Author: Van

It Could Have Been Gomorrah

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Reenacting a photo of my great great grandfather at Maple Creek Cemetery in Precept, Nebraska, in June 2018. See how windy it was.

I wasn’t sure I was going to do a post today, but I found a Wi-Fi spot to do a little work. I decided to post about my recent adventure since that’s the only photos that I have access to right now.

I mentioned the trip to Nebraska to visit the graves of my great great grandparents a few weeks ago, and decided to reenact one of the photos that I posted. That’s the photo of me standing next to the headstone in the cemetery.

Before we went to the cemetery, we stopped in the small town of Beaver City, Nebraska. At the library I found some information about my great great grandparents Samuel Charles Phenice and Cathrine Jane Foster. On two of their children’s marriage certificates, I saw that they went by the names Charles and Kate.

Charles and Kate lived in the small community called Precept, Nebraska. The early settlers picked the name by choosing a phrase from the Bible at random. It’s a good thing they didn’t pick Gomorrah! I also found a photo in a newspaper clipping that showed the church of Precept. It’s the church that Charles and Kate must’ve gone to. Their daughter was married there and Kate’s funeral was held there.

I’m glad I found that photo because it helped me to identify the church when I saw it on the way to Maple Creek (pronounced ‘Crick’ by the locals) Cemetery. The church was moved in 1927 from the cemetery area to the ‘town’ of Precept.

The church in Precept in 2018.

It seemed odd to me that they would make the effort to move the church less than 2 miles away to another secluded area. I suppose there must’ve been more people living in that vicinity. Nothing but fields and clouds for miles around. And an old abandoned church.

Which made the cemetery that much more surprising. It was immaculate! I’m glad to know that their graves are well taken care of. Maybe some of you want to check it out someday.

I had to get creative with this one. Her name is very hard to read when you look at it straight on. Now I know how she spells her name!

The Phenice plot. Kate was buried here in 1921 and Charles was buried in 1939.

Maple Creek Cemetery in Precept, Nebraska, is such a well-groomed cemetery. Very impressive.

Martha’s Grandkids Are Gone

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I was looking over my past few posts to see which family group I should write about.  I was somewhat surprised to see how few Keys family stories I have posted this year.  I don’t know how I let that slip by.  Maybe it’s because I wrote several last year when we had the family reunion and the next reunion isn’t until next year.  But that’s no excuse!  I need to dole out my stories in such a way that no one is neglected!  I know it is the highlight of your week when you are part of the family history!

Martha Lillian Bryan Boose (third from the left at top) died on June 23, 2018, in Bossier City, Louisiana. She was the last surviving grandchild of Martha Ann Cook Keys.  This photo is from the 1976 Keys Reunion.

And this week is a good week for this particular post.  That is because this past week saw the passing of the last grandchild of Martha Ann Cook Keys (1836-1896).  Surely you remember her?  She was that feisty woman who crossed the Atlantic with her five young children in tow in 1887.  She is the most recent immigrant in my family tree.  She was married at age 33 and had her first child at age 36, so her children weren’t that old when she died in 1896 just before she turned 60.

In fact, she did not live to see any of her children get married or have children.  Too bad for those grandchildren, because she seemed like she would have been an interesting woman to have for a grandmother.  But they heard stories about her from her children Henry “The Judge”, Leonard, Daisy, Ruth, and Mabel.  Seventy years later saw the passing of the last of Martha’s own children.

So a few years after that, Martha’s grandchildren (with the urging of one in particular – family historian Edith Keys Segraves) decided to get together to celebrate the Cook-Keys family in the Unites States.  The first reunion was in 1973 and several more followed.  In the first photo you can see the grandchildren who were alive and present at the 1976 reunion.  Most of them were grandparents at the time, including my own grandmother Myrtle Sylvia Phenice Bucklin.  She’s in the front row in a striped dress.

I will now name them all, starting with the back row.  Henry Phenice and Marguerite Phenice Hill – children of Daisy, Martha Bryan Boose – daughter of Ruth, Chester and Frank Keys – son of The Judge, Orville Phenice – son of Daisy, Seidel Keys – son of Leonard, Alford and Norman Miller – sons of Mabel.  The front row has Edith Keys Segraves – daughter of Leonard, Grace Phenice Sowder and Myrtle Phenice Bucklin – daughters of Daisy, Hazel Bryan Derouen and Elsie Bryan – daughters of Ruth, and Isaure Zoe Keys Adams  – daughter of The Judge.  (Thanks to the relatives at Facebook for helping me get all of Martha’s grandkids named.)

1985 Keys family reunion showing the cousins who were grandchildren of Henry Keys and Martha Ann Cook Keys.

I thought I’d go ahead and post another photo from the 1985 reunion.  That’s what I used to get the names for the other photo.  There is a similar photo in the Keys update book by Marilyn Phenice Thurmond Strickland from 2000 and it had all of the people labeled.  Very helpful.

Martha’s grandkids were a good group of people.  She would have been proud of them.  They were salt of the earth.  I’m proud to be a grandchild of one of them.

Landry Household June 25, 1900

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I wasn’t sure what I wanted to write about today.  I knew that it was time for a Landry post, but nothing really stood out for me.  Then I came across an old photo of Marie Celeste Leveque Landry that I had dated to around 1900.  I cleaned up the photo a bit and then wondered just what life was like for Grandma Celeste back then.  Of course she wasn’t a grandma just yet.  Or was she?  I guess it was time to explore a little.

1900 Census of the Landry family in Westlake, Louisiana.  The next household is Samuel and Zoe (Marson) Leveque.  Samuel was Celeste’s half brother.  Zoe was a 2nd cousin to both Celeste and Samuel.

So I looked at the 1900 Census, which is where the first photo comes from.  It gives lots of basic information like name, age, sex, relationship to head of household, and marital status.  This year was good because it asked for the month and date of birth in addition to the standard age category.  You just have to assume that the Census taker got it right when he asked all of the questions.  Most of the time they get it right.

But sometimes it is wrong.  So how can you ever be sure?  It’s not always obvious.  There is an obvious discrepancy in this one.  According to the information that I have collected, Celeste and her husband Alcide (my great grandfather Simon Alcide Joseph Landry) were married in November of 1868.  That would mean that they were married for 31 years as of June of 1900.  On their anniversary that year, it would be 32 years.  The information on the Census shows Alcide as being married for 34 years, while Celeste had only been married for 30 years.

How can that be?  I suppose you could say the average of the two is pretty accurate, but that’s not the way it’s supposed to work.  Maybe there were two years in there that were really rough and it seemed like four years to him, while she would rather not think of them!

Speaking of bad years, there must have been a few of them.  The census shows that Celeste gave birth to ten children and only six of them are still living.  Those were tough times for families, particularly for the mothers.  I have the names of the four children that died, starting with their firstborn child Marie Marguerite Carmelite “Lily” (named after her two grandmothers).  She was born in 1870 in Brusly, Louisiana, and died in 1889 in Westlake.  I’m not exactly sure when the family moved from Brusly to Westlake.  They were in Brusly at least until 1880 because they showed up in the 1880 Census there.  They were in western Louisiana at least by 1889, because Lily was buried in Lake Charles.

The next one born was Joseph E(lie) in Jan. 1872.  He shows up in the 1900 Census, but would only live until 1913.  He would be another child mourned by Celeste.  Then came Sebastien J. who was born in Oct. 1874.  I’ll tell you more about him later.  The next name I have is Joseph A(lcide) who was born in Feb. 1877.  Dad knew him as Uncle Joe.

Next is Louis (Joseph) who was born in Jan. 1879.  If you look at the Census, there is a ten year gap before the next child Mary is listed.  There were three children that were born and died during that period.  A son named Sam was born at the same time as Louis, but he did not survive long.  They gave birth to another son three years later and also named him Sam.  There was also a son named Alcide.  I’m not sure about Sam and Alcide, but they must have died before 1900.  They are not on the list of names, but they do account for the rest of the children that did not survive.  It’s a shame that most of the 1890 Census was destroyed, because it could possibly have provided some more information about their lives.

You would think that they would give up trying at that point.  But fortunately for me, they didn’t.  They had Mary in Feb. 1889 and finally they had Robert J(oseph) in Jan. 1893.  He would later come to be known as my Pee Paw.  And Celeste was 45 years old when she gave birth to him.  That is what you would call a strong constitution!  She needed it to get through all of those births and deaths.  Mary would die in 1909, so only four of her ten children were living when she passed away.

Marie Celeste Leveque Landry circa 1900.

So in 1900, this is what Celeste looked like.  In 1900 she would be caring for her six children who were from age 7 to 28.  She also had her 79 year old mother living in the household.  Besides being “Mrs. Joseph A. Leveque”, she was born Marguerite Baselite Landry.  Another interesting point is that Alcide and his mother-in-law Basalite were half first cousins.  They had the same paternal grandfather Joseph Ignatius Landry.  How cool is that?

And who else was in the house?  If you read the Census, you will see that it was a niece (of Alcide) named Manette.  Which would mean that she was a 23-year-old girl cousin to all of those 20something year old Landry boys.  I’m sure you can guess where all of this led!

Of course some of you knew this from the start, because you descend from Manette and her Landry cousin of choice Sebastien.  Manette and Sebastien would be married later that year.  They had a daughter named Manette in 1904.  Sadly, Manette the mother died a few days later.  So Celeste pretty much took over the role of mother for little Manette, and Manette was like a younger sister to my grandfather.

Since Pee Paw was the youngest of all of his siblings and he died before I was born, I never met any of them.  But I do remember Manette.  “Little” Manette was an older woman celebrating her 50 year wedding anniversary with Bibb Bouquet in 1974.  A link to that long ago household of 1900.

Kaleidoscopes and Postcards

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A week or so ago, my cousin Rhonda introduced me to an app for the phone that acts like a kaleidoscope.  I should have known better than to get it!  I’ve taken hundreds of photos with it.  It’s amazing how such random and sometimes ugly items can make such interesting patterns.  I figured it would only be a matter of time before I would tie it into my genealogy.

A kaleidoscope combo

I’ve been thinking of sharing an old postcard that my mom had for a while.  It’s a note written to my mom (Betty Lou Bucklin Landry) from her paternal grandmother (Addie Mae Hine Bucklin). I was thinking I should maybe incorporate a photo of Addie in the post along with the card.

So I decided to do a mix-up of the two.  This kaleidoscopic image is composed of the postcard and a photo of Addie from an old family photo that I posted previously.  I thought it had an interesting look to it, so I’m sharing it along with the postcard.

The image from the postcard is a lookout tower from Hot Springs, Arkansas, in 1947.  From time to time in reading about the Bucklin and Hine family, I see mentions about the family living in Arkansas for a while.  For some reason I thought it was something therapeutic about the hot springs that drew them there.  I always thought it was for Addie’s husband Lou, who seemed to have health issues.  I suppose most people have health issues if they live long enough, but he died when he was 54.  Since he was born in 1873, that puts his death as 1927.  So he wouldn’t have been alive for a while when this postcard was sent.

There are a few old photos from 1941 that show the Bucklin family with the Clement family from Arkansas.  I thought they were a family that the Bucklins met when they lived in Arkansas.  If that was the case, why did Mama get a postcard from her Grandma Bucklin dated June 16, 1947?

If you read the card, you can see that she had been there for three weeks.  She wasn’t alone and states that they “are both doing O. K.”  She mentions a Mary in it.  I assume she is talking about her daughter Mary Bucklin Phenice.  She also says that she can’t walk very far “yet.”  That makes it sound like she’s planning on staying for a while.

When I search further, I find more information that leads to even more unanswered questions.  In May of 1906 the Jennings newspaper reported: “Lew Bucklin and family left Tuesday for Siloam Springs, Arkansas, to spend the summer for Mr. Bucklin’s health.”  That must be the health issues I remember hearing about.  Then in October of 1906 the paper reported: “L. C. Bucklin has returned with his family from Siloam Springs and is occupying his residence in Roanoke.”  What?  I thought he was a farmer?  How can he afford to be away for a large part of the growing season?

Postcard from Addie in Arkansas to Louie in Louisiana in 1913

Then there is a letter I found from September of 1912 that was written from Addie in Prairie Grove, Arkansas, to Louie in Jennings, Louisiana.  She writes, “I wish you were here now.”  Why wasn’t he there?  I thought he was the one that needed the recuperative powers of the hot springs?  Is Prairie Grove even near the hot springs?  There is also another letter from her to him in August of 1913.  That must be the time period that they lived in Arkansas.  In the letter I shared from Addie’s mother Sue in 1916, she says that Addie and the folks had just moved back to Louisiana.

As you can see, little bits of information here and there, but nothing that really explains it all.  It does give me information about them that I never would have thought of.  I always pictured them living in their primitive homes on the southern Louisiana prairie year after year.  I actually thought that they never went anywhere!  Ever.  They were poor farmers and homesteaders who were developing the land with no electricity.

Now, come to find out, they were summering at the spas in Hot Springs, Arkansas.  And it wasn’t just Lou and Addie.  It was the whole family.  And according to another newspaper article,  Addie’s parents George and Sue spent a month there as well.  That was in 1906 and it may not have been the first time.  And it sounds like it continued off and on at least until 1947.

Can you believe it?  That would mean that this would have been happening in 1938, when my mom’s family was “too poor” for little Betty Lou to have a “real doll.”  So when my mom got all excited about getting her photo taken with a “real doll,” some family members were having sauna holidays.  And all my mom got was a measly postcard!

The Landry Family Circa 1930

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Little Bobbie Landry circa 1930

I always thought this was a funny picture when I was a kid.  I always wondered why Daddy was dressed up as a little girl when he was young.  Didn’t they know he was a boy?

I now know that it was the way they did things long ago and it doesn’t really look all that funny anymore.  It’s just a charming old photo of a little boy in southern Louisiana.  He was born Robert Joseph Landry, Jr. on January 31, 1929, in Lake Charles, Louisiana.  He was a “junior” even though he was the third son.

His parents’ names were Robert Joseph “Rob” Landry, Sr. and Germaine “Erie” Patureau Landry.  He would go by “Bobbie” for the early years of his life, and family would continue to call him that till his death.  Later he went by “Bob” and “Pluto.”  Then he was known as “Daddy” and “Pappy” by us kids and grandkids.

He would call his parents Mama and Papa, but I think his dad sometimes went by Pappy.  Is that right?  Maybe it was only his grandchildren (my generation) that called him that.  Mostly he was known as Pee Paw.

The Robert Joseph Landry, Sr. family of Lake Charles, Louisiana, circa 1930

This other picture shows the family that he was born into.  In the middle of the photo and standing directly behind little Bobbie was his sister Marie Therese Landry, who was born in 1923.  As I’ve told you previously, Marie Therese is a frequently used name in the Landry and Patureau family and she was one of the only ones to go by her first name Marie.

The next oldest child was little Alcide Joseph, who was born in 1924.  That was another common name and he has always gone by A. J.  On the other side of big sis Marie is next brother in line Hubert.  He was born in 1925.  You can barely catch a glimpse of sister Germaine Erie’s dress and hand on the right edge of the photo.  At least I think that might be Germaine with the rest of the family.  She was named after her mother and was born in 1927.

And there behind her brood was our dearly beloved grandmother that we all called Mee Maw.  But she was just a young mother at the time.  She still had three more children to go before she completed her family.  It’s a cute little family and she was a good mother.  I, for one, am grateful to be part of this family.

Digging Up Bones

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S. C. Phenice visiting his wife’s grave circa 1930.

I saw this photo for the first time just over a year ago.  I got it from my second cousin once removed (my mom’s second cousin) Mona Quillen.  It’s kind of a sad photo.

It’s a photo of my great great grandfather Samuel Charles Phenice at Maple Creek Cemetery in Precept (Furnas County), Nebraska.  He is holding a grandchild or great grandchild as he visits his wife Catherine Jane Foster Phenice’s grave.

We all know the tragedy of Catherine’s death.  Her clothes caught fire in her home just before Christmas in 1920.  She was burned terribly and died as a result of her wounds on Jan. 7, 1921, at the age of 72.  She and Samuel had gotten married Sept. 27, 1866, in Hendersonville, Pennsylvania.  (They were both born in Mercer County in Pennsylvania.)  So at the time of her death, they had been married for 54 years.  Samuel went on to survive Catherine for another 19 years.

So I’m pretty sure this was just one of many of the visits that Samuel made to this graveyard.  That means this photo was taken sometime between 1921 and 1939.  In 1930 he was living with his youngest daughter Emma Quillen (Mona’s grandmother) and her family. (According to 1930 Census.)  Since he was living with that family and the photo came from that family, I’m thinking that the photo was taken around 1930 or so.  So it’s possible that the youngster in the photo was Emma’s youngest son Harry Lincoln Quillen, who was born in 1927.  Samuel died in 1939 and was buried with his beloved wife.

The reason I’m posting this photo is that I’m planning on visiting their grave site at the end of June.  “Digging up bones” is what my mom called these types of visits.  Mona and Michelle Quillen (my 3rd cousin through Samuel & Catherine) suggested the visit to the graveyard last year and I’ve decided to do it.  I’m not sure if they are going to make it or not.  I’m hoping my brother Rob (& his wife Robyn) will make it, too.

So anyone else who might want to meet us there, we’ll be at Catherine and Samuel’s grave shortly after lunch on Saturday, June 30, 2018.  We will not actually be digging, so no shovels are needed.

 

Fred and Clarence in 1908

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I remember hearing stories about my grandfather and his identical twin Clarence ever since I was a kid.  There was never really any doubt about them being identical, because people had a hard time telling them apart.  Teachers tied different colored strings on them to signify a difference, but they always switched them to confuse the matter.  According to my mom, they seemed to enjoy confusing people and pulling switches on them.

I don’t remember seeing photos of the twins back then, though.  Grandpa may have had one or two, but he was not the type to sit with you, show you pictures, and talk about the good old days.  He was more prone to talking about his “good old age.”  He seemed to go on and on about his aches and pains.  It’s kind of sad, because I remember avoiding being around him because of that.  But really, what kid wants to hear adults complaining about being old?  Not me.

Clarence and Fred Bucklin circa 1908

So let’s talk about young Fred before the aches and pains.  The picture I’m posting is of Fred D Bucklin and Clarence Jonathan Bucklin who were born October 2, 1907.  The photo was probably taken some time in mid 1908.  So that makes the photo 110 years old.

At the time of their birth, their mother Addie Mae Hine Bucklin was 31 years old.  They were her 7th and 8th children. Their older siblings were Leo, Mary, Ralph, Carl, and Herbert.  There was also a brother Paul who was born in 1903 and died in 1904, so they started out with four older brothers and one sister.  They were Addie’s first set of twins to carry and she would later carry another set.

Their father Louis Charles Bucklin was 34 at the time of their birth.  Both of Louis’s parents had died before this time, so Clarence and Fred didn’t know their paternal grandparents.  Louis was the youngest of all of his siblings.  He actually had a half-brother who was 27 years older than he was.  The other factor was that neither of Louis’s parents lived into their 70s.

I have this photo labeled with Clarence on the left and Fred on the right.  This identification was provided by their younger sister Edna Bucklin Keys.  She identified them in the photo in 2001 for my mom’s cousin (Joseph’s mom).  There must be a few copies of this photo around, because I got this original from my cousin Anita.  (Thanks again, cousin!)

I don’t have childhood photos of all of my grandparents, so I really appreciate the ones that I do have.  It’s nice to see my grandfather before he started complaining about his aches and pains.  It’s actually before he had any aches and pains!  Before they had a falling out with each other.  Before they had a business together.  Before either one of them married their Myrtle.  They were just two sweet looking little boys posing for a photographer in nearby Jennings, Louisiana.  Just so we could admire them 110 years later.

Sweet Belite & Co.

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Max Patureau family circa 1921

I saw this photo for the first time at the Landry Family reunion last year.  When I saw it, I just knew I had to have a good scan of the photo.  What I first saw was just a Xerox copy of the photo. Luckily for me, Sis was the one that had both versions of the photo.  We met up a few months later and I got the improved version that I’m sharing with you.  I did edit it a bit to remove some scratches and other age damage.

What I really like about the photo is that it shows four generations of my family.  Not all of those generations are direct ancestors of mine, but three of them are.  The three I’m talking about are my grandmother Mee Maw, her father Grampa Max, and his mother-in-law Belite.  The representative of my dad’s generation is none other than his first cousin Wynhoven Therese Mouton.  But we all know her as Tez.  (Or the UG from a previous post!)

In fact Tez is the reason for this get together.  She was born Feb. 18, 1921, in Lafayette, Louisiana, and this photo is from her baptism, which was probably shortly after.  Tez was the daughter of Emma Patureau Mouton, but that’s not who’s holding her.  Emma’s sister Zita is holding Tez.  That makes me think that Zita may have been her godmother.  Emma’s brother Vincent on the right is holding a corsage, which makes me think that he may have been the godfather.

Let me go ahead and give you the names of all of the people.  Grampa Max is sitting in the front.  His full name was Vincent Maximilian Patureau (1865-1935).  He was married to Marie Therese Landry Patureau who died in 1909 at the age of 41.  She was the first child of Belite, who can be seen sitting in the front.  She was born Marie Amelie Bujol (1843-1924) and married Trasimond Landry in 1867.  After Trasimond died in 1879, she married Magloire Babin.  Her nickname was Belite, but she was also referred to as Grandma Babin.  She was a widow again at this point, because Magloire Babin died in 1919.

Standing up in the back are the children of Max Patureau.  From left to right are Marie Therese (who would later give birth to Marie Therese Schafer – the “Sis” that provided this photo), Romuald, Erie (my dear sweet Mee Maw), Emma (mother of Tez), Zita with Tez, Sylvie, Vincent, and Lidwin.  Missing from the photo is another daughter named Lorena.  Being from a large family, I know how difficult it is to get a photo with everyone in it.  So this is a really good representation of the family at that period of time.

It’s great to have this photo of Belite with her son-in-law, her grandchildren, and one of her great grandchildren.  Actually she had around thirty grandchildren, so this was only a few of them.  I’d like to tell you how many great grandchildren that she lived to see, but my genealogy program gets confused with so many of her grandchildren marrying their cousins!  If someone wants to figure that out for me, feel free to do so and let me know.

So that’s our story for today.  A glimpse into the life of Grampa Max, his kids, and his sweet mother-in-law Belite celebrating the arrival of a new family member.

If they only knew!

Basketeer Betty AKA Mom’s Memories p. 19

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Mom’s memories, p. 19 is about basketball

During the last few years of her life, my mom jotted down little stories about her past. She knew that she was forgetting things and I suppose there were some things she wanted to make sure to remember. But when it came to the topic of basketball, she needn’t have worried. She was talking about her basketball days with some of the care workers up until the end of her days.

I’m glad she wrote a little bit about basketball because it makes me laugh and it provided me with some details I wasn’t aware of (or forgot). She started basketball in the 5th grade, and the 6th grade was a trying year for her since her mother was her teacher.

Her family was big into basketball. She always talked about the dirt basketball/tennis court that they made in their yard. From the way she talked about it, she scraped up all of the grass and smoothed the ground single-handedly! Maybe she did.

Ladies basketball team from Hathaway, Louisiana, in 1948. My mom Betty Lou Bucklin can be seen standing on the left.

It was obvious from the way she talked that she loved the game. She played all through high school and nothing pleased her more than when her small town Hathaway team beat the ‘city’ teams like Jennings.

Beating the Jennings team was not their only success, though. They also made it to State, where they once made 3rd place and another time placed 1st. I’m thinking this photo may be from their winning season. If anyone knows better, let me know.

Shown in the team photo are (top row) Betty Lou Bucklin (my mom), LaVelle Krumnow (mom’s best childhood friend), Mrs. C. B. Krumnow (Gertrude Lessman Krumnow, mother of LaVelle and coach of the team), Lela Mae Jester, and Claribel Brown; (kneeling) Dorothy Gary, Carol Bryan, ? Sittig, Adley Benoit, and Jean Jester; and (front) Geneva Hayes, Laura Jane Ritter, and Eva Derks. At least that’s the information on the back of the photo.

My mom also saved some old clippings from her glory days as a basketeer Hornet, or as one reporter claimed “a bulldog.” This article is from the beginning of the 1948 year, which is the same year as the photo.  The article lists some of the members and it mostly matches Mom’s recollections. I’m sure Dot must be Dorothy, but is Ruby the same Derks as Eva?

 

1949 newspaper article about the Hathaway basketball teams

The other article is from 1949, I think. The same members are mentioned, and as before, they were up to their winnings ways again. This is the article that talks about those girls giving a “bulldog” defense during the games. I’m not sure they would appreciate that description. They were, after all, rivals of Jennings and everyone knew that Jennings were the Bulldogs.

I doubt that bothered young Betty Lou. She was proud of her accomplishments with the basketball team. According to her yearbook, she and teammate Laura Jane Ritter were chosen on the “All Tournament” team. Maybe that’s the Parish team she mentions in her writing. That’s how she ended up playing in an exhibition game at McNeese. And as my mom stated, that’s when she (and presumably her teammates) “thought we were hot stuff.”

Number 0 Betty Lou Bucklin in action during her high school basketball career.

I’ve never really been a fan of basketball – as a player or an observer. But I do have some fond basketball memories from my childhood. Our family had a basketball goal set up in our driveway and sometimes we would all go out and play the game. It was my mom and dad and all six of us kids. (At least according to my memory!) I mainly remember that we were laughing and making a lot of noise and we’d play until after dark.

The dark didn’t stop us because we would go inside and get this clamp-on light that we attached to the pole for the antenna. This did not make our neighbors the Bordelons very happy. That crazy Landry family was out all hours of the night laughing, yelling, and shining a bright light right outside their window. So we put up a big, white wooden fence along the property line by the driveway.

I thought I’d post a photo of the fence, since I was talking about it. That’s Al and Rob shooting some hoops in 1974. I don’t see how that fence would have made much difference to the sound level. But we could continue playing our games and say that we tried.

I wasn’t going to post this next photo since I have posted it before. But it was posted in 2010, which is well before I started these regular blog posts. Since I’ve already written more than I intended to, I might as well add a little more.

Getting rough on the court! Christmas 1977

Because I just have to talk about the basketball match to end all basketball matches. I’m talking about the famous Christmas 1977 Bucklin Girl Basketball Extravaganza. It was the most entertaining family gathering for my mom’s side of the family. (As you can see, the white fence has been removed.)

On the sidelines on the left are Uncle Ronald and Toni Pilcher. On the “court” are Sylvia Bucklin Pilcher (on the ground), Alma Bucklin Waldorf (with the ball), Betty Lou Bucklin Landry (the famed basketeer stepping over her sister Syvia’s foot), Charla Seal (with hand on her Aunt Bettilou’s hip), and the matriarch Myrtle Phenice Bucklin AKA Grandma.

There was a lot of laughter that day. As you can see Aunt Sylvia and Grandma are having big laughs as they try to catch their breaths. I know Aunt Loris was there and she was involved in the game as well. Perhaps she was taking a break at the time.

Oh, wait, there she is with Aunt Alma waiting for the ball to come down. See, she definitely was there. She told me that this was the last time they all played basketball together because it took so much out of them. If they’re gonna play ball, they’re gonna go all out! I, for one, am glad that I was a witness to that phenomenal game. And I’m more than just a little bit jealous that Toni and Charla took part in it. But knowing them, I’m sure they cherish those basketball memories as well.

Bobbie’s First Communion

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First Communion photo from circa 1940.

Here is a really cool old photo of my dad.  He was born January 31, 1929, in Lake Charles, Louisiana.  He was the fourth of eight children born to Robert Joseph (“Rob” or “Pappy” or “Pee Paw”) Landry, Sr. and Germaine “Erie” (or “Mee Maw”) Patureau Landry.  It wasn’t long after he was born that the country was thrown into a Great Depression that lasted until little Bobbie was almost a teenager.

Yet that did not deter this southern Louisiana Catholic Cajun family from celebrating milestones that they felt were important.  The suits and the candles indicate that this was a celebration of the First Communion for these young ones of old.  I think that most times this occurs when a child is around the first or second grade.  Back then, there was a Private Communion at that time.  Later, when they were around 11, they would have a Solemn First Communion.  This photo is of the Solemn First Communion.  (Thanks to my 3rd cousin Dolores White Hebert for informing me about the different rituals held back then.) So I estimate the photo was taken somewhere around 1940.

Daddy can be seen in the group of boys.  He is the one with the wavy hair third from the left.  He’s got his little white suit on, which probably was quite a luxury for that time.  He did have two older brothers, so it could have been a hand-me-down.  I’m sure he got a new candle, though.  You can’t have a candle that’s been burned before at your First Communion, right?

The other ‘luxurious’ part of this event was that there was a photo taken and he got a copy of it.  There aren’t that many photos of him from that time.  Mainly the photos from that time were the yearly school portraits.  It’s a really good photo.  I did a little bit of editing on it last year, but it was already in pretty good condition.  And though a good many of these people may have had their Last Rites, it’s nice to be able to look back and reminisce about one of their earlier rites.

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