The Lincoln Collection

Last week my post was about my mom’s side of the family, so my plan was to make this week’s theme about my dad’s side of the family. But then something happened. A second cousin once removed happened. And she happened to be on my mom’s side of the family. She took a DNA test at Ancestry last year and I have communicated with her a little bit from time to time. But both of us were dealing with issues with aging and failing parents.

Our lives have changed a bit because me and my siblings buried my parents at the end of January and her father died two weeks later. We had talked about old photos and such, but that was put on the back burner at the time. Now there is time and that cousin got back in touch with me.

You see, her father had been the last remaining first cousin of my grandmother Myrtle Phenice Bucklin on the Phenice side of her family. His name was Harry Lincoln Quillen and he was the son of Emma Phenice Quillen. Emma’s brother Harry Clifton Phenice was my grandmother’s father. If you’ve followed me thus far, you will have figured out that the cousin I’m talking about is my second cousin once removed Mona Quillen.

Well, you may not have figured out her name, but you might have figured out our relationship. Anyway, she had started to clean out her father’s home and came across several old photos. Since she remembered that I was interested in that, she got in touch with me.  And boy am I glad she did! The photos that I have seen are mind blowing! Sorry, I shouldn’t build it up too much. I would hate for you to be disappointed when you see some of the pieces in the Lincoln Collection. That’s what I’m calling it. They belonged to Harry Lincoln Quillen and our common ancestor was a witness to the Lincoln assassination, so that’s the name I’ll use – the Lincoln Collection. I actually gave a preview of it by posting a new cover photo on Facebook. I had a photo that was taken on the same day, but the quality of this new photo is much better. Probably because mine had been a photo of grandma’s old photo that has since disappeared, and the Lincoln Collection photo was an original.

But the photo that I’m posting today is a new one to me.  It relates to the photo that I posted last week.  Last week’s photo was of Daisy Keys Phenice and some of her siblings, and this week’s photo is of her husband Harry Clifton Phenice and some of his siblings.  Daisy was prominently displayed last week, but this week H C is hiding his face.  I mentioned that Daisy and her siblings lived within 20 miles of each other.  The same can not be said for H C.  He was born in Pennsylvania and by the time he was six years old, the family was living in  Nebraska.

In 1898 at the age of 24, he left home and went to seek fame and fortune.  So of course he came to southern Louisiana.  It was here that he met his young sweetheart with a British accent and they were married in 1900.  But being 1000 miles from his family is quite a bit different than it is today.  The country did not have an interstate system at that time and jumping on a plane wasn’t available either.  It wasn’t until 1920 that H C and his family bought their first car.  I don’t know how often he visited his parents and other family members, but he must have from time to time.  There are photos to prove it like this one.

From left to right you see H C’s brother Edd, father Samuel, niece Leora, H C, and sisters Myrtle (mother of Leora), Emma, and May.  I like the way he is hugging on his niece and sister.  He must have been glad to see them on one of his infrequent visits.  I also like the fact that someone took a photo of the get together.  And that Emma Phenice Quillen saved that photo and wrote everybody’s names on it.  And that her son Harry Lincoln held on to it all of his life.

But most importantly I am glad that his daughter Mona was also interested in preserving those old photos and was willing to share them with me.  And she likes that they are being shared with the family.  This is not the best photo that I got.  I have to save some for later, of course.  But remember when I told you the story about my great great grandmother who died as a result of catching fire?  I said that I wanted to tell the story of her life and I mused about finding a good photo of her to go along with the story.  Well I am happy to say that I have found the perfect photo for that story!

Ok, I think I have said enough in this introduction to the Lincoln Collection.  I hope I have left you wanting for more.  I want more!  It sounds like she has just touched the surface of the treasure trove of photos that she has.  And what I’ve got so far are just snapshots of the original photos.  More images made at better resolutions with a scanner are foreseen in the future.  Must…be…patient…