Memory Monday :: 35 Years Ago

On this date in our family history . . . the 8th day of February . . . in the year 1975 . . . in a ceremony held at the First Christian Church in Rockdale, Milam County, Texas . . . Vickie Lynne Pounders became the bride of Bennie Lee Everhart.

One of the songs during the ceremony was Sunrise, Sunset, from the movie, Fiddler on the Roof . . . there were not many dry eyes in the church by the time the wedding singer finished this one . . .

Is this the little girl I carried?
Is this the little boy at play?
I don't remember growing older
When did they?

When did she get to be a beauty?
When did he grow to be so tall?
Wasn't it yesterday
When they were small?

Sunrise, sunset
Sunrise, sunset
Swiftly flow the days
Seedlings turn overnight to sunflowers
Blossoming even as we gaze

Sunrise, sunset
Sunrise, sunset
Swiftly fly the years
One season following another
Laden with happiness and tears

What words of wisdom can I give them?
How can I help to ease their way?
Now they must learn from one another
Day by day

They look so natural together
Just like two newlyweds should be
Is there a canopy in store for me?

Sunrise, sunset
Sunrise, sunset
Swiftly fly the years
One season following another
Laden with happiness and tears

The center photo in this collage was taken shortly after the wedding, when the newlyweds were attending a live performance of Fiddler on the Roof at the Country Dinner Playhouse in Austin, Travis County, Texas. The tickets were a gift from the law office where Vickie was employed at the time.

So here's wishing a Happy 35th Anniversary to my Hubbie . . .
looking forward to the next 35 with you . . .
hugs & kisses . . .

P.S. There are many sources for free Valentine images. This collage was created from my files of free images that have been collected over the years, from a lot of different sources and collections.

Sentimental Sunday :: Reunion

Left to right, these gentleman of the 1950s are --

• Jim Aaron Robbins (1927-2010)
  
• Forrest Lee Pounders (1927-1996)
  
• Weldon Lee Henry (1927-1998)
  
• Robert E. Henry (1930-1997)
  

Jim is a family friend, Fuzzy is my Dad, Weldon is a 1st cousin once removed (but always referred to as Uncle Weldon), and Robert is Uncle Bob (Mom's brother) . . . Jim died this week, on the 3rd of February . . . as this photo from the 1950s demonstrates, he is a part of our childhood memories . . . but I did not realize until just this week that Jim is actually a 1st cousin once removed to some of my Dad's 1st cousins (i.e., the Quinneys) . . . his funeral is being held today, the 7th day of February, in Rockdale . . . Jim will be buried beside his 1st wife, Bettie Jane Robbins nee Bartlett (1933-1964), the mother of his only child . . . RIP, Jim . . . give Dad and Uncle Weldon and Uncle Bob a hug for me when you see them . . . see y'all next time . . .

Wordless Wednesday :: Elizabeth Marilla

February Calendar of Rememberings

This shall be written for the generation to come . . . Psalm 102:18 . . .

When it came time for Saturday Night Genealogy Fun with Randy on January 30th, I am happy to say that I was delightfully busy making memories with family members at a birthday event held south of Houston -- so I am LATE for SNGF! But since this one is right up my alley, I just could not resist putting something together.

Since we are already into February, I went ahead and did my calendar for this month. I created the basic calendar using Family Tree Maker 16. Maybe I need to spend some more quality time with FTM 2010, but I do not yet see a way to personalize calendars as Family Tree Maker has always allowed us to do -- they seem to have taken away the customization features that I like to play with.

Once I had the calendar the way I wanted it in FTM16, it was exported as a PDF. The PDF was opened for viewing, and the image was captured using the PRT SCR button. The image was then cropped to the desired size using Picasa.

Using a free scrapbook page found on the internet, a multiple exposure collage was created using Picasa. This multiple exposure was then used as part of a picture pile collage, along with a free background image and a free clipart image.

I actually wound up doing two calendars -- one for birthdays, and one for anniversaries -- because I could not get all of the information on one calendar page. The one you see here is now the desktop on my laptop computer. The one I did for February anniversaries is scaled for the monitor for my desktop computer, and is displayed there.

Please do not hesitate to ask questions if I don't make sense!

Making Memories

In our immediate family, the month of January is full of significant dates, including the birthdays of my Mom as well as one of her great-grandsons. Those two particular events were celebrated during a family gathering held the last weekend of January.

This collage (click to enlarge) incorporates some of the images I captured during that get-together (with most photos intentionally made small to protect the privacy of the living). That's my beautiful Mom and the birthday-boy in the center of this collection of memories.

The quote I used in the collage -- I won't forget you ... ever! -- is adapted from the final chapter in The House at Pooh Corner ... which tells the story of Christopher Robin as he leaves behind his childhood ... and his best friends ...

"Pooh, when I'm - you know - when I'm not doing Nothing, will you come up here sometimes?"
"Just Me?"
"Yes, Pooh."
"Will you be here too?"
"Yes, Pooh, I will be really. I promise I will be, Pooh."
"That's good," said Pooh
"Pooh, promise you won't forget about me, ever. Not even when I'm a hundred."
"How old shall I be then?"
"Ninety-Nine."
Pooh nodded."I promise," he said.

Happy 1st Birthday, Hunter

Luv ya bunches, from grand-aunt Vickie

Tombstone Tuesday :: Milton Antony M.D.

On the 25th day of January . . . in the year 1885 . . . Dr. Milton Antony dies in Rockdale, Milam County, Texas.

Dr. Antony is my 1st cousin five times removed, and is also married to the older sister of my 2nd great-grandma, Josephine Wingfield Henry nee Davis (1842-1899). He is buried in the Old City Cemetery, which is just out of sight at the bottom edge of this postcard.

Dr. Milton Antony, Jr. was a Confederate Surgeon in Brazoria County, Texas during the war between the states, then relocated to Milam County, Texas where he was the third Postmaster in Rockdale, serving 06 June 1876 to 26 April 1877 (which was one month after the entire wooden portion of Rockdale burned). He was a practicing physician in both Cameron and Rockdale. A Henry family reunion write-up in a 1931 edition of The Rockdale Reporter states that --

On Oct. 3, 1876, the Henrys [my 2nd great-grandparents] arrived in Rockdale to visit a sister and family of the Mrs. Henry's, it being Dr. and Mrs. M. F. Anthony, who at that time had the post office and drug store combined on the corner where the Wolf Hotel now stands.

That is the Wolf Hotel on the right corner of the Rockdale postcard. The Wolf sat on the northeast corner of the intersection of Main and Milam. According to a history of Rockdale published in 1936, a two-story stone and brick bank building was erected in 1875, which later became the Wolf Hotel, and then, ca. 1935, the American Legion Hall. An 1885 map of Rockdale does show a bank at that location, and on the corner across the street is a post office in the Mundine House.

A year before Josephine arrived in Rockdale to visit her sister, Margaret, the following item appeared in the 12 November 1875 issue of the Galveston Weekly News --

There are street fights occurring (in Rockdale) almost every day and the officers of the law seem to enjoy it, taking their fines, never giving offenders the least word of warning or lecture. Nothing better could be expected when they license women of ill fame for ten dollars a month and receive half of the fines and their compensation. The most disgusting of it is, when they choose, these officers step beyond their authority and utterly disregard the law at pleasure. Every day or two some very interesting scenes occur in the pettifoggeries of Rockdale.

And just a year before that 1875 report, the same paper, in the 09 November 1874 issue, described the brand new city of Rockdale as being --

delightfully located in a thriving section of the county. . . . there are two or three banks, fifty or sixty merchants, and plenty of saloons, and has generally all the appearances of a railroad town. . . . While all it new and in some degree crude, there are some fine stone and brick buildings. . . . Where a population of eighteen hundred now thrive, was ten months ago the home of the deer, and the pleasure ground of the black bear.

For more information about Dr. Antony and his family, see --

• Dr. Milton Antony, Jr.
  
• Dr. Milton Antony, Sr., his father
  
• Judge Edwin Le Roy Antony, his son
  
• My Antony Board at gonetotexas.proboards.com
  
• Antony Roots & Branches, his ancestors & assorted kith 'n kin
  

P.S. The handwritten paper in the background of the collage is a document from 1864, signed by Milton Antony, M.D. and three other doctors -- requesting the Confederate army to excuse the only druggist in Brazoria County, Texas from being conscripted into the army . . . gotta do some more research on that one.