Grandma Addie With a Big Ol’ Smile

Addie May Hine Bucklin and Winnifred Talbott Welton in Elton, Louisiana, circa March 11, 1952. It was a birthday celebration for “Mrs. Weldon.”  (Photo has been edited.)

When I was thinking about what I would post today, I looked over the last few posts that I’ve written to see whose turn it is for the spotlight.  It was definitely my mom’s side of the family that was up for a turn.  And since the last one I did for my mom’s side was about the Keys family, I figured it was time for the Bucklin side.  And the Bucklin side includes my Grandpa Fred Bucklin’s mother Addie Hine Bucklin.

You all remember her, right?  She’s the one that I’ve made fun of on several occasions because she usually has a scowl on her face. (See here and here.)  It was lighthearted fun, of course.  Even though she looked very stern and a bit tough, I’ve only heard sweet stories about her.  Don’t judge a book by its cover.  So I like seeing this photo of my great grandmother having a good laugh with what looks like an old friend.

I actually worked on this photo this week for a completely different reason.  I was looking at Find a Grave and noticed there wasn’t a memorial (profile) for Selma Edessa Welton Havenar, who is the daughter of Winnifred.  We’re not related to the Havenar and Welton families, but we have some shared history.

I knew I had taken photos of her grave a few years ago and set up some memorials for other family members like her husband Guy Havenar.  Somehow I overlooked making one for Edessa Welton Havenar.  So I made one and started looking at the family a little more.  I noticed that she married Guy Havenar, whose mother was a Welton.  So I jumped into the rabbit hole of finding out how they were related.  Along the way I remembered these two photos and some of the writing on the back of them.  I figured out who they were talking about by looking at another tree on Ancestry.  I noticed the tree belonged to the great grandson of Winnifred.  So I decided to work on the photo and post it online for everyone to see.

Besides the shared history of both families living in Jefferson Davis Parish in southern Louisiana, there was a tradition of celebrating birthdays together with the two families. (See here, here, and here.)  Addie’s mother was Susan Stanbrough Hine and she was born on October 3, 1851.  We call her Grandma Sue.  The other person that shared Grandma Sue’s October 3 birth date was Winnifred’s sister-in-law Edessa Jane “Jennie” Welton Havenar.  In the old newspaper clippings that I’ve shared, they always just say something like, “Mrs. Hine and Mrs. Havenar are Celebrating Another Birthday.”  They started celebrating their birthdays with a joint celebration in 1906 and continued for at least 20 years.

Winnifred must have been fond of her sister-in-law, because it looks like her daughter was named after her.  And what makes it even more complicated is that both Edessa Jane “Jennie” Welton and Selma Edessa Welton both married a Havenar.  So to make it easier to tell who they were talking about, Edessa Jane was called Jennie and from what I figured out from the backs of these photos Selma Edessa was called Eddie.  But nothing stops the confusion when you see that Eddie married Jennie’s son Guy.  That’s right, she married her first cousin.  So her aunt became her mother-in-law.

Unedited photo of Addie May Hine Bucklin and Winnifred Agnes Talbott Welton at her daughter Selma Edessa “Eddie” Welton Havenar’s (married to Guy Havenar) home in Elton, Louisiana, on March 11, 1952. They were celebrating Winnifred’s 80th birthday.

It explains what was written on the backs of the photos.  Here’s a hint from me – never label someone on the back of the photo as “Mrs. Weldon.”  Use their full name.  Call her Winnifred Agnes Welton Havenar.  When I read “Eddie Havenar’s mother” when they talked about “Mrs. Weldon,” I tried to find a son named Edward for a Mrs. Weldon.  Seeing “Guy Havenar’s home” on the second one helped because I knew that Selma Edessa Welton was his wife.  So I figured Selma Edessa must be Eddie.  It also says that they were celebrating Mrs. Weldon’s birthday.  I was wondering why there were those nice pink carnations on the table.  Did I say pink?  Yes, I did.  It’s actually a color photo of Grandma Addie!  I don’t have many of those.

So the two families were celebrating a birthday again after almost fifty years of doing so.  The celebration was on June 16, 1952.  Or maybe the film was developed on that day.  Or maybe this reprint was made on that day.  This was long before our camera or phone automatically dates the photos we take.  I found that Winnifred’s birthday was on March 11 and that she lived in Minnesota.  I’m going to assume that she was down in Louisiana on her birthday, so these photos were taken on March 11, 1952, which was her 80th birthday!  It was definitely a day to celebrate with friends and flowers.

One comment

  • What a great lump of information!!!! You do such wonderful research! That picture is wonderful! Thankyou for sharing.

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