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| Robert S. Ross with David C. Ross, ca 1936 |
I love this photo for so many reasons. It shows me a hard working farmer, probably standing in front of a favorite shrub of his wife--Lennie Mae (Floyd) Ross--showing off their son. For our family to have a picture from 1936 documenting what will be my grandparent's last born child is pretty amazing. There have been no other photos surfacing to date of their other children at this age. The only thing that could be better for me than this picture is to have one that is of my mother Nettie Louise Ross, their first born!
My grandparents were pretty much subsistence farmers. In the 1930 U.S. Census they lived with their blended family in a small community of South Fork Township in Clark County, Arkansas. I've never had the impression there was much money. Discretionary funds didn't exist for dirt farmers in south Arkansas and the 1930 census proves that detail. Of the 259 documented families in this township only two households had a radio. (2) And of course, Granddaddy Ross' household was not one of the two. So for them to have a camera by 1936 indicates there was a little extra money coming to them in the near future and they were willing to spend it on special occasions.
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Sources:
(1) Ross, Robert Stanley "Pete" and David C. Photograph. ca 1936. Digital image. Privately held by David C. Ross II, Henderson, Nevada.
(2) Arkansas. Clark County. 1930 U.S. census, population schedule. Digital images. Ancestry.com. http://www.ancestry.com:2015.
I have a photo very similar to this of my great grandfather holding my mother. He died before I I was born and I never got to meet him, but my mother has some wonderful memories of him and it is so wonderful to be able to attach those stories with the his face.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment. I do enjoy sharing my photo collection and some of the stories that go with them.
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