Family stories, artifacts and connections
Is this not the scariest picture of relatives you have ever seen? The mean woman who looks like she would eat you for lunch, the old woman whose hand is turned up in a secret “save me” signal. The man kidnapping the baby! And the mustachioed man calmly ignoring the madness around him. Continue reading “Awkward Family Photo”
This recipe comes from my grandmother, Audrey Vellence Hale Farley, and I absolutely adore the result. The story below was written by one of Grandmam’s great-grandchildren for a school project several years back. The “carefully protected” comment comes from my observation of a thread on Facebook when my cousin was making this during the holidays in 2008: Continue reading “Grandmam’s Toffee”
This photo was part of a packet of photographs of the Rigg and Farley family. I assume the house damage was caused by fire due to the dead trees in front, but there certainly could be other explanations. I do NOT believe that this is the Rigg/Farley Ferry House (post coming on that before long), as that house was right at the river’s edge and this appears to back up to a wooded area. Continue reading “Mystery Photo – House Ruined by Fire”
This recipe was used by my grandmother, Audrey Vellence Hale Farley (1908-2001, affectionately known as “Grandmam”) and shared with many friends and family. Grandmam was known as “Aud” or “Audrey” to her many friends, and it was one of those who called this “Aud’s High Point Pie” and that has a nice ring. Continue reading “Aud’s High Point Pie”
Thomas Willis Farley was born 26 January 1841 in Buckingham County, Virginia. His father was James Henry Farley. His mother was Catherine F. Roberts, who fell over dead of a heart attack across Thomas’s crib when he was six months old.
Thomas grew up in Buckingham, and attended Hampden-Sydney College, and served with the Confederate Army during the Civil War. He married Nancy “Nannie” Montgomery Rigg and they had 10 children.
One of the first records I found for Nannie (and Thomas) is the 1900 U. S. Federal Census for Kanawha County, WV, on which Thomas does not appear at all, and shows his wife Nannie as widowed. I had his date of death noted as “bef 1900” for many years. Then over the last few years I stumbled across several sources which jointly establish his date of death as 26 July 1903. Continue reading “Death Date for Thomas Willis Farley”