Baby Boy Langford

For my last post of 2018, I’d like to remember an infant whose time on Earth was too short. Ninety-two years ago this month, Baby Boy Langford was born on December 22, 1926 to Robert Chester Lankford Sr. and Mendie Octavia Hayes. It was Christmas week and should have been a time of joy and happiness for the Lankford family who lived in Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. It was anything but that. Baby Boy Langford was most likely born prematurely and hadn’t fully developed yet so they probably immediately knew he was in trouble. Dr. H. N. Abernathy attended to the baby, but his little body couldn’t sustain life and he died at 6 p.m. on December 26. His death certificate recorded him as “Infant of R. C. Langford” so it’s possible he was never given a name, but I can’t confirm that. Baby Boy Langford was buried at Trinity Cemetery in Charlotte the following day. He left behind four siblings who ranged in age from seven to two and were probably confused by what had happened to their little brother—Robert Chester Lankford Jr., Nancy Lowe Lankford, Mell Thomas Lankford, and William Norris Lankford. His parents would go on to have two more children—Vesta Mendie Lankford and Otis Young Lankford.

Baby Boy Langford would be my 3rd cousin, 2x removed. Our nearest common relatives are my 4th great grandparents, Charles L. Lankford and Miss Moore. His father, whom I believe went by Chester, was originally from Oglethorpe County, Georgia, but moved the family to Charlotte sometime after 1920. Chester and Mendie are buried near my grandparents at Bairdstown Cemetery in Oglethorpe County.

In case you’re wondering why I’ve spelled the baby’s last name with a “g” and his father and siblings with a “k,” I’ll note that those letters are often switched with the names Lankford/Langford. I’ve chosen to use Langford for the baby since that’s how it’s listed on his death certificate. You can even see where a “k” was originally used for his father but then someone wrote a “g” over the “k” in three places. Most of the records I’ve found for his father uses the “k,” so I use Lankford for him and his other children.

Gone, but not forgotten.


References:

• U.S. Federal Census, Bair, Enumeration District 137, Oglethorpe County, Georgia, 1920.
• Infant of R. C. Langford, certificate number 313, North Carolina, Death Certificates, 1909–1976.
• Obituary, Mr. Chester Lankford, Oglethorpe Echo, October 27, 1938.
• Obituary, Otis Young Lankford, St. Louis Post, January 15, 1997.
• Obituary, Vesta M. Lankford Murphy, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 31, 2000.

Photos of Christmas past

The 52 Ancestors theme this week is “nice.”

Last week I shared some of my childhood Christmas memories. Well, to be honest, they’re all the Christmas memories I have from the early years. It’s sad, isn’t it. But at least I have a few photos to help keep the memories alive. This week, I want to post the last of the childhood family Christmas photos in my possession. Maybe if one of my siblings has any others, they’ll share with me. Wouldn’t that be nice!

The first photo is my Mama and oldest sister Bonita, who looks like she's probably one year old. That would make Mama about 17. The second photo is Bonita as well.

The third photo is my sister Jennifer. She has a December birthday so Mama would make her birthday cake in the shape of a Christmas tree. Jennifer tells me that's one of her favorite memories. She's about 10 years old in this photo.

This is a photo of four of the five of us, along with two of my cousins. My cousin Harvey is in the blue shirt, standing in the back. His brother Joey is the boy on the left. My brother Michael is sitting beside Joey. I'm in the middle, Jennifer is standing beside me, in the same blue dress she wore in the photo above. And my baby sister Vanessa is sitting in front of Jennifer. This photo was taken in the early 1960s.

This photo is my brother Michael, a budding fireman/construction worker. He looks about the same age as in the photo above.

This photo is the only photo we have of us with my Granddaddy Holland. That's him on the left with me standing beside him. My sister Jennifer is sitting in front of me, then my Aunt Brenda with my youngest sister Vanessa sitting in her lap. My Uncle David is sitting beside Vanessa, my brother Michael standing behind David, and my sister Bonita in the red sweater.

This last photo includes my great-grandmother Hattie (Rhinehart) Shields. We called her Grandma Shields. Mama is sitting next to her with me and my sister Jennifer in front of Mama.

Memories of Christmas Past

Bonita

The 52 Ancestors theme this week is “naughty.”

In 1996, my sister Jennifer and I worked with our siblings, Bonita, Michael, and Vanessa to publish some of our “treasured Christmas memories” for our parents. We included photos, some of our favorite holiday recipes, and one grandchild from each family drew a family picture. In this blog post, I’ll share some of those memories, along with some Christmas photos from years past.

Early in their marriage, Mama and Daddy lived in the West End neighborhood of Atlanta. While living in West End, Bonita remembers being a star in the kindergarten Christmas play. We moved from West End to our home on Macon Drive in Southeast Atlanta shortly after I was born. Both houses were probably a 10 to 15-minute drive downtown since we were close to the interstate. If you grew up in Atlanta, you probably remember going shopping at the Rich’s Department Store in downtown Atlanta. While there, you had to ride the Pink Pig, a small train that rode around the roof of the Rich’s building. Rich’s was housed in two multi-level buildings that sat across the street from each other. The Christmas season officially began on Thanksgiving night when they lit the Great Tree that sat “on top of the multi-level glass skybridge connecting the main downtown Atlanta store with the Store for Homes across Forsyth Street” according to Wikipedia. Each floor had a choir or music group there to perform. As each group performed, their floor would light up until they got to the top floor which sang “O Holy Night.” Near the end of the song, Rich’s lit the tree and all of the lights from the other floors came back on as the choirs finished the song. It was a beautiful tradition for the city.

Bonita

Bonita on the right

If we didn’t go the Rich’s on Thanksgiving night, we decorated our Christmas tree which was almost always artificial. Jennifer remembers at least one live tree that Daddy cut down from some property he owned in Union Point, Greene County, Georgia. I remember having one live tree that all the needles fell off before Christmas day. You could hear the constant tinkle as the needles hit the packages under the tree. I remember it was completely dead on Christmas day to the point that you didn’t dare turn the lights on for fear it would catch fire. We probably never watered it. We often took the tree down on Christmas night or the next day. When Christmas was over, it was over!

We anxiously waited for the yearly showing of Rudolf the Red-nosed Reindeer and Frosty the Snowman. Unlike now, it came on once and if you missed it, you had to wait a year to see it. The photo below isn’t from Christmas, but I imagine it’s how we watched these Christmas specials.

Jennifer, me, Vanessa, and Michael

We couldn’t leave the presents alone and constantly rearranged them. I remember unwrapping my presents at least once before Christmas and then had to make sure I got the tape back on just right so Mama and Daddy wouldn’t know they had been opened. Yes, I was naughty! The photo at the beginning of this post is of Bonita standing in front of our Christmas tree one year. If you look closely, you’ll see a playpen around the tree. Were we that naughty that Mama had to do that? I guess so.

Jennifer, Denise, Bonita, and Michael

Vanessa

The Stewart-Lakewood Shopping Center was near our Macon Drive house. They had a big Santa that waved to all who passed by. The picture below is my family with Santa in the background.

Jennifer, Bonita, Denise, and Mama holding Michael. Mama is probably
pregnant with Vanessa in this picture.

Denise and Michael

Santa at Stewart-Lakewood Shopping Center, Atlanta, Georgia

Bonita played the clarinet in our high school band which played concerts at the shopping center. The photo below may or may not have been taken during one of those concerts but it’s definitely Stewart-Lakewood Shopping Center because I remember the Lerner Shop.

Bonita is in the back row, second person

On Christmas Eve, my Granny and her husband Hoyt drove down from north Georgia to spend Christmas with us. Vanessa remembers she always brought a coconut pie and a carrot cake. After Mama got home from work, we’d sit around the table nibbling on a Christmas ham. Mama kept a wooden bowl in the middle of the dining room table filled with oranges, tangerines, and assorted nuts. Before we went to bed, the five of us got a knee sock from our drawers (we didn’t have traditional stockings) and picked a spot in the living room for Santa to leave our toys. The next morning, we ran to our spot to see what Santa had left us. Lo and behold, our socks would be filled with oranges, tangerines, and nuts and the wooden bowl on the table would be empty. Jennifer remembers that one-by-one we’d empty our sock into the bowl until it was full again. We were able to play with what Santa left but not open any presents until we ate breakfast and the dishes were washed. Mama and Granny cooked a full breakfast of biscuits, meat, eggs, grits, and gravy. They took their time too, dragging it all out. And just when we thought it was time to open the presents, Granny would have to go “move her bowels.” Then Daddy would finally pass out the presents and everything would be over in 10 minutes. They tortured us, but I know now it was just Mama’s way of making her rocking chair memories.

Hoyt Vest, Daisy (Shields) Vest, and Jennifer

References

1. Holiday traditions, Rich’s (department store); https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rich%27s_(department_store).
2. Summerlin, Donnie, Christmas at Rich’s; https://blog.dlg.galileo.usg.edu/?p=1456; December 15, 2010.

When Macon Drive turned into a winter wonderland

The 52 Ancestors theme this week is “winter,” so I thought I’d share a blast from my past—several photos from a storm (or two) that left our neighborhood a winter wonderland. I grew up in Atlanta where snowstorms were few and far between. But occasionally we got lucky and one would blow in. I don’t remember but I’m sure the city would shut down and schools probably closed. If I were a betting person, I'd bet that Mama would stir up a pot of hot chocolate—the old fashioned way with milk and cocoa, not out of an envelope. She'd also make ice cream out of the snow. 

We would entertain ourselves sitting at the front window watching the cars try to make it up or down Bromack Drive, the street that came to an end at Macon Drive in front of our house. That section of the road was at a slight incline, just enough to cause problems for drivers. You can see it in the photo below of my Daddy standing by the street in front of our house.

This photo includes my brother Michael, Daddy, and my sister Jennifer. I don't believe this was taken at our house. In other photos, it looks like we were at a park.

This photo is of my brother Michael standing in front of our house.

Another photo of my sister Vanessa and brother Michael that I believe was taken at a park.

This photo is my brother Michael and me standing in front of our house.

When it did snow, all the neighborhood kids gathered at the Rath family house. They lived on Meadow Park Drive, the street behind ours. Their house was at the top of a hill. They were also from Michigan and had sleds! Those that didn't have sleds used cardboard which worked just as well as the sleds. We'd have to station somebody at the bottom of the hill though to watch for cars since the sledders would usually end up in the street at the end of their run. You can see the house in the photo below. That's my sister Jennifer standing in our front yard.