I'm In...2019 AtoZ Challenge

It's official.  Signed Up.  Posted Badge.  Have Theme.  Made Banner.  Lost My Mind.

 

WordlessWed...Bustin' A Fabric Stash

52 Weeks Challenge-Week 13...Liberty Bond Paid In Full

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

Week 13  ~ prompt ~ In The News

~click on pictures to enlarge and read articles~

  Your Family and Country are forever grateful for your sacrifice for our Freedom.

You are remembered in the Pittman Family Tree my 1st cousin 2x removed. 

**Daniel - Cobb County Times August 15, 1918 Memorial Service Held for Daniel W. Pittman
Many Attend Services at Macland on Sunday in Honor of First Cobb County Boy To Die in France.  Last Sunday morning at eleven o'clock, hundreds of Cobb county citizens gathered at the Methodist church at Macland to attend the memorial services I honor of Daniel Weyman Pittman, the first Cobb county boy to be killed in action in France.
    The little church was filled to overflowing when Rev. Frank Jenkins, the pastor, began his memorial address, which pulsated the sympathy for the bereaved and loyal friends to our government in this crisis.  Mr. Watson of Dallas, rendered some special music for the occasion.  Daniel Weyman Pittman was the son of Isaac M. Pittman, one of the best known citizens of that community.  Young Pittman was a graduate of the Seventh District A and M College of Macland, and had many friends throughout that section of the county.

 

52 Weeks Challenge...6 Sons & 6 Daughters=12 Twigs To Family Tree

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

Week 12  ~ prompt ~ 12

Marley Brothers

Sons of Elisha S. and Mary J. Marley

Brothers of Great Grandmother Martha J. Marley Carroll

      As with most large families of the late 1800's and early 1900's it was not unusual to have 12 or more children.  Certainly there was no test to reveal the gender of a child before it's birth. 

     Imagine my 2x great grandfather's pleasure at the delivery of  his sons, "Thank you Lord for another namesake son and farm hand.  My 2x great grandmother, on the other hand, was obviously thankful for having a supply of hand-me-down suits and grateful for her five daughters to help with laundry and cooking for her hearty boys.

     I am thankful for this photo of my 2x Great Uncles from my Great Grandmothers Photo Album for the Branch and Twigs it added to my Dad's maternal family tree.

Pittman Sisters

Daughters of William H. and Louisa Walker Pittman

Nieces of Great Grandfather George W. Pittman

     William Howell Pittman was a Veteran of the Civil War serving as a Lieutenant in the Georgia First Regiment Infantry.  He and my Great Grandfather George Washington were Volunteer Soliders in the Confederacy, and after the War the Veteran Brothers headed West.  Both found their way to West Texas.  George Washington settled in Ward County where the Sixth Generation of his decendents reside today.  William Howell settled in Eastland County where he and Louisa raised Six Daughters.

     This 'Branch and Twigs' on my Dad's paternal family tree produced a plethora of research information dating back to Colonial America and the Revolutionary War.  It revealed the incredible journey of my Pittman ancestors' settlement in Georgia after the Revolution through the Civil War and their migration West to Texas and New Mexico.

     These 6 sons and 6 daughters and their descendants have made a Family Tree filled with  more Cousin Twigs and Leaves than I will ever be able to count.

 

WordlessWed...First Day of Spring Blooms

Sepia Saturday 461...Let's Dance

     Back in the day...1965...we contorted our bodies to do all kinds of arm flaying, leg bending, torso twisting and head bobbing...and called it dancing.
     The Twist!  Now in Texas it was not unfamiliar except it had an 'er' added and instead of putting on Cubby Checker's 45rpm we ran for the cellar. 
     Come On, Baby, Do the Loco-Motion.  My cowboy Dad said that was just Loco, and reminded him of a bucking bronco he once had named 'Loco'. 
      Mashed Potato Time !  Seriously, who didn't love mashed potatoes!  They were a stable at our supper table along with a skillet of fried chicken dripping gravy. 
     Moving on...literally...I can't repeat what my Dad said about the Watusi, the Monkey and the Jerk.  All of which I learned and practiced with American Bandstand streaming through our Rabbit Ears antenna and black and white Motorola.  So Groovy...The Dance Styles of the 1960's...take a look on You Tube.

And at these photos from my 1965 Senior Prom 

I know...right...everyone dancing the Monkey

....except my Typing teacher and her husband the Principal.

So Old School Rockers.

It's 'The Senior Prom'!

Tradition dictates the basketball court be draped in crepe paper with a tinsel spinning chandelier.

Tradition again....Prom Pictures in the living room. 

That all important Prom Dress dated not only by the ruffled styled skirt

 but by the Lamp Shade of the day.

Some of us bucked the traditional ruffles, miles of netting and layers of sateen for red velvet classic Audrey Hepurn formal with white elbow length gloves.  Wasn't my date handsome in his match to my red with bowtie, cumberband and boutonniere?  Such great memories and ones we got to relive at our 50th Class Reunion.

  A few changes in 50 years.  Me with less hair and him with more, and both of us with specs.

BTW...he was my date for one memory filled night and friend for life.

My dance partner for life? The first guy in the living room photo!

Here we are...dancing the Cowboy 2 Step...at our granddaughters wedding.

A little later in the evening we danced the 'Funky Chicken'.

Thankfully...no pictures!
Linked to Sepia Saturday 461...Dance on Over!!!
PS...The Hitchhiker was a dance my Dad had the biggest rant about.
 He said, "Sue, DO NOT EVER pick up a Hitchhiker!"

52 Ancestors Challenge...Week 11...Zipity-Do-Da Zilpha's Tribe

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

Week 11  ~ prompt ~ Large Family

      Like most Colonial American families, my 5x great grandparents had what we call today a 'bunch of kids' who in turn had 'bunches of kids'.  In the process of researching and analyzing the lifestyle of these early ancestors, I've come to a few ideas why kids were 'cheaper by the dozen or more'.
     First, more workers for both farm and home.  Boys to plow and harvest and girls to spin, sew, bake, babysit and everything else.  Secondly...what else was there to do when it was dark-thirty, candles were conserved, lamps were blown out and kids were put to bed when the sun went down. Lastly, there was the tradition of naming children after paternal's and maternal's times two, favorite relatives and famous people.  
     Of their twelve children, daughter number seven appears to be the only child given a really uncommon name.  Their other children  had relatively simple and traditional names like Martha, Grace, Timothy, and Lucy...so how and why Zilpha?
     As I looked down the list, I noticed several of their children had names found in the Bible like John, Sarah, and Mary.  I had never heard of a Zilpha in the Bible, but I gave it a 'Google' and BINGO...EUREKA...ZILPHA!!!
      Zilpha was the handmaid of Leah and the concubine of Jacob.  Her sons Gad and Asher were the founders of two of the twelve tribes of Israel.  It is Hebrew in origin and means dropping or sprinkling.
     Now I know that John and Mary were not of Hebrew descent, and perhaps they could not come up with another girls name so to the Bible they went.  We've all done it, ya know....the closed eyes and stab a finger to a verse and the first name that pops up is the one.  Can you imagine their hesitation?  I'm sure I would have said, "Once more...for heavens sake".

      Zilpha was born January 16, 1762 in Amelia, Virginia.  She was a young girl during the American Revolution.  Her father and brothers were soldiers and Virginia Patriots.  Zilpha was with her mother when the Tories raided their home and threw Mary Polly off the porch leaving her with a broken hip and a cripple for the rest of her life.
      Zilpha's first marriage was to Blanton Nobles from Edgefield County, South Carolina, with one child, a son, Theodore, born to the marriage.  She is named as Zilpha Nobles in her father John's will written and sealed on April 19, 1782 which casts some doubt on the date of her second marriage to Simon Peacock and puts into perspective the following account of Blanton Nobles.
      In 1780, Blanton Nobles, age 18, was listed in the service of Loyalist Colonel John Fisher's Regiment, Orangeburgh Militia, under the command of Captain Joseph Nobles Company.  Captain Nobles was killed in action that same year leaving his son Joshua and nephew (?) Blanton without their leader.  The following year in September 1781, Blanton and Joshua defected from the Loyalists Ninety-Six Brigade/Stevensen's Creek Militia of South Carolina over to the rebels also known as the Sons of Liberty, of which Zilpha's father John and brothers Buckner, John, James and Phillip were active members.
      After the birth of their son Theodore, Blanton disappeared...according to Nobles Family History documentation.  It is thought that he re-invented himself as Beland Nobles and started a new life in Orangeburgh, South Carolina.  Dates are not included here as they are highly speculative and in direct conflict with dates from the Pittman Family history that are historically documented and correct. 
     In summary, it is probable that Zilpha and Blanton were married sometime in 1781 after his defection from from the Loyalist.  The birth and subsequent history of their son Theodore is not documented in Zilpha's  history...unless...he became Barnabas T. Peacock born in 1782.
      Zilpha and Simon Peacock had 10 sons and 4 daughters.  The last child, son Washington born in 1801 would have been just two years old when his mother died at the age of 41.  Simon lived until 1831 and died in Wayne County, North Carolina at the age of  78.  He and Zilpha Pittman Peacock are the Patriarch/Matriarch's of a long and well documented line of Peacock descendants in North and South Carolina. 
     When Zilpha married in 1782 at twenty years of age, I imagine she had thoughts of at least getting a new last name with a different letter of the alphabet other than 'P'.  But, no....it was not to be...she  married Simon Peacock.  Her initials remained the same...ZIP.

     As it turned out Zilpha's parents were prophetic in the naming of their seventh daughter.

Like her namesake, whose sons became the founders of Two Tribes of Israel,

 Zilpha's sons became the founders of Ten Tribes of Peacocks.

Of Zilpha's and Simon's fourteen children two of them

 had names that started with Z...Zadock and Zilpha.
Bible Naming history repeated!!!    

Bless their Zipity-Do-Da Hearts! 

Sepia Saturday 460...Porches and Readers

Sepia Saturday 460 ...If ever there was a screened in porch as big as the prompt porch in my file of family porch photos, my Mother must have been sitting (not reclining) there reading.  Since she was the eye behind all of the pictures there are no screened in porch pictures.
       There are however, a few porches that serve as backgrounds like this one of my Dad and Dan. 
"Golden horses - that's what they call the palominos. And palominos have quite a history. You know, the history of my own palomino began right here at this ranch.  If I hadn't-a gone through that gate a few years back, I'd never have gotten my pal, Trigger."  Roy Rodgers, My Pal Trigger (1946).
     My Dad could have just as well spoken those words and been Roy Rodgers' double.  He and Roy had a lot in common beginning with their love of Palomino's.
      Their origin can be traced back to the Crusades and were often the choice of steed for many royal leaders.  Queen Isabella of Spain was so captivated by the Palomino's golden beauty, she wanted them to live on, breed and spread throughout the New World.
     From Mexico to Texas and throughout the Southwest the Palomino was the Native American Indian's choice of a mount for hunting and traveling.

     Not so much a porch, but more a stoop, Mother stood me there for what I can only imagine was a back to school day.
     In 1957, Saddle Oxfords were the trend in the ugliest, longest lasting shoes mother's could buy to put on a knobby knees, big foot ten year old. Notice, too, the rolled down Bobbie Socks.
     Then there was new jumper dress hot off her Singer sewing machine.  If anything was store bought it would have been the puff sleeved, Peter Pan collared blouse.
     I sure hope the wind was blowing and my hairdo was not a ponytail stuck on the side of my head.  It was also a back to school tradition to get a Toni perm rolled on the smallest rods made and always over processed. 
     Come to think of it...the wind was probably not blowing.  That wad of hair on the side was an attempt to hide the frizzed hair.
    
     As I mentioned, my Mother was a reader.  We didn't have a lot of what I would call Classic Literature reading material at home.
      More like the newspaper, paperback novels and westerns...Zane Grey was my Dad's favorite author. 
     Even at 35 cents, Better Homes and Gardens would have been a luxury coffee table piece of literature in 1959. 
     I can just imagine my Mother's gasp of shock at my paying $5 for this copy to add to my collection of Magazine Ephemera.

     When I came across Better Homes and Garden's  'Feature' book review of recently published books in 1959, I was surprised by several of the titles. 
Doctor Zhivago ,Charlotte's Web and The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters. 
     As I read the 'Feature', I was struck by the timelessness of these words written in 1959..."The great ease with which books are turned out these days, for all that might be said for it, imposes on the casual reader an almost insurmountable task of selection.
     Not so long ago, a man had time to read most of those volumes that pleased him, or at least the ones his salary could afford.  Today, with a busier society and a more exhaustive and inexpensive choice, he has trouble keeping up with the reviews, let alone the books to which they lead."
      I am only 56 years late in reading Gordon Greer's Review of Doctor Zhivago, Charlotte's Web and The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters, but read them I did.  About Doctor Zhivago he wrote...Boris Pasternak, the latest Nobel award winner, was kept from making an acceptance speech when the Soviet Government forced him to reject the prize.  A partly autobiographical, largely disenchanted study of Russia during the author's lifetime, Doctor Zhivago represents one man's willingness to stand up and be counted.  It is not an easy book.  It is a good one, though, written with great eloquence, and deserves everyone's attention.
     I wholeheartedly agree with Greer's review on Doctor Zhivago...it was not easy.  I won't read it again, but I may download The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters.  Greer describes it as a robust novel of a journey from Kentucky to California taken in 1849 by Sardius McPheeters and his 14 year old son Jamie.  Right down my history reading alley!!!

FYI...The Travels of Jamie McPheeters in 1959...$4.50   Today on Amazon Kindle $14.39/paperback $21.69.  I am on my way to the public library.  I'd rather turn pages! 

How about you?

Read any good books lately?

52 Ancestors Challenge...Week 10...Assumed Bachelor Uncle

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

Week 10  ~ prompt ~ Bachelor Uncle

The Missing Life of Jeptha

Born in 1787. Died in 1864. That is all. There's not one record of anything inbetween for John and Lucy's fourth son, brother of Ichabod, Marshall and John.  Not a scrap of information that he was even on the roll of the early census when the count was determined by the number of  Free White Males living in a household.

At the time of his death at age 77, Jeptha surely would have been buried near someone in his family even if he had never married or fathered any children.  He was one of nine children....five younger than he, and with many nieces and nephews who as family tradition dictated took care of old uncles.

Gone But Not Forgotten for old Jeptha, did not seem to be written on any tombstone, either.  Instead it seems he was 'Gone and Forgotten' for his name does not appear in any of the cemeteries that were the final resting places of his family.  There are several that bare his family name and Mount Carmel Methodist Church Cemetery where his parents are buried on land donated by his brother Daniel for the church and cemetery.

So for Jeptha, we will have to be satisfied knowing that his early years were lived much like his brothers, and he grew up with the same values and good intentions for living a Christian life with the idea that he too would marry, have children and grandchildren and be buried in a family plot.  Most likely all of that did happen for Jeptha.  However, there is always the possibility that a completely unforeseen turn of events sent him down a different path...at least at the end of his life.  It was, afterall, during the Civil War.

The one bit of information that hints at the possibility of his death being related somehow to the Civil War is the place of his death....Whitfield County, Georgia.  Whitfield was a hotbed of  skirmishes  in 1864 from January through October, and Whitfield organized almost 20 outfits of Infantry, Volunteer and Guard Units.  Even at age 77 Jeptha could have been in one of the Home Guard Units or a Volunteer fighter at the Battle of Buzzards Roost or the Battle of Nickajack Gap.  Perhaps one day, another scrap of information will be found, and the missing life of Jeptha will be found.  Until then...

Rest In Peace, Uncle Jeptha in your virtual cemetery beside your parents at Mount Carmel.

You may be Gone but You are Not Forgotten in Tracks of My Georgia Ancestors...for as I continue to say....

"Every person in your Family Tree is 'Significant In Time' for there is no such thing as a life not meant for the person living it."

Your 4th Great niece from Texas

WordlessWed...On The Porch