This is my grandmother Ruth Barry's brother Erwin. He spent his entire career in the Merchant Marine service. He was younger than Ruth but older than Mable and Alvina. He lived in Clarksville after he retired.
No one in the family never called him anything but Uncle Bub. .
For some time I have been meaning to post this funeral notice from 1917. It is about the passing of my great-grandmother, Annie Barthel Barry. I wrote about her to some extent at the beginning of this blog in January.
Annie was taken by "blood-poisoning" from a scratch on the back of one of her legs. It could have been tetanus, or an infection from the black stockings worn at that time. She only lived three days after she fell ill, according to my mother, who was living in the Barry home at that time.
The funeral service was held in the American Presbyterian Church in Clarksville, where the Barry family stained-glass window still exists. This is the site of the marriage of my grandparents as well.
These funeral notices were edged in black and printed on cards which were left in the post office and other establishments around town so that friends could attend the funeral. These were still being used when I was a child in the 1940's and 50's. I remember seeing them at the post office in Comanche.
Clockwise from top left: Elna Ricketts, Grandpa John Barry, Anna Louise (my mother) and Clare Jean Ricketts in front of the family home at 607 Broadway in Clarksville.
In 1990: Me, my granddaughter Margaret, and Mother (Anna Louise Ricketts) sitting on the steps of the house at 607 Broadway. This house burned to the ground about 3 years after this photo was made.
My grandmother Ruth Barry was John and Annie Barry's first child. She was born in 1892 in Clarksville, Texas. Here are 4 photos of her: as an infant, as a toddler, as a schoolgirl and as a young woman.
The Barrys had a maid/housekeeper, cook whose husband tended the yard and took care of the cars, repairs, etc. This was not unusual in that day and time. But Ruth grew up not knowing how to keep house, or cook, because it had always been done for her.
included in this one minute video are pictures of Annie Barthel, John Barry, and the house John built for his family. In 1894 my grandmother, Ruth (Annie's first child) was born. She had two sisters: Mable and Alvina, and one brother: Erwin, who was always called "Brother" by my grandmother and her sisters.
When my grandmother Ruth married she still lived with her family so my mother was also born in the Barry house. It has since been torn down, probably to make way for some hamburger stand or something.
Also in this slideshow you will see a picture of Barry's mill from the distance and another photo of the owners with their dark-skinned workers standing behind them. The man seated third from the left is John Barry, my great-grandfather
John and a partner named Montgomery became developers in Clarksville, and published a paper that praised their town for its banks, churches, schools and businesses. The paper claimed that there was not a saloon in the county. (Red River County on the Oklahoma line.)
My Great Grandfather on Mother's side was John Barry, who lived in Clarksville, Texas. Clarksville is in northeast Texas on the Red River which borders Oklahoma.
John borrowed money from an uncle in Fort Worth and bought a wholesale grocery business. He planned to operate it with his brother Jasper Barry, whose nickname was "Jap". John spent the summer of 1890 in Louisville, Kentucky to attend Bryant & Stratton business college (the school still exists today.)
While he was in Louisville John met Annie Barthel. She was also attending business school, learning to keep the books for the "Steam Laundry and Carpet Beating Works."
John and Annie went out together a few times and then he had to leave for home. But they began a year-long correspondence that concluded when they married in June of 1891. Here I will post examples of the love letters they wrote on letterheads from each establishment, the Wholesale Grocery Store in Clarksville and the laundry in Louisville. Later on I will post more of their love letters.
