Happy Birthday Great-Aunt Rachel

Throughout the year there have been mentions of, and pictures of, my Grandma Ollie J's sisters, my aunts Ruby, Dorothy, and Shirley, not mention passing references to their siblings, Henry and Hyrum, Betty, and Martha. That's a large family, of which Grandma Ollie J was the eldest. However, Aunt Rachel actually was the first born of my maternal great-grandparents Bertha and Charlie -- Grandma's older sister, though they never knew each other on this plane of existence.

Growing up we knew of Aunt Rachel because of a very large, sepia photograph of a young child that hung in the spare/front/sewing room of The Farm house. When Grandma had to relocate to Utah and then to the Trailer, Aunt Rachel's picture went with her. After Grandma's passing, Mom (and I have to agree) thought it was only fitting that Aunt Rachel stay in the family. The photo is now in the safe keeping of one of her sisters.

Think about the existence of that photo for a moment. Photography was expensive at the turn of the last century. A photo the size of that one, almost 12 inches tall, must have been very expensive. My grandmother's family was not wealthy by any stretch of the imagination. They had to sacrifice to make that possible. Yes, formal family photos were becoming "something that you did," but it's not like it is now, when every one can shoot anything all the time, and even prints are easy to get at the local store. What made them sacrifice the time and money to take a formal photo? Surely they could have waited. But, as you'll see, it's good they didn't.

Here's Charlie, and I have to say that the genetic legacy of the ears has not diluted this many generations later.Here's Great-grandma Bertha, she of the strong stock and later craftiness that will show up later this month. (Also, don't you think that Elle favors her a bit?)Some of the treasures that one of Mom's cousins pulled out on the family visit back in May, was a stack of little notebooks that Great-grandpa Charlie had kept. I had never seen these before and the trained librarian/archivist/conservationist within me was appalled that a) they weren't being kept in weatherproof conditions or even in acid free boxes, and b) that I wasn't wearing the conservator gloves to look at objects that were over 100 years old. [Notes to self: next time pack a mobile scanner, and a better camera to record this stuff! *Sponsor? Hello HP?]

Flipping through these little notebooks were glimpses into moments of family history: birth dates, marriage dates, etc.

The entries were fairly chronological. After entries about Bertha and Charlie, I found a note about Aunt Rachel's birth and blessing (an LDS naming/christening):

Rachel Amy was born Dec 16, 1912. Pikeville, N.C. Wayne Co. R.D.S.

Rachel Amy was Blessed Jan 21, 1913

By Elder Thomas Tanner of Blackfoot Idaho

Elder Thomas M. Rees, Coalvill(e) Utah

According to my calculations, Charlie was 30 and Bertha was 22 when Aunt Rachel was born.

They had her with them for less than a year.

Less than a year.
Their first child.
I can't even fathom.

The next entry in the notebook, reads:

Rachel Amy

Died Oct 3, 11:30 o'clock 1913

and was burried [sic] Sunday Oct 5, 13

Gone to a better land,

but not forgotten

Happy Birthday little one. I hope you are enjoying being the big sister.