Like just about everyone out there, I have a Facebook account. One thing I use my account for is to peruse a group dedicated to the history of my town. It's fascinating. Tonight, I wondered if there was a page like that for the town where my parents grew up. I found one and was not disappointed.
I'm looking through the groups photo albums and after ten pages I see something familiar. Very familiar in fact because it is my family's home; the one where my mother and aunt grew up and I spent most of my childhood there visiting my grandmother. Actually it wasn't even the house, just the greenhouse. I exclaimed, out loud, "Holy crap it's me!", which is just easier to say than "Holy crap that is the greenhouse in the yard of the house where my mother grew up!" It became even stranger because some commenter's were talking about my family.
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| 228 East Kingston Str, Laurel, Mississippi |
This house was originally white, though the very top part with the attic venting always looked that way. The Lindsey's built the house in the late 1800's. They were very wealthy from making wagon wheels. The bushes in the front are overgrown, and there were two tree's on either side in front. The low wall is original.
My grandparents moved to Laurel from Ohio in the thirties. They first purchased a small house in the country, but my grandfather purchased land near this house to set up his business, Laurel Hoe Works, where he sold basic yard equipment like hoes, rakes, shovels, etc and replacement handles. But, as the story goes from my family, for twelve years my grandfather drove past this house. It was empty and for sale and he desperately wanted to purchase it. Not until 1948/49 did my grandfather purchase this house and moved my grandmother, Aunt Jan and my mother into their new home. My grandmother lived here until 1987/88. The neighbourhood became too dodgy and she moved uptown.
While I do find it wildy exhilarating and strange at the same time that my family is being discussed in some of the comments; what is weirder (and oddly spooky), is that a few commenter's remember a girl named Martha Tru Cobbel, who lived in this house in the forties. But if my families story is correct, then that would be impossible. She would have been living in a vacant house. I only photo captured one comment, but two other people corroborate that woman's story by chiming in to say they also remember this great beauty of a girl who moved before she graduated high school. Umm...
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| Three mentions of my family |
Here you can see some of the comments. Summers House, Jan Sommers, Slumber parties... and that one about Martha Tru Cobbel. But as you can guess, my families last name is Summers, it's not Sommers, but I'll forgive them because it really was that when my grandfathers people came over from Germany because immigration spelled it incorrectly. These two women were friends of my aunt and attended slumber parties at the house. That's just trippy to be reading this.
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| More school mates of Aunt Jan |
That first woman is even talking about my grandmother! It is true, she was a Girl Scout Leader. She actually started the Girl Scouts in Laurel, as they didn't have it there yet in the forties. And as I've posted before my aunt did live in Canada and wrote books about Oriental Rugs. She no longer lives in Canada though, because her and her husband sold the business.
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| Not sure if she knows what she's talking about |
And that's the last relevant comment about my family. So let's get on with me showing you the past!
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| Late 1940s |
Right after my grandfather purchased the house, he paid someone to come out and take a photo of it... so they could have it framed... so they could hang it up on the wall inside the house. Is that an Ohioan thing? Anyways, the lighting in my house is not that good, so this and the following pictures will look slightly weird. I apologize. The difference in the pictures, besides the green paint, is that there are no more chimneys, the slate roof was replaced (I'm sure it needed it) and the center window is now a door on that second floor balcony.
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| August 1961 |
My grandparents, mother, and aunt on the front steps of the home. My aunt was in high school here, just about to start her junior year. My mother was in junior high, about to turn 13 in two months.
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| Aunt Jan's wedding day |
This photo was taken in the living room. It's 1968 or possibly 1969. Winter. They had the wedding at the house. My mom would elope with my dad (because my grandparents didn't want her to marry my dad) in May of 1970.
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| Some artistic shot someone took of my grandmother in the seventies |
I'm not sure why this photo was taken, unless who ever was taking it and my grandmother thought it would be "neat". I'm quoting my grandmother there. Things were neat to her. Anyways, that's the stone wall and behind her the textured front and the attic ventilation.
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| Christmas! |
There were two living rooms when you came in the front door. The one on the left was the formal one, and the one we are in here was less formal. The main staircase is behind the tree. In the corner between the fireplace and the tree was a built-in book case. It was cool. Anyways, that's my mom, baby me, and my sister all in our matching outfits Christmas morning 1980. My first Christmas.
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| Girl Scouts Newspaper Clipping |
My grandmother is center right. Apparently she presented the awards at this thing. Mrs. Russel Summers.
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| Girl Scout Cookbook |
In 1991, my grandmother made the cover of the Girl Scout Cookbook. That is her photo from when she was 12. She was a member of the very first troop in Delaware, Ohio.
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| Complete with signature |
She was beyond thrilled to be a part of this and gladly signed copies for my sister and I.
As well as the newer photos of the Kingston house, which is what we call it, I also found three family members in that groups mess of photo's.
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| Dad's graduation photo |
The people in this group scan in entire year books. Awesome, but also wow. I mean that is an undertaking. My dad attended R.H. Watkins High School in Laurel. They were the home of The Fighting Tornado's. It's adorable. Also makes sense, since Laurel is tornado alley for this area. This was 1966. And that plaid jacket is fierce!
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| Aunt Vicki |
She's a junior here. George S. Gardiner High School in Laurel in 1962. It wouldn't exist in a few years and students would have to go to Watkins. She's adorable!
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| Aunt Jan's graduation photo |
Isn't she adorable? She looks like a fluffy Persian cat! She's the prettiest girl on the page, I think. Anyways, George S. Gardiner 1962. Just a note. Jan and Vicki were in the same Girl Scout troop and had to interact at functions and knew some of the same people (but not really in relation to my parents dating) and they did not like each other. Not one bit.
Edit: Umm.. I should mention, in case you can't tell who the pretty, fluffy Persian Cat is... Second row, second from the left. That is my Aunt Jan.
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