Pearl Earned It

Well, I went off and gave the beautiful Pearl (Williams) Pointer and the Pointer farm their own blog.  So check it out.  See what life was like back in the early to mid 1900's on a farm in Iowa.

Pearl's Day Books  [ http://pearlsdaybooks.blogspot.com/  ]

Pearl has 2 posts and 4 followers so far.

Image by justmakeit via Flickr

Purple Iowa Sky

Wow! Is He Handsome, or What?

Is This The Pocket Watch?

Remember the post, "Does Time Reveal Mercy?" where I showcased what is probably Pearl's (Williams) Pointer's pocket watch [because it was labeled as such]?  However, the pocket watch looked quite similar to the pocketwatch that Mercy (Slingbaum) Haley was wearing in a photo that I found of her. The only problem was that the Haley's are a part of my husband's paternal grandmother's line, and the Williams are a part of my husband's paternal grandfather's line.

Confused?  Well, basically, my husband's grandmother (Myrtle Haley) on his dad's side is a Haley, and again on his dad's side, my husband's grandfather's (Forrest Pointer's) mother was Pearl Williams.  So, the question that I posed in my post about Mercy and Pearl and the pocket watch was "Did this heirloom somehow get mixed up after Forrest and Myrtle get married?"  I kind of doubted it at the time [and I still do], but I found it odd that the pocketwatch looked so similar [and it gave me something to blog about too].  In fact I probably never would have delved quite so deeply into Mercy's life.  Besides the fact that Mercy and her husband, Frank Edward Haley, never had any children [at least, none that I have found], Frank was adopted, and to the best of my knowledge was not blood-related to the Haley's.  Both of these facts had really pushed Frank Edward Haley and Mercy Slingbaum [Don't get me started on her maiden name. You should see the mutilation her name withstands in the census.  Snort.] down pretty far on my ancestor priority list ~ until I found that photo of Mercy with that pocket watch.

However, I've now found [thanks to Great-Uncle Donald] Pearl's and Harve's wedding photos.  And guess what she's wearing on her blouse?  Well, it looks like it could be a pocket watch.  And, of course, it's too blurry to see any detail of it ~ to confirm if, indeed, it's the pocket watch.  [That would be just too easy.  And why would we want that?]

So does time reveal Mercy?  Well, until I find that one definitive photo of Pearl with the pocket watch, I'm going to go with how it was labeled on the envelope containing the pocket watch.  That it is Pearl (Williams) Pointer's pocket watch.  So, yes, time reveals not only mercy, but pearls as well.  [I absolutely adore jewelry, don't you?]  And doesn't Harve Pointer look absolutely handsome [and dapper, and debonaire,...]?  I can see why Pearl married him.

Tombstone Tuesday: Together

"...Cantankerous, Contrary Old Cusses"

 I always wondered what the story was between Alvis Oliver and Simeon Williams.  Now, I already knew that no one called these 2 brothers by their full names.  They were known as A.O. and Sim, and you might remember A.O. by his beautiful pocketwatch that I've already shared with you here.  Also, A.O. was the father of the beautiful Pearl (Williams) Pointer [the wife of Harve Pointer], making Sim her "Uncle Sim".

With every census that I found them in, I found them together.  Even after A.O. Williams married his wife Nancy Catherine Odell.  I wondered why.  Perhaps I analyze the census too much.  [So sue me.]  But I was right to wonder why.  Lo and behold, there is a story.  And my husband's Great-Uncle Donald [one of Harve's and Pearl's boys] had it, and he shared it with me.  And here's part of what Great-Uncle Donald had to say in his memoirs about them:

Sim was my Granpa's William's brother and never married so he had always lived at home with his mother also, and when Granpa Williams got married I guess Grandma Williams just moved in with them...I never heard Granpa and Sim swear at each other but they argued almost constantly and always called each other cantankerous, contrary old cusses.  They may have swore at each other when they weren't around us boys but they might as well done it in front of us because we all knew how to swear...Granpa and Sim were always poor they made a living doing cement work, Carpenter work, Just handy man work like that.  They had a cement mixer that was powered by a single cylinder gas engine.  A team of horses and a buggy and a light buckboard type spring wagon which they used to go to work with and haul tools in...Their rent couldn't have been much seems to me if I remember about 5 dollars a month.  I don't know what they got for wages probably two to five dollars a day...They had to buy coal to heat with in the winter.  But they didn't have no light nor water nor gas bills to pay.  They did have to buy feed for the horses because they have to eat whether they work or not...I don't remember when Granpa and Sim had two horses I only remember the one they had left...His name was Sam.  He was a tall long legged black beautiful horse.  Of course I didn't realize that at the time, like a lot of other things, but I do now...and then Sam died of old age and that left Granpa and Sim afoot.  Sometimes I do remember them walking to our place but not together I think they needed all of their energy to walk with none to spare for bickering.  Uncle Sim used to say that walking wasn't very crowded but it was kinda lonesome.  Granpa and Sim never owned a home nor a car so I guess the only thing that they owned was their tools and what little household furniture they had.

Now, I still don't know why Uncle Sim never married, but I do know the "how" now [brown cow].  How A.O. and Uncle Sim never really got along.  But somehow they lived together.  And now they lie next to each other in the Collins Iowa Cemetery.  They shared a house.  They shared an occupation.  And they even share a tombstone. They just couldn't share the same dang road.  I think it's as funny as all get out.  [Sorry.  That's a Texas expression.]  I wonder if they're still arguing? [Snort.]

A Cajun's Who's Who

Tightly Woven Stories
I'm going to suggest for a moment that just as the fibers of the fabric pictured here are tightly woven together, so are our family stories.  Maybe we're not related by blood.  Maybe we don't share the same last name.  However, sometimes our stories - our family stories - are so tightly woven together, and we don't even realize it.  While studying the stories behind the names that we're researching, we might not find another twig or branch in our tree, but we might find some non-blood relationships that give us some insight to our ancestors and sometimes, even ourselves.

Pearl's Book
If you've read my past stories, then you are  familiar with the beautiful Pearl Williams Pointer.  She is my husband's great grandmother, and I recently became aware of some of her items/heirlooms, and I've borrowed them in order to document them.  I have to admit that I am having a fascinating time doing this.  One of the items that I've been investigating is a copy of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's Evangeline.  This particular copy has no publication date in it, and I've been unable to find one for it.  It was published by E.A. Weeks & Company, 521-531 Wabash Ave., Chicago.  As you can see from the photos of it, it's in "O.K." condition.  The broken spine indicates that it's been well-read.  Also, It does have some illustrations in it, but no illustrator is listed.  Inside the cover, the following is written in pencil: "To Miss Pearl Williams From Bertie Fair."  On the facing page, also written in pencil is: "Pearl Williams Collins Iowa. Dec. 1st 1900 Collins Iowa." [Yes, "Collins, Iowa is written twice.] Well, my first question was, "Who is Bertie Fair, and what was her relationship to Pearl?"


Who Was Bertie Fair?
I was able to find and trace Alberta "Bertie" Fair and her family through the U.S. Federal Population Schedule, the Iowa State Census, as well as various databases available on the Story County portion of the iagenweb.org website.  [Please note that this is a very preliminary search of Bertie Fair.]  Here is a quick run-down of the information I found:

• Alberta Fair was born abt. 1878 near Newton, Jasper Co., Iowa to John W. & Emma C. Fair [both born in New York].
• Between 1878 & 1880, the family moved to Laurel, Marshall Co., Iowa.
  
• By 1885, the Fair family had moved to Indian Creek Twp., Story Co., Iowa, and they were still living there in 1895 and 1898.
• Alberta M. Fair married Fredrick Heilman/Heileman 5 Jan 1899 in Story Co., Iowa.
• One of Alberta's silblings was Grace who was abt. 11 years younger than Alberta.
• Alberta Fair Heilman/Heileman died 9 May 1914 and is buried in Center Grove Cemetery Union Township, Story Co., Iowa.

What Was Their Relationship?
Now, this is just a supposition.  I don't have any written message from Pearl [or Bertie, for that matter] that indicates their actual relationship.  That being said, I have been to this area of Story County, Iowa, and I can say that these towns are small farming communities.  To this day, everyone knows, well, everyone.  So, even without the inscription inside of Pearl's copy of Evangeline, I feel that I can say with some certainty that they probably knew each other.  As for their relationship, I'm not sure, and the reason I say this is that Bertie was abt. 9 years older than Pearl, and Bertie was abt. 22 when she gave this book to Pearl [who was abt. 13 yrs old].  I indicated above that one of Bertie's siblings was Grace, who was much closer in age to Pearl.  They were all definitely near each other for most of their lives as Jasper and Marshall counties are adjacent to Story County.  Also, Maxwell is an incorprated town within Indian Creek Township and nearby is Collins, Iowa [where Pearl lived].  Therefore, without a doubt, the families lived near each other.  If accurately recorded, Bertie gave this book to Pearl 1 Dec 1900, which would've been abt. 6 yrs before Pearl married Harvey Pointer in 1906.  Pearl was born in May, so I don't think that this was a birthday gift.  However, it may have been a Christmas gift.  Basically, I don't know what their relationship was exactly, but at the very least, they were acquaintances, and at the very most, close friends.

Longfellow and His Evangeline
I next decided to read Evangeline in order to see what Pearl saw when she read it.  However, I did  some background research on Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Evangeline before I actually read it [which turned out to be a good idea because I hadn't read 19th century poetry in a while...]  Very briefly, the story of Evangeline is a fictional story based on an historical event.  It's a story about two young betrothed Acadians, who "lost" each other in the expulsion of the Acadians out of Acadia [now Nova Scotia] in eastern Canada.  Evangeline searches her whole life for Gabriel [her betrothed] all over America.  She eventually is an elderly nurse who is nursing this older man, who turns out to be her beloved Gabriel.  Tragically, he dies in her arms.  Pretty dramatic, huh?  It may be.  However, America in 1847 loved it.  It was widely read and used often in schools for reading and memorization.  In other words, it was ingrained in America's students for decades.  Also, it served as a resurgence for Acadians everywhere, for by then, many had forgotten their history.  This served as a reminder of where they had come from and who they were.  The book was printed many times including in the late 19th century, when Pearl was born and growing up.  Evangeline was so popular with Acadians and their descendants that it has been immortalized in many ways and in many places.  To name only a few:  there is the Evangeline sculpture in Gran Pre National Historic Site in Nova Scotia; "Gabriel's" house in Lafayette, Lousiana; "Emmeline's" grave in St. Martin, Louisiana; the parish of Evangeline in Louisiana; and the Evangeline Thoroughfare in Lafayette, Louisiana.  In fact, in some places, you'd be hard pressed to convince some that the character Evangeline is fictional.

Who Were the Acadians?
This seemingly innocuous question led me to quite a bit of history.  The Acadians were French colonists from the western part of France who had started settling in what is now Nova Scotia in Canada in the 1600's.  Almost from the beginning it was a war torn area between the French and the British over this part of North America.  The Acadians remained neutral, but in the end were told to swear allegiance to the British Crown and take up arms against their fellow countrymen, which they did not do.  In 1755, they were expelled from their lands, and they were spread out all over the place.  Some were shipped back to France, some relocated in the American colonies, and some took refuge in Quebec.  

Acadians, Cajuns, Creoles, and French Canadians: Who's Who?
This Acadian history got me to thinking about a Cajun I know.  A Cajun that has a couple of lines that are French-Canadian.  [Interestingly, all the rest of her lines are of French descent, a.k.a. Creole].  When I previously researched some of her main lines, I found that most had been researched thoroughly all the way back to the 1500's in France.  [I'm not jealous.  Really...]   So, after reading this Acadian history, I was curious to see if her 2 French-Canadian lines were Acadian, as well.  The first line, Guillory, came from Blois, France, and settled in Montreal, Quebec in 1664.  They moved from there to Massacre Island [now Dauphin Island], Alabama ca 1707.  After the Peace of Paris in 1763, Great Britain gained control of land east of the Mississppi River, and the Guillory's migrated to Fort Opelousas, Louisiana.  Her other line, the Deshotels/Desautels also came from the western part of France and settled in Montreal, Quebec sometime before 1631, and they moved to Point Coupee, Louisiana sometime before the expulsion in 1755.   Before I go on, let me define some terms.  Now, an Acadian descendant is a descendant of a person who lived in what was once known as Acadia [now Nova Scotia].   A French-Canadian descendant is one who descends from French colonists that settled in Canada.  A Creole refers to those who descend from French and Spanish colonists who were born on the North American continent.  The term Cajun is a derivative [or slang] of Acadian, so by definition, it would mean the same thing as Acadian.  However, in researching these terms, I found that the meaning of Cajun has morphed into meaning those who are born and raised in 22 of the southern counties in Louisiana.  To prove this [not scientifically, though], I asked the Cajun that I know, "What do call yourself?"  She replied, "I'm a Cajun."  Specifically, what happened, is the cultures of the Creoles and the French-Canadians [who settled in the southern areas of Louisiana] were "absorbed" by the Acadian culture forming what is now known as a "Cajun" culture.  [About as clear as mud, I know, but the good thing is that the mudbugs, or crawfish, are found in the mud...]  Seriously, there are some similarities in her French Canadian migrations and that of the migration [that was forced] of the Acadians.  Also, Montreal is located near what was known as Acadia.  I would imagine that there was some identification between the two entities because of the proximity of each other in Canada and in France.  [Again, this is just my supposition.]


So, What's In A Name?
Well, in this case, Evangeline is a name of a book of poetry by H.W. Longfellow given by one friend and neighbor to another - from Bertie to Pearl.  This book tells the tale of a dark spot in history where the Acadians were expelled from their lands in Canada.  Some of the resulting Acadian migrations were similar to the migrations of two of the lines of a Cajun I know leading  them all to Louisiana.  These Cajun descendants who settled in what is now Ville Platte, Evangeline Parish, Louisiana where the Cajun I know is from. 


...a Cajun who became my neighbor because of a hurricane...

...a Cajun neighbor who became my friend.

Caroline


Sources:
1. U.S. Federal Population Schedule [accessed 
    by Ancestry.com and Heritage Quest]
2. IAGenWeb.org databases for Story County
3. Acadian-Cajun Genealogy & History 
4. 1755-The History and the Stories
5. Acadian GenWeb
6. Cajun Country History
7. Evangeline Parish, Louisiana USGenWeb
8. Maine Historical Society Website: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
9. Wikipedia: Acadia
10. Wikipedia: Evangeline
11. Google Map of Montreal 
12. Google Map of Nova Scotia 
13. Google Map of Southern Louisiana

Were Your Ancestors Beautiful?

What is Beauty?
For the sake of this post, I am going to define beauty as the following:

• Physical Beauty [While it's superficial, I know, it is a real, tangible, and undeniable part of beauty].
• What's Said About You By Others; and
• Your Actions [They really do speak louder than words.]

Physical Beauty
Whenever I look at this photograph, I am so captivated by the subject's beauty.  This is Pearley May "Pearl" [Williams] Pointer, the wife of Harvey Lewis "Harve" Pointer.  She is my husband's great-grandmother on his father's side.  Wasn't she beautiful?  Her skin is so perfect looking and her face is so expressive that I think, sometimes, she looks like she is going to "pop" out of the photograph and into my life.  [I wish she would because I have some questions for her...]  It is easily one of my favorite old photographs.  Pearl was born 21 May 1887 in Fairfield Township, Carroll Co., Missouri, and her family moved back and forth from Missouri to Iowa.  She died in Collins, Story County, Iowa 29 Sep 1970.  Her maternal line, the Odell family, and her paternal line, the Williams family, can both be traced back to England.

What Others Say About You Can Be Very Revealing About Your Character...
This photograph is of a 125-year old autograph book that belonged to my husband's great-great grandmother Lovina Emaline "Vina" [Richmond] Haley.  She was the wife of Daniel Haley [one of 10 children of Irish immigrants, Patrick & Bridget (Foley) Haley], and she was the daughter of James Richmond, Jr. of Indiana and Luvisa Logsdon/Logston of Kentucky.  This family heirloom is easily one of my favorites.  All of the entries are four line rhymes.  The first chronological entry was made 22 Feb 1884 by Della B. Stier, her niece, and it indicates that Della is the one who has given this album to her.  Many of the entries are by her nieces, nephews, and sisters right before they left Iowa to live out west.  What a precious gift they gave their aunt as well as their aunt's many descendants.  By the entries alone, you can tell that she was a beloved aunt.  However, these aren't  the only entries.  There are some by her friends as well as other family members.  In fact, 14 Mar 1885 Daniel Haley [my husband's great-great grandfather], her husband, wrote the following:

     On this page
     The first in this book
     I will write my name
     In your Autograph Book.

     Yours Very Truly,
     Daniel Haley

Daniel and Lovina's son, Wilbert Raymond Haley [my husband's great-grandfather] wrote the following to his mother 3 Jan 1896:

     Dear Mamma,
     I thought I would write on this sheet of paper to let you see it when
     you are old and see how good
     I could write when I was nine years old.  I will write my name.
     Your Baby,
     Ray Haley

And here is one that when I read it to my children, we all got goosebumps:

    9 May 1889
    Mrs. Haley,
   
    One hundred years from now
    Where will this album be
    Who will look these pages o'er
    And think of you and me

    Sallie Pontz

[Well, 125 yrs later, I can tell you, it's me!]

Actions Speak Louder Than Words
Here is a photograph of Frank Edward Haley, the first son of Daniel and Lovina Haley.  He was their adopted son [their biological son was Wilbert Raymond Haley who I mentioned above].  I have determined through a lot of research that Edward was not a blood relation of theirs.  Many times, if there was an adoption, it was usually a blood family member of sorts.  Well, from the best I can tell, Edward was not a blood relation.  Edward was adopted as an infant, and Wilbert came 9 years after that.  What love Daniel and Lovina must have had in their hearts to adopt Edward and raise him as their own.

Though I don't have a photograph of Lovina [not yet, anyway], I can tell that she was just as beautiful as Pearl was!

Caroline