The Dog Tag

Dog Tags are issued to soldiers as a form of identification. 

When my maternal grandfather, Gilbert Ernest Roberts (1920-19144) entered the Marines in 1943, he received his set. 

If the soldier is killed in action, one tag stays with the body and the other with the Company Officer.  

Gilbert Ernest Roberts
1944
Before shipping off to the South Pacific

The dog tag in the image below was returned to Gilbert's wife Azile after his death on the island of Peleliu in September of 1944, just a few months after shipping out.

Gilbert Ernest Roberts
Dog Tag
WWII

Photos, stories, letters, and the telegraph informing the family of his death have been passed down to his descendants. 
The Dog Tag makes it more real. 
Something tangible to hold. 
An heirloom that once hung around his neck.

Thank you for your service and your sacrifice, 


This post was written for week 8 -"Heirloom" from Amy Johnson Crow's series 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks.


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Helping you climb your family tree,

Treasure Chest Thursday~Gilbert's Bowl

It's interesting what people will save and what they will throw away.
When my grandmother married my step-grandfather she felt she needed to get rid of many of my grandfather's belongings. 
She even threw away the letters he sent her while serving in the Marines during WWII before his death in 1944. 
She felt she needed to give her all to a new marriage and leave the past behind.
So, it came as a surprise when I learned about a bowl when cleaning out her home in preparation for selling after her death.

Gilbert's Bowl
©Cheri Hudson Passey

Luckily, my mother knew the story behind this simple yellow bowl. Her father, my grandfather would eat from it.
Grandmom would never let my mom or her brother use it for fear of them breaking it.

Gilbert Ernest Roberts (1920-1944)
©Cheri Hudson Passey

Why out of all the things once a part of his life, did she choose to save the bowl? 
It's too late to ask her and she never told me about it the many times I questioned her about my grandfather, his life, and their short marriage. 

Azile and Gilbert
About 1939
©Cheri Hudson Passey

Perhaps a simple bowl kept in the cupboard could provide her with memories in a subtle way. 
Who would ever guess that she was thinking of him and the life they shared as she saw it there.

What do you have that an ancestor once used? 
Have you written the story for generations to come?

I would love to hear from you.
Thanks so much for stopping by!


Helping you climb your family tree.

Blog Caroling~Heirlooms

It's Blog Caroling time again! Every year, Footnote Maven challenges genealogy bloggers to share a favorite Christmas Carol in a post and then add the link to hers. 
 This year as I think about what the season means to my family past and present, this song by Amy Grant keeps coming to my mind.

Lyrics

Up in the attic,
Down on my knees.
Lifetimes of boxes,
Timeless to me.

Letters and photographs,
Yellowed with years,
Some bringing laughter,
Some bringing tears.

Time never changes,
The memories, the faces
Of loved ones, who bring to me,
All that I come from,
And all that I live for,

And all that I'm going to be.
My precious family
Is more than an heirloom to me.
Wisemen and shepherds,

Down on their knees,
Bringing their treasures
To lay at his feet.
Who was this wonder,

Baby yet king?
Living and dying;
He gave life to me.
Time never changes,

The memory, the moment
His love first pierced through me,
Telling all that I came from,
And all that I live for,

And all that I'm going to be.
My precious savior
Is more than an heirloom to me.
My precious Jesus

Is more than an heirloom to me.

As we remember those who have gone before us and celebrate with loved ones, let us pause and take the time to remember Him whose birth we honor, and the gift of love will bring us all together again.

Have a Christmas Carol to share? Join in FM's Tradition of Blog Caroling!

Treasure Chest Thursday~Grandmom's Christmas Decorations

Azile and Frank Sullivan
Christmas 1955
Camden, South Carolina
©Cheri Hudson Passey

Two of my maternal Grandmother's Christmas decorations have been handed down and are part of my celebration each year.

Do you remember these ceramic trees? Love that it lights up!

This Nativity was set up in Grandmom's home every Christmas for as long as I can remember. 

Do you have any Christmas decorations that once belonged to your ancestors? 

Are we kin? Need help with your research? Please contact me.

Together we can find our people.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Treasure Chest Thursday~Grandmom's Locket

     

Locked owned by
Azile Juanita Daughrity Roberts  Sullivan
©Cheri Hudson Passey

 My maternal Grandmother Azile Juanita Daughrity Roberts Sullivan (1921-2009) owned a beautiful heart shaped locket.
                                                                                On the back are her initials, AD.

A.D. Initials on back of locket
©Cheri Hudson Passey

           Grandmom is wearing the locket in her 1939 Graduation photo from Sumter High School, in Sumter, South Carolina. There is nothing in it now, but I wonder, did it ever hold a picture of someone she loved? Who would it have been?
                                                                          Was it a graduation gift? Possibly. 

Azile Juanita (Daughrity) Roberts Sullivan
1921-2009
©Cheri Hudson Passey

  Do you have any heirloom jewelry? Do you have any pictures of your ancestor wearing it?  Leave a comment below describing your heirloom or share a picture!

Are we kin? Please contact me. Together we can find our people.
Thanks so much for stopping by!
             

Celebrating Women's History Month-Day 6: Grandmom's Crawling Baby Doll

Blog Prompt Day 6 from The Accidental Genealogist
Describe an heirloom you may have inherited from a female ancestor (wedding ring or other jewelry, china, clothing, etc.) If you don’t have any, then write about a specific object you remember from your mother or grandmother, or aunt (a scarf, a hat, cooking utensil, furniture, etc.)


 I had a hard time choosing what to write about today! I have been blessed to have been given several heirloom items from different branches of my family tree. I finally decided that I would share the first heirloom I was given.
  

Azile Juanita Daugrity
Mid 1920's
© Cheri Hudson Passey

     When my maternal Grandmother Azile Daughrity Roberts Sullivan was a child, her father Manning David Daughrity,Jr. worked as a clerk in a department store in downtown Sumter, SC.
 One day he brought his youngest daughter, my grandmother, a beautiful new doll that they had just received in the store. The story told is that they only received two of those dolls and she was one of the lucky little girls to get one.

Manning David Daughrity ,Jr.-In light suit
Sumter, SC Department Store
1920's
©Cheri Hudson Passey

   My Grandmom told me how much she loved that doll and how thrilled she was to get it. The best thing about it? It crawled! Something new for the mid 1920's.

When she was telling me the story about her father bringing her the doll, she looked at me and said  "Do you want that old thing?"  Ummm,,,,,,yes! It is now in a  display case in my living room.  

  Azile Daughrity's Crawling Doll- mid 1920's
Doll in possession of Cheri Hudson Passsey
© Cheri Hudson Passey

Azile Daaughrity's Crawling Doll - mid 1920's
Doll in possession of Cheri Hudson Passey
© Cheri Hudson Passey

Treasure Chest Thursday- Help Needed! Can You Date My Ancestor's Furniture?

   

  When my Great Grandfather John M. Hudson died in 1961 my Aunt and Uncle found two pieces of furniture in a barn on the family property in Manning,Clarendon, SC. They took it home and refinished it changing it from its original dark color to the light color shown in the pictures.

 John M. Hudson (1880-1961) married Louvinia Blanche Thames (1886-1918) in Clarendon County, SC in 1917. Blanche died a week after giving birth to my Grandfather Benjamin Allen Hudson (1918-1976). In about 1826 John married Blanche's older sister Margaret Ann  "Annie" Thames (1875-1960).

Louvinia Blanche Thames (1886-1918) on left with sister Margaret Ann "Annie" Thames (1875-1960)

 I do not know if the furniture belonged to either of the Thames girls before they were married or if it was something that belonged to the John Hudson family before or after his marriages. There are no identification stamps or marks from the maker. No one in the family knows anything more than it was found in the barn after John and Annie died. Finding out the time period these two pieces may have been made is the reason for this post. Hopefully someone out there may have some knowledge about dating furniture to share with me..  No one in the family knows anything more than it was found in the barn after John and Annie died.

   What was the furniture used for in the past? I would love to find out. Today it is being used to display pictures of the Hudson and Thames families. The drawers and cabinets store genealogy books and supplies as well as some memorabilia from my family lines.

Help needed-Can you date my ancestor's furniture?