The Poultry Farm

Copyright 2021, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

For more years that I can remember, I have had this photo.  Because of where I found it, and who owned it prior to it coming into my possession, I have long felt it was possible this was the poultry farm of my great-grandfather, Joseph Eugene Bowen.

Let me tell you, this image is poor to middlin, I am fully aware.  This has been digitally edited by Moi, the original was really awful.  Faded almost to thin air.  I was happy I could "restore" it to this point.

However if you get out a magnifying glass you will see a long row of "houses" running from the middle of the photo to the far right.  On the far left is a 2 story farm house.  On the far right is a shed of some sort with a open door and some kind of a stove pipe coming out of the roof.

This week, I have been reviewing, linking, updating, organizing, and all things good for organized genealogy.  My faithful readers may remember that last year I was contacted by a genie angel who shared with me the first photo I had ever seen of my g grandpop, Joe E. Bowen, the poultry farmer.

She shared some business letter head, a photo of his wife, Minnie Maud Remley Bowen and a few other photos.  

This week while the reviewing was ongoing, I came back to this photo of Joe.

Chickens and all!!  Behind Joe, is part of that row of chicken coops. And, look at that shed, open door, and that stove pipe.

You can decide for yourself, but, I'm going with YES my photo of the 2 story farm house was correctly identified by me, by hook or crook and with a ton of just plain ole good luck.

Thank you genie angel.  Your gift and kindness just keep on giving.

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My Genie Angels, So Many Thanks, It Really Takes a Village

Copyright 2020, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

It has been a bit since I have posted anything here.  Something went terribly wrong with my blog late last year and I decided to sit it out and pray something would fix it without my intervention.  Keeping my fingers crossed, that may have happened. I trust you, my readers, will let me know if you cannot view photos or if other weird stuff happens.  Especially if you use a mobile device.  Thanks.

NOWWWWW, on to the important and exciting news I want to share today.

It takes a village and some generous genie angels to be really successful in this sport. I really don't know how one can have data bases with good information and lots of background information without volunteers and genie angels.  They go where I frequently cannot.  I have been so blessed in my years of research to have folks contact me about something I wrote here on Reflections, filling in huge blanks of information and answering my questions.  There is no way to thank them all enough.

Recently, a wonderful gal, SG, contacted me from one of my Find A Grave memorials.  That does not happen very often.  In fact, this may be a first for me, to have someone contact me from Find A Grave.  I am identifying her only as SG for now.  She shared photos and information I would have no other way to gather. Seems her family, way back in the day, and my great-grandparents, Joseph Eugene Bowen and his bride, Minnie Maud Remley Bowen were connected.  Not by marriage, but, by employment.  Joseph hired one of her ancestors to work on his poultry farm.  Her ancestor wrote some letters on the letter head of the Poultry farm, and SG had samples of 2 of those letter heads, one from 1932 and one from 1934. She also mentioned that Joseph would let her ancestor borrow his car.  

SG sent me photos of my great grandparents.  I only had one of Minnie, and that was not the most solid identification ever. In other words, was it really her?  We were reasonably sure, you know, genie sure?  The one SG sent, is of an older Minnie, but, is identified on the back of the photo!  Whooeee.  Here she is about 1932 or so.  Isn't she just the cutest thing ever? 

She also sent several photos of Joseph.  Members of her family were able to identify this as Joseph, identified positively, no doubt in their minds.  

Prior to SG contacting me, I had a grand total of ZERO photos of Joseph.  I had been told he was a "large" man, and indeed, now, I can say he really was a large man.  As far as I know, SG did not share a date of this photo. 

SG also shared that the farm house/poultry farm was eventually sold to two elderly sisters, and that the home burned to the ground in 1950, resulting in both of the sisters dying in the fire.  How very sad is that?  Update:  It is possible that Joseph actually rented the poultry farm from the sisters. The facts are a bit muddy, for now.  But, you know us genie types, we have a tendency to hunt down the truth if at all possible.  After the courthouses open back up - - - we might need to do a bit of snooping to clear this detail up.

I am forever grateful to SG and her family for these photos and the knowledge she shared. "Thank you" is such a short small phrase, and, seriously, it does not relay the gratitude, the emotion, the elation of finally seeing Joseph in photographic form.  It's been a couple of weeks and frankly, I am still stuttering and I am having a difficult time finding fitting words that express my emotions.  I have been researching since 1991, that is nearly 30 years.  Years that I had no idea what Joseph looked like.  Years of searching, wondering, figuring I would never see a photo of him.  And, then, SG emailed me.  From my Find A Grave memorial for Joseph.  It is simply, overwhelming.

Thank you SG, more than I can express.  You are indeed a genie angel.

Like I said - - 

It takes a village - - 

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Effingham County Georiga, A Day of History and Fun

Copyright 2014, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

The Remley clan originally was from Colleton County South Carolina, but, after the Civil War they moved cross the border into Effingham County Georgia.  Eventually one of the daughters, Minnie Maud Remley married into the Bowen clan from Bulloch County Georgia (her hubs was Joseph Eugene Bowen.  I have written about both on Reflections before.

Despite the fact that Man and I had visited Statesboro (Bulloch County) once or twice before, once for at least a week, we had never wandered over to Effingham County.  I decided this trip, this stop, that I would get to Effingham.  In fact, we went twice. Once on a research trip, in which I discovered the library was about to close.  I did manage some research.  On the suggestion of the librarians we contacted the Historic Effingham Society.  Their web page seems to be outta wack at the moment, so, here are two links, one to their Facebook page and one to a recent news article.  You might want to read the news article, as it talks about the day we went to Effingham the second time.

The "old" Effingham County Courthouse.  It is a beauty, for sure!

During the Effingham Festival at the Living History Site they have car shows, see:

The museum was also open, the staff there are wonderful, the displays are well done, and they have a genie library!  Yep, I came away with a few group sheets that will provide me a number of great research hours!  There was a doll show (FAIL, I missed it!  Rats!) Ditto quilt show. Double Rats!

But, Man and I did wander down and fully enjoyed the Living History site next to the museum.  This is the Seckinger-Bridgers Home, ca 1900.

Inside, the rooms were wonderful, Sony Too and I had a grand time.  The crochet work and quilt, the fireplace, the family photo.  SIGHHH

In another corner, the sewing machine and a rocker.  Sit a spell, have a rest, here is your fan, let's chat - -

Screened in baby crib.

Lovely dining table.

A panoramic of many of the buildings and the visitors, mulling about, learning, sharing, enjoying.

This is a turpentine still, or part of it anyway.  My ancestors in this area were sometimes involved in the production of turpentine.  It is an interesting process, that I am still learning bout.

This was in the Cook House"Kitchen".  Those are some seriously heavy pots, I just cannot imagine having to lift several of those for each meal that was prepared.

The Cook House "Kitchen", in the foreground, the Gnann Summer House, in the background.

What a lovely headboard and bedroom set.  Yes, even a chamber pot.

And, this is what happens when we try to take a photo of the mock Civil War battle and cover our ears at the same time.  Those cannons are loud!  Caught the smoke even tho I could not hold Sony Too still!  LOL

What an enjoyable day at the Effingham Festival.




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The Rest of the Story, a Matter of Just Two Miles and Two Minutes

Copyright 2012, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

Yesterday I showed you the photos of the Central Georgia Railway Hospital and shared how that quick stop in Savannah gave me a sense of closure.  This is the rest of the story, how if we had made a decision to turn and not go just one mile more, I may never have had this closure.

Man and I are only here in the Savannah area for a few nights, basically honkered down for the Easter holiday weekend.  The crowds are huge, traffic heavy.  We had a short "hit" list, Tybee Island and Skidaway State Park, and Darien, McIntosh County, Georgia to visit the "reported" burial place for Joseph Eugene Bowen, his wife, Minnie Maud (Remley) Bowen and their son, Joseph E. Bowen, Jr. who died so young, just 22 years old and said to be blind.  That is another long story, short version, no headstones and the St. Andrews church records do not record their burials.

We did revisit Darien and the cemetery, on Friday, took some more photos (I had some), paid my respects, and even stopped in the local library, hoping beyond hope that I might find some new clues, none were found.

So, Saturday, we took off in Jolly with the fur kids to see the other hit list places.

This first graphic shows the route we ended up
driving, not necessarily what was originally
planned, starting:  at the campsite, # 1
the drive to Savannah, # 2
Tybee Island, # 3
3105 Bull Street, # 4
Skidaway State Park, # 5
back to the campsite #6

Our route, all mapped out.

(Now you must remember that Man and I are known for NOT over planning our days, we sorta let nature and happenstance take the reins of the day.)

On our way through Savannah on the way to Tybee Island I saw Bull Street pop up on the GPS map.  I had Man pull over, put the address in the GPS and realized it was about 5 or 6 miles maybe further to get back to the address.  I decided to forgo the stop at that point, just sighing and thinking, it was not meant to be.  And, so, onward we go towards Tybee Island.

We stopped first at Fort Pulaski (blog sometime in the future, enjoyed this immensely).  Next, the beach area of Tybee.  Crowds, horrible traffic, no parking, we never stopped.  Found the lighthouse, Man took photos from Jolly, with window down, no parking, we never stopped, missed the Battery, probably would have been pretty neat stuff, but, again, no parking.

We headed back to Savannah and the campground, planning on saving Skidaway for Sunday. I decide, lets see, maybe Bull Street now, put the address back into the GPS and realized it would not be far off our route and would not require any "turning around".  (We don't do turn arounds very well, hate to drive the same road twice, avoiding so if at all possible.)  So, I am now determined to get to that address and somehow we are going to find a parking spot, even if I have to walk blocks back.  My mission was set.

HOWEVER, 1 mile shy of my destination/mission we see the sign for Skidaway State Park and Man starts making noise about not missing it, lets go there, pushing hard for his cause.  At this point, it got a bit warm in Jolly and no, we did not turn off the air conditioner.  Some of the discussion was about only being 1 mile from my mission and we could go back that mile to the route to the park.  I am not sure Man was thrilled with me, but, I was a bit cranky and he finally just said, fine, as long as we can go back to the park.  NOT A PROBLEM (she thinks to herself and says to him).

It was meant to be, we found a parking spot for big ole Jolly with no problem, basically right on the property. I jumped out with Sony, started shooting my photos, shot the building from the left looking right, went out front to get a photo of the names of the occupants of the building now, went around to the right side to look left and take more photos, and saw those inscribed letters, walking closer, gasping at the words "Railway Hospital", immediately grasping the meaning, why Joseph was there.  It hit me like a ton of bricks, literally taking my breath away.

And, in the matter of a one mile detour (OK two miles since we had to go back,  LOL), 9 shots with Sony, 9 shots taken over just TWO minutes, I had solved one of those mysteries of our family history that become little burrs under your research saddle.  I had closure.

And, yes, we drove to Skidaway State Park, it is a beautiful place.

That said, the researcher in me thought those were the best two minutes of the day.  (And, a special thanks to Man for caving in, mmm, giving in, mmm, humoring me, mmm, granting me those few minutes and two miles of detour!)

Morale of this two mile two minute story, if you are that close, don't change your route or your mind. GO FOR IT!  All those years of wondering, questioning, sighing in disappointment are now a thing of the past.  Two miles, a mile there and a mile back, two minutes, and a little voice deep inside screaming - - DO IT NOW!!  DO IT!!  Some planning might not hurt either, but, of course, I wouldn't have such a fun story if we had planned, would I??

I am still amazed, a matter of just two miles and two minutes, and the closure.

Yes, genie researchers, it feels great!




* Graphics from Microsoft Streets and Trips.

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One Photo, Four Words, Just May Be The Answer

Copyright 2012, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

This building is located at 3105 Bull Street, Savannah, Georgia.  This is the address given as where my great-grandfather, Joseph Eugene Bowen, died.  I had been under the impression that it was a nursing home, now I wonder.

Another view, looking into the sun, some glare here:

Letting Sony zoom to that round section just about the columns, here is one of the words I discovered inscribed there:

This building was built about 1927 as the Central Georgia Railway Hospital.  It was closed in 1963.  My great-grandfather Joseph died there in 1948.  Yes, he worked for the railroad (which railroad is unknown) for a number of years.  His occupation on both the 1910 and 1920 census reports was section boss for railroad (or similar description).

NOW it all makes sense.  Why he was in Savannah when he had been living in Norfolk Virginia for many years, including the 1930 and 1940 census enumerations.  I suspect he was at the hospital because he had some kind of insurance and when he took ill, that is where he had to go for care.

My my.

Four words, inscribed for eternity, or until I discovered them.  During a prior visit about 10 years ago, I did not stop, nor take a photo.  This trip, we almost did not drive by, but, something made me insist.

My my.

Four words, and I feel closure.



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