Friday's Photo: A School Photo in Erath County, Texas - 1908

My grandmother Myrtie Hairston Bryan attended the Bethel School in the 1880s. According to her obituary, the school was on property owned by her father, Phillip A. Hairston. 

The Hairston family settled in the Bethel community of Erath County in 1883. They purchased land from Robert W. Thompson a Bethel resident. Mattie Hairston Chism, sister to my great-grandfather, married John A. Thompson of Bethel. My second-cousin-once-removed, a granddaughter of Mattie Hairston and John A. Thompson, allowed me to copy this photo. 

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

© 2019

Sources

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

Friday's Photo: Meeting of Confederate Veterans from Bienville Parish, Louisiana

This photo and the below clipping were found in the files of Marguerite Cook Clark. 
There is no date for the meeting and also no date for the article about the photo. The location of the photo is unknown. However, the men identified were Bienville Parish residents. 

Rev. Thomas Jefferson Martin - top right

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

© 2019


Sources

Family photographs and documents from the collection of Marguerite Cook Clark. Accessed April 28, 2014, September 14, 2014, and November 9 to 11, 2016. Used with permission.

From the Files of Marguerite Cook Clark: Lucy Smith Lawson Wimberly

Written on the note attached: My grandmother Wimberly's cap - Josie Cook.

This cap was found in a trunk containing notes, photos, and more preserved by generations of women - most recently the daughters of Marguerite Cook Clark. 

Josie Cook was the biological daughter of Sarah Margaret Wimberly and Joseph B. Bryan and the adopted daughter of their siblings, Alice Mary Wimberly and James Bryan. Josie's Grandmother Wimberly was Lucy Smith Lawson Wimberly, mother of nine children including Sarah Margaret and Alice Mary. Other children were John Lawson Wimberly, Charles Perry Wimberly, Frances Louisa Wimberly, Hugh Andrew Wimberly, Thomas Henry Wimberly, Roger Lawson Wimberly, and Martha Elizabeth Wimberly. 

Lucy Smith Lawson, born on November 23, 1806* in Georgia, was the daughter of Roger Lawson and Lucy Parrotte.  She married William Wimberly in Twiggs County, Georgia on June 20, 1825. In 1837, she traveled from Twiggs County to Northwest Louisiana and settled in the area later known as Bienville Parish. Lucy wrote the following letter to her sister soon after moving to Louisiana. 

Lucy's siblings were John, Hugh, Andrew, Roger, Alice, Martha,
Elizabeth, and Mary. John, Andrew, and Roger settled in Northwest
Louisiana. Hugh lived in Canton, Mississippi. Her sisters moved to
Louisiana as well. Elizabeth died soon after settling in Louisiana.
Martha married Anderson Caldwell, Allice married twice and is buried
in the Wimberly Cemetery and Mary married a Mr. Harris and lived near
Homer, Louisiana. 

Marguerite Cook Clark had a transcription of the letter as well as a copy of the original in her files. The original, said to be in Josie Bryan Cook's scrapbook, has not been located. A transcription of this letter can also be found on page 100 of the Wimberly Family History compiled by Vera Meek Wimberly in 1979.

Lucy Smith Lawson Wimberly died on October 16, 1844 and is said to be the first person buried in the Wimberly Cemetery. 

* Birthdates vary among sources. 

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

© 2019

Sources

Family photographs and documents from the collection of Marguerite Cook Clark. Accessed April 28, 2014, September 14, 2014, and November 9 to 11, 2016. Used with permission.

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

From the Files of Marguerite Cook Clark: Sarah Margaret Wimberly Bryan

Sarah Margaret Wimberly Bryan and her daughter, Laura Frances Bryan Martin

Sarah Margaret Wimberly Bryan, a tintype found in
Terrell Bryan's family Bible

Sarah Margaret Wimberly was born in Twiggs County, Georgia on February 23, 1828. She was the daughter of William Wimberly and Lucy Smith Lawson and the second of nine children born to this union. Sarah's mother died in 1844 and William Wimberly married Mary Angelina Pittman, widow to both John William Roberts and John Westly Hinton. She had two children (Martha Roberts and John W. Hinton, Jr.) when she married William Wimberly. Six children were born to that union. 

To Sarah Margaret Wimberly from her mother's sister, Martha S. Lawson, October 23, 1839

Sarah and Joseph Bryan were married on December 4, 1845, in Bienville Parish, Louisiana. They had eight children.

Marguerite Cook Clark was told by her mother and Aunt Alice Bryan Williams that Sarah was a little woman and was very kind. She said Uncle Albert remembered Sarah's ginger cookies. 

Laura Frances Bryan Martin wrote this after her mother's passing. A transcription is below.

                           Mother

The hearthstone is vacant the homestead is drear    

The loved one is gone who on earth was most dear   

Her voice is now silent  her work is all done

But her life of rejoicing is just now begun

I am lonely without her but death hath no power to sever our spirits for even one hour

The body may moulder

The spirit may fly 

Up to the mansions of glory on high

Yet there is a union as sweet and as near

As ever existed while even thou wast here

That union of spirit life Jesus hath given

To all the dear Saints on earth and in Heaven

Oh mother I love thee they teachings I love

I love thy devotion so like that above. 

I love our hearts union which nothing can sever

I have loved thee on earth and I'll love thee forever

                                                            Laura

Sarah's obituary was written by Reverand Thomas J. Martin Sr., Sarah's son-in-law. She died on October 4, 1904 and is buried in the Wimberly Cemetery. 

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

© 2019 Sources

Family photographs and documents from the collection of Marguerite Cook Clark. Accessed April 28, 2014, September 14, 2014, and November 9 to 11, 2016. Used with permission.

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

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: John H. James

This photo was found in an album that once belonged to my grandmother, Edith Giddens Davis. Grandma's sister, Elizabeth Giddens, was married to Louis James. John H. James (pictured left) was Louis' brother. 

John H. James was born in Phillipsburg, New Jersey on August 10, 1892. His parents, Evan T. James and Susanna Miller, were married in 1891.  James' brother, Louis was the only other child. Susanna died on May 21, 1894 and Evan married Mary House in 1896.  

John joined the Marines in 1917 and sailed for France on November 19, 1917. He served as a private in the 6th Regiment, 82nd Company in the 2nd Marine Division. According to his gravestone, he was wounded at St. Etienne on October 6th and died in Mailly Aube, France on October 27, 1918. John is buried in the Hays Cemetery in Easton, Pennsylvania. His regiment participated in the capture of Blanc Mont Ridge. To read more about this, 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

© 2019

Sources

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

Find A Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 16 August 2019), memorial page for John H. James (10 Aug 1892–27 Oct 1918), Find A Grave Memorial no. 27510624, citing Hays Cemetery, Easton, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, USA ; Maintained by Rich H. (contributor 46489213) .

Pennsylvania Veterans Burial Cards, 1777-1999. Ancestry.com. Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.Original data - Pennsylvania Veterans Burial Cards, 1929–1990. Digital Images, 3–5. Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Bureau of Archives and History. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

From the Files of Marguerite Cook Clark: The children of Joseph B. Bryan and Sarah Margaret Wimberly

My post, Friday's Photo: Sarah Margaret Wimberly and Joseph B. Bryan, was the first of several posts about this family. Joseph B. and Sarah Margaret had eight children. Find their names and some known information below. 

Laura Frances Bryan, the first child of Joseph B. and Sarah Margaret was born in 1846.
She and her husband Reverand Thomas Jefferson Martin are pictured above.
More about Laura and her family will be found in future posts. 

William Walter Bryan, born in 1849, was four-years-old
when he passed away. He is buried in the Wimberly Cemetery. 

Augustus Reddick Bryan, born in 1851, was married to
Erie Ontario Nix. More about Augustus Reddick and
his family will be found in future posts. 

Lucy Elizabeth Bryan, born in 1853, was four-years-old 
when she died. She is buried in the Wimberly Cemetery. 

Joseph "Josie" Sarah Catherine Bryan*, born in 1856,
was married to Joseph Cook. More about
Josie and her family will be found in future posts.
She can also be found in the posts below. 

Friday's Photo: Josie Bryan Cook and William B. Trott Saved Our Family History  

Friday's Photo: An Important Celebration in Bienville Parish

From the Files of Marguerite Cook Clark: Joe and Josie Bryan Cook

James Anderson Bryan, born in 1858, was married to
Sarah Frances Nix. They had one child, Albert Brown Bryan.
James and Sarah died of influenza on February 1, 1885.
For more information about the photo or to learn about his son,
Albert Brown Bryan. Check out the links below. 

Friday's Photo: James Anderson Bryan, 1858 - 1885

From the Files of Marguerite Cook Clark: Albert Brown Bryan - Son of James Anderson Bryan and Sarah Frances Nix 

John Terrell Bryan*, born in 1861, was married to
Sarah E. "Lizzie" McElroy. John died in 1885.  To see an
additional photo of John, see the link below. 

  Friday's Photo: A Tintype From Bienville Parish

Alice Marth Bryan was known as Aunt Singie or Auntie. The last child of Joseph
and Sarah, she was born in 1864. Alice Martha married
John Lawson Wimberly, Jr.  More about
Alice Martha and her family will be found in future posts.

*John Terrell Bryan and his sister, Josie, were adopted by James Bryan (Joseph's brother) and Alice Wimberly Bryan (Sarah's sister). Marguerite Cook Clark wrote the following about the adoptions.

It always bothered me that Mammy and Grandpap let Uncle Jimmy and Aunt Alice adopt 2 of their children.  Mama said it was because they wanted to leave them their property. 

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

© 2019

Sources

Family photographs and documents from the collection of Marguerite Cook Clark. Accessed April 28, 2014, September 14, 2014, and November 9 to 11, 2016. Used with permission.

Find A Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 26 July 2019), memorial page for William Walter Bryan (24 Feb 1849–17 Sep 1853), Find A Grave Memorial no. 106509470, citing Wimberly Cemetery, Bienville, Bienville Parish, Louisiana, USA ; Maintained by A Footstep In Time (contributor 47345816) .

Find A Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 26 July 2019), memorial page for Lucy Elizabeth Bryan (30 Sep 1853–29 Aug 1858), Find A Grave Memorial no. 70680828, citing Wimberly Cemetery, Bienville, Bienville Parish, Louisiana, USA ; Maintained by Derek Galbreath (contributor 47187152) .