Grandpa, tell me 'bout the good ole days.
Sometimes it feels like this world's gone crazy.
Grandpa, take me back to yesterday,
Where the line between right and wrong didn't seem so hazy.
Did lovers really fall in love to stay?
Stand beside each other come what may?
Was a promise really something people kept,
Not just something they would say?
Did families really bow their heads to pray?
Did daddies really never go away?
Whoa oh Grandpa,Tell me 'bout the good ole days.
******
I saw this picture today and the song by the Judd's has stuck in my head ever since. The picture although not of my direct line is of my relations. The man in the bed is William Franklin Gamblin (1822 - 1903) he would have been my 2nd cousin 5 times removed. The picture was taken sometime before 1899 as his wife Martha who died in 1899, is sitting on the bed beside him. His sons are standing on the left with Martin Monroe sitting beside him and his daughters in law standing to the left.
I don't know what it is about the picture but something draws me to it, maybe the bed? It's wonderfully handcrafted with I would imagine, hand sewn blankets. I wonder what their life was like, were they happy? Did they suffer any illness? They travelled from Mississippi to Texas with their children, did they go by train. or did they go by horse and wagon? Why did they leave Mississippi? Was it because of the Civil War? What hardships did they endure?
If only pictures could talk! Maybe somewhere out there the answers are hiding, maybe with a descendant in an old bible or old letters or just passed down by word of mouth.
Maybe someday................
Now Thelma you know thats not enough explanation for me. Who is Williams Father? How did you find him in Mississippi? He started all those Texas Gamblins??
ReplyDeleteAND, Mississippi and Texas are darn hot, why do those men have those sweaty, long beards?????
It is a pretty fancy bed considering some of my old pictures and what people had.
LOL Debbie!!
ReplyDeleteWilliam's father was Martin P., Martin P's father was John F, brother to our 7x greatgrandfather Joshua. He actually was born in Alabama then moved to Mississippi and finally to Texas - I mostly traced him through census records.
Yes, a lot of the Texans are from this line although there are also the one who came via Oklahoma and Georgia.
Just wait till you see the one I found in California!!!
Its funny that everyone has to be pointed out how they're related to Joshua. But its the best way to understand who they are. You have paperwork to prove this??!!
ReplyDeleteIs it William the goldminer in California?
Everyone comes from William and Susannah through the 3 brothers, Joshua, John and Sion -their sisters I'm having a heck of time with!
ReplyDeleteI also believe there was a fourth son William who was born to William before he married Susannah. She was married before and had a son - Lewis, why couldn't he have been married before too and have a son named William. There is a William in every generation except that one - seems odd to me.
For a while there was a William Gamblin living close to Lewis Wells, they were the same age, could they have been brothers from a blended family? Lewis went to S.C. so did William, Lewis went to Kentucky so did William, Lewis went to Illinois and I lost William! But there are Gamblins in Kentucky that I can't trace to anyone......could they be William's offspring?
Then there is Mary Gamblin living in Tennessee in 1850 and is 91 years old....who the heck is she? I think all the Gamblins can be traced back to Josiah who came to America in 1636 but that is going to take a lot of time.
As for the goldminer, when I visited Missouri in 1979, Dad's cousin Alta told me lots of stories including the one about the "lost relative" who went to California and was never heard of again. The other day on Find A Grave someone listed a Josiah Gamblin who is buried in El Dorado, California, he died in 1888 at 61 years of age.
Joshua had a son James who had 2 sons, Joshua (my direct ancestor) and Josiah - Josiah was born in 1827/28 and I can't find any trace of him - is he the lost relative?
I wish there was documentation for all of this, mostly I go through the census, LDS, Ancestery, Find A Grave,snipits of other peoples family trees etc., I doubt I'll be able to prove with out a shadow of a doubt most of what find. But heck, when did that ever stop me......lol!
After a while it feels like you're going in circles doesnt it? I agree, all you can do in most of it is "assume". Finding paperwork that proves it is extremely hard. I recall reading court books that talked about an Elizabeth Gamblin having an out of wedlock son. I thought it was a Joshua. There were a few Joshuas back in the early 1700s. She could have been decended from Josiah in 1636. Love finding meaty skeleton stuff like that. Otherwise its just birth certificates, death records, marriage records. Boring. Dirt is fun. Finding 50 yr old widowed men with 10 kids marrying some poor 22 year old. Now that some dirt. Although that was kinda common. Wow, proves we come from good stock, hard working women! or crazy ones.
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