Friday's Photo: Snow!

Reports say that we had more than five inches of snow in Virginia Beach yesterday. We usually get snow a few times a year, but not this much. I don't picture snow when I think of the states farther south, but my sister, in Alabama, reported 10 inches on her Facebook page. This photo, probably taken in Texas, shows a heavy snow.  

There are no markings on the photo. The building looks stately. Could it be a church or college building? Maybe an elementary school? 

The photo belonged to my aunt, DeRay Bryan. She attended schools in Seymour, Texas and Simmons College (now Hardin-Simmons University) in Abilene. In the 1920s she taught grade school Seymour, Amherst, and Borger - all in Texas. DeRay lived in Borger, Texas from 1927 until her death in 1987. I have looked at schools and churches in those areas at that time period, but did not find a match. 



Stay warm!     

Diana

© 2015

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

From the Files of Marguerite Cook Clark: John Cooper Manning

This very cute photo was found in the collection of Marguerite Cook Clark. I looked up Cooper Manning and found several throughout the United States, but decided that this is probably John Cooper Manning who was born in Ringgold. Louisiana in 1916. One or both of Cooper's parents and Marguerite's parents may have been friends or very likely cousins. 

Cooper was the son of Simon Leon Manning and Mary Irene Conly. Cooper's father had an older brother, John Cooper Manning, who was born in 1867 and died at age 18 in 1885. It can be presumed that Cooper was named for his father's brother. Cooper's grandfather, Benjamin Manning, was a friend of my great-grandfather, Terrell Bryan. 

View at Newspapers.com

An article in the Ruston Daily Leader shows that John Cooper Manning graduated from Ruston High School in 1934.  Several articles about him were found in the years 1933 to 1934 and he was always referred to as Cooper.  

Cooper attended Louisiana Polytechnic Institute and married Flora Mae Davis. During World War II, he served in the Army Air Corps in the 71st Fighter Squadron. 

On February 5, 1960, Cooper's life came to a tragic end. Cooper, Flora, and their young son, Johnnie, died in a plane crash in Bolivia. They were on the way back to their home in Ruston.

Diana

© 2015




Sources

Ancestry.com. U.S., Headstone Applications for Military Veterans, 1925-1963 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.

Ruston Leader (Ruston, Louisiana). 11 February 1960 • Page 1 http://www.newspapers.com/clip/1872279/john_cooper_manning_and_family_funeral/ 

The Ruston Daily Leader (Ruston, Louisiana) 10 May 1934 • Page 7
http://www.newspapers.com/clip/1872285/cooper_manning_graduated_from_ruston/

Friday's Photo: Dorothy Emily Regan

David A. Rogers, Annie Rogers, and Dorothy Emily Regan Rogers

This photo was found in the collection of 
Marguerite Cook Clark. 
On the back is written Mr. and Mrs. D. A. Rogers 
and daughter, Annie. 

Dorothy (Dollie) Emily Regan was the 9th child of John Regan and Martha Davis. She was a granddaughter of Elizabeth Regan Bryan (my great-grandmother).  Dorothy was born on March 4, 1852 and was first found on the 1860 census in Bossier Parrish. 

On December 23, 1868, Dorothy married George Pior who died from gunshot wounds in the winter of 1870 in Bienville Parish.  She married David A. Rogers on August 9, 1874 in Bienville Parish and had six children. Annie is their youngest born in 1887.

David died in 1913 and Dorothy died in 1936. They are both buried in the Arcadia Cemetery in Bienville Parish, Louisiana. 

Diana

© 2015

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

Head, John C. Bienville Parish, Louisiana Marriage Records, 1850-1900. Shreveport, La. (8505 Dixie Blanchard Rd., Shreveport 71107-8176): J & W Enterprises, 1990. Print.

United States. Congress. Congressional Edition. U.S. G.P.O., 1877.  https://books.google.com/books? id=i1xHAQAAIAAJ&dq=%22george+Pior%22+bienville+parish&source=gbs_navlinks_s

Year: 1860; Census Place: Bossier, Louisiana; Roll: M653_408; Page: 716; Image: 275; Family History Library Film: 803408

Charles A. Giddens (My Great-Grandfather) Graduated from Jonesboro High School in 1888

A random newspaper search for "Giddens" in North Carolina led me to these clippings. You never know what you are going to find in old newspapers. 

April 11, 1888

Jonesboro High School was a Methodist school and operated under the auspices of the Fayetteville District of the North Carolina Methodist Conference in the town of Jonesboro. The school was several hours from Charles Giddens' family home of Sampson County so it must be assumed that he boarded somewhere in town. 

Find more about Charles A. Giddens by clicking here. 

Diana

© 2015
Sources
Cox, Daisy Kelly. "A HISTORY OF THE METHODIST CHURCH JONESBORO HEIGHTS SANFORD, NORTH CAROLINA." North Carolina Conference of The United Methodist Church. Daisy Kelly Cox (Mrs. L. P. Cox) Member of the Church Printed Privately by the Author. 1955, 1 Jan. Web. 18 Feb. 2015. <http://nccumc.org/history/files/Jonesboro-Heights-UMC-History.pdf>.
Jonesboro Leader (Jonesboro, North Carolina) 11 Apr 1888, Wed • Page 5http://www.newspapers.com/clip/1793963/charles_giddens_attended_jonesboro_high/
Jonesboro Leader (Jonesboro, North Carolina) 16 May 1888, Wed • Page 5  http://www.newspapers.com/clip/1793997/charles_a_giddens_commencement/

From the Files of Marguerite Cook Clark: Tulette Bryan Barron

Tulette Bryan Barron 1875 - 1952

Tulette Bryan, the daughter of Augustus "Bud" Reddick Bryan and Erie Ontario Nix,  was born on February 24, 1875 in Bienville Parish, Louisiana. She was the granddaughter of Joseph B. Bryan and Sarah M. Wimberly and a great-granddaughter of Reddick Bryan and Elizabeth Regan. 

Written on the photo
"Cousin Tulette Bryan"

Tulette, a life-long resident of Bienville Parish,  married Horace Otis Barron on August 1, 1918. He was a farmer in the Ringgold area. They had no children. 

Tulette died on September 16, 1952. She is buried in the Wimberly Cemetery.  

Diana

© 2015





Sources

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

"Louisiana Death Records." Louisiana Death Records. 16 Sept. 1952. Web. 16 Feb. 2015. <http://www.sos.la.gov/HistoricalResources/ResearchHistoricalRecords/LocateHistoricalRecords/Pages/LouisianaDeathRecords.aspx>

Wimberly, Vera. Wimberly Family History: Ancestors, Relatives, and Descendants of William Wimberly, Pioneer from Georgia to Louisiana, 1837. Houston, Tex.: D. Armstrong, 1979. Print.

Friday's Photo: Eddye Kathryn Keith, Another Photo Mystery Solved

This photo has had me guessing for 15 years. It was one of many unlabeled photos sent to me by my cousin, Jackie.  After looking at children in my Bryan family tree, I narrowed it to my aunts, Marie and DeRay, or their cousins, the daughters of Laura Louise Bryan Keith, Laura Louise and Eddye Katheryn Keith. 

The girls really didn't look like other photos of Marie and DeRay and I didn't have known photos of the Keith girls . . . until September. 

While looking at the files of Marguerite Cook Clark, I found this photo and immediately recognized her as one of the girl's in my photo. On the back is written 

Eddye Katheryn Keith 

Age 7 months  

Stephenville, Texas

Daughter of Laura Keith nee Bryan

November 8, 1903

Eddye Kathryn was the second of three children born to Laura Louise Bryan and William Harve Keith.  The first daughter, unnamed, was born and died in 1900. She is buried next to her mother in West End Cemetery, Stephenville, Texas. 

Kathryn appears to have been born in 1903. Her younger sister, Laura Louise was born in 1905, and their mother, my grandfather's youngest sister, passed away from complications related to typhoid in 1908. 

The girls were living with Keith family members in 1910 and 1920. Kathryn married Wayne Merrill Chandler on June 21, 1922 at the Keith home.

The two girls in the photo are most likely Kathryn and Louise Keith. Another photo mystery is solved; however, now I have additional questions. 

Kathryn is said to have died in Colorado in 1925 and is buried in West End Cemetery in Stephenville. Her sister, Laura Louise may have lived in Colorado along with Kathryn. Why was Kathryn in Colorado and how did she die? 

Diana

© 2015

Sources

Ancestry.com. U.S., Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.

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

The Dublin Progress and Telephone (Dublin, Tex.), Vol. 35TH YEAR, No. 10, Ed. 1 Friday, June 30, 1922, Newspaper, June 30, 1922; (http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth561839/ : accessed February 13, 2015), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, http://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Dublin Public Library, Dublin, Texas.

Year: 1910; Census Place: Stephenville Ward 3, Erath, Texas; Roll: T624_1550; Page: 2B; Enumeration District: 0017; FHL microfilm: 1375563.

Year: 1920; Census Place: Stephenville, Erath, Texas; Roll: T625_1801; Page: 12B; Enumeration District: 5; Image: 121.

Beyond 52 Ancestors: #53 Carl Forrest Greenway

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.

Carl Forrest Greenway
(1917-1974)

Carl Forrest Greenway died in 1974, but I feel as if I have been collaborating with him about the Hairston family for the last fifteen years. Some of his letters, found in the Georgia State Archives were sent to me in 1999. On a visit to the New York Public Library in 2000, I copied some of his letters and notes found in four very large binders. That same year, another researcher sent a copy of a letter found in the Bassett Historical Center.

Carl F. Greenway researched the early Hairstons of Virginia and pointed out information in other research that did and did not make sense. He did not have the advantage of the Internet so traveled throughout the south and to Salt Lake City to find family. He often spent time talking to and writing to distant cousins. From those interviews and letters about his mother's Hairston family, I found clues to help me further my research.

I know that I need to go back to the NYPL and maybe to the Bassett Historical Center and the Georgia State Archives. At the New York Pubic Library, I only copied what I thought was pertinent. However, I now know so much more about this branch of the Hairston family. Names such as McBurnett, McKain, Stallings, Simonton, White, and McCauley meant nothing to me in 2000. Did I miss something? I need to know. 

Carl's letters indicate that he sent research to the North Carolina State Archives. Recently, I found one item in the Family History Library in Salt Lake City. That's two additional places to search. Were there more documents to find? Did he spread his research around according to state and family? Or, did he make copies to send to various repositories? Did those binders at the NYPL contain all of his research?

Friday's Photo: Dad's Garage

I was surprised to find this photo of Dad when cleaning out a desk drawer. Not a great photo of Dad, but loved that I could see so much of the garage. On the table were his crossword puzzle book and a dictionary.  

We had parties in the garage.
This was probably my 9th
birthday in 1964, 

Dad's garage was probably one of the busiest places in the house. The washer and dryer were housed in the garage, it was the home of Dad's tools, and it was the family entry and exit point. On rainy days, we played in the garage. Mom's childhood chalkboard was on the wall and a hopscotch was painted on the floor. 

Dad's workbench
Always neat and clean

It was Dad's man-cave. He read the paper and did his crossword puzzles in the garage. A phone, a refrigerator, and even a small television were kept in his garage. 

When grandchildren came along, their growth was measured on one wall. Dad passed away in 2001. Mom sold the house in 2008. Before she moved,  I took photos of the marks on the wall. 

 Paul, Jason, Emily, and Will - these are for you. 

The first photo shows growth marks and dates for Emily and Jason.

Just above are marks and dates for William and Paul. William was the last one measured on May 12, 2008. 

Diana

© 2015