Long trips, games, and maps

The Peach water tower in Gaffney, SC

The 52 Ancestors theme this week is “map it out.”

Long before cars had built-in DVD players and the ability to watch movies, parents had to figure out a way to entertain their children when taking road trips. For many years, my family made two long road trips a year—the first to Daytona Beach, Florida and the second to Atlanta, Georgia. The Daytona trip took 13 hours and the Atlanta trip took 11. Heading to Daytona, we left home Friday morning, stopping for the night just outside of Savannah, Georgia. We’d arrive in Daytona on Saturday in time to have lunch before the mid-afternoon check-in time. The following Saturday, we’d pack the car on Friday night and leave as the sun came up, driving all the way home to Virginia in one day. The following Friday, we headed to Atlanta. In the early days, we drove straight through, but eventually stopped somewhere in North Carolina and spent the night, finishing the trip the following morning. The trip home was always completed in one day.

To entertain the boys, I gathered coloring books, printed a list of the 50 states for the license plate game, word searches, puzzles, etc. I created a scavenger hunt of things I knew we’d see along the way—like the big peach in South Carolina and Pedro and all the South of the Border signs going through North and South Carolina. Once they got old enough, I gave them a map and a highlighter and showed them how to map out the trip as we drove along. I’d have them find different cities as we traveled through them. That only last for a few years though. Once we bought Game Boys and a portable TV and VCR for the van they lost interest in everything else.

I recently cleaned out a closet and came across my bag of games. It brought back fond memories of those trips. I asked my sons if they remembered the games and maps. Both of them remember the games but not the maps. My youngest son Kevin remembers playing the license plate game. He and Chris were always in the backseat wearing headphones. Kevin said when I drove, he knew to look at the passing cars when I tapped my husband on the arm. He said it was a dead giveaway that a car with a different state was passing by. I never knew that until he told me. I wondered how he always got so many states!

Surprise photos from a cousin

The 52 Ancestors theme this week is “cousins.”

My generation is slowly but surely becoming the keeper of the family photos, something I’m very happy to be a part of. As the keeper of these photos, I can’t bear the thought of them being locked away in a book or on my computer so I try my best to share what I have so other family members can enjoy them. For my post this week, I’m sharing three photos recently sent to me by my cousin Joey.

I can’t remember the last time I talked to or saw Joey. It’s at least 45 years, probably more. But we recently connected and the next thing I know, he sent me copies of a handful of old family photos. I don’t have many photos of my paternal grandparents and even fewer of my cousins so was thrilled when I opened his email.

The first photo (top right), dated April 1959, are my Daddy’s parents, Carroll Harvey Lankford Sr. and Floria Mae Burnette Lankford, and four of my cousins. Grandpa is holding Joey. Standing in front of Grandpa are my cousins Tony and Terry, oldest sons of my uncle Sport Lankford. Joey’s brother Harvey is standing in front of Grandma, in the overalls. Both Tony and Harvey are holding a toy gun. I believe the photo was taken at Grandpa and Grandma Lankford’s old home place in Penfield, Greene County, Georgia.

Lankford family home, Penfield, Georgia

The second photo was probably taken moments after the first photo. That’s Harvey on the left, Tony standing in the front, Terry standing behind him, and my Grandma in the back.

The third photo, dated October 1959, was definitely taken at Grandpa and Grandma Lankford’s home in Penfield. I remember that house well. It hadn’t been painted in years. Daddy once told me they wouldn’t let anyone paint it. The woman on the left is my Aunt Willette, Joey’s Mom. She’s holding Joey. My Uncle Grover Lankford (Joey’s Dad), is the man in the middle. Next to Uncle Grover is my cousin Tim, his mother Alice (my aunt and Daddy’s and Grover’s sister), and my cousin Kathy.

These photos bring back so many memories and I’m thankful that Joey shared them with me.

Zella Holland - a mistake carved in stone

The 52 Ancestors theme this week is “mistake.”

Zella Holland, daughter of William Perry Holland and Frances (Fannie) E. Cobb, was born in Anderson, Anderson County, South Carolina on September 25, 1893. She was the sixth child of nine—Lessie O. Holland, Neva Holland, Eva Holland, Walter Holland, Lena Holland, Zella Holland, William Harrison Holland, Addie M. Holland, and Mary A. Holland. Zella would be my 2nd cousin 2x removed with our nearest common relatives being John Holland and Elizabeth H. Majors.

By the time Zella was born, her family had already suffered the loss of twin sisters Neva and Eva in 1890. The twins were buried at Neals Creek Baptist Church Cemetery in Anderson.

On June 12, 1900, Zella and her family lived in the Broadway Township of Anderson County, South Carolina. She, along with sisters Lessie and Lena, and brother Walter were all attending school. Her father was a farmer. The census enumerator noted that her parents had been married for 16 years and that her mother had eight children, six of which were living. Zella’s 71-year-old widowed paternal grandfather Elijah M. Holland lived in the home with them.

On April 29, 1910, Zella and her family still lived in the Broadway Township of Anderson County. Her mother had given birth to one more child, Mary. At age 16, Zella was working as a farm laborer on the home farm. Sometime between the time this census was taken and January 1915, Zella moved to Montezuma, Macon County, Georgia. Zella attended school and graduated from the Georgia-Alabama Business College in Macon. She came home for a visit during the holidays in 1914, returning to Montezuma by January 10, 1915.

On January 9, 1920, Zella lived as a boarder with the William R. Hicks family on Dooly Street in Montezuma, Macon County, Georgia. She was 26 years old, single, and a stenographer in a law office. There were three other boarders living in the home with her. Zella’s mother died suddenly in Anderson on January 29, 1929. Two weeks later, on February 12, her father died after falling out of a tree he was trimming in his yard the day before. Both of Zella’s parents were 71 years old and both were buried at Neals Creek Baptist Church Cemetery in Anderson.

On April 3, 1930, Zella was still living with the Hicks family on Dooly Street in Montezuma. She continued to work as a stenographer in a law office. Sometime in late April 1931, Zella was hospitalized at the Anderson County Hospital for an unknown illness. She was back home to Georgia by May 1.

Zella was still living with the Hicks family and working as a stenographer on April 2, 1940.

By 1957, she had moved back to Anderson and was living with sisters Addie, Lessie, and Mary at 207 Crayton Street.

Zella was a member of the Wade Hampton United Daughters of the Confederacy.

On July 5, 1974, Zella’s 89-year-old sister Lessie died. Just over two years later, Zella died in Anderson on August 1, 1976. She was 82 years old at the time of her death. Both Lessie and Zella were buried at Neals Creek Baptist Church Cemetery in Anderson along with other family members.

Now to address the theme for this week. You can see on Zella’s stone that the carver made a mistake on her birth date numbers—two sets of numbers, overlaid—22 and 15. So if you didn’t know what date she died when you visited her grave, you’d walk away confused. I’m surprised the stone carver didn’t have to re-do the stone.

There were also three mistakes in the obituary that ran in The Greenville News on August 3, 1976. The first mistake was in her name—she was listed as “Mrs.” Zella Holland. This was wrong because she never married. The second mistake was her father’s name. He was listed as William Harry Holland when his middle name was actually Perry, not Harry. And the third mistake was the name of the church. Twice they referenced Mills Creek Cemetery, which should have been Neals Creek. I wonder what she would have thought about all of these mistakes!

William Perry Holland family plot, Neals Creek  Baptist Church Cemetery,
Anderson, South Carolina

References

• Belton (news), The Greenville News, Greenville, South Carolina, May 1, 1931.
• Neal’s Creek News, The Intelligencer, Anderson, South Carolina, January 10, 1915.
• Obituary, Miss Lessie Holland, The Greenville News, Greenville, South Carolina, July 6, 1974.
• Obituary, Mrs. Fannie Holland, The Greenville News, Greenville, South Carolina, January 31, 1929.
• Obituary, Mrs. Zella Holland, The Greenville News, Greenville, South Carolina, August 3, 1976.
• Obituary, W. Perry Holland, The Greenville News, Greenville, South Carolina, February 13, 1929.
• Other Deaths, The Index-Journal, Greenwood, South Carolina, August 3, 1976.
• U.S. Federal Census, Broadway, Anderson, District 0035, South Carolina, 1910.
• U.S. Federal Census, Broadway, Anderson, District 0043, South Carolina, 1900.
• U.S. Federal Census, Montezuma, Macon, Georgia, 1920, 1930, 1940.
• Zella Holland, Anderson, South Carolina, City Directory, 1957.

A Long, Sad Goodbye

Sam Lankford (1970)

They say deaths come in threes and that proved to be true for our Lankford family this summer. We lost my Aunt Alice Lankford Griffith on May 20, followed by her husband, my Uncle Lawrence Griffith on June 5. Both were 90 years old and had been living in a nursing home in Greene County, Georgia. And then it got personal when Daddy (Samuel Terrell Lankford) passed away just before 1 a.m. on August 24.

Daddy was 93-years-old, had dementia, and had been living in a senior care facility since 2013—first in an assisted living and then in a nursing home. He never wanted to live in a nursing home, but there was no other option for him. He fell in the driveway of his Riverdale house in March 2013 and broke his elbow. At that time, the doctor told us he was no longer able to live by himself so he was moved to an assisted living facility when he left rehab. I felt bad for him because he never got to go home to say a proper goodbye to his house. He loved his yard and spent hours planting and replanting. His yard was always the envy of the neighborhood. Even two years ago, you could show him pictures of flowers and he would call out the name of each flower. Dementia, what dementia! But what could we do? We all knew if he got back home, he wouldn’t leave so we couldn’t take him back there.

Daddy's house in Riverdale, Georgia

Daddy wasn’t a good patient and before long, was no longer able to walk. He wouldn’t do the physical therapy or help himself and he was argumentative with everyone. We all knew it was the dementia. Over time, the dementia progressed and in December 2015 we were notified by the assisted-living facility that they could no longer care for him. At that time, he was moved to a nursing home where he lived for the next three and a half years. Every time I went home to Atlanta for a visit, I could see he was fading away. He would tell me the same stories he’d told for years about growing up in Greene County, time spent in the Navy, and early adulthood. But he couldn’t tell me what he had for breakfast or lunch that day, though he’d always add “but it wasn’t good.” Around October 2016, I realized he remembered who his siblings were but didn’t remember that some of them had died. When I visited him, every day he’d ask “who’s dead” and it was a surprise every day which ones were. Sometimes we’d have that same conversation 10 minutes later. Then the next day, we’d go through the same routine again. When my sister told him earlier this month that Aunt Alice and Uncle Lawrence had recently passed away, he argued with her and told her that he had talked to some of them the day before. He often told us he wanted to go home to Macon Drive. He didn’t remember that he moved from that house in the 1980s. Sometimes he’d tell us that Mama was going to come take him home and take care of him. I’d just say “that’s nice” knowing full well that they divorced in 1980 and that wasn’t going to happen! But she sat beside me at the graveside service, there supporting the five of us. 

Our Macon Drive house, Atlanta, Georgia

Daddy with his parents and siblings
Liz, Lucile, Floria Lankford, Carroll Lankford Sr., Alice, and Betty
Carroll Jr. (Sport), Grover, Clark, and Sam (my Daddy)

Sport, Grover, Betty, Lucile, Daddy, Liz, Clark, and Alice

In October 2017, my son Chris brought Daddy a Fanta Orange soda. I don’t think he got soda in the nursing home and he seemed to enjoy it. The next day Chris brought him two sodas—orange and watermelon. He held them out and told Daddy to pick one. Daddy grabbed the watermelon soda and then handed it back to Chris asking him to open it for him. Daddy used to buy watermelon soda for himself and Chris remembered that. They bonded over watermelon soda. My boys last saw Daddy in October 2018 and I remember the smile that appeared on his face as soon as he saw them. I could tell he knew who they were when he started picking on them like he used to. My husband and I last saw him in April this year and he still knew who we were. But this past year has been hard on him after he fell out of his wheelchair transferring to the bed and broke his leg. It went downhill from there.

Me, Jennifer, Daddy, Michael, Vanessa, and Bonita

I haven’t had a good cry yet and am not sure I will. Because he lived in Georgia and I live in Virginia, I’ve only seen him two weeks a year for the last five years. Calling him on the phone wasn’t an option so I’m used to going months without talking to or seeing him. I’d say my goodbyes each visit when I left town, not knowing if he’d still be alive when I returned.

Daddy always said he was going to live to be 110 years old because he had a lot of people to piss off. But God had other plans for him and he only made it to 93. For months, I’ve prayed every day that Daddy was having a good day and that he wasn’t in any pain. He told me once he didn’t want to be in pain so I didn’t want that for him. But the last two and a half weeks of Daddy’s life were painful for him. One sister told me she could tell he was in pain because he clinched his fists and face the whole time she visited him in the hospital that last week. When another sister called to tell me they were taking him off the ventilator, I prayed that God would take him quickly so he didn’t suffer. He heard my prayers and took him home that night. Now Daddy, Aunt Alice, and Uncle Lawrence are all three at rest in Georgia’s Bairdstown Cemetery. May they all rest in peace.

Bairds Baptist Church

Lankford family graves at Bairdstown Cemetery

Lankford family graves at Bairdstown Cemetery

Lankford family graves at Bairdstown Cemetery

Warren G. Harding Senior High School—Class of 1949

The 52 Ancestors theme this week is “school days.”

My mother-in-law, Mary Margaret Athya, graduated from Warren G. Harding Senior High School in Warren, Trumbull County, Ohio on January 27, 1949, just before her 20th birthday. For my post this week, I thought I’d share several items and details related to her senior year at the school.

Mary Margaret Athya, senior photo (1949)

Graduation took place at 8 p.m. on Thursday, January 27, 1949 with 169 students walking across the stage. That year was the first time in the school’s history that graduates wore caps and gowns at the baccalaureate service and commencement exercise.

Warren G. Harding Senior High School graduation announcement (January 1949)

The Tribune Chronicle ran this photo on January 26, 1949.

Mary is in the fifth row, seventh person from the left.

She’s the young woman in the center.

Graduation commencement program, January Class of 1949.

With her last name starting with an “A,” Mary was listed near the top.

Mary’s diploma and cover.

I never noticed until I took this photo that her name is embossed on the diploma cover.

Her 1949 yearbook.

Mary as she appears in the yearbook. She once told me a bunch of girls wore the sweater she’s wearing in this photo. The photographer snapped the photo and then the sweater was passed to the next girl that wanted to wear it.

The yearbook tells us that she participated in two groups, Y-Teens and Pioneer. Unfortunately, I have no clue what activities either group did. This photo of the Y-Teens appears in the yearbook. If she’s in the photo, we can’t identify her.

This Certificate of Graduation covered four years of high school. Mary took the usual courses: English, Social Studies, Mathematics, Science (Biology and Mental Hygiene), Home Economics (Foods and Clothing), Commerce (Bookkeeping and Typewriting), Driving, and Physical Education. Mary quit school at some point but returned to finish and graduate. I don’t see that reflected on the certificate though.

Mary received a certificate of proficiency for driver education on January 24, 1949.

Her first name was spelled Marye (vs. Mary) in the yearbook, her senior card, diploma, and the driver training certificate. Mary herself spelled it that way when she wrote her name in the front of her autograph book. You can read about her autograph book here.

Mary's senior card (1949)

Warren G. Harding Senior High School (from the 1949 yearbook, Echoes)

References

• "169 Will Receive Diplomas At Harding Thursday Night," The Tribune Chronicle, Warren, Ohio, January 26, 1949.
• Echoes yearbook, Warren G. Harding Senior High School, Warren, Ohio, 1949.

Celebrating a Blogiversary – 8 years

Eight years ago, I started this Living in the Past blog. My first post, published on September 5, 2011, was about Bairdstown Cemetery. It was short, mostly photos, but that’s what started it all. I originally began this blog to enhance my research. I was also beginning to build simple web pages at work so thought it might help me with that. Maybe it did, but just a little.

The first two and a half years were slow. In 2011, I blogged 16 times from September to December. In 2012, I only blogged 16 times during the entire year. In 2013 and the first eight months of 2014, I didn’t blog at all. I started to think about shutting the blog down but this was during a time when my ailing father-in-law was living with us and we were pretty much homebound (not complaining, just stating facts). He liked to watch the old westerns (as does my husband) which I’m okay with but not every day. So, to entertain myself while sitting with the guys at night, I surfed the Internet, looking for inspiration. That’s when I discovered the No Story Too Small: Life Is Made of Stories blog, written by Amy Johnson Crow, a Certified Genealogist. Amy had issued the 52 Ancestors challenge to her readers: “The premise: write once a week about a specific ancestor. It could be a story, a biography, a photograph, a research problem — any that focuses on that one ancestor. The next week, write about a different ancestor. In 52 weeks, you’ll have taken a closer look at 52 people in your family tree… and maybe learned a little bit more about them in the process.” I was intrigued by the challenge, thought about it for a couple of weeks, and then made a commitment to myself to at least try to finish out the year by blogging about one ancestor each week. And I’m still going! Now I can’t remember a time that I wasn’t researching and writing for the next blog.

To date, I’ve posted 297 stories with a total pageview count of 632,428. The most viewed story is Hurricane Agnes floods Manassas in 1972 with 1,475 views. I’m not surprised that this one got a lot of views since it’s about a hurricane. Most of the hits probably came during hurricane season. I’m not sure what brought in the 1,251 page view count for Going to the library. This post was a short and simple one, where I told my few memories about visiting an Atlanta library growing up. The Warner’s Skyline Drive-In Theater story is all about my husband’s uncle Ralph Murphy’s photos. When writing that post, I researched and found the son of the second owner of the theater. I attempted to contact him before I posted but it was almost a year before he answered me. He was happy to see the photos. He said his family didn’t take pictures of the drive-in so he only had the pictures in his memory. With my permission, he shared the blog link with a “You know you’re from Clarksburg WV” Facebook page which led to 1,125-page views. One I’m very proud of is My Mama, the strongest woman I know with 482 views. I’m happy for people to know what a special person she is. Various posts have been shared via social media 24 times in the past two years. That tells me I must be doing something right.

To enhance the blog, I added several tabs:

• 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: a compilation of all my 52 Ancestors posts
• Family Treasures: links to posts I’ve written about family treasures and their provenance
• Heirloom Recipes: a small list of family recipes
• Bairdstown Cemetery: links to posts documenting my connection to the souls buried in this small-town Georgia cemetery
• Honor Roll: links to post of family members who have served in the military

I have a list of things I still want to blog about. If my brother-in-law approves, I’d like to share his father’s World War II letters. I’ve transcribed all of them and am now compiling them and doing some research to tell his story. I’d also love to do a series on Mama’s volunteer activities, something near and dear to her heart. I’ve started gathering information and photos for this project so just need to start writing it. I found several news articles about Company C of the 3rd Regiment Georgia Infantry (Dawson Grays) reunions and would like to share those. This was the unit my 3rd great grandfather and other ancestors served in during the Civil War.

Blogging about my ancestors has forced me to take a second look at my research. I’ve found and corrected mistakes. I’ve discovered many stories that I never knew and proven family legends. It’s a great place to share photos. And, I believe I’ve learned more about history than I ever did in school! I like to say I’m not a writer, but I don’t let that stop me. It’s hard work to research and write a post every week but I’m enjoying it. Thank you to the family members who have shared their stories with me and to everyone who has taken the time to read the stories I’ve posted. I looking forward to continuing this adventure.

Reference
Crow, Amy Johnson, 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks, No Story Too Small: Life Is Made of Stories blog.