Saturday Night Genealogy Fun -- What Was the Great Love Story in Your Family Tree?

  From Randy (my cousin) over at Genea-Musings:

it's Saturday Night - 

time for more Genealogy Fun!!!

Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to:

1)  It's Valentine's Day - a day for lovers!  We all have hundreds of love stories in our ancestry.

2) What was the great love story of the ancestors in your family tree? What wedding had a great story in it? Choose one ancestral couple. Share how they met (if known), when and where they married. Note how long they were married. Highlight something that suggests affection or partnership.

3)  Share your great love story in your family tree in your own blog post, in a comment on this post, or in a Facebook or other social media post.  Please leave a link to your post on this blog post to help us find your post.

Here's mine:

Lusion Keman "Loosh" Tapley 1870-1935
and
Mattie Schwalls 1877-1912

Lusion Tapley was my "Papa," my paternal grandfather.  Mattie Schwalls was his second wife, but she was  undoubtedly the love of his life.  Or at the very least he was the love of hers.    

While I do not know how they met, the story is that Papa and Mattie were engaged in 1897-1898 or so.  However, before they could marry, a wrench got thrown into the works.  A wrench that I believe shows what a good, honorable man my Papa must have been.

Papa's first cousin, 1x removed, Martha "Jane" Page (1875-1899), came to him with a problem.  Her father was going to force her (or had promised her) to marry a much older man.  She did not want to do that.  So to help her, Papa agreed to marry her.  They were married January 28, 1898 in Johnson County, Georgia.

And Mattie Schwalls waited.  

Papa and Jane's baby, Annie, was born on March 15, 1899.  Jane passed away on May 31 of the same year.  So they were only married 16 months.  Papa was left with a newborn, and he needed to work the fields in order to support himself and that baby.  So Lusion's parents, Jim and Becky Page Tapley, raised Annie.  

Time passed and Mattie Schwalls still had not moved on.  I don't know if they had to wait a respectable amount of time after Jane passed before they married or if Papa had some talking to do to get back in Mattie's good graces, but it was November 18, 1903 before Lusion and Mattie married in Johnson County, Georgia.  Almost 6 years after Lusion had married Jane Page.  

Mattie had waited, and they were finally together.  

Unfortunately, the union only lasted 8 1/2 years.  On April 26, 1912, Mattie and their 4th son died during childbirth.  

My father always said that his father loved Mattie Schwalls.  He felt the ornate monument (headstone) that Papa put on Mattie's grave was a symbol of that love and devotion.  So much so that when a storm came through Kite several years ago and that headstone was sheared in half, my father paid to have it repaired.  Mattie was not even his mother, but he respected the love his father had for her.  

Friday's Faces from the Past

 

Mary Elizabeth Tapley
1985 Graduate,
Swainsboro High School,
Swainsboro, Emanuel, Georgia, USA

   

    I turn 58 years old this month.  Forty years after the above picture was taken.  At that time, life was exciting, on the brink of a lot of somethings new, i.e., college, new friends, new romantic relationships, my whole life.  

     Life rarely goes as you plan.  I was never the CEO of a large company or even a business leader of a small company.  After the hard work of high school and college, I found I wasn't as interested in working in Corporate America as I had thought.  I had a difficult childhood that follows me to this day in varying degrees.  Three failed marriages.  Loss of my nephew, friends and other relationships in between.  Loss of a business.  Bankruptcy. 

    Through all of that, I learned how strong I am.  I learned to bounce back again and again.  I cried a lot, but I always found the humor in life as I struggled.  I became independent, comfortable in my own skin (in other words, I don't fit in), and able to live on my own. I just knew I would be alone (single) the rest of my life, and I was fine with that.  

    Then in this past year, life threw another curve.  My mother is aging, so I moved back to Georgia and in with her.  It's been an adjustment... for both of us.  We make it work.  

    Life isn't through with me yet.  She and the Lord is giving me another chance at loving someone.  It seems after a lifetime of looking and not looking, I have found my person.  He put a ring on it just this week, and I am happier than I've ever been.

    Life is a constant roller coaster.  High Ups and Low Downs.  But no matter how low it dips, it always comes back up.  You just have to learn to hang on and find your own ways to enjoy the ride.  I don't know if life actually gets better as we get older, but I do believe we can enjoy it more.  We now know the good times when we see them.  

    There will be more to my story, I know.  Like I said, I'm enjoying right now.  

Wedding Wednesday - A Quaker Union

 

Ancestry.com, U.S., Encyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy, Vol I-VI, 1607-1943 
[database online]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013,
Henrico Monthly Meeting, Virginia.

    Transcription:

"1714/15,1, 8. Sarah, dt John, Charles City Co.; m Robert Elyson" which means:

Sarah Crew

daughter of John Crew, 

married Robert Elyson [Ellyson]

on January 8, 1714/1715

in Charles City County, Virginia, USA

    Sarah is my 7th great-grandmother.

What did a Quaker wedding look like in 1714/1715 in Charles City County, Virginia?

ChatGPT supplied the following answer:

A Quaker wedding in 1714/1715 in Charles City County, Virginia would have looked quite different from the typical Anglican ceremonies of the time. The Quakers (also known as the Religious Society of Friends) had very distinctive practices rooted in simplicity, equality, and direct spiritual experience — and their weddings reflected those values.

Here’s what you could expect from such a wedding:

🕊️ 1. No Clergy Involved

Quakers did not believe in formal clergy. The bride and groom would marry themselves, in the presence of God and the meeting. They would typically say something like:

“In the presence of God and these our Friends, I take thee [name] to be my wife/husband, promising, with divine assistance, to be unto thee a loving and faithful husband/wife, so long as we both shall live.”

🕊️ 2. Held in a Meeting for Worship

The ceremony took place during a regular meeting for worship, likely in a meetinghouse or possibly in a home if no meetinghouse was available. The meeting would sit in silent worship, and when the couple felt led, they would stand and exchange their vows.

🕊️ 3. Simple, Modest Dress

Both bride and groom would wear plain, modest clothing, avoiding extravagance in keeping with Quaker beliefs. There would be no special wedding garments or jewelry.

🕊️ 4. Witnesses Sign a Wedding Certificate

A written marriage certificate was signed by the couple and all present Friends as witnesses — a powerful record of community support. These documents were often beautifully handwritten and are valuable genealogical records today.

🕊️ 5. Marriage “Intentions” Approved in Advance

Before marrying, the couple had to declare their intentions to the monthly meeting. The meeting would appoint a committee to ensure both parties were clear of prior commitments and were members in good standing.

🕊️ 6. Gender Equality

The ceremony emphasized mutual consent and spiritual equality — very progressive for the time. Quaker women had more agency in marriage than was typical in colonial society.

🕊️ 7. No Music, Flowers, or Festivity

Quaker weddings were deeply spiritual and free from music, decorations, or feasting — though simple gatherings afterward may have occurred, especially among family.

Military Monday

Military Monday posts are made to honor those in my family tree who have served in the United States military.

1962

Donald Wayne Johnson
SP4, U.S. Army, Vietnam

    Donald was my 3rd cousin 1x removed.  Our common ancestors are Solomon Page Jr. and Elizabeth Caroline Scoggins.

    Thank you for your service.

Tombstone Tuesday

 

Janice Snell Stone

b 21 Jul 1945 in Johnson County, Georgia, USA

d 14 Aug 2021 in Wrightsville, Johnson, Georgia, USA

laid to rest at

Bulloch Memorial Gardens

Statesboro, Bulloch, Georgia, USA

buried beside Janice is her husband,

 James Keith "Jimmy" Stone, Jr.
b 27 Oct 1944 in Monticello, Jasper, Georgia, USA
d 09 Oct 2007 in Georgia, USA

Janice is my 2nd cousin.  

Our common ancestors are

James Madison "Jim" Tapley

and Rebecca Elizabeth "Becky" Page Tapley.

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Celebrate Mother's Day - Show Us Some Photos

 From Randy (my cousin) over at Genea-Musings:

it's Saturday Night - 

time for more Genealogy Fun!!!

Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to:

1)  Sunday, May 11th is Mother's Day in the USA. Let's celebrate by showing some of our photos with our mothers.

2) Extra credit: What do/did you call your mother during her life? What do/did your children call your mother?

3)  More extra credit: Have you written a biography or tribute to your mother? If so, please share a link if you have one.

4)  Share your photo(s) and answer the questions above on your own blog, in a comment on this post, or in a Facebook or other social media post.  Please leave a link to your post on this blog post so readers can respond.

Here's mine:

Mom and me - about 1968 - right here
in Augusta in the back yard of our house 
on Heard Avenue.

Here are Mom and me, along with my beloved
nephew, Harry Jr (next to me), my niece, Missi, 
right in front of Mom and me and some family friends
enjoying vacation at Grandfather Mountain in
North Carolina.  I was probably about 11 or 12 years old
here - so about 1978-1979.

Me with Mom and Dad
here in Augusta, June 2005

Mom and Me
Atlanta, 2010

Mom and me with family in
Jacksonville, Florida,
October 2022

As far back as I can remember, I have called my mother "Mom."  I do come out with "Mother" now and again when I am annoyed.  My Daisy-dog and the cats have always called her "Grandma."  

I have not written a tribute to my mother yet, but I did a blog post about her career with the telephone company.  You can read it here:  Workday Wednesday: My mother's career with the telephone company.

Friday's Faces From the Past

 

        Elizabeth Virginia "Lizzie" Tapley Powell is my grand-aunt, and James Marion Powell, Sr. was her husband for more than 60 years.  Our common ancestors are James Madison "Jim" Tapley and Elizabeth Rebecca "Becky" Page Tapley.