From Loyalists to Free People of Color: Stories You Don’t Want to Miss!

You Don’t Have to Live in Virginia Beach to Attend Genealogy Day at the Beach!

Every spring, I look forward to highlighting this event hosted by one of my favorite groups, the Virginia Beach Genealogical Society. Genealogy Day at the Beach is right around the corner—Saturday, April 19, 2025—and this year’s event is shaping up to be one of our best yet. Hosted by the Virginia Beach Genealogical Society and the Virginia Beach Public Library, it’s a day filled with inspiration, learning, and community connections.

But here’s the best part: you don’t have to be in Virginia Beach to join us—and there’s no cost! This event is hybrid, meaning all speaker presentations are available both in person and via Zoom. No matter where you are, you can tune in and enjoy a remarkable lineup of genealogical speakers.

Registering for Zoom access is free, and you’ll find the Zoom links posted on the Virginia Beach Genealogical Society website on the day of the event.

So spread the word! Invite your genealogy friends and make a day of it. You don’t have to live in Virginia Beach to enjoy this incredible lineup of speakers. But if you're local, we would love to see you in person! There's nothing quite like sharing the day with a friendly, enthusiastic group of people who are just as passionate about genealogy as you are. Whether you're into DNA, colonial history, African American research, or family mysteries, you'll find someone here who shares your interests.

Come learn, connect, and get inspired! 

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 

Friday's Photo: The First Day of First Grade

My first day of first grade. My brother was not yet in school and looks
dressed for play. That's my parents 1957 Chevrolet in the driveway. 

I have posted this photo previously but didn't realize until last week, it was taken on my first day of first grade. I attended Louise Luxford Elementary School on Bayshore Road in Princess Anne County.  Although the school did not move, it is now on Haygood Road in the city of Virginia Beach. 

Louise Luxford Elementary was a brand new school. My mother and I attended the dedication on September 6, 1961. Mom said I was the only child in attendance. I remember Miss Louise Luxford, the director of instructional personnel, on stage wearing a suit and white gloves. Click here to read more about Miss Louise Luxford and the history of the school. 

There were over 40 students in room 31 and I am sure my teacher had no breaks. She ate lunch with us and I don't remember any resources such as art, music, and physical education. 

My most vivid memory of first grade was carrying a rug to school. My classroom had tables, but no chairs. We knelt on the rugs while working at the tables and after lunch rested on the rugs while my teacher put her head down on her desk. 

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

© 2018

Sources

Bell, Stephanie. Ferguson / Bell Family Tree. Ancestry.com, 2018. Web. 2 Sep. 2018. < https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/5622054/person/-1426978202/facts?ssrc=>

Family photographs and documents from the collection of Diana Bryan Quinn

Virginia Beach City Public Schools. Our School - Luxford Elementary. SchoolMessinger Presence, 2018. Web. 2 Sep. 2018. <https://luxfordes.vbschools.com/our_school>

#52ancestors Post Twenty-Eight: Meet Me in Virginia Beach

The writing prompt this week for #52ancestors is travel. I thought I would share a postcard from my hometown, Virginia Beach, VA, where tourists travel each summer to spend time at the beach. 

This postcard depicts The Surf, Virginia Beach, Va. and was published by the Souvenir Post Card, Co. This company published postcards from 1905 to 1914. I love seeing the ropes in the water. We no longer see that in Virginia Beach. 

The hotel pictured is the Princess Anne Hotel. It opened in 1890 near the community of Seatack, not far from where I currently work. In 1907, the hotel was destroyed by fire.  

The postcard was sent on April 23, 1906, to Miss Bessie Allison of 2004 West Cary Street, Richmond, Virginia. It appears to have been sent by Dave J. Taylor. The only message, "Meet me there," is on the front of the card.

A search for Bessie Allison indicated that her full name was Elizabeth Price Allison.  She was born in 1880 in Kentucky and was working as a clerk at an insurance firm, in Richmond, Virginia, by 1904. She can be found in census records from 1880 to 1940. In 1940, she was unmarried, lived on West Grace Street in Richmond with her sister, and continued to work as a clerk at a life insurance company. 

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

© 2018

Sources

Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.

"Postcard Publishers, Printers, and Distributors of Note." MetroPostcard List of Postcard Publishers S P3. Web. 18 Apr. 2015. <http://www.metropostcard.com/publisherss3.html>.

"PRINCESS ANNE HOTEL BURNS; Lives of Chambermaid and Steward Lost -- Manager Attempts Suicide." PRINCESS ANNE HOTEL BURNS. 11 June 1907. Web. 18 Apr. 2015. <http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9405E4DA133EE033A25752C1A9609C946697D6CF>.

"The Princess Anne Hotel, Virginia Beach, Va : Norfolk & Virginia Beach Railroad Company. [from Old Catalog] : Free Download & Streaming : Internet Archive." Internet Archive. Web. 18 Apr. 2015. <https://archive.org/details/princessannehote00norf>.

Year: 1880; Census Place: Forks of Elkhorn, Franklin, Kentucky; Roll: 414; Family History Film: 1254414; Page: 215D; Enumeration District: 073; Image: 0294

Year: 1900; Census Place: Tuckahoe, Henrico, Virginia; Roll: 1713; Page: 5B; Enumeration District: 0034; FHL microfilm: 1241713

Year: 1910; Census Place: Richmond Clay Ward, Richmond (Independent City), Virginia; Roll: T624_1644; Page: 1B; Enumeration District: 0073; FHL microfilm: 1375657

Year: 1920; Census Place: Richmond Lee Ward, Richmond (Independent City), Virginia; Roll: T625_1910; Page: 19B; Enumeration District: 85; Image: 640

Year: 1930; Census Place: Richmond, Richmond (Independent City), Virginia; Roll: 2476; Page: 21A; Enumeration District: 0022; Image: 599.0; FHL microfilm: 2342210

Year: 1940; Census Place: Richmond, Richmond City, Virginia; Roll: T627_4324; Page: 2A; Enumeration District: 118-157