Sepia Saturday - Tree Memories

Reuss-Beyersdoerfer Clan

The suggested Sepia Saturday theme for this week, trees, inspired me to look back on my own family tree memories, and what better way to celebrate genealogy than by honoring the image of the tree. I attempted to pull some sepia images from my family collection - but as other bloggers have learned today, there are not many "tree" photos in our collections. The family image that you see to the left is my favorite "tree" image. To see this family group, standing proudly in front of this equally proud tree that towers over them demonstrates a perfect blend of history and symbolism.

My other favorite family image that includes a tree is this one of the Cox family in Pendleton County Kentucky. Most family group images we have utilize a more family focused composition. In other words, close enough to only see the people. This family photographer took a little artistic license and let the trees be even more prominent than the human subjects - or perhaps they were so new at taking pictures that they forgot to get closer.....either way, we get to see the expansiveness of the trees on this property, and not just the expansiveness of the prolific family unit!

Within my other family memories, trees have played a prominent role. I spent a huge chunk of my youth and adolescence traipsing around, climbing, drawing and adoring trees. I was an outdoors kid all the way. Nature and all of its complexity was, and still is, a dear friend. This image is from my grandparents farm in Bourbon County Kentucky - an old walnut tree that sits between a small field and the vegetable garden. That farm was not only a source of spiritual and mental health for me, almost as necessary as oxygen, but it also embodied all of the love my grandparents bestowed upon us when visiting. And don't get me started on the adventures! So many I cannot count! As a side note, this farm in the far western part of the county was certified a few years ago as home to the second largest tree in the state of Kentucky! An amazing old burr oak tree that sits in a valley, just below one of the ponds. Each tree branch is the size of a large tree trunk.....awe inspiring.

I have always regarded genealogy as somewhat of a spiritual journey. There is nothing as humbling as looking back across the generations and realizing that you are merely one addition to the long string of people that have come before you. Soon, you too will be nothing more than someone's memory. But in this realization, it bolsters my belief in life eternal. Time is ever flowing. And yet, when I think of the spiritual realm, and perhaps the place where our ancestors reside, there is no time. This final tree was captured on "film" just this past June while hiking up to Laurel Falls in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee. We all learned in school that the trees we see above the soil have a duplicate existence in size and proportion below the soil in the form of roots. I can remember thinking, as a child, that had to be a load of bunk.....they were asking us to believe in something we could not see. This is just another example of nature demonstrating to us that we only understand a small portion of the world we encounter. I've also heard it said that the spiritual realm is just as real as the world we can see with our eyes, like this tree and its roots - and if our roots are as important as most genealogists believe, our journey is never finite.

For Those Who Mother Us...

In honor of Mother's Day, I pulled out this old family favorite from the Beyersdoerfer Collection. All of these women are Beyersdoerfer mothers holding, what appears to be, their children of near identical age. The photo was taken sometime around 1915 on the Beyersdoerfer family farm in Bracken County, Kentucky. I am very rusty on which woman is which, but I'll give it a shot: from R-L: Aunt Addie (Hiles) Beyersdoerfer, Aunt Rose (Beyersdoerfer) Pangburn, Aunt Nora (Beyersdoerfer) Reuss, Great Grandma Nellie (Cox) Beyersdoerfer, Can't remember the name of the lady with the cloth on her head - could this be Aunt Gladys - the wife of Uncle Charlie Beyersdoerfer?, Aunt Celia (Beyersdoerfer) Gosney. Needless to say, it must have been a long winter to have all of these babies born in the same season!

As an added highlight to this year's Mother's Day weekend, we are also celebrating the 90th birthday of my grandmother Bessie Louise (Pace) Daniels. She was born in Magoffin County Kentucky to Albert and Fannie (Connelly) Pace. Not only did she raise four of her own children, but in 1988 she (along with Grandpa Charles) was named Foster Parent of the year in the state of Ohio. Over the years she cared for over 60 foster babies.....and I mean babies - some newborn to a few months old! She's still going strong these days....going to church, shopping, and family functions.....and still playing mother to her Shih-Tzu - Sarah Jane.....you go Grandma!

Of course I mustn't forget my own Momma, Pamela (Watts).....the dearest, bestest and most loving Mother a kid could have! And believe me, my brother and I gave her fits while growing up! She too is still mothering us all the time while being very active in her church and tending to her half acre perennial garden. Being the daughter of farmers means she loves this time of year that allows her to be in the garden getting those fingers dirty!

So Happy Mother's Day to all those special mothers out there - those dear mothers of the past, or the dear ones of the present......we couldn't have done it without you!

C

5/9/2010