On the Up Side

Yesterday I wrote about my disappointment with Ancestry.com's census substitutes. They provide limited information about an even more limited segment of the population. But my criticism does not mean that I don't appreciate the database for what it does provide.

Although most of my relatives are not covered in these census substitutes, others are. For example, Greenville, South Carolina is well represented in the city directories. Many of my SC ancestors moved here to work in the mills.

In the 1948 Greenville City directory I found my grandparents, Roy & Betty Huyler Albea. They had been married in Greenville in February of 1947. This directory shows my grandparents during their first year of marriage. Roy was working as a spooler at Brandon Mills. The couple was listed as "r10 Woodward," which indicates that they roomed at this location.

According to my mom, her parents first lived with Roy's sister and her husband, Tootsie and Doyle Clary. A quick look at the back of the book's address listing confirms that Doyle Clary was registered as the head of the household at 10 Woodward.

This information is for 1948 - a year when no national census took place. Without this directory, I would not know the couple's address for this time period. Based on library visits to view Atlanta city directories, I know that by 1950 Roy & Betty had settled in Atlanta at a Hotel owned by Roy's mother and step-father. Using Ancestry's collection, I see that the Clary's remained at 10 Woodward.

I hope that Ancestry.com continues to expand their city directory information so that other researchers will be able use these census substitutes. They really are a valuable resource.

Found: A Cousin in a Yearbook

I've finally found success with Ancestry.com's U.S. School Yearbook's database. I've searched this database before with no success, but today I noticed it was "updated." So, I decided to see if I could find anything of interest to me. I started browsing and saw that there were two yearbooks listed for Greenville, Greenville, SC in a time span that would apply to my mom's cousins.

So I searched for my 1st cousins, once removed, and had success with the younger one. I found "Cousin Jim" quite quickly - though I didn't recognize him. I called mom over and she verified that the boy in the photo was her cousin. He's pictured as a sophomore in his class photo and again with his football team. (I also learned from my mom that my older cousin did not attend high school in Greenville, so I stopped looking for him there.)

(Wade Hampton High School Yearbook - 1976. Vol. 16, (Greenville, SC), Pg 216.)

A Sign of the Times

Searching City Directories from Greenville, Greenville, SC, I found my Great-Aunt and Uncle, F. N. "Tootsie" (Albea) and Doyle L. Clary in a number of volumes. In the 1943-44 volume I saw that Uncle Doyle's occupation had changed. In previous years, he had been listed as a worker at Brandon Mill, but now his occupation was "USA" (though his wife did still work for Brandon).

I showed the listing to my mom, who immediately said that it must stand for United States Army! She then pointed out others on the page listed with "USN" (Navy). I checked my files and, sure enough, Uncle Doyle joined the Army on 6 Oct 1942 at Fort Jackson in Columbia, SC.

I then noticed how very many men in the directory had USA, USN or USMC listed as their occupation. With WWII well under way at this point, it makes sense that so many men would be in the military - but it's another thing to look through a city directory and see the names of those men (and women). So many! It really shows how many folks were affected by the war and makes me wonder how life in this town was affected. I wonder how a person might feel to be looking through the directory and see their spouse's name listed with there own, while they were actually half-way around the world. It makes me sad to think of it.

In the abbreviations section, the different military abbreviations are listed, though I imagine no one would have needed to look up these particular abbreviations at the time!

Also, under "U" (United States Government), interested individuals could find out where to sign up for their military unit of choice and find the listing of the local Army Air Force Base.

And proof of World War II wasn't limited just to official government and civilian listing. Throughout the directory, there was proof of the war effort in advertisements. Patriotism was at an all time high, and you could "take a direct part in building the defenses of your country" by purchasing War Bonds, "needed so urgently for Victory."

Images and information from Hill’s Greenville (Greenville County, SC) City Directory 1943-1944, Hill Directory Co., Inc., Richmond, VA., Ancestry.com

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.

New Links, Obits, and Clues

Thanks to Saturday Night Genealogy fun over at Genea-Musings, Greta's Genealogy Blog posted a list of her top genealogy sites, which included the Greenville SC Library Obituary Index. I haven't been to this website in years and was unaware of this index. I have a good amount of family in this area and was excited to hear about this.

I searched for surname, Albea, and up came my results. There were 7 results, 6 of which I knew were part of my family tree. The index provided me with their name, obituary publication date, and page number. But I don't live in Greenville and don't have access to the Greenville News microfilm. However, a quick search on RAoGK showed that there are quite a few researchers doing obit lookups in the county. I picked one and sent them the information I'd found. Within 24 hours (so fast!) I had the three obituaries that I had requested.

I was very excited about one in particular, for William A. Albea. William is one of my brick walls. I have some suspicions on who his parents are, but no proof. Thanks to his obituary, I now know the names of three of his siblings that I hadn't known before! Hopefully this will prove helpful in my research.

We have a pack of negatives from my maternal grandparents side. Today I scanned them and reversed the images. They came out really well. The only thing: I don't know who these people are!

The package is marked Globe Photo Service, Greenville, SC. The customer's name looks like Paul Hand. It's written in pencil, and the photos are probably from the 40's, so it's hard to tell for sure. Here are some of the photos, let me know if you recognize them!

My Great-Uncle, Doyle Clary, passed away on 19 January 2008. His obituary:

The Greenville News: 01-21-2008
“Doyle L. Clary
Greenville

Doyle L. Clary, 86, of Greenville, died at his home on January 19, 2008, following an extended illness.

Born in Greenville, he was the husband of Frances Albea Clary and a son of the late Shuman Luke and Mattie Allison Clary.

He was a member of Brandon Baptist Church for 51 years, where he served as a deacon and the director of the Joy Group. He was employed by Brandon Mill for 41 years and Brandon Baptist Church for 15 years. He was a volunteer with the Woodside Crisis Center.

Mr. Clary was affiliated with the Southern Textile Tournament for 50 years and the ASA Umpire Association for 40 years. He was a US Army Veteran, having served in World War II.

Surviving in addition to his loving wife of 66 years are two daughters, Linda M. Pannell of Greenwood, Tracey Ligon and her husband, Richard, of Greenville; a son, Ray Clary and his wife, Sandra, of Easley; 11 grandchildren; 13 great-grandchildren; and three great-great-grandchildren.

Mr. Clary was predeceased by three brothers and a sister.

Visitation will be at 6-7:30 p.m., Monday, January 21, 2008, at Thomas McAfee Funeral Home, Northwest.

Funeral Services will be at 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday, January 22, 2008, at the funeral home, with burial in Graceland West Cemetery.

Reverend Wilton Maxwell and Reverend Clyde Wright will be in charge of the service.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Brandon Baptist Church, 16 Calder Street, Greenville, SC 29611.

The family will be at the home at -----.”