Stories from a Bible

 

It all started when a friend dropped by my house to show me an old Bible she had picked up at a thrift store. She carefully handled the small leather bound book as she showed it to me. The leather binding was intact, and all of the pages seemed to be there. The Bible itself was small, approximately 3 and 4 ½ inches, and it contained just the New Testament and the book of Psalms. The cover, definitely showing the effects of wear, appeared to be a tooled leather design, and the brass hinge on the side was still operational. I could see why my friend was so pleased to add it to her collection.

 

The Bible was published in Glasgow, Scotland in 1853, given to someone in Massachusetts in 1863, and purchased from a Georgia thrift store in 2022. Surely there were some interesting stories relating to that Bible. I was hooked and knew I wanted to learn more about that Bible and the name written on it so I started taking pictures of the Bible as we talked. Later I spent the afternoon researching Henry Bailey and trying to find a few answers to our questions.

 

Left front end page

Question 1: Who was Henry Bailey and what was his role in the Civil War?

 The starting place for me was reading the left front end page which had these two inscriptions: 

"Henry Bailey, Co I, 45^th Regt, M Voll, Milford, Mass, 1863" 

"Fort Macon, Beaufort Harbour, NC"

Imagine my surprise when my initial Ancestry search for a Henry Bailey in Milford, Massachusetts, turned up some very helpful information. The first reference was from Ancestry’s database U.S., Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles, 1861-1865. This record provided a wealth of information about the Henry Bailey who had owned or been given the Bible, including:

• Birth date and place
• Enlistment and discharge dates and places
• Military unit (Co I of the 45^th Massachussetts Infantry)
• Death date (1922) and burial place

It was enough information matching the inscription on the Bible’s front end page that I felt I was on the right track. It was also specific enough for me to start a Family Tree Maker tree for Henry Bailey so I had a place to record any information I found about him.

 The Ancestry search also had references to years of US census records, enough for me to learn the names of his parents (George and Harriet) and that of his sister (Ella). In addition, the 1920 US census entry indicated that Henry immigrated to the United States in 1849 and was naturalized in 1868, more parts to the story of Henry Bailey. This meant that Henry came to the United States as a young child of three, enlisted to fight in the US Civil War although he was not yet an American citizen, and chose to denounce his English citizenship after fighting in this war.

 I was also interested in learning more about the military union in which Henry served, Co I of the 45^th Massachusetts Infantry. The Action Memorial Civil War Library had a short piece of Henry’s unit.(1) It was clear that Henry enlisted in the early days of the unit, traveled with the unit to Fort Macon, Beaufort, NC, and stayed with the unit until it was mustered out of service in July of 1863.

 A second period of action for Henry in the Civil War showed up on the 1890 US Census Veterans Schedule on Ancestry.com. Henry apparently enlisted a second time in December of 1863, staying with Co A of the 1^st Massachusetts Battalion until the end of the war.(2)

Question 2: Who is the “Emma” who inscribed the Bible on the right flyleaf?

 

Inscription: "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.
Emma"

Alas, I did not seem to find an answer to this question. From US census records, it was clear that Henry had a younger sister, Ella. There is no indication that Henry was married in 1863 when the Bible was apparently in his possession, probably eliminating the chance that a wife named Emma has given him the Bible. When he did marry in 1872, it was to Ella Jeannette Morse, another Ella, not an Emma.(3)

Question 3: How did that Bible get from Massachusetts to a Georgia thrift shop?

Finding a possible answer to this question took some searching and, admittedly, some speculation. Using US Census records and FindAGrave memorials, I found a descendent of Henry living in Georgia in the 1980s. Her obituary listed a grandson living in the Atlanta area. A few quick Google and social media searches showed an individual with the exact same name as that grandson living just a few miles from the thrift shop where my friend purchased the Bible. Is this the answer? A coincidence? Maybe, maybe not, but it at least seems to be a possibility.

So, it turn out that my friend picked up a real treasure, that small Bible over 160 years old with its leather binding and brass hinge both still present and functioning. Researching shed some light onto a family who emigrated from England and established themselves as Massachusetts business owners, a family whose son enlisted to fight in the Civil War, a family where both father and son eventually become American citizens. Had this been part of my family, I definitely would have included it in one of my “Coming to America” posts for events such as these are common to many of our families.

Now back to researching my family, helping to transcribe the 1950 US Census, and indexing patriot records for the DAR, at least until some new treasure catches my interest.

1. "Forty-Fifth Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Militia (Infantry) Nine Months", Action Memorial Library Civil War Archives, https://www.actonmemoriallibrary.org/civilwar/index.html.

2. "1890 Veterans Schedule, Massachusetts, Worcester, Milford, p 7, entry for Henry J Bailey", accessed www.ancestry.com.

3. "Milford, Births, Marriages, and Deaths", image 779 of 2038, Massachusetts, U.S. Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988, www.ancestry.com.

Getting This Party Started

This year is going to be a special one in my hometown of Johnson City, Tennessee. Our town, being 150 years old, will celebrate its sesquicentennial in 2019, and the party has begun.

So much to see, hear, and do at this party.

On Saturday, Jan. 5, several hundred citizens, along with local politicians, a beauty queen, and a member of Congress all gathered in downtown Johnson City to get our party started. The focus for this event was the display of items previously placed in a time capsule back in 1969. This capsule had been created during the celebration of Johnson City's centennial. Wanting to look at the capsule's contents was enough to get me out of the house to attend the event. I'm so glad I did.

Metal sign from the actual 1969 time capsule

A portion of the sign from the time capsule was on display. I learned that the capsule had been installed during the construction of the high school which my children later attended. The accompanying list of artifacts showed that items ran the gamut from serious to fun.

There was an impressive variety of items in the 1969 time capsule.

The line to gaze at the items from the capsule moved slowly, but no one seemed to mind as virtually everyone could find something interesting in the display. There were items pertaining to city government such as the former city flag, a 1969 city map, a copy of the 1969 city budget and a key to the city. Also on display were photos and information about the city's hospitals of the day, our public school system, the two local colleges, and the university.

Admittedly, the line slowed as we passed by the displays relating to everyday life, things like a 1969 Sears catalog, newspapers with historical headlines like "Men Walk on Moon", samples of products made in our town, and some popular children's toys. There was a fascinating scrapbook of local newspaper articles covering the variety of events celebrating the 1969 centennial, and there always seemed to be school age students leafing through its pages. I was excited to learn that the time capsule items will remain on display in the downtown area for some time so that others can continue to take a closer look at our city's more recent history.





Another part of the official program included the reading of a letter written by the 1969 mayor of the town to the 2019 Johnson City mayor. Our present mayor, a woman with a distinguished record of public service, didn't seem to mind reading the salutation, "Dear Sir" and graciously accepted the letter's warm wishes for success and prosperity for our city in the year 2019.

My favorite part was seeing the number of children and younger families at the party. They would browse the numerous displays of photos of churches, businesses, and schools from the town's 150 year history. And there would usually be an older person close by who was glad to answer any of their questions about the past. I was one of them as I answered a few questions relating to the picture of my church's building back in the early 1900s.

It was interesting to see photos of city churches throughout the years.

Another fun spot was a craft table, complete with small cardboard boxes, markers, and stickers, whatever a child might want to make and decorate his or her own time capsule box to take home, fill, and then open at some point in the future. Seeing the kids working on their boxes made me wish my grandchildren had been in town and could make a box for themselves.

Making your own time capsule was a great family project.

There was no Photo Booth at this party. Instead, people could record a message to the future to be included in the 2019 time capsule. It turned out to be another great family activity. No one seemed to mind the spectators who gathered to watch and to hear the various individuals and groups contribute a 30 second message, a few even adding a little song and dance to their message. Hopefully, 2069 technology will permit these messages to be played and enjoyed in the future.

Recording a greeting for the 2069 Bicentennial

And the party wasn't just things to look at. We had a sing-along to "I Heard It Through the Grapevine", a hit song from 1969. We celebrated as three generations of a family blow out the three giant candles on the birthday cake. And what's a party without cake! Everyone was invited to sample the delicious birthday cake, made by a local baker who just happens to be scheduled to be on a Food Network program in the coming months. It all made for a pretty good party.

I'm already looking forward to attending future sesquicentennial events. The more, the merrier.

Display from the George Carter Railroad Museum at East Tennessee State University

Some Genealogy Musings:

• The photo displays were well organized and labeled. The hard work of others provided lots of information in an interesting and accessible manner. In a similar vein, when we share old family photos, it might garner more interest from family members if we, too, include a little bit of the Who, What, When, and Where to accompany some of the pictures.

• It was great to see the time capsule activity available for children. We just might have some new historians on our hands at the bicentennial in 2069, ones whose interest started with a simple craft idea.

• Our public library had a display of some local history materials from the Tennessee Room, their genealogy collection area. There was also a member of the library staff present to talk with people about the library's genealogy resources as well as to provide information about our local genealogy society. This was a simple, effective marketing tool.

• Additional photos and resources were provided for viewing at the party by East Tennessee State University and by the Archives of Appalachia which is housed at the university. This was another example of increasing exposure within the community as to the variety of historical (and potentially genealogical) resources available at the local level. It also spoke loudly of the important of providing accessibility to such resources.

• The party was another reminder that we, too, are part of making history every day.

#JohnsonCity150 #citycelebrations #JCTNsesquicentennial

Treasure Chest Thursday : That Old Red Notebook

Never judge a book by its cover, even if it is just an old Blue Horse Class Notebook with a 25 cent price printed on it. Recently, I was loaned the notebook pictured above. It was a remnant of the contents from the home of a deceased relative. Somehow it was one of those things left behind, something no one seemed to want, and I had the chance to browse through it.

The first few pages of the notebook were blank, but then it was like opening a treasure box. That red spiral notebook turned out to be a handwritten book of basic Whittemore family information. Ancestors. Children's names. Marriages. Birth and death dates. All stuff worth noting and checking to see that it was recorded in my copy of Family Tree Maker. I even looked through Evidence Explained as I tried to construct a source citation for the notebook.

The real surprise was seeing that parts of the notebook were written in first person, "my Grandmother Parthenia", "my Mother and Father". My favorite note was the statement that "if they [relatives living elsewhere] are still there, I am going to get in touch with them". Several times the writer seemed to add information at a later date, evidenced by a change in ink color, arrows, or relationship notes. And like any notebook, there were things written on the back of a page or on a scrap of paper placed between pages.

The notebook also mentioned a long-standing brick wall concerning a Whittemore brother who apparently left home in the mid-1800s, and the family "never heard of him any more after he left". All of this has given me a real connection with the writer, my husband's Great Aunt, about whom I had previously only heard of her sweet, gentle nature. Now I feel she was a kindred genealogy spirit.

The information in the notebook appears to have been the foundation for a family tree drawn years ago by two of the writer's sons. My photocopy of the notebook will now share the folder with my copy of that family tree. Because of the notebook, we now have an idea as to how the information in the family tree may have been gathered. I'm just glad that old red notebook wasn't tossed into a trash can, and that it can continue to share family information.

Nana, why do you write stories about dead people?

Oakman-Ranger Methodist Church Cemetery
Oakman, Georgia (personal photo)

I was taking a break from the marathon of football games over Thanksgiving weekend.  Taking my laptop with me, I settled in the breakfast area, thinking I would do a little internet browsing or at least look over my various trees in Family Tree Maker.

After a few minutes one of my grandchildren popped in to see what I was up to.  She asked a simple question, one that continues to cause me to ponder, "Nana, why do you write stories about dead people?"  My answer to her was simple, so that she and others in the family would know about some of the people in our family.

As she sat in my lap, I opened my Nelson tree in Family Tree Maker and quickly guided her through looking at the tree, starting with her GreatGrandfather Nelson.  He died several years ago, but she still remembers him.  I explained that he grew up, met her GreatGrandmother, they married, and then they had a baby, her Grandfather, the one watching football in the next room.  Her Grandfather grew up, met me, we married, and then we had a baby, her father.  Her father grew up, met her mother, they married, and then they had her.  With each generation her smile grew bigger and bigger.  After a quick "Thanks, Nana", she ran off to check on the family and the football game.

But why do I write about dead people?  For a variety of reasons ...

• I've heard stories all my life and what to know more about these stories and the people they involve.  It is one thing to know that your ancestors farmed a homestead in North Dakota.  It is another to look at maps to determine its exact location and to see Bureau of Land Management information about when and how the family obtained the homestead.
• The research is making history much more personal as I see how ancestors are part of it.  Adolph Myren, my great uncle, because more to me than merely a World War I soldier pictured in his uniform.  Learning about his unit, where and when he served, and the time he was declared missing in action brought new insight into events of the first World War.
• My writing is connecting me with other family members.  I've discovered some new cousins.  And with these connections, we've also established more communication, sharing photos, information, and even speculation about certain family members or events.
• I want to help preserve the legacies left by our ancestors.  When a family clock gets passed on to the next generation, I want that person and other family members to know its history.  I also hope the new recipient will glimpse a little of the life of the individual who puchased it.
• I enjoy the whole research process and want to share what I've learned.  After years of teaching the basics of research and the evaluation of resources, it just seems natural for me to sometimes write about where I locate family information.  Other times I find that just writing about the steps I've followed to answer a personal question helps me see more clearly where else I need to look for new information.

So, as I told my granddaughter last week, there are a lot of reasons I write stories about dead people.  The primary reason. for me personally, is summed up in this quote by the late Maya Angelou.(1)

"We need to haunt the house of history and listen anew to the ancestors' wisdom."

 (1)  "Inspirational Heritage and Legacy" Family Tree Quotes,  http://www.familytreequotes.com/categories/Inspirational-Heritage-and-Legacy.

Treasure Chest Thursday : No Need to Pass the Salt

Dining at the Vaughan family home meant eating in the dining room, with a pressed linen table cloth, linen napkins, and no salt shakers on the table.  Instead each person had an individual salt dish.  Growing up, I remember the short etiquette lessons we received as we drove down for a meal with members of the Vaughan family.  So, I learned as a child, just how to get a pinch of salt from the salt dish placed above my place.

Prior to the sale of the family home in the 1980s, family members arranged a time for interested family members to come to the house and select a few mementos from the home's contents.  I knew, even if I never used them, I wanted some of the family salt dishes.  My four are pictured above.

Just looking at them bring memories of those family dinners.  Maybe I need to set them on my table when a full table means having to continually pass the salt from one person to another.  Maybe this Thanksgiving ...

Treasure Chest Thursday: Miss Clara's Glasses

Several times a day  I pass by and glance at these glasses.  They rest on an old marble topped table next to some other family mementos.  The glasses were given to me by a cousin some years ago.  At that time, my cousin mentioned that the glasses once belonged to my Great Aunt Clara Estelle Vaughan.

The other day I was looking through the photo albums that belonged to Mary Louise Vaughan and found several pictures of Clara wearing glasses that looked much like those pictured above.

Three of the Vaughan Sisters, Louise, Clara, and Eleanor

Clara Vaughan sitting between two friends

Oh course, the picture of Clara and her friends is my favorite.  After all, she's wearing one of those wonderful hats, just as her sister Charlotte previously wore.  Who knew such fashion was available in the town of LaGrange, Georgia?

Once again, I am grateful that someone hung on to Clara's glasses and that they eventually found their way to me.

Treasure Chest Thursday: The Locket

Gertrude Thankful Andrews
photo in personal collection

According to family stories, this is a photo of my grandmother Gertrude Thankful Andrews taken approximately 1909 at the time of her engagement to my grandfather Michael Arthur Myren.  Mike Myren had given the locket to Gertrude as an engagement present, and following their marriage Gertrude had it engraved with her new initials "GM".

Later my grandmother gave the locket to my mother.  It was kept in a small box in my mother's chest of drawers and brought out to wear only on Sundays or special occasions.  Then, some years ago, my mother give the locket to me, telling me the story behind the locket and giving me the old photograph.

Through the years, I had noticed some dings on the locket but thought they had come from being knocked around for 100 years.  It turned out the the dings were actually bite marks on the locket, made by my mother when she was teething and being carried around by my Gramma!  Each teething mark on the front, shown by the red circles below, has a corresponding mark on the back of the locket.

"Chomp, chomp, chomp"

The other day I bravely used a jewelry screwdriver to open the locket, something I had never done before.  Inside the locket was a faded picture of my father.  What a special surprise to realize that my mother had years ago added this photograph to the locket.

Someday the locket will probably be passed on to one of my grandchildren.  Along with the locket will also go the photograph as well as the story of how it served as a teething ring for their great grandmother.  This is also one more family heirloom that I am recording in my small "Family Treasures" scrapbook so that all of the family can share in this story.

Treasure Chest Thursday - Southern Cooking

Back before there was Southern Living magazine or Paula Dean and the Food Network, if you were a good cook in the South, you probably had a copy of Southern Cooking by Mrs. S. R. Dull sitting close at hand.  As blogger Scott Thompson says, her cookbook, first published in 1928, "is still defined by current culinary connoisseurs as the Bible of southern cooking".(1)  As you look through its pages, it is easy to see why James Beard Award winning chef Sean Brock refers to Southern Cooking as one of the top ten vintage cookbooks on southern cooking.(2)

For my mother, born and raised in Canada, Mrs. Dull was pretty much a necessity as she tried to learn the basics of southern cooking.  I'm not sure exactly when mother got her copy of "Mrs. Dull", as the cookbook was referred to in our house.  The front end paper has the name and address of an aunt who may have given her personal copy to mother after my parents married in 1942.  I just know that Mrs. Dull was always in our home as I grew up and is now in mine.  Some of the pages are soiled with food splatters, often directions in recipes are underlined, and several recipes cut from The Atlanta Constitution are tucked between pages of the cookbook.  Mrs. Dull was definitely my mother's go-to cookbook. 

To learn more about Mrs. Dull's life and how she came to write her cookbook, you might read Scott Thompson's brief biography of Harriet Stanley Dull whom he dubbed "The Queen of Southern Cooking".  The Orlando Sentinel also has a reprint of an article Jim Auchmutey wrote in 1999 for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution relating how she came to write her cookbook and its place in Southern cuisine.  Years ago I downloaded a copy of that same Auchmutey article and stuck inside my copy of Mrs. Dull.

Probably my favorite recipe from Mrs. Dull is her recipe for Lemon Cheese Filling (not her Lemon Filling No. 1 or the Lemon Filling No. 2 recipe).  This Lemon Cheese Filling combined with Mrs. Dull's recipe for Seven Minute Icing (recipe doubled to use the two egg whites left from the filling recipe) and a white cake was something my mother sometimes made whenever my husband and I were at home.  Today that same cake is often the cake he requests for his birthday.  Thanks, Mrs. Dull.

(1)  Thompson, Scott. "Henrietta Stanley Dull, The Queen of Southern Cooking." Scott Thompson. The Women of our Lives, Lauren County, Georgia, 7 Aug 2009. http://womenofourliveslaurenscounty.blogspot.com/2009/08/henrietta-stanley-dull.html : 2013.
(2)  Street, Erin Shaw. "Top 10: Sean Brock Shares The Greatest Southern Cookbooks You've Never Read." 16 Aug 2012. Southern Process Corporation, Southern Living, http://thedailysouth.southernliving.com/2012/08/16/southern-cookbooks : 2013.

Treasure Chest Thursday - The Girl's Own Annual

The Girl's Own Annual, 1924

Growing up there was one book in the bookcase that was always a special treat to thumb through, my mother's 1924 edition of The Girl's Own Annual.  In those days, I had little interest in things of the past except for this book.  I even remember asking my mother as a teen if I could someday have that book.  She remembered that request and gave it to me about 20 years ago.  I'm so glad she did.

The Girl's Own Annual, edited by Flora Klickmann, was a British publication that was also popular in Canada where my mother was raised.  The annual was a bound volume, often sold as a Christmas present, featuring the previous year's monthly issues of The Girl's Own Paper and Woman's Magazine.  Looking at the pages presents an image of the proper English woman as it combined serial stories, cooking and household tips, fashion, and crafts with information about British nobility.  From the research I did to learn more about the publication, it was apparently as popular in Mother's day as Seventeen was for me.

According to the online catalog of the Women, Writing, and Reading Exhibition held at the University of Alberta in 2007, The Girl's Own Paper was started in 1880 by the Religious Tract Society whose

aim was to combat the "pernicious" influence of penny dreadfuls, cheap romances, and other forms of mass-market print.  The magazine sought to shape the moral and domestic life of its readership at a time when the figure of the modern new Women  was beginning to threaten cherished Victorian ideals of woman hood. (1)

There are a number of serious collectors of this series of books.  On eBay or antique book web sites copies of individual books can sell for up to $100.  The University of Pittsburgh has 34 volumes of The Girl's Own Annual in their Elizabeth Nesbitt Collection of Juvenile Literature.(2)  One photographer has a series of photos of covers of The Annual and The Paper from the 1880s into the 1930s posted on flickr.   There are even a number of pins on Pinterest related to The Girl's Own Annual and The Paper.  It is easy to see why so many collect and enjoy this series of vintage books.

Step back in time and explore some pages from The Girl's Own Annual of 1924.

Often complete directions for sewing or making items were included in the articles.

Some of the serialized stories went on and on for several years.

The fashions were always my favorite sections to look at.

Who knew there were so many ways to mash potatoes?

Now, I'm going back to read about Queen Mary's Dollhouse.  I once saw it on display at Windsor Castle so this article will be even more special.

(1)  Kirsten MacLeod et al, Women Writing and Reading (for the University of Alberta, 2007); digital images, CRC Studio (http://www.crcstudio.org/conf_exhibit/Pages/viewtext.php?s=search&tid=69&route=basicsearch.php&sterms=girl\'s%20own%20annual&s=browse : 2013.
(2)  "The Girl's Own Annual (Girl's Own Paper)."  University of Pittsburgh, University Library. (http://pittcat.pitt.edu/) : 2013.

Treasure Chest Thursday : Life With Louise* - The Coverlet

*Mary Louise Vaughan Dallis kept several photo albums and scrapbooks.  They were filled with family photos and scenes of life in LaGrange, Georgia between 1900-1935.

Baby on coverlet, taken about 1910

I kept being drawn to this photo whenever I browsed through Louise’s photo albums.  Perhaps it was because of that sweet baby who I think  is one of my father’s three sisters.  Sometimes it was the bonnet or the woven willow chair that caught my attention.

Suddenly I had an “Ah-Ha” moment.  I recognized the coverlet that the baby was sitting upon.  It was upstairs in my attic!

Perkinson coverlet, woven in the late 1800s

This coverlet has been in the Perkinson family for many years.  The tan and ivory coverlet consists of two woven strips, 36” x 82” that are sown together along one edge, forming a 72” x 82” coverlet.  The story I always heard was that the wool coverlet had been woven for the Perkinson family by an itinerant weaver who was traveling in the Cherokee County, Georgia area in the late 1800s.  

Herrs Antiques has an interesting history about woven coverlets, What You Always Wanted to Know about Coverlets but Were Afraid to Ask.  For additional information take a look at The University of Arizona monograph which provides a history and photographs of many of the traditional patterns used by the weavers.

Since the coverlet is estimated to be between 125-140 years old, it is showing signs of wear, so much that I will be researching how to properly care for it without causing any further damage.  I’m just glad my mother and I didn’t cut it up years ago to make throw pillows or toss it aside as rag!

Treature Chest Thursday: Life with Louise - The Photo Albums

Mary Louise Vaughan Dallis, ca 1915

Mary Louise Vaughan Dallis, my great aunt, was an interesting lady.  Born in 1889, she was one of six girls born to Albert Bell Vaughan, Jr. and his second wife, Georgia Camp Vaughan, one of seven daughters in the family of nine children.

Like all the Vaughan girls, Louise attended college, later teaching school for many years.  She was also a talented artist.  I am privileged to have three pieces that she painted including the watercolor she painted as a wedding present for my husband and me.

Through the years, Louise also kept a number of photo albums and a scrapbook, four of which were passed on to me by an aunt.  Besides family portraits, the books also have photos that show life in the central Georgia town of LaGrange, Louise’s home for most of her life.

Over the coming weeks, I’ll be sharing some of the interesting things I have found in her albums and scrapbook.  I hope you enjoy looking at “Life With Louise”.

Treasure Chest Thursday : A Scholarly Man and His Book

Sermon Notebook of Albert Bell Vaughan, Jr.

Albert Bell Vaughan, Jr., my Great Grandfather, was a prominent Baptist minister from the late 1800s until his death in 1930.  When he died in 1930, The Christian Index, the newspaper of Georgia Baptists, was filled with laudatory comments from ministers and leaders as to the depth of Albert Bell Jr's knowledge of the scriptures.  Looking through one of his personal notebooks recently gave me a glimpse of this for myself.

The son of a farmer and country preacher, my Great Grandfather Albert Bell Vaughan, Jr. was born in rural Pike County, Georgia.  As a young man, A. B., Jr. received the notice of some other ministers who encouraged him to attend college following his ordination into the ministry.  In 1878, A. B., Jr. received an A. B. degree with honors from Mercer University, Macon, Georgia.  Eleven years later, in 1889, this same university would honor him by bestowing on him an honorary Doctor of Divinity Degree.

From his ordination in 1874 through his final church ministry in 1928, A. B., Jr. was known for his scholarship.  A scan of his notebook showed how easily he would reference scriptures from both the Old and the New Testaments as he outlined sermons and debated issues with himself, sometimes referring to the original Greek when discussing nuances of meaning.

Page 1, Sermon Notebook of Albert Bell Vaughan, Jr.

The first entry in this notebook was made in January, 1892 and contains notes made over several years.  On the first page, Albert Bell, Jr, indicated that he would be recording his thoughts about  "the Scriptures and works, theological, philosophical and historical."  Every page is filled with his handwriting, pages of Bible passages, or newspaper articles, with notes seemingly added at various times to previous entries.

In 1894, according to the notebook, the issue of the equality of men and women within the church was becoming a serious issue.  Albert Bell, Jr. started by referring to a newspaper article about this subject then studying the topic for himself.  It was fascinating to read his notebook as he discussed  the matter as a debate topic over the next ten pages.  

First, he stated the question: "Is the public speaking of women before mixed audiences, i.e. Church Assemblies, wrong?"  He then proceeded to present the negative side with Biblical references to women and their role throughout church history .  Next, he stated the affirmative side, again citing numerous scriptures.  Because this was well before the days of scanning or photocopies, A. B. actually cut up pages from a Bible, glued them into the notebook, then added personal commentary beside key passages.  He ended his personal treatise with two conclusions, both supporting the affirmative side of his debate.  It all made for fascinating reading.

The book is over 120 years old, the leather cover and lined pages crumbling to the touch.  But looking at it gives insight into the man, his heart, and his mind.  Recently I passed the notebook on to one of my children who is interested in reading it.  I'm sure A. B., Jr. would be glad to know that another descendant will be reading and pondering "the Scriptures and works, theological, philosophical and historical." 

Treasure Chest Thursday : My Rosemaling Box

Rosemaling Box, photo uploaded by Mary Perkinson Nelson

Today's treasure is relatively new, about 20 years old, but this small rosemaling box is a treasure that I'll someday pass on to a special relative.

About 25 years ago my mother made contact with a distant cousin who had compiled a personal history of the Overli-Belle-Siem family.  In this book there were several references to my third Great Grandfather, Hans Syverson Overli Belle.  He is described as "a successful farmer and an excellent painter and craftsman in wood ... [whose paintings] are featured and written up in Professor John Meyers book on Old Painting of Art in the Norway Valleys".(1)  This was my first exposure to the traditional Norwegian painting technique of rosemaling.

Later my mother found the box pictured above in a craft shop and brought it back for me as a souvenir of one of her visits to family in Wisconsin and North Dakota.  This time she had a lot more information to share with me about rosemaling, crafters that we both were.

There are a number of interesting web sites available for learning more about rosemaling, ranging from Wikipedia to flickr and Pinterest pictures.  Just Google the term and you will find enough to keep you busy for an hour or so  The craft is alive in the United States with a number of state rosemaling groups, conventions, and shows, as well as rosemaling teachers, classes, and books on technique .  There is even an interesting YouTube video showing some of the basic painting strokes which remind me a lot of tole painting.(2)

My wooden rosemaling box is only about three inches in diameter and one inch high, and its lid and side are covered with delicate brush strokes.  I keep the box sitting my dresser where it serves as a convenient place to drop loose buttons and stray pins.  It is also far more than a dainty handpainted box.  As I've been learning more about my Norwegian roots, it is also a reminder of a distant cousin, Norwegian ancestors, and a craft that originated several hundred years ago on rural farms in Norway.  Thanks, Mom.

(1) Chappelle, Marion Myhre. Overli-Belle-Siem Family. Riverdale, Maryland, 1980,  Privately held by Mary Perkinson Nelson.
(2) Rose, Linnea. "Freehand Rosemaling Tutorial" YouTube, 28 Jan 2008. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjeBRwDD6t4 : 2013.

Treasure Chest Thursday - Keeping Time With Thomas

Thomas Nelson's clock

One day in 1878, or so the story goes, Thomas Nelson hitched a horse to his wagon and rode the six miles into Waleska, Georgia, a local center of trade.  In Waleska he walked into a store and purchased the clock that today is sitting on our living room mantel.  The story of Thomas' clock is part family lore and part history but worth knowing.

According to the 1870 U.S. Federal Census, Thomas and his wife Hannah were living with his elderly parents, John and Elvira Nelson.  Neither John nor Thomas seemed to own any real estate, and Thomas' personal estate is valued at $400.  By the 1880 U.S. Federal Census, Thomas and Hannah were living in their own household, had three sons, and Thomas was listed as a farmer.  Although their 1880 real and personal estate values are not given, the $4.50 he paid for the clock probably represented a large amount to this Cherokee County farming family.  MeasuringWorth.com calculates that $4.50 price tag to be about $105 in today's currency.

Since Thomas farmed in the days when you got up with the sun and worked until dark, why would he purchase a clock?  Was this a means of adding a touch of class to their home, like putting curtains on the windows or using a lace tablecloth?  Had Thomas had a really good crop that year and decided to purchase something for the family?  Perhaps the clock had actually been purchased in 1880, the year both Thomas and Hannah would each have celebrated their 50th birthdays as well as their 25th anniversary.  Maybe a letter will surface someday, one written by Thomas or Hannah telling us more about the clock's purchase.  Until then, we can only speculate. 

The story my husband had always heard about Thomas' Clock was that it was passed down to the youngest son.  The next recipient of the clock, William Nelson, however, was not the youngest child in Thomas and Hannah's family.  There was a younger son, Samuel, born four years after William.  For reasons we may never know,  the clock was passed on to William who in turned passed it on to his youngest son, Jud, who gave it to my husband, his youngest son.  When we received the clock about five years ago, we once again heard the story of Thomas' Clock.  Later, while traveling around Cherokee County, Jud pointed out to my husband where the clock had been purchased.  Like the clock, the old building was still around.

My husband and I both have memories of Thomas' Clock, even before it came to be in our home.  For my husband, his most vivid memories are of being a young boy, trying to sit still at his grandparents' house on Sunday visits, listening to the ticking of the clock when he would so much rather have been outside playing.  I remember noticing the clock sitting on his parent's kitchen mantel when I was visiting during our courtship days.  Later the clock was moved to a mantel in another room where it continued to sit.  Through the years something had happened to the clock, for I had never heard it ticking back in those days.  Even with some repair attempts by a friend, Thomas' clock sat silently for a number of years at Jud's house.

After we received the clock, my husband and I wanted to learn more about the clock itself.  Thanks to the Internet, especially www.clockhistory.com, and several books from our local library, we determined that the clock was a Seth Thomas 30-hour brass weight driven clock in an Ogee case.  The clock has a Thomaston dial, and the intact label printed by Thomaston Express indicates that the clock was manufactured after 1865.  One curiosity is the word or name "Horn" written in large pencil script on the inside wall of the case.  From our research we also learned that this was a fairly common style of clock, attractive with its simple case design, flat dial, and mirrored door.  We were pleased when our tentative identification of the clock was confirmed by the clock repairman to whom we took it to be repaired.  

Now the clock has been repaired.  It sits on our mantel, periodically dusted, and lovingly wound each night.  The soft ticking is part of our lives, a sound we immediately miss when we return home after being away for a few days.  Through the years it has acquired several chips in its walnut veneer, but these nicks are just another part of the story of Thomas' Clock.  Someday Thomas' Clock will have a new home with our younger son, and its story will continue.