Theola Marie Davenport Williams 1920-1982

Williams,

I made this animation from the photo below using My Heritage, Deep Nostalgia.

Theola Maria Davenport Williams

Theola Marie Davenport Williams  was the daughter of Amy Marie Davenport.  She was born March 7, 1920, in Portland, Arkansas, the fifth child of the late James and Amy Davenport. Arkansas was her home for many years, where she attended Dermott High School and Arkansas State University at Pine Bluff. The greater part of her adult life was spent in St. Louis, Missouri where she attended Meramec Community College and Washington University.

Theola married  Chester Arthur Williams on June 20, 1938.  Together they had 12 children – 6 sons and 6 daughters. She was an active member of the Church and Community, which involved the following; Sunday School Teacher, Primary Department, Women’s Missionary Union and was named to the Deaconess Board of Washington Tabernacle Baptist Church; she was a secretary at the Webster Groves High School; an active Top Member and a member of the In Roads Parents Association for the City of St. Louis. 

She was 61 years old when she died September 21, 1981.  I remember her as a very calm, accepting and thoughtful mother-in-law. This is the 101 anniversary of her birth.

Pearl Doris Reed Cleage Animated

Cleages, Kentucky, Photographs, Reeds

My paternal grandmother, Pearl Reed Cleage was born 135 years ago in Lebanon, Kentucky, the youngest of Annie Reed’s 8 children. She married Dr. Albert B. Cleage in Indianapolis, IN in 1910 and they had seven amazing children, including my father, who they raised in Detroit, MI.

She was a small woman who looked sweet as pie and had a backbone of steel. She didn’t begin to run down until she broke her hip in her 80s. In 1982, my grandmother Pearl died of congestive heart failure in Idlewild, Michigan.

I made this animation from the photo below using My Heritage, Deep Nostalgia. It was taken about 1900 when she was 16.

In 2018 I did a series of blog posts based on my grandmother’s letters. You can find the series here Pearl Reed Cleage’s Letters 1903-1905.

Dock and Eliza Animated

Alabama, Allen, Eliza, Montgomery Alabama, One Place Study, Photographs
Eliza Williams Allen

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.

ElizaAllen-0-Animated
doc-0-Animated

How many children did Catherine Jones Williams have?

Williams

During the virtual Williams/Butler reunion on Saturday evening, there was some consternation about how many children Catherine Jones Williams gave birth to.

Click to enlarge

On the 1910 Census, Catherine Jones Williams said that she had given birth to 10 children and that six were still living. In the booklet from the Williams/Butler Reunion 1988 that Julia Williams Boyue put together, there were family trees for both the Williams and Butler families.

Children of Samuel and Catherine (Jones) Williams in Blue Book. Click to enlarge.

I put the names into my ancestry.com tree and was able to find information and connections with most of them. Some, I could not find. If they were born after 1880, they would not be in that census. The 1890 census was destroyed. The next census they would have appeared in was 1900. They could easily have been on their own so never appeared in the same household with Catherine Jones Williams or they may have died. Since Arkansas did not begin keeping death records before 1914, there would be none available.

In the same book there are 15 children listed for William and Mattie (Hawkins) Butler. The answer given during the reunion was 18. I am looking forward to finding out the other names!

Mrs. Annie Graham – Obituary

Alabama, Grahams, Obituary

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.

Obituary

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?