USS Talladega

USS Talladega

Dear Family Trails readers, 

This week marks the 70th anniversary of the infamous flag raising on Iwo Jima by the US Marines.
The photograph and the memorial of the flag being raised on the fifth day of the battle of Iwo Jima is very inspiring to Americans. This event also has a very special significance to our family's "hometown," Talladega.

The USS Talladega was one of the US ships that sailed into Japanese waters during World War II to help put an end to the war in the Pacific. Of the men that landed on the beaches of Iwo Jima, four of the five men photographed in the flag-raising had been aboard the USS Talladega.

To commemorate the ship and its crew, the city of Talladega, Alabama erected a monument on its courthouse square in 2009. The surviving crew members were invited to attend the unveiling of this monument. Our cousin, Robert Weaver, designed the monument and oversaw its completion. The monument has a relief design of the ship and of the famous photograph, its seven battle stars, a description of its service in three of America's wars, and a list of the men from the Talladega in the photograph.

A tree was also planted to the left of the memorial in honor of the crew of the USS Talladega. It was given the nickname of the ship, The "Tremblin' T."

This is a beautiful monument to the heroes who gave their all to our country. If you are traveling between Birmingham and Atlanta, this will be worth a stop to see in the city of Talladega. You will be so proud to see the work and the research that went into the monument, but most of all, you will be filled with pride and gratitude for our country's armed servicemen and women .

GOD BLESS AMERICA!

Baby, It's Cold Outside!

It is so cold outside! For us folks in Alabama, it is so rare to have days that never reach above freezing.  We just do not deal with it well, both physically and mentally! We still grab the wind-breaker jacket or a comfy scarf, thinking those will be enough protection and head outdoors. We just don't get it….actually, we don't want to! 

So why am I ranting on about the cold weather? Since it is too cold this morning to get out, I decided to do some work on our family blog. In doing so, I reread some your sweet emails and comments to make sure I am staying on task. It is great that some of you catch mistakes or misspellings or facts that I have missed. I think in my enthusiasm in writing, I do not catch my own mistakes. I need an editor! So let me correct a big one….In the blog description at the top of the blog, I actually used a wrong name! So now the blog description will read correctly that this is a blog about the family and descendants of Nancy Antoinette Haynes and Charles Sisson Weaver. Of course we can dig into what we know about Lucretia Pace Haynes, but her name should not have been listed next to Charles Sisson's. That was confusing. Lucretia Pace Haynes was C.S Weaver's mother-inlaw. 

Charles Sisson Weaver

Nancy Antoinette Haynes Weaver 

So now you know why there is a bonus blog post this week! Thanks to these sub-freezing temperatures and icy rain, we could just call this your "Freezing Friday" update! 

Oh, daffodils, where are you? 

These photos of cemetery markers are taken at Oak Hill Cemetery, Talladega, Alabama

A Stroll Through Talladega

Let's take a stroll around town in  Talladega, Alabama.  Talladega has been our Weaver family's "hometown" for many generations, and for those of us who did not grow up in Talladega, it was our home away from home. 

The site of the Weaver-Ragsdale Store

Heritage Hall Museum
Built in 1909 as the Jemison-Carnegie Public Library

I thought this was an interesting view from the back of the town square. 

The architecture around town is worth a closer look.

It is nice to know that the community has these commemorative signs to help others know who helped establish the businesses on the square.

One of the entrances to Weaver-Ragsdale

The cafe next door to Wood-Weaver Shoe Store

Another view of the cafe  and  Wood-Weaver Shoe Store next door (red awning)

Below, enjoy a stroll around the town square...

The Train Station

The train stain is now the Chamber of Commerce.

The ticket window at Talladega Stadium

The old site of Talladega High School, now serving as a middle school

Graham School

Isn't this nice to see … these signs are all around the areas where our Weaver home places are located.

I hope you enjoyed this stroll through Talladega. We will revisit some of these sites on our Family Trails. Of course there are many other sites in Talladega, but this stroll was a nice beginning.  

Family Trails' First Guest Book-Reviewer

This is an exciting week for me as your writer of our Family Trails. I am pleased to announce that our family blog has a guest writer…. our own cousin, Alice.

Alice will tell of her connection with Connie Lapallo, the author of the two books pictured here in this post.  Take note as you read Alice's description of the books that in talking with Connie for the first time, Alice actually inspired Connie as she wrote the second book, When the Moon Has No More Silver.

In Alice's own words….

"Most of you have heard me talk about the well written and researched books, so I will try to be brief in this review. I would suggest you check out Connie's web site at Connie Lapallo.com. It tells how she became interested in telling the story of the women and children. You may be surprised by her educational background.

Bob and I first met Connie and her daughter, Sarah, in 2007 at Henricus Historical Park not far from Jamestown. I noticed her sitting at a table signing books while we stood in line waiting for a shuttle bus to take us back to our car. Getting out of line I made my way over to see what book she was signing. Interest mounted when I saw the title, Dark Enough to See the Stars in a Jamestown Sky, that was based on the true story about the women and children at Jamestown. We started a conversation and of course, I mentioned our Pace connection. Her connection with the early settlers was Joan Peirce (correct spelling in the 1600's) who came in 1609, Connie's 13th great-grandmother. 

Since not much if anything is written in history books about the women and children of those early days, this was one reason these books were written. Their story needed to be told. It took eight years of research and hard work to complete book one and five more years to issue the second. Connie's aim was, as mentioned in the author's notes, "...that information be historical and genealogically accurate. I have not played fast and loose with the facts."

I emailed Connie, after reading the second book, to tell her how much it was enjoyed and hoped for more to come. While reading, I felt the characters were saying, "Listen to our stories. You need to know what it cost us to establish a colony in the New World." 

It was especially exciting to see the name of Isabella Pace mentioned several times. Connie wrote me back to say that as she wrote about Isabella, she remembered our conversation in line at Henricus.

We were happy to see Connie and her daughter, Sarah-who designed the cover/painting and content design- again last June at the Pace Society Reunion, and we introduced them to our family there. 

Now we look forward to the third book, The Sun is But a Morning Star (1620-1649) and the fourth book, In Search of Sir Thomas Gates: A Biography.

If interested in ordering books, go on line to her website, and she will be glad to sign them. 

Good reading!

Alice

Replica of the Godspeed in New York 2006

***Note about Henricus Historical Park: Alice and Bob were there to see the replica of the ship, HMS Godspeed, anchored in the James River. HMS Godspeed was one of the three ships (along with HMS Susan Constant-or Sarah Constant- and HMS Discoverie-orDiscovery) on the voyage to the New World for the English Virginia Company of London. The journey resulted in the founding of Jamestown in the new Colony of Virginia.