Shakin' the Family Tree

Happy holidays to you

Mon, 24 Dec 2012 16:04:12 GMT

Jo Desha and Maxie Leah Williams family, Christmas Day 1900
photo by McLeod, the Wild West photographer

Every time I see this one, I just dissolve into gales of laughter.

Can't you just imagine the dinner table discussion a couple of weeks before the holiday?

"Honey, what shall we do this year for Christmas? After all, it's the first Christmas of the new century."

Oh, I don't know. . .hey, why don't we get that McLeod guy to take a picture? We could dress up and go sit outside on some rocks."

"Marvelous idea, darling! And we could put Paul and Cedric on a couple of asses. They've been acting like asses for a few days now. It would serve them right. . ."

The back of the photo has an extensive ad for "McLeod, the Wild West Photographer. . . the man who made Happy Hollow famous the world over."

I don't know how you celebrate this holiday season in your home. However you do it, do it with gusto. Laugh and love and enjoy.

You could do it in Williams family style. Dress up in all your finery and go sit on some rocks. Take a photo. Take lots of photos.

From me and the petting zoo at the cottage, happy holidays.

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[Almost] Wordless Wednesday

Wed, 12 Sep 2012 00:29:16 GMT

Love. This.

It's a 1905 ad - I wish I knew the exact date - for my family's Williams Grocer Co. in Russellville, Pope Co., AR.

And if you're not keeping up, you haven't realized that both my parents' families of origin came from Pope County...

But, I digress.

1905 Williams Grocer Co Ad

Isn't it a hoot?

Still in the Lead! it proclaims.

And at the end, this cutie...

When Hungry C Us

And here I thought chat-ese and text language was a new-fangled thing...

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Sunday's Obituary: Josiah H Shinn and Mildred Williams Shinn

Sun, 11 Mar 2012 13:50:08 GMT

Josiah H Shinn Dies in Washington
Former Arkansan Had produced Many Historical Volumes
(From the Gazette's Correspondent)
Washington, Sept. 3 - Josiah H Shinn, aged 68, an employee at the capitol and known throughout the country as a writer of history, died yesterday at his home, 624 Rock Creek Church road.

He was born in Russellville, Ark., March 29, 1849. He wrote for the Arkansas Gazette and Southern School Journal. He established the first chautauquas in Arkansas.

Among his books and pamphlets were, "The South in Public Education," "Illustrated Arkansas," "History of American People," "Education in Arkansas," "Russia at the World's Fair," "English and Russian."

He was registrar for the Arkansas S A R from 1892 to 1894. He was a member of the American Institute in 1894, and an honorary member of the Pennsylvania and West Virginia historical societies. His history on "Education in Arkansas" was published by the government.

He is survived by his wife, Mrs. Mildred C Shinn, and a son, Joe L Shinn. The body was sent to Russellville tonight.
Published on Tuesday, 4 Sep 1917, in the Arkansas Gazette

Mrs. J H Shinn Dies at Home in Washington, D C
Mrs. Minnie C Shinn, aged 78, widow of Josiah H Shinn, formerly of Little Rock, died at her home in Washington, D C early Thursday. The late Mr. Shinn was superintendent of public instruction in Arkansas from 1890 to 1894. He and Mrs. Shinn moved to Washington about 1902 when he accepted a government position.

He was the author of many historical works. He was a native of Russellville, Pope county, and met Mrs. Shinn at her home in Kentucky after he studied law in Cincinnati, O.

Their home was at Russellville and Magnolia, where he was the principal of schools in those cities and they moved to Little Rock when he was appointed to a position in the state Department of Education before his election as superintendent.

Mrs. Shinn was born at Bridgeport, Ky. Mr. Shinn died in 1917. Their son made his home with his mother until his death two years ago. Mrs. Shinn visited in Little Rock last spring. She is survived by one brother, J D Williams, 2310 Ringo street. Funeral arrangements will be announced by P H Ruebel & Co.
Published on Wednesday, 17 Feb 1932, in the Arkansas Gazette

Mrs. J H Shinn
Funeral services for Mrs. Minnie C Shinn, widow of Josiah H Shinn, who died at her home in Washington, D C, Tuesday, will be held at 10:30 Saturday morning at the chapel of P H Ruebel & Co. The body will arrive in Little Rock early today. Funeral services will be in charge of the Rev. J H Fuller. Pallbearers will be: Active - C H Williams, P M Williams, J D Williams, Jr., and Vernon Shinn, of Little Rock, and Eugene Shinn of Russellville, all nephews of Mrs. Shinn; honorary - Henry Martin, G DeMatt Henderson, Tom Howland, Clio Harper, H A Bowman, S J Beauchamp, Arthur E Lee, Martin Critz and D R Fones. Burial will be in Roselawn Memorial Park.
Published on Saturday, 20 Feb 1932, in the Arkansas Gazette

Josiah Shinn, wife Minnie, and son Joseph R L.
Photo circa 1886.

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Treasure Chest Thursday: Frankfort Cemetery, Franklin Co., KY

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 00:57:25 GMT

The video below is not old. It's the contents of the video that represents the treasures.

One of my Williams cousins and his wife traveled to Franklin County, KY last summer to photograph the graves of his great grandmother (who was my great-great grandmother), Catherine (Mueller) Williams. He videotaped all the graves in the Williams' family plot and included some wonderful bonus material.

The family plot is in Frankfort Cemetery.

Click here to view the video.

My thanks and gratitude go to cousin Cedric, who generously shared the video with me...

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Sunday's Obituary: Katherine Leah Williams, 1899-1904

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 14:39:04 GMT

A Bright Little Spirit Called

It is not often such a sad and unpleasant duty falls to the average newspaperman as confronts the writer of these lines, announcing the death of Little Miss Catherine Leah Williams, the pretty, vivacious and beloved daughter of Mr and Mrs JD Williams, which took place at their home Thursday December 8th, 1904, as the result of croup. To the bereaved father, mother and brothers, of whose life she was the pride and joy; to her little playmates and friends to whom she was so true our heart's sympathy is full to overflowing. Catherine will not pass this way again, her sweet voice is stilled; the busy little hands are folded, but she was of this life so sweet a part that her memory will remain.

The funeral service took place from the Christian church at 3 o'clock pm, Elder C C Cline of Little Rock and Dr Geo. W Harkey of this city officiating. The church had been most beautifully decorated with evergreens and potted plants, while the floral offerings were far more expressive of the tenderness felt for the departed one, her father, mother and brothers than we have words to portray. The attendance was limited only by the capacity of the house to accommodate those seeking admission. Followed by a long procession those precious remains were borne to the city cemetery and laid in the silent tomb, mid the glorious loveliness of a December day.

This lock of hair was attached with a straight pin to the page in the Bible where the obituary was glued.

Katherine Leah Williams

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Treasures from my shed...

Mon, 14 Nov 2011 21:49:45 GMT

In the back of my mind, I knew they were there.

It just took being inspired to find the little plaster of Paris Santas my son decorated the first year I toughed it out as a single mother to find them.

Oh, I found the Santas, all right...and remembered how one rainy fall day I got him to sit with me at the kitchen table, spread some newspaper out, and use our little brushes and acrylic paints to make them our own.

It started us on a homemade ornament tradition. Each year, we added the ornaments he made at school to the tree.

Now, he wanted those little Santas for his own daughters.

I didn't find them in the shed.

But as I was fighting off spiders startled from slumber, and opening one huge Rubbermaid container after another, I found something just as precious.

More ancient family memorabilia...

I packed the stuff well. No cooties, and the envelopes were all still intact, photos separated by family surname.

Not even the spiders outran me as I hustled my finds back from the shed to the cottage.

And I have been going through this stuff for hours ever since.

I have three of the keepsake books given to families by funeral homes.

I had forgotten about the one for my great grandfather, Jo Desha Williams. And I didn't recall the telegrams.

Maxie followed the directions in the book to the letter.

First his obit...

Arkansas Gazette, Sunday, Dec. 24, 1950
Jo Desha Williams, Salesman, Dies
Jo Desha Williams, aged 84, 2310 Ringo Street, died at his home Saturday. Mr. Williams was a traveling salesman for the U O Colson Co. of Paris, Ill. He was a member of the First Christian Church, a charter member of the Sons of the American Revolution, a member of the United Commercial Travelers, the WOW and the Modern WOW. He is survived by his wife, Mrs. Maxine Meek Williams of Little Rock; three sons, C H Williams of Texarkana, and P M and J D Williams, Jr., both of Little Rock; and five grandchildren. Funeral arrangements will be announced by Griffin-Leggett.

Then, there was the genealogy page, in my great grandmother's handwriting.

And the telegrams of condolence...(Cousins, if you want scans of them not in collage form, let me know and I will send them along...)

According to this little book, my great-grandfather was buried at 3 p.m. the day after Christmas. The clergyman who conducted the service was Lauren West.

The irony of my find as I was looking for holiday decorations does not escape me.

I don't believe in coincidence.

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Mystery Monday: Another Unlabeled Photograph from the Williams' family album

Sun, 18 Sep 2011 18:57:09 GMT

Posted for the Monday meme on a rainy Sunday that just cries out for a scanfest...

In the interest of complete honesty and full disclosure, I probably shouldn't say unlabeled.

Because when I picked this one up to scan and flipped it over, there was pencil writing on the back.

~Eureka~ She labeled one!

Yep, she wrote on the back of it...for sure.

This is all of the class. Aren't they cute?

Yes, Granny, they are very cute.

Precious.

Adorable, in fact.

Anyone feel free to give me another superlative for photos of kids...seriously, jump right in.

But which one or ones of those precious lasses is *ours*? And what was her name?

My guess is one or both of the ones with the big honking hair bows.

Williamses seemed to go in for big honking hair bows and splashy bow ties...

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The places they called home...

Sat, 30 Jul 2011 19:35:44 GMT

I finally took my camera and went in search of four homes where my Baldings, Chapins, and Williamses lived in Little Rock.

The first one - the address listed on the World War I draft registration card of my great grandfather, Victor Claude Balding - was at 223 Rice Street. He signed his draft registration card on 12 Sep 1918.

The house is still there - although I'm sure it looks a bit different today than it did 93 years ago.

Next, I went in search of the houses at 213 and 217 Dennison.

They are next door to each other.

My maternal grandparents, Joe Duffie Williams and Doris Geneva Balding, lived at 213. I found them at that address in city directories from 1940 to 1949.

A whole bunch of people lived at 217 for many years - including my grandother's parents and siblings, as well as her maternal grandmother, Eada Belle (Parrish) Chapin after the death of Fred Chapin right after Christmas in 1938.

According to Polk's Little Rock/North Little Rock City Directories, Fred and Eada lived at 913 North Valmar, and Eada was listed at that address in the 1939 City Directory. (I'll have to make another photo journaling trip to see if that one is still standing.)

But by 1940, Eada made her home with her daughter, Hattie Belle and son-in-law, Victor, at 217 Dennison.

In 1940, the house at 217 Dennison must have been full to overflowing, with Victor and Hattie Balding, Hattie's mother, Eada Chapin, and adult children, Ellington (Linky), daughter Marion (Murney), Marvin and Vera. All the children were employed except Linky, who was the youngest.

Across town, my grandfather's parents, Jo Desha Williams and Maxie Leah Meek, lived at 2310 South Ringo Street.

That was the home to which my grandfather, Joe Duffie Williams, took his bride Doris after they married on Halloween in 1926. They were still there when the census was taken in 1930.

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Those Places Thursday: 213 Dennison Street, Little Rock

Thu, 14 Jul 2011 02:29:31 GMT

My maternal grandparents lived for at least 9 years in this tiny little rent house, still standing on Denison Street.

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Image from Google Maps

1940 Polk's Little Rock City Directory

They were still there in 1949, which was the year they moved into the home they had saved for many years to build.

For cash.

Their "new" home never had a mortgage on it until it was sold to a new family after my grandmother's death in 1998.

Granddaddy's parents are shown in the left-hand column of the City Directory.

I couldn't find a decent Google Maps image of that address (or the one that I hope is still standing at 217 Denison), so my handy-dandy GPS and I are going to do some driving, cameras in tow.

The house at 217 Denison was a multi-generational home and will have its own entry, whether I can get a photo or not.

**It will be interesting to see how the GPS spells the street name - with one N or two...I find it both ways all over old documents...

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