Cousins posting family stuff
These are more photos from the Bucklin & Clement swimming party at Cameron Beach in 1941. The Clements were neighbors when Louis and Addie Bucklin lived in Arkansas. The families visited each other several times and kept in touch for many years.
I got mom to write this week’s post. She always says she wished she had asked questions of her parents and written things down. I had heard the basics of this story many times. This isn’t a very important story in our family genealogy, but it needed to be told:
Tony started out as a baby skunk. He didn’t stink as he was too young for his scent glands to function. I named him Tony because Mom gave me Tony Home Permanents to curl my straight hair. The formula that makes curls happen smells kind of bad, and it reminded me of the skunk smell.
His mom was shot when found living in Dad’s work shop. But when the babies got hungry they cried and were found – they were too cute and helpless. Dad told me he would not have shot the mother skunk if he had known her babies were under the air-compressor. Dad was worried about working in the same building with a wild skunk. He had lost his sense of smell so could not tell if he got sprayed until he got home and someone told him he stunk.
Dad gave me and two cousins each a baby skunk for pets. These little guys did not have their eyes open yet and required bottle feeding (I had a baby doll bottle I used, but as Tony got older, he chewed the rubber nipple off and we had to find a new bottle several times), until he was old enough for solid foods.
He was really excited when he got a raw egg one of Mom’s chickens laid. When he was young, the egg was too big and he would wrestle with it trying to get a tooth to break the shell. I helped him after a few minutes by making a small crack. It got easier as he grew bigger, stronger, and smarter … it was easier to break the shell, but he still worked at getting a good grip on the egg … it would never stay still! He straddled the egg and held it with front and rear legs and then tried to bite it to break the shell. When the egg broke, he would wade into the mess he had made and start licking up the egg white and yolk. He was very happy!
You knew he was upset when he started stomping his feet! Tony would raise his tail, stomp his front feet thus clicking his long (for digging up worms, etc.) paw nails on hard surfaces and then turn his rear half at us, he didn’t know his scent glands had been removed. He went through all the motions a wild skunk would do.
Tony loved to run through the yard grass and poke his nose at bugs or just sniff around. I would let him out of his cage occasionally and watch him looking around. He was always very busy in the grass and made it hard to photograph him.
Dad built a big elevated (about 3 feet above ground with a flip up lid) outdoor house for him which was at the fence next to the area the chickens were allowed to foraged free for bugs, seeds, etc., and he lived all of his adult life in it. I piled grass clippings in his sleeping area, and he would make a nice nest to curl up in. Or maybe an old bath-towel to keep him warmer. Big bowl of water in his outdoor open play area (screened sides) where he would also be fed the eggs and appropriate food for skunks (like big grasshoppers and crickets when I could find them). He basically ate what the cats ate.
I went to college at Univ. of Southwest Louisiana (now called Univ. of Louisiana, Lafayette. Mom and my brother, Ray, took over caring for Tony as I lived at a dormitory far away from home.
Tony lived a long time. Mom asked me if I wanted to let him go. He had never been a wild skunk and I wasn’t sure instinct would be enough to keep him safe. And, he didn’t have the natural weapon all skunks have (scent glands). To me he could not defend himself, and would not be able to escape larger predators. We did not let him go. Years later he died a natural death in his cage. Ray thinks he lived about 10 years. Wild animals don’t make good pets. We saved Tony’s life but he missed out on having a natural life in the wild.
Thinking of my mom (Betty Lou Bucklin Landry) on her 83rd birthday. Called earlier today and wished her a happy birthday. Then later I came across some old negatives and found this photo that I don’t ever remember seeing before. I think is from March of 1953, which was in her first year of marriage. She looks so happy to be in her very own kitchen. She gave birth to her first child seven months later.
I love this old photo. Don’t you just love those old swimsuits? It’s another old photo that makes you sit back and wonder what is going on. It’s definitely not one of those staid, studio portraits that you might typically find from that era. I’d like to know more about this photo. Mainly I want to know who everyone is. If you can help with that, let me know.
I’ll start by writing about what I do know. The first time I saw this photo was two days ago. Joseph messaged it to me after he had ‘rediscovered’ it on his computer. He and his mom have been collecting old Bucklin family photos for a while now. Since the photo also includes some Phenice family, he agreed to let me post it with questions to pool our knowledge. It’s a swimming pool.
I know that the girl on the far right is my grandmother Myrtle Phenice. I was estimating that the photo was taken around 1928 or 1929, which is before her 1930 wedding to Fred Bucklin. There seems to be three distinct groups in this photo, yet she stands alone. Looking back at the others. Slightly amused…or grinning to bear it.
The first group on the left are the Bystanders. Most of them are looking at the camera, wondering what to do. “Are we taking a picture or are we goofing around?” They seem a bit unsure. I am more than a bit unsure. I’m clueless. I have no idea who any of these people are. I’m not even sure if the person in the striped swimsuit is a boy or a girl. Which bathroom would you direct them to?
I think of the next group as the Bucklin Brothers Brawlers. It looks like they’re fighting over a girl. If one of them is Fred, I can see why Myrtle is not very amused. Fred has an identical twin, so one of them could be Clarence (b. 1907). And Herbert has a similar look and he is close to the same age as the twins (b. 1906). And who is the girl?
I’ll call the next group the Phenice Fraternity Frolickers. Myrtle had four brothers: Sylvan (b. 1901), Henry (b. 1909), Orville (b. 1911), and Warren (b. 1916). Can you tell which one is which and which one is not present?
So many questions. Is the Bystander boy standing by the Bucklin Brawlers a Bucklin or a Phenice? Is Myrtle happy or sad? Where’s Waldo? Was Waldo a Bucklin or a Phenice? Where was this taken? My guess on that would be on the Ouiska Chitto. It’s only about 10 miles from the China/Hathaway area that they all lived in and it has beaches and wooded areas like that still.
So if you have a few answers (or suggestion or questions), join in on the swimming pool. The water’s fine.
Check out Part 2
Uncle Ray Bucklin sent me this. Ray is the one that got us into genealogical DNA testing. Through 23andMe, he discovered our long lost 2nd cousin Van. He wasn’t really that lost, we just didn’t know he was into genealogy and old photos too. We have also discovered a bunch of other distant relatives and found some valuable information to build our family tree.
We are related to Barack Obama through Sir Thomas John Whittington born 1488 in Pauntley, Solers, Gloucestershire, England. If you trace your family back far enough there is a good chance you can find a common ancestor somewhere.
Barack Obama is descended from Thomas John Whittington’s daughter Margaret Whittington Thockmorton. We are descended from Thomas’ son Alexander Whittington on the Koll side. We are also descended from Thomas’ daughter Jane through the Bucklins.
Louise and Ray are Barack Obama’s 15th cousins once removed through the Bucklins. Joseph, John and Van are his 16th cousins.
Louise and Ray are Barack Obama’s double 13th cousins three times removed through the Kolls. Joseph and John are double 14th cousins twice removed. We are descended twice from John Whittington 1698. The question on the Whittington stuff is listing Edward as Grief’s father. But the numbers work out whichever Whittington was his father in that generation.
Barack Obama is 18th on the list, so if Thomas John Whittington is 14 generations back for me, Louise and I are somewhere around being 14th cousins 3 times removed and Joseph and John are around 15th cousins 2 times removed.
BUCKLINKOLLOBAMA
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Great Great Grandchildren
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Great Great Great Grandchildren
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President Barack H. Obama, Jr 1960
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Grandchildren
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Great Great Grandchildren
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Stanley Ann Dunham Obama 1942
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| Bucklin Children |
Great Grandchildren
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Stanley Armour Dunham 1918
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Addie Hine 1876
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Grandchildren
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Ruth Lucille Armour Dunham 1900
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Susan Stanbrough Hine 1851
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Koll Children |
Gabrielia Clark Armour 1876
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John Stanbrough 1820
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Ada May Whittington 1881
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Susan Overal Clark 1849
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Evan Stanbrough 1790
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Thomas Whittington 1857
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George Washington Overal 1820
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Solomon Stanbrough 1766
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Elisha Whittington 1804
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Anne Browning Overall 1780
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Nehemiah Stanbrough 1736
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Grief Whittington 1762
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Susannah Hickman Browning 1745
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Josiah Stanbrough 1685
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Edward Whittington 1726
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James Hickman ??
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John Stanbrough 1665
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John Whittington 1698
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Edwin Hickman 1690
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Sarah James Stanbrough 1648
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Smart Whittington 1676
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Martha Thacker Hickman 1667
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Thomas James 1627
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William Whittington 1649
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Eltonhead Conway Thacker 1646
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John Jones 1591
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William Whittington 1616
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Edwin Conway 1610
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Elizabeth Jones Morgan 1572
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John Whittington 1578
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Dorothy Ann Tracy Conway 1563
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Elizabeth Bodenham Morgan 1538
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Richard Whittington 1541
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Ann Throckmorton Tracy 1546
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Jane Whittington Bodenham 1518
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Alexander Whittington 1511
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Margaret Whittington Throckmorton 1518
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Thomas John Whttington 1488
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Thomas John Whttington 1488
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Thomas John Whttington 1488
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On June 10, 1772, 18 year old Joseph Bucklin said to his friend, “reach me your gun, and I can kill that fellow.” That shot is considered by English historians the first Act of War by the American colonists. The capture and burning of the English Navy ship Gaspee was a significant event in Revolutionary War history.
King George III issued a reward for information leading to the arrest of the shooter. The Rhode Island government and the people of Providence banded together and would not name him. From that point in 1772, a dozen or more Bucklins became active in revolutionary activities.
“The shot heard around the world,” at the Battles of Lexington and Concord are considered the first military engagement of the American Revolutionary War happened several years later on April 19, 1775.
Most Bucklin descendants haven’t heard about this history. Before Ray Bucklin discovered the Bucklin Society website years ago, we had never heard of it either. Joseph Bucklin would be about 6 generations ago (two more than we knew about). He died at sea before the end of the war with no descendants, but we are related further up the family tree.
Be sure to check out the Gaspee page on the Bucklin Society website for more details of this little known bit of Revolution history.
I found an assortment of information a few months ago and decided to group it together for a post for the week of Mother’s Day. The first item is an article from 31 years ago about a Mother’s Day 50 years earlier. So the Throwback is a Throwback. It’s a very interesting article, especially for me and my family. It mentions several family members from both sides of my mom’s family and even quotes them about family and motherhood.
The first family member mentioned is Mrs. H. C. Phenice, known to my family as Daisy Henrietta Martha Keys Phenice. I’ve posted a few photos of her in this series, most recently was at the beginning of last month. In 1935, she was the second oldest mother present. She was 59 years old at the time.
Mrs. Ruth (Bucklin) Bruchhaus is also mentioned as the youngest mother present. She was Fred Bucklin’s (my mom’s dad) sister and she had a young son Harley (father of Uvonne) who was born Feb. 5, 1933, just a few months before mom. Most notable to me is that in Ruth’s later years she preserved many old photos and labeled them for all of us to enjoy.
My favorite part of the article is the quote by my great grandmother Addie Mae Hine Bucklin (mother of Fred). She was the mother of twelve children, so I enjoyed reading that she spoke of the love and tenderness of a mother as she gazes upon her newborn baby as it lies in her arms planning its little life.
An interesting talk was given by Joseph Connors’ grandfather Herbert Bucklin (brother of Fred). It was questioning whether ‘modern’ mothers meet the needs of the family. I guess every generation compares themselves to the ones that came before. That was followed by a talk by Frieda (Rampmier) Bucklin (Fred’s sister-in-law) and Dora Koll (married Herbert Bucklin 2 years later). Then my grandmother Myrtle Sylvia Phenice Bucklin (wife of Fred) and her brother-in-law Roy Bucklin talked about how young people can show appreciation to their mothers.
The program concluded with my grandmother reading a poem she had written about Mother’s Day (I wish I had that!) and then the youth closed out the event with a song. So interesting to read an article with so many relatives mentioned from long ago. The older generation there were the last of the pioneers who settled that area in the late 1800s. I just realized that my two great grandmothers mentioned were both born in 1876. Daisy was five months older than Addie, so she was able to score the lovely bouquet of sweet pea intermingled with lace fern.
The photo of the group is from 1948. It has many of the same people that are mentioned in the article. Both are about the Adult Sunday School class of Raymond Methodist Church in Raymond, Louisiana.
The last photo is of my dear sweet Mama from around the same time as the other photo.
Betty Lou Bucklin
Happy Mother’s Day!
Jennie, Ed, Joe, and their father James Bucklin are the four who filed for the homesteaded that created the Bucklin farm where it is now.
Some time before the family left Iowa, Jennie and Giled Kenyon were divorced. She later married Ben A. Taylor.
Jennie was born in Massachusetts in about 1857. She died about June 1893 at the age 36 when her children were still young. She had been ill since at least early May with “sinking spells nearly every day” according to a letter between her brothers Joe and Louis on May 15. Her mother was staying with her. Louis’ journal entries, written while at military academy in Ada, Ohio, end abruptly in early June, 1893. According to Edna Bucklin Keys, Jennie’s death upset Louis deeply, he traveled home and did not ever return to Ada, Ohio. Journal entries resume several months later recording farming details.
It appears from Louis’ journals that Clarence lived with his grandmother Mary McGrath Bucklin, Ed and Louis. Clarence and Ed were often noted as plowing or doing other work on the farm. Frank may have also lived with them at times, but must have lived with his sister Vera and his father Ben Taylor most of the time.
Photo scanned by jciv from Ruth Bucklin Bruchhaus’s collection.
I was lucky to be able to scan lots of both Roy & Ruth Bucklin’s photo collections years ago and found some good ones for today. Be sure to pay attention to what Roy & Ruth are wearing.
I don’t have much of Clarence & Fred when they were young, but I do have their Bucklin Brothers Nursery Price List and Van was able to find me a photo of them together.
Edna told me, “Fred and Clarence were identical twins. Teachers couldn’t tell them apart. They put red and blue ribbons on them to tell the difference, but the boys would switch the colored ribbons.”
Loris, Sylvia, Betty Lou, and Alma Bucklin circa 1948
I’ve been thinking about posting this one for a while. Since this week started with siblings day and my sister Jamie just reminded me about it being time for my weekly project, I thought I’d have the theme be sisters.
This is my mom and her sisters around 1948 in Hathaway, Louisiana. That’s Loris, Sylvia, Betty Lou, and Alma posing for the photo. Nobody is smiling big, nobody is frowning, yet they all seem to be paying attention to the photographer. For some reason it captures my attention and makes me wonder what is going on.
For some reason I think it was a hot summer day that was coming to a close. They have agreed to taking the photo and were waiting for the photographer to get ready to take the photo. And the photographer captured them waiting. Smiling, yet not smiling. Posed, yet not posed. Ready to get this over with and get ready for bed.
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For my sisters – Jodie, Karen, and Jamie.
For my dad’s (Bob) sisters – Marie, Wana, Germaine, and Frances.