Family Cemetery, North Carolina, May 2010Think 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.
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
Gone to a better land,
but not forgotten
Happy Birthday little one. I hope you are enjoying being the big sister.
