Digging Up Your Family

Fly-Kill 1923

I found this advertisement from July 15, 1923 in a news magazine titled Southern Ruralist. What I read on Wikipedia is that Southern Ruralist magazine was sold in 1932 to The Progressive Farmer.

I tried to find some information on Fly-Kill, but I wasn’t able to come up with anything for the product of the “laboratory” that produced it.

I also always love when advertisements say something like “through the discovery of a widely known scientist”, but don’t mention the name of this known scientist.

KILLS FLIES LIKE MAGIC

Wonderful New Chemical Discovered That Is Fatal To Flies – NOT A POISON – Harmless To Stock

Flies are dangerous and annoying pests that cost the farmer a great deal of profit every year. Now, through the discovery of a widely known scientist, you can easily and quickly rid the house, barns and livestock of these pests. This discovery is in the form of a remarkable synthetic chemical which is fatal to flies of all kinds and similar insects such as chiggers, mosquitos and moths.

This new discovery, which is called FLY-KILL, is not a poison. Though flies and insect pests seem to die off like magic, neither human beings or stock are affected by it at all. FLY-KILL is also a strong repellent – flies will not come near livestock or buildings where it has been used. FLY-KILL is very valuable for cows and horses as flies do great harm to these animals and thus take profit from the farmer.

So confident is the distributing laboratories that FLY-KILL will end the fly menace and nuisance in your house, barns, and on live stock that they offer to send a full $3.00 supply of FLY-KILL for only $1.25 on the guarantee that if your fly troubles are not ended it costs nothing. This offer is fully guaranteed and is made for a limited time to introduce FLY-KILL to a million new users.

SEND NO MONEY – just your name and address to the Fly-Kill Laboratories, …, St. Louis, Mo., and this offer will be mailed at once.

So, I wonder what Fly-Kill was, if not a poison?

Doctor Virgil Henry Lake

I haven’t posted an advertisement in a while, so I decided to do one now!

I found this advertisement for Dr. VH Lake in the Sunday, October 1, 1939 issue of The Atlanta Journal. I never heard of going to a chiropractor for hay fever before!

Dr. Virgil Henry Lake was born December 26, 1896 in Illinois to parents William Daniel Lake and Mary Elizabeth Parks. He married Marie Rose Woody and had at least three children: Lily, Grady and Palmer. In 1920 the family was still living in Illinois, though by 1930 they were living in Dublin, Laurens County, Georgia and then in Atlanta by 1935 (according to the 1940 census) in the Noble Park area of (technically, I suppose) DeKalb County. Dr. Lake passed away on November 5, 1947 in Atlanta. His office in the advertisement below is now part of the Druid Hills Presbyterian Church (either the child development center or the parking lot).

Chiropractic for Hay Fever

WHY SUFFER LONGER?

hay fever is also known as “rose cold,” hay asthma” and “autumnal catarrh.” Hay fever in its most pronounced form generally makes its appearance in late summer. Why let this disorder sap your energy when a chiropractic adjustment wills tart you on the road to relief?

16 Years Rendering Health to Thousands in Georgia.

DR. V. H. LAKE

Chiropractic Clinic

1012 PONCE DE LEON AVE. VE. 3523 DR. V. H. LAKE

Timothy Demonbreun Mentioned

A ton of research has been done on my 5th great-grandfather Jacques Timothée Boucher, Sieur de Montbrun (aka Timothy DeMonbreun). I won’t go into everything about him right now because there is so much. However, I was just kind of searching around and I happened to find an article that mentions him. The article, titled Big John’s Wife, was found in The Atlanta Constitution, December 13, 1896, page 11.

“In the year 1777 Captain DeMumbrane (Demonbreun), a Frenchman, who commenced hunting in the country as early as 1775, met with a company of six men and one woman at a place called Deacon’s Pond, not far from where Palmyra is now situated. The company informed him that a man by the name of William Bowen who had come out with them had been run over and trampled down by a herd of buffaloes and had lain in the woods eight days before he was found and died in consequence of the wounds he received the day after he was found. John Duncan, whom the company called Big John, had brought the woman along as his wife, but she had become tired of him and took up with James Ferguson, another of the company. Duncan was taken sick and the woman persuaded the company to leave him, and Duncan died. Captain DeMumbrane saw the corpse. This was no doubt the first white woman that ever visited the country now denominated middle Tennessee. This company, woman and all, having taken water, sailed onto the Mississippi, halted there for a time and hunted, but they were finally all killed by the Indians in 1779, except one or two; whether the woman escaped or not is not known, nor is it very material. If she lived it was only to disgrace her sex, and if she died society sustained no loss.”

D.G. CHARLES, C.E.

The final sentence is pretty cruel.

I bet you the woman hooked up with Timothy.

Minnie Virginia Richards and Minnie DeMumbrie

The same distant cousin that found this photo sent this photo of Minnie Virginia Richards (my great-grandmother) and her mother Minnie DeMumbrie (my great-great-grandmother). I love this so much!

The Death Of Peter McQueen (or Newspapers Are Fun!)

Out of everything that I have written about Peter McQueen I failed to ever write about the aftermath of his death, with the exception of a brief mention in a previous post (or two).

The other day my mom found an article about Peter McQueen at Chronicling America. She knew it was the correct McQueen because we already had some information about his death and one of the court case surrounding his will. From the Daily Union and American (Nashville, Tennessee), May 6, 1866:

“J. P. P.,” the correspondent of the Memphis Argus, gives an interesting account of the McQueen will case, recently decided at Holly Springs against the validity of the will, on the ground of unsoundness of mind. The testator bequeathed his estate to a niece and her four daughters, disinheriting his own daughters because they joined the Methodist church. It was testified that he declared he had heard, at his farm in Marshall county, the guns of Forts Moultrie, Sumter and Pensacola; that one of his negroes ran away before the war, and returning, was received into favor on the express condition that he should be hanged if ever he ran away again, and having run away again during the war, the madman, on recapturing, actually hanged him. The last act of his life was the killing of a peaceable man in Choctaw county, on a fancied provocation. The neighbors took arms, hunted him like a wild beast, and overtaking him in Calhoun county, shot him down in the road.

This makes me shake my head. What a jerk.

Anyway, a few things about the article: Peter’s niece Mary Ann actually had three daughters and a son. The “will case” referred to is actually the first court hearing regarding Peter’s will. I still need to see if I could get a copy of his will and/or this court case (I’m hopeful I can since the courthouse was burned down in 1864, a year before Peter died, and I haven’t found anything about any “new” courthouses being destroyed). Also, according to the Supreme Court transcripts Peter died in Choctaw County, Mississippi. Now we know it was Calhoun County, Mississippi. Now, if only we knew where he was buried!

What I do have is fifteen pages (291-328) from Mississippi Reports concerning the October Term, 1866 of the Mississippi Supreme Court where Peter’s niece apparently wasn’t pleased with the outcome of the lower county court, so she appealed to the state Supreme Court to overturn the decision. I am working on a post for these papers, because this is when it starts to get really interesting!

Elaine Wallace Smith

It’s been a year exactly since my mother-in-law Jessie Elaine Wallace passed away. I still remember the months before, the day, and the months following.

From my husband Brett:

One year ago today, the world lost a remarkable person. Elaine Wallace Smith may have lost her long battle with cancer, but she won at so many other things in life. Things that really mattered. Family. Friends. Dignity. Grace. A thirst for adventure and a desire to see what all this world has to offer. A great sense of humor and love of life. There is not a day that goes by that she is not thought about and truly missed.

I miss you and I love you Mom. Always.

Elaine Wallace Smith’s Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars

This week I am posting Christmas recipes from my family. Enjoy!

My husband writes:

When I was a young, I loved Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. OK… to be honest, I still love them. Anyway, when my mother first tried this recipe out in the late 80’s- my mind was blown. It was like I had an entire pan full of Reese’s cups to myself! While I don’t know if these are actually “Christmas Treats”, my mother made sure that there was a pile of these in a silver tray on top of the Buffet in the dining room when the family sat down to dinner on Christmas Eve.

note: I didn’t have the exact recipe in front of me, so I had to use several I found online and tweak the recipe to work.

Ingredients:

1 cup graham crackers crumbs (fine)

1 cup Nilla wafer crumbs (fine)

1 3/4 cups powdered sugar

1 cup melted butter

2 cups + 1 tablespoon creamy peanut butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 3/4 cups chocolate chips

Directions:

Mix graham cracker and Nilla wafer crumbs, powdered sugar, 1 1/4 cups of the peanut butter, vanilla and melted butter in a bowl until well combined. Spread in an 8×8 glass dish. Chill. Place the rest of the peanut butter and the chocolate chips in a medium saucepan over medium heat, melting chips and and peanut butter together while stirring constantly. Once smooth immediately pour over the top of the peanut butter/graham mix and smooth out with a spatula. Chill well before cutting into squares.

Minnie Virginia Richards’ Oyster Dressing

This week I am posting Christmas recipes from my family. Enjoy!

My mother says:

Grandmother's holiday tables were full of delicious goodies. She would have a pan of cornbread dressing, which was really yummy. There was one more dressing on the table, too . . . oyster dressing. That was also quite tasty, especially with giblet gravy. Well, I put giblet gravy over just about everything on my plate, though. So, I say, "Grandmother, you sure could cook but most importantly you knew how to spread love."

Ingredients:

12 ounce loaf of French bread, cubed and very dry (dry in oven at very low heat)

8 ounce can of whole oysters, reserve liquid and chop well (fresh oysters can be used, just make sure to reserve the liquid)

1 cup of chopped celery

1 onion, chopped

2 teaspoons butter

1 1/2 tablespoons of bacon grease (drippings)

1 1/2 cups chicken broth

2 teaspoons of poultry seasoning

Directions:

Place bread cubes in bowl. In a saucepan heat the chicken broth, the oyster liquid and a teaspoon of butter until hot. Pour over the bread cubes and mix well to ensure all bread cubes get wet. Melt the other teaspoon of butter and the bacon grease on medium in a skillet and sauté celery and onions until soft. Sprinkle poultry seasoning on bread mix, add the onions and celery (with the grease) and the oysters. Mix well. Pour into glass baking dish (8×11.5). Bake at 350 until top is browned.

This is VERY good with giblet gravy! YUM!

Minnie Virginia says she hopes you enjoyed her Christmas recipes, but now she’s done cooking and she’s going to relax!

Minnie Virginia Richards’ Lemon Nut Cake

This week I am posting Christmas recipes from my family. Enjoy!

My mother writes:

Lemon nut cake is the traditional family Christmas goody from my grandmother, but I don't know how far back this recipe may go in the family. Grandmother would beat the batter by hand with no mechanical tools. The aroma as this cake bakes alone brings back more great memories of my grandmother's kitchen, holiday table, and love.

Ingredients:

2 cups sugar

1 pound butter

4 cups sifted flour

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons baking powder

6 eggs

1 pound broken pecans

1 pound white raisins (golden raisins)

2 ounce bottle lemon extract

Directions:

Cream sugar and butter until light. Add eggs and mix well. Sift dry ingredients and add to first mixture a little at a time with the lemon extract. Have nuts and raisins floured and add to cake batter. Bake at 350 degrees in tube or Bundt pan until inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Edna Earl Collings’ Gumdrop Cookies

This week I will post Christmas recipes from my family. Enjoy!

This recipe comes from the adoptive mother of my birth father. It’s a cookie I think of when I think of Christmas!

Edna Earl Collings’ Gumdrop Cookies

Ingredients:

30 fruit sliced (jelly) candy, chopped (not spiced drops)

1 cup chopped pecans

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 cup Crisco (butter flavored)

1 1/2 cup brown sugar (dark is best)

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 eggs

Directions:

Place flour, baking soda and salt in mixer and mix on slow. Add brown sugar and continue mixing. Add Crisco, vanilla extract and then eggs.

With wood spoon mix in candies and pecans.

Drop a tablespoon an inch apart on silicon or greased cookie sheet and bake at 375 for about 14 minutes, or until edges start to brown.

They are so yummy. I can’t even explain how much I love them!

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