Memory Monday: All the Family History Is Not Lost

Papaw, Mamaw, and my father, 1940s

ALL THE FAMILY HISTORY IS NOT LOST

Both of my parents and all of my grandparents have passed away. They all died before I developed an interest in family history (at least for the most part. I remember having a conversation with my Daddy about 35 years ago when he told me somethings that he remembered about his mother’s family—just general things—but I didn’t think to write any of them down).

My mother lived the last 25 years or so of her life in the same town as I lived. Her sisters visited and we had several family reunions with her side of the family. Both of which allowed me to learn about her side of the family, especially about the years she was growing up.

I had nothing like this for my Daddy (this is the name we always called my father)—just a few facts he had given us for our daughter’s baby book. But I have learned of a wonderful tool to peek into the life of my father—Ancestery.com. Below are a few of the things that I have learned just looking into the past censuses.

1920 census

Lived in house on Kirkwood

Papaw worked in a grocery store

Papaw, Daisy (my grandmother), Daddy

1930 census enumerated on April 12^th

Papaw-Widowed, Same house, owns house valued at $3500, owns radio, works as a salesman in retail grocery

Daddy—12 years old

Aunt—9 years old

Grandmother—77 years old, widowed

Great-uncle (deceased grandmother’s brother)-salesman in bakery

Great-aunt

Their three children—ages 2, 6, and 9

1940 census enumerated April 10^th

Papaw-same house, worked as a stock clerk in a grocery store for 52 weeks in 1939 and earned $1560, a week before census he worked 48 hours, he had completed 4 years of high school

Mamaw (step-grandmother), worked in home—housework, she completed 4 years of college

Daddy—attended college, worked as clerk for 52 weeks the year before and earned $1020, week before census he worked 36 hours

Aunt, attended high school (fourth year), worked as a waitress in 1939 for 15 weeks and earned $120, a week before the census she worked 48 hours

Mamaw’s mother—71 years old, lived in the same house for 5 years, attended high school for 2 years

Daddy’s military service

Enlistment Date: 2 Feb 1942

Release Date:  9 Jan 1946

Branch  Army Air Corps

Grade   Private

Term of Enlistment:  Enlistment for the duration of the War or other emergency, plus six months, subject to the discretion of the President or otherwise according to law Component Army of the United States - includes the following: Voluntary enlistments effective December 8, 1941 and thereafter; One year enlistments of National Guardsman whose State enlistment expires while in the Federal Service

Height   69 Weight 132

From the information above, I have learned several things about Daddy that I can put together with the things I already knew. I was very familiar with the house my grandfather (we called him Papaw) lived in because we visited him quite often as I was growing up. It was a small two bedroom/one bath house with a screened-in back porch. I didn’t know that he had lived there from at least 1910. He still owned it at his death in 1974. I knew that his mother (whom we always referred to as Daisy, probably because we grew up with a step-grandmother we called Mamaw) died from double pneumonia when Daddy was 9 years old. I didn’t know that in 1930, Papaw had taken in his widowed mother and his brother-in-law, along with his family—that was 9 people living in that two bedroom house (with screened –in porch). He also owned a radio—can’t you just see them all sitting around in the evening and listening to it—just like the Waltons. Ten years later, Papaw’s mother had passed away (I know this from other Ancestry records) and his brother-in-law’s family had moved out. Also, Papaw had married again and had taken in his new mother-in-law. As Papaw worked in a grocery store all those years to provide for his family, Daddy and his sister attended school and worked outside the home.

Also, Ancestry showed me that Daddy enlisted in the Army Air Corps less than two months after the attack on Pearl Harbor and was released January, 1946. I knew that he had left the army with the rank of staff sergeant because that was what he written in a few books he had acquired during the war and were in the bookcase mother had built him (see the post from 12-14-2015). Daddy met the lady who became my mother about the first of July, 1946 and they were married in the middle of July (Mother always said they married two weeks after meeting and their marriage lasted 38 years).

Have you every researched your family on Ancestry? What did you learn about your family?