Friday's Photo: Wayne Wimberly Martin (1922–1954)

Wayne Wimberly Martin was born in Ringgold in Bienville Parish, Louisiana, on July 10, 1922. The son of Thomas Jefferson Martin, Jr., and Willie Bessie Murph Woodard, he was affectionately known as “Preacher” for his deep knowledge of the Bible. Wayne passed away on October 16, 1954, in a car accident. He is buried at Wimberly Cemetery in Bienville Parish, Louisiana.

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

© 2024 

Photos of Wayne Wimberly Martin, photograph, n.d.; scanned image, from the privately held photo collection of Mary V. Smith, Alaska, 2004; original images photographed between 1973 and 1993.

Vera Meeks Wimberly, Wimberly Family History, Ancestors, Relatives, and Descendants of William Wimberly, Pioneer from Georgia to Louisiana 1837 (Houston Texas: D. Anderson, 1979), page 320.

Friday's Photo: Uncle Tom White

Z. Thomas White, known as "Uncle Tom White," was born on 29 October 1869, likely in Bienville Parish, Louisiana. He died on 10 July 1956 in Caddo Parish and is buried at Mount Olive Cemetery in Bienville Parish. His gravestone reads “Uncle Tom White,” matching the name on the photo.

He was one of nine children of Philemon White and Mylydia McGee White, who settled in Bienville Parish before the Civil War. The name “Uncle Tom” may have come naturally, as he had many nieces and nephews through his eight siblings. Tom never married and appears in census records living with his parents and later with his brother, David M. White.

Records list him variously as Z. Thomas White, Zae T. White, Tom Z. White, Zacarier Thomas White, Ezekiel White, Zac White, and Zackhry Thomas White. 

This photo came from Mary V. Smith's collection. She wrote that Niler [Nila] Sledge Edwards gave her mother, Anna Laura Martin, the family photo album of Henry Collin Sledge of Bienville Parish. Mary also wrote that she copied the names as found on the photos. 

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

© 2025

Billie Jean Poland, History of Bienville Parish, Vol. IIhe  (Bossier City, Louisiana: Everett Companies, 1990), p. 798-799, images 808–809; digitized at Bienville Parish Library Digital Archives (https://bienville.advantage-preservation.com : accessed 22 May 2025).

"Tom/Thomas White" search, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 22 May 2025), search results for “Tom/Thomas White,” born 1869, Bienville Parish, Louisiana; results included entries from U.S. Census Records, Louisiana Statewide Death Index, 1819–1964, Find a Grave Index, and Public Member Trees.

"Uncle Tom White," photograph, n.d.; scanned image, from the privately held photo collection of Mary V. Smith, Alaska, 2004; original images photographed between 1973 and 1993.

Friday's Photo: Putney, Vermont

Said to be Vermont's oldest General Store, the history of this store goes
back to 1796 - see more at Putney General Store.

In the 1980s, before I developed an interest in genealogy, I was focused on traveling and furnishing my new home with antiques collected along the way. A trip to New England in 1984 perfectly aligned with those interests. During that trip, I managed to fit in one brief family history stop: a visit to Putney, a small town in Windham County, Vermont. At the time, all I knew was that someone on my mother’s side had once lived there.

Mary Lucy Glynn

After years of research, I know just how significant Putney is to my family history. My fourth great-grandparents, Benjamin Reed and Huldah Pratt, lived there and are buried in the town. Their daughter and my third-great-grandmother, Nancy Reed, wife of Joseph T. Glynn, is also buried in a local cemetery, along with my second-great-grandfather, Albert Joseph Glynn. My great-grandmother, Mary Lucy Glynn—who married Charles Giddens—was born in Putney. 

Now, a return trip to Vermont is at the top of my wish list. This time, I plan to visit the cemeteries where my ancestors are buried and spend time in local archives to dig deeper into my family history.

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

© 2025

"Putney, Vermont abt 1984" and "Mary Lucy Glynn," photographs; scanned images, original photograph from the privately-held collection of Diana Bryan Quinn, Virginia Beach, VA, 2025.