Friday's Photo: It Worked! Using a Wildcard in my Search to Identify this Photo of Henry Green Davis of Bienville Parish, Louisiana

Until yesterday, this photo was labeled "unknown." There was a name on the back of the photo, but it was written in pencil on the gray card and not readable. However, enlarging the scanned image and playing with the filter colors allowed me to make out Henry and a D at the beginning of his last name. In hopes of finding this photo at Ancestry.com, I searched for Henry D* in Bienville Parish using a wildcard - an * after the D indicating that there were multiple letters after the D. 

It worked! I filtered the search to "Pictures" and found an identical photo on the first results page. Thank you to the Bienville Parish family researcher who shared an identical photo on Ancestry.com and at Find a Grave. And thank you to the Frye family, who allowed me to scan and share their photos. 

Henry Green Davis

Henry Green Davis was born on 12 March 1874 in Bienville Parish. He married Carrie Maude Helfin in 1901, and they had at least seven children. Henry owned a mercantile store in Hope (now Fryeburg) in Bienville Parish. He died in 1928 and is buried in Bistneau Cemetery along with his wife, his parents, and many other family members. 

Using Wildcards

In my search for the identification of the photo, I used a wildcard at Ancestry.com. Many sites allow the use of wildcards to improve search results. However, each site may have different rules for using wildcards. The next time you visit a genealogical site, read the help pages for search tips and information about using wildcards. Check out the helpful links below. 

Find easy-to-understand explanations of how to use wildcards, quotation marks, and Boolean Operators at FishWrap The official blog of Newspapers.com. 

At the Find My Past Blog, see nice examples of using wildcards and suggestions for using wildcards in more than just names. 

Julie Cahill Tarr's blog post Are You Reading the Help Section? has links to help sections of many genealogy and related sites. 

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

© 2023 

Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/50230323/henry-green-davis: accessed 16 February 2023), memorial page for Henry Green Davis (12 Mar 1874–26 May 1928), Find a Grave Memorial ID 50230323, citing Bistineau Cemetery, Heflin, Webster Parish, Louisiana, USA; Maintained by Nancy E. Collins (contributor 47113696).

Henry Green Davis, photograph, n.d.; scanned image, from the privately held photo collection of the Frye Family, San Francisco, 2019.

ponderosalady, "Edwards, Davis, Thomas, Tooke," public tree, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/4254831/person/-778306430/facts : accessed 16 February 2023).

Clippings from The Baylor County Banner - Seymour, Texas - November 29, 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.  

__________

These are the last of the 1923 articles. I made some copies of 1926 issues on that same trip and will begin posting those in March. 

R. E. Bryan was my grandfather. He was Redic Eli Bryan and lived in Baylor County from 1905 until his death in 1929. He never really settled on an occupation. He was a teacher, a farmer, a merchant, a bartender, and a restaurant owner. I know that he did business in the oil fields and my father said he was a truck farmer.  He also served as the Tax Assessor for two terms in Baylor County. However, I never knew he worked for a newspaper until I found the following article. 

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

© 2023

Sources 

Redic E. Bryan, photograph, ca. 1910; scanned image, original photograph from the privately-held collection of Diana Bryan Quinn, Virginia Beach, VA, 2023. 

O. C. Harrison, The Baylor County Banner (Seymour, Texas), 29 November 1926, Vol. 8, print; Texas State Library and Archives, Austin, Texas, 2019. 

A 50th Anniversary Party in Erath County, Texas - 1962

This invitation and napkin were found in a box of photos and clippings that once belonged to my father's three sisters, Marie Bryan, DeRay Bryan, and Willa Mae Bryan Dudley. 

Clarence Parker Gibson and Sudie Belle Collinsworth were married in Erath County on 6 April 1912 and according to an article about the anniversary event, lived in Stephenville until 1926. Mr. Gibson worked for Gulf Oil Company and spent many years living in Borger, Texas. He retired in 1959, and they moved back to Stephenville in 1960. Although my family had many connections to Erath County, I suspect my Aunts knew Sudie and Clarence from Borger. 

To learn more about this event visit The Portal to Texas History to see a photo and article. 

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

© 2023 

"Gibsons Observe Golden Wedding", Stephenville Empire-Tribune (Stephenville, Texas), 30 April 1962; database and images, The Portal to Texas History  (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth429414/m1/30/zoom/? : accessed 15 January 2023).  

Gibson invitation and napkin, photograph, April 1962; scanned image, from the privately held collection of Diana Quinn, VA 2023.

"Texas, County Marriage Records, 1837-1965," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QV14-RBF1 : 23 February 2021), Clarence B Gibson and Sudie Collingsworth, 06 Apr 1912; citing Marriage, citing Erath, Texas, United States, Texas State Library, Archives Division, and various Texas county clerks; FHL microfilm 1,428,410.

Friday's Photo: Helen Driscoll of Cohoes, New York

Helen Driscoll Staubach and her daughter, Doris
January 3, 1953

Helen Driscoll was born in Cohoes, New York in 1887. She was the daughter of mill workers and one of at least eleven children. Helen worked in the mills until about 1924 when she and two of her sisters left for New York City. Helen married Charles Staubach Jr. in 1933. Their daughter, Doris, was my beautiful mother-in-law. 

This is a family I researched when just starting this life-long endeavor in the late 1990s. An increase in available online genealogical resources is allowing me to find much more about this family than in my earlier attempt. 

Watch for new posts about Helen and her family in the next few months. 

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

© 2023 

Helen and Doris Staubach, photograph, 3 Jan 1953; scanned image, original photograph from the privately-held collection of Diana Bryan Quinn, Virginia Beach, VA, 2023. 

Clippings from The Baylor County Banner - Seymour, Texas - November 22, 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.  

My father's sisters, DeRay and Marie Bryan attended this shower. From what I could find, the couples were Joe Blanks and, wife, Thelma Smith, and Thomas E. Brock and, wife, Essie Melinda Swilling. Thelma Smith attended Seymour High School with my aunts. In her 1919 yearbook photo, Thelma (left) appeared to have a fur collar or wrap of some kind around her neck. It reminded me of a photo of my Aunt DeRay (right) that was also seen in the 1919 yearbook 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

© 2023

O. C. Harrison, The Baylor County Banner (Seymour, Texas), 22 November 1923, Vol. 9, print; Texas State Library and Archives, Austin, Texas, 2019. 

Seymour High School, The Jackrabbit (Seymour, Texas:1919), no page number, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/467135737:1265? : accessed 7 Feb. 2022).

Friday's Photo: Karl Bryant Wimberly

This photo was found in the collection of Mary V. Smith; however
the "mc" under the photo indicates it is one she photographed in
Marguerite Clark's collection. I scanned many of Marguerite Cook Clark's
photos. This must be one I did not see. 

According to the Wimberly Family History, Karl Bryant Wimberly was the son of John Lawson Jr. and Alice Martha Bryan making him a descendant of both the William Wimberly and Reddick Bryan families of Bienville Parish, Louisiana. 

Karl, a farmer, married Helen Estelle Barker on 30 May 1915. They had four children.  Karl died in 1953 and Helen in 1984. Karl, Helen, and many family members are buried in the Wimberly Cemetery in Bienville Parish. 

This younger photo of Karl Wimberly and the obituary were found in the collection of 
Marguerite Cook Clark. 

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

© 2023 

Karl Bryant Wimberly, photograph, n.d.; scanned image, from the privately held photo collection of Mary V. Smith, Alaska, 2004.

Karl Bryant Wimberly photograph and clipping, n.d.; digital images, from the privately held photo collection of Marguerite Cook Clark (1913-1989), Waynesville, North Carolina, 2022. 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.

Vera Meeks Wimberly, Wimberly Family History, Ancestors, Relatives, and Descendants of William Wimberly, Pioneer from Georgia to Louisiana 1837 (Houston Texas: D. Anderson, 1979), 271-273.