Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Harper-Swann Photographs

These photos were given to me by my grandfather, Otis Franklin Swann, in 1986.  Some of the photos, well over 100 years in age, originally belonged to Julia Swann Mahone and were given to my grandfather by her grandson, Otis Hammock.  Some were his.  I have attempted to make a permanent record of these photos for future generations.  Since they are so old, they are fading and becoming brittle.  Some have a form of mildew on them that was caused by improper storage through the years.  You can see these little "spots" in the scanned images.  The original photos must be kept in a controlled atmosphere in archival safe containers.  Humidity and light are their worst enemies. 

Genealogy of Heirlooms

Definition:  heirloom
1.  : a piece of property that descends to the heir as an inseparable part of an inheritance of real property
2.  : something of special value handed on from one generation to another
3.  : a horticultural variety that has survived for several generations usually due to the efforts of private individuals


Often our most interesting family stories come from the history we learn and pass on along with a specific heirloom.  Enjoy the following stories about such treasures. Add any of your own you would like to share. 

JOHN AUGUSTUS THOMAS DESK

September Birthdays

Each month you will be introduced to some of your ancestors.  They will be listed in the month of their birth date.  Along with vital statistics, I will add personal stories I have been told and/or ones of my own as I have been fortunate to have personally known them.  Please add your stories here too.






Daddy Swann
01 Sep 1891 - OTIS FRANKLIN SWANN, SR. -Otis was my grandfather (Daddy Swann).  He was the youngest of eleven children born to Matilda Green HARPER and William Wilson SWANN in Conyers, Rockdale County, Georgia.  He married Eddye Mae LOYD and they had three children:  Frances, Mary Elizabeth, and Otis, Jr.
        Daddy Swann loved to tell stories of the family and I remember once he told me that when he was a young boy, he was walking down the road with his aunt.  She stopped and said to him, “Otis, look up in the sky.  I think one day trains will drive across the sky carrying a lot of people from one place to the other.”  He said he thought she was crazy!  Then he chuckled and added, “She really wasn’t crazy—look at the way people travel in the sky every day in airplanes!”

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

A Genealogy Moment

          Last week I located a connection to my Harper line. My great-grandmother was Matilda Green Harper (married to William Wilson Swann). The youngest of their eleven children (and my grandfather) was Otis Franklin Swann, Sr.  Matilda was the daughter of Edward Harper and Nancy Townsend.  She had a brother (David Casselton Harper, Sr.) who moved to Texas where he lived with his family until he died in 1922.

          While researching the Harper family, I found the obituary for David's grandson (Thomas Ewell Hunt Sr).  I searched the online phone book and found a telephone number listed in his name.  I called and a very nice lady (Irene Hunt) answered the phone.  She was the widow of Thomas Ewell Hunt.  We enjoyed a nice chat and she told me she would pass my name and telephone number on to her sister-in-law Sara (wife of Harold Eugene Hunt).

          The very next day, Sara called and told me she was also working on the family genealogy.  Over the next few days, we swapped information and photos.  She sent me 32 new photos of the Harpers (I love photos) to add to approximately 100 studio photos of the Swann and Harper lines that Daddy Swann gave to me before he died.