Addie May WIth a Son and a Cow

For some reason I always seem to like photos of cows.  I also like paintings of cows.  So when I come across a photo of an ancestor with a cow, you know I’m gonna like it.  I’ve already posted a photo of my paternal great grandfather with a cow.  That’s because Grampa Max (Patureau) was a veterinarian.  Now it’s time to share a photo of my maternal great grandmother with a bovine companion (or two).

Addie May was her name, and cattle was her game.  Grandma Addie was born in Noblesville, Indiana, on Sept. 23, 1876.  Her parents were George and Sue Stanbrough Hine.  In the 1880 Census, George is identified as a farmer in Marion Township in Boone County, Indiana.  So little Addie grew up on a farm, which probably had at least a cow or two.

The family moved to Louisiana in 1894 where George continued his farming on a homestead in the China community.  Addie met and married (in 1898) Louis Bucklin, whose family had been homesteading in the area since 1884.  Louis kept a journal that talked about all of the goings on at the farm.   He started them in 1893 and continued writing until his death in 1927.

Addie continued the farm and raised cattle with her sons Roy and Herbert.  I don’t really know that much about it, but I have seen newspaper articles that mentioned them showing their cattle and winning prizes at the Jeff Davis Parish Fair as well as regional showings.  I can’t find any of those articles right now, but I promise you there are several.  I know that Roy’s daughters Jeannette and Doris also got in on the act and made a name for themselves.

Addie died in 1960 a month after I was born.  Her sons Herbert and Roy took over the farm, as well as the truck that Addie used to drive to take care of her farming business.  That truck has long since retired, yet it is still around.  It is used as part of a stage in a cool barn in the Hathaway area.  I went to visit it with my mom and dad back in 2015 for one last nostalgic outing with them.

Nostalgic indeed.