Week 29 – Birthdays

 

It’s not often you can step back in time and attend a birthday celebration of your ancestors. Fortunately, in past eras, it was quite common for newspapers to write up articles for the society section. I’ve found a number of these mentions for various ancestors and have selected a few to share.

My great-grandmother, Malora Jane Ayers, was born on 8 May 1875 in Cornelia, Habersham County, Georgia. She was the daughter of Moses Prince Ayers and Sara Frances Cash. On 14 December 1890, she married John Henry Ditmore who lived just across the state line in Murphy, North Carolina.  In 1907, the couple with eight children in tow, left their home in Murphy, North Carolina and moved to Hydro, Oklahoma. The family came by train, but their belongings ended up in Bridgeport, Texas, rather than Bridgeport, Oklahoma. My grandfather told the story of how several of his uncles, who had travelled to Oklahoma prior to 1907, gathered up wagons and headed off to Texas to collect the furniture and household goods of the family.

In Hydro, the family settled in. Many articles appear in the local newspaper about the Ditmore’s hosting events and parties at their home, so it was just fitting that Malora should be the guest of honor for one of her own. Great-grandma Ditmore was a well-liked member of the community and active in her church. What a special time must have been had in May of 1913 when a surprise party was held to celebrate her thirty-eighth birthday. From the Hydro Review, 15 May 1913, a large crowd attended and lasted until a late hour. With ten children by this time, a large crowd could have been found just among them (the group photo is John Henry and Malora with their family c. 1934). What a party it must have been! Ice cream was served (remember this is 1913 – before refrigeration) and bananas! Can you imagine how hard it must have been to get bananas to western Oklahoma at this time? It’s not like you could just run down to the supermarket! Apparently, no expense was spared. Stories handed down in our family tells of many “hoedowns” being held by the Ditmore’s. Several of my great-uncles played the fiddle and most could “cut a rug”.  I can hear the music and laughter now as I write.

Another special birthday occurred on 12 July 1890 in Hannibal, Missouri. On this day, Henrietta Anthony Patton, my grandmother, was born. She was the second child, and oldest daughter of David Williamson Patton and Maria Rosina Neth. Her early years were spent just around the corner from the boyhood home of Mark Twain. The family moved to Moberly, Missouri between 1893 and 1896 where her father’s railroad employment took them. Henrietta would meet a local boy, Robert Earl Powers, several years later and they would marry in 1913. During their life, they would move all over Texas and Oklahoma following the job opportunities in the oil fields.

On 12 July 1902, a newspaper article announced the party held in honor of the twelfth birthday of Little Miss Henrietta Patton. From the Moberly Monitor Index, we know that a number friends attended, and several cousins who were all listed by name. They were served refreshments and played games on the spacious lawn. She was also the recipient of “many valuable and handsome presents…”

My grandmother, Henrietta, had a milk glass egg on display in her apartment as far back as I can remember. It looked fragile and the hand-painted “Easter Greetings” was quite faded.  I was really taken by it, and in previous years, grandma had let me take it for Show and Tell during the Easter holiday.  A shoebox with tissue paper served as the carrying case when I carried it back and forth from school. How it managed to survive those trips is a wonderment to be sure.  It was a prized possession of hers and although probably had little monetary value, she treasured it as if it were worth a million bucks. 

When I turned twelve years old, grandma Powers gave the egg to me, with the instructions to give to my youngest granddaughter on her twelfth birthday.  The egg now belongs to my granddaughter, Harper, although it is still at my house for safe-keeping. I am much more protective of it than my grandmother was. Harper has been instructed to give it to her youngest granddaughter, on her twelfth birthday. You see, Henrietta’s grandmother, Barbara Neth, had given the egg to her on her twelfth birthday, as one of the “many valuable and handsome presents” she received on that special day in 1902.