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On the back of this photo, it says:
“The old man is H. W. White, step-grandfather to the babies. These children is twins, 1 boy name Louis, 1 girl name Louise, the boy to the left and the girl to the right. They belong to Mr and Mrs Clarence Gilmer. They were 12 month old October the 11th 1944. The old man 81 years old February the 23rd 1945. This picture was made Sept. the 30th 1944.”
When I found this photograph here in Atlanta, I just knew this was going to be a simple search. Look at all the information there – several names and dates and relationships. This was going to be a walk in the park.
I’m still walking. It’s apparently a bigger park than I thought.
According to Ancestry.com, there was a family named White living in Piedmont, Alabama in 1930. The head of the family was H. W. White (bingo!), age 63, born and raised in Alabama. His wife, Alba, was 42. Joseph Savage (20), Myrtle Savage (15), and Clara Savage (13) lived with them, and they were listed as H.W.’s stepchildren. Fortunately, the 1940 census was released this year (yay!), and while I didn’t find all of the Savages and Whites, I did find a family listed as Addie Gilmer, a 42-year-old widow, her son, Clarence (Clarence Gilmer!), and his wife, Clara (age 23 from Piedmont, Alabama). Yep! I am well on my way !
Mr. and Mrs. Clarence Gilmer? Check!
H. W. White? Check!
He’s the stepfather of Mrs. Gilmer? Check!
Find-A-Grave shows a listing for Hiram W. White (1864 – 1946) at the Highland Cemetery in Piedmont, Alabama. Next to him are Alba Lizzie White (1888-1978) and Myrtle Irene Savage (1914 – 1988). More confirmation – this is EASY !
Find-A-Grave also has a listing for Clarence Gilmer (June 7, 1920 – Sept. 20, 2010), who served in WWII and was buried in Piedmont, Alabama. Next to him lies Clara S. Gilmer (Nov. 17, 1916 – Fe. 28, 2007). Excellent! I’m batting .1000 !!
I even found an obituary for Clarence in the Anniston Star, which lists survivors including two sons, Marlin Gilmer and William L. Gilmer, two daughters, Martha L. Vanderford and Margaret Gilmer, and several children and great-grandchildren. This is a big family, and I am going to nail this down. So excited !
Remember the two babies? Louis and Louise ?? Not listed. Or are they? What about William L. Gilmer and Martha L. Vanderford ?? They would be the step-grandchildren of H. W., wouldn’t they ?
That’s where I am today – still searching, but I haven’t given up. There’s more information out there. For example, two of the three pastors who officiated at the funeral of Clarence Gilmer were the Rev. Marlin Gilmer and the Rev. Kenneth Vanderford. I assume these are either sons-in-law or grandsons – how beautiful!
I posted a message on the forums at Ancestry.com, but haven’t gotten a response yet. So I’m putting the photograph here, in hopes of reaching a child or grandchild who are internet-active. I’ll keep looking, if for no other reason than the possibility of hearing from “Louis” or “Louise” or one of their children.
Jim said:
Welcome to Geneabloggers.
I love your cover photo.
Regards, Jim
Genealogy Blog at Hidden Genealogy Nuggets
mbmarion said:
Thanks, Jim! I’m excited to be included with this group of bloggers!
Sue Daigle said:
Hello
Good luck!
mbmarion said:
Thank you, Sue!
Jacqi Stevens said:
Be patient about those notes you send to other Ancestry.com members–or on other genealogy forums, too, for that matter. Sometimes it takes months or even years for results to come back to you. You’ve made amazing progress on your research already, so if you include as many terms as that in your queries, leave it to the search engines to lead the missing parties to you. Hopefully, you will make a connection soon!
Welcome to GeneaBloggers, by the way. I was glad to find you via their post today.
mbmarion said:
Thank you, Jacqi. It’s a fun project and I’m excited to be able to share it with others. Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you’ll check in often!
drbillshares said:
Welcome to the GeneaBloggers family. Hope you find the association fruitful; I sure do. I have found it most stimulating, especially some of the Daily Themes.
May you keep sharing your ancestor stories!
Dr. Bill 😉
http://drbilltellsancestorstories.blogspot.com/
Author of “13 Ways to Tell Your Ancestor Stories” and family saga novels:
“Back to the Homeplace” and “The Homeplace Revisited”
http://thehomeplaceseries.blogspot.com/
http://www.examiner.com/x-53135-Springfield-Genealogy-Examiner
http://www.examiner.com/x-58285-Ozarks-Cultural-Heritage-Examiner
http://www.examiner.com/heritage-tourism-in-springfield-mo/dr-bill-william-l-smith
http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/drbilltellsexcitingstories
The Heritage Tourist at In-Depth Genealogist: http://www.indepthgenealogist.com/
asphaleia said:
Hi. I found this in a search. Can’t get it to come up but it’s in the source code for a page. It identifies a granddaughter.
asphaleia said:
See above: “To the family of my cousin: I am the granddaughter, Louise (Gilmer) Vanderford, of Mrs. Alba Lizzie (Doyal) Savage White. Kenneth’s grandmother, Mrs. Mamie (Doyal) Johnson, and my grandmother were half-sisters. Over the years we learned of Kenneth’s call to the ministry and are so happy to know he has finished his course for Christ victoriously. We pray God’s richest blessings upon each family member. May we all serve Christ and run the race victoriously.” Here’s a link with more information: https://www.henryherald.com/news/local-family-marks-commitment-to-education/article_7a0dd0fd-83c9-5b40-abe2-705c2f885db0.html