Let the Scanning begin!

Welcome back to the
  Family Trails
blog.  We begin the 3rd installment of what might be nick-named,
Weaver Wednesdays,
as the goal of your faithful family blogger is to have a new post for you each Wednesday morning when you turn on your computer.


Let's begin this morning with some very special portraits of Nancy Antoinette Haynes and Charles Sisson Weaver and their 10 children.

Such a precious picture taken outside by the porch of the 305 Oak Street home place! What a good-looking family! The costume designers from Downton Abbey must have consulted our Weaver archives for their inspiration.

But, my fellow Family Trails followers, how did these pictures get on our blog? 

Let me show you how this all got started. It was not a "trail" at all, but a journey through newspapers, photos, records, and all that I listed in the first blog post. Yes, I had accepted the challenge of preserving and organizing my great grandfather's scrapbooks, but I also have just as much of this type of…shall we call it "stuff" in my own stash that needed attention. So follow along as I show you some of the progress…..

Here is one of the many C.S. Weaver scrapbooks...

Sorting through my collection

Making notebooks to gather my thoughts on how all of this should be organized.


This is such a nice picture of 6 of the Weaver children: Kiser, Tenison, Lora, Nina, Lallie, and Ivera.

 First I tried a huge file tote. This was a good way to begin, but the  file tote was not up for this big job!

 File boxes are nice, especially when they are a "Get-To-It" gift from sister, Rebecca, to encourage me  in such an undertaking!              

Notebooks! Ahh! I think I have found a good way to work through the next stage: File first,  then slip each treasure into a plastic page protector, and snap into the appropriate family book. But, my goodness! This family needs about 4 or 5 of its own books. The C.S.Weaver scrapbook collection will fill at least 2 notebooks. 

There is also another good reason for why I am making these books: I do not think my children will accidentally throw them away, but a file folder……? Yes, easy to throw away! 

  

Recognize the familiar Weaver handwriting? I have lots of hand-written notes from each Weaver sister, and all 5 of them had a similar handwriting. This particular page is in my grandmother's hand.

 Work! Work! Work! Sure, it is taking time to do this. I just sort and file for an hour or so whenever I have a little free time. Like I said in an earlier blog, this is a work in progress.

 Here is a tip… when photographing a tombstone, don't stand between it and the sun!

Hooray! The scanner has arrived! This little thing is going to transform this entire process, and best of all, allows me to share what I find with you. So with a few lessons from my digital master, daughter Rebecca, we are on our way! 

 So, Weavers, stay tuned! Log on each Wednesday as we explore… EVERYTHING! There is so much! But here is a hint about next week's post…..

Isn't it almost hunting season?

The Scrapbook

Welcome to our family blog, "Family Trails." 

What?? WE have a family blog??? Well, yes, in a way... it's a start at a family blog.. a place where we can connect and share family history and stories. 

I am new at all of this, and to be quite honest, not sure how I feel about all this lack of privacy that comes with the internet. So as a first note, let me say that for now, I am just using first names of the living family members.  As  we all get accustomed to "blogging", then I may be more specific. But for now...

 Hi, it's Mariellan!

Several years ago, Lucretia sent out an email asking for a family "volunteer" to accept responsibility for a box of scrapbooks she had. As some of you may remember, the box contained some scrapbooks of Charles Sisson Weaver, my great-grandfather and some items of interest from Uncle Rat. (What? We have an Uncle Rat? Yes, more on this later!) Lucretia thought that these should be placed in the Weaver Family Library at The First Baptist Church in Talladega, AL.  So I thought I would be that volunteer! Little did I know the journey that this box of memories would take me on! 

Poor little box! It sat in the hall closet floor for a few years. I would open the closet to find a tote bag or get the vacuum, and there would be the box. Maybe that is why I never wanted to vacuum because I was always reminded that I had one big family project ahead of me! 

So let's fast-forward to the year 2007. Our daughter, Rebecca, had gotten married that July, so when in October, Alice and Bob invited me to come see them in Blowing Rock, NC, I accepted, having all this "free time!" My sister, Rebecca, and our parents, Nancy and Tommy, were also going. 

Rebecca and I rode together, and we packed the scrapbooks in our car. What better time to try to make sense of all this family memorabilia than with four of our family's awesome historians and story-tellers, Mama, Daddy, Bob, and Alice as our captives in a mountain cabin! After sneezing our way into Knoxville-4 hours later, we realized just what we had in store for us during our mountain escape. 

After a few nights of good food and cozy fires, most of the pictures were identified and lots of stories were told to Rebecca and me, surprisingly, for the first time. Rebecca and I stacked and labeled most of this and then immediately tied it into big plastic bags-no, not to throw away! Remember, we ARE Weavers (and DeWines! We don't throw away!) We tied things up so we could ride home without the sneezing and coughing from the dust-filled scrapbooks. 

Fast-forward again...this past Spring 2014, sister Rebecca and I began disassembling the books and sorting all the items. It was obvious while in Blowing Rock that these family treasures could not go into the Weaver library in the condition they were in. Nor should we let them get away from us, just yet. So we sat outside and had a great time tackling this treasure.

No, this had to stay with family! We had unlocked a family treasure chest! We were pirates of a different kind! What would we do with all of these jewels? What did we find? 

Postcards, greeting cards, hand-written letters, newspaper articles, church pledge cards and Sunday bulletins, wedding announcements, obituaries, photographs, telegrams......oh, I could go on. But then, we would have no reason for our family blog. 

  

Every week, I will post something new-or most likely, old! on the blog. It may be something we have all heard a hundred times, or it may be something new, or from a different perspective. Mainly though, I want all of you to have an opportunity to dig into this with me. Daughter, Rebecca, is my mentor, directing me in all things digital, as she is great at this! I'll be learning to scan and post, and soon you all will be reading and enjoying Pace/Haynes/Weaver news. Sister, Rebecca, is my helper in all things to do with family history. And all of you can help by spreading the word to your family about how to follow this blog.  Please feel free to correct me if I have something wrong.  

So, The Family Trail is calling us ...let's get started.

Love, Mariellan