diana

© 2014

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: #40 Edgar Richard Thompson, Son of Mattie Hairston

The solid lines indicate that the connection to the family is documented while
the dotted lines indicate that direct evidence has not yet been found to
make the connection. Click on the family tree to see a larger image.

Edgar Richard Thompson
Mattie Elizabeth Proctor

No Story Too Small

I searched for two years before I found Nadine, the daughter of Edgar Richard Thompson. She was my first link to the descendants of Martha Elizabeth "Mattie" Hairston Chisum Thompson. 

In the 1990s, the "new" and limited Internet, purchased CDs, a family bible, and my father's collection of family documents and photos were my sources for genealogical research.

My father's Bryan family Bible, preserved by four generations, contained photos, obituaries, and much more. More questions than answers were generated as I browsed through the bible. Who was Rex Gresham? His obituary was tucked carefully between pages in the bible. Dad said that Rex was a cousin, but didn't know how they were related. The same was said about Floyd Thompson - his name was on the back of a photo.

From my collection of Family Tree Maker CDs, I was eventually able to determine that Martha Elizabeth Hairston first married a Chisum and later a Thompson. Her daughter, Stella Chisum, married a Gresham.  Finding descendants was much harder.

Thompson was too common and Chisum had many different spellings so my search focused on finding Gresham descendants.

Mattie, Nadine, and Edd

After months of looking for Greshams, I found the Rootsweb Surname List and wrote to 23 Gresham researchers who had connections in Texas. My best response came from a woman who wrote a Gresham newsletter. She knew someone in Stephenville, Texas who researched Greshams. He called me the next day and told me that he was only related to the Greshams by marriage, but that one of his neighbors was a descendant of the Thompson family. I had found Nadine.

Nadine was happy to learn that her grandmother's maiden name was Hairston. She wrote, Grandmother lived with us. I remember when she died. I was 5. We loved her. We was so poor back then. Daddy had a hard time for her funeral.

Nadine's father, Edgar Richard Thompson was born November 9, 1896 to Mattie Hairston and her husband, John A. Thompson. John A. died in 1899, leaving Mattie to raise their five children. "Edd" lived with his mother and worked by farming her land until at least 1920. In the early 1920s, he married Mattie Elizabeth Proctor. They resided in Erath County until their deaths. Edd and Mattie are buried in West End Cemetery in Stephenville. 

Other posts about Edgar Richard Thompson's family:

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: #39 John A. Thompson, Husband of Mattie Hairston and His Surprising Link to John Neely Bryan, Founder of Dallas, Texas

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: #34 Martha Elizabeth "Mattie" Hairston Chisum Thompson - A Timeline and Surprising Information about a Well Circulated Photograph

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: #38 Jessie Mae Thompson Hicks, Daughter of Mattie Hairston

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: #37 Aaron W. Thompson, a Farmer in Erath County, Texas

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: #36 Philip Chisum Lived in Erath County, Texas.

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: #35 Claud Clarence Thompson Left his Brother's Home And Was Never Seen Again

Friday's Photo: Clint Smith's Daughter

Diana

© 2014

Sources

Family photographs from the collection of Nadine Thompson Waugh. Accessed September 2001. Used with permission. 

"Find A Grave - Millions of Cemetery Records." Find A Grave - Millions of Cemetery Records. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Oct. 2014. <http://www.findagrave.com/>.

Year: 1900; Census Place: Justice Precinct 1, Erath, Texas; Roll: 1631; Page: 36A; Enumeration District: 0064; FHL microfilm: 1241631.

Year: 1910; Census Place: Justice Precinct 1, Erath, Texas; Roll: T624_1550; Page: 5A; Enumeration District: 0020; FHL microfilm: 1375563.

Year: 1920; Census Place: Morgan Mill, Erath, Texas; Roll: T625_1801; Page: 8B; Enumeration District: 17; Image: 453.

Year: 1930; Census Place: Precinct 1, Erath, Texas; Roll: 2326; Page: 7B; Enumeration District: 0006; Image: 187.0; FHL microfilm: 2342060.

Friday's Photo: Clint Smith's Daughter

This photo was shared with me by some of my Hairston/Thompson family members. I was told it was Clint Smith's daughter. Well, that was in 2001 and I didn't know Clint Smith or how he fit into my family. 

I now know that Clint Smith was the son of William B. Smith and Mahalia Thompson of Texas. Mahalia was the daughter of John A. Thompson and step-daughter of Mattie Hairston, my great-grandfather's sister. 

This photo might be Clint's daughter, Vera. We are not related, but I started this blog to share family information and find family. If I find descendants of this family, maybe they will have photos or knowledge of my family. 

Diana

© 2014

From the Files of Marguerite Cook Clark: Dollie Bryan

Dorothy "Dollie" Elizabeth Harriet Bryan 1873 - 1948

Marguerite Cook Clark
1913-1989

Dorothy "Dollie" Elizabeth Harriet Bryan was four years old when her family left Louisiana for Texas. This photo would have been taken in about 1886 - probably in Erath County, Texas. Dollie's photo, a tintype, was found with many others that her parents, Terrell and Harriet Bryan, sent to Bryan family living in Bienville Parish, Louisiana. 

See other photos of Dollie at Friday's Photo: Making Comparisons - Dollie Wylie  and Friday's Photo: Dollie Wylie Revisited.

Diana

© 2014

Source

Family photographs and documents from the collection of Marguerite Cook Clark. Accessed April 28, 2014 and September 14, 2014. Used with permission. 

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: #39 John A. Thompson, Husband of Mattie Hairston and His Surprising Link to John Neely Bryan, Founder of Dallas, Texas

The solid lines indicate that the connection to the family is documented while
the dotted lines indicate that direct evidence has not yet been found to
make the connection. Click on the family tree to see a larger image.

No Story Too Small

I descend from both Hairstons and Bryans on my father's side. My late

cousin, Jackie, told me that our Bryans were related to John Neely Bryan, founder of Dallas, Texas. I never found a connection between my Bryan family and John Neely Bryan and put it aside as another tall tale.

 A reconstructed model of the home and trading
 post erected in 1841 by Dallas founder,
 John Neely Bryan.

However, today when researching Mattie Hairston's second husband, John A. Thompson, I found a link to John Neely Bryan. John's sister, Sarah Jane, was the wife of John Neely Bryan, Jr. Maybe the story about being connected to John Neely Bryan was not so much a tall tale, but information that had been misconstrued. 

My direct family line is in no way related to John Neely Bryan, but all of my grandmother's close Thompson cousins could call John Neely Bryan, Jr. Uncle John as he was married to their father's sister.

John A. Thompson was born in Tennessee to Moses S. Thompson and Martha Warnick on February 26, 1848. The family moved often when he growing up. In 1850, his family was living in Henry County, Tennessee, but by 1860 they were living in Conway County, Arkansas. A move to Dallas County, Texas followed in 1865 and before 1878 Moses Thompson and some of his children were in Erath County, Texas. 

  

John's known siblings are listed below.

• Mary Thompson was born about 1840 and appeared on the 1850, 1860, and 1870 census records with the Thompson family.
• William Thompson was born about 1842 and appeared on the 1850 and 1860 census records with the Thompson family.
• Lucinda Thompson was born in 1843, married Tom Newton, and is buried in the Old Gordon Cemetery in Palo Pinto County. 
• Sarah Jane Thompson was born in 1846, married John Neely Bryan, Jr. and is buried in Riverside Cemetery in Wichita Falls, Texas.
• Robert W. Thompson was born in 1850 and married Sarah Elkins in Erath County. Robert, Sarah, and one child, Agnes are buried in the Bethel Cemetery in Erath County.
• Margaret Ellen Thompson was born in 1856 and married Samuel Anderson. She died in in Okfuskee County, Oklahoma and is buried in Highland Cemetery along with some of her children. 

John A. Thompson married Mary A. Lowery on June 16, 1878. They had daughter Mahalia who married William Benjamin Smith in 1899.  It is not known if Mary Lowery passed away or the marriage dissolved, but on August 28, 1884, John married Martha Elizabeth "Mattie" Hairston Chisum in Erath County. 

John and Mattie had five children; Floyd William, Aaron Whitney, Edgar Richard, Jessie Mae, and Claud Clarence. Mattie also had three children from her previous marriage; Walter, Philip, and Stella Chisum. They lived in the Bethel Community where John died following a wagon accident that occurred while he was building a new home in 1899.

Diana

© 2014

Sources

Ancestry.com. Texas, Marriage Collection, 1814-1909 and 1966-2011 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005.

Ancestry.com. U.S., Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012. Original data: Find A Grave. Find A Grave. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi.

"Find A Grave - Millions of Cemetery Records." Find A Grave - Millions of Cemetery Records. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Oct. 2014. <http://www.findagrave.com/>.

Ipri, Tom. "John Neely Bryan Cabin."Flickr. Yahoo!, 24 Jan. 2012. Web. 7 Oct. 2014. <https://www.flickr.com/photos/tomspix/6768445737/in/photolist->.

Lewis Publishing Company. Memorial and Biographical History of Dallas County, Texas., Book, 1892; digital images, (http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth20932/ : accessed October 05, 2014), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, http://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Dallas Public Library, Dallas, Texas.

<http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth20932/m1/545/>

Year: 1850; Census Place: District 13, Henry, Tennessee; Roll: M432_884; Page: 361A; Image: 235.

Year: 1860; Census Place: Griffin, Conway, Arkansas; Roll: M653_39; Page: 576; Image: 578; Family History Library Film: 803039.

Year: 1870; Census Place: Precinct 3, Dallas, Texas; Roll: M593_1581; Page: 360B; Image: 205; Family History Library Film: 553080.

Year: 1880; Census Place: Precinct 1, Erath, Texas; Roll: 1302; Family History Film: 1255302; Page: 17A; Enumeration District: 149.