Friday, July 17, 2015

Friday's Faces From the Past ~ Unknown Group

I found this photo quite a while back at the St. Augustine flea market. There is nothing written on the back so I have no clue who this group of seniors are. 

Hopefully someone will recognize a member of this group. 

Friday, January 24, 2014

Friday's Faces From the Past ~ Canadian Navy



This group of handsome men is just a sample of what's inside a Canadian Navy photo album from the 40s that a reader found in Plant City, Florida. It is her desire to get this album in the hands of a family member, and it is my desire to help her do that.

This particular photo does has some kind of identifiers written below it.


AT BRIXHAM
South Devon
  1. "RED"
  2. "DINT" WELSH
  3. DURDLE
  4. GREENING
  5. CHRISTOPHERSON
  6. JUCLN
  7. NORRIS
  8. BALENTINE
  9. CHRISTIE
  10. ME
  11.  
  12. POAISR
  13. BLAIS
  14.  
  15. "CHUCK"
  16. WOODS
  17. HIBBARD
  18. MCKENZIE
  19. "CRASH"
  20. SHIPTON
  21. BLONDIE
  22. CHESLEY
  23.  
  24. MILNER
  25. ATKINS
  26.  
  27. LINDSAY
  28. McNEIL
  29. ODEL  NATSHAW
I am assuming that the names are listed from left to right, but there are more numbers than sailors so I'm not sure who is who after the blanks. I am also going to assume that number 10, "ME", was the owner of the album.

There was also an identity card nestled within the pages which may or may not indicate who the original owner was. I am not sure how a German issued Military medical personnel ID card would be with Canadian Navy memorabilia.


As you can see, this document is written in German. With the help of Google Translate we can decipher it a little bit. Here is the original:

Wehrmacht des Deutschen Reiches  den 1.8.1944

Personalausweis

Der San.Maat. Werner Bretschneider geboren am 12.8.22 in Bernsbach/Erzgeb. wird ausschließlich im Sanitätsdienst als San.Maat. verwendet.
Er ist berechtigt, das Genfer Abzeichen  (gestempelte weiße Armbinde
mit rotem Kreuz) zu tragen und steht unter dem Schutz der Artikel 9, 12 und 13 des
genfer abkommens vom 27.7.1929

oberkommando der Kriegsmarine Im auftrage

What Google told me:

Army of the German Empire  the 01/08/1944

identity card

The San.Maat Werner Bretschneider born on 12.08.22 in Bernbach / Erzgeb. is exclusively in the medical corps as San.Maat. be used.
He is entitled to the Geneva badge (stamped white armband
with red cross) to wear and stands under the protection of Article 9, 12 and 13 of the Geneva Agreement of 27.7.1929

Upper detail of the Navy on behalf


If you are curious, you can find the Geneva articles here. According to Wikipedia, Maat is the German military rank of Petty Officer 3rd Class in the Navy. And I believe San. is short for Sanitätsdienst which means medical. So the owner of the ID is Werner Bretschneider, an officer in the Medical Corps.

So, without further ado, may I introduce you to "Me".



If you can provide any clues or information that would help solve the mystery of this Canadian Navy album, I would appreciate you leaving a comment or dropping me a line.


Leslie Ann

Friday, July 12, 2013

Spotlighting Jessica Millward

I know this post is a little different than you are used to seeing here, but I felt strongly about my readers meeting Jessica.

Jessica Millward is an Assistant Professor of History at University of California Irvine. Her fields of interest are African American, African Diaspora, Early America, Gender, Slavery.  You can learn more by reading her faculty profile.

To her credit, Dr. Millward has had several papers published and there is one in particular that I am excited about; Charity Folks, Lost Royalty and the Bishop Family of Maryland and New York  recently published in The Journal of African American History. You can read it here.

One of my favorite and most popular "lost family treasures" was the Bishop/Carey Photo album. Charity Folks was an ancestor of Dr. Elizabeth "Beth" Bishop Davis. We believe that Dr. Davis's brother, Shelton Hale Bishop Jr. was the original owner of that album. Charity Folks was the matriarch of such an influential and productive group of descendants that I feel very privileged to have had a piece of their history in my hands.

What is even more exciting is that the above mentioned article is just a taste of Jessica's upcoming book,  Charity’s Folk: Enslaved Women, Families, and Freedom in pre Civil War Maryland. In her words:
"The book focuses on attempts made by enslaved women in
Maryland to earn their freedom in the decades following the American Revolution.  Women such as the Bishop ancestor, Charity Folks, were crucial to this story. We can learn so much from their experiences as enslaved women were the least likely to experience some of the promises of the American Revolution like liberty and equality."

Well I, for one am looking forward to this book.


 Leslie Ann

Friday, June 28, 2013

Calvary Methodist Episcopal Church 1933 Year Book


I found this fiftieth anniversary year book for Calvary Methodist Episcopal Church located in Bronx, New York.  Don't ask me which antique store I found it in because I forgot. That's what happens when I get caught up in other things.

Front cover

Inside front cover

Inside back cover

Back cover

This little booklet has about seven pages of history about the church and some of it's leaders and a list of members and addresses. There are also memoriams throughout.

  • In Memory of Mr. Thomas S. Walker
  • In Memoriam - Mr.Thomas Jacka - By Marie S. Jacka and Family
  • In Memoriam - Frank H. Hines - Mary Bradner Hines
  • In Memoriam - Alfred Scott - Margaret E. Scott
  • In Loving Memory of - John R. McDonald and Mayetta McDonald - by Harrison McDonald
  • In Loving Memory of Mrs. Nellie Clemes, who was called to her Heavenly Home August 22, 1933 - By her children Vivian, Charles and W. Herbert Clemes
  • In Memoriam - Edward C. Keys - Edwin C. Keys - (by) Mrs. Edward C. Keys and Family
  • In Loving Memory of Lydia J. Hill who Entered Life Eternal October 13, 1918 - By Mr. and Mrs. Robert Hill
  • In Memoriam - Milton S. Surre A Charter Member
  • In Memoriam - Katherine Kimball
  • In Loving Memory of Mrs. Anna M. Watson - Guild Auxiliary
  • In Loving Memory of Mrs. Mary L. Compton A Charter Member - By Her Daughter Mrs. Daisy L. Northrop and Grandson Theodore O. Northrop


If any of these folks are your family, this year book could be yours.



Leslie Ann

Thursday, May 9, 2013

1916 Postcard from Landrum, South Carolina



I found this postcard a while back in one of the antique stores around here. It's addressed to George Peterson, 92nd St & Gelson Ave, Brooklyn N.Y.



Dear George:
Hope your
well. and all
the folks. Hope
your having
a good time
your schoolmate
Bonnie O'Connor.

Unfortunately I haven't been able to find anything out about schoolmates Bonnie and George.  Were they schoolmates of your parents?



Leslie Ann

Thursday, April 11, 2013

Postcard from the Islands, Inverness


I found this postcard in one of Jacksonville's antique stores. The Islands, Inverness  is in Scotland I just found out.

Unfortunately there is no date or postmark so I'm not sure when it was delivered, or if it even was. It's addressed to Mrs. Chas Caine, 67 Westland Ave, Boston, Mass.



A short walk from
the base you may see
for yourself.
yours rec'd other
day will answer
shortly.   C. Edw.

 The mention of a base made me think that the mysterious C. Edw. must have been a military man. I did a little searching and discovered that Inverness was used by the US Navy during WWI as part of the laying of the Northern Barrage. This might put a date on the postcard.

I haven't been able to figure out who Mrs. Chas Caine is either.

If you recognize these names as being in your family, as always drop me a line.



Leslie Ann

Friday, April 5, 2013

Friday's Faces From the Past ~ Three Georgia Ladies


I found this photo a while back while wandering through an antique store in Jacksonville. This picture is obviously a photocopy. You can tell by the way the names are chopped off on the top. I can tell because I am holding the photo and it has clearly not been written on.

Aside from this label that is stuck to the back of the photo, I have had a rough time trying to figure out just who these women are.

The only thing I have been able to discover that ties them together is that they all lived in Jackson, Laurens County, Georgia.


  • Ollie Ree Underwood - Ollie was born abt 1913 in Georgia to Cornelius Edison and Annie Ophelia Underwood. According to the 1940 Lovett, Laurens, Georgia Census she was married to a Henry Frey.
  • Blanche Smith Brantley - Blanche was born  June 25, 1908 and died September 28, 1954 in Georgia.  I haven't been able to find who her parents were, but according to the 1910 Jackson, Lauren County, GA Census she was living with her grandparents Asa J. and M. A. Smith. Blanche was married to Cleo William Brantley. I was able to find a profile for them both on Find A Grave - Blanche and Cleo.
  • Cornelius Smith Dudley - Cornelius was born abt 1903 in Georgia to James and Ella Smith and died 24 Nov 1982 in Johnson County, Georgia. She was married to Gladis Dudley. 
I have just discovered that Miss Cornelius may be the key to their connection. Cornelius and family were living just nine houses away from baby Blanche and her grandparents in the 1910 Jackson, Laurens, Georgia Census. In the 1930 Census the Underwood family is living next door to Cornelius's mother-in-law Mollie Dudley.

So are these ladies just childhood chums, or are they related somehow?  Could Cornelius Smith have been named after Ollie's father? Curious minds want to know.

Sources: 
  1. Ancestry.com, Year: 1910; Census Place: Jackson, Laurens, Georgia; Roll: T624_199; Page: 15B; Enumeration District: 0109; FHL microfilm: 1374212.
  2. Ancestry.com, Year: 1930; Census Place: Adrian, Johnson,Georgia; Roll: 371; Page: 3B; Enumeration District: 16; Image: 1034.0; FHL microfilm: 2340106.
  3. Ancestry.com, Year: 1940; Census Place: Lovett, Laurens,Georgia; Roll: T627_689; Page: 1B; Enumeration District: 87-21.
  4. Ancestry.com, Year: 1920; Census Place: Jackson, Laurens, Georgia; Roll: T625_266; Page: 15A; Enumeration District: 79; Image: 249.
  5. Ancestry.com. Georgia Deaths, 1919-98 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2001. Original data: State of Georgia. Indexes of Vital Records for Georgia: Deaths, 1919-1998. Georgia, USA: Georgia Health Department, Office of Vital Records, 1998.


Leslie Ann

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...