"When dawn spreads its paintbrush on the plain, spilling purple... ," Sons of the Pioneers theme for TV show "Wagon Train." Dawn on the mythic Santa Fe Trail, New Mexico, looking toward Raton from Cimarron. -- Clarkphoto. A curmudgeon artist's musings melding metaphors and journalism, for readers in more than 150 countries.

Saturday, November 29, 2014

A postcard from the past


 Cleaning out boxes brings discoveries, and last night Susan found an old Christmas postcard written to my great grandmother, Mary Unit Watts Clark, almost a century ago. How it was in her box of old photos, we don't know.
I'm indebted to cousin-in-law Cherie Atkinson Clark of North Carolina for her genealogy work making it easy to look up the details.
Another mystery--how did this Mississippi woman who lived through the Civil War have a friend in Buffalo, N.Y? No clue.
And the families are mixed up too. She was the sister of  my great-grandfather's (Batte Peterson Clark Jr) first wife, Alice C. Watts Clark, who bore him 11 children, I think, recalling conversations with my now deceased uncle Mike. Then she died and Batte married her, and they had my grandfather, Erle Thweat Clark.
Here's the genealogy--
 Mary Unit Clark formerly Watts aka Baxter
Born in Marion, Clarke County, Mississippi, USAmap [uncertain]
Wife of — married in Panola County, Texas, USAmap
Wife of — married in Panola County, Texas, USAmap
Mother of
Died in Comanche, Stephens County, Oklahoma, USAmap
Here are photos of her grave, with my grandfather's and my dad's graves in line, in Fairlawn Cemetery. The other shows Batte's grave.

3 comments:

  1. Bits of history like that keep those people alive in our hearts. You've done this woman and your family a great service. Nice post.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Love this post. Families and family history is really messy.

    ReplyDelete

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