My Parent's Lives in Pictures

More of the Pearson Side

2010-11-28T21:26:00.009-06:00

I think the first three pictures are already on the "My Life In Pictures" blog in one form or an other. It won't hurt to repeat them as this posting also has the option to get the picture in its Big Original Size. Just click on the photos and a new window will open with the larger version.

Dad worked for Continental Oil in Houston in the 1920's

The horse that Dad is riding is probably Uncle Earle's horse. The horse lived at out place for a while.

My parents in an out of focus picture from their Honeymoon Trip to Arkansas. This is at Mom's Oldest Brother Ed and his wife Bert's home.

Last is a picture I have no information on. Do not know who the boy is or where the picture is taken. Might be in Arkansas. Would like to know about this picture.

The Pearson Side of the Family

2010-11-26T04:02:00.005-06:00

I was contacted by one of my cousins about information on our common family tree. My Grandmother was Ola Martin Pearson. My Cousin, Melba McNeely Stewart was the daughter of Catherine Pearson McNeely. Catherine was the daughter of Lelia Ethel Martin Pearson. Ethel was my Grandmother's sister. Both married Pearsons, but not directly related Pearsons.

Melba sent me a link to pictures she had placed on Ancestry.com. In the pictures was a picture of Twins that looked a familiar to me. I had pictures of myself when I was six, taken with a pair of twins. I do not remember the picture being taken or who the people in the picture were. My Mother was good about labeling pictures, but all I knew was the adults were Uncle Henry and Aunt Ethel and they were "Pearson Relatives". The twins were just "The Twins". Catherine was also labeled by her first name only.

So I have had these pictures and not known who they were.

Upon examination of the pictures, with this new information, I recognize my Grandmother in one of the Pictures. In the Picture above are Melvin and Melba McNeely.

The Picture below is of Me and the twins. (If you click on these pictures you can view the larger original pictures)

Below are Lelia Ethel Martin Pearson and Henry Clay Pearson at their home in Bryan, Texas.

Catherine is the woman hugging her son Melvin. I am not sure who the other people in the picture are that have not yet been named.

In the corner of the porch is Ola Martin Pearson, my Grandmother and Ethel's Sister.

Last is a group picture.

The Border

2010-08-19T21:24:00.004-05:00

A lot of whoop-te-do about the border with Mexico these days. Well lets flash back to the 1910's when Pancho Villa raided across the border. Below is a picture of my Uncle and Cousin, members of the Texas National Guard as they Bivouacked in South Texas near Mercedes, waiting for President Wilson to send them in to Mexico as needed.

The back of the picture say it is 1914 or 1915. Doug Kitchel is on the ground and Bruce Wilson is holding him down, kind of. Doug's leg, is unbent due to accident with a horse that caused him not to be able to bend his knee.

Next we see Bruce at the Chickamauga Battleground. Bruce's Grandfather Kitchel had been a member of the 2nd Minnesota Brigade at the Battle of Chickamauga. The Brigade was one the first to reach Missionary Ridge.

Rehm Family Pictures

2010-07-02T10:39:00.005-05:00

I received a few pictures from my Cousin Marilyn.

The three Rehm boys are Albert Joseph, Jr., John Henry, and Roderick Walter (not necessarily in that order in the picture).

The people I know, in addition to the boys are, in the far back row from left to right is an unidentified man, my mom Salome Wilson Pearson, John Pearson, Jean Hurt Thomas, and Barney "Goog" Thomas. In front of them is Albert Jr., Zilpha Wilson Hurt, and unidentified lady, Gin Platzer (I think), and Bertha Kitchel Wilson. In front, kneeling, an Unidentified lady, Roderick "Roddy" Walter, John Henry Rehm, and Hazel Hurt Rehm.

I am not sure about Aunt Gin.

I am really at a loss about this picture. I know only five of the seventeen people. In the front row is my mother, Salome, her father Roderick, her sister, Zilpha, and her mother Bertha.

This is my mother around nine or ten. This picture looks less like her than any I have seen.

Mom in her late teens? Jean with her?

Here is a picture I had of Hazel and Mom.

Here is a close up cut out of the picture above.

Here is Mom at Aunt Jean's house with a cousin, Bea Kitchel, from Fayetteville, Arkansas, I think.

Next to the last is Mom at the Alvin Nursing Home with visitors Hazel, I think maybe Minneford, and Bea.

Last is a picture that I am without any knowledge. It is a very nice picture though.

If anyone provide names for the unknown people, or correct my identifications, please email me at lylifespics(at)yahoo.com.

2010-06-07T22:24:00.007-05:00

Mom lived with several relatives between the time she graduated from school and the time she got married. She lived with Aunt Loretta. She was married to Charles H. Wilson. Like most mothers of her time she lost one child, Charles Bruce. She had four other sons. Harold F., Donald J., William K., and Charles H.

I visited Aunt Loretta in Houston with my parents several times. Below is my mother at Aunt Loretta's house.

Mom with Don, one of Aunt Loretta's boys.

Another picture of Mom and Dad while "courting". Should have been in one of the posts below.

Mom and Dad took care of mother's parents. I think this is mom and dad's house in Almeda, Texas. This is the picture as taken and below is a "close up".

Mr. DeMille, I am ready...

Below is a picture of Mom's older sister Zilpha. With Zilpha are her daughters Jean and Hazel. Jean married Barney Thomas and had two son's, Gary and Thomas(Tommy). Hazel married John Hurt and had five children, Albert, John, Roddy, and twin girls Marilyn and Geraldine. Shown are the three boys. Marilyn and Geraldine were born after this picture.

Another close up.

The Paternal Side

2010-06-04T06:44:00.006-05:00

My last name is Pearson. I know more about my Mother's side of the family, she was a story teller, but I know a bit about my Father's side of the family from just being there.

My Father, John A Pearson was born on May 5, 2004 on a Cherokee Indian Reservation in Talala, Oklahoma. He was listed on the Tribal Roll. He grew up there and after graduating from public school, he worked in the Oklahoma oil fields. His father was James Wallace Pearson who was born in 1874 in Illinois.

Tired of the Oil Fields, he and his older brother, George, went to New Orleans to catch a steamer and see the world. Once in New Orleans they found that it was not that easy to get on a ship. George talked to people that said the place to be was Houston, Texas. They moved there. From there I do not know a lot about what he did and I do not know the years he made these moved in his life.

I do know that Dad got married in 1930, when he was 26. I am pretty sure he graduated in 1923. In the 1930's census He and Uncle George were rooming together in Houston. Dad was soon to be married.

Happy Aniversary Mom and Dad

2010-06-03T09:19:00.005-05:00

Today is the anniversary of my parents wedding. They were married June 3, 1930. They remained married until my father's death in 1965. My mother never remarried. She had many offers of marriage but she always said that she was still married to John A Pearson.

The Wedding Picture.

Off to their Honeymoon.

Alta Loma, Texas

2010-06-02T08:23:00.004-05:00

The back of the picture below says, "Sally and John's courting days and Hazel in front of Hurt house." The first three of these pictures are taken at the Hurt house in Alta Loma. Alta Loma has since been incorporated with several other small towns and is called Santa Fe. There is more information on this house in Settlements on the Prairie by Jean Hurt Thomas.

This is my dad, John A Pearson and Hazel Hurt, my mother's neice.

Below is my mother, Jennie Salome Wilson, and her niece Hazel Hurt.

The inscription on the back of this picture reads, "Lara Chesser and Bertha Wilson wearing costumes worn at a masquerade and dance." These folks were Baptists and it is the 1930's so I doubt this is a dance in the sense we would think today.

This last picture is of Nana, my grandmother, Bertha Kitchel Wilson, and her Son Bruce's Kids. They are Bruce Jr. and Betty Gayle. I think this is taken in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

Hurt or Holt

2010-06-01T09:36:00.008-05:00

My mother's sister Zilpha married John Henry Hurt. My memory had transformed the Hurts into Holts and I was not sure why. It turns out that Minneford Kitchel the daughter of Charles Kitchel married Richard Lee Holt. Charles Kitchel had moved to Fayetteville, Arkansas and the Holt Branch of the Kitchel Family Tree grew there.

The Hurt Branch of the Kitchel Family tree stayed in Alta Loma.

The picture above is of Minneford Frances Kitchel. Below is her family. She and Lee Holt are almost hidden in the back.

Richard Lee Holt and Minneford Frances Kitchel were married on August the 17th in Fayetteville, Arkansas. They had 10 children, Richard Lee Jr., Wiley Bruce "Joe" , Evelyn Sue , Charles Wesley, Bertha Faye, Edgar Wayne, Mary Edna, Melvin Ernest, Donald Earl, and Anna Lou.

Evelyn Sue was born on September 6, 1935 and died March 29, 1943. She died from "a fall from the porch swing at Grandpa Kitchel's houe on 3rd Street. She was 8-years-old. Bertha Faye was born premature on December 5, 1939 and died two days later.

Seated in the middle of the couch is Minnie Kitchel, Minneford's mother.

The photo above is taken in Fayetteville, Arkansas. After graduating from School in Alta Loma, my mother lived in Fayetteville for a while. In this picture is (from right to left) Jennie Salome Wilson, Martha Manning, Minneford Kitchel (behind), Ethel Mullenix, and Eva Mullenix.

This is in Arkansas. In Back left to right is Bertha Kitchel Wilson, Roderick D. Wilson, Zipha Inez Wilson Hurt, and Edward Wilson. In front is Jennie Salome Wilson, Jean Hurt, and Hazel Hurt.

This last picture is taken in Claremore, Oklahoma. This picture introduces the Pearson Family. My paternal Grandmother is on the left, then Zilpha Hurt, and my mother Sally Pearson (Jennine Salome Wilson Pearson). I believe that the building in back is the Will Rogers Museum. I am not sure about the woman in the middle being Zilpha, but that is what my mother wrote on the back of the picture. So I will leave it like that until I can be sure it is not so.

Jennie Salome Wilson Pearson

2010-05-21T21:32:00.002-05:00

These pictures are from 1905 to about 1912.

My Mother was named for her Maternal Aunt Jennie Irene Kitchel Platzer. Aunt Jen as I knew her was my mother's favorite Aunt.

They really wore a lot of clothes. It just may be that all the pictures were taken in the winter, but it really does not get all that cold along the Texas coast.

In this last picture I believe Mom was 8-years-old.

Kitchel Family Photo

2010-05-20T11:41:00.002-05:00

Do not know if this was taken in Arkansas or Alta Loma. I am going to make a wild guess at who some of the people are.

After reading "Settlements on the Prairie" by my cousin Jean Hurt Thomas, I think the people in the front row setting on the edge of the porch are, Charles J Kitchel, probably his wife, Bertha Kitchel Wilson (my grandmother), Jennie Irene Kitchel Platzer, Clifton R Platzer, and possibly Willard Barnes Kitchel. I am guessing on Willard B Kitchel, but on page 90 of "Settlements on the Prairie" there is a picture of him and this picture looks pretty close.

My mother Jennie Salome Wilson is the child in front of Bertha Kitchel Wilson and my Grandfather Roderick D Wilson is the man standing in back second from the left. Also a guess, the woman sitting in a chair may be Mary Kitchel, Willard's wife and Mother of Charlie, Bertha, and Jennie. Willard B Kitchel was Postmaster of Alta Loma at the time of the picture.

If anyone know who the other people in the pictures are, please contact me. Email Address in the Sidebar.

Alta Loma Afternoon

2010-05-19T19:44:00.002-05:00

I do not know the story behind this picture. From left to right is, Bertha Kitchel Wilson, Ed Wilson, Jean Doran, Phyllis Doran, Zilpha Wilson Hurt, and Jennie Salome Wilson.

From the looks of the flat terrain it seems pretty sure that this is a Alta Loma picture. It also seems from the foliage that it is spring. Maybe a cool spring as they are wearing a lot of clothing for humid Alta Loma.

Roderick and Bertha Wilson

2010-05-19T08:06:00.002-05:00

For my purposes, I begin this site with my Mother's Father and Mother.

Roderick D Wilson

Bertha Kitchel Wilson

Title Picture

2010-05-17T14:04:00.002-05:00

The picture above is of Jennie Salome Wilson, my mother. She was born in 1903 on December 13. She used to call this picture "Orphans from the Storm" because she and her older brother Bruce looked so shabby. The house behind them was built from driftwood from the 1900 storm in Galveston. It is the house she was born in.

The house still stands today.

Welcome to My Parents Lives in Pictures

2010-04-17T23:00:00.001-05:00

I will start serious posting this week. There may be some overlap between this Blog and My Life in Pictures, but I will try to keep it to a minimum.