Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Looking Back

I've always liked looking at old photo albums. Fortunately, my mother always kept them pretty organized. Pictures were in albums and labeled so we knew who was in them. She also went back and organized the photos belonging to her parents and in-laws. Paging through them was a favorite rainy day activity for me when I was a kid. I guess it still is. Since my brother doesn't really have interest in such things I've been fortunate enough to have them pass to me. I've been looking through some of them lately and thought I'd share a few. Pardon me if I ramble.

We can trace our genealogy back to the forefather who first came to the US in the 1700s and I believe to his parents in Germany but this set of brothers in the picture below represents those who are most closely related on my mom's side. From the left (and youngest to oldest) you see Linwood, Roy, and Russell. I am the first great-grandchild of Russell. I never met any of these men since they all died before I was ever born but this picture demonstrates a certain rowdy togetherness that still permeates my extended family. I also know Russell and Roy were responsible as older brothers to get jobs early in order to finance Linwood's higher education but with the expectation that Linwood's increased earning potential would benefit his brothers as well as himself. That was the way things were done in a family which could not afford to educate all its members.

It's interesting to see how that has affected the branches of the family descended from each of these men. Linwood's family is full of engineers, architects, and professors who have lived very comfortably for a long time. Roy had only daughters who were prepared to be housewives. Among Russell's children and grandchildren are a great many blue collar workers who, with each succeeding generation send a few more of its children on to higher education.




Here are the sisters Helen (top), Florence (left), and Bertha(right). When Helen married Russell the family of brothers at the top welcomed the families of these sisters. Florence died before I was born and I know very little about her. Helen and Russell had 5 children (my grandfather was their oldest) who Bertha and her husband doted on since they were never able to have children.

Bertha was the seamstress who taught my mother much of what she knows about sewing as well as how to tat. I've tried without any measurable success to learn tatting. I am thankful to my mom for encouraging me to sew. I know she is very grateful to her great aunt for teaching her. Our other aunts and cousins are glad too since they all go to my mom for whatever repairs and alterations they might need.

Helen was the cook and baker. It was her nature to feed people. She fried countless donuts to sell. She cooked Sunday dinner for all the children and grandchildren every week. During the Depression her house was a well known stop on the circuit for the hungry seeking a meal. Her recipes consist of "a handful of this and a bunch of that mixed until it looks just so." If you wonder about where my tendency to be inexact in my recipes comes from she could be part of that. She was the family storyteller too and wove her magic well. That's something I have consciously aspired to.

Finally, we have Helen and Russell on their anniversary. I'm told he was somewhat stern in some ways and a bit lacking in mercy in others but I know she always spoke lovingly of him. Even though I was 9 when she died I still remember the look she'd get in her eye when she spoke of him and when she told the story of his death. There are days when I wish she were still here so I could explore her lifetime of experience and ask her how to live and love as well as she did.

18 comments:

EmBee said...

Lovely read Lime... I'm especially interested in how the brothers education of lack thereof affected the lineage. Very interesting indeed.

My husbands dad came from a family of two brothers. One of the brothers went into 'Heavy Machinery & Equipment'... Bulldozers and the like. His business flourished and his descendants are all quite wealthy, living in California and carry on the lucrative business.

The other brother went into 'Hammer Handles'....... *crickets chirping*

I'll bet you can guess which side of the family I married into.
:-)

Desmond Jones said...

This is wonderful, Lime. . .

Many years ago, I took up genealogy as a hobby (my psychologist buddy tells me it was 'psychological groundwork' for searching for my birth-parents; maybe so, but that wasn't my conscious motivation). It is just fascinating to track the various and sundry connections of our family, and put them in historical context. The ancestor who, we think, was a Civil War draft dodger; the Tory sympathizers who spent much of the Revolutionary War in jail, etc, etc.

Your more 'personal' take on your family's story is rich and warm. Thanks again. . .

Breazy said...

I love the post. I am all about family history and I think it's wonderful that you can trace your family back that far, we can trace ours back to the early 1700's as well. Thanks for sharing this!

Craver Vii said...

Wow, I'm impressed! I don't know any family past my own grandparents.

g-man said...

Old Uncle Linwood....
Haven't seen that pot-licker in a coon's age!

g-man said...

Old Uncle Linwood....
Haven't seen that pot-licker in a coon's age!

Anonymous said...

Interesting post - I'm intrigued by old family photos, too.

Gledwood said...

it's the labelling of photos in albums that makes all the difference: the who's who, when this was, where & etc... it definitely pays to be well organized in documenting the past

I don't think we'll have very much at all of the present age to show at all. so much is stored on ephemeral electronic media... as time marches on it will simply crumble to cyberdust and vanish for good

%->...

Jazz said...

I love hearing about people's families. Great post Lime.

Bijoux said...

Those pictures are truly worth more than 1000 words. Love that you have those. I'm a big genealogy buff....have traced back one side of my family to the early 1500's. And I have pictures of the church in Germany (built in 1245 AD) where they were all baptized/married in.

Anonymous said...

It's so cool to hear about the family! :) I find geneology fascinating and I think it's a lost art! How wonderful that you have memories and photo albums!!!

barman said...

Simply wonderful and what a fun pass time. I know I am just starting to go through a whole box of pictures I took. I wish I had kept them in such wonderful order. I am having a fun time trying to remember things about the photos. Some are a little more tricky than others but I am having a wonderful time.

Thanks for sharing such wonderful photos and great stories to accompany them.

barman said...

Gledwood, I believe scrapbooking is basically the modern day photo album. That and electronic slide shows that are more than just a buch of photos strung together. But you are right, how many people take electronic photos and never do a thing with them, myself included.

Kat said...

I wish my mom would have kept better order of all the family photos. They are all just thrown in boxes. Perhaps that is why I am so compulsive about keeping my own family's pictures dated, organized, and easily accessable.
:)

~Tim said...

That's cool how you see your personality traits down through your family tree.

truckdriver_sefl said...

Wonderful read! Thanks for sharing Lime....

Hilary said...

How wonderful for you that your mother kept these wonderful photo albums in order. I have a load of photos too and should put some time into at least marking the ones that I know. Thanks for this lovely glimpse at your family tree.

Anonymous said...

What a lovely post, great documented with lovely photos. Thanks for taking us with down your memory lane.

I now understand even more that we actually have a lot in common when it comes to our background :-)