On this date in our extended family history . . . the 20th day of August . . . in the year 1912 . . . Nellie Josephine Henry is born in Milam County, Texas. This lovely woman I knew as Aunt Nellie was actually my grand-aunt, i.e., she was the youngest sister of my maternal grandpa, Robert E. Henry (1905-1976).
Nellie was the 8th of eight children known to have been born to my maternal great-grandparents, Edgar and Berta Mary (Sharp) Henry. She was named for both of her grandmothers -- Mary Alexandrien "Nellie" Sharp nee Lemaire (1843-1876) and Josephine Wingfield Henry nee Davis (1842-1899).
In 1938, Nellie married Alton Brooks Peebles, who happened to be a 3rd cousin once removed to the man Nellie's niece, Roberta, would marry in 1950. (I do not know whether they ever knew they were related!)
- Nellie Josephine Peebles nee Henry
born 20 August 1912 in Milam County, Texas
died 02 November 1996 in Austin, Travis County, Texas
- Alton Brooks Peebles
born 17 August 1913 in Lexington, Lee County, Texas
died 29 July 1991 in Rockdale, Milam County, Texas
The History and Antiquities of New England ...Embracing the Following Subjects, Viz:... Anecdotes, Traditions, Remarkable & Unaccountable Occurrenceswith a Great Variety of Curious & Interesting Relics of AntiquityBy John Warner Barber
In or near the area of the southern part of Maine were living at this exact time in history certain ancestors of ours, including (but not limited to) . . . Daniel Merrill & and his wife, Hannah Runnels . . . and their son, Levi Merrill & his wife, Jerusha Milliken . . . and Jerusha's father, Edward Milliken . . . and Edward's father-in-law . . . Samuel Nathaniel Harmon.
Also Thomas Thurston and his wife, Lucy Fenderson . . . and his widowed mother, Martha Piper.
Also Morrill Hobbs and his wife, Miriam Brackett . . . and his widowed mother, Abigail Urann Hobbs . . . and Miriam's parents, John Brackett and Miriam Thompson . . . and John's father, Samuel Brackett.
The darkness commenced between the hours of 10 and 11 A.M., and continued to the middle of the next night. It was occasioned by a thick vapour or cloud, tinged with a yellow color, or faint red, and a thin coat of dust was deposited on white substances.
The wind was in the southwest; and the darkness appeared to come on with clouds in that direction. Its extent was from Falmouth, (Maine,) to New Jersey. The darkness appears to have been the greatest in the county of Essex, (Mass.) in the lower part of New Hampshire, and Maine; it was also great in Rhode Island and Connecticut.
In most parts of the country where the darkness prevailed, it was so great, that persons were unable to read common print, determine the time of day by their clocks or watches, dine, or manage their domestic business, without additional light; 'candles were lighted up in their houses; the birds having sung their evening songs, disappeared and became silent; the fowls retired to roost; the cocks were crowing all around as at break of day; objects could be distinguished but a very little distance; and every thing bore the appearance and gloom of night.'
The following is an extract of a letter from Dr. Tenney to the Massachusetts Historical Society, giving an account of the dark day of May, 1780.
"You will readily recollect that, previously to the commencement of the darkness, the sky was overcast with the common kind of clouds, from which there was, in some places a light sprinkling of rain. Between these and the earth there intervened another stratum, to appearance of very great thickness. As this stratum advanced, the darkness commenced and increased with its progress till it came to its height; which did not take place till the hemisphere was a second time overspread. The uncommon thickness of this second stratum was probably occasioned by two strong currents of wind from the southward and westward, condensing the vapours and drawing them in a north-easterly direction. I remember this observation was made by an anonymous writer in one of the public papers soon after the event.
As I set out the next day, from my father's at Rowley, to join my regiment in New Jersey, I had an opportunity to inform myself what were the appearances in different parts of the country between here and Pennsylvania. The result of my enquiries, on that journey, and after my return, was that the darkness was most gross in the county of Essex, the lower part of the State of New-Hampshire and the old Province of Maine. In Rhode-Island and Connecticut it was not so great, and still less in New-York. In New-Jersey the second stratum of clouds was observed, but not of any great thickness; nor was the darkness very uncommon. In the lower parts of Pennsylvania, if my recollection does not fail me, no extraordinary appearance was noticed. Through this whole extent the lower stratum had an uncommon brassy hue, while the earth and trees were adorned with so enchanting a verdure as could not escape notice, were amidst the unusual gloom that surrounded the spectator. This gradual increase of the darkness from southwest to northeast, which was nearly the course of the clouds, affords a pretty good argument in favour of the supposition that they were condensed by two strong currents of wind blowing in different directions. To these two strata of clouds we may, without hesitation, impute the extraordinary darkness of the day."
On this date in our family history . . . the 31st day of January . . . in the year 1872 . . . Edgar and Emma Henry are born at Old Independence in Washington County, Texas . . . Edgar and Emma were the 4th and 5th of eight children born to William Paschal (1836-1912) and Josephine Wingfield (Davis) Henry (1842-1899) . . . Edgar and Emma's parents took up residence in Milam County, Texas c. 1876, when the twins were about 4 or 5 years of age . . .
Edgar married Berta Mary Sharp (1873-1955) on 02 January 1895 in Crockett, Houston County, Texas . . . Berta was born 10 November 1873 in Houston County, the 5th of six children born to Samuel Houston and Mary Alexandrien (Lemaire) Sharp . . . FYI . . . Edgar's twin sister, Emma, had married Berta's older brother, Sam Houston Sharp, Jr., a few years earlier . . .
Edgar and Berta set up housekeeping in Milam County where Edgar's parents lived until their deaths (1899 and 1912) . . . they then moved to West Texas for a while early in the 20th century, but returned to Rockdale ca. 1939 shortly after two of their grandchildren moved in with them on a permanent basis . . . Edgar and Berta both died in Rockdale, and were laid to rest at Oaklawn Cemetery . . . Edgar is the paternal great-grandpa of the Keeper of this family history blog . . . a goodly number of Edgar and Berta's descendants still live in Rockdale and Milam County at this time, and others from across the state sometimes return to Milam County in the Autumn of the year for a family reunion . . .
FYI . . . the above collage was created by very carefully placing a torn and crumbling ledger page on a flat-bed scanner . . . and then layering on top of it a floral file folder from a local discount store . . . those two items were scanned together as one image . . . then using Picasa . . . that image was cropped . . . a second collage was created by adding the photo of Edgar . . . the text was also added using Picasa . . .
That fragile handwritten page came from a ledger belonging to Edgar Henry, and contains lyrics to old folk songs . . . this particular page contains a version of a set of lyrics to a song called The Package of Old Letters . . . as you can see, part of this page is missing, so I'm guessing at the closing lines, but here are the words I think my great-grandpa penned on these pages . . .
In a little rosewood casket
That is resting on the stand
There's a package of old letters
Written by a cherished hand
Won't you go and get them, Sister
And read them o'er to me
I have often tried to read them
But for tears I could not see
You have brought them sister
Come sit down upon my bed
And lift gently to your bosom
This poor aching throbbing head
Tell him that I never blamed him
Or a word of censure spoke
But oh tell him sister tell him
That my heart his coldness broke
When I'm dead and in my coffin
And my shroud about me wound
And my narrow bed is ready
In the pleasant churchyard ground
Place the letters and the locket
Both together on my heart
And the little ring he gave me
Never from my finger part.
Georgia Faye Kaseberg nee Henry (1925-2001) spent the last year or so of her life as a resident of a nursing home in Cameron, Texas, a victim of Alzheimers . . . she died exactly ten years ago today . . . on the 2nd day of March in the year 2001 . . . her burial on the 5th of March coincided exactly with the 101st anniversary of the birth of her mother, Willie Ruth (Jennings) Henry . . . her Daddy (George Rettig Henry) and my maternal Grandpa (Robert E. Henry, Sr.) were brothers . . . Georgia Faye was a witness at my Mom and Dad's wedding in Freeport in 1950 . . . she was an editor of Matchless Milam which was published during the Texas Sesquicentennial (1986) . . . and she was a wonderful supplier and sharer of a wealth of genealogical info on our family . . . we loved her dearly and are forever in her debt . . . she is missed . . . the following is Georgia Faye's story written c. 1986 . . . in her own words . . .
Georgia Faye Henry was born August 31, 1925 in Norton, Runnels County, Texas to George Rettig and Willie Ruth Jennings Henry. She (had) one brother, Weldon Lee Henry, born August 30, 1927.
Georgia started school at Norton School; later that year transferred to a two-room schoolhouse in a cotton field at North Norton. After finishing grade seven, she graduated in 1942 from Norton High School.
Georgia came to Rockdale in January 1943 looking for work. She applied for an opening at Western Union as a morse code operator trainee. Mable Luckey trained several such students in what is now (1984) Promenade Building. Upon completion, she worked in Bastrop, Texas, near Camp Swift. She later worked in several Texas towns and in 1943 went to teletype school in Springfield, Missouri. After graduating, she worked in several towns making vacation reliefs. In 1944 she was offered a six-week job in Freeport (Brazoria County) Texas, which extended until June 1960. During her life in Freeport, she saw the streets of Freeport paved and saw the town of nearby Lake Jackson created where only trees and marsh once were. She witnessed several hurricanes, staying through two. All that water was a far cry from dusty West Texas. She learned about the Gulf, beaches, deep sea fishing, and enjoyed seafood which definitely was not in her hometown of Norton. While in Freeport, she married Albert Samuel Edward Kaseberg, Sr. June 14, 1956. They moved in 1960 to Baytown (Harris County). A son named Albert Samuel Edward Kaseberg, Jr. was born July 27, 1961. Georgia divorced Albert, Sr. in 1966.
Georgia and Albert, Jr. moved to Big Spring in 1968, then to Lafayette, Louisiana and Lake Charles, Louisiana. When that telegraph office closed, they moved to Rockdale in 1974. They moved to Monroe, Louisiana later for six months, and returned. Georgia took her retirement after 35 years of service. Georgia later worked from 1976 to 1982 as manager of Gold Bond Stamp redemption store in Rockdale before it closed.
Many interesting and sad times are recalled during her career. How can you explain to a sweet lady you cannot wire her homegrown flowers to a daughter? How can you explain you cannot wire some papers to a son to be signed and wired back? The work was gratifying by delivering messages about a new grandchild or offer of a job. Many times though, you got a nervous stomach, grabbed a box of kleenex and deliver a death message, many during World War II and Vietnam and Korean conflicts. Often these were about persons she knew personally. You got the feeling everyone dreaded to see you approaching. She still has her old morse key and the later model called a bug. Both still work. She came a long way from morse code to computer operation in 35 years!
