Sunday, January 21, 2007


Top: Four generations: the man standing on the left is my mother's father. His father is seated. The man on the right is mom's brother and the baby is his first-born son. That son is someone I have only seen about twice in my life. He is about 10 years older than I am, so this photo was taken around 1931-2, I think.

My mother's father was a farmer, with cattle, sheep, pigs, chickens and a full complement of crops. He also taught school in a one-room schoolhouse; most of his children were his pupils at some point.

The 2nd time I saw that baby, I was about 26 or 27, back home visiting my family with my first child. This guy was visiting from California, and the main thing I remember was his description of the last earthquake he experienced. He said he and his wife were in bed early one morning, and he heard one of his children screaming in fright. When he jumped out of bed to run down the hall, the floor of the hallway began to heave and he said it looked like waves rolling on shore from the ocean. He compared it to the fun house at the state fair, or walking on an old swinging bridge that someone is violently shaking. (Note to self: ask Californians how they can risk going through that?)


Second pic: The policeman is another of my mother's brothers, with his family. That young boy was killed in a motorcycle accident when I was 5 (1946) and some of you may remember reading the post where I talked about him. His daughter was sort of on the fringes of the family for years, and she was another person I hardly knew. He was already divorced from this wife by the time I was born, so I barely knew her either.




3rd: this cute little guy is the son of the man standing on the right in the top pic, and younger brother to the baby. I found his obit in my hometown paper 2 weeks ago. He was 63. I had not seen him or his brothers since my father's funeral.












This is Hawk's Nest State Park Overlook, in southern West Virginia. This pic was taken sometime in the 1930's. This park was little more than an hour away from my hometown, and my parents used to drive there on Sunday afternoons at least twice a year. Somewhere I have some more recent photos of this view, and it might be nice to see what changes have occurred.
Here is a more recent photo of Hawk's Nest:
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19 comments:

utenzi said...

It's a weird thing for me to read about a baby picture and also in the same sentence hear about his obituary, Judy. I get the same feeling when I see some of the pictures of my Mom's relatives from when she was a child. I don't react like that with adults, only pictures of babies and small kids. It's like somewhere inside of me I can't seem to understand that they'll grow up and die. Weird.

Michele sent me to see you, and your maternal relatives, Judy.

Pat said...

MTL's father was a policeman. That little boy in plus fours - how sad he was killed. Yes do try and find a photo of the park - it looks stunning - to compare.

Jamie Dawn said...

I love old photos. I like to imagine the people in them, even if I don't know a thing about them.

I lived most of my life in CA. I grew up in Fremont, CA and felt several earthquakes over the years.
It's exciting and scary at the same time.
Californians are more frightened of tornadoes than quakes.

Anonymous said...

very interesting post!!
I have to say the recent picture of the river!!
:-D

amarkonmywall said...

Okay, Judy. I would like a photograph- of all your boxes and albums of photographs. I can't even imagine the size of the photo library ou possess. And the history that you have to accompany all of these pictures is just amazing. I'm starting to build your family tree in my head from these posts- and it has many branches!

sage said...

i love these old photos, but they do bring back good and sad memories. I've been to Hawk's Nest, it's cleaned up a lot since then.

Raggedy said...

I just loved the picture of Hawks nest.
I still think all the old photos are great! I am glad you knew who all of these pictures were of. I am sorry that one of them has passed. 63 seems very young to me.

Have a wonderful day!
*^_^
(=':'=) hugs
(")_ (")Š from
the Cool Raggedy one

Anonymous said...

Love the pics again Judy.

It is so great that you are trying to label these snapshots of history and that you are figuring out who most of the people are in these. I do hope that you are writing these stories down....hopefully in your own handwriting to make it more personal. Those stories along with the pics will be treasured by your line for years and years to come.

Anonymous said...

Your pictures are like little treasures. I love the WV mountains (used to live in MD) and this new picture of the Hawk's is sooo beautiful. Thanks for sharing and brightening our days!

Anonymous said...

It's wonderful that you are keeping and making a catalogue of these wonderful old photos. Thanks for showing some of them to us :-)

Anonymous said...

i'd love to see the new photos of hawk's nest,too....and see the difference. i've never been there, but it looks lovely.

brendalove@gmail.com said...

It can be hard to keep up with family members.

David Edward said...

I LOVE this post

from a natural Californian: Earthquakes ( like wildfires) are just part of the landscape, you roll with them, and patch up afterward. My BIG ONES so far 1971 Sylmar, I was 15, then 1989 San Francisco, right before the world series! and then 1992 in Big Bear, the most violent I have felt, but only 1 fatality due to the sparse population. the smaller ones are entertaining, like a scary movie.
---
just ask Judy: what natural hazards do you contend with?

Anonymous said...

Great photos. You have such a trove of them.

Shephard said...

Great photos, Judy!

Anonymous said...

I have really been enjoying the black and white pictures of your family these past few days. Love, Alice

OldLady Of The Hills said...

As always, I love these old photo's, Judy...that four generations one is fabulous! And that little boy---now dead at 63..Lordy...a whole lifetime just sped by, didn't it?
And, Great picture from the thirty's and then to see the same place now...WOW!

Anonymous said...

Great pictures Judy....and the memories that go with them are terrific. Makes me want to get the old boxes out, poke through all those pictures and wander down memory lane.

srp said...

I am fortunate to have two or three aunts that have researched the family tree on my dad's side. On my mom's side the brothers and sisters were all from large families, however they each had only one child or at the most two. So mom has but four or five first cousins and only one is still living. I don't know how much in the way of written family history she has.