#52ancestors: Post Four: Myrtie Hairston Bryan, My Grandmother

The Hairston Family - Phillip, Myrtie, Lodema 

This week's writing prompt for #52ancestors is Invite to Dinner. If I could have dinner with family, I would choose this family. I imagine Phillip Hairston would tell me about his siblings, mother, and father. He might know about his grandparents as well. His wife, Lodema Criswell Hairston, could fill in some blanks in her family's history. However, if I had to choose one, I would choose the young girl in this photo, my grandmother, Myrtie Hairston. 

Johnie Myrtlene "Myrtie" Hairston was the second child of Phillip and Lodema Hairston. The first child, a son, died as an infant and Myrtie was born on July 9, 1880 in Falls County, Texas. 

Redic E. and Myrtie Hairston Bryan

I never knew my grandmother or Redic E. Bryan, my grandfather. Myrtie died 28 years before I was born. I would have so many questions for her, she wouldn't have time to eat. I would ask much about her father's Hairston family. And, what it was like growing up in Falls and Erath Counties. Where did she live, go to school, and what were her likes and dislikes. I would like her to tell me about her husband, my grandfather, Redic E. Bryan. 

I would tell my grandmother about my family and about her son, my father. When she died, my father was only six years old. 

Myrtie's obituary was one of those extremely detailed obituaries you would like to find for all family members. To see the obituary and more posts about my grandmother, 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

© 2018

Sources

Family photographs and documents from the collection of Diana Bryan Quinn