A Witness to History (CoG: There's One in Every Family)

Written for the 100th Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy for the topic, "There's One in Every Family."

     Today, thanks to technology such as radio, television, the internet, cell phones and more, we witness history every day. We instantly know about a new discovery or advancement, a tragic event or one to be celebrated. But in the past the only witnesses to such an event were the people who were actually there. Everyone else would have to wait days, weeks or even months to learn what had happened. Looking back through the family tree, everyone can find someone who was witness to some historical event or movement. In my family tree it's my Great-Great-Great Grandfather, William A Craft, who was in Appomattox, Virginia for surrender of the Confederate Army and the end of the Civil War.

    William joined the Confederate Army in Elbert County, Georgia as a private in the 15th Georgia Infantry Regiment, Company C. He was joined by his brothers, John F and Willis M Craft. According to the National Park Services Civil War Soldier and Sailor System, the 15th was part of the Patomic District and later was part of Benning's Brigade with the Army of Northern Virginia.  This regiment fought in battles such as Chickamauga, Knoxville, Petersburg, Gettysburg and Manassus. According to a short news piece published in the Augusta Chronicle in 1938, William picked up a bible off the battle field at Malvern Hill (Henrico County, VA). The bible has been passed down through the family for generations as a family heirloom (not my line, unfortunately).

     Many families have multiple ancestors who fought in the Civil War, but what stands out about William is how he ended the war. Not only did he make it home after the surrender - but he was at the surrender. Now, I highly doubt that a lowly private was actually anywhere near the big-wig generals or the actual surrender, but he was in Appomattox, Virginia as part of the Army of Northern Virginia. He was among the first to learn of the end of the war. He would have received rations from the union army. He would have received a parole that allowed him to return home to his family. He might have been the first to tell others of the end of the war. William was a witness to history.

Monday Memories - At the Beach

For the 74th edition of Carnival of Genealogy: Swim Suit Edition, my mom provided me with a story about a family vacation, in which she saw the ocean for the first time.

"Ok '64 - so I would have been how old? 10? I turned 10 in August. See, I had the Red swim suit and your Aunt June had the blue swim suit. I they had the little white anchor embroidered down at the hem line. I remember that. We got those right before the trip. Everybody got new swim suits. Lloyd and Larry had matching swim trunks and Roy and Charlie had different ones.

And, the pictures were taken - we were going to Merritt Island, FL to visit my Aunt Katherine and Uncle Milton. Cape Canaveral? Uncle Milton worked at the military base there - I think it was Cape Canaveral. So we were going down there to visit them and they lived on Merritt Island. And it was a long drive by car. So, what mama and daddy did was they fixed up the back seat with pillows and stuff to make it like a little bed back there. 'Cause it was a Ford Galaxy 500. And those were big cars back then, you had big roomy back seats. So what we did was, we left out late at night so that, hopefully, us kids would sleep through the whole trip.

We didn't know about seat belts then. They were not required. There were six kids - there were not six seat belts. And I don't think there were even seat belts. But I think mama told me one time that daddy just pushed them down in the seat.

Now, I do know that we stopped at least one. 'Cause they woke me up to eat fried chicken. And did not like bein' woke up. And then, I think they woke us up at the state line - it might have been the next mornin'. I remember bein' confused 'cause it didn't look any different. And I do remember it was daylight when we finally got to Uncle Milton and Aunt Katherine's.

I don't know how long we stayed, but I do know it took a while - well, I know we kept having to be reminded to shut the door, 'cause she had air conditioning. And we'd never had air conditioning.

I remember when we drove to the beach, I couldn't understand why it took so long to get to the beach 'cause we were already in florida. And we were on an Island! But we had to go over these loooong bridges to get to the beach. And that we the first time I ever saw the island. And we had a wonderful time - except for [your] Grandmama. 'Cause she just kept saying "don't go out over your heads." There were six of us, and she was scared one of us was going to drown.

And I don't know if it was your Uncle Lloyd or your Uncle Larry, but one of them had no fear of the ocean whatsoever. 'Course, I was good and never went out over my head. The other thing I remember about the beach - I mean, about going to Florida was, in the afternoons, you couldn't go outside because the mosquito trucks came by. And that's mostly what I remember. I don't even remember comin' home, I just remember goin' down there and havin' fun."

Shoeless Country Kids

This is a photo of William Barfield and his family: wife, S. Frances Boatright; baby, JB; daughters, Thelma and Ledora; son, Charles.  This photo was probably taken in late 1910. They were a farming family living out in Swainsboro, Emanuel, Georgia.

There are a few reason I really like this photo, one of which is that the children are barefoot.  This is a formal portrait - but the children aren't wearing shoes.  This tells me that they might not have had shoes - or at least, didn't have nice enough shoes for the photo session. Or maybe that was the style?  Who knows.  But for whatever reason, the lack of shoes catches my eye and makes me enjoy this photo even more.

Joyous snowfall

Living in Georgia, we don't get a lot of snow.  I can remember only three snows from my childhood. My Dad grew up in this county (Gwinnett) and my Mom grew up just one county south (DeKalb) - which means they can remember about as many snows from their childhood as I can.  That's why it was special to find some photos from my mom's childhood that show her and her siblings in the snow.

This is a photo of my mom, Ruby, playing in an early 1964 snowfall. I love the expression of joy on her face.  It seems to say "Can you believe this?"

I love her oversized gloves, which were probably put on quickly without thought so that she could go play in the snow right now. I also love her red coat.  What other color coat should a girl named Ruby have?

Another photo from this day features more of my Mom's family.

Everyone is outside, enjoying the snow - including my aunt, who's wearing a skirt.  I think it's very much a sign of the times that even in this weather she's not wearing pants.  It reminds me that my mother was never allowed to wear pants in school.  It wasn't until her last year in high school (1971/2) that she was even allowed to wear pants under her skirt while walking to school. And once at school she would then have to take them off and attend class in a skirt.

So I really love these snow photos. They remind me of the fact that my mother's childhood was both like my own and also entirely different.