Dad Remembers the Atlanta Crackers

     It can be hard to get family stories out of my dad; I can't really ask him specific questions, rather, he has to share his stories as the memories come to him.  The other day, while we were watching the Atlanta Braves get stomped by the San Francisco Giants, he threw this tidbit out:

"I remember going to an Atlanta Crackers game once."

     For those of you (all of you?) not in the know, the Crackers were Atlanta's minor league team in the first half of the 20th century, before the arrival of the major league Atlanta Braves (formerly of Milwaukee).

     Dad couldn't give me much more information, except that he was young enough to mostly just remember enough to remember that he went, that they were playing at their own stadium, Ponce de Leon Park (as opposed to Atlanta-Fulton County, where they played their final year), that he got lost and was fussed at, and that he went with a kids' team, likely his older brother Gary's.

     When it's all typed up and combined with information I can find online about the team and Ponce de Leon Park Stadium, it actually fills out a pretty good picture.  Based on what I've found out, he would have attended sometime between 1960 and 1964, when he was 9 years old.  And every time I hear a story like this, it gives me one more connection to a place and time in history.

     I mean, just imagine this little boy enjoying his first game of professional baseball:

Original Artwork

     My mom and my brother are both amazing artists. Mom worked for years as an artist for Bellsouth's Real Yellow Pages and my brother, Allen, works on a locally published comic book series, Galaxy Man.

     My brother recently posted some of his sketches on Facebook. I responded by scanning what we consider his first "real drawing" and posting that. It's interesting to see how far he's come, as well as the story behind it. First, his art:

    In response to the crayon drawing I posted, mom shared the story behind it:

"Hey! This is your first ever serious drawing of Superman! Before that you had me drawing him for you. Remember how I told you needed to draw him yourself and that the more you practiced the better you would get.You came back a little later with this drawing. It is fantastic! I was so proud of you. I still am!"

     Art is such a part of my brother's life. It makes me wonder: what if mom hadn't told him to do his own drawing of Superman?  And what if I hadn't posted the drawing on Facebook? I wouldn't know the story behind the art.

William Barfield's Burial

     I have spent numerous hours searching for a death certificate for William Barfield, my Great-Great Grandfather. I don't know who his father was and hoped that this document would provide the information. He died in Emanuel County, Georgia in 1924, five years after death certificates became mandatory.  I'd searched for his death certificate in multiple indexes and browsed microfilm records for certificates around that date, but could not find his record.  I started to think that he had died out of state, but a "Card of Thanks" in the local newspaper from his wife indicated that he died a illness at home. Finally, a family reunion provided me with an answer.

     I was talking to Shirley, a granddaughter of William Barfield. She told me this story: William Barfield died at home. His family built a coffin for him, a simple wooden box. They took him down to the Hawhammock Church Cemetery on a horse drawn wagon and had his funeral. They didn't hire a mortician or funeral home, but did things the old fashioned way.  It appears that the family either didn't know about the recently instituted laws requiring death certificates, or else they didn't care.

     So there's no death certificate; I can stop looking. Unfortunately, I'm no closer to finding William's father. 

Ceramics Lessons

     My Grandmother was an artist, working in many mediums (read/listen to my mom talk about it in detail here). What I remember the most is her skill in painting ceramics. Below are a few examples of her work:



     I remember going with her to a ceramics show once. She often entered her pieces into contests, taking home blue ribbons, as seen below. I'm not sure if it's this event that I remember or another one.

     I remember being very impressed by the competition and everyone's art. I wanted to be able to do that! After the show, Grandmama let us pick a few pieces from her vast collection of un-painted pieces. Here's what I ended up creating:

     Hey, I was kid. I'm not sure how old... somewhere around seven or eight I think. These pieces are now two very cherished possessions that allow me to feel a deeper connection with my grandmother. I might not have continued to paint, but I can look back fondly on these memories.

Interviewing the Aunts, Pt 1 - Amanuensis Monday

     This is short video from last Friday's interview with my paternal Aunts, June and Charlotte. In this segment, they talk about where the family lived when they were children, as well as some of the amenities they did - and did not - have. If you have any trouble understanding what they're saying, I've posted a transcript below the video.

Charlotte: The reason is, we lived on the line, the county line. 

Valerie: Ok

Charlotte: And I think the house was half and half. And the bedroom half was in Hart County [Georgia]. Somethin' about - like that. So my birth had to be registered in Hart County. 

Valerie: Ok

Charlotte: But we actually lived in the Rock Branch Community down in Elberton. And, always, we lived several different places. Like, we lived - uh, like when I was born it was only a two room house. We lived in several little two room houses that Daddy [Thomas Craft] rented. And then Daddy started renting the farm from Uncle Claude, and then eventually bought it. 

Valerie: Oh, ok.

Charlotte: But he didn't own it long before he sold it and he - we moved to Stone Mountain [Georgia]. When I was seven [1948] And - and it was me and June and Wayne then. And uh, uh... So I remember when we lived in the house with Aunt Frances [Craft Adams].

Valerie: Ok

Charlotte: It was a big house and she - they lived in half and we lived in half. 'Cause I gave everybody measles and chicken pox. 

Valerie: [laughing]

Charlotte: All the kids. And uh, uh... So, lets see, there was at that time - like I said there was three of us and Aunt Frances -  I think she had three at that time.  But yeah, it - you know - And I remember we lived in the house with them and then we moved to what you call a shotgun house. Just a little long house. It was a little bit bigger than two rooms. Um, then we moved from there - I don't remember what  - June won't probably remember what road that was on. We moved there to Huff - what was then Huff Road, which has since been renamed to somethin' else. 

Valerie: Oh, ok.

Charlotte: And, and we lived on Huff Road 'til I was in eighth grade. I was 13 I think. 12 or 13. 13. And we moved to Tucker [Georgia].

Valerie: Ok.

Charlotte: 'Cause Mama and Daddy promised - they - we knew what they were lookin' for a house. I mean, we lived in this house... uh, it... when we moved there we had no water. Daddy had - Daddy would take big trash cans - the big metal cans - and go up to the store and fill 'em up with water. Then Papi [maternal grandfather, Nathan Britt] built-dug a well in between us and the neighbors so we could both use it. And then eventually we got running cold water into the kitchen of the house. But we had no bathrooms.

Valerie: And this is on Huff Road?

Charlotte: Huff Road.

Valerie: Ok

Charlotte: June! What's Huff Road called now?

June: Spring Vally I think it is...

Valerie: Spring Vally?

June: Yeah

Charlotte: And all we had was...

June: Somethin' Vally

Charlotte: All we had was a path up the hill to the outhouse. 

June: Yeah

Charlotte: So I was 13 and June was 11 before we had a house with, with an inside bathroom when we moved to Tucker. 

June: Mama was pregnant with Kenny...

Valerie: Ok, ok.

June: ...when we moved to Tucker.  

Charlotte: Yeah, he was born in - when we lived in Tucker. I think she went back to Stone Mountain to have him though.

June: Yeah, she did.

Valerie: He, he said he was born in a hospital. 

June: Uh-hu

Charlotte: Yeah, the little white hospital up on the hill then. 

June: No, uh - the only time I remember me and Charlotte fussin' about who was goin' to wash dishes was the day we got runnin' water in the kitchen. You remember that? 

Monday Memories - Baby Jack

     My Grandmama had this photo of her Uncle Jack Waters:







     My Grandmama had this story of this photo of her Uncle Jack Waters:

Jack did not want to have cooperate for this photo. Jack would not smile for the camera. Jack did like money. They gave Jack money to play with. Jack smiled for the camera.

"The Oral History Workshop" by Cynthia Hart with Lisa Sampson

I always keep an eye on the genealogy reference section at the local bookstores for interesting new offerings. A little bit ago, I noticed The Oral History Workshop by Cynthia Hart with Lisa Sampson. As a genealogist, interviews are a great way to obtain family history stories and information, so I've been interesting in this book. Today, I finally decided to buy it and I would recommend it to any genealogist or family historian.

The book is organized into advise and tips for before, during and after the interview. The book includes great tips for preparation, including how to make yourself and your interviewee comfortable, different ways to record the interview and the pros and cons of those techniques, ways to keep the interview ethical, and even tips for self-interviewing. Next up, the book includes a large amount of interview questions for just about any situation. From the generic to the very specific, I found a large number of question ideas that were new to me and made we want to grab my recorder and find someone to interview. Finally, this book will also help you to figure out what to do with all the information that you'll collect, from storage and backup copies to indexing and editing to creating books.

The authors obviously have diverse experience with interviewing and have great tips to share. They've organized the book very well and I especially loved the charts filled with quick reference information, such as "recording 101" and "the terrific twenty [questions]" and "a few of their favorite things." Overall, the book is written in an easy style and great tone that makes the book flow seamlessly.

As someone who has done a good number of interviews with family members, I found that this book still offered a lot of great information to offer. After reading it, I asked my mom a few of the questions and got great responses. I even got some information out of my dad, who is makes an interview like pulling teeth. It turns out that, although the only thing he had to say about his wedding was "We went down to the courthouse and got married," he still remembers the exact outfit that my mom wore (which was not a white dress).  I'm looking forward to trying out more of the tips and interview questions from this book in the future.

This book is available from Amazon.com for $10.36 or from BN.com for $11.07.

Monday Memories - Halloween - Mom's Memories

Monday Memories - Dinner Time, pt 1

This is an audio story from Mom, about her memories of dinner growing up. It surprised me what simple meals they ate.

Fixin' Up Bunny

When I was a kid (around 10 years old?) my Grandmama made me and some of my cousins stuffed dolls. I got a stuffed rabbit. Being a kid, I named her Bunny. She was very pretty, with a green dress (my favorite!). I remember displaying her on the end of my bed during the day and cuddling with her at night. She was a very handy doll to cry on when I was upset.

Over the years, her condition became.... less than desirable. Mom took her, saying she'd fix it up. I didn't see Bunny for years. Recently, I asked about her and my mom pulled her out of her room, where she'd left her. This photo does not do justice to the dirt she was covered in:

But, a little "surgery" to close up that chest wound and a bath can do wonders...

But, as you can see, she was still missing an arm. Now, over a year later, mom found the arm! Bunny sure looks happy to have her arm back! Now they just need to be sewn back on! Also - where'd her dress go?

Monday Memories - Mom's Jobs

Remembering the Moon Landing

On 21 July 1969, man walked on the moon. It's one of those moments that stand out in history and that will be remembered by the millions who watched the event live on television. My parents both remember watching the event when they were young teens. Here's what they remember:

(audio may not display in blog readers)

Randomness

I've decided to make biographical "This Is Your Live" scrapbooks for each of my parents. In order to do this I'm asking lots of questions about their childhood and early lives (which is just one more excuse - I'd do this anyway). One random tidbit I learned today about my dad:

When he was 15 years old he bought his own rifle: a Marlin .22 (probably a Model 60). He used this gun to hunt squirrels in the undeveloped land around his home. He gave to squirrels to the neighbors to eat, having tried them once and not liking them. He calls them rodents with furry tails.

Today, I shoot squirrels with my Nikon D40x

Monday Memories - Touching Heads

Story from Mom about my sister and I as babies.

Transcription:

"When I was talkin' about y'all - y'all entertained each other. Y'all also, uh - they had - they had told me that I could put y'all in the same crib until y'all started movin' around. But, y'all were just like, almost immediately, you know, like within a - whenever I brought you home from the hospital I'd put y'all in the little bassinet downstairs. Well, it was - it was more like a portable crib. And y'all would scoot around until your heads would touch. So it's like, I could put y'all on opposite ends, but y'all would just scoot towards each other until y'all found each other.

So, y'all were really pretty uh - I guess from, um, all the pushing and shoving that y'all did before y'all were born, y'all were - y'all were used to being close together and that the way y'all liked to be. So, I've actually got a picture of you, whenever y'all hadn't been home.. yeah maybe, prob'ly the first day y'all were home. And y'all were downstairs and y'all had already scooted till - till your little heads would just touch. Like y'all would just be, you know. And then y'all would be fine. Then you'd just lay there and sleep and everything. But y'all always liked to be close to each other.

And at night, at night when y'all first came home - I was tryin' to breast feed you so I was the only one who could take care of you at night - And uh, y'all did real good 'cause one of you would, uh - you would wake up right after I got through feedin' the other one. Y'all didn't wake up at the same time. Y'all sorta did the shift thing really well. So, that was really nice. And y'all slept through the night early too. So... Probably 'cause I was so exhausted taking care of both of you, it was hard to wake me up. No, y'all - y'all did real good. Y'all enjoyed, um, bein' together, always."

Tracking Grandaddy

My Grandaddy, Roy Albea Sr., was born in Greenwood County, South Carolina in 1926. His parents were mill workers and Roy started working in the mills as well when he was a young teen.

The family moved around a lot, going from mill to mill. My Grandaddy said that they spent only weeks or days at one location before moving on to another. He would often come home from work or school to find the family's bags packed and everyone ready to move on. Once, his father came up to him at work saying, "Let's go, Roy - we quit."

My Grandaddy picked up this habit of moving around for himself, which can make him a bit hard to track. His parents, C Vernon and Auline (Witt) Albea divorced around 1945, with Auline moving to Atlanta with her unmarried children, including Roy. But Roy didn't stay put. In 1947 he was back in South Carolina - in Greenville, where he married my Grandmama, Betty Huyler. For the next few years they continued to move around, from job to job, until Betty put her foot down and demanded a permanent home.

With census being taken only every 10 years (and only available up to 1930) this family can be hard to track. I'm fortunate that these family members tended to stay in metro areas: Atlanta and Greenville. I'm then able to track their movements through city directories. I recently found Roy and his parents in Greenville City Directories.

Here, he's shown in 1946/47 as a utility-man working at Brandon Mills. He's living on Osteen Street, which is part of the Brandon Mill Village (I know this from Google Maps and having visited the area). Above him is, possibly, his father, working at Woodside Mills (check the front of the directory for abbreviations!).

Thanks to these directories I've completed a better image of my Grandaddy's movements and have been able to estimate his parent's divorce and track his movements:

• 1945 - 302 Glenwood av SE, Atlanta, Fulton, GA
• 1946/47 - Osteen St, Greenwood, Greenwood, SC
• 1950 - 400 Whitehall SW, Atlanta, Fulton, GA
• 1953 - 714 Shelton av SW, Atlanta, Fulton, GA
• 1955 - 1177 Moreland av, Atlanta, Fulton, GA
• 1956 - 1177 Moreland av, Atlanta, Fulton, GA
• 1960 - 500 Amal Dr, Apt 1, Atlanta, Fulton, GA
• 1962 - 500 Amal Dr, Apt 1, Atlanta, Fulton, GA
• 1963 - 2925 Thompson Cir, Decatur, Dekalb, GA
• 1964 - 3542 Larkspur Ter, Decatur, DeKalb, GA
• 1965 - 3542 Larkspur Ter, Decatur, DeKalb, GA

It is important to note that these listings are not foolproof and are prone to error, just like any other document. For example, my mother and aunt believe that the 1962 listing is incorrect and that the family already lived at their 1963 listing by late 1960.

Regardless of possible errors like these, I still really love city directories as genealogy resources.

Monday Memories - Betty (and not) working

Monday Memories - Easter memories

Monday Memories

Around the end of elementary school, I'd collected a few documents and pieces of memorabilia that I thought were important enough to save. I put these things into a shoebox and stored it under my bed. In the years since then, the box has moved around a bit, but it remained intact. At this point, it's something of a time capsule. I opened it today and here are somethings that I found. (click to view a larger image in a new window)

This is a ticket from an NHRA Drag-race that our family went to in 1996. My Dad likes to attend the Friday trials because they were less crowded.

After almost drowning during a daycare trip to the pool, our mom enrolled my sister and me in a swim class. I remember attending with another girl from the daycare. We were 8 years old and learning to swim along with babies.

A postcard from my mom when she went to Puerto Rico. This was the first time she'd left the continental US and flown on a plane.

This is a luggage tag from a 5th grade field trip to Hunstville Space Camp in Alabama. As far as I know, this was the first time I'd left Georgia.

In 5th grade, Sarah and I participated in 4-H. We both did presentations on computers in their competition. We decided we wanted to do it the day before it was scheduled and, needless to say, didn't win. We participated a second time at their Rock Eagle location.

I think this was 5th grade too. I participated in a puppet play for art class. I played and endangered sea turtle. My sister was enlisted at the last moment to play "the net." It was a play about endangered animals and pollution.

Other items in my "time capsule" include: My braces, a Field Day t-shirt, the last published Calvin & Hobbs comic, a Six Flags over GA map, a Valentines Day card from my Dad, and an Atlanta Braves Keychain.

(belated) Monday Memory - Albea Birthdays

Transcription to be updated later. This is a memory from my mom about how birthdays were celebrated when she was a child.

Superstitions

Me:

Did you have any family superstitions?

Mom:

Yes and No. Like, we had the bread and butter thing. And um, bread & butter is where you're walking with someone and something comes between you you say bread and butter. Like you walk between a pole or something. I asked my mom [Betty Huyler Albea] one time she did that and she said that you've let something come between you symbolically and you could have an argument by the end of the day. but by saying that you've sorta smoothed it over.

The other one that I knew we weren't supposed to do - and it was a superstition - was we weren't supposed to open an umbrella in the house. Grandmama didn't really believe that, but it was a superstition. She also said you don't put a hat on the bed or break a mirror. She didn't really believe that you would have seven years bad luck, but she didn't want to break a mirror.

I never remember your Grandaddy [Roy Albea] saying anything about superstitions. I think Grandmama - his mom - was superstitious, but I don't think he was.

I'm not a died-in-the-wool supersitius person, but I do believe in avoiding certain things. It's like, don't press your luck. Your Grandmama would say, "The best insurance is to have insurance."

.