Bienville Parish, Louisiana - The Lost Scrapbook

At least two letters from Georgia Ann Frances "Fannie" Bryan Pittman Wimberly, pictured above, were said to be in the lost scrapbook. In one of those letters, written on 21 January 1862, to her sister Catherine Amanda Bryan Watts and sister-in-law, Alice Mary Wimberly Bryan, Fannie writes of her visit to New Orleans to visit her husband, James "Jim" Pittman. Below are my two favorite excerpts from that letter. 

"The place all the time seems like it is tearing up from bottom to top. All seems confusion. I have not been in the streets yet. I recon I will see the elephant sure enough when I go."

"Oh my sakes, you just ought to see the Madam" She is one of them you read about I think she beats all I've seen yet."

Copies of Georgia Ann Frances' letters and others were sent to me by researcher Julia Brittain in the 1990s. Marguerite Cook Clark's collection of family information and photos, first accessed in 2014, also contained copies of some of the letters and newspaper clippings that are said to be in the scrapbook. 

Friday's Photo: Sarah Pittman, Mother of Thomas Jefferson Martin - Bienville Parish, Louisiana

If you descend from Laura Frances Bryan, the daughter of Joseph Bryan and Sarah Wimberly, you would also be a descendant of Sarah Pittman. Sarah was the mother of the Rev. Thomas Jefferson Martin who married Laura Bryan. Thomas' father was John N. Martin.[1] Both Sarah and John are buried in the Providence Cemetery.[2]  According to the 1880 Census, Sarah was born in North Carolina but no other documentation could be found.[3]

This photo was found in a digitized collection sent to me by Mary V. Smith.[4] She wrote that the photos were copied from collections of Mary Virgie Martin Walker (her sister), Anna Laura Martin (her mother), Marguerite Cook Clark (a cousin), and Niler Sledge Edwards (a cousin). This particular photo was found in the collection of Marguerite Cook Clark. Marguerite Cook Clark's collection is enormous. I traveled three times to Texas to see the collection and my cousin and I spent six days scanning. This is one of many I did not copy. 

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

© 2022 

Sources 

    1. Vera Meeks Wimberly, Wimberly Family History, Ancestors, Relatives, and Descendants of William Wimberly, Pioneer from Georgia to Louisiana 1837 (Houston Texas: D. Anderson, 1979), 315.

    2. Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/24938329/sarah-martin : accessed 05 January 2022), memorial page for Sarah Pitman Martin (18 Jan 1806–9 Feb 1897), Find a Grave Memorial ID 24938329, citing Providence Cemetery, Ringgold, Bienville Parish, Louisiana, USA; Maintained by A Footstep In Time (contributor 47345816).

    3. 1880 U.S. Census, Bienville Parish, Louisiana, population schedule,  enumeration district 008, p.614B, dwelling 373, family 373, Thomas J. Martin household; digital images, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/6742/images/4241285-00574? : accessed 5 January 2022); citing NARA microfilm T9, roll 448. 

    4. Sarah Pittman, photograph, n.d.; scanned image, from the privately held photo collection of Mary V. Smith, Alaska, 2004; original image photographed copied from the collection of Marguerite Cook Clark between 1973 and 1993.

Friday's Photo: The Wimberly Family of Bienville Parish, Louisiana

This photo, from the Frye family collection, was labeled "The Wimberly Family."I looked through the Wimberly Family History compiled by Vera Meek Wimberly hoping to find this photo with the pictures labeled but did not. However, did see some really interesting photos in the book. If you are in the Bienville area, I think they have this book at the library in Ringgold. 

If you have this photo, I would love to hear from you! 

I think this might be Joseph W. Cook, husband of
Josie Bryan Cook who is the daughter of Sarah Wimberly
Bryan. If this is Joseph, which woman is Josie? 

Check out those in the background. 

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

© 2020 

Sources 

Family photographs from the Frye Family collection. Accessed June 6, 2016, and June 3, 2019. Used with permission.

Friday's Photo: Is this Laura Jessie Wimberly?

Laura Wimberly, Bryan Martin, Charlie Martin, and Tommie Martin

I knew that the boys in this photo were the sons of Laura Frances Bryan and Thomas Jefferson Martin, but had to sift through the several Lauras in the Wimberly Family History to find Laura Wimberly's parents. 

If I am correct, Laura Wimberly is Laura Jessie Wimberly, daughter of Jesse Wimberly and Jane Crumpton of Bienville Parish, Louisiana. Laura, born June 26, 1879, was the first of four children. Her father died in 1889 and Laura was raised by her mother. 

Laura married John S. Sheppard, a farmer in Red River Parish, in 1913. They had three children; Catherine, William Henry Marshall, and Mary. 

Sadly, Laura died young in 1921. As told in the Wimberly Family History, her children were sent to the Genevieve Orphanage in Shreveport.  Catherine and William later made their home with Laura's brother, Abner and his wife, Callie.  Mary was adopted and her whereabouts were unknown. 

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.