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| Newspapers.com, The Tampa Tribune (formerly Tampa Morning Tribune), Tampa, Florida, Sunday, July 13, 1952, Pages 37 & 43 |
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| Newspapers.com, The Miami Herald, Miami, Florida, Sunday, January 20, 1952, Page 56 |
Blush pink satin fashioned the period gown Miss Betty Ruth Geiger wore for her marriage Saturday to Alfred Harrison Powell, Jr. The ceremony was solemnized at 4 p.m. in St. Patrick’s Catholic Church, Miami Beach, by Msgr. William Barry.
The bride is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Roy A. Bryan, 7458 SW 52nd ave. Her father gave her in marriage. Her dress was made with fitted bodice with wing collar, full skirt that ended in a cathedral train. Her four-tiered illusion veil fell from a satin cloche, and she carried pale pink carnations.
Mrs. Walker G. Thorsby was her sister’s matron of honor. She is the former Jackie Geiger. She wore a bouffant gown of peacock blue satin and net with matching cloche and gloves. Miss Evelyn Ballantyne and Miss Ardeth Dinger, as bridesmaids wore identical gowns. All carried white pompon chrysanthemums.
Richard Powell was his brother’s best man. They are the sons of Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Harrison Powell, Sr., 3714 Royal Palm ave., Miami Beach. Robert H. Powell, another brother; Robert Payton, Kenneth Wright and Dwight Collar, Sigma Chi fraternity brothers of the bridegroom, served as ushers.
A reception followed in the club room at the church.
The couple will live in Biscayne Gardens.
The bridegroom is employed by Cameron and Barkley Co. He is a graduate of the University of Miami, served in the Navy in the Pacific during World War II.
Caption under photo: MRS. A. H. POWELL, JR. — LeMan Photo"
Transcription provided by Google Gemini.
Let me try out a new blog post theme for Wednesdays. In these posts, I will share information about a woman in my family tree whom I admire, know a story about, or know very little about in the hopes I will learn more from my readers.
I am starting this series with my great-grandmother, Emma Vermell Harrell Drake (1867-1935). She was my father's maternal grandmother, but he never knew her. I do not know much about her, but hopefully someone out there can fill in some blanks.
Emma Vermell Harrell was born September 4, 1867 in Emanuel County, Georgia, the oldest child of William Robert Harrell (1838-1908) and Catherine M. Odom (1841-1875). Emma's mother died when she was just 8 years old. Her father remarried 2.5 years later and had two sons with his second wife, Winford "Mimie" Barwick (1853-1939).
She married William John Drake (1857-1927) when she was only 15 years old on July 30, 1883. John was 10 years older than her. He was a widower with a 2.5 year old when he and Emma married. I don't know for sure, but I am sure Emma raised that daughter after the marriage. They lived in the Adrian area. John was a Methodist preacher, so therefore, Emma was a preacher's wife.
John and Emma had 9 children:
* Hattie Lay Drake (1884-1912).
Hattie married George Wesley Wise (1883-1962) and they had one child,
- Minne Sadie Wise (1911-1996).
Hattie passed away from typhoid fever. Interesting twist in that her widower, George Wesley Wise, married Hattie's half sister, her father's daughter from his first marriage, Samantha Augusta Drake (1881-1966). He needed help raising Sadie and Samantha agreed.
* Kenneth Catherine Drake (1886-1973)
Kenneth married Joshua Franklin Howell in 1907 and moved to South Carolina. They had 10 children:
- Bessie Lou Howell (1909-1991)
- Luther William Howell (1912-1978)
- Louise Vermell Howell (1913-1986)
- Eula Mae Howell (1915-2001)
- Katie Marie Howell (1917-2004)
- William Thomas Howell Sr (1919-1994)
- Johnnie Doris Howell (1921-? )
- Viola Catherine Howell (1923-2019)
- Joshua Franklin Howell (Jr) (1925-?)
- Joseph Henry Howell Sr (1927-2003)
* William Lovick Drake (1892-1912)
Lovick died from typhoid fever, same as his sister, Hattie. It went through the entire family and everyone else recovered.
* Nealie Vermell Drake (1895-1970)
My grandmother. She married Lusion Keman "Loosh" Tapley (1870-1935) in 1914. She was his third wife and raised his three sons after the death of his second wife, Mattie Schwalls (1877-1912). Nealie and Loosh had six children of their own:
- William Lamar Tapley (1915-1985)
- John Russell "Russ" Tapley (1917-1967)
- Hugh Dorsey 'Dorse' Tapley (1919-2007)
- Jack Dempsey Tapley (1932-1994)
- Irene Tapley (1925-2004)
- Gilbert Earl Tapley (1928-2008) - My father.
* William Robert Drake (1897-1927)
Robert was married to Fannie Gallens. He was murdered when there was an altercation between him and a drifter he and his friends were harassing. The drifter shot Robert.
* James Weldon Drake (1900-1977)
James moved to Florida and married Corrie Evelyn Nicols (1906-2005). They had 3 children:
- Sarah Joyce Drake (1927-?)
- James Robert Drake (1931-?)
- June Carol Drake (1936-2000)
* Keland Lawton Drake Sr (1903-1972)
Lawton also moved to Florida. He married Maude Helen Crews (1908-1999) and they had 1 child:
- Keland Lawton Drake Jr (1932-2010)
* Nancy Mary Ann Drake (1906-1931)
Nancy married Alvin Donaldson and they had one child:
- Alvin Donaldson (Jr)
* Martha Lou Drake (1908-1986)
Marthie was another one who relocated to Florida. She married Leamon Ellison (1906-1987) and they had no children.
That makes 23 grand-children for John and Emma Harrell Drake.
On August 10, 1927 (just 2 months after their son, Robert, was murdered), John Drake, Emma's husband, got up in the middle of the night and went outside. When he returned, their son, James, accidentally shot his father, not realizing who it was until it was too late. As he was dying John told that it was an accident, took the blame and therefore exonerated his son.
The story whispered in the family is that Emma was mentally "off." Crazy even. I offer that she had good reason to be. She lost her mother when she was very young. She lost 2 children to typhoid fever in 1912. She herself had the fever and recovered. She lost a son to homicide in June 1927 and then her husband was shot and killed by their own son in August 1927.
In addition, my grandmother evidently never saw or talked to her parents after she married my grandfather, Loosh Tapley. I am guessing her parents were not thrilled with the 25 year age difference, that he had been married twice before, and he had 4 children from those marriages. When I pointed out to my father that his grandmother, Emma, died three months after his father, he had no recollection of going to the funeral or his mother going. He never met his grandmother.
Plus at least 3 of her other children moved away before Emma passed. It would not be so easy to travel in the 1930's so I don't know how much she saw them.
So I would venture to say that Emma had to be a strong woman with a true faith that got her through all those hard things in her life. She worked hard and was a faithful and loving wife and mother. She deserves to be admired and honored.
John Morgan Swain was born in Georgia, but spent the vast majority of his life in Florida. I can tell this picture was more than likely taken in Florida as there are palm trees in the background.
Interesting tidbit about him and his wife, Sarah Ellen Anderson Swain. They had 10 children, and they named 7 of them after U.S. states:
Indiana (1876-1943)
Idaho (1878-1951)
California (1880-1951)
Dakota (1882-1946)
Minnesota (1884-1965)
Connecticut (1887-1889)
Arizona (1889-1891)
The story is that after Connecticut and Arizona died so young, John Morgan and Sarah Ellen were afraid they had jinxed themselves by naming all their girls after states. So their next child was born in 1892 and they gave her and the youngest two "traditional" names. They all three lived to adulthood. (And yes, they finally had a boy!)
From Randy (my cousin) over at Genea-Musings:
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| Lake Lure, North Carolina |
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| My father, my grand aunt Alice with her back turned, me, and Colene's niece, Angela, by a mountain stream in the area. |
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| Me at Chimney Rock (probably about 9 or 10) |
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| Angela and me on the beach at Lake Lure |
Military Monday posts are made to honor those in my family tree who have served in the United States military.
Hubert Thomas Davis
U.S. Navy & U.S. Army, World War II
b. 06 Aug 1921 in Manning, Baker, Florida, USA
d. 23 Feb 1995 in Ellenwood, Clayton, Georgia, USA
burial: Garden of Memories Cemetery, Tampa, Hillsborough, Florida, USA
Military Marker photo courtesy of Find-A-Grave
Joseph Thomas "J.T." Beckworth (1929-1979) was a car salesman in Tampa, Florida in 1979. He had worked the previous four years for his next-door neighbor, Eddy Cleal, owner of Eddy Auto Sales.
On the evening of Monday, October 16, 1979, J.T. went to bed after the 11 o'clock news. His wife had gone to bed earlier, suffering from a headache. At 12:30 am, there was a knock on their door, and J.T.'s wife woke him to answer it.
She heard J.T. talking to someone at the door about buying some cars. Then J.T. came into their bedroom and told her he was getting a business card to give to the boys so they could come back in the morning. However, J.T. never got a chance to give the boys his business card because when he returned to the supposed customers, he was killed by a single shotgun blast to the chest as he stood in the doorway of his home.
At the time, it was a mystery. Nothing strange had happened that day or evening when J.T. was at the auto auction. He had not been in any trouble with the law. The investigation was continuing.
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| Published in The Tampa Times Tampa, Florida Tuesday, October 16, 1979, Pages 1 and 4 discovered on Newspapers.com |
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| Published in The Tampa Tribune Tampa, Florida Wednesday, October 17, 1979, Pages 23 discovered on Newspapers.com |
The purpose of the Black Sheet Sunday prompt is to highlight a black sheep of the family tree. Every one of us has skeletons in our closet, so to speak, but these black sheep had the unfortunate luck of their skeletons making the newspaper. That's where I found the story. There is always three sides to a story: his, hers and the truth. I am not so naive as to believe that the news printed the truth, but most of the time, the printed news pieces are all I have to go by. There is no judgment here; just sharing the stories.
On the evening of Thursday, July 24, 1975, Frank and his son, Stephen Sirman "Steve" Hart (1949-1975) were hanging out on the porch and drinking heavily. This led to a big fight. Frank's son-in-law, and Steve's brother-in-law, Carroll Key (who happened to be a police sergeant), broke up the fight. Key lived in the neighborhood, so he went home and ended up on a telephone call. Later, Key had just finished his phone call when a second fight between the father and son broke out.
Carroll Key told officers that he headed back to his father-in-law's house and while enroute, he saw Steve strike his father, Frank, several times.
Key reached the porch and saw a knife in Frank's hand. The next thing he knew, Steve was groaning, grabbing at his back, and falling to the floor.
Key took the knife away from Frank and notified the Key West police. It was about 11:30 p.m. by then.
Steve was rushed to the Florida Keys Memorial Hospital where physicians and emergency room staff tried to revive him. However, the knife had penetrated his heart. Steve Hart was pronounced dead at 11:55 p.m.
Published in The Key West Citizen
Key West, Florida
Friday, July 25, 1975, Front Page
The article states that Frank was charged with second degree murder that night. In the morning, he was given a $5,000 bond and released to await trial. Unfortunately that is all I know about the aftermath of this horrible incident that must have torn this family apart. I haven't been able to find out if Frank served time, and if he did, how much. All I do know is he died exactly 9 years later, on July 24, 1984.
Steve's obituary offers no hint of the turmoil surrounding his death:
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| Published in The Key West Citizen Key West, Florida, Wednesday, July 27, 1975, Page 3 |
These photos were in some items I "inherited" from my Grandmother Nealie Drake Tapley (1895-1970). I have had these photos for years, have shared them here before, and asked some family members, but no one seems to be able to identify this cute little girl. (The first photo might be a different person; I'm not sure.) I would guess it would be one of Grandma Nealie's grandchildren, but there are so many to choose from. Could it be Mary Ann Tapley (1941-) or Betty Jean Weaver (1946-2015)?? Or someone else entirely???
If locations could help, Mary Ann was born in Sandersville, Georgia and has lived in Florida most of her life. Betty Jean was born and raised in Macon. Grandma lived in Kite and Augusta, Georgia, and Jacksonville, Florida, but she also stayed in Macon, Georgia at her daughter's, Irene Tapley Weaver Thomas (1925-2004) often. Irene was Betty Jean's mother.
I will keep sharing in the hope that this time will be the time someone will say, "Hey, wait a minute. That's ___________ ________________!" This genealogist lives on hope!
Since I arrived in Augusta, I have had more time to do genealogy research. I have several projects going at once and a list of many more I want to do. One of the projects I have finally started is entering Drake relatives from this book into my family tree:
From Randy (a cousin discovery!!) over at Genea-Musings:
