Mershell Cunningham Graham Jr was born at 7:45 pm on June 10 in 1921, a Friday, He was the first son and second child of Mershell and Fannie (Turner) Graham. He was delivered at Dunbar Hospital by Dr. Turner. Mershell was a big baby, weighing 8 1/2 pounds. He joined older sister, 14 month old Mary Virginia. Twenty months later his younger sister, my mother Doris, joined them.
Mershell was an active boy, falling down the clothes chute and breaking a window during a game of “who can hit their head against the window the hardest” with his younger sister, Doris. In family photographs, he shows no fear of the ferocious puppy or the family chickens.
On November 1, 1927, he was hit by a truck on his way back to school after lunch. He died just after midnight on November 2. My sister, cousins and I grew up with warnings to be careful crossing the street and to remember what happened to Mershell.
My mother wrote on the page of practice writing above “Mother teaching him to write his name.”
Related links – Births, Deaths, Doctors and Detroit Part 1; 1940 Census – the Grahams – Supplemental Material; Go Bury thy sorrow – complete words and tune.
A beautiful tribute!
Thank you Melvin. When I saw it was his birthday today I realized I had only written about his death from his mother’s sorrow. I wanted to talk about him this time.
It is amazing that you still have all of those artifacts. I’m especially touched that you still have a paper where his mother was helping him learn to write his name. Beautiful!
That’s what happens when you are born into a family of packrats. I can only guess at all the things that were left as we moved out of houses we’d been in for decades. I’m sure some things didn’t make the moves.
Sad, but a nice testimonial.
Loved the pictures too.
My grandfather put pieces of wood across the clothes shoots so that the clothes could go through but nobody could climb/fall down. I can still see those in my mind.
What a lovely tribute to Mershell. Those photos and other items are wonderful family treasures! Thanks for sharing.
Well done Kristin. It is so nice of you to remember Mershell. What a lovely tribute. It is so sad when a child dies so young but it must have been great comfort to the family to have so many photos and memories of him.
A beautiful tribute for Mershell, he will not be forgotten.
Beautifully written… such a fearless little boy who obviously enjoyed his life to the full. Bless him… thanks for sharing.