Friday's Photo: Seymour, Texas 1911

As I pulled this framed photo off of the wall of the antique store, my daughter was wondering why I was buying a random picture of school children. She didn't ask as I am sure that nothing I do surprises her.  

The picture was labeled Seymour Tex 1911. My father's family lived in Seymour, Texas in 1911. He wasn't born until 1920, but two of his sisters would have attended the school. I recognized one of the teachers, Mrs. Pistole - Dad's 2nd grade teacher. I had seen her in later yearbook photos. 

My favorite of several
possible matches to
the Bryan sisters

After scanning the photo, I struggled to find my aunts. I have many pictures of both Aunt Marie Bryan and Aunt DeRay Bryan and there were several with some likenesses, but nothing definitive. Yes, I even tried facial recognition software. 

I purchased this photo when visiting Austin, Texas earlier this month. It was on a mat in a frame. I had to remove the frame and mat to pack it. On the back of the photo, was the name Eunice Ellis. On the back of the mat were flyers depicting line drawings of famous silent film stars. I am guessing that this photo had been in that frame for a very long time. 

I found the identical photo in Salt Pork to Sirloin, The History of Baylor County from 1878 to 1930 compiled by the Baylor County Historical Society in 1972. However, the photo in the book was not complete as the right portion appeared to have been torn just after the two teachers. The teachers were identified as Mrs. O. McDaniel and Mrs. S. W. Pistol. 

I wonder how long it took to take this photo. The faces on these children are just priceless.

 

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

© 2016

Sources

Baylor County Historical Society. Salt pork to Sirloin: the History of Baylor County from 1878 to 1930. Seymour, Texas. Banner Publishing Company, 1972. Print.

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

Thanksgiving at the Aviation Free Gunnery School - 1942

Both the names Aviation Free Gunnery School and Naval Air Gunners School were
 found in his scrapbook. The Aviation Free Gunnery School
may have been a part of the Naval Air Gunners School. 

All items seen in this post were found in Uncle Charlie's scrapbook - "Snaps and Scraps, My Life in the Navy"

On September 9, 1942, at age 49, my great-uncle, Charles William Giddens, left from New York City for the U. S. Naval Training Station in Norfolk, Virginia. He arrived September 11th for training in Platoon #51 to become a Chief Specialist G (Gunnery Instructor). Less than a month later, he left Norfolk for his duty station, the Naval Air Gunners School in Hollywood, Florida. 

Mom said her Uncle Charlie was a sharpshooter. He was a sergeant in the U.S. Army's Rainbow Division when he was injured in Sergy, France during WWI in 1918. In 1942 he was a supervisor for the local gas company, was married to Louise Uhde Giddens, and owned a home at 263 Irvingtion Avenue in South Orange, New Jersey. Mom said he tried to rejoin the Army during WWII, but was too old; however, the Navy needed him. At the Gunnery school, he was said to teach new sailors to shoot. 

In 1942, Charlie celebrated his first Thanksgiving in at the gunnery school. Here is the menu. 

Names on the menu:
Charles C. Gold, W. L. Guthrie,
J. R. Fitzpatrick, L. F. Beotte

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

© 2016

Source

Family photographs and documents from the collection of Diana Bryan Quinn

Friday's Photo: Marguerite Cook Clark

 

This is a beautiful picture of Marguerite Cook Clark. I will guess that it was taken in the late 1920s or early 1930s in Louisiana. 

Marguerite was researching her family history as early as the 1950s. I have copies of many letters she wrote to other Bryan family researchers. including one to my father. She saved many photos, documents, and letters related to her family in Bienville Parish, Louisiana. 

Marguerite and I both descend from Reddick Bryan and Elizabeth Regan who settled in Northwest Louisiana in 1838. 

Marguerite would have loved the computer. Email is so much faster than the USPS and think of what she would have done with Ancestry.com and FamilySearch.org. 

Thank you to Marguerite's youngest daughter for finding me and telling me about her mother's files. AND, thank you to her oldest daughter for allowing me to invade her home and spend days at her dining room table reading files and looking at photos. 

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

© 2016

Source

Family photographs and documents from the collection of Marguerite Cook Clark. Accessed April 28, 2014, September 14, 2014 and November 8,9,10, 2016. Used with permission.

My Grandfather Won This Election in 1912

Election Results found in the Bryan Family Bible

My grandfather, Redic E. Bryan, ran for and won the position of Tax Assessor of Baylor County, Texas in 1912. The above election results were found in the Bryan Family Bible. The date for this election is August 12, 1912. However, the actual election results were reported in the November 15, 1912 issue of the Baylor County Banner. Was the above clipping a report of a primary? 

This card was found in the Bryan Family Bible

This was Redic Bryan's second term as Tax Assessor as he also ran and won the office of Tax Assessor in 1910. 
He believed in rotation of office and did not run after his second term.  Click on this link to see the biography published in the Banner during the 1910 election.

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

© 2016

Source

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

Quinn, Diana. "Baylor County Banner 1912." The Baylor County Banner Nov. 15, 1912. 22 Jan. 2007. Web. 13 Nov. 2016.   http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~bryanquinn/BaylorCountyBanner1912.htm

Friday's Photo: This Photo was Edited in the 1930s

Edith Giddens - About 1930

This is a beautiful portrait of my grandmother, Edith Giddens Davis. I assumed it was taken as a portrait. However, when I asked Mom about it, she told me that it was made from the photo below taken when Grandma lived at the Webster in NYC. 

My grandmother, Edith Giddens, and her friend, Cleo Hauser, on the roof of the Webster.
To learn more about Cleo, click here.

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

© 2016 Source

Family photographs and documents from the collection of Diana Bryan Quinn