Treasure Chest Thursday: Button, Button ...

I've got the button! And then some. One of my strongest memories as a girl was playing with my mother's button box. It contained hundreds of buttons - big and small, old and new. As a little girl I would sort, stack, string, - or just run my fingers through and rattle them. I loved the feel and sound of them. When I was home sick, and Mother wanted to distract me from whatever ailed me, she would bring out special buttons - a wool covered one from her first tailored blazer, rhinestone studded ones from prom dresses, buttons from her father's dress shirts - and tell me a story.

Over the years we raided the box for chips when playing cards, to replace lost board game pieces, to use as money for doll hospitals or frontier villages in the yard. The sparkly ones were dress up jewelry strung on pipe cleaners for rings or string for necklaces. Some appeared on Halloween costumes, both mine and my children's. A few even ended up on clothes.

Wordless Wednesday: R.J. Williams c. 1888

Reese Jackson Williams (1862-1940)

This image is undated but believed to have been taken around the time of his marriage in 1888. It was most likely take at a studio in Johnson City, TN where he was living. The image is a digital reproduction of a scanned copy made in the 1990s. The location of the original photograph is unknown.

Source:  Reese Jackson Williams, Scanned reproduction, c. 1888. Digital Image.  Privately held by Nolichucky Roots [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE], 1999.

Amanuensis Monday: Palmer Family Record

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

This is the first transcription of a document from the papers of Maria Lee Palmer Smith (1844-1931), my husband's great-grandmother.  It is an undated record of her parent's family in Maria Lee's handwriting.  Punctuation, format and spelling are retained from the original, though line breaks have been altered.

James A Palmer and Margaret M. Meredith of Lancaster County – Va. were married the 16^th day of May 1842 by the Rev. John B. Randamne (sp?) at the Eutaw House Baltimore Md.

                        “                                                “

An infant girl born dead  In April 1843 at 1 o’clock of Margaret M. and James A. Palmer.

Maria Lee second daughter of Margaret M. and Jas. A. Palmer born Saturday the 9^th day of March 184x4.

                                    __

John Thomas Armstead son of James A and Margaret M. Palmer born Wednesday the 21^st day of Jan – 1846 –

Died on the 14^th day of December 1847 James A. Palmer youngest son of Col Armstead J. Palmer

Died on the 21^st of July 1889 at Clifton Lancaster Co. Va Margaret M. Palmer aged 65 years –

____________

Note: This document includes the first references I have seen to another child (the stillborn daughter), to "Thomas" as another given name for Maria Lee's brother, and to the description of her father as the "youngest son".  The last is of particular interest, since all the records I have seen to-date give no clues to any other children, something I have found puzzling.  Since her grandfather's will names only the one son, perhaps other children died before adulthood.

Church Record Sunday: Sinking Creek Baptist Church (Carter County, TN)

 Some rights reserved by dmott9

During 1930s the Federal government’s Works Progress Administration (WPA) transcribed historical records. One project (#465-44-3-445) in Carter County, TN was to transcribe the records of Sinking Creek Baptist Church, founded about 1775. The 1783 log church still stands on the property. The WPA transcribed records dating from 13 Jan 1787 to 1879.  The records have been grouped into one volume and published by Mountain Press.

Sinking Creek was in Washington County when the records begin.  Carter County was formed on Apr. 9, 1796.

The WPA transcription of Record Book II – (A) (dated Apr 13, 1794 -Feb 1803) includes the following references that pertain to the Mulkey and Hampton families  (names searched for were Mulkey, Hampton, Eton/Acton, Baylis, Lacey, Howard, O’dell) or to probable slaves living in the area:

• On Apr. 13, 1794 the church is “Under the care of the Revd Mr. Jonathan Mulkey”. (p. 1 original document)

• On the same day the minutes note that Hannah Hays and Sarah Mulkey were issued Letters of Dismission. Sarah Mulkey’s name is crossed out. (p. 2 original document)

• On June 15, 1794 “a negroe woman named Jane Recd. under Recommendation at Sinking Creek Meeting House”. (p. 2 original document)

• On July 12, 1794 “Read by the Revd Mr. Jonathan Mulkey, the Minutes of the association held at Cedar Creek on the fourth Saturday in May”. (p. 3 original document)

• On Sept. 6, 1794 “a charge was had & Laid in against Mary Odle … & She appeared Criminale, the Church therefore thought her worthy of Excommunication, & the Said Mary Odl has agree’d not to Blame this Church JC”. (pp. 4-5 original document)

• On Sept. 6, 1794 “The Church agrees to Cite James Edin to Church Meeting at Sinking Creek the Second Saturday in October….” (p. 5 original document)

• On Dec. 13, 1794 “The Deacons for the Church of Christ at the Buffaloe Ridge met at the House of Joseph Crouch….
… agreed to Choose a Moderator for this Church, when the Revd Brother Jonathan Mulkey was unanimously chosen JC.” (pp. 5-7 original document)

• On Jan. 18, 1797 “The Church … doeth Excommunicate John Carr on Sartain Chargis Lade in by the Church at the fork of Little which is these 1st he is Gilty of persuadeing a Negro to Run a way from his Master By his own Confestion ….” (p. 15 original document)

• An undated list of “Money Collected for the Contingency of the Church by Deacon Hendrix” is included on pages 17-19 and includes the name of Sister Ecton. She paid 9 pence. (p. 18 original document)

• On Mar. 18, 1797 a list of payments made includes Phillomon Lacey and Elizb Ecton. Lacy paid 6 pence. Ecton paid 1 shilling 6 pence. (p. 26 original document)

No further records were found.

Sorting Saturday: What not to keep

I am trying - really, really trying - to sort through the boxes of stuff that have been parked in my basement and back bedroom for the last decade (at least). This is not a project that plays to my strengths. Rather it  involves every known weakness I (and apparently half my genetic fore-bearers) possess.  Lack of organizational skills, lack of self-discipline, total disinterest in actually finishing anything - except dessert.

And these piles and boxes are the stuff of science fiction. They reproduce - almost as if they're filled with rabbits. I used to wonder how, but I have stumbled upon a clue. Apparently they read. Those clever boxes have absorbed the knowledge from these 1936 & 1947 health brochures tucked in one of the boxes and are putting that know how into practice.

Of course, the real mystery is why my grandmother kept them and why I am having the worst time throwing them away.