Flashback Friday #10: Great Grandparents

 
Stella and Frank Storm were my mother's paternal grandparents. I don't have a record of where they were born but I do know that Frank Storm was the son of William Storm who came to Escondido, California from Tennessee via Texas. My mother told me that they had come to California in a covered wagon, but it doesn't seem likely that they would have traveled together before they were married.
 

 

 
Frank and Stella were married in Escondido on February 25, 1890. I believe these portraits would have been done about that time.
 
Three sons were born to Stella while in Escondido: Philip Bettens, my grandfather, July 9, 1892; Charles Leonard, December 5, 1894 and Clayton Dufour, July 14, 1896. Charles Leonard died February 10, 1895 and Clayton Dufour died March 29, 1900. Both babies were buried in Oak Hill Cemetery in Escondido. These dates and the three children in the photo don't seem to line up - Leonard died before Clayton was born, so I'm not sure who the infant would be. The note on the back of the photo simply says, "2 brothers of Philip did not survive childhood."
 

 
At some point the family moved to Hollywood, California to Las Palmas Street. That would be my great grandmother on the right but I don't know who is with her. The curbs and sidewalk would seem to indicate that their house was on a city lot.
 


This last picture is of Stella and Frank in 1930 when they would have been married 40 years and would probably have been in their sixties. Once again, I wish I had more details of their life.

Flashback Friday #9: My Great-Great-Grandfather

 
My Grandfather, Philip Bettens Storm, my Mother's father, was born in Escondido, California, July 9, 1892.
 
His Father, my Great-Grandfather, was Frank R. Storm.
 
His Grandfather, my Great-Great Grandfather, was William H. Storm.
 
William H. Storm was born in Jefferson County, Tennessee, February 12, 1818. He married Martha W. Thomas and together they had seven children, only three of whom survived.
 
My Great-Great Grandfather was a surveyor before moving from Tennessee to Lampasses County, Texas, where he served as a district judge. In 1869 he moved to Escondido, California.
 

 
While he lived in Texas, he naturally paid taxes on such items that would be required by law. I wish I had been more successful in scanning this page but it's old, tattered and faded. It is a single page document recording payment on December 20, 1866 to United States Internal Revenue for the following:
 
1 Carriage, valuation over $50 and not over $100: Tax $1.00
 
and
 
1 Gold Watch, kept for use, valuation not over $100: Tax $1.00
 
Total tax paid: $2.00
 
Now, had he owned a pianoforte, gold or silver plate, billiard tables or yachts, they also would have been taxable.
 
Billiard tables...now that's where the government made its money...they were taxed at $10 each!
 

Flashback Friday #8: The Powers Girls

 
I never knew my Mother's mother, Helen Powers Storm, as she died before I was born. But I did meet her sister, Grace Powers, my great aunt.
 
This is portrait of my Grandmother and her sister taken in June 1914. Grace,on the left, was born on September 19, 1897 and would have been 17 years old in a few months. Helen, on the right, was born on January 28, 1893 and would have been 21 years old in this picture.
 

 
There is no date on this second photo of my Grandmother but judging by the off-the-shoulder dress, I'm guessing she was a little older than in the first photo.
 

 
I was in high school the last time I saw my Great Aunt Grace. I wish now that I had asked her to tell me more about her life growing up in the early 20th century. If you have some "older" relatives, now is the time to ask them about their lives. There is so much to learn from them but you must take the step now to record their memories for future generations. Don't wait!
 

Flashback Friday #5: Postcards

My grandfather and his brother traveled extensively during the first World War and into the following decades, filming newsreels, what we know today as documentary films and eventually motion pictures.
 
As my grandfather traveled, he wrote postcards to his sons back in the US. The year, I think, is 1931 or 32 (the ink is smudged). This card was sent from Delhi, India.
 

 

 
It reads:
 

Dear Boys
 
Have been here a week and will soon be leaving for a month on the northern frontier in Khyber Pass and at Peshewar.
 
Love, Dad

 
The second card (December 17, 1932) from Alexandria, Egypt seems to be following up on a promise to find the boys some swords.
 

Having a good trip. Haven't found any swords yet but still have hope.
 
Love, Dad

 

 

 
I try to imagine the man, husband and father that my grandfather was. All I have are these postcards and a few photographs. My father never spoke about his father and what I heard from my mother does not conform to the image conjured up by these few written communications. My mother told me that my grandfather had deserted his family when my father and his brother were quite young. Now whether he deserted them in the sense of "abandonment" or in the sense that he was away on another adventure in foreign lands, that I don't know and I have no one to ask.
 
So along with these quite romantic postcards of exotic places I have also uncovered many more questions about my father's family history that I will never be able to answer. Yet I keep sorting through papers and photos, hoping that some bit of information will surface and I will know them all a little better.