All My Ancestors

Despite the difficulty of choosing just one photograph for the 4th edition of Smile for the Camera, I decided to choose this one of my grandfather, on the left,  and his as yet unidentified compadre.

What in the world were these guys doing? I was very surprised when my dad’s cousin gave me this picture of her “Uncle Thad.” I’d never seen anything remotely like it in all the family pics I’d perused.   I love the seam down the front of his left leg–looks like it was sewn with twine.  This makes me know for sure he wasn’t married at this time because my grandmother would have mended this cut? tear? rip? so that it would have been invisible. They married in December 1913 in Lubbock, Texas.

My grandad was a character, I think.  When I knew him in the 1950s and 1960s, he smoked unfiltered Old Gold cigarettes, drank black coffee, and walked across two rooms to kick the television if it wasn’t getting good reception.   And liked it just a little too much if my brothers and I, or even my parents and I, got into any sort of disagreement. 

I think part of the attraction of this photo for me is that this is a part of my granddad’s life I never knew about, but he looks like such a guy–posing with is cane knife (I think) with a rip in his overalls.  As I’ve blogged about previously, there are formal studio photos of all of his siblings, but not of him.  Clowning around with a knife was evidently what it took to get him into the studio.

As I’ve said here before, I grew up in the Texas panhandle. Needless to say, the region is not known for its recreational water spots.

Here’s my mom on an outing with her girlfriends–they’re wading–barely. This is about the extent of the water in the area of the panhandle I know.

There is a picture somewhere in my family of me, my brother and my aunt when we were about 5, 4, and 9 (respectively). We all have on swimming suits that are way too huge for us. I certainly don’t remember the occasion, but I do know that both my granddad and my uncle carried that photo for years. We were standing in the driveway of my South Dakota grandparents’ home–South Dakota was the only place we ever swam.

More frequently we fished.

There was the truly old-fashioned swimming hole down the road from my grandmother’s country store. We often spent entire afternoons in that lake–the Hilmer kids from next door to the store could usually be persuaded to come along, or vice versa, and we had a lot of fun there. (That’s Doug H. with my brother Thad in the photo above.)

Someone had rigged up a diving board–I, of course, was too chicken to jump. And if you got to close to the underside of the board, you were at risk of getting leeches. I suppose it was actually a fairly clean lake as it was spring-fed, but when I think back on it now, I’m surprised we survived. There was a very small island a few yards out–I wasn’t a strong enough swimmer to make it out there except floating in my inner-tube. And in those days, it really was the inner tube from a tire that we used. If we could wrangle a tube from a tractor tire, we’d hit the big time! There was gravel in the bottom of the lake so it really wasn’t a bad place to swim.

Here’s the best picture I have of someone in my family in a swimming suit:

It’s my mom, and I think this photo was taken on her honeymoon. Mom and Dad married 21 May 1950 in Beaver County, Oklahoma, and came to Oklahoma City for their honeymoon. I suspect that’s Lake Overholser in the background.

My mother had red hair and the palest skin you can imagine. She really really didn’t like water–she’d never learned to swim and it terrified her. It’s just as well my brothers and I did most of our swimming in the summers we spent with grandparents. She also sunburned through her clothes so this picture is pretty amazing. But it was her honeymoon, and she was very young, so I’m sure allowances can be made.

But I love this picture of her–I’d saved it as “Bathing Beauty Mom” in my files. I’m really surprised it survived her culling of the family pictures, but I’m really glad it did.

Written for the 49th Carnival of Genealogy.

This is another prompt of a sort that is making the rounds of genealogical blogs. It has to do with placing our families 100 years ago. See Lisa’s 100 Years in America that started it all. See the end of the comments of her post for additional blog posts.

Here’s a photo of part of my family that must have been taken about 1908.

Someone in my family identified the people in this photo–making allowances for corrections based on gender and age, I believe the people in this photo are, from the left, Eula Price Cromwell, Lillian Cromwell, Lida Lee Anderton (child, and my grandmother), Grace Cromwell Anderton (my great-grandmother), Daniel Webster Cromwell (my gggrandfather), Gordon B. “Jack” Cromwell, Martha Jane Ball Cromwell (my gggrandmother).

My grandmother was born in January of 1906 and this photo of her looks like she’s about 2 1/2. Uncle “Jack,” the other child in the photo, was supposedly born in March 1898–he certainly doesn’t look age 10, though I did find him listed as attending Poarch School in 1908. Grannie might be a bit older, but I thought this was an interesting picture of a century ago. I believe it was taken outside their home in the Poarch Community, Beckham County, Oklahoma. Statehood was in November 1907, so this is also just after Oklahoma became a state. The Daniel Cromwell family is enumerated in 1910 as living in the Poarch Community, Beckham County, Oklahoma. I know they were in this area by 1904 because they have a son, Burton, buried in the Poarch Cemetery in that county who died in April of that year.

It looks like Great-great Grandfather Daniel is holding a crutch. I know he had what was probably rheumatoid arthritis. I also found this blurb in the newspaper from the time that confirms his ailments:

from the Carter Express, (23 December 1910) “Mr. Cromwell is reported to be suffering very much yet. Being a cripple already with rheumatism we fear that this accident will go hard with him.”

They didn’t mince words in those days, did they?

And if you have relatives in Beckham County, let me recommend their USGenWeb page–it has lots of excellent transcriptions of early newspapers and county history. It provided lots of data for filling in between “just the facts” of dates, places and times.

Here’s a good example of answering one question but getting at least two more. When was this photo taken and who is the subject?

Due to my recent posting about John Wright Osborne, I’ve made another family connection. I’ve very glad as one of my goals is to find descendants for each of the generation that has 10 Osborne sons–the sons of Jonathan Osborne and Martha Roland. I believe that at least one of them had no descendants–Archibald Magruder Osborne died before he was married and I assume he had no children. I’m not sure about the oldest son, named Christopher for his paternal grandfather. I’m certain I’ve found descendants from 3 of the 9 who are known to have had children, so I have plenty more work to do.

This photo came from a descendant of John Wright Osborne’s father, Thomas. I believe I’ve mentioned that he married twice–his first wife, Mary Jane Wright, was John Wright’s mother. His second wife, Eveline Matlock, bore 9 more children for a grand total of 13. Thomas was just younger than my own ggreat-grandfather, John Osborne, and was his business partner in some land deals in west Tennessee, though Thomas lived in the eastern part of the state.

Thomas’ descendant wants this to be a picture of Eveline. The subject’s clothing, hairstyle, and jewelry are the main clues from the photo itself. There is no photographer’s stamp or mark on it–nothing is on the reverse. The original is small, about 2.5″ x 4″. The cardboard backing is not thick but it is rigid.

Eveline was born in 1824, so even if this photo was made in the early days of photography in the 1860s, that would make Eveline in her mid to late 30s. I’ll admit that I have a hard time estimating today’s ages, much less those of folks a century or two old, but I don’t think this person looks 35 or so. I have some books on reserve at the library to see what I can find about the jewelry and the dress style. Her hair looks like its in a snood, but my research on snoods indicates they’ve been used since the middle ages, so that doesn’t help narrow the date. From the little research that I have done, the fact that there are no props in the picture and that it’s a bust shot rather than a full-length shot, and that it’s a small photo, make me think this photo is earlier rather than later.

But what do you think about a date? I’d be happy to hear from anyone with a tidbit of info about photography history, and I’ll be happy to be contradicted–not a common event, trust me.

Here’s another cropped version of the photo–maybe it helps

Is there a hint of a high waist line at the bottom of this image?

We’d love to know what you think.

So many topics floating through my head.

I’ll pick two–more info about the Missouri Blair line and research in Oklahoma.

I found the burial site of the governor’s father–he’s in the same cemetery in Jefferson City as the governor. As is the governor’s brother Sam C. Blair, US Attorney, and a third brother, William Clark Blair. I haven’t dug about long enough for William C. yet, but all three of these men served in World War II, one a colonel, one a major and one a lt. (jg) in the Navy.

Then there’s Dr. Anna Lou Blair, whom I found as well. She is the sister of James T., Sr. and distinguished enough in her own right. She taught 49 years at Missouri State University in Springfield, served as the chair of the Modern Languages department, and has a building named for her. I found her on the 1930 census studying at Yale and in 1940, she’s returning from a trip to Chile. She sounds like no slouch.

That’s just one of the topics I want to explore. (Not to mention that I keep thinking I should be able to find an obituary for James T., Sr. So far, I have not been successful in any of my subscription databases.)

Then there’s the article in one of the recent genealogy magazines that lists online sites for each state. There’s one lonely entry for Oklahoma, and it’s the Access Genealogy site that has the index to the final rolls of the Dawes Commission. It’s listed as a site that charges, which I’ve not found to be so, and the site also has in caps and bold letters the most ignored statement in Native American genealogical research:

IF YOUR ANCESTOR WAS NOT LIVING IN INDIAN TERRITORY DURING 1898-1914 THEY WILL NOT BE LISTED ON DAWES!!

But the point is that there are some other Oklahoma sites that are pretty terrific. One of the best, in my opinion, is the database of the Indian Pioneer interviews done in the 1930s–another one of those great WPA projects. These interviews were done with “89ers” (those who came to Oklahoma for the 1889 land run, or a subsequent run) or their descendants AND with Native Americans who already lived here, or their descendants and covers a time period of about 1860-late 1930s. With almost 80,000 entries, it is a rich, rich resource, and the University of Oklahoma Western History Collections has all the interviews mounted for access by name, place or subject.

The Research Center at the Oklahoma Historical Society has some good information up as well. The index to the 1890 Territorial Census is available at here. This census is particularly important since most of the 1890 census for the rest of the country was destroyed. Because Oklahoma was not yet a state, this census was not with the federal census and thus survives. It covers a portion of the Unassigned Lands (Logan, Oklahoma, Cleveland, Canadian, Kingfisher, and Payne Counties) in the center of the state and Beaver County in the panhandle.

Photos from early Oklahoma are also available online at the Oklahoma Historical Society’s site. Use the Archives link in the online catalog and type in a subject. If you see “file available” in the lower right corner, click on that link and see the photo. This database is no where near complete, but it’s fun to browse–type in the name of an Indian tribe or an old Oklahoma town and see what comes up.

Another online source, though not tied to any agency or company, is the work done by the late Mary Turner Kinard. She indexed many of the pre-statehood marriages from Indian Territory and that index is available online here. The documents themselves are in various repositories, but the site tells the searcher where to obtain copies.

We shouldn’t forget the Oklahoma portion of the USGenWeb project–I still find myself using it on an almost daily basis when I’m at work. It’s well maintained and has some very good information for anyone researching in Oklahoma.

I’ll stop.

Those are just two of the topics floating through my mind, and they aren’t even related except that they both address genealogical quests. Granted the Oklahoma resources aren’t all that straightforward, but they are there and they are free for now. And what’s the use of having a blog if not to use to clear my head?

One of the things that has emerged from family reunion are formal studio photos of most of my grandfather Osborne’s siblings. I am so happy to have copies of these photos–it’s sort of ironic that the one I don’t have is the one from whom I descend.

Here’s Aunt Becky–

…and here’s the one I knew best, Aunt Eva…

I also knew Aunt Fannie fairly well–she lived in the same town where I grew up and she was the oldest of the children of Charles W. Osborne and Gertrude Susanna Mobley Osborne. She was a character–someday soon I’ll write more about her.

Here’s Aunt Inez–she lived to be over 100. I knew her though she lived in the neighboring town of Pampa.

Here’s his brother Fountain Walton, known as F.W. or Walton.

It makes me wonder if there is one of Thad, my grandad. I’ve never seen one and it doesn’t seem like the sort of thing he would sit still for, but then again, the photos exist of him with a friend in his work clothes.

Here’s another brother, David Wilson. One of the first big Osborne family gatherings I remember is Uncle David’s funeral when I was about 8. He was one of the first city commissioners in Pampa in 1927.

Here’s Charles Woodman, known as C.W. or Wood.

and the youngest brother, Emmett. This is from his service in WW I.

This makes a photo for each of the children except Raphael who died as a toddler.

So maybe one exists of my grandfather. But where is it? He had 8 children of his own–there are only 3 now living. I’m asking around to see if anyone has seen one of him and maybe, just maybe, has one. Here’s hoping.

I’m just back from family reunion. That meant a drive to the Texas panhandle, which I truly enjoyed. I forget how much I love the expansive sky and the seemingly limitless shades of green in the landscape. A turkey hen and her teen-aged brood crossed the road in front of me–she stood on the far edge of the pavement until they all scurried across. They went into a double row of trees that I suspect defined the boundaries of the old roadway–gratefully we have wider roads and wide shoulders these days.

Here’s one of the great things I found at the reunion. This is my great-grandfather, Charles Winfield Osborne. He died in 1926 so my dad, his grandson, never knew him. I’ve seen some other more informal pictures of him, in a group with his family of 10(!) children, but I think this one is great. I’m so grateful to have a copy.

And it doesn’t surprise me that he has on his hat for what is apparently a studio photo.

He was born in 1848 in Shelby County, near Memphis, Tennessee. In 1865, just after his father’s death, he moved with his mother and siblings to Grimes County, Texas. After he married Gertrude Susanna Mobley there in 1871, they proceeded to have 10 children, born in 5 different counties. In 1910, they were living in Lubbock County, Texas and by 1920, they’d moved a bit further north to Gray County, which was the site of the reunion.

This photo was taken, I’m estimating about 1911, so it was probably made in Lubbock County. (Don’t you love those sunglasses?) It includes all the surviving children, from the left, Inez, Wood, Walton, Fannie, Elizabeth, Thad, my grandfather, Eva, David, and Emmett. A 2-year-old son Raphael had died in 1877.

This is Martha Jane’s aunt Mary, sister of her father John Washington Ball.

and here is another photo of her, which looks like it was taken about the same time.

I think she looks like her father’s daughter. And I also think these photos were taken around the same time. Mary died sometime between 1885 and 1890 at the age of 40 - 45. Her last child was born in 1885 and I don’t know if her death was related to childbirth.

Do you think she looks older here? I need lots more work in the styles and ways of earlier times as portrayed in photographs. I would have guessed she was at least 60 here, and I don’t know if it’s that her life was hard so she does look older or if the styles made women look older, or both.

Mary was likely born in Missouri, though I don’t know where. I believe her family went there from Clark County Indiana about 1842 and then was in Warren County Iowa by 1845. Some of the census records say she was born in Missouri, and I keep finding scraps of info about the “Dr. Ball family” who came to Warren County from Missouri. My initial searches of Wm. Green Ball’s land records did not indicate where he was in Missouri, but then again, when I was looking, I didn’t know he’d been there.

So that’s a lesson learned–I’ll have to go back now and look at those records again to see if there’s a hint of their location in Missouri. They might be in his Indiana records or they might be in the Iowa records–I just know that I’ve used land records before to track down the former residence of a person. Or to prove that the two men in separate counties are the same person. This happened with Dr. Ball himself–I did find records in Iowa of him having been in Montgomery County, Kansas. When these sorts of moves are in between census years and are stays of only 3-4 years, land records are one of the best ways to track them. Deeds will say something like, “Wm G. Ball of Benton County, Arkansas, formerly of this county. . .” in Montgomery County, or perhaps he’s sold the land after he left the county so it’s registered also in Benton County. You have to be a detective, and that’s the addictive part for me.

The picture in the last post of my maternal great-grandfather reminded me that I also have these photos of my paternal grandfather, Thaddeus Morrison Osborne, aka T.M., aka Thad, aka Bud. He’s the one on the left in both pics. You can see that someone has written his initials at the bottom of one of the pictures, TMO.

Again, I would love to know the circumstances of these photos. My granddad was born in 1888 and I’d guess he’s about 20 in this picture. He wasn’t married until 1913 when he was 25, and somehow I don’t think this would have been made after he was married. So that would make the picture taken about 1908, give or take a couple of years. My great-grandfather, in the previous post, was born 1882 and married in 1904. So these pictures were taken in the same general timeframe. Perhaps I should send copies to one of the places that analyzes photos, but they make me think there were itinerate photographers who marketed themselves to young men working, perhaps away from home. It’s just a theory–if the photo guy at the place where I work wasn’t so crabby, I’d ask him. I just think they are interesting photos–both have two young men who are dressed for work.

In neither of the photos above do I know the identity of the fellows on the right. I suspect at least one of them is one of his Mobley cousins, but I have no way of verifying that. Grandad had 4 brothers, so one of them could be a brother, though I think if one of the family members was identifying him, as in the left photo, they would have identified the other person if he were a brother.

Family reunion is in a little less than a month, so maybe someone there can help identify the other person.

In any event, I’m glad to have these pictures.

Here’s the photo of my grandparents taken on their 50th wedding anniversary in December, 1963. He was wearing his ever-present khakis–still his work clothes.

I guess they are amigos. I can’t think of another reason to have their picture taken together.

I don’t think they are brothers, though they do appear to have the same seamstress. And maybe they are brothers, though I don’t think they look alike.

On the reverse is written “Uncle John Unruh left.” If they were brothers, wouldn’t the name of the other person be given as well?

Do you think he’s the same person as the one in this photo?

The handwriting on the back of the first picture looks like my grandmother’s, which would make John Unruh her father-in-law, not uncle.

But maybe it’s not her handwriting. The only John Unruh I can find in my database that would fit this approximate time period is my great-grandfather John B. Unruh, the same man in the second photo.

What do you think? And how about those overalls?!