Sunday afternoon in Forest Home

Aunt Maggie used to tell me about this picture, and I wish I could remember all that she said.

I do know that this is (supposedly) Daddy Rich and Mama Sheba's first meeting. The Langford boys traveled out to Forest Home, a few miles to the west of Greenville. Arthur C. and Annie McNeil Sims are sitting top center. This is probably their house after church.


Daddy Rich is sitting on the right of the third row, and Mama Sheba is second from the right on the second row. I believe there are two more Langford brothers in the picture, and most of the remaining are the Sims family. They were married in 1908, so I have to guess this picture was taken around 1905-1907.

Jefferson and Nannie's three eldest

These photos look to be from the same photo shoot as this one. (Same clothing, same hat, and same wainscoting on the wall behind them.)


Here's Uncle CA,

Daddy Rich,

and Uncle PA.

Look at the eyes of that cute little boy. I wonder what color they were in real life.

50th Anniversary party pics

A pile of photos from the 50th Anniversary party.

Look. There's the guest book I just wrote about.

"One hundred guests called between the hours of three and five."

The title of this post comes from the last line of the newspaper article on Daddy Rich and Mama Sheba's 50th Anniversary party. This past December, Aunt Nan gave me a box of photos and things, and in it was the guest book used at the 50th Anniversary party.

Let's flip through the pages and see who we might know, shall we? Here's page 1.

I know Ms. Morgan was a good friend of Aunt Maggie's. There's three Sims, who must be Mama Sheba's siblings.


Page 2.

Page 3.

Another Sims. Bonnie Moorer, possibly Aunt Margaret's relative? Paul & Sheila Langford and "Mrs. Percy Langford", the former Ruth Whitehead..


Page 4.

Uncle Shug.


Page 5.

Carl Sims and Fred Sims.


Page 6.

Uncle Bud and Aunt Margaret. Uncle Aura and Aunt Bernice.


And inside the front cover of the book was this little gem.

Nannie Heaton's 93rd Birthday

Here's an article that Cousin Mona found in Aunt Nan's things.

The whole family at Daddy Rich's and Mama Sheba's 50th

The whole family in 1958. Eight children, four in-laws (is Uncle Joe taking the picture?), and nine grandchildren.

Abner F. Langford and Ann Jane Griffin Langford

This is a picture of Jefferson Milton Langford's parents.

Abner F. Langford was born in 1809 in Jones County, Georgia. It believed that he died around 1880 after moving out to Texas with his son, George Blair Langford. He was the sixth child of nine born to James Langford (1770-1854) and Winifred Brady (1775- ).


Ann Jane Griffin Langford was born in 1820 in Georgia. She died around 1870 in Ozark, Dale County, Alabama. She was the sixth child of eight born to John W. Griffin (1775-1845) and Jane Ryal (1785-1860).


Ann Jane married Abner on December 28, 1837 in Crawford County, Georgia.


TRIVIA: Ann Jane's older sister, Mary Polly Griffin (1815-1860) was married to Abner's older brother, Lewis B. Langford (1802-1854) on November 5, 1826 in Bibb County, Georgia.

Three Sisters

This first picture looks to be from the late 1930s. (Mary, Maggie, Nan)

The next one looks to be from the 1940s. (Nan, Mary, Maggie)

And this last one seems to be from the early 1960s. (Nan, Maggie, Mary)

Aunt Nan and Uncle Joe's Wedding Announcement

Nancy Langford Zeigler

Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain.

But a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.

Proverbs 31:30

The Happy Couple at their 50th Anniversary Party

Daddy Rich and Mama Sheba at their 50th Wedding Anniversary with their anniversary cake.

Butler Boys in Service

Uncle Jack, Uncle Bill, and Uncle Bob get their picture in the Greenville Advocate during WWII.

Family, we have a mystery

Mark Twain once remarked that he spent $25 to research his family tree, and then he had to spend $50 to cover it up. Well...we may need to find that fifty dollars.


First, here is a snapshot from the 1910 census of Butler county listing Jefferson Langford:

This is pretty straight forward. We first see Daddy Rich and Mama Sheba with Aunt Mary (line starting with 262). They evidently lived next door to Grandpa Jefferson. Daddy Rich and Mama Sheba are listed as being married for one year, and Mama Sheba is listed as giving birth to one child, now living. (Also notice that Daddy Rich married an older woman. Smart man.) Then there's Grandpa Jefferson and Nannie Heaton. The couple is listed as married for 28 years. Nannie Heaton is listed as giving birth to five children, and all five are listed as still living. One is Daddy Rich, listed above, and the other four are listed beneath them: Uncle C.A., Uncle P.A., Uncle Aura, and Uncle Shug. 


So far, so good. Now let's take a look at the 1900 census.

We see Grandpa Jefferson and Nannie Heaton. They have been married for 16 years. Nannie Heaton has had five children and five are still living. Then the five kids are listed: Uncle C.A., Daddy Rich, Uncle P.A., Orrie, a daughter, and Uncle Shug.


Wait. What?


Who is Orrie? And where did Uncle Aura go?


Hmmm.

A Letter to the Editor from Daddy Rich

Here's a letter to the editor of the Greenville Advocate that Daddy Rich wrote. I don't have a date for it.

50th Anniversary Announcement

Here's a clipping (most likely from the Greenville Advocate) about Daddy Rich's and Mamma Sheba's 50th wedding anniversary party.

Sheba Sims Langford and her three youngest children

This is a photo of Sheba Sims Langford and her three youngest children: Nancy Zeigler Langford, Turner Edward Langford, and Jeff Mizel Langford.


This might have been taken in front of their childhood home.

Daddy Rich's and Mama Sheba's 50th

This photo was taken on the occasion of their 50th wedding anniversary. Standing left to right: Turner Edward Langford, Jeff Mizel Langford, Robert Eugene Langford, and Geroge Bryan Langford. Seated left to right: Nancy Langford Zeigler, Mary B Langford Hamrick, Richard Mizel Langford, Sheba Sims Langford, Joseph Casey, Langford, and Maggie Lee Langford.

Sheba Sims Langford and her four eldest children

Here's a picture of Sheba Sims Langford (Mama Sheba).

The four eldest are: Mary B Langford Hamrick (Aunt Mary, standing right), Joseph Casey "Jack" Langford (Uncle Jack, standing left), Maggie Lee Langford (Aunt Maggie, standing front), and George Bryan "Bill" Langford (Uncle Bill, seated). Uncle Bill looks to be only a few months old in this photo, so I have to guess that this photo was taken at the start of 1916. This would make Mama Sheba 31 years old, Aunt Mary 6, Uncle Jack 4, and Aunt Maggie 3.

Jefferson Milton Langford's family around 1894

This is a picture of Jefferson Milton Langford, his wife, Nannie Stacy Heaton Langford, and their three eldest boys, Charles A. (Uncle C.A.), Richard Mizell (Daddy Rich), and Percy Alma (Uncle P.A.). Uncle P.A. looks to be around a year old, and he was born in 1893. So, if the year is 1894, Jefferson is 40, Nannie is 35, Uncle C.A. is 9, and Daddy Rich is 7.

Jefferson Milton Langford

Our progenitor, Jefferson Milton Langford.

He was born on January 14, 1854 in Georgia, and died June 2, 1931 in Greenville. He was the seventh of eleven children born to Abner F. Langford (1809-1880) and Ann Jane Griffin (1820-1870). The 1860 and 1870 censuses has him living with his parents in Dale, Alabama. In 1884, he married Nannie Stacy Heaton. The censuses from 1900 and beyond have him living in Greenville.


My understanding is that Jefferson was a mule trader. Evidently he was pretty good at it, as he acquired a lot of land around Greenville. I hope to get a map of 1930's Greenville someday to see how much land he owned.