Treasure Chest Thursday: My Newest Treasure

My most recent "treasure" acquisition is also a convenient excuse for blogging only sporadically until now: it's my wedding gown, which I donned October 10 to marry my longtime sweetie. (I would also consider him my latest "treasure," but I'm not sure he's ready for blog stardom. :) )


Wedding gown in ivory with champagne lace and sash; furry genealogy assistant Roux.

Genealogy hounds will no doubt be amused to hear that we are 7th cousins once removed, our common ancestor being a Stevenson born about 1700, probably in Scotland (father to James and William of N. Ireland & the Carolinas). Some online trees have the ancestor as Henry Stephenson, b. 1698 in Roxburghshire, Scotland, but I don't know if this actually has been proven, and I haven't been investigating the Stevenson trail lately.


Wedding gown, back view.

We'd been dating 10 years before I even discovered we were related. I decided to visit his mom's online tree one day, spotted a familiar surname, and before you knew it, we were "kissing cousins"! Of course, at the 7th-cousin level, there's not really much "ick" factor to worry about, as we'd have only a speck of genetic heritage in common.


Bodice detail

Still, it makes a good story, doesn't it? His parents and siblings always made me feel like part of their family; little did we know, I already was! :)


Train and sash detail.

All text and images copyright 2009 by the author.

Veterans Day and the Hall family

For Veterans Day, I'd like to salute my dad, his four brothers and one of his sisters for their service to our country. All five of the Hall brothers of Sulphur, Louisiana, served in the U.S. Navy. How they felt about their sister serving as an Army nurse, I'm not sure, but I'll have to pose that question at the next family gathering!

My dad, George Hall, still Navy-tough at 88, served as a fighter pilot in World War II in the South Pacific.


George Hall, c. 1944. Photo privately held by author.

He originally trained on dive bombers, but switched to fighters when he heard more fighter pilots were needed. He flew an F6F Hellcat from the aircraft carrier USS Hancock in 1945, and is still thrilled to see and discuss planes he trained in or flew in the war. Kudos to our family friend who recorded Dad's reminiscences a couple of years ago on DVD.

(By the way, Thanksgiving gatherings are a great time to record family memories! See the StoryCorps website for ideas.)

Dad was following in his older brother Bob's footsteps by joining the Navy. Robert Lee Hall (1920-2003) was a baker and petty officer on the troop ship APA 117 Haskell during World War II, and later on the aircraft carrier USS Boxer. He helped set up bakeries on ships and on various Pacific islands, including New Caledonia, New Hebrides, and islands in the Samoas and Fijis.


Robert Lee Hall, 1940s. Photo privately held by author.

Uncle Bob told his hometown paper 50 years later, "I remember the terrible heat below deck in the ships' kitchens and also in the tropical island kitchens. And sailors. I got so tired of seeing sailors, day after day, year after year, for the six years I was in service." The monotony was no doubt alleviated when my aunt Martha Burch, as his fiancée, took a troop ship to meet Uncle Bob in the Samoas, where they married and lived for a time.

John Bunyon Hall (1923-2008) was the third Hall brother to serve in the South Pacific during WW II. He worked in the torpedo parts room aboard the sub tender USS Fulton. He was part of a gunner's crew that shot down two attacking enemy planes during the Battle of Saipan.


John Bunyan Hall, 1940s. Photo privately held & digitally edited by author.

Two other living uncles served in the Navy after World War II, and one of my aunts was an Army nurse. I don't know how they feel about being blogged about, so I won't name them here but will just say how proud we all are of all our relatives who have served in the military! Happy Veterans Day!

Wordless Wednesday

Hurricane evacuation route sign, Sulphur, LA, Feb. 2009. Digital photo by the author.

Tombstone Tuesday: Tombstone Trekking Tips Edition

(Yes, it's Wednesday now. Better late than never!)

Tip #1: If a cousin offers to take you to a cemetery, go! Don't worry that you don't have "enough" time to spend there or don't have all your genealogy info with you, just GO.

I was in Scott, LA, in February, visiting recently-discovered second cousins after a mutual cousin's funeral. One of them offered to show me where her grandfather (my great-uncle) and grandmother were buried. It was late in the day, and I didn't have all my info with me, but I went anyway and took my camera. Here are my great-uncle and great-aunt's graves.


Mrs. Euclide (Eugenie Légère) Légère, Nov. 6, 1863 - Feb. 13, 1939
Euclide Légère, Sept. 22, 1863 - Jan. 16, 1949
Sts. Peter & Paul Roman Catholic Church Cemetery, Scott, LA, Feb. 2009.
[Note: Hebert's Southwest Louisiana Records gives Eugenie's birth as 15 Nov. 1862 and Euclide's as Sept. 22, 1862. These years are probably correct; it's possible that Eugenie was baptized on Nov. 15. I need to follow up on this.]

(Tip #1a: Tombstones aren't always correct.)

Serendipity then rewarded me--or perhaps it was our dearly departed cousin smiling down on us. As I looked up from the Légères' gravesite, I spotted another familiar name: McBride. I walked over and found the grave of my great-great grandmother, Melasie Hollier McBride! I didn't even know she was buried in Scott! (See Tip #1.)



Mrs. Wm. McBride, née Melasie Hollier, Dec. 11, 1825 - Aug. 19, 1925
Sts. Peter & Paul Roman Catholic Church Cemetery, Scott, LA, Feb. 2009.
[Note: Southwest Louisiana Records gives her birth as Dec. 11, 1830. See Tip #1a.]

Tip #2: Look on both sides of the headstone.

I made time for another brief visit to Sts. Peter & Paul Cemetery before I left Louisiana. This time, I happened to approach my great-great grandmother's grave from the opposite side, and found two great-uncles who were buried with Melasie. She was their grandmother, and their names were listed on the reverse of her headstone, which I neglected to investigate on my first visit. And no, I didn't know they were buried in Scott, either! [It was a last-minute trip, and I hadn't expected to have any genealogy time.]



Fabian [or Fabien] Légère, Dec. 1, 1896 - Dec. 5, 1916
Henry [Joseph Henri, a.k.a. "Pete"] Stemmans [or Stemmann], Oct. 4, 1877 - Oct. 17, 1942
Reverse of headstone for Melasie Hollier McBride, their grandmother.
Sts. Peter & Paul Roman Catholic Church Cemetery, Scott, LA, Feb. 2009.

Both were sons of Marie Octavie "Tavie" McBride, who married Cyprien Stemmann, and then Constant Légère. Euclide Légère of the top photo in this post became Tavie's stepson.
[Note: Southwest Louisiana Records gives Fabian's birth as Dec. 1, 1895.]

More Tombstone Tips to come -- learning the hard way so you don't have to!

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday

Cross Roads Basketball Team, Rural Champions, by Langdon Photo, Claiborne Parish, LA, 1924. Digital scan of original photograph by owned by author's family, slightly edited & enlarged.

My grandmother Edna Maud Pate, teacher and team coach, is in the hat on the left. (She knew nothing about basketball but learned the rules when she was asked to coach the girls.) My great-aunt Vera Stevenson is sitting on the right in front. I don't know the identity of the others. Edna & Vera became sisters-in-law a couple of years later, when Edna married Vera's brother Alvin Jasper Stevenson. Cross Roads is a community about 3 miles east of Athens, Louisiana.

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday

Cross Roads Basketball Team, Rural Champions, by Langdon Photo, Claiborne Parish, LA, 1924. Digital scan of original photograph owned by author's family, slightly edited & enlarged.

I have no idea who these men are, but maybe someone else will know. My grandmother, Edna Maud Pate Stevenson, a teacher, was coach of the girls' team the same year. Crossroads or Cross Roads is a community near Athens, in Northwest Louisiana.

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday

Edna Maud Pate, digital scan of original image owned by author. Original photo taken in Natchitoches, La., c. 1921.

A belated birthday & St. Patrick's Day salute to my maternal grandmother, Edna Maud Pate Stevenson. She was born on St. Paddy's, her favorite color was green, and she died her hair back to its natural red until she died just before her 90th birthday, in 1986. A true (part-)Irish lassie for the ages.