Moody Women

No these women are not having a temperamental moment. They are the wife and daughters of George Washington Moody (1855-1908).

Minnie Stringellow Moody (1868-1932) is pictured here with four of her six daughters. From left are Lillie (1893-1982), mother Minnie, Eula Mae (1897-?), Julia Lavinia (1886-1965), Bernice (birth and death dates unknown).

The other children not in the photo are Melissa V. Moody (1889-?), Robert M. Moody 1891-?), Viola Moody (dates unknown), and Joe Moody (dates unknown).

What observations can you make about the differences in the hairstyles and dress fashions of these five women? They all lived in a rural western Mobile County, Alabama, farming community. Do they look as you would expect farm women and wives to look?

The Problem of Lewis Monroe Pierce:1832-1902

The above photo is believed to be of Lewis Monroe Pierce and Sarah Stringfellow.

Lewis Monroe Pierce (b. April 15, 1832, d. March 1, 1902) creates a problem for Pierce family researchers. We're not sure who his father is. Many researchers list him as the son of John Pierce.

The problem is that there are two men with the same name, the other being Louis Monroe Pierce (b. Feb. 6, 1835, d. May 25, 1927). In the 1850 census for Mobile County, Louis is living in the house of John Pierce and Lewis is living next door. But all these Pierces are probably all related.

Lewis had two wives, Sarah Stringfellow (b. abt. 1831) and Elizabeth Turner (b. May 1837).

The closely spaced buttons on the woman’s bodice suggest the photo was taken between 1870 and 1900. The center parting of her hair with it tied back was practically the only way women wore their hair before 1870 and style remained common well into the 20th century.

This is a real brick wall in my Pierce family research. Any suggestions about how to break through?

Photo Source: Original print in the possession of Virgie Holland, Lucedale, Mississippi.

Did you have an ancestor who was also a great photographer?

This photograph is one of my favorites and is interesting because it is a photo of someone taking a photo. It also pulls in your attention, as though you could step into it and back into time.

Probably taken during the early 1920s, the photo shows the three women very fashionably dressed with the short hairstyle popular at the time.

The woman wearing the hat is Ina Mae Pierce (1903-1977), the oldest child of N.B. "Bonie" Pierce and Julia L. Moody. The names of the other two women are not known. Also the location isn't known, but is clearly beside a large body of water, perhaps Mobile Bay.

Photography had become a popular and affordable hobby for many people. And even amateurs could shoot great photos.

Did you have an ancestor who was also a great photographer?

Any entrepreneurs in your family tree?

This photo shows N.B. "Bonie" Pierce's new venture, the Reservoir Inn, at an early stage of construction around 1940. The inn at 4900 Moffett Road was actually an early convenience store that sold snacks and gasoline.

For these pumps, the attendant had to first hand crank the desired amount of gas in the glass measures on top of the pump and then let gravity feed it down the hose and into the car's tank.

Bonie is standing at left. The boy next to him is Bonie's grandson Charlie Pierce, son of W.T. Pierce. On the right is Bonie's son Ralph B. Pierce.

The Reservoir Inn was Bonie's second business venture. In the early 1930s, he opened a small store in the farming community of Wilmer, which his son Ralph helped run.

Do you have any entrepreneurs in your family tree? Did they start a family business? Did it succeed?


Photo courtesy of Lucille Pierce Hogancamp.

Do you have a quilter among your ancestors?

Beatrice V. Pierce (1921-1993) sewed the quilt in the above photo. She made this and other quilts during her teen years while living in the Pierce Level area of Wilmer.

Quilters highly favored this traditional fan quilt block because it allowed them to play with color and pattern.

Beatrice V. Pierce

Quilts are an American folk art and designs vary by place and time. They can tell a story about the people who made them. Quilts can be found in history and art museums.

These webpages can give you more information about the history of quilts: 

• Quilts and Quilting: U.S. History
• Quilting in America
• Hart Cottage Quilts 

Do you have a quilter among your ancestors?

1926 honeymoon road trip ends in booming Akron

Don Vickers stands in front of a car that may have been the one that he and Hazel Pierce took their honeymoon road trip. The car is from the mid-1920s, but it is difficult to tell the make, model and year from this photo. If you know what kind of car it is, please leave a comment.

NOTE: This post is the sixth and final in a series of excerpts from the road trip diary Hazel Pierce kept on her honeymoon with husband Don Vickers in 1926. Along with the excerpts are some observations and comments from this blogger.

After leaving Mammoth Cave in Kentucky "...we saw many beautiful apple orchards. We passed one large army camp which was Camp Knox. We passed through Louisville, Kentucky, which is a very large town. We crossed the Ohio River and it is beautiful. We saw a cement plant and a flour mill. 

"We spent the night [in] Edingburgh, Ind., with an old lady. We were only a short piece from Indianapolis. Friday we left Indiana and went into Ohio. 

"That day we had our first tire trouble. Had two flats, but it only took a short time to fix them. That night we stayed at the West Jefferson. 

"Saturday after taking a good many detours we arrived in Akron about four o’clock. We enjoyed our honeymoon trip very much, just had the time of our lives."

Don and Hazel ended their honeymoon in Akron, where they would live and Don would work for

Downton Akron, Ohio, in the 1920s.
 Courtesy Northeastern Pennsylvania Photo Collection

General Tire and Rubber Company.

When the couple arrived, Akron had just completed an economic boom that made it the fastest growing city in the United States. General Tire, Goodrich, Firestone and Goodyear built headquarters in the city. Other industries made everything from fishing tackle to farming equipment. Between 1910-1920, the population increased 202%. Almost a third of the population were immigrants.

The Vickers eventually left Akron for the Alabama farming community of Faunsdale. There they owned and managed a 600-acre farm specializing in cattle. The move from the bustling big city to a quiet farm ran counter to the population shift taking place in America. You can't help but wonder about the motivations that led to the Vickers' decision to return to a rural lifestyle.

 

Did your ancestors take a vacation that illustrates a national trend of the time?

Mammoth Cave river tour, National Park Service

NOTE: This post is the fifth in a series of excerpts from the road trip diary Hazel Pierce kept on her honeymoon trip with husband Don Vickers in 1926. Along with the excerpts are some observations and comments from this blogger.

After Hazel Pierce and her husband Don Vickers left Alabama, they drove through the Tennessee cities of Columbia, Nashville and Gallatin. In her diary, Hazel noted “pretty fields of wheat, rye and tobacco, also some lovely apple orchards.”

Hazel and Don left Tennessee and stopped at a Kentucky cave that had become a national attraction: Mammoth Cave.

“This is one of the Seven Wonders of the World. We first went into the office and a man showed us a blue print and explained to us about the cave. He sent a guide with us and carried a gas light and gave use one. They had the Delco lights part of the way.

“This cave was quite a mystery. There was different formations that resembled flags, bacon, turkey, Niagara Falls and many other things. There was one room called the radio room and they have the radio in there sometimes. There was some parts where the ceiling would be as smooth as could be and other parts very rough.

“We went down 250 feet below the ground and walked about 2½ miles. There was (Echo) river down in there and the guide took us for a boat ride. One place we passed through was very small and this was called ‘Fat Man’s Misery.’ This was a very interesting trip. We were about 2 ½ hours on this trip.

“We were given souvenirs at the office and the guide showed us a little girl which was petrified. She was found in the cave and it is believed she was captured by the Indians and rather than endure their torture she sacrificed her life. We went a short piece from the place where Floyd Collins was trapped in the cave We drove on to Cave City and spent the night at the Dixie Hotel."

According to Dave Tabler’s Appalachian History blog, Kentucky’s Mammoth Cave is the country’s

oldest touring cave. Formal guided tours started in 1816. The cave remained in private ownership until 1941

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and grew into a prime tourist attraction. Because Mammoth showed how profitable cave tourism could be, it spawned a number of rivals in the 1920s, the dawn of the automobile vacation era.

In 1925, Kentucky farmer Floyd Collins became trapped in Sand Cave while searching for a cave entrance on the road from Cave City to Mammoth. The effort to free Collins drew attention and reporters from around the country. Reporters set up headquarters in Hotel Dixie, the same place Hazel and Don spent one of their nights on their honeymoon road trip.

Did your ancestors take a vacation that illustrates a national trend of the time?

The next post will be the final excerpt from Hazel's honeymoon road trip diary.