Last night's rain

Actually I took these a few nights ago, when the sun came out and gave us a lovely double rainbow.

But today is market day in Black Mountain, so I'm glad the rain has gone, though the sun isn't out yet.  It's so nice and cool at night in the mountains.

I'm taking some more pottery over and will bring home some that didn't sell last week.  It would be nice to never have to bring it home, wouldn't it?  Oh well, that's the way of markets these days.

The Volunteer appreciation party at church was well attended, though not as well as I hoped. We were inside rather than on our lawn.  I should list everyone who helped make our Trillium Festival and yard sale so effective.  Never doubt what a group of committed people can do, which I think was first said by Margaret Mead.  I sure appreciated all their work.

Long hair

For this week's Sepia Saturday, we have a "long haired maiden" to inspire us.

Come over to see what other folks have thought their archives might be somehow linked to this photo...HERE.  Check out the names at the bottom of that page, as well as some interesting comments...and please, add your own old pics that might (or might not) be on theme.  (Notice, next week there's an open theme.  I hope you'll join us!)

In the early 80s my son Marty had long hair, as did his younger brother, Russ (on swing).  Towheaded guy with head turned away is their cousin, with much shorter hair.

But wait, long haired children existed waaaay back.  Here's my father as a child.  He was born in 1914, but I have no idea how old he was here.  2-3 years maybe? 

..

And I may not have really long hair, but here's a pic of it being flung around...as well as Marty's long locks in the foreground.  At that point my sister had longer hair than I did, and she was holding my baby, Tai, who was practically bald before he was one.

My long hair when I was around 38.  Tai had blond curls, and it didn't get much longer than depicted here when he was 3 or 4, at least while he lived with me!

Here's Tai's big brother, Russ, when he was in 3rd grade in the 70s.  

Sorry this is so faded, but this is Russ when he was around 4, also with long blond curly locks.

William,  (son of Marty) has enjoyed long hair off and on (more on than off) for many of our visits.  Of course I've had the fun of playing with colors in my hair, as this shows my 2011 red era.

My ex-husband had a time when he wore a headband to keep his long hair out of his eyes, can you say 70s?  I don't have a picture of that.

Cayenne, my oldest granddaughter, shows off her learners permit, so she is going to be driving all over the place soon.  Her hair is generally about this long.

My other 3 granddaughters' hairs are sometimes long, but never extreme.  Audrey wears her's tucked back for gymnastics.  Caroline has wonderful brown hair which is also pinned back in prep for her recorder concert.  Kate's was pinned up special for her part in a cousin's wedding. 

Cousins as flower girl and ring boy in wedding

  And their parents, Russ and Michelle, are pretty conservative in hairstyles these days. (Note, ring boy is their nephew.)  Do scroll back to see Russ' curly blond locks shown eating watermelon!

Barbara's hair is pretty long today, but has become so thin that I always wear it braided or pinned up in one way or another.   Unless I'm primping for my new mirror.

The Gibbs connection

 Hiram Gibbs (1785 - 1844)
  Sabra Ann Wilbourn Gibbs (1792 - 1864)
parents of Lucinda Benson Gibbs Rogers (Luci) SOURCE: Texas Find a Grave

	1818 Texas, USA
Death:	1884 Walker County Texas, USA

 children:
William Sandford Rogers*
  George W Rogers*

siblings:
Jasper Gibbs (1810 - 1877)**
  Thomas Gibbs (1812 - 1872)*
  Mary Ann Gibbs Canfield (1814 - 1864)*
  Lucinda Benson Gibbs Rogers (1818 - 1884)
  Sandford Gibbs (1819 - 1886)**
  Angeline Gibbs (1822 - 1846)*
  Hiram Gibbs (1829 - 1869)*

*Calculated relationship
**Half-sibling

Inscription: Dau of Hiram Gibbs & Sabra Wilbourn Gibbs Note: Married George Rogers 14 Sept 1848

Burial: Oakwood Cemetery Huntsville Walker County Texas, USA ======================================= Lucinda's brother: Dr. Jaspar Gibbs: Birth:  Jun. 2, 1810 Union County South Carolina, USA Death:  Aug. 20, 1877 Gibsland, Louisiana was name after Jasper Gibbs, the spelling of Gibsland was spelled wrong. Family links:  Parents:   Sabra Ann Wilbourn Gibbs (1792 - 1864)  Spouses:   Sallie Candler Gibbs (1839 - 1926)   Laura Jane Drake Gibbs (1821 - 1855)*  Children:   Harvey Newton Gibbs (1840 - 1861)*   Annie Gibbs Meador (1868 - 1922)*   Jasper Kate Gibbs Smith (1877 - ____)*  Siblings:   Jasper Gibbs (1810 - 1877)   Thomas Gibbs (1812 - 1872)*   Mary Ann Gibbs Canfield (1814 - 1864)*   Lucinda Benson Gibbs Rogers (1818 - 1884)*   Sandford Gibbs (1819 - 1886)*   Angeline Gibbs (1822 - 1846)*   Hiram Gibbs (1829 - 1869)* *Calculated relationship Inscription: Born at Union Dist, SC Burial: Mexia City Cemetery Mexia Limestone County Texas, USA Plot: Section D

====================
Lucinda's mother
Sabra Ann Wilbourn Gibbs

Birth:	1792 Union County South Carolina, USA
Death:	Jun. 26, 1864 Walker County Texas, USA
Sabra married Hiram Gibbs in Union County South Carolina in 1809. Father was Elijah Wilbourn Family links:  Spouse:   Hiram Gibbs (1785 - 1844)  Children:   Jasper Gibbs (1810 - 1877)*   Thomas Gibbs (1812 - 1872)*   Mary Ann Gibbs Canfield (1814 - 1864)*   Lucinda Benson Gibbs Rogers (1818 - 1884)*   Sandford Gibbs (1819 - 1886)*   Angeline Gibbs (1822 - 1846)*   Hiram Gibbs (1829 - 1869)* *Calculated relationship Inscription: Mother of Jasper, Thomas, Mary Ann, Lucinda B, Sandford, Hiram Note: Husband Hiram 1785 S. C. 1844 Panola Co Miss
Burial: Oakwood Cemetery Huntsville Walker County Texas, USA

--- ------------------------------------------------
father of Lucinda:
Hiram Gibbs

Birth:

1785 Union County South Carolina, USA

Death:

1844 Panola County Mississippi, USA

Family links:  Parents:   James Gibbs (1740 - 1794)   Anne Barnett Gibbs (1740 - 1831)  Spouse:   Sabra Ann Wilbourn Gibbs (1792 - 1864)*  Children:   Thomas Gibbs (1812 - 1872)*   Mary Ann Gibbs Canfield (1814 - 1864)*   Lucinda Benson Gibbs Rogers (1818 - 1884)*   Angeline Gibbs (1822 - 1846)*   Hiram Gibbs (1829 - 1869)*  Sibling:   Zachariah Gibbs (1772 - 1814)*   Hiram Gibbs (1785 - 1844) ==================================

Father of Hiram Gibbs: James Gibbs

Birth:	1740 Orange County Virginia, USA
Death:	Aug. 7, 1794 Union County South Carolina, USA
James married Anne "Ann' Johnson Barnett, on July 8, 1771, in Orange Co VA. She married a William Johnson in 1770, who must have died that first years of their marriage. They are buried in their old family garden, at the Gibbs Cemetery. Today, this place is known as the "C. T. S. Wilburn home place", Mrs Wilburn was the Gr-Gr Grand daughter of James Gibbs. James & Ann had 9 known children: Zachariah, John, Ambrose, James, Hiram, Agatha, Susan, Mary and Anna. Some are buried at the Gibbs Cemetery. He was the son of John Gibbs Esq. of Middlesex Co VA, and Susanne Phillipe. It has been said, that his father died in 1770 in Charleston SC, his mother died in Spartanburg Co SC about 1786. James moved from VA to NC and SC, they arrived in Union Co SC, then Old 96th district, before the Revolutionary War, building their first home near the Lower Fairforest Baptist Church. His father had recieved a land grant of 500 acres on Fairforest Creek in 1768. James received a grant of 640 acres on the Fairforest in 1772. James left a will SPT Book 1, p.34, book 2, p.43 and book C, p.251. He left his son Zachariah as administrator, and names his liviing children in the Will. James was a Revolutionary War Veteran, having served a total of 481 days in; 1778, 1779, 1780, he is also listed as serving 10 days in 1782. This was in the SC Archives No. 79, 1006/8, Bk 26, DAR Patriot Index, Vol II p.82. I have not determined a Unit Name he served with, however, most of the Union Co Patriots were in Col Thomas Branhon's unit. Family links:  Spouse:   Anne Barnett Gibbs (1740 - 1831)  Children:   Zachariah Gibbs (1772 - 1814)*   Hiram Gibbs (1785 - 1844)* *Calculated relationship
Burial: Gibbs Cemetery Union County South Carolina, USA ------------------------------------------------------

More history:
Anne Barnett Gibbs, Hiram's mother:

Birth:	Nov. 30, 1740 Orange County Virginia, USA
Death:	May 23, 1831 Union County South Carolina, USA
Anne married James Gibbs, on July 8, 1771, in Orange Co VA. She married a William Johnson in 1770, who must have died that first years of their marriage. It has been said Anne's parents were John & Marron [Unknown last name?] Barnett, and has been suggested that Marron was a Gibbs, however, at this time, there is no proof or evidence supporting the suggested claim. A sister of Anne's, Frances Barnett married Lt Col Henry White of the Spartanburg and Union Co SC area. James & Ann had 9 known children: Virginia. Children include: Zachariah Gibbs 1772-1818 John Gibbs 1773-1852 Ambrose Gibbs 1777-1835 Agatha Gibbs 1777-1848 James Gibbs, Jr 1781/83-1816 Hiram Gibbs 1785-1844 Susannah Gibbs 1779-Unkn Mary Gibbs Anna Gibbs Family links:  Spouse:   James Gibbs (1740 - 1794)*  Children:   Zachariah Gibbs (1772 - 1814)*   Hiram Gibbs (1785 - 1844)* *Calculated relationship
Burial: Gibbs Cemetery Union County South Carolina, USA						----------------

--------------------- Lucinda's brother, Thomas Gibbs, married Geo Roger's sister, Nancy Teresa Rogers Gibbs, burried also in Oakwood Cem in Tex. Birth: Nov. 7, 1826 Sevier County Tennessee, USA Death: Aug. 18, 1856 Walker County Texas, USA Family links: Parents: Micajah C Rogers (1795 - 1873) Cynthia O. Cannon Rogers (1800 - 1855) Spouse: Thomas Gibbs (1812 - 1872)* Children: Infant Daughter Gibbs (1849 - 1849)* Minerva Ann Gibbs (1856 - 1893)* Sibling: Nancy Teresa Rogers Gibbs (1826 - 1856) E L Rogers (1829 - 1850)* *Calculated relationship Inscription: Aged 29 Ys 8 Mos 11 Days Note: Married Thomas Gibbs 14th Dec 1847 Burial: Oakwood Cemetery Huntsville Walker County Texas, USA

 ----------------------------------------- E. L. Rogers was Geo W. Rogers brother, buried in plot in Walker Cnty Tx Birth: Feb. 12, 1829 Sevierville Sevier County Tennessee, USA Death: Oct. 16, 1850 Huntsville Walker County Texas, USA Family links: Parents: Micajah C Rogers (1795 - 1873) Cynthia O. Cannon Rogers (1800 - 1855) Sibling: Nancy Teresa Rogers Gibbs (1826 - 1856)* E L Rogers (1829 - 1850) *Calculated relationship Inscription: Aged 21 Years 8 Months and 4 Days Note: East Tennessee Burial: Oakwood Cemetery Huntsville Walker County Texas, USA

----------------------------------------

Got involved in parents that I just discovered: Richardson Rountree is where I've quit for tonight.!
This post is more for information that I can come back to, rather than having all the dribs and drabs over on Ancestry or Texas Find a Grave.  I also copied lots of photos of ancestors graves which I'll add to this post.

Giving birth

Fifty years ago today I gave birth to my first son.

Barbara expecting, near upstairs apartment in Corpus Christi, Texas

It was horrible...though I'd definitely been looking forward to the experience.  Horror was being in a Naval Air Station hospital, without anyone near me who I knew.  It included being among a huge number of women also in labor, such that I was on a gurney in a dark hallway alone much of the time.  I had my first ever enema experience, and didn't know that I should have waited in the bathroom longer, so ended up wallowing out of the gurney with sides raised and not getting back to the toilet in time.  Major apologies to the young male aide who mopped for me.  Remember NAS meant everyone around me was in the Navy.

Then I was given drugs.  I had never had any drugs, even aspirin, in my whole life.  Well, maybe in my year since leaving home, I'd tried aspirin at least.  But I didn't have any idea what was happening.  At some point I was shaved down there.  My young Coast Guard husband was somewhere else, and I had relied upon him since we married, almost entirely.

Doug, Corpus Christi, Texas

Labor was intense enough that I was in that hallway around 4 pm.  I honestly didn't see or hear anything until being asked to move to the delivery table a bit past midnight.  I saw the clock on the wall.  That was what their drugs did to me.  Maybe I endured a lot of pain, or maybe I was the one shouting as I didn't endure labor.  I knew the next day I was hoarse, and people around me said I was the one screaming.  I do remember complaining to the doctors asking me to get on the delivery table "but you're making me sit on my baby's head."

I lay back, raised my feet as commanded into the stirrups, and looked for a mirroring surface so I might see the baby emerge.  Good thing I couldn't find one, because they had to use forceps.  This left a little bump on the side of my precious little one's head for the first week of his life.  They did tell me it would go away.  And it did.

I also remember I had what was called a saddle block.  (Boy the horsemen sure were with me that night, stirrups, saddle block!)  So when the doctor said now is time to push, I laughed and asked how...I could no longer feel a thing.  If I wasn't giddy with the drugs I'm sure I could have figured it out.

Little Marty

I remember having my pre-natal checkups in the same hospital.  We pregnant women would all line up and receive our little cups for urine samples, which we took turns depositing in the one bathroom.  I now wonder exactly what they were looking for in our pee.  I guess something might have been evident if it was wrong.  Then we'd undress and be draped, on a table with only curtains separating us from the next woman.  We'd be probed, measured, and baby's heart listened to.  And that was it, for months on end, then every week.

So fifty years ago, I finally had my baby.  A few days in the hospital, and my parents and sister visited when we went home...they lived half a continent away.  Other cousins and Great Aunts came also to visit.  I felt like such a queen, having given birth and having a healthy child.  My dear husband was on leave for a few days, then went back on his cutter.

Grandmother giving Marty soothing lullaby

First grandchild for both sides of the families

Sure it took 2 or more adults to give that little squirming guy a bath!

And into the bliss of first time young motherhood came the disaster.  I'll not talk about that today, but closer to the anniversary when my son was 4 weeks old. 

Techno break

zzzzz
out in the real world for a few days.

Vista searching

Big holiday weekend coming up, next Monday being Memorial Day.

Lots of tourists will be visiting our area...and are welcome.  But if I wanted to see any vistas on the Blue Ridge, I'd better do it yesterday.  I did share the road already, with about 30 Harley Davidsons.

This overlook was nicely deserted.  The next one I tried was full of Harleys and had no room for me.

Right after the motorcycles left the tunnel, this lone bicycler came out, and I bet his ears had been deluged by the sound of all those motors!

I had luckily gone through the tunnel alone, put camera up in windshield for a moment, then pulled over to look at a small cascade and some wildflowers.  So glad I didn't back up all those motorcycles as I slowly wound down the Parkway.

Come over to my other blog, Living in Black Mountain for more of my vistas pursuits. 

Head in the clouds

I commented to another blogger a day or so ago how much I like driving through mountains, because you can come round a bend, or over a hill and there's a sudden vista available.  Breath taking.

I love that.

But if I'm just driving to the grocery store, sometime there's a surprise up in the heights as well.

The rolling of clouds coming down the side of the Blue Ridge Parkway is amazing, so I pulled into a parking lot to try to capture it.

Two more stop lights and I was able to see this change.  When I got home I could have stood outside for another 5 minutes and felt that cold breeze brush over me...but I took the groceries in the house instead.  There's breath taking, and there's mundane.

School days

For our Sepia Saturday meme, this week we get to share school pictures.  Mmm, not those awful ones of year books, thank you very much!

Photo from: Flickr Commons collection of the State Archives of North Carolina

So come over HERE to see what other Sepians have been inspired to post (scroll to bottom of that page where names are listed for links to their posts).  You are welcome to post your own blog on- (or maybe off-) theme and list your link as well!  The girls in the photo were captured in 1917.  That's the year my mother was born.  My photos are a bit more recent!  Sharing some of the family photos of my youth again.

These were taken of the campus of Principia, in St. Louis, MO in about 1953.  My father was a bit proud of his Studebaker.  Top photo shows the girls dorm, with the gym over to the left side.  Next photo (on right) shows car with the Upper School in the background.  And the lower photo shows my sister and myself (the tall one in matching Easter Outfits) in front of the Administration Building.

I mentioned this campus a few weeks ago, HERE, and talked about my high school years a bit.  As you can see we were a bit younger than that when we started school there.  Actually my sister was about 4 I think, and I had just turned 8 when I entered 3rd grade.  I had no other school experience besides Principia until my sophomore year of college, when I attended William and Mary for summer school.  Then I quit college completely my spring quarter of my junior year of college.  That's when my adult life actually started.

Alexander John Swasey

Happy birthday to an ancestor, who would have been 161 years old today.

Writing says "Alexander John Swasey, the father of Ada and Stella Swasey" Possibly photographed around 1890.

Born in 1853 in South Carolina.  I just discovered new information about his mother.  Her name on his death certificate is listed as Mrs. Tylstra.  More records indicate she was Fannie or Anna J. Tylstra born in Tallahassee, FL.  In the 1910 census A. J. Swasey gave her name as Tilson, from Tallahassee, born in 1810.  The information I just got on Ancestry gives her birth year as 1815, but still Tallahassee.

His father, Captain Alexander Swasey, had his birthday last month and was born in 1812, and I posted a lot about him in the past as he was a Confederate Blockaid Runner.  His birthday link is HERE.

My father's mother's father, Alexander John Swasey (I'm calling him A.J.) was born in Charleston, SC according to his death certificate.  I just discovered he had 3 older sisters, born in 1840, 41, and 49, all born in Florida.  There isn't much information about any of them.

A.J. had various clerical and bookkeeping and sales jobs.  In 1884 he is listed as a Collector in the Rosenberg Bank in Galveston Texas city directory.  His wife's cousin Chauncey G. Sweet is listed with the same occupation, and their residence is listed as the same address at that time.  Many of my Swasey and Phillips ancestors apparently lived together around the corner from each other.

He married Zulieka Granger Phillips in 1882 when he was 29.  She had been an orphan raised in the homes of her mother's sister's families in Galveston, Texas during the Civil War and following.  I don't know how A.J. got to Galveston, TX from Charleston, SC where he was born.  That's where his father died in 1866, following imprisonment during the war.  But the first verifiable record of his being in Galveston is in 1884.

My grandmother, Ada Phillips Swasey lived with her parents until her marriage to George Rogers in Galveston in 1905, a ceremony which was held in their home.


In 1907, A.J. and his wife  moved to Houston TX  and he was a bookkeeper for Kirby Lumber.
By 1910 he was listed as an accountant at that lumber company, with their home on Main Street.

They lived in an apartment called The Savoy in Houston while in 1911, and he was a clerk for an oil company. They are listed in the Houston Directory at the same address until his death from heart failure in 1913.  His wife's cousin Chauncey Sweet took his remains back to Galveston to be buried probably.  Chauncey signed the death certificate Oct. 4, 1913, which lists his occupation as a salesman, to be buried on Oct. 5.

Blogs I like

blogs are the best!
Come over to another one of mine to find out what I've been reading about!
If your blog isn't listed, please let me know, or make your own recommendations...
Thanks

Beaches

Whether with friends or family, I've always been drawn to beaches (or water that's available to play in of any kind).

Winter beach with good friend at sunset, Meher Baba Center, Myrtle Beach, SC 2011

The minute my car drives over an inland waterway, the windows are rolled down to smell the sea air, which often is tidal flats with salt and fishy smell.  I love it. (Note: All along the Atlantic coast in the US, there's an Inland Waterway, with many many draw bridges for sail boats to pass under.)

Another sunset, my granddaughters wade in the inland waterway

A couple of years ago, all three of my sons, and 5 out of 6 of my grandchildren, met with one daughter-in-law and one daughter-partner in Florida.  The Atlantic was in one of her kind and smooth moods.  All the better for the littlest children.

Kate and Michelle in background while Russ and Marty pose for a "selfie."

Florida beaches are inundated with condos

And fortunately Michelle's mom loaned hers to her family for the center of our festivities.

Somebody got the guys matching shirts...Russ, Will, Tai and Marty at the pool

Come over to see other posts referring to older photos of beaches at Sepia Saturday this week HERE!  I was lazy and didn't look deep into my archives this time.  I'm sure my childhood photos of beaches will come out some other time.