WordlessWed...Tintype Photo Restoration

2x Great Grandmother about 1868- Oldest photo in my collection.

52 Ancestors Challenge...Week 5...Microfiching At The Library

Back To Family Trees in 2019 with 52 Ancestors In 52 Weeks

Week 5 ~ prompt ~ At The Library

     Many hours were spent 'At The Library' researching our Family Tree.  Notes were written on backs of junk mail, notebook paper, envelopes and slips of paper.  Letters were written revealing bits and pieces of information found 'At The Library'. 

     All by my Aunt Irene.  

     Her hours of note taking in libraries and the inquiries from Genealogical Societies from Georgia to Texas have given me an abundance of information on which to build our Family Tree in the Technologically Advanced Genealogy Community of the Twenty-First Century.

     So, after many hours of  21st Century Technology and Online research, I was back to Irene's 20th Century research center...'At The Library'...looking for a step-great grandmother revealed through online Civil War research, and a death certificate.  Irene's research gave no clues that her widowed grandfather had a second wife much less how their union led to a generation of double grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. 

Look who I found Microfiching 'At The Library'. 

FORT STOCKTON PIONEER August 23, 1918
DIED
Mrs. G.W. Pittman, of Grandfalls, who only recently had come here for medical treatment, died very suddenly from organic heart trouble, at the Riggs Hotel, Saturday evening August 16th.

The remains were prepared for burial by Undertaker W.H. Bird, after which they were taken to Grandfalls, Sunday afternoon and interred in the cemetery at that place. 

The funeral services were conducted by Reverand M.O. Williams, pastor of the Methodist Church, of which church the deceased was a devoted member.
A husband and two children, who reside in Grandfalls, are left to mourn her loss.

Obituary for Mrs. George Washington Pittman...Nancy Anne Carey Forkner Pittman.  Born...April 23, 1854 in Monroe County Tennessee to John E. Carey and Ellen M. McAllister.   Died...August 16th, 1918 at the age of 64 in Fort Stockton, Pecos County, Texas.  Survived by husband George Washington Pittman and two children....who turned out to be granddaughters. This I knew from the 1910 Census that listed Maime 4 years and Tillie 1 year, and who at the time of Nancy's death would have been 12 and 9 years of age.  Who and where was the Mother of these two granddaughters?   Why weren't Nancy's SIX children she reported as having given birth to in the 1900 Census, listed as surviving her or preceeding her in death?   Questions for another 52 Ancestors Week.

        For now, the 'At The Library' Obituary Revelations!!

     The Riggs Hotel where Nancy died had a special place in my life, too.  As a former member of the Fort Stockton Historical Society and Board Member of the Annie Riggs Museum, I spent many hours there.  What a special moment it was for me when I read that my Great Grandfather and Step-Great Grandmother had stayed there exactly 95 years ago to the day that I Microfiched the Obituary!  I could hardly wait to get back to Fort Stockton and the Annie Riggs Museum to find their Signatures in the August 1918 Registry.

The remains were prepared for burial by Undertaker W.H. Bird, after which they were taken to

Grandfalls, Sunday afternoon and interred in the cemetery at that place. 

That place being the Tamarisk Cemetery.  Another Special Moment to realize that another of my Pittman Texas Ancestors can now be officially laid to rest with other Family Members including George Washington Pittman's Grandsons and Great Grandsons.

Rest in Heavenly Peace

Nancy Anne Carey Forkner Pittman

April 23, 1854 - August 16, 1918

You are fondly remembered in the Pittman Family Tree and History

as documented in Tracks of My Texas Ancestors.

Sepia Saturday...Family Portraits by Cars

Sepia Saturday 454 has the makings of a Vintage Car Show, and inadvertently gives rise to what could have been a modeling career of underwear...or the models most embarrassing photo to emerge from the 'Shoebox Album'. 

First Family Portrait by Cars.  My grandparents, Minnie and Joseph with their 5 children on their Iowa Farm.  Portrait taken in 1938, but the Family Car was probably a late 1920's model.  From the looks of it, the car made plenty of trips on the dusty farm road. 

My Iowa Farm Family's most important motor vehicle was a tractor.  Pictured here is the all grown up little boy from the 1938 photo giving me a ride on the family's tractor from the same time period.  They take great pride in their vintage tractors and are still used today in parades and Tractor Shows.  My Uncle is standing next to my Mother, the youngest of the five children in the Family Portrait by Car.

Another Uncle, this one many miles from the Iowa kin.  He is one of those long, tall Texas guys who all of his life loved cars and trucks. 
     He was a fixer of motors and a tool guy with a knack at fixing just about any thing mechanical.
     Those mechanical skills served him well from 1942- 1945 as an Aviation Engineer in the US Army. 
     He did tours in French Haven New Guinea, Luzon Phillipines, and Tokyo, Japan.  Was awarded 3 Bronze Stars, World War II Victory Medal, and several other Wartime Medals.
     As seen in this photo, he had a special appreciation for older model cars.  I don't know if he ever had a brand new car.  However, like his brother, my Dad, driving a new car was not affordable and their passel of kids would not fit in a fancy new sports car.
     So it was older model big cars they drove.  My Dad's favorite...

A Pink Cadillac with a trunk bigger than Dallas...we say that in Texas when it's something really big...and room for his kids, their cousins and the whole neighborhood.  That's my cute sister in front of cousins modeling the latest in girls bathing suits in 1962.  Lucky for her she was not modeling her underwear and saved from an embarrassing photo to come out of our Mother's Shoebox Album. 

    At least I was wearing clean 'Big Girl' panties.

    

Fiber Arts Collage Maker...There's an APP for That

     The typical definition of 'Collage' reads like this, "From the French word coller, "to glue", is a technique of an art production, primarily used in the visual arts where the artwork is made from an assemblage of different forms, thus creating a new whole".  
     In todays visual arts, technology has impacted Collage Makers in such a way that "to glue" requires "no glue".  As an 'Old School Elmer's Glue-Meister", it's intriguing to envision collaging without some form of glue....even for a Fiber Collage Maker.  Yes, I use glue...it's called Fabric Glue and comes in a Spray Can and a Squeeze Bottle.

     Typical collaging can be a mixed media of paper, paint, scraps of this and that, and whatever.  So, how did Technology take those hands on 'GlueIt Together' materials to a 'ClickIt Together' visual art form.  They created an APP for that!  Next question...what's an APP?  I love this answer because it so fits a 'Fiber' collage makers thinking.  *"Simply put, an APP is a type of software...yeeeesss....that allows you to perform specific tasks."  

Perfect...I work with software...I'm all over this!

     Then the App'ers go on to say, "Applications for desktop or laptop computers are sometimes called desktop applications...yada yada mobile devices yada yada.  When you open an application, it runs inside the operating system until you close it." 

Yippee, more I got this!!! 

 *My operating system sewing machine is computerized, has a desk type top and it's mobile.

     There's more!  The APP Collage'ers  go on to give very specific 'APP's' for creating a collage.  Again, I couldn't be happier to be ahead of the Technology Collage Game.  First, there's the Picasa APP...really, I studied all about Piccaso in college Art History, and can even name most of his famous collage looking paintings...back then it was called Cubism.

     This one caught my attention...PicMonkey!  Now, how in the world does that relate to my method of picking from the stacks of fabric or picking from drawers, boxes, and bags for trim, buttons, dodads and so on.  I'm no monkey...or am I?  I studied 'Evolution' in collage college, too. 

Now, here's an APP I can totally related to, and use as a Computer Collage Technologist. 

 Photo Collage!!! 

As soon as I finish up here with posting these Photo Collages of my new line of

Fiber Art 'Collage Bags'...

...I need to get back to that 'Simply put APP'*

WordlessWed...Portraits, Pearls and Palmyra

Portrait of Great Aunt Wardie Bell

Vintage Pearls

Portrait of 2xGreat Aunt Palmyra 

52 Ancestors Challenge...Week 4...All Children Brown Eyed

Back to Family Trees in 2019 with 52 Ancestors in 52 weeks

Week 3 ~ prompt ~ I'd Like To Meet

I'd Like To Meet my Great Grandmother Martha Jane Marley Carroll....Again!

     We met for the first and last time when I was 10 years old.  At that time I barely knew who I was, much less who she was or who her daughter was.  The only three people I knew for sure were my Dad and two sisters.
     Here we posed for a '4 Generations' family photo of my Dad's maternal side of the family.  And, like the photo, all knowledge of my Great Grandmother, Grandmother and their family histories were forgotten. 
     The picture went to a 'Shoebox Album' and the maternal grandmothers were never a topic of conversation with my Dad.  He was raised by his Father and had only siblings as a connection to his mother.
      Connections to Dad's paternal family history was limited to my grandfather, aunts, uncles and cousins.  It seemed our Family Tree was a sapling with only two branches.

Imagine my utter astonishment as the recipient and keeper of Great Grandmother Martha Jane Marley Carroll's Photo Album.  If my Dad had any knowledge of his maternal family history he never spoke of it, and ironically, by the time it came to me, I could no longer share it with him or ask questions.  And boy howdy, did I have questions.

     As shown in the photo above, The Album made it's way to me, as it turns out, through both his maternal and paternal family lines.  It's complicated!
     It seems the two families merged with the marriage of Carroll daughters to Pittman brothers.  Making a whole bunch of Double Cousins and a Family Tree that resembles a twisted Texas Mesquite tree. One whose roots run back to The American Revolution and The Civil War to spread it's branches from Georgia, through Tennessee and through out Texas.
     With 'The Album' I earned my Genealogist, Family Historian, Photo Detective, and Sherlock-Sue degree. 
     Not a single photo, newspaper clipping, scrap of paper in The Album had an inkling of identification. 
     The Album itself was deteriorating, but most of the pictures from the late 1890's through the early 1900's were in good condition. 
     Only one gave a hint as to whom The Album belonged.  Only one hinted as to where these people came from.  Only one would begin an amazing journey through my Dad's maternal and paternal history.

A few photos still unidentified, a few questions unanswered, but one thing I now know...

...from whom my Sister inherited her brown eyes!

Sepia Saturday...Bull Durham, Camels and Matches

     Sepia Saturday 453 photo prompt is somewhat of a challenge for me with it's three story store front, Players cigarette advertisement, overhead wires, and barely visible clothes line. 
     My first thought was a picture of my grandmother's house whose backyard clothes line ran along the back of a feed store. 
     Can you imagine hanging out clothes and instead of sunny, blue skies and a fresh smelling breeze, the view is a huge tobacco ad plastered on the building that blocked the sun, and the breeze smelled like chicken feed.
     I couldn't find the picture in my files, so on to the next thought.

    My Dad's lifelong addiction to cigarettes and cigars. 
     He started smoking at the young age of ten and probably smoked grapevines and his Dad's Bull Durham tobacco.  

My Grandfather Chappo fishing and smoking.

     I know about that since, also at an early age, I was an expert at holding the paper in a half tube, tapping in the tobacco, pulling the Bull Durham string held between my teeth, rolling the papered tobacco, licking the glued paper edge, and lastly...twisting the ends just right.  

     That was an important last step to not only to keep the tobacco from spilling out, but to keep my grandfather from lighting a torch that had the potential to set his eyebrows on fire.
      I have no clue about Players Cigarettes, but I have first hand knowledge and experience with Camel Cigarettes.  Camels were my Dads brand of choice. 
      Lordy, those stunk, and as a young tobacco expert, I figured the stink came from the same ingredient found in Bull Dung Durham.  I could not imagine smoking Camel or Bull poop, so smoking behind the barn with my brother was limited to Mother's filtered Winston cigarettes.
      It only took a few puffs of choking, coughing and burning eyes for me to quit.  I think Mother did the same...she quit, too.  Now, my brother persevered, mostly because he liked matches. 

His young smoking days ended in a barn fire.

WordlessWed Followup...Slaying The Dragon

The Sparrow has Landed!  That was yesterday's Wordless Wednesday photo only post. 

 So today here are the 'Words'....and more photos...of course.

I know it's not a lunar landing, but I'm loving my Old/New Loom to the moon and back. To dramatic? There's been a bit of drama with refinishing the maple wood, removing corrosion on metal parts and refitting the 'Brake System'...thank goodness for Google and internet links to the manufactures schematics on this...their oldest models brake system.
That's the brake system in photo one with a few shinny new 'S' hooks added to the old ones along with a new brake release cord.  First time I pulled on the old one it snapped in two.  I suspect barn mice had used it for weaving their nests.  On to threading heddles shown in photos two and three. I won't bore you with that tedious process, but know that it is time consuming and not a favorite part of getting ready to weave.  Next...'Slaying the Dragon'...also known in loom talk as Slaying the Reed.

 Here is the Before (top) and After shot of the refurbished reed. Again, so as not to bore with details, cleaning the rusted reed was comparable to cleaning dragon teeth with a steel wool toothbrush...after knocking off the rusty surface with a belt sander.  Then a 21st century 'Arty Duck Tape' upgrade over the 1960's version covering the frame.

The Dragon/Reed fits in a two part maple wood frame called the Beater Bar...photo 1 and 2.  Once it is secured in Beater Bar, the Dragon/Reed is ready to slay....really that's what it's called. After pulling all those threads through every other reed/tooth with a tool resembling a flossing pick with a hook on the end, I dubbed myself....

Dragon Slayer Sue, Mechanical Brake Engineer, and Duck Tape Specialist!

Impressive additions to my 'Resume'...don't you think!

WordlessWed...The Sparrow Has Landed

52 Ancestors Challenge...Week 3...John, Jane and Othello

Back to Family Trees in 2019 with 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

Week 3 ~ prompt ~ Unusual Names

Dear John, John, John, John, John,+ Ten More.
Dear Jane, Jane, Jane, Jane, Jane, + Fifteen More.

      Not an unusual name, I know, but it seemed my Dad's Family Tree branches were full of nests that hatched boys named John and girls named Jane.
      Since the First John Pittman born in America in 1726, John, obviously, was held in high esteem and followed the tradition in the naming of 'First Born Sons' who are destined to be called Junior.
      From Colonial John through Civil War John, the Pittman John's led the nation as the Number One Given Guys Name.  This trend continued through the 1920's.  During these Trend Setting years, William ran a close second in the US and in our 'Tree' with Eleven Williams. 
     True to Trend, James, George, Robert, Charles, Joseph, Frank, Henry and Thomas were 'Tree Toppers' as well as 'Chart Toppers ' across the nation.

 Also, not an unusual girls name, never mind that Jane as a Given  Name, only made Number Twenty-Two on the All Time Popularity List.
     Jane The First, Jane Calvert Leatherwood 1746-1764, believed in the 'Family Namesake' tradition.   Her son's were John, William, James, George, and Thomas.  She named two of her daughters after herself or possibly her mother...one was Jane and the other Janey.
  Jane The First in 'Our Tree' was the Direct Ancestor and 4XGreat Grandmother of her namesake Martha Jane Marley Carroll, my Great Grandmother.  Who so broke with naming traditions, that all the ancestor John's and Jane's were likely rolling in their graves.

     So begins the 'Unusual Names' in my Family Trees with Martha Jane's first born son Othello Elisha.  Now Elisha was her father's first name...that was easy to trace, but Othello...not a single one to be found.  

     Her second son Merrett Douglas, though not an unusual name, was the only son declared by a Census Taker as Male.  Othello's name was entered as Othella and declared to be a Female.  An honest mistake I'm sure...especially since both boys were wearing dresses. 
No doubting their gender in later years...Othello (sitting) and brother 'Mert', my Great Uncles, are likely rolling in their graves to this day over the only photo taken with their father in 1901...and them in dresses.  Their father died in 1903.

As to the name Othello.

I seriously doubt my Great Grandmother Janey was a reader of Shakespeare,

and I know for sure he is not an ancestor...

unless he fell far from the nest.

Dorothy The Weaving Wizzard

In case you have forgotten or didn't know, Dorothy is my LeClerc Table Loom.  She was so named by her maker in Canada and is made of maple wood...of course.  She has been my go to weaving gal since August of last year, and together we have been fairly productive.  Mainly making strips from scrap yarn and fabric...like this one. 

 So, what do I do with a six yard strip?

Cut it up...of course! 

Naturally, I stabilize the weaving before cutting with a zigzag stitch on the waste strips between each section.  This six yard strip yielded 10 sections.  What's next?

A Bird Bag!

One done and nine to go.

Speaking of Birds...Meet Sparrow!

     My Old/New to me LeClerec Floor Loom!  She too was made in Canada, of maple and named Nilus.  She came to Texas sometime in the late 1950's or early 1960's, and made her way to Studio #14 from first owner, several second and third owners and finally to my artist friend Beverly.  This maple beauty was stored in several different barns, and finally moved to a garage of my longtime friend and artist Beverly.  Beverly is a painter, not a weaver and offered the loom to me. 

     I have spent the last week cleaning and refurbishing the beautiful maple wood, removing years of corrosion on the metal parts and putting it back together to make ready for warping and weaving.  This week I will finish warping and hopefully begin my first weaving of a rag rug.

     I renamed her 'Sparrow' for the symbolism of a sparrow's diligence as a weaver of nests and for their spirit of joy in being productive. 

Neat, huh...I'm a weaver, a nest builder and find joy in being productive.

Sepia Saturday...Working For The Railroad

     Sepia Saturday Prompt 452's scene of a train accident and the subsequent work of men working on the railroad immediately brought to mind a first cousin 4x removed.  It also reminded me of the song 'I've Been Working On The Railroad'.
     The song and first cousin have several commonalities discovered during the research of my Atlanta, Georgia, ancestors.  Let's begin with a bit of era history that connects the two.
       Cousin Richard A. Pittman was a railroad man with The Western & Atlantic Railroad whose employment there would become the focus of his work history in more ways than is officially documented.  
     The W&A RR became a key link to the chain of Southern railroads connecting the Atlantic Ocean and the Mississippi River.  It was the foundation for Atlanta's emergence as a rail center. 



     By the time of the Civil War, the W&A had 46 locomotives, two of which were to become participants in the 'Great Locomotive Chase' of April 1862.  It played a major role in the Atlanta Campaign. It's loss to the South in 1864 was devastating to the Confederacy's hopes of victory, but at the same time played a major role in the rest of Richard Pittman's life.  It is likely he was there as a part of his military assignments when Sherman marched through Atlanta.   It is possible that he began his railroad career with the W&A and was instrumental in getting it back on the tracks during the Reconstruction Era.  We know from the 1870 US Census that he was a Conductor when the W&A's stock was leased for 20 years to a corporation made up of officers of the W&A's connecting roads headed by former Governor J.E. Brown.
      By 1880, Richard had been in W&A employment for more than ten years and had changed positions a number of times, most likely due to opportunities for better wages.  The fact that he was the son of a well known city official did not seem to have an impact on his railroad career of moving up the ranks in an administrative capacity.  On the contrary, he remained a part of the day to day work force which is indicated in the 1880 Census where he declares his occupation as 'Watchman'.

    Richards railroad career and life ended tragically two years later on December 4, 1882.

     As reported in the Augusta Chronicle almost three weeks after the accident, the first article reveals the 'horrible manner' in which Richard was called an unfortunate man.  This newspaper circulated widely to the smaller farming communities outside of Atlanta where many of Richards friends and relatives lived.  Had they not already known about the accident, the Chronicles report no doubt was read as insensitive and gory in the details and greatly lacking in relating Richards many years as an employee of the railroad.  The second article printed on page 1, four weeks after the accident, certainly showed a lack of information and disregard for all involved in what was certainly a tragic event for the Pittman Family and the Western & Atlantic Railroad. 
     To date, no information has been found or researched from the Atlanta Constitution which would have, in all likelihood, reported a more accurate account of the accident and possibly an Obituary for Richard A. Pittman, for the owner of the Atlanta Constitution was a relative of the Pittman Family.  Then there was Richard being the son and brother of Judges Daniel N. and Daniel J. Pittman.  His death would have been front page news and probably the beginning of an investigation into the circumstances of a trained watchman with years of experience in and around the workings of the railroad.  Hardly one to disregard safety rules or be less than cautious of passing trains, as is insinuated in the Augusta Chronicles report of December 24, 1882.

I've Been Working on the Railroad is an American folk song first published as a Levee Song in a book of Princeton University songs in 1894. (Wikipedia)
   The songs publication twelve years after Richards death must have been the final reminder of his working on the railroad.  For six of those twelve years Richards widow Nancy E. Pittman's name appeared in the Macon Telegraph newspaper. 
     The Pittman-Elder Case presented in City Court in October of 1885 was reported to have ended in a mistrial.  The case was settled the next year in November 1886 with Mrs. Dick Pittman receiving a settlement of $700 on a note of $4,000. 
     No details to the nature of the suit were reported, but it was stated that Nancy was the widow of Mr. Richard Pittman.  Another report from Ordinary Court was published May 8, 1888 granting letters of dis-mission to Nancy E. Pittman. 
     Six years after her husbands death, it seems Nancy was relieved of her duty as the executor of his estate with the settlements in all cases.
     Unlike Richard's widow's meager court settlement funds, the Levee Song has become an American Classic translated world wide, has been the subject for children's books, cartoons, and nursery rhymes.  The verses and chorus lyrics have been adapted to fit numerous other songs, movies and school spirit songs...for example:
      The Eyes of Texas" is the spirit song of the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Texas at El Paso. It is set to the tune of "I've Been Working on the Railroad" with alternate lyrics written in 1904. Students, faculty, staff, and alumni of the University sing the song at Longhorn sports games and other events. (Wikipedia)

No Bake Aprons

I've always loved Aprons.  They have been a part of my 'Collections' starting with one my Grandmother Minnie gave to me as a little girl.  I have posted about them here on CollectInTexas Gal many times...so often that I have an entire 'Label' dedicated to 'Aprons'. 

As a self proclaimed 'Apronista', it was only fitting that manufacturing aprons for my Shop became a staple part of the inventory.  Apron styles change as do suitable apron fabrics.  Not one for adhering to traditional styles and suitable fabrics, my Aprons took on an 'Apronista Arty' look fit for Florists to Fish Fryers.  The 'A' shape apron with adjustable ties is made to fit everyone...short, tall, wide or narrow.  They sold out, and a new style hit the apron rack.

I designed and named a style of aprons for myself...'SusieQ Smock' apron.  These themed aprons from every themed fabric from Sewing to Bugs were good sellers for those who wanted a super casual smock to wear over a Tshirt  and leggings...they cover a multitude of body types and were 'Trendy' to boot.  Over time...about a year or so...the themed smock aprons met their body types, sewers, entomologist, and so on, and now are tagged for a clearance sale.

My favorite, and the best selling apron I've made is the OJL (outta jeans leg) apron.  Yep, when you can't get a leg in them anymore...you got it...make an apron.  I wear this one at my shop, and in the last few weeks, could have sold it right off my 'Apronista Self' a dozen times. 

Time to cut up old style 'Flare Leg Jeans'. 

Style wise...it's perfect timing...I'm wearing skinny leg stretch jeans.

Oh, by the way, 'You don't have to Bake to wear one.

52 Ancestors Challenge...Week 2...Challenged Grandfather

Back to Family Trees in 2019 with '52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks' Challenge.

Week 2 prompt ~ Challenge

C.C. Pittman in 1944 at age 68

      Born in 1875, the third child of a father who returned home to Georgia at the end of the Civil War in 1865. The word 'Challenge' should have been one of the 'C's' in his name.  Had it been, it would have been a foresight to the challenges he would face in his future.
      Given names in that era were most often passed down from a parent, a family member or in grandfather's case, a historical figure or a place.  Columbus Chappell was named for both. 
      Columbus for Columbus County, Georgia, which was named in honor of Christopher Columbus.  Columbus County was significant to his name in that he was the 3x great grandson of a Revolutionary War soldier pioneer and settler of Columbus County located on the Chattahoochee River.  A Ferry on the Chattahoochee was established and named after his ancestor grandfather.
     Through out his life he was known as C.C. Pittman or Chapo.  Perhaps his historical named father, George Washington Pittman, who new the challenges of being named for a well known historical figure, gave him his nickname of Chapo.  However, the name Columbus may have been a foresight into the challenges he would face in the expeditions he would make from Georgia to Texas.




G.W. Pittman in late 1890's

     One of the greatest challenges after migrating to Texas was establishing a life in desolate West Texas.  Chapo traveled there in a covered wagon and joined his father as a dirt farmer.  Having lost all land holdings in Georgia to Reconstruction Taxation and the death of their mother prompted the long and arduous journey to Texas.  G.W. arrived in Ward County, Texas in 1898 at age 55.  His son Chapo followed several years later at age 34 and single.
      The challenges of making a life for oneself as a dirt farmer and being 41 years old in a town where there were few single women, was in itself a challenge.  However, in 1916 Chapo wed 16 year old Estella Carroll in 1916.
     Estella 'Stella' was the daughter of a pioneer widow woman who also arrived in Ward County in a covered wagon with her four children to establish a Homestead.
     Oddly enough, the widow woman herself was two years younger than her son-in-law Chapo. 
     In those days, it was not unheard of for younger women to marry older men especially in areas where there were few single women.


Willard C. Pittman at age 7

      Chapo and Estella had six children between 1917 and 1927.  My Dad was the youngest, and when he was 7 years old his parents divorced.   Perhaps it was the age difference along with the hard living conditions, but for whatever reason she left her 6 children for Chapo to raise.
     Then began perhaps the most significant challenge of Chapo's life...ensuring there would be a next generation.  My father's older sibling sisters helped raise him until they left home to marry.  One older brother joined the Army, leaving Dad and his two years older brother for Chapo to raise.
     Now well into his 60's and more the age of a grandfather than a father, the two boys pretty much raised themselves and became a challenge not only to their aging father, but to their teachers and friends who took to the two boys.
     As soon as he was of age the older brother known as MD joined the Army.  A few years later at age 17, my Dad, Willard, joined the Navy.  Chapo's last child challenge had come to an end.  But his life challenges were not over...they came in the form of grandchildren.  One in particular became his most loved challenge...his grandson, T.W.

Chapo holding grandson T.W. and son Willard C. in 1951

Thank-you Columbus Chappell for taking on the 'Challenges' in your life.

If not for you I would not be me, and one who loves a 'Challenge'.

Scrapbook Anniversary Wish Delivered Via 'The Cloud'

January 6th has always been a date to remember, and for as long as I can remember I've remembered to honor this day in some way.  However, as the years go by specific dates and memories of my parents seem to need a memory boosting hint.  Such was the case today.  It's one of those Sundays that dates and calendars are not on the forefront.  So, I almost missed what would be their 72nd Wedding Anniversary on this day. 

 Theirs is a 'Love Story' I've often told here on CollectInTexas Gal and on Tracks of my Texas Ancestors.  You can read it HERE.  These scrapbook pages are wonderful reminders with photos from Mother's original 1940's scrapbook.  I did a complete restoration of that scrapbook in 2014 to preserve and ensure that her memories would become 'Memories for Generations' to come.

     I'm glad I finally looked at the date today while browsing through files on my PC.  My heart is filled with loving memories of a lifelong loving couple whose marriage continues to be a model for my own.   

     I know you will receive this Anniversary Wish before the days end since it's being delivered straight away right up to 'The Cloud'....no envelope and no stamp...just the click of a 'Publish Button'. 

Happy 72nd Anniversary Mom and Dad in Heaven!