Picnic in the Park

Back in 1952, we were young parents and our little girl, Sherry, was a year old. Sometime during that summer, we joined Ray's family for a picnic at a park in Chillicothe that was held for relatives that were visiting. I cannot remember who they were or where they were from. We sit at the right end of the middle row. All five of the Rusk siblings (Ray's mom and her sisters and brothers) were present as well as some of their family members. One of Ray's uncles and his wife had ten children and were still having children when their older children were giving them grandchildren. I think the little fellow in the white shirt in front had some nieces and nephews older than he was. A glaring difference in the bygone days - the way we dressed for a summer picnic. Where were the shorts (except for the one little boy), jeans, teeshirts? Ray's cousin, Wanda Mae, even wears an apron. And I have dressed Sherry up in a pretty dress, too.

Mary Anne's Sampler

Mary Anne Wiley as an adult.

In the early 70's when we were living in the KC area, my late husband's mother came to visit and brought with her this old sampler that was done by Ray's great-grandmother in 1843 (she may have been his great-great-grandmother) when she was only 10 years old. What a treasure! I am pretty sure it is in the original frame with the original glass which is kind of wavy and a little pitted. I read in a book about some of the old samplers having very sad verses stitched on them since in that era life was hard with much illness and not the miraculous cures we have nowadays. This is no exception. The verse little Mary Anne Wiley stitched was......

My age it is now half a score
And I perhaps shall see no more
Remember death to all is nigh
Youth as well as aged may die.
Alas I am an orphan left
Now of parents I am bereft
Now oh Lord I look to thee
Each of thy orphans help to be.
We once were six in a family
In deaths cold bed thou hast laid three
Lord teach us to improve each day
Ere thou dost call the rest away.
Yea in thy love remember me.
Mary Anne Wiley 1843

She then stitched in her mother's birthday, her birthday, etc. Notice the way that she would start a word and not have room and then just continue it on the next line. I have posted closeup pictures of that part of the sampler, also. I think this is one of the most precious things I have ever seen. There is also a picture of Mary Anne as an adult along with her sampler. I hope you enjoy this lovely bit of the past.

Pictures from Ray's Side of the Family

This group of photos has pictures of some of Ray's uncles - on both sides of his family. With his paternal grandmother are two of his uncles - the one on the left I believe is his uncle Wilbur (Cotton) and on the right is Art.

This fellow may be Charlie, an uncle I never met. He was a farmer in northern Illinois and I don't think he kept in touch with the rest of the family that all lived in the Chillicothe area.That was back in the days when couples married, settled down in their home towns, had families who also settled down close to their families. An entirely different world as compared to now.

This young fellow was a brother of Ray's mother. He is Sammy and he also was a farmer and lived just west of Chillicothe.

And here is another brother of Clemie's - Everett. Quite a picture of him with his curly hair and pretty baby dress. I think I have already posted a picture of Ray in one of his baby dresses. That was very common years ago. (Click to enlarge)

Down on the Farm

I have no idea where this was taken or when or who is in it or what the machine is - I only know that it was in with the pictures that were in Ray's mom's things. It surely was a long, long time ago and isn't that a magnificent piece of machinery? Wonder what it is?

Here is a really cute picture of Ray trying to use the pump--I'm not sure what he is aiming for but I think it is the little bucket on the platform. This was probably taken at his Uncle Sammy's farm just west of Chillicothe at a much later date than the photo above. Hope you enjoy the pictures from a much earlier time. (Click to enlarge)

A Family Portrait

This is my husband's paternal grandparents and their family. His grandfather is sitting on the ground with the dog and his grandmother is the lady to the left. Ray always referred to them as "Grandpa and Grandma Barney" which was a nickname of sorts. On the left would be his uncle, Art, another uncle, "Cotton", and I am not sure of the little girl. She may have been Ruby. The next two I am not sure of. There were three more boys that I know of - Harold, Charlie and Harry, Ray's father. One of them is not there unless he is the little boy standing by Ethel, another aunt. If that were the case, I think the dark haired fellow would be Ray's dad and the one in the suspenders would be Charlie. The shadow in the foreground? Have no idea who would be taking the group shot.

This may have been taken the same day. What a great old car! I am thinking Charlie is at the wheel but don't know who the passengers are. The shadow may be that of the same photographer. (Click to enlarge)

Julia's Autograph Book

Here is Julia, my husband's grandmother, in one of those charming old cabinet photographs, which is what I think they are called.

In Ray's mother's things was a worn and tattered old, old autograph book that belonged to Julia. It was at one time red velvet but all the fuzzy red is worn away almost entirely.

If you enlarge the pictures, you can easily read the verses written in this lovely old gem. This one was written in 1906, over one hundred years ago, by Ray's Aunt Leatha, his mom's sister, who was just a little girl at the time. She wrote a very common little verse. I wonder if people still have autograph books like that anymore.This one was written in 1898 (can't quite tell for sure) and the wording is so formal and solemn. People were so much more formal back in that time.

One more page written very formally. The penmanship back then was outstanding. I will scan some more pages soon and post a few more. There is one written by Ray's mom, too, when she was very small. (Click to enlarge)

William Barnes & Family

In with the pictures from Ray's side of the family, I found this portrait of the William Barnes family. I do not know whether or not they were related to either side of Ray's family. They very well could have been. However, I thought it was a neat old picture and kept it. Aside from the "Wm. Barnes & family" written on the back, there was also written "Miss Mamie Barnes, Brimfield, Ills" and "Laura Barnes, city". Possibly those were two of the daughters in the back row. I love the patterned dress worn by the mother and what about that moustache on Dad? The photographer was from Farmington, Illinois, and I don't think that is far from Brimfield. Anyway, it's a neat very old photo. Hope you enjoy it. (Click to enlarge)

A Pretty Old Card

Along with my new computer, I treated myself to a new combination printer-scanner so I am using the scanner for the first time. I found this beautiful old card in a little box with some other old things when I was cleaning out some drawers - maybe I should do more cleaning.

This is the back of the card. "Lilyy" sent it to "Ethell" with love and at a later date some little person, I would assume, was trying to mimic the writing. I think this card was from Ray's mother's things and that the card was sent to his Aunt Ethel, his dad's sister.

Ray and his mom were very close to Ethel and her family through all the years, and they would spend holidays and much other time with them. (Click to enlarge)

Ray's Aunt Leatha

Ray's Aunt Leatha, his mother's older sister, was like a second mother to him. The girls mother died when Clemie, Ray's mom, was still a little girl. Leatha, being nine years her senior, was more like a mother to Clemie than a sister. She was a lovely woman. Here she is with her husband, Frank aka Chubby.

This picture was evidently given as a Christmas present to their grandmother.

Another picture of Leatha holding Ray as a baby and with her little boy, Jay, at her side. She had one other son, Dale, who was quite a bit younger than Ray. I love her hairdo! As I look at this picture, I notice that Ray is wearing the shoes that I have posted last October. (Click to enlarge)

Ray's Mother as a Child

Clemie was from a family of five siblings and she was the youngest. Her sister, Leatha, was nine years older and I believe the eldest of the children. In this picture one of the brothers - am not able to tell if it is Sammy, Everett or Cecil - and Leatha pose with Clemie.

This is a picture of Leatha, Clemie and their mother, Julia. She died when Clemie was still a little girl and Leatha actually was the one caring for the family. Ray was very close to his aunt. (Click to enlarge)

Embroidered in 1843

Here is a real treasure - a sampler that was done by my husband's great grandmother, Mary Anne Wiley Rusk, when she was ten years old. It is dated 1843. It would be possible for you to read it by enlarging the photo but it would be much easier if I just type it. If you don't care to read it, just skip past it. I read in a book on old samplers that they were usually sad and this one is no exception.
The poem reads

My age is now half a score
And I perhaps may see no more
Remember death to all is nigh
Youth as well as aged may die

Alsas, I am an orphan left
Now of parents I am bereft
Now then O Lord I look to thee
Each of thy orphan's help to be

We once were six in family
In death's cold bed thou hast laid three
Lord teach us to improve each day
Ere thou dost call the rest away
Yea in thy love remember me

Mary Anne Wiley 1843



Also embroidered at the bottom were the birthdates of her parents, their wedding day and Mary Anne's birthday. I thought it was so sweet that if she ran out of room as she was crossstitching a word she just carried the next letter over to the line below.

Here is Mary Anne and her husband William A. Rusk. They had ten children, one being Samuel who was Ray's maternal grandfather. This sampler is absolutely wonderful and such a treasure.

(Click pictures to enlarge)

Ray's Parents

There are not very many pictures of my late husband's family. Ray was an only child, but both of his parents came from large families so he had lots of cousins (lots of them were his age) and many aunts and uncles. Above is a picture of Clemie and Harry, his mom and dad. Harry died when Ray was only twelve years old and his mom was just 32. She didn't remarry until she was in her 50's.

Here is Clemie with her 8th grade diploma and the scarf she wore at graduation. That diploma is in a bin in my basement and I think the scarf is there, also. Thanks to her, there are many lovely keepsakes from the early days. She gave me a bundle of baby clothes that he wore, baby shoes, etc., things that would have been lost. I so appreciate the old sentimental things and wish I had some from my childhood.

Clemie with her older sister, Leatha. They lost their mother very early - and before that, as I understand it, she was not a well woman. Leatha was mainly responsible for raising Clemie, who was the youngest in the family. I believe there was nine years difference in their ages. Leatha had two boys, one older and one younger than Ray. I am sure Ray felt like she was his second mother and would talk about her baking bread and her ham and beans, which he loved so much.

This is his father as a young boy. He died in the VA hospital in Dwight, Illinois. Harry was quite a bit older than Clemie. Very few pictures of him but I will post more later. I have a really sweet picture of him and his sister, Ethel, when they were very small - Harry was a baby - which is in the book that I put together. I had borrowed the original from Ray's cousin but will scan the picture from the book. More to come on Clemie and Harry later. (Click to enlarge)

Another Family--Ray's Family

It's time to add another family to this blog--that of my late husband, Ray, with whom I shared 48 years of marriage. This year it would have been 60 years. There are quite a few pictures of his family on both sides, and I have decided to put both sets of grandparents and his parents in one group and label it "Ray's Family".
This is Ray as a little guy. He was a little "towhead" as they called little kids with really light blond hair. I would guess he was three or four in this picture.

Here is his "Grandma Barney", his paternal grandmother. He may be the baby on her lap and the other two would be cousins.

And this is "Grandpa Barney", and a friend, and it is evident that he farmed.

His maternal grandparents, Frank and Julia. I am not sure what he did for a living. I think this is a great portrait. What a wonderful rocking chair he is sitting in. Julia's outfit is beautiful and I think she is holding a fan. More to come on this new addition. (Click to enlarge)