Shakin' the Family Tree

I collect postcards and other photos of streetcars.

I remember my grandmother telling me about going on the streetcar with her mother when she was young.

Little Rock's Central Arkansas Transit Authority brought back an electric trolley. Some people complain about the amount of money CATA spends to run the trolley the short distance in the downtown areas of the twin cities of Little Rock and North Little Rock, but I like it.

When I am in the River Market District, I always try to catch a ride - if for nothing more than to slow myself down.

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K Street, Sacramento CA


Washington Street looking west from Meridian Street, Indianapolis IN


Boylston Street, Boston MA


Penn Square, Lancaster PA


Electric trolley car, North Little Rock AR, 2011

Carl, this one's for you...

It was up and running in the fall of 2009, but not as high as it is in the spring.

I took this photo from the same side of the bridge as you did yesterday.



This was the view from the other side on that day.

The Great Mississippi River Flood of 1927 has been characterized as the most destructive river flood in American history.

Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee, Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas were all affected, but Arkansas may have suffered the worst in terms of total land mass underwater.

About 6,600 square miles of the state - 36 of 75 Arkansas counties, or a total of 14% of Arkansas' land mass - were underwater. In some locations, the water was 30 feet deep.

More families in Arkansas - 41,243 - received public and Red Cross relief than in any other state.

My third cousin, Thurman Burris, died in the flood.

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Pine Bluff, Jefferson Co., AR - my photo of a photo found in the Jefferson County Historical Museum



6 miles west of Elaine, Desha Co., AR - photo from Library of Congress



Dermott, Chicot Co., AR - photo from Library of Congress

Left to right: George Washington Burris, Jr.; his brother, Homer Burris; his cousin, Lee Jones; and his father, George Washington Burris, Sr., seated. [Oops, looks like Great Granddaddy got lopped off due to size...here it is, smaller.]

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Yeah, the Post Office figured largely in my family's lives...

Get a load of the dust in there...

Then, with Pfeifers on the left. (The building was built in the late 1890s and operated as a retail and jewelry store in that location until 1963.) It was located at the corner of 6th and Main Streets.



Now...image from Google Earth.

C C McDaniel, 10 Mar 1913 - 30 May 1913
Opal Irene McDaniel, 19 Oct 1911 - 10 Dec 1911
Jewel Blankenship, 10 Feb 1909 - 13 Apr 1911

These children are not related to me.

Still...

Just makes me want to cry.

Being unwilling to continue to tear my hair out to at least date these unlabeled photos, I was very intrigued by this post in Katherine's blog, Atlantic Roots.

So I ordered my very own copy of Dressed for the Photographer: Ordinary Americans and Fashion, 1840-1900, by Joan Severa.

It arrived yesterday.

So you know how I spent my Friday night.

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I think I have much closer dates for two photos, after studying the photos in the book, as well as the excellent narrative Severa gives about other fashion clues, such as hairstyles.



This is my great-grandmother, Maxie Leah (Meek) Williams. I'm going to date this photo about 1886 (she married on 11 Feb 1886) due to the rounded bodice of the dress, as well as the collar, and the hint of the bustle on the back of the dress.

Many bodices of this period had tight sleeves cut short on the forearm and featuring cuffs or half-cuffs. (Source: Dressed for the Photographer, at page 378.)

Severa goes on to say, In eighties photographs all bodices appear corset-fitted, many with very high standing collars. Similarly, sleeves are set very high, with the armscye cut somewhat in from the point of the shoulder in back, and are extremely tight... (Id., at page 379.)

There are also dating clues in the way she wore her hair. ...In the matter of coifure, the hair will be worn a good deal lower on the neck than it has been for some two seasons past...The style of dressing the front hair remains unchanged [in curled bangs]. (Id., at page 385.)

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The puff sleeves on the dress and much shorter and tightly curled bangs make me think this photo was taken in the very late 1890's, and that theory is supported by the listing of the photographer, Jno H Ganner of Russellville, in the 1900 Arkansas Business Directory.

I believe this is still Maxie Leah, but do not have a clue as to the identity of her younger companion.

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This book is making a formerly dreaded chore much more fun.

This is a Sepia Saturday post.

Last spring, a little over a year to this day, my dad and I went to take photos of the McCarley family cemetery, long abandoned and quite neglected.

As we emerged four-wheel drive hell, we came across an old abandoned homeplace on our cousin-in-law's land. We didn't stop then, but I have been dying to get photos of it ever since.

My plat book says that William Alfred Freeman got a land patent on that parcel in 1845. The home, which shows signs of two additions, probably will not be standing much longer. If any of the Freeman descendants are interested, below are photos of how it looks now, as well as the little bit of Freeman family history I've been able to piece together.

Because as can be expected, one of the Freemans married into the Burris clan...

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Dad and I saw the house from the side on that first trip, and discussed whether it was really a house or an old barn.

You get the front view first.



It's a shotgun house, as was common in the South (best seen from the rear).



However, as Dad pointed out to me, it didn't start that way.

The house had two additions to it over the years, as you can see in the side view here, with different styles of siding on each addition and the original.



As I looked at how small that first section was, I wondered how many people the home had sheltered before they decided to add on.

William Alfred Freeman probably did not live there very long. He got the land patent in 1845, but died by 1847. His widow, Mary Elizabeth Ward lived until 1873.

I found three of their sons in the 1850 census in Conway County (this land was at that time in Griffin Township, Conway County, and did not become Pope County until later).

Those sons were Alfred (born in 1822), Thomas (born in 1825) and Jesse (born in 1831). Alfred was married by the 1850 census, and he and his wife, Kezziah Mariah Bass, had two sons, Richard and James.

Thomas was a newlywed at the 1850 census, having married Lucinda Angeline Burris, daughter of John Burris and Cynthia Ann Ashmore. Jesse was still single.

So it's possible that in 1850, the first section of that house provided a home for as many as eight people. (Side view with sections marked in red below.)

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The house stood on rock pilings.

Dad noticed that several of the rocks had been chiseled to make them fit snugly together.



Because of the shape of this one, we wondered if it had been flipped over at the entrance to make a step more stable.



Even if they hauled the rocks from the creekbed nearby, it's still about a quarter of a mile away.

And then, they chiseled them by hand.

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I don't know who lived in the house when the Freemans left it, or if anyone did.

But it's a little bit of history in the woods of Pope County, and I wanted to be able to remember it, even after it is gone.

Far right: Doris Balding Williams
Far left: Her daughter, Judith Williams Neumann
Standing: Doris' granddaughter
Seated in middle: Doris' great-granddaughter

Photo taken in 1995.

More flea market finds...

Somebody's family album is missing these photos.

I have messaged Ancestry tree owners, and nary a reply...

What we have here are original photos of twin sisters, and one of their husbands.



Aunt Mattie Hall Chapman



Sarah and Wm Yeisley
Daughter of Thos and Ann K Hall



Sarah Hall Yeisley Twin of Mattie Hall

I am posting them to DeadFred too.