Today I found a new app on My Heritage, Deep Nostalgia. It takes still photographs of faces and animates them. It was a bit strange, who knows if that is how the actual people moved when they were alive and moving. It was interesting to play around with though.
Below is are animated photos of Eliza (who this blog is named for) and Dock Allen, my 2X great grandparents through the maternal line. Click links below to see animations.
Mr. Joe Jackson was the youngest son of Annie Mae Graham, my grandfather Mershell C. Graham’s sister. In his early youth he was known by Michele, but later changed to Joe. A thank you to my cousin Cedric Jenkins for sharing this program with me.
Mrs. Emma Mae Reeves was the daughter of Annie Mae Graham, my grandfather Mershell C. Graham’s sister. A thank you to my cousin Cedric Jenkins for sharing this program with me.
Clyde was the oldest son of Annie Mae Graham. I do not have a funeral program for him, but do have an obituary from the Montgomery Advertiser.
Will Jackson, Sr. was the 2nd oldest son of Annie Mae Graham. He was a nephew of my grandfather Mershell Graham.
Earlier this year I met via Ancestry.com Cedric Jenkins, a newly found cousin, who is a descendant of my grandfather Mershell Graham’s sister Annie Graham. He shared this funeral program and also programs for Annie Graham’s children, which I will share in the coming days. My grandfather and his sister lost contact after he moved to Detroit.
The late MRS. ANNIE GRAHAM was born August 13, 1885 in Elmore County, Alabama to the late Mr. William Graham and Mrs. Mary Graham.
Her early childhood was spent around Elmore County. At an early age she confessed hope in Christ and joined the fellowship of the East Chapel Methodist Church under the pastorate of the Rev. Ed. Bowens.
She was a member of the Esthers of America. She was always ready to serve and willing to give. She met everyone with a smile. She was a good neighbor, who would always come to the rescue and do whatever she could for others.
She departed this life October 15, 1964 at the home of her daughter.
She leaves to mourn one daughter, Mrs. Emma M. Reeves, Millbrook; three sons, Mr. Will Jackson, Birmingham Alabama, Mr. Clyde Jackson, Coosada, Alabama, Mr. Joe Jackson, Millbrook, Alabama; three daughter-in-law, Mrs. Odessa Jackson, Birmingham, Alabama, Mrs. Edith Jackson, Coosado, Alabama, Mrs. Ethel Jackson, Millbrook, Alabama; sixteen grandchildren, forty-three great-grandchildren, a host of other relatives and friends.
Servant of God, well done,
Rest from thy loved employ;
The battle is fought, the victory is won;
Enter thy Master’s Joy.
Links to more about Annie Graham
R is for Relatives, of the Elusive Kind
Mystery Photograph
Annie Graham – Sibling?
Joe Turner was my 2X great grandfather. I have been able to follow him from the age of twelve in a slave census; through several lists of the enslaved in Wiley Turner’s probate record. Joe Turner was my maternal grandmother Fannie Turner’s grandfather. When Fannie was about three, her father Howard Turner and his father, Joe fell out over a land deal. Howard was murdered at a barbecue and ties were cut between my grandmother and her father’s family. Therefore I have no family stories or photographs of them.
I first found the Turner family in the 1870 census. I was able to follow them through various records both before 1870 and after.
Joe Turner’s birth year changes through the records from 1852, when he is listed as 15 and so would have been born about 1837; to 1843 in the 1870 census; 1841 in the 1880 and 1900 census; 1848 in 1910 and 1839 on his death certificate. I have used the earliest date to estimate his age over the years.
Sources for the information below is in italics at the end of the entries. All took place in Lowndes County Alabama, mostly in the Hayneville area. The links will take you to blog posts.
I first published a timeline in 2016. I have uncovered more information since then so decided to re-do it.
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Graham, Mrs. Annie, Elmore. Funeral service will be Sunday at 11 a.m. at East Chapel MP church. The Rev. Paul Cook will officiate. Burial will be in Jackson Cemetery with Ross-Clayton Funeral Home directing. Survivors include one daughter, Mrs. Emma Reves; sons, Clyde Jackson, William Jackson, Birmingham, and Joe Jackson; a brother, Marshall Graham, Detroit, Mich.; 16 grandchildren; 43 great-grandchildren; three daughters-in-law, Mesdames Edith, Odessa and Ethel Jackson; and other relatives. She was a member of the Esters of America Society No. 1.
When I found this obituary for Annie Mae Graham on Newspapers.com, I wondered who the son “Joe” was. I had never heard of him before. At first reading I thought that “Marshall Graham” in Detroit was her son, formerly identified as “Michele” in census records. On re-reading, I realized that the “Marshall Graham” was named as her brother, and was my grandfather Mershell who lived in Detroit. And that Joe was Annie’s son, Michele.
I had been looking for something to tie my grandfather Mershell C. Graham to those I suspected were his siblings – Annie, Jacob and Abraham Graham. All of them listed the same parents on their delayed birth records and death certificates, but I could not find them in the same household. In 1900 my grandfather was not in the home with the other children. I have yet to find him in 1900.
Annie Graham’s great grandson, Cedric Jenkins, saw the obituary and contacted me on Ancestry. That was the first he had heard of my grandfather Mershell. We exchanged photographs and information. Annie and Mershell certainly look like sister and brother in the photos below.
After Cedric got in touch with me, I realized I had a DNA match on 23 & me with the surname Jenkins. That Jenkins matched my maternal first cousin, Dee Dee, and was identified as a probable third cousin. He turned out to be Cedric’s nephew.
Using an obituary, a genealogical paper trail, DNA and a newly connected cousin, I was finally able to connect my grandfather Mershell Graham to his sister.
Cedric was also able to identify the children in the photo above as Annie Mae Graham’s children. In the front are Joe (Michele) and Emma. On the mule closest to us is Will and next to him is Clyde.
Mershell Graham with his wife Fannie and children Doris (my mother), Mary Virginia and Mershell Jr. Standing in front of Plymouth Congregational Church in 1927. Detroit, Michigan.
Other posts about Mershell’s siblings
R is for Relatives, of the Elusive Kind
Mystery Photograph
Annie Graham – Sibling?
Jacob Graham – Sibling?
Inside Cover of Mershell C. Graham’s Bible
Note: I published an earlier version of this post but I got so much new information that I decided to re-write it but keep the comments from the first post, as I did not want to leave that one up.
Wiley Turner died in 1851 in Lowndes County Alabama. The first inventory of his personal property, including those enslaved on his plantation, took place in 1852. You can see a list of names, ages and “value” in this post – Joe Turner in the 1852 Estate File of Wiley Turner.
The second inventory was taken in 1856 when Wiley Turner’s oldest daughter Mary J Hunter had reached the age of 21. She picked lot #6, which is highlighted in red below. Click the images of the inventory on the right to enlarge for reading.
The State of Alabama
Lowndes County
To the Hone. E.H. Cook Judge of Probate for said County.
“The undersigned commissioners appointed by your honor to divide the real and personal Estate of the late Wiley Turner deceased under an order of the 20 January 1856 so that Mary J. a daughter and heir at law of said deceased now the wife of Clinton Hunter could get her part set off to her under said order. Beg leave to report that they met at the plantation of said deceased. and after first being duly sworn accepted to said ? and valued said slaves separately and then placed them with same other property in six lots of as nearly equal value as possible as follows,”
Lot #1
Lot #2
Lot #3
Lot #4
Lot #5
Lot #6
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The pages from Wiley Turner’s file included here came from Ancestry.com.
I have posted this photo several times as I try and figure out who these children are. In one post I wonder if they are on the ALLEN side and on another I speculate that they are on the GRAHAM side. I’m leaning more towards the Graham side because of the writing on the side which I make out as “date/18 On Barrons Farm” . My grandfather Mershell Graham’s sister, Annie Graham and her children lived on the Barron Farm in rural Elmore County Alabama. You can read more about these speculations here S is for Sibling, Annie Graham? The other post speculated that the family the McCall branch – “More About Annabell’s Family”. These are both families that I have lost and would so appreciate any cousins in those branches getting in touch to help me solve the mysteries.
For more information about the camera used to take this photo follow this link to the Photo-Sleuth’s post about the Autographic camera.
