A Sunny Day

When I was growing up one of the poems my mother read to us often - especially at this time of year - was Thomas Hood's November - No sun, no moon, no morn, no noon, no proper time of day....

It reflected my feelings for many years, until, one glorious November day our daughter was born.  Funny how one small person can change one's perspective. It's always sunny in November now. In honor of her birthday, here are pictures of her great-grandmothers and namesakes Mary Whitaker and Anna Pereksta.

And one more that I just couldn't resist.  Happy birthday, sweetheart.

The Old North

Bill West has challenged us to find poems or songs that refer to the areas our ancestors lived in his Second Great American Local Poem and Song Genealogy Challenge.  I thought about Rusyn folk songs or hymns, or one of the great folk songs heard in Cocke County that Mildred Haun cataloged in the 1930s.

Then I remembered this poem written by my husband's grandfather. I knew it was the one for this challenge. His aunt gave us a copy when we were visiting for my mother-in-law's 90th birthday earlier this fall. I especially love it at this time of year, as our own leaves fly by.

THE OLD NORTH 

by W. Meredith Smith

Hark! the winter winds are sighing

  Round the memory-haunted tower,

E'en the evergreen is dying.

Hark! the winter winds are sighing

And the last leaves now are flying

  From the treetop and the bower.

Hark! the winter winds are sighing

  Round the memory-haunted tower.

William Meredith Smith (1877-1962) graduated from Georgetown University in 1900. After attending medical school in St. Louis he spent his life practicing medicine in Frederick, Maryland. This poem was published in 1927 in the Georgetown Anthology (Philadelphia: Dorrance & Co.). Old North, one of the oldest buildings on the campus, was built in 1794. George Washington spoke from its steps in 1797 and it marks the north side of the original quadrangle. The clock tower rises over Healy Hall on the east side. It was built shortly before Smith graduated and remains the most identifiable structure at the University.

The tower obviously loomed large in Smith's memory. It was not there when his cousins attended Georgetown College in the 1830s and 40s, nor when his father attended before the Civil War, though Old North was. As one of the few Catholic schools in the area it was a beacon for Smith's family. No school has had more significance in his family's history. At least six members attended Georgetown - including his father, son, and grandson. 

My own father graduated from Georgetown's law school which was a key reason I enrolled there. The photographs were taken September 2, 1979 when William Meredith Smith's grandson and I were married at Dahlgren Chapel in the quadrangle. Old North is the building behind us as we kissed. 

Treasure Chest Thursday: Selling success

My grandfather was a salesman - and a good one, at that. He sold mens clothing most his life. For decades he travelled across the South, writing home and coming home as often as he could. In 1955 and 1956 he was selling the Storrs-Schaefer line. His commission earnings of $5,084.38 compares to $90,700 today. I don't know if this was his commission for the year or season - in which case 1955 was a VERY good year.

The accompanying  letter, written January 16, 1956, on letterhead from Storrs-Schaefer Incorporated of Cincinnati, reads

Mr. Bob Sawyer,
Salesman

Dear Bob:

It is a pleasure to enclose a might good looking sales report showing commission due you of $5,084.38. The necessary deductions are listed on the stub of the check and we are happy to enclose check for $3,422.79, which we know you will put to good use. Our congratulations.
We are receiving some might gratifying comments on the new line and know you are making plans for one of the best Spring seasons you have had. Lots of luck and with kind regards, we are.

                                                            Sincerely yours,

                                                            STORRS-SCHAEFFER, INC.
                                                          
                                                             (Signature)
                                                            A. M. Storrs
AMS:KD
CK ENC.

Later he was part-owner of a men's clothing store in Morristown, TN. He was a very handsome man, but frequently wore clothes kindly described as garish (at least to my adolescent eyes) when he worked. He maintained it was a tried and true sales strategy. He wore the wildest clothes in the store which made his more conservative customers comfortable buying flashier clothes than they might ordinarily have chosen.

Visiting him at work was one of the highlights of going down to Tennessee. We would walk the few blocks down to the store to be greeted and fussed over no end. He would take us next door to the drug store for lunch where we would sit at the soda fountain. We would nibble our sandwich (I remember the egg salad) and sip our soda while he bragged on us.  Our feet would swing from the stools. When we were done he would lift us down, head back to work and we would walk up the hill to the house.

They voted. Did you?

One of my favorite source documents is a copy of an election poll for the House of Burgesses held at the Lancaster County (VA) Court House on July 18, 1758. Included in the list of voters for the winning candidates (William Ball & Charles Carter) are many ancestors and relations. A generation later their children fought for independence. 

On August 7, 1826 my husband's 4th great-grandfather William A. Clark(e), who emigrated to the United States shortly after its independence, voted at the court house in Springfield, Illinois. 

My great great-grandfather Archibald Sawyer(s) was a registered voter in Jefferson County, Tennessee on July 19, 1865. He had moved his family further into the mountains to try and escape the violence of the Civil War. It is not clear that he actually voted. 

But this morning I did.  

Amanuensis Monday: Day Nursery Opens

Thanks to John at Transylvanian Dutch for providing a framework (and nudge) for transcribing family records, news clippings and other treasures.

This is an excerpt from the "Connie's Corner - Odds and Ends", Morristown (TN) Gazette and Mail, April 4, 1946.  The column was written by Connie Haun, who was married to my first cousin, once removed.

Coming in like a breath of sunshine on Thursday were Betty Jo Bales and her three guests from Mary Baldwin, who were down to spend a grand week-end at Chucky Bend. They had reached Morristown on that early morning train that comes in from the east with the break of dawn, but to look at them you would never have known that any in the foursome had ever lost a wink of sleep.

__________

Mrs. L. W. Vandergriff is filling a much-needed want in Morristown by the opening of a day nursery where busy or working mothers may find a safe place to leave their children while they carry on necessary duties. Mrs. Vandergriff has actual experience in this work, since she was with a big nursery in Chicago, while her husband was in college there. She has fitted rooms in her new home on West Main street where the children may be happy and carefree as they play or occupy themselves in useful and interesting games. In this time of limited household help, such a nursery will prove a boon to busy mothers.