He Never Promised Me A Rose Garden

He lived his life in the papers.

Consistently.

Thank God.

In the 1920's, San Antonio, Texas experienced a housing boom, and since the Great Depression was slow in coming to Texas for a number of reasons, the prosperity of the 1920's lasted a little longer than in other states.  In the 1930's public housing was on the rise as slums were cleared out, and then in the 1940's another housing boom occurred.

And apparently my grandfather, Joseph Marshall [a.k.a. Big Paw Paw], was in the middle of it all.  If you believe what you read in the newspapers, that is.

When I first started researching my grandfather, I didn't really know much about him, other than he wasn't a nice man.  In fact, if I recall correctly, the word, "mean" has been used to describe him a few times.  Turns out he had a lot of secrets, and maybe - just maybe - if he hadn't been so secretive - you know, kept everything inside- he would've been nicer.  Or at least remembered in a lot nicer way.  And maybe I wouldn't have been so nosy about his life.  

However, he was secretive and I am nosy.

One of the things I did know when I started researching my grandfather [who died 3 years before I was born] was that he had several lumber yards in San Antonio and he'd been involved in demolition throughout the city.  And both of these are true because I've verified them through land records, newspapers, and city directories.  However, that wasn't really the whole story.  There was a fourteen year difference between my grandfather's and grandmother's ages, and by the time "Big Paw Paw" married my grandmother, he'd already lived another life.  Literally.  A life that he kept to himself.

But if he thought that he took his secrets with him to the grave, he was sadly mistaken.  I have some of his genes in me [Goodness, I hope not the bad ones.], and I can be a little tenacious when properly motivated.

And my grandfather's story really motivates me.

If he had wanted to "fly underneath the radar," then he should've stayed out of the papers, but lucky for me, he didn't.  With the combination of census records, city directories, historical newspapers, and historical land records, I've pieced together some of my grandfather's work & business history, and here's what I found:

According to the 1910 census, Big Paw Paw and his younger sister, Mary, were living with one of their older married sisters in Galveston, Texas.  [Another Mary ~rolling eyes heavenward~  This is the Mary that married a Harry who owned a dairy.  I swear it.  I couldn't make this stuff up.] Anywho, "Big Paw Paw" was a fisherman with his brother-in-law at the time.  He must've mentioned being a fisherman to my dad once, because on one of our many fishing trips on the Laguna Madre Bay, my dad shared with me that his dad had been a fisherman in Galveston.  [I've pointed out on the map below where the Laguna Madre is, but to get an idea of where it is in relationship to Galveston, San Antonio, and Texas, click on the link for the bigger map below and "zoom out."








View Texas Coast in a larger map








Big Paw Paw married his sister-in-law, Emma Rosin in San Antonio, Texas in 1917, which was just before he went off to fight in World War I.  [His sister Jane had previously married Emma's older brother, Otto Rosin.]  When he came back, he and Emma were living in San Antonio, Texas, and his listed occupation was a tree surgeon in the 1920 census.

As I shared this week in my Wordless Wednesday post, he must've had a green thumb.  In a San Antonio Express newspaper article dated 12 Nov 1922, Big Paw Paw is pictured with a rose that had a 63-inch stem that he had grown.  I wonder if my dad knew this about his father.  Growing up, I remember countless times working in the yard with my dad, including our rose garden.  He loved it so much that he bought and we ran a plant nursery for a while.  And If you've been reading my stories, you can probably guess my dad was quite the entrepreneur (i.e., truck & trailer business, pet shop, plant nursery, etc.).  Kinda like Big Paw Paw.

Three years later in a newspaper ad on 20 Dec 1925, he's listed as a "Consulting, Developing Landscape Engineer" for the San Pedro Arms apartment building which was touted in the San Antonio Express newspaper as "San Antonio's Newest and Most Modern Apartment Building."  And his business address is listed as well, which made identifying him a lot easier.  [How lucky can I get, right?]  I'm inclined to think this building development may have been where he added real estate to his list of business activities.  Just a guess, though.

Emma is listed as Big Paw Paw's wife until 1923 in historical land records that I have found on the County Clerk's website for Bexar County.  [All of them digitized & available for free. ~ "God love 'em," as my Gran and mom used to say.]  The twelve-page listing of his land records [Yes, I said, "TWELVE."] is a veritable goldmine of information on my grandfather's business transactions, at least, the ones involving land.  He didn't just have a house and building wrecking company and lumber yards.  He purchased real estate, wrecked [if necessary] homes, built homes, sold and/or rented homes.  It's apparent to me from these records that Big Paw Paw liked to be involved in all aspects of the real estate process.  My dad always said he had a home & building wrecking company, but he also told me his dad had taught him to be a carpenter.  I have several photos of my dad when he was little on the work-site with Big Paw Paw.  It seems that Big Paw Paw believed in learning how to work hard from an early age, and that's probably where my dad got that silly idea from and why I began working for my dad at the age of 8.   Additionally, after my dad graduated from college there are land transactions that he executed on my grandfather's behalf, which coincides with what my dad told me about him working for Big Paw Paw early on in his and my mother's marriage.  It makes me wonder why the "home & building wrecking company" memory was bigger to my dad than the rest of the business that Big Paw Paw did.  

Maybe Big Paw Paw didn't talk much about his business activities.  I'm guessing Big Paw Paw wasn't much of a talker.  Period.  Well, it does seem, though, that he was a big talker with the women.  

[For what it's worth, I think he was pretty good lookin', and apparently I'm not alone in my thinkin'.]

Speaking of Big Paw Paw's women, I haven't found Emma on any transactions after 1923, nor have I found a death certificate for her.  She just vanishes into thin air, or she got the hell outta Dodge.  However, Big Paw Paw's land transactions continue consistently, and amongst them is an affidavit dated 5 Dec 1927 [but filed 19 Mar 1928] where he's talking about how he had purchased a particular piece of property before his marriage to his wife Oveta Marshall who had left him 6 months ago, and that she had no interest in this particular property.  Now, I know some of what goes on with Oveta and this property, especially what identifies this Joseph Marshall as Big Paw Paw, but I don't know the whole story.  Like, who the heck is Oveta?  Is this Emma?  However, their divorce story is waiting for me.  In another land transaction in 1928 that pertains to this property, to Oveta, and to Big Paw Paw, everyone was kind enough to leave me the cause number and judicial district court that the divorce was filed in.  [Thank you.]  

Anyhow, I haven't even begun to scratch the surface of Big Paw Paw and his wives and women.  And since Big Paw Paw apparently left really nice paper trails, I suspect I'll be finding a lot more about them.  At this point, it seems that the women that dealt with Big Paw Paw warrant a story and post of their own [and quite possibly a medal, in my humble opinion.  *rolling eyes heavenward*]

While Oveta Marshall never appears in any land transactions, if indeed Oveta is not Emma, Big Paw Paw has a ton more of land transactions through right after he died in 1968.  These last transactions were carried out by the executrix of his will, who interestingly wasn't my grandmother.  [But I'll leave that to his wives' and women's post.]  His land purchases, like so many others at the time, made the newspapers.  [Thank God.]  Big Paw Paw also used the classified section to sell and/or rent his homes.  All of these write-ups and ads in the newspapers usually included his address.  Below is an example of 2 of his many purchases.  It's from a write-up in 5 Apr 1936 in the San Antonio Express "Real Estate and Classified" section where he purchased 2 properties from a Mr. Wm. F. Schutz in San Antonio.  What's so neat about this one is there are articles on the same page describing the rapid growth of San Antonio, how it was starting to drive-up the prices of real estate, and they were encouraging buyers to buy now before the prices went up.  It appears to me that Big Paw Paw was right in the middle of all this real estate hullabaloo, better known as the San Antonio housing boom that started in the 1920's.  Of course, buying houses at the time would turn out to be a big mistake for most people as the Great Depression was right around the corner, and many of these same people who bought homes would be losing them.  However, the enterprising person that he was, Big Paw Paw was right there to rent them a house.

Additionally, I found in the 4 May 1935 issue of the San Antonio Express where he'd made a formal complaint of "theft of residence" against a Mr. Ben Nathan of the Loan & Wrecking Company.  Apparently they were squabbling over who actually owned a particular house and property and Mr. Nathan had already taken the house apart and reused the lumber in several new houses.  Big Paw Paw claimed he had owned the property and that Mr. Nathan had stolen it from him.  No outcome was printed in the paper, so I'll have to go down to the courthouse for that one.  I have a feeling that they're gonna know me at the courthouse almost as much as they knew my Big Paw Paw.  [Snort.]

Some of Big Paw Paw's personal life can be gleaned from the newspapers as well.  [Thank God.]  In the San Antonio Light on 3 Jul 1937, I found where he'd filed a lawsuit in the 45th District Court against his older sister Jane Rosin over a title and for damages.  Now because of the date, I have an inkling as to what this was about, but I need those records to know for sure.  [And I'm SO gonna get my hands on those records. ]

Likewise, Big Paw Paw filed for divorce [again?] from an Ola Mae Marshall and the notice was listed in the San Antonio Light newspaper on 28 May 1936.  I have some suspicions about this marriage and divorce, and when I get my little hands on those records and figure out all his wives and women, I'll let you know. [rolling eyes heavenward]

Additionally, I had some more luck in the city directories for Big Paw Paw and my grandmother that yielded me not only addresses, but the name of his company, Burnet Wrecking Company.  I'm guessing that he named his company after Burnet Street located in San Antonio, which is named after David G. Burnet who was the first provisional President of the Republic of Texas.  Just a guess though.

Also, Big Paw Paw was not afraid, apparently, to do business outside his comfort zone because there are several classified ads where he was selling some horses and some puppies in the San Antonio Light newspaper.  Basically, I think Big Paw Paw found opportunities to make a buck and wasn't afraid to capitalize on them.

The old-fashioned way.

The American way.

How else and where else could the youngest son of a Prussian immigrant farmer go from being a fisherman in the Gulf of Mexico to a wheelin' and dealin' businessman in San Antonio, Texas?

As I mentioned before, I never knew my Big Paw Paw, and he certainly never promised me a "rose garden," but he certainly gave me the "fertilizer" and "green thumb" in order to grow one.  And you can bet your bottom dollar that I'll be sharing more of his "rose gardens" with you.  

In the meantime, go see if some of your ancestors lived their lives in the papers.

The newspapers, that is.

You never know.  They may have been married to my Big Paw Paw, or maybe he sued them.  [Snort.] 

Sources and Credits:

Handbook of Texas Online, s.v. "," http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/SS/hds2.html (accessed 4 Mar 2010).

The San Antonio Housing Authority: The Evolution of Public Housing.  www.saha.org/aboutsaha//pdfs/Publications/01%20Evolution%201.2pdf (accessed 4 Mar 2010).

"1910 United States Census," database, Ancestry.com, (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed Jan 2007), entry for Joseph Marschall (age 17), p.4A, Galveston, Texas; citing "NA film no. T624-1554."


"1920 United States Census," database, Ancestry.com, (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed Jan 2007), entry for Joseph Marshall (age 27), p.4A, San Antonio, Texas; citing "NA film no. T625-1779."

Ann M. Tolley, Archives Technician, National Personnel Records Center, St. Louis Missouri, to Caroline Pointer, letter, 18 Oct 2007, summation of military personnel records of Joseph Marshall; Marshall Family, Caroline Pointer's Research Files; privately held by Caroline Pointer, Conroe, Texas.


"The San Pedro Arms," San Antonio Express, 20 Dec 1925, p.A5; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 28 Feb 2010), Historical Newspaper Collection.


"Business Leasing New Sites Here," San Antonio Express, 5 Apr 1936, Real Estate & Classified section, col.4; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 28 Feb 2010), Historical Newspaper Collection. 




"Theft of Residence Charged in Complaint," San Antonio Express, 4 May 1935, p.16, col.2; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : 28 Feb 2010, Historical Newspaper Collection.


"Courts: New Suits Filed in 45th District Court, Judge S.G. Taylor," San Antonio Light, 3 Jul 1937, p.12B, col.1; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : 28 Feb 2010), Historical Newspaper Collection.

"Courts: New Suits Filed in 37th District Court, Judge Harry L. Howard," San Antonio Light, 28 May 1936, p.12B, col.7; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : 28 Feb 2010), Historical Newspaper Collection.

John F. Worley Directory Co, Worley's San Antonio City Directory, 1938-1939 (John F. Worley Co., 1939), 848; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : 28 Feb 2010), U.S. City Directories.

John F. Worley Directory Co, Worley's San Antonio City Directory, 1938-1939 (John F. Worley Co., 1939), 170; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : 28 Feb 2010), U.S. City Directories.

John F. Worley Directory Co, Worley's San Antonio City Directory, 1948 (John F. Worley Co., 1948), 679; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : 28 Feb 2010), U.S. City Directories.

"Bexar County, 1837-1963 Historical Records," Bexar County Clerk's Office, Bexar County, Texas - County Clerk (http://www.countyclerk.bexar.landata.com/Default.aspx : Mar 2007), database and digital images, "Deed, Emma Marshall Grantee and Joseph Marshall Grantor, 21 May 1923," bk 724, p.203.


"Bexar County, 1837-1963 Historical Records," Bexar County Clerk's Office, Bexar County, Texas - County Clerk (http://www.countyclerk.bexar.landata.com/Default.aspx : Mar 2007), database and digital images, "Affidavit, Joseph Marshall, Filed 7 Mar 1928," bk 1019, p.3.

"Bexar County, 1837-1963 Historical Records," Bexar County Clerk's Office, Bexar County, Texas - County Clerk (http://www.countyclerk.bexar.landata.com/Default.aspx : Mar 2007), database and digital images, "Transfer, Joseph Marshall, Jr., Grantor and B.J. Cater, Grantee, 17 Jan 1962," bk.555, p.551.

"Bexar County, 1837-1963 Historical Records," Bexar County Clerk's Office, Bexar County, Texas - County Clerk (http://www.countyclerk.bexar.landata.com/Default.aspx : Mar 2007), database and digital images, "Deed of Trust, John & Josephine Marschall, Jr. Grantor and Farm and Home Savings and Loan Grantee, 17 Mar 1928," bk.1052, p.159.

He Had Me at "Detective"

So What's Your Magical Number?
I was officially employed at the age of eight.  I mean, really employed ~ not "pick-up your clothes, make your bed, brush your teeth, and here's your 2 bucks", but an honest-to-God job.  Considering child labor laws, how was this possible, you ask?  Well, when you work for your parents, they don't apply.  My dad had a kind of all-around truck and trailer business ~ the eighteen-wheeler kind.  No, he wasn't a truck driver, nor did he own a trucking company [which I get that a lot], but he had a mechanic's shop that did, well, what a mechanic's shop does.  In addition, he had a paint and body shop, a frame machine that could bend a trailer's frame back into position after a wreck, sold truck & trailer parts, sold new and used trailers, and sold used heavy-duty trucks.  Like I said, it was an all-around truck and trailer business that, in it's heyday, did very well.  I guess eight was the magical number that my dad decided was the perfect age to bring his little girl into the family biz, so to speak.  So, what was my job title?  I was the official "heavy-duty truck and trailer parts inventory clerk" [and "do whatever else your dad and your older brother tell you to do"].  In other words, my job every summer was to count big, greasy, and sometimes unidentifiable parts.  Most of the parts were identified with parts numbers and other important data that I was to mark down along with the count.   The ones that weren't labeled, I was supposed to mark with a round neon-colored sticker for someone else to problem-solve.  I even had my own official clipboard.  I started out at 10 bucks a week, and that was my magical number to get the job done.

Green-Screened IBM Monsters
Each summer my dad added a little more to my duties [of course], but he upped my pay as well.  By this time, though, I was working for my mom at her pet shop [a story for another time], but I was given "time off" to help dad with inventory.  After I would complete a particular section I was taught to enter the data into the computer [remember those old green-screened IBM monsters?].  When I came upon an item that didn't have a part number, instead of leaving it for someone else to solve, my dad showed me how to figure out the manufacturer, look it up by picture in the gazillion catalogs he had, and obtain the information to enter into the computer.  [O.K., can I just pause and say that, just now, all that was easier to explain and type than to do?]  When my dad first explained it to me, he said, "Caroline, it's like you're a detective and you're trying to solve a mystery.  Keep looking.  You can find it.  Solve the mystery."  Well being an avid Nancy Drew and Trixie Belden fan [which he very well knew], he had me at, "detective".

The Irony
I find it ironic now that the man who taught to me how to problem solve [and so many other things] was the same man who asked me in high school to "do" our family tree and is the same man whose family has 5 related unsolved murders that, to the best of my knowledge, he thought were deaths ~ not murders.  While growing up, I had heard several times from my mom that my Paw Paw's [my dad's mom's] brother had been killed in a house fire trying to save his four children.  Then, when I interviewed my Paw Paw for my family tree project my senior year in high school, I remember her telling me that very same story.  She, of course, gave me his name for the tree, but she didn't volunteer anymore information, my mother didn't know anything else, and I never asked anymore about it.  That is, until now. 

The Duke's, Roscoe, and More Snow
Unfortunately, my Paw Paw passed away 6 years ago, and I'm not able to ask her any questions.  In trying to take her line back, I had some difficulties with the spelling of her name, Rettie Maye Martin.  Sometimes, she went by Rettie and sometimes she went by Maye, and both names are easily phonetically misspelled.  The one item that "saved" me was that I remembered her brother's name.  Remember, the show "Duke's of Hazzard" [not the movie, but the t.v. show]?  Do you remember Boss Hogg's sheriff, Rosco P. Coltrain? [and, wow, you can follow the actor that played Rosco on Twitter.  Will wonders never cease?]  Anyhow, that's how I remembered my Paw Paw's brother's name, Roscoe Martin.  [Silly?  Yes, but did it work?  Uh, yeah.]  Roscoe's name was a much easier name to follow in the census with usually only 2 variances [Rosco/Roscoe].  I was able to trace them from Texas back to Illinois, where they were born, which I had also remembered from our interview.  You want to know how I remembered that?  Simple, at the time it was beyond my comprehension that she was not born in Texas.  [Isn't everyone born in Texas? ;) ]  Also, when she told me she was from Illinois, my reply was, "You mean, where it snows?"  [I told you we South Texans are enamored with the whole snow concept ~ the fluffy kind, not the ice kind.]

Seeing Their Faces Made Their Story Come Alive
Remember Hurricane Ike and how my kids, my dog, and I stayed with my sister in San Antonio for a few days, and I acquired quite a few family photographs, mostly from my Dad's side of the family?  Well, amongst all of them were some photos of Roscoe [with his full name, Roscoe Benton Martin, written on the back], as well as photos of all 4 of his children.  There were also photos of him and his wife and of him and his sister, my Paw Paw.  While looking at the photos, I was captivated because I realized I was looking at the family ~ my family ~ that had perished in a house fire.  All of the photos were identified on the back in my Paw Paw's handwriting.  When I got home, I entered their data in my database software [Rootsmagic] and on my Ancestry.com tree, which is used solely to connect with other possible family members. [In other words, it's not complete, but I use it as my "clue" tree.]  A few days later, I decided to look on findagrave.com for my Martin's in both Johnson County and Williamson County in Illinois.  To my delight [not really delight, but you know what I mean, right?], I stumbled upon Roscoe's and his four children's online memorials.  The house fire that killed them was referenced, and the information had been entered by the wife of a distant cousin.  "Hm," I thought to myself.  "I need to contact her to possibly exchange information."  There were no pictures of Roscoe and his children nor of their tombstones, but did have photos of the cemetery's sign/plaque.  So, I quickly scanned my photos of them and added them to their respective memorials, to my Ancestry.com tree, and to my Rootsmagic software.  I then went on to other Martin's.  [I have since updated the photos.]  On, yet, another day, I began to think about the house fire, and I thought that maybe, just maybe, there had a been a write-up in the local newspaper about it.  After all, this was a small community, and five of it's citizens had perished in one night.  [Sounds reasonable, right?]

The Summer of 1957
So, I searched on Ancestry.com with all of Roscoe's pertinent information, and I got 2 positive hits [at least as far as I had looked].  I quickly found and read the first article, and yes, there was a house fire; and yes, Roscoe and all 4 of his children perished in that fire in the summer of 1957; but the investigators had determined that it was arson.  My heart dropped into my stomach at reading that, but I think my heart actually stopped beating for just a second as I read that Roscoe's wife and two men that they knew had been in the home for some time before the fire started [meaning that evening], and that Roscoe's wife and one of the men had got out unscathed.  And the other man?  He'd been sleeping in his car located on their street.  Oookay, these details were a bit suspicious, but what convinced the investigators that it was arson?  Well, I think the empty 5-gallon gasoline can located right outside the house and the two rooms in the house that had gasoline poured in them were pretty convincing.  I thought at the time, "Oh my God.  Someone needs to solve those murders." [Duh.]  Then a couple of weeks ago as I was fixing Roscoe's photo and creating a design for it to share with y'all for a Wordless Wednesday post, I started thinking about him and his children, and how unfair it was that their lives were taken.  Four beautiful children. [Don't you think?]  It also got me to thinking how unfair it was that these murders may have never been solved, to the best of my knowledge.  Why hadn't , my Paw Paw known, or if she had, why didn't she say anything?  Had it been too painful?  Thankfully she had their photos and identified them...for me.  I was thinking again that someone needed to look into this, and I was beginning to think that "someone" was me.  After all, when someone murdered Roscoe, his three boys, and his little girl, they ended the Martin surname, at least as far as my great-grandfather's line is concerned.  So, I've decided to "own" this one.  I mean, technically speaking their family story ended when they died in that house fire, but for me, that's an unacceptable ending.  After all, my middle name is Martin, so actually their story kind of "owns" me, and if not the person who solely carries the name in my great-grandfather's line, then who?

Let's Interact
I've decided to make this ongoing investigation a series of posts.  This means that as I research, I will be posting at least once a week with updates ~ kind of an "in-process, step-by-step" kind of thing.  Also, I invite all of your hints, tips, and suggestions.  Yup, I'm making it interactive.  That is, if you want to interact.  If not, then feel free ~ as always ~ to watch the ending of this family story unfold.  So, whaddya' think?  Don't Roscoe, Jack, Bill, Jerry, and little Cheryl Maye deserve to have their family story completed?  Don't they deserve to rest in peace?  So, "What's in a Name?"  Well, in this case, a family mystery.

I can almost hear my dad saying, "Caroline, it's like you're a detective and you're trying to solve a mystery.  Keep looking.  You can find it.  Solve the mystery."

Sources:

Texas. Fort Bend County. 1930 U.S. census, population schedule. Digital images. Ancestry.com. http://www.ancestry.com : 2007.

Illinois. Williamson County. 1920 U.S. census, population schedule. Digital images. Ancestry.com. http://www.ancestry.com : 2007.

Illinois. Johnson County. 1910 U.S. census, population schedule. Digital images. Ancestry.com. http://www.ancestry.com : 2007.

United Press, "Probe Deaths of 5 in Fire," The Hammond Times, 16 Jul 1957, p. 5, col. 2; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : 15 Oct 2008), Historical Newspaper Collection.

Brown, Ann, Find A Grave (http://findagrave.com/ : accessed 16 Oct 2008), "Martin, Roscoe Benton," Memorial #8494172.

Brown, Ann, Find A Grave (http://findagrave.com/ : accessed 16 Oct 2008), "Martin, John "Jack" Winston," Memorial #8494193.

Brown, Ann, Find A Grave (http://findagrave.com/ : accessed 16 Oct 2008), "Martin, William "Bill" Lester," Memorial #8494179.

Brown, Ann, Find A Grave (http://findagrave.com/ : accessed 16 Oct 2008), "Martin, Jerry Ray," Memorial #8494152.

Brown, Ann, Find A Grave (http://findagrave.com/ : accessed 16 Oct 2008), "Martin, Cheryl Maye," Memorial #8494212.

Photo Credits:

Martin, Roscoe Benton. Photograph. ca. 1931. Digital Image. Privately held by Caroline Martin Pointer, [address for private use,] Conroe, Texas. 2008.

Martin, John "Jack" Winston. Photograph. ca. 1954. Digital Image. Privately held by Caroline Martin Pointer, [address for private use,] Conroe, Texas. 2008.

Martin, William "Bill" Lester. Photograph. ca. 1954. Digital Image. Privately held by Caroline Martin Pointer, [address for private use,] Conroe, Texas. 2008.

Martin, Jerry Ray. Photograph. ca. 1954. Digital Image. Privately held by Caroline Martin Pointer, [address for private use,] Conroe, Texas. 2008.


Martin, Cheryl Maye. Photograph. ca. 1954. Digital Image. Privately held by Caroline Martin Pointer, [address for private use,] Conroe, Texas. 2008.

Wordless Wednesday: Girl, You Should've Been in Pictures

Rettie Maye Martin, 1920's & 1930's
[my grandmother, Paw Paw]

 

Martians, Marshmallows, and Genealogy...

Paw Paw

This is my Paw Paw [my grandmother on my dad's side]. These are some of my favorite pictures of her because they are so expressive. The picture in the center I think is very fitting for Mother's Day, as this was taken with her children [my dad and aunt]. Rettie Maye was born in Southern Illinois in 1913 and was the daughter of Lillie Mae Alley and the grandaughter of Catharine Caroline Vaughn [both also of Southern Illinois]

Stop Calling Me a Martian!

Growing up I always hated my middle name, Martin. When you're a kid, you don't want to be different and my name was definitely not the norm - 2 surnames or a man's name for a middle name [definitely not cool]. I was the object of a lot of teasing and name-calling when other kids found out my middle name. The most popular names were martian and marshmallow. The second nickname making fun of my last name, Marshall [cuz hey, why not?], and sometimes there was that kid in the crowd that put them together: Martian Marshmallow [ha-ha. Very funny]. No worries, though, I'm made of sterner stuff than that, and although I'd like to say that I took the high road and ignored them, I can't. I gave as good as I got...[after all, what would you expect from a bossy, oops, I mean managing woman/girl?

Mom, Why Did You Give Me the Middle Name, Martin?

I just never understood why my mom gave me the name, and I never thought to ask until much later in life. So, why did she give me the middle name, Martin? She said that I was named after Paw Paw's maiden name, and that Paw Paw and I [at the time I asked] were the only one's left in her father's line to carry on the name, and she went on to explain that my Paw Paw's brother and all of his kids died in a house fire [arson: a story for another day]...

Oh. [sigh] Now I've got to say that since that day, I've been so very proud to be named after her...My Paw Paw died in 2003 and now I'm left to carry on the Martin name. Happy Mother's Day, Paw Paw!

[So, does anyone else have any childhood nicknames that they hated, or how about a family story behind a maternal name in your family? Share it in comments, if you want...]

Caroline