Malinda Jane Belcher (1858-1933) was my 2nd great grandmother on my mother’s side. I don’t have the full Bible, but rather just the internal family history pages. They are in very poor shape, with tears, holes, bleeding ink and cellophane tape obscuring much of the pertinent detail. I would assume professional archivists would be able to piece the sections together to create more complete images, but it was very difficult to manipulate these artifacts on my consumer grade flatbed scanner. There are many small folds and edges that were difficult to flatten and position simultaneously, and several pieces fell apart complete even with my very careful handling. Continue reading “Bible of Malinda Jane Belcher”
Football in the Family
Several years ago, my mother-in-law gathered photos of her sons’ grandfathers (with their football teams) and had them professionally cleaned up and enlarged, suitable for framing. My husband and I were inspired to expand on the idea by assembling a collection of photos (portraits and sports both) of grandparents on both sides of the family. I was able to find the football photos for my grandfathers (and a fabulous 1923 photo of my grandmother in her high school basketball uniform – that’s worthy of a separate story coming later). Below are those four photos, and a couple others of related family from roughly the same era. They represent participation in a variety of roles – player, manager, coach. You can click on any photo to bring up a larger version.
Bible of Anna V. Atchley Bryan
Anna V. Atchley (1854-1943, known as “Annie”) married Albert Bryan (1854-1926) on 25 January 1888 in Port Murray, New Jersey. Annie and Albert are my husband’s great-grandparents.
This Bible was a gift from her father-in-law, George Mitchell Bryan (1820-1914) and handed down through the family. The traditional center pages used to document family lines are in excellent condition, with very vivid colors. The calligraphic handwriting is beautiful. I have not done any cleanup on these photos (not much needed); you can click on each of them to see a larger version. Continue reading “Bible of Anna V. Atchley Bryan”
Rigg Water Pitcher
This 19th century water pitcher is one of the more interesting of our family artifacts to survive to the 21st century. It appears to be made of clay; it weighs 10 pounds on the nose and is about 13 inches tall. It originates from the Rigg family in Kanawha Falls, and was also used by the Farley family. It came to my great-grandfather, Frederick Lee Farley (1879-1945) who passed it down to his son (Willis Hite Farley); it made its way to my father and is now in my care.
It seems extremely sturdy to be at least 130-150 (or more?) years old but we still treat it tenderly. It’s a wonderful example of the blend of art and craft, and I imagine it gave pleasure as an item to have for every day use. Continue reading “Rigg Water Pitcher”
Sneed Store
This photograph is of a general store owned by the Sneed and Jones families. The date and location are unknown. Standing in white shirtsleeves from left: Constantine Perkins (C. P.) Sneed and John Harding Jones (my husband’s great-grandfather). Continue reading “Sneed Store”