My Mother's Christmas Memories - New York 1932-1942

The photo on the left was taken in 1932, Mom's first Christmas. The tree is on a
 covered sewing machine cabinet and is between the chair and a single bed. In another photo, presents are seen arranged on the bed (see the small photo below). The home was in the Bronx at 1130 Arnow Avenue. The family was living at the same address in 1933 and that Christmas tree was larger. Under the tree was a rocking chair and teddy bear. It was Mom's second Christmas and her sister's first. 

My mother, born in 1932, spent her childhood in New York. As a young child, she lived with her family in Manhattan, the Bronx, South Ozone Park, Jamaica, Queens Village, and Bellerose. In 1941, her parents purchased a home in Franklin Square, a hamlet in Nassau County.

Janet and Betty received Shirley Temple
dolls in 1937. The family was living in
Queens Village at 92-43 214th Street.

Mom's family always had short-needle balsam fir trees and decorated the tree on December 23rd. Mom said the tree was usually purchased at a corner market; however, when they moved to Franklin Square, the tree was purchased from Ralph's Farm Market.  Their tree had glass balls and much tinsel that was put on one strand at a time. 

On Christmas Eve, Mom and her sister hung a long sock on the bedpost and went to bed early as Santa was coming. 

Stockings were opened first on Christmas morning. The girls received oranges, nuts, and a candy cane along with small toys. One year they received a cardboard umbrella filled with candy. Mom continued the tradition as I remember getting nuts, an orange, and one candy cane in my stocking. However, we didn't hang a sock. Mom made our stockings out of felt.

The family was living in Bellerose in 1939 when Santa brought the kitchen set, complete with running water. Mom and her sister were so happy to see it under their tree as they had asked for it after seeing it advertised in the local hardware store flyer.  

The next year, the girls received a dollhouse with furniture and electric lights in each of the three rooms. Their father built it out of scraps and found items. Mom stopped believing in Santa that year as she recognized the fabric her mother used for the curtains.

Betty and Janet received this dollhouse in 1940. Wallpaper and 
accessories were added later but most of the furniture is the original. 
The family lived at 248-50 89th Avenue in Bellerose. 

24 Rule Street, Franklin Square
Now 149 Rule Street
Photo taken about 1947

Mom's family moved to Franklin Square in Nassau County in May of 1941. She remembers getting this doll as a Christmas gift in 1942.

Mom's parents exchanged the same gift every year. Her mother received a box of candy and her father received a carton of cigarettes.

Christmas dinner was usually a big meal. Sometimes turkey and always cut out Christmas cookies. Mom's parents did not have family in New York so there were no large gatherings.  

Thank you to Mom for sharing her Christmas memories!

Merry Christmas to Aunt Janet and Mom!

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

© 2021 

Sources

Family Photographs; scanned images, from the privately held photo collection of E. M. Bryan, Virginia Beach, VA 2021. 

Interview with E. M. Bryan (VA), by D. B. Quinn, 8 October 2021. Transcript held in 2021 by D.B. Quinn (VA). 

Clippings from The Baylor County Banner - Seymour, Texas - December 27 1923

My grandparents, Redic E. Bryan and Myrtie Hairston, and my great-grandparents, Phillip A. Hairston and Lodema Criswell, moved to Baylor County in 1905. My father, Whit Criswell Bryan, was born in Seymour in 1920. He was the youngest of seven children born to Redic and Myrtie. 

In April 2019, I visited the Texas State Library and Archives to read Baylor County Banner issues that could not be found online or on microfilm. I photographed articles with information about my father's family who lived in Seymour. While sorting through my family finds, I realized I had photos of articles that might interest others looking for family. I have pictures of numerous articles from 1923 and a few from other years. I will post as time allows. 

Thank you to Matt Gwinn at the Baylor County Banner for giving me permission to post these clippings.  

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

© 2021 

Sources 

Harrison, O. C. The Baylor County Banner. (Seymour, TX.), Vol. 28, No. 15. 27 Dec 1923. Print. Accessed 15 April 2019. 

Clippings from The Baylor County Banner - Seymour, Texas - December 20, 1923

My grandparents, Redic E. Bryan and Myrtie Hairston, and my great-grandparents, Phillip A. Hairston and Lodema Criswell, moved to Baylor County in 1905. My father, Whit Criswell Bryan, was born in Seymour in 1920. He was the youngest of seven children born to Redic and Myrtie. 

In April 2019, I visited the Texas State Library and Archives to read Baylor County Banner issues that could not be found online or on microfilm. I photographed articles with information about my father's family who lived in Seymour. While sorting through my family finds, I realized I had photos of articles that might interest others looking for family. I have pictures of numerous articles from 1923 and a few from other years. I will post as time allows. 

Thank you to Matt Gwinn at the Baylor County Banner for giving me permission to post these clippings.  

This is part of a larger article naming Baylor County Banner subscribers.

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

© 2021 

Sources 

Harrison, O. C. The Baylor County Banner. (Seymour, TX.), Vol. 29, No. 13. 20 Dec 1923. Print. Accessed 15 April 2019. 

Friday's Photo: Isaac Clark

Isaac Clark

Al and Marguerite married in 1935. 
Al lived in Ringgold for over 50 years.[5]

Isaac "Ike" Clark, born in Missouri in about 1880, was the father of Albert "Al" Clark, the husband of Marguerite Cook Clark. This is a copy of a tintype found in Marguerite Cook Clark's collection.[1] 

Very little is known about Isaac Clark. He married Mary Helen Mansker in Lincoln County, Oklahoma on 23 August 1902.[2] 

In 1910, Isaac and Mary were renting a home in Sans Bois in Haskell County, Oklahoma where Isaac was the owner of a livery stable. They had three boys, Charley, Tom, and two-year-old Albert.[3] Another son, Bill, was born in 1911. Isaac died when Al was about 7 years old and Mary married David Harris.[4]

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

© 2021 

    1. Isaac Clark photograph, n.d.; digital images, from the privately held photo collection of Marguerite Cook Clark (1913-1989), Waynesville, North Carolina, 2021. Photos were accessed and scanned at the home of Marguerite Cook Clark's daughter in Alpine, Texas on April 28, 2014, September 14, 2014, and November 9 to 11, 2016.

    2. "Oklahoma, County Marriages, 1890-1995." Database with images. FamilySearch. "Oklahoma, County Marriages, 1890-1995," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2Z5-GL3N : 16 December 2021), Isaac Clark and Mary Helen Mansker, 23 Aug 1902; citing Oklahoma, various county courthouses, Oklahoma; FHL microfilm.

    3. 1910 U.S. Census, Haskell, Oklahoma, population schedule, San Bois township, ward 4,  enumeration district 94, page 6B, dwelling 116, family  116, Ike Clark household; digital images, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/22895076:7884 : accessed 16 December 2021); citing NARA microfilm publication T624, roll 1254.

    4. "Army Training Taught Al Clark the Importance of Carrying Out Orders," article, 1943, The Communicator, unknown publisher, from the privately-held collection of Marguerite Cook Clark (1913-1989), Waynesville, North Carolina, 2021. Accessed and scanned at the home of Marguerite Cook Clark's daughter in Alpine, Texas on April 28, 2014, September 14, 2014, and November 9 to 11, 2016.

    5. Ibid. Also, Marguerite Cook and Al Clark, photograph, n.d.; digital images, from the privately held photo collection of Marguerite Cook Clark (1913-1989), Waynesville, North Carolina, 2021. Photos were accessed and scanned at the home of Marguerite Cook Clark's daughter in Alpine, Texas on April 28, 2014, September 14, 2014, and November 9 to 11, 2016. 

From the Files of Marguerite Cook Clark: William Ira Bobo and Mamie Jones Bobo

These are two of many obituaries saved by Marguerite Cook Clark and her daughters. [1]

William Ira Bobo, the son of Cicero Caswell Bobo and Mary Elizabeth Denton, was raised in Alabama.[2]  Mamie Jones was the daughter of Lovic Jones and Laura McCoy of Bienville Parish.[3] 

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

© 2021 

    1.  "Bobo," newspaper clipping, 18 February 1993,  unidentified newspaper, from the privately held collection of Marguerite Cook Clark (1913-1989), Waynesville, North Carolina, 2021. Also,  "W. I. Bobo Rites Set at Ringgold," newspaper clipping, 4 March 1964,  unidentified newspaper, from the privately held collection of Marguerite Cook Clark (1913-1989), Waynesville, North Carolina, 2021. Obituaries were accessed and scanned at the home of Marguerite Cook Clark's daughter in Alpine, Texas on April 28, 2014, September 14, 2014, and November 9 to 11, 2016. 

    2. Linda Bell, "*Staples/Parker/Bell/Lee Family Tree", public tree, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/tree/17832803/family/familyview?cfpid=562603166&dtid=100 : accessed 13 December 2021). 

    3. cynmathis4, "Madden/Mathis", public tree, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/68645235/person/40401478689/facts : accessed 13 December 2021). 

Clippings from The Baylor County Banner - Seymour, Texas - December 13, 1923

My grandparents, Redic E. Bryan and Myrtie Hairston, and my great-grandparents, Phillip A. Hairston and Lodema Criswell, moved to Baylor County in 1905. My father, Whit Criswell Bryan, was born in Seymour in 1920. He was the youngest of seven children born to Redic and Myrtie. 

In April 2019, I visited the Texas State Library and Archives to read Baylor County Banner issues that could not be found online or on microfilm. I photographed articles with information about my father's family who lived in Seymour. While sorting through my family finds, I realized I had photos of articles that might interest others looking for family. I have pictures of numerous articles from 1923 and a few from other years. I will post as time allows. 

Thank you to Matt Gwinn at the Baylor County Banner for giving me permission to post these clippings.

  

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

© 2021 

Sources 

Harrison, O. C. The Baylor County Banner (Seymour, TX.), Vol. 29, No. 12. 13 Dec 1923. Print. Accessed 15 April 2019. 

Friday's Photo: A trip to George Washington's Mount Vernon in 1939

This photo of Lillie Mae Trott Scott Murphey and her daughter, Mary Beth Scott, came from the Frye family collection. [1]

George Washington's Mount Vernon is the historic home of George and Martha Washington, located on the banks of the Potomac River in Fairfax County, Virginia about 13 miles south of Washington, DC. [2]

“Murphy-Scott,” The Bienville

Democrat,  27 Feb. 1936, p.6, col. 5;

database and images, The Digital 

Archives of The Bienville Parish 

Library (http://bienville.advantage-

preservation.com : accessed 

27 August 2021).

Lillie Mae Trott was the daughter of William Jackson Trott and Lula Laura Cook of Bienville Parish, Louisiana. 

Lillie Mae first married Herbert B. Scott father of Mary Beth and in 1936 married William Wayne Murphey. [3]

This photo was developed in September 1939 and it is suspected that it was taken just prior to the family leaving for the Philippine Islands where Lt. Colonel Murphey was stationed just before the war. [4]

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

© 2021 

    1. Lillie Mae Trott Murphy and Mary Beth Scott at Mount Vernon, photograph, n.d.; scanned image, from the privately held photo collection of the Frye Family, San Francisco, 2019.

    2. "Meet the Fairfaxes, George Washington's Neighbors," George Washington's Mount Vernon (https://www.mountvernon.org/george-washington/george-washingtons-neighbors : accessed 30 November 2021).

    3. Vera Meeks Wimberly, Wimberly Family History, Ancestors, Relatives, and Descendants of William Wimberly, Pioneer from Georgia to Louisiana 1837 (Houston Texas: D. Anderson, 1979), 350-351.

    4. “Army Life of Pre-War Philippines Was Familiar to Mrs. William B. Allen,” Corpus Christi Times (Corpus Christi, Texas), 27 April 1946, p.4-C; database and images, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image/?clipping_id=90277215&fcfToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJmcmVlLXZpZXctaWQiOjc1NzcwNzg5OSwiaWF0IjoxNjM5MTY4NjQ0LCJleHAiOjE2MzkyNTUwNDR9.jLhw5UncfmAXKVhxSpAzCzZ-koqgF0RUkx6sUD2QpF8 : accessed 8 Dec. 2021).

Clippings from The Baylor County Banner - Seymour, Texas - December 6, 1923

My grandparents, Redic E. Bryan and Myrtie Hairston, and my great-grandparents, Phillip A. Hairston and Lodema Criswell, moved to Baylor County in 1905. My father, Whit Criswell Bryan, was born in Seymour in 1920. He was the youngest of seven children born to Redic and Myrtie. 

In April 2019, I visited the Texas State Library and Archives to read Baylor County Banner issues that could not be found online or on microfilm. I photographed articles with information about my father's family who lived in Seymour. While sorting through my family finds, I realized I had photos of articles that might interest others looking for family. I have pictures of numerous articles from 1923 and a few from other years. I will post as time allows. 

Thank you to Matt Gwinn at the Baylor County Banner for giving me permission to post these clippings.  

This is part of a larger article naming Baylor County Banner subscribers. The entire article was not in the 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

© 2021 

Sources 

Harrison, O. C. The Baylor County Banner. (Seymour, TX.), Vol. 29, No. 11. 6 Dec 1923. Print. Accessed 15 April 2019. 

Friday's Photo: George Moore

This photo was found in Margaret Cook Clark's collection and is labeled George Moore. Clothing and the photo style compared with similar photos in the collection indicate that this photo may have been taken in the late 1890s.[1] Assuming that this George lived in Northwest Louisiana, this may be George H. Moore, born in 1884 and the son of Mitchell Joel Moore and Lucy Louie Hall. George H. Moore was married to Ollie Ola Regan and spent much of his life living in Bienville Parish, Louisiana. [2]

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

© 2021 

    1. George Moore photograph, n.d.; digital images, from the privately held photo collection of Marguerite Cook Clark (1913-1989), Waynesville, North Carolina, 2021. Photos were accessed and scanned at the home of Marguerite Cook Clark's daughter in Alpine, Texas on April 28, 2014, September 14, 2014, and November 9 to 11, 2016.

    2. ponderosalady, "Edwards, Davis, Thomas, Tooke," public tree, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/4254831/person/-778306430/facts : accessed 19 November 2021).