An Old Tintype

This is an old tintype of my great-grandmother, Annie Carroll, holding my grandmother, Margaret Gertrude "Maggie" with her two siblings Charles and Ellen Martha "Nellie" standing beside her. Two other siblings would make their appearance at later dates - Edward and Robert. This was so very dark and hard to see that I thought about not using it. However, when I put it in my Microsoft program I was amazed how well it did come out. Maggie's little face can actually be seen. Annie Carroll was a very pretty woman. This would have been taken in late 1871 or early 1872. Another great old picture from the Pearce side of the family. (Click to enlarge)

Another Visit to the Sionilli

A favorite place to take photos was the river - quite a few pictures show people posed in the shallow water along the shore. This picture is a mystery to me. I know that the lady on the right in the black outfit is Nan, my mother. Cute hat, Mom. Now the fellow on the left - he looks like he could be Dad but I certainly am not sure and will never know unless my brother knows.
Our parents met when the Pearces were at the cottage in Rome where my father lived and worked on the Benton farm. These could have been the Bentons. Mystery - we needed to ask more questions.

Here is Nan with her hair down holding some cute little kitties - and Dan, her father, peeking out the cottage window.

The same photo of bathing beauties I posted on Funoldhag for Fashion Friday - but it just has to be here, also. Nelle and Nan are on the left. Do you think this style will ever return? The outfits look wet and just a little "wet t-shirt" look. (Click to enlarge)

Playing in the Snow

We moved to Ft. Madison in January of 1957 about a month after Bill had turned three. This sad little picture of Billy crying and holding out his hands is the result of sandburrs that he somehow got into even under the snow. Our yard - and all the yards - were almost solid sand and almost pure sandburr plants. Poor little guy! When spring came, I learned which ones were the terrible little plants (they had red on their main stem) and I spent lots of time pulling the little suckers. I would go out to hang up clothes, or some other chore, and find myself pulling sandburrs. I did manage to get rid of most of them, by golly.

This was taken several years later and it is Bill, Sherry and Melinda from next door. I don't know what the banner is on the big pole but it had some meaning to their play. In the background is Mark and he has a pole also.

Our yard was a hill that sloped gently down to the creekbed. Perfect for sledding. One year we got the kids little skis that hooked to their boots and they were able to ski down the hill. Then one year we had a ten inch rain in one night, the creek washed part of our backyard away and that ended the sled run. It was called Dry Creek - but certainly not dry that night.

Here are the kids by their school - Jefferson. As I said before, Ft. Madison was a great place to raise a family. Happy days. (Click to enlarge)

In The Good Old Summertime

When we made our first move away from Chillicothe to Ft. Madison, Iowa, early in 1957, it was with the entire engineering department from Chillicothe and it was a consolidation with the one from Marceline, Missouri. Lots of young families and older ones, too, of course. Many of us bought homes in the same subdivision so people we had been friends with before became even better friends in Iowa. And we made some great new ones from Marceline. If I could have stayed one place from all the moving we did, Ft. Madison would have been my pick. It was a very good time of life, but I am not complaining about the rest of it, by any means. In the picture above, are the kids who lived on both sides of us. The Powers family had five children - 4 girls and an older boy. Next to us on the other side were the Edlens and they had Mark, a year older than Bill. What a darling pair of double trouble they were. In the picture, it is Jan, Sherry, Melinda, Bill, Kathy (she lived elsewhere), Tony, and Mark. Bill, Sherry and Mark and the little redbud tree we dug up on the hillside across the field from us. Redbuds are the Iowa state tree. It lived. OMG, they are soooo cute!

Ft. Madison is built on solid sand, I think. This was the end of our patio and the kids had tons of fun playing there with their cars, trucks, etc. Never a lack of playmates and a nice bunch of kids. Here are Sherry, Bill, Mark and I'm not sure who the little one with the cowboy hat and gun and holster is. I think this was such a great place for the kids to have spent part of their growing up years. How much simpler things were way back then. There were no organized sports teams - at least not for kids this age. We lived on a dead end street and there were quite a few games they organized themselves and played out there. It was a good time. (Click to enlarge)

Where Should I Do This Post?

This is a picture of my husband, Ray, when he was a little baby in Chillicothe, Illinois. This definitely should be a post on Pieces of the Past - but I think I will also do it on Funoldhag. On that one I will use the color pictures, but think these look so sweet in the antique coloration.

These were all used by my husband when he was a baby. Clemie, his mom, saved so many things and she gave them to me. I still have more in the basement and will hope fully one day get them out and photograph them. I recall especially a pair of little wool pants. In the first picture is Ray's baby dish and little toy wagon. Also some fancy little soft shoes and nice warm booties. Above is a very pretty little dress and some long stockings. Actually, I used to put Sherry in dresses like that when she was a baby - then iron them. What was I thinking?

Here is a little sweater and mittens that kept him warm when he was a little one.And another batiste dress - this one very long. All of these lovely little things would be about 83 or 84 years old - Ray would have been 84 on the 28th of this month. If you would like to see them in color, I did a post on Funoldhag so you can click on the lady leaning on the fence at the top of the page and you will be there. (Click to enlarge)

Party at the Pearce Home

Here is another party picture and this time it is at the Pearce home. It's absitively possilutely 100% correct since on the wall at the left is the stairstep picture of the Pearce siblings. Sitting next to the fellow who looks as if he is biting his fingernail is Nan's pretty friend who pops up in so many of the pictures. Nan is looking very pretty herself in her lovely light colored outfit and she sports a wristwatch on her arm. I am smiling at the fellow in the upper lefthand side who is wearing a monocle. I wonder what they did at their parties - maybe played cards? Nelle was probably the one taking the photo as she and Nan were always at the same places. (Click to enlarge)

Grandpa Barney and Little Grandkids

This is a cute photo of my husband, Ray, when he was a little one. He sits on one of the fenders of an old car while his cousin Louise (I am pretty sure of this since they were the same age) sits on the other. Looking on is their grandfather who Ray always referred to as "Grandpa Barney". This would have been in about 1927. A very cool old automobile, also. (Click to enlarge)

November 12, 1950

Because it's Valentine's Day, I am posting pictures of a wedding held a long, long time ago.
My sister, Joanne Lee, on the day she married Bob. Their wedding was held on the anniversary of our parents' wedding on November 12, 1921.

I was her matron of honor and here we are as Jo finishes getting ready for her big moment. This was almost sixty years ago. Hard for me to believe.

As they were leaving the church. This picture and the following ones are not too clear and I did the best I could in editing them. It looks like maybe the camera was leaking light on one side as the left side is lighter in all of them.

Here is our kid brother standing by the car. He is probably the one who did the writing on the door. But, then, that is a requirement, right? Bud was either just out of high school or maybe in his last year. He did clean up well. You can see that he is ready with a box of rice to shower the newlyweds with its contents.

Ray and I - I still have that dress down the basement and one day will find some pictures that I took of Molly and a friend of hers dressing up in that, my wedding suit and an old square dance dress I kept. They are so cute....the girls, I mean.

And here are Nan and Charlie on their 29th wedding anniversary at the wedding of their middle child. Very seldom in my life did I ever see my father dressed in a suit - it was always exciting when we were little kids when Dad got dressed up. He was a nice looking fellow! Mom didn't get to dress up very often in those days either and her wardrobe was pretty meager - nothing like in her younger days. As I have mentioned before, the depression took a toll on so many people and it was hard to get ahead of the game. However, life was still good albeit simple and that is not bad. (Cl ick to enlarge)

In the Summer of 1952

Looking through the old albums, I found this picture of my young brother, Bud, and my little daughter, Sherry, way back in 1952. Thought they might enjoy seeing this picture. I think this was just before he went into the Air Force - but I am sure he will correct me if I am wrong. Sometimes events get kind of mixed up in a person's mind as the years go by. This was taken in the little house we had right across the "old hard road" from the river bank. It was a summer cottage that had been winterized. There was a glassed in front porch where you could sit and watch the boats go by. I enjoyed living along the river so much. We bought an old rowboat from a neighbor and would just row out in the river a little ways and fish. Good times. And so long ago. (Click to enlarge)

Party Time

I think the Pearces really enjoyed having parties. There are several old photos of parties and get togethers showing good sized groups having a good time together. The first girl in the front row is Nan, my mother, with her hands held in prayer and echoed by the girl sitting next to her. What do you suppose they were praying for? The girl on the end is the pretty girl who is in many of the pictures. I feel she was a good friend of my mother. Nelle, Nan's older sister, is in the light dress in the second row. She has written on the picture (Nelle did that a lot, and I thank her for that) "It's a wonder I got LOW. Remember this at Lavina's house?" Now the fellow who she has her arm linked with is not LOW (Lambert O. Wiltz, her future husband) but I think he is the fellow to her left. So what she meant is a mystery. And I wonder what the fellow in the back is drinking out of that pitcher?

Another picture of the group - this time Nelle must have taken it. Sitting on the lap of the fellow I think may be Lambert is Nan, my mother. Anyway, they are all having a fine time at the party! (Click to enlarge)

Pieces of Old Pictures

This picture is a mystery. I want to think my grandfather, Dan, is the boy sitting on the end of the middle row but don't really have a clue whether I am right or not. I don't think this is a one family portrait - Dan was one of six siblings and there are more than six in this picture. His father and mother were George Washington and Martha Pearce and they were married on February 22, 1865. So, I am not sure who any of these nice folks are but they are ancestors of mine and I enjoy their picture. I wish this were all in one piece!! Maggie and Dan when they were young - maybe even newlyweds. She was so pretty! I guess a piece of a picture is better than no picture at all.

(Click to enlarge)

The Hunter

Here's Charlie, my father, as I remember him coming in from hunting - a happy man. Looks like he may have got the limit and I do know some of the ducks are mallards. My mom cooked a lot of ducks - and she knew how to cook them well - but I never did really like wild duck. The only thing that I liked was the leg - which was very little but a much moister piece of meat than the rest of the bird.

This is a much earlier picture of Dad out in his boat as is the following picture...................

Hunting was a big part of Dad's life and even though money was short he always had his hunting license and shells. As I said above, many meals we had featured duck and also produce from the garden that he grew and Mom canned. I can remember one Thanksgiving when almost everything we had for dinner came from the garden and Dad's hunting expeditions. Like so many people back then, living was hard work. I posted earlier about my washday experiences with the wringer washer. Mine was a walk in the park compared to what my mother had to do. For quite awhile after we had moved to Rome, she had to pump the water, heat it on the coal or kerosene stove and wash on the back porch. In the summer it was fine - unless it rained. In the winter, it was hell. We had no basement. She hung out as often as she could, or on the side porch, some on a line across the kitchen. Do you know that clothes can actually almost freeze dry? Bless her heart, what a hard working woman she was. You don't realize what people went through back then until you get older and it sinks in. Good grief, we have it so easy when it comes to actual everyday living. So why are we so hassled? I guess it's just a whole new world that brings a whole new set of problems and situations we didn't have back then.

Before I got on my soap box, I wanted to show you the duck call that Dad used to lure the birds over his duck blind. My brother gave it to me some time ago. I have two other ones that I bought at auctions and one is just like this - but I know this is Dad's with the old cord still around it. (I wanted to make an observation about the abbreviation of Illinois on the duckcall. It is Ills. - if you look at the picture of my mother and aunt as the header of my blog you will see that Aunt Nelle - who did a lot of writing on the front of pictures - used that same Ills. Before the two letter abbreviations of states, I thought it was always Ill.)

Another pasttime my father loved and did all his life. He loved fishing - and some of that rubbed off on me, too. Ray loved to fish and I was his fishing buddy. We did a lot of it. This is a picture of Dad fishing at the Casting Club in Chillicothe. I can remember when I was a little kid seeing him make big nets with the shuttle and thingie in the picture below......

I don't know what the process is called but it made knotted cord net and I think there were big hoops and two lead in pieces to guide the fish into the nets. Clear as mud? Anyway, I will have to see if I can find out more about that on the internet. Dad also put out a lot of trout lines and used leaches as bait. And my mother could really, really fry fish and I loved those!! Nothing like a good catfish fried in an old iron skillet. So that is my tale of my father's love of hunting and fishing. (Click to enlarge)

Here, Chickie, Chickie

Another picture from the lives of my grandparents that has become another favorite of mine. This was in with pictures from my brother and the other day when I looked at it closely I just thought it was so much fun. There are Maggie and Dan on someone's farm and Dan is feeding chickens. There are lots and lots of chickens! Dan is dressed for his visit to the farm with his big straw hat. Maggie is standing on the left next to a woman I do not know - and I also don't know the ladies on each side of Dan. In the background to the left of the group is a pump. To the right there seems to be some little houses of some kind - maybe for the chickens? (Click to enlarge)

More Hats from the Pearce Pictures

Here is Nan, my mom, and a very pretty friend of hers that is in many of the pictures, in their lovely hats. There are so many pretty bonnets in the pictures! Goodness, how the young women loved to dress up back then. These two lovely ladies are feeling mighty good about how they look, I would say.

Here is another friend of Nan's and I don't know her name, either. Her hat is lovely - looks as if it might be straw and trimmed in a pretty ribbon and maybe some flowers or cherries. This was one of the pictures at the conservatory in Glen Oak Park.

Nelle, my aunt on the right, with a friend of hers who I think was named Ruth. She appears in many of the photos, also. There hats are a lovely shape with high crowns and smaller brims. Ruth's has a cluster of flowers on the top and Nelle's is covered with sheared fabric and a flower cluster. How I would love to know the colors of their outfits and bonnets.

This unknown lady was in a picture with two other women I don't know - will post their hats at a different time. Her hat looks almost like a man's tophat only with fabric around the crown and flowers on each side. There again, it would be fun to know the color. She looks a little like a young Queen Elizabeth.

A Great Picture of My Mom, Nan

This was a small picture in an old album that I have had for a long time. The other day I scanned it and blew it up quite a bit - it is now another of my favorite pictures of the many photos of the Pearce family. I am 99% sure Nan is seated on a wall that encircles the Peoria City Hall. I looked on line and from what I can tell, it is the same building. Regardless, it would be in downtown Peoria and it is a great picture of Nan and also the majestic old building. It was probably taken while she was working at a camera shop when she was young. Notice she is holding her lovely hat on her lap. It is awesome how many hats the two older Pearce girls had - and their mom, Maggie, had quite a few also. (Click to enlarge)