Friday's Photo: The Biggs Family + One in Erath County, Texas

This photo has always been a puzzle. I looked at it just last week. The three girls didn't appear to match approximate known ages in the family. One family member decided that one of the girls was actually a boy. Nothing made sense until I saw Maureen Taylor's (The Photo Detective) Instagram post today - Not Only Family Members Posed for a Photo.  Immediately, I thought of the older girl in the photo.  Was she a Biggs child? Probably not. 

Short hair? Hair was cut to help cool off
a fever. Hair was shaved and treated with
kerosene when head lice was a problem.
Others cut their hair short as they might
have deemed it fashionable. 

Terrell Little "Bunch" Bryan and James D. Biggs were married in 1880. This photo was taken between 1891 and 1898 when W. B. Praytor had a studio in Stephenville. Looking at the children's sizes and knowing their birthdays, it makes sense that this photo was taken in 1891 or 1892. The first two Biggs children were girls born about 16 months apart in 1881 and 1882. The two younger girls in the photo are both about the same size and look close in age so these girls are probably sisters, Willie and Maggie. The boy to the far right would be Terrel Bryan Biggs (born 1884) and the baby, James Ely Biggs who was born in 1890. 

Who was the older girl? She looked much older and so much more mature than the other girls in the photo. Terrell Little Bryan had two unmarried sisters at this time. James D. Biggs had many siblings. She could be a family member or even a boarder or neighbor. Do you have this photo? What do you think? 

Update - The older girl was Belle Hanley Cameron (aka Belle Latta). Read more about her at From the Files of Marguerite Cook Clark: Belle Hanley Cameron (AKA Belle Latta).

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 photograph from the collection of  Sue Pierce and Pat Waas. Accessed January 2006.

“Cabinet Card Photographers: William B Praytor.” http://cabinetcardphotographers.blogspot.com/2017/09/william-b-praytor.html. Accessed 25 Oct. 2019.

“Short hair. Who Were They?"https://whowerethey.photos/2015/02/08/short-hair-2/. Accessed 25 Oct. 2019.

From the files of Marguerite Cook Clark: Mary Thornton Kotchevar, Daughter of Mr. and Mrs. J. P. Ellett of Shreveport

Mary Thornton Kotchevar was not family. According to the writing on the clipping, she was Charlie's nurse in 1912.  Charlie, Charles Arthur Martin, died young on June 15, 1912. 

Mary was the daughter of Irene Ewing and a currently unknown Thornton. Irene was a widow when she married Joseph P. Ellett. 

The above cemetery stone shows that Mary served in the U.S. Navy as nurse. Her husband, Leopold, served in the U. S. Marine Corps. 


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.

Mary M Kotchevar (1891-1935) - Find A Grave Memorial. Created by: wmpr2. Added: 23 Jul 2011.  <https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/73802797#source>

Friday's Photo: Jesse Wimberly and Jane Crumpton

Jesse Pittman Wimberly  1852-1889
Jane Elizabeth Crumpton  1854-1940

Maggie Martin Cook wrote Uncle Jesse and Aunt Jane Wimberly above this photo. She was just a toddler when Jesse Wimberly died, but I'm certain she knew Jane and her children.

Jessie Pittman Wimberly was the third child of William Wimberly and Mary Angelina Pittman Roberts Hinton Wimberly. Jesse, the 12th of William Wimberly's children, grew up with many half-siblings. He was half-brother to Sarah Margaret Wimberly Bryan who was the grandmother to Maggie Martin Cook and also aunt to my grandfather, Redic Bryan. 

In 1878, Jesse married Jane Elizabeth Crumpton, daughter of David Jackson Crumpton and Mary D. Scott. Jesse and Jane were the parents to four children; Laura Jessie, James Abner, Mary Elizabeth, and Sarah Alice. 

According to the Wimberly Family History, Jesse and Jane lived on a farm about six miles from Ringgold near the William Wimberly farm. Jesse took care of his farm and also put in crops for his sister Eliza Davis after her husband died in 1884. Jesse died from the flu in 1889 when he was only 37 years old. Jane did not remarry. She died at the home of her daughter in Natchitoches in 1940. Jesse and Jane are 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.

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: Charles Arthur Martin

Charles Arthur Martin 1884 - 1912

Charles Arthur Martin was the seventh child and youngest
son of Thomas Jefferson Martin and Laura Frances Bryan.
He was born in Bienville Parish, Louisiana on August 4, 1884.

This photo was unlabeled but is clearly a photo of Charles Arthur Martin.
The clothes, chair, and his smile match the photo above. 

I would guess that this picture was taken soon after 1900. In
1900, he was 15 years old, living with his parents, and two
siblings. His occupation on the census was farm labor. 

In 1910, he was living with his parents and the census shows that
he owned a farm. William Martin (a boarder born in GA) is also
living with the family. 

Charles was a member of the Mackey Lodge in Ringgold, Louisiana. In
1909, he was passed and raised and also served as the Junior Deacon. 
In 1912, he served as a Steward in the lodge.
Charles died on June 15, 1912. He is buried in the Wimberly Cemetery
in Bienville Parish. 

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.

Year: 1900; Census Place: Ringgold, Bienville, Louisiana; Roll: T623_18; Page: 2B; Enumeration District: 0004.

Year: 1910; Census Place: Ringgold, Bienville, Louisiana; Roll: T624_509; Page: 8B; Enumeration District: 0006; FHL microfilm: 1374522

Friday's Photo: Redick, Clara, and Frankie Martin

Redick, Clara, and Frankie Martin - From the collection of Marguerite Cook Clark

A few weeks ago, I posted information about John Joseph Martin, son of Thomas Jefferson Martin and Laura Frances Bryan. He first married Sarah Olive "Ollie" Thomas on December 3, 1893 in Bienville Parish, Louisiana. Ollie was the daughter of Lucy T. Wimberly and Newport L. Nix. She and John were second cousins, both descendants of William Wimberly. J.J.'s grandmother was Sarah Margaret Wimberly Bryan. Ollie's grandfather, John Lawson Wimberly, was the brother of Sarah Margaret Wimberly. 

Redick, Clara, and Franke Martin were three of four children of John Joseph Martin and Sarah Olive "Ollie" Thomas.  Information seen below about the children of John and Ollie came from the book Wimberly Family History compiled by Vera Meek Wimberly. 

The first child of John and Ollie was Clara Essie Martin, born April 14, 1895 in Bienville Parish. Clara married Annie Lonzo Carter in 1913. Clara and her husband died in 1980 and are buried in the Springhill Cemetery in Ringgold. 

Redick Clinton Martin, the second c h i l d of John and Ollie, was born on March  
18, 1898 in Bienville Parish. In 1918, he married Sarah Bertha Preuett. His occupation was that of a farmer and he served in both World War I and World War II. Redick died in 1968 and is buried in Wimberly Cemetery. 

Frankie Bertha Martin was the third child of John and Ollie. She was born on May 18, 1901 in Bienville Parish. She married James William Wiggins in 1919. Frankie died in 1974. Her husband died in 1977. They are buried in the Mount Zion Cemetery in Red River Parish. 

The fourth and youngest child of John and Ollie was Thomas Alvin "Pete" Martin born on October 19, 1905 in Ringgold, Bienville Parish. He married Bertha Crumpton in 1931. Pete died in 1978 and his wife 10 years later. They are 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.

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