This is my maternal great grandmother Isabella (Liming) Redles (1844-1916). Unfortunately, there’s no date, but I love this photograph of her! Check out those curls all across her forehead.
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Monday, March 26, 2012
Fearless Females: March 26—Education
Lisa Alzo of The Accidental Genealogist wrote a post for Women’s History Month titled “Fearless Females: 31 Blogging Prompts to Celebrate Women’s History Month.” There is a topic for each day of the month of March to commemorate the “fearless females” in our families. The topic for March 26 is the sort of education your mother, grandmothers, or great grandmothers received. Four generations of females on my mother’s side have graduated from college: my daughter, me, my mother, and my maternal grandmother.
My mother Leona (Redles) Pendleton graduated from Ward Belmont a junior college in Nashville, Tennessee. She then graduated in 1947 with an art degree from Georgia State Woman's College (now Valdosta State University). After the closure of our family business (The A. S. Pendleton Company in Valdosta, Georgia) in the early 1970s, she enrolled in Valdosta State College (now University) for a nursing degree. She worked as a Registered Nurse at South Georgia Medical Center in Valdosta for 13 years before retiring.
My grandmother Leona (Roberts) Redles graduated from Ward Belmont. Her father, J.T. Roberts, sent all of his children—both boys and girls—to college (except for daughter Edwina Roberts who was an invalid), as education was important in the Roberts family. The photo at the left is my grandmother Leona’s senior picture in the 1914-1915 Ward Belmont yearbook. She was a member of Sigma Iota Chi, Beta Chapter.
Growing up, education was important in my family, too. Both of my parents expected me to go to college. However, I didn’t want to go to college after high school, so I didn’t. I said I would “never” go. I was done with school. Famous last words. I entered college when I was in my 30s. It took me a while to finish, alternating between going full time and part time. Not only did I get a bachelor’s degree, but I got a master’s degree as well.
Catherine
My mother Leona (Redles) Pendleton graduated from Ward Belmont a junior college in Nashville, Tennessee. She then graduated in 1947 with an art degree from Georgia State Woman's College (now Valdosta State University). After the closure of our family business (The A. S. Pendleton Company in Valdosta, Georgia) in the early 1970s, she enrolled in Valdosta State College (now University) for a nursing degree. She worked as a Registered Nurse at South Georgia Medical Center in Valdosta for 13 years before retiring.
My grandmother Leona (Roberts) Redles graduated from Ward Belmont. Her father, J.T. Roberts, sent all of his children—both boys and girls—to college (except for daughter Edwina Roberts who was an invalid), as education was important in the Roberts family. The photo at the left is my grandmother Leona’s senior picture in the 1914-1915 Ward Belmont yearbook. She was a member of Sigma Iota Chi, Beta Chapter.
Growing up, education was important in my family, too. Both of my parents expected me to go to college. However, I didn’t want to go to college after high school, so I didn’t. I said I would “never” go. I was done with school. Famous last words. I entered college when I was in my 30s. It took me a while to finish, alternating between going full time and part time. Not only did I get a bachelor’s degree, but I got a master’s degree as well.
Catherine
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Tombstone Tuesday—Alexander Shaw and Susan Parramore Pendleton
Above are the graves of my paternal great grandparents Alexander (Andy) Shaw Pendleton (1855-1925) and Susan Dasher Parramore (1861-1938) in the Pendleton lot (Section B219, Block 11) in Sunset Hill Cemetery, Valdosta, Georgia.
This is the Pendleton lot where my paternal great grandparents Alexander Shaw Pendleton and Susan Dasher Parramore are buried. Also buried on this lot are their son Francis Key Pendleton (1891-1911), son-in-law Albert Johnson Little (1879-1960) and daughter Bessie Pendleton Little (1884-1970), daughter Gertrude Pendleton Harrell (1887-1925), and great grandson (?) Edward F. Little (1956-1956).
Catherine
Saturday, March 17, 2012
Sympathy Saturday—Scrapbook of a Death
While I’m visiting family in Valdosta this month, I’ve been busy scanning and photographing old family photos, letters, etc. I spent several days over the past two weeks working through my maternal grandmother’s (Leona Roberts Redles) four-drawer desk that my mom has filled with her family photos and memorabilia. One of the items in the desk is a scrapbook that my grandmother complied when her husband (my grandfather) William Liming Redles passed away on August 29, 1932 in Washington, D.C. While in Washington, they lived in the Roosevelt Hotel. The scrapbook contains newspaper death notices and letters, cards, and telegrams that she received upon his death. Below are a few pages from this scrapbook. (Please excuse the quality of the images. I didn’t want to put the scrapbook on a flat-bed scanner because of its fragility. I didn’t want to use my Flip-Pal mobile scanner, because I couldn’t open the scrapbook very far and didn’t think I could get the inside edges. I used my digital point-and-shoot camera.) Click on each image for a larger view.
Some newspaper death notices for my grandfather William L. Redles.
This letter to my grandmother Leona Roberts Redles upon the death of my grandfather William L. Redles is from the Commandant’s office, U. S. Marine Corps.
Some of the cards that came with the flowers that my grandmother Leona Roberts Redles received when my grandfather William L. Redles died on August 29, 1932.
Above are some telegrams from family members. Maie Dell and Stella are two of my grandmother’s sisters. Aunt Lawson is Lawson Young Pendleton, my great grandmother Catherine Young Robert’s sister.
More telegrams that my grandmother Leona Roberts Redles received when my grandfather William L. Liming died on August 29, 1932.
Catherine
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Wordless Wednesday—Leona Roberts Redles
My mother Leona Roberts Redles dressed for a wedding.
Catherine
Monday, March 12, 2012
Fearless Females: March 12: Working Girl
Lisa Alzo of The Accidental Genealogist wrote a post for Women’s History Month titled “Fearless Females: 31 Blogging Prompts to Celebrate Women’s History Month.” There is a topic for each day of the month of March to commemorate the “fearless females” in our families. The topic for March 12 is “Working Girl: Did your mother or grandmother work outside the home?”
I’ve written before about my paternal grandmother Helen Pendleton going to work at the Staten-Converse Store in Valdosta when she and her daughters moved in with her mother-in-law after the death of her husband Wiley Thomas in 1918 during the flu epidemic. I don’t think she worked after she married my grandfather Albert Pendleton. My maternal grandmother Leona Redles didn’t work outside the home.
In a previous post I wrote about my mom going to work for my dad at the family business after all of us children were in school. She worked for him until the early 1970s when the family business closed down. After this, she went back to college and got her nursing degree. She worked as a nurse for 15 years before retiring.
Catherine
I’ve written before about my paternal grandmother Helen Pendleton going to work at the Staten-Converse Store in Valdosta when she and her daughters moved in with her mother-in-law after the death of her husband Wiley Thomas in 1918 during the flu epidemic. I don’t think she worked after she married my grandfather Albert Pendleton. My maternal grandmother Leona Redles didn’t work outside the home.
In a previous post I wrote about my mom going to work for my dad at the family business after all of us children were in school. She worked for him until the early 1970s when the family business closed down. After this, she went back to college and got her nursing degree. She worked as a nurse for 15 years before retiring.
Catherine
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Fearless Females: The Tragic Death of Hattie Finney Brown
Lisa Alzo of The Accidental Genealogist wrote a post for Women’s History Month titled “Fearless Females: 31 Blogging Prompts to Celebrate Women’s History Month.” There is a topic for each day of the month of March to commemorate the “fearless females” in our families. I planned to follow along from March 1, but I got behind getting ready around that same time for my trip to my home town to visit family. I checked to see what today’s topic (March 11) was and saw that it was to honor a “fearless female” who “died young or from tragic or unexpected circumstances.” I immediately thought of the post below. I wrote it months ago but was hesitant at the time about posting it. Now is a good time.
The Tragic Death of Hattie Finney Brown
On one of my visits home to Valdosta, Georgia, a year or so before my father died, he asked me to look for his memoirs, Growing Up South Georgian (n.d.). (He was bedridden with Parkinson’s Disease and couldn't look for them himself.) It seemed to weigh on his mind not knowing where they were. It took me a little while, but I found most of his memoirs scattered around his office. He asked me to read them and then put them somewhere so they would be found when we were ready to make copies to give out to family.
I must not have read all of the chapters at the time or maybe this particular chapter about the circumstances surrounding the death of my paternal great grandmother Hattie (Finney) Brown was one I found later, because it sure came as a shock when one of my cousins told me how she died. Another cousin (or maybe it was the same one...I've since forgotten) sent me some newspaper clippings about it. I wondered why I had not heard about this before. Why didn't my father tell me? How could I have missed this in his memoirs? A couple of years ago, I started retyping and editing my dad’s memoirs, and I came across what he wrote about Hattie's death at the end of one of his chapters (below is her death certificate):
Lisa asks in today’s blog prompt, how did this death affect the family? I wish I knew. I know how it affected me when I found out about it. After I told one of my cousins about Hoyt backing over his father Henry with his truck, he said there was probably no love between them after Hattie’s death. Sometimes in researching family history, you find out things you'd rather not know. I try not to pass judgment on how my ancestors lived their lives or on the things that they did. It's not easy sometimes, though. After I found out how my great grandmother Hattie died, I didn't want to know anything about my great grandfather Henry. I was angry with him for what he did even though it was ruled an accident. However, later on I began to wonder about this family and wanted to know more. What were their lives like? Why did Henry have moonshine still (silly me)? I don't even know what Hattie and Henry looked like. I came across a wedding photograph on ancestry.com of their daughter Belle and her wedding party. There are some older couples in the photo, but the person who posted the photo didn't know if Hattie and Henry are in it. I'm sure they are, but which couple are they? My cousin showed the photograph to his mom (my father's sister). She was pretty sure she'd picked them out. My father didn't seem to know a whole lot about them, so I hope one day that a descendent of Hattie and Henry will fill in the blanks for me.
Catherine
The Tragic Death of Hattie Finney Brown
On one of my visits home to Valdosta, Georgia, a year or so before my father died, he asked me to look for his memoirs, Growing Up South Georgian (n.d.). (He was bedridden with Parkinson’s Disease and couldn't look for them himself.) It seemed to weigh on his mind not knowing where they were. It took me a little while, but I found most of his memoirs scattered around his office. He asked me to read them and then put them somewhere so they would be found when we were ready to make copies to give out to family.
I must not have read all of the chapters at the time or maybe this particular chapter about the circumstances surrounding the death of my paternal great grandmother Hattie (Finney) Brown was one I found later, because it sure came as a shock when one of my cousins told me how she died. Another cousin (or maybe it was the same one...I've since forgotten) sent me some newspaper clippings about it. I wondered why I had not heard about this before. Why didn't my father tell me? How could I have missed this in his memoirs? A couple of years ago, I started retyping and editing my dad’s memoirs, and I came across what he wrote about Hattie's death at the end of one of his chapters (below is her death certificate):
Just recently, I was reminded of just how Mama Gangie [Hattie] died. Papa Gangie [Henry] thought he heard someone after his chickens one night, got up to see and shot Mama Gangie accidentally. He was arrested and released but not before the newspapers had a field day with it. Mama Gangie died instantly. About five years ago one of Aunt Lucy’s [Brown Ward] sons told me that Papa Gangie was a bootlegger and thought someone was after his moonshine, that Hoyt [Hattie and Henry's son] was there one day in 1933, had an argument with him, and left in a huff in his truck, but first he backed over Papa Gangie in the yard. Mama kept a lot from us. That was her right.My father wrote that Hattie and Henry lived in a place called Brownsville outside of Pensacola, Florida. Hoyt was my grandmother Helen's twin brother and was at Hattie and Henry's when Hattie was shot. She died right in front of him. Henry met with a tragic end, too. My father writes in Growing Up South Georgian (n.d.) about the death of Henry, "Papa Gangie died when a kerosene lamp blew up and he didn't survive the burns."
Lisa asks in today’s blog prompt, how did this death affect the family? I wish I knew. I know how it affected me when I found out about it. After I told one of my cousins about Hoyt backing over his father Henry with his truck, he said there was probably no love between them after Hattie’s death. Sometimes in researching family history, you find out things you'd rather not know. I try not to pass judgment on how my ancestors lived their lives or on the things that they did. It's not easy sometimes, though. After I found out how my great grandmother Hattie died, I didn't want to know anything about my great grandfather Henry. I was angry with him for what he did even though it was ruled an accident. However, later on I began to wonder about this family and wanted to know more. What were their lives like? Why did Henry have moonshine still (silly me)? I don't even know what Hattie and Henry looked like. I came across a wedding photograph on ancestry.com of their daughter Belle and her wedding party. There are some older couples in the photo, but the person who posted the photo didn't know if Hattie and Henry are in it. I'm sure they are, but which couple are they? My cousin showed the photograph to his mom (my father's sister). She was pretty sure she'd picked them out. My father didn't seem to know a whole lot about them, so I hope one day that a descendent of Hattie and Henry will fill in the blanks for me.
Catherine
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Tech Tools for Research
I think most of the tech tools that I use for genealogical research are pretty much the same as what I use when I do research for work. They both involve online and offline (libraries, archives) research. I’ve been trying out different ways to make gathering information easier on myself (arthritis is making it harder to handwrite notes) and more expedient. I don’t like wasting time! (Well, that’s not exactly true. I do like to veg once in a while.)
Here’s a list of what I use and what I use it for.
1. Camera—I don’t have a fancy camera. At this point, I don’t feel like I need one. I have a Cannon Powershot SD 1200IS digital camera that I use to take photographs of pages in books that have information I need, maps, and other graphics. I’ve used it to take photographs of microfilm with mixed results (it depends on the lighting and the quality of the microfilm). I use it to take photos of family graves.
2. Flip-Pal Scanner—I’ve used this mobile scanner for many of the same reasons that I’ve used my camera, except that I haven’t tied it out on microfilm. I’ve used the Flip-Pal quite a bit lately to scan my non-digital photographs. I brought it with me to Georgia this month and have been scanning old photos at my mom’s house. You can also use the Flip-Pal to scan large objects by taking the cover off and, well, flipping it over. You have to scan the object in overlapping sections, and then use the stitching software that comes with it or Photoshop to stitch them together into one file.
3. Dropbox—I upload files from my hard drive to Dropbox so I can either share them or have them available when I’m away from my computer. Also, as I mentioned in my post on the apps I use on my Andoid smartphone, I can also access those files on Dropbox from my smart phone. I use Dropbox in addition to Evernote (see below). See this post on The Elephant Channel about the reasons to use both.
4. Evernote. I really like Evernote. At first I only used it to collect recipes (see proof below), but I have since learned how really useful it is for collecting all sorts of information. One of the best parts is that, as I wrote about earlier, I have Evernote on my smart phone and my computer so I can look at files from either one. One of the things I use it for is to keep a running list in Evernote of books and other things I’d like to read or need for research, so that when I’m in the library or bookstore, I can just check my list on Evernote.
5. Smart Phone—I wrote in my previous post that I bought an Android smart phone. It’s a HTC Merge. I’ve used the camera to take photographs of pages in books needed for research at the library. It worked well with microfilm, too.
6. Pinterest—Pinterest is for “pinning your interests.” It’s very useful for folks like me who are very visual. Rather than making a bookmark, you “pin” an image to your board that links back to the particular website. I haven’t really used Pinterest for research yet, but I got the idea from Caroline Pointer of For Your Family Story to “pin” family photos from my blog and photos and maps of places my ancestors have lived (see below). As you can see, it’s very useful for “pinning” other things you are interested in. You can “follow” other people and they can “follow” you. Pinterest is free but you need an invitation to join. You can either sign up for one on Pinterest or you can email me your email address and I’ll send you an invite. Warning—as other people have found, Pinterest is very addicting.
What tech tools do you use for research? I’m always looking for new ways to make doing research easier!
Catherine