Ancestral Memories & Captured Moments

On March 15, 2015March 15, 2015 By dancingpalmtreesIn 29th Ct. Colored Regiment, African American Queen, African Goddess, African King, Ancestral Memories, Battle, Captured Moments, Civil War, Edward Gordon Palmer, Eva Gordon Palmer, Thelma Palmer Varner, William J. Palmer9 Comments

Ancestral Memories

Family Photographs dating from the 19th to 21st Centuries. My paternal Grandmother Eva Gordon Palmer labeled the older photos. The photos from the 19th Century were all taken in Photography studios located in New York City where my Great Great Grandmother settled with her five children after my Great Great Grandfather William Henry Halstead passed away. William Henry Halstead served in the Civil War as part of the 29th Ct. Colored Regiment. Please click on the below links for more information on him and his unit.

My Paternal Grandparents Eva and William Palmer married in Jan. 1919 and had several children. All the boys passed away from polio except my Dad Edward G. Palmer. His nickname was Precious. They had three daughters Helen Louise Palmer Garcia, Thelma Rosalie Palmer Varner and Eva Palmer Stuppard.

All the people pictured except me and my brother Stephen have gone onto Glory and are Living their Heavenly reward.

https://dancingpalmtrees.com/2013/07/13/genetic-memory/

Connecticut Twenty-Ninth (Colored) Regt. C. V. INFANTRY

http://www.conn29th.org/descendants.htm

Stephen Vincent Palmer ~ QCP Christmas Party 2013

Family Photo Collage — Ancestor Branches ~ A Photo Collage I made for the Employee Art Show in 2012.

William H. Halstead name as inscribed on the Colored Soldiers Monument in Washington, DC

William Henry Halstead Headstone ~ Sleepy Hollow

African/Native American Queen — MMC 2002 Graduation

My 56th Birthday Party Celebration Feb. 27th

20150227_181128 — How I look now at age 56.

20150227_181205 — 56th Birthday Party Celebration

Fredrick H. Halstead_Sept. 6, 1898_Little's Brother — Fredrick H. Halstead_Sept. 6, 1898_Little’s Brother. Little was my Great Grandmother.

Rosalie Palmer_William Palmer's Sister — Rosalie Palmer_William Palmer’s Sister. William Palmer is my Grandfather.

Aunt Carrie_George Gordon's sister — Aunt Carrie_George Gordon’s sister

Grandfather_4kids_1926 — My Grandfather William Junius Palmer in Mt. Morris Park located in Harlem New York circa 1926 with four of his children. The two children in white are twins but the boy died of polio. My father Edward Gordon Palmer is not featured in this picture because he was born in 1930.

Edward Gordon Palmer_early 1950s — My Dad Edward Gordon Palmer

Edward G. Palmer_Early 1950s — Daddy Edward Gordon Palmer

Edward Gordon Palmer 1935. This photo was taken by the famous Harlem Renaissance Photographer James Van Der Zee.

Ancestor_Dad_Side — Unknown Ancestor on my Dad’s side. I’m sure my Grandmother did label this photo but the label must have gotten lost. This is a Tin type and at some point the label must have fallen off so I do not know her name.

Mable_Edward_Palmer — My Mom and Dad Mable and Edward Palmer. They were married Dec. 1955 in Dayton, Ohio. Later my Dad brought my Mom back to New York where my brother Stephen and I were born.

DAP2002MMCGrad — My Marymount Manhattan College Graduation photo, 2002.

DeBorah_Stephen_House2 — Stephen and I at his residence Queens Centers for Progress in Queens, NY. Stephen has Autism yet works and has a very active social Life. We are very close.

MablePalmer — Mom ~~ Mable Elizabeth Palmer born 1930 in Davy, West Virginia, raised in Dayton, Ohio.

Aunt Thelma circa 1940s or 50s — My Aunt Thelma Rosalie Palmer Varner.

Eva Sophronia Gordon Palmer -- Grandmother — Eva Sophronia Gordon Palmer — Grandmother

Mable Elizabeth Palmer circa 1950s — Mommy ~~ Mable Elizabeth Palmer

A Word A Week Photograph Challenge – Broken

On February 25, 2015 By dancingpalmtreesIn Broken, dresser, Edward Gordon Palmer, Eva Gordon Palmer, Let Me Call You Sweetheart, Milliner, William Junius Palmer7 Comments

http://ceenphotography.com/2015/02/25/a-word-a-week-photograph-challenge-broken/

The music sewing box belonged to my Grandmother Eva Sophronia Gordon Palmer. She married my Grandfather William Junius Palmer Jan. 1919. It plays the tune, “Let Me Call You Sweetheart.” Grandma Eva was a Milliner before she married my Grandfather. Their son Edward Gordon Palmer was my Dad.

The beat up white dresser was part of a childhood furniture set my Dad purchased for me when I was five. The dresser is the only piece to survive over the years. I will be 56 on Feb. 27th and basically that dresser has followed me for 50+ years.

My Childhood Dresser I've had since age 5. — My Childhood Dresser I’ve had since age 5.

Grandma Eva's Music Sewing Box — Grandma Eva’s Music Sewing Box

Let Me Call You Sweetheart

On February 17, 2015February 24, 2015 By dancingpalmtreesIn DeBorah Ann Palmer, Edward Gordon Palmer, Eva Sophronia Gordon Palmer, Let Me Call You Sweetheart, Mable Elizabeth Palmer, Stephen Vincent Palmer, William Junius Palmer5 Comments

Music Box

I have my Grandmother’s (Eva Palmer) music sewing box that plays “Let Me Call You Sweetheart.” The music box that my Dad brought home after my Grandmother’s funeral. The same music box passed down to me after my Dad died. Where it will go when I’m gone is known only to God since I never married nor had children.

My grandparents were married in 1919 until my grandfather William Palmer died around 1962 or 1963. My grandmother passed away around 1964 or 1965. I was very young so I don’t remember much about her but I Love her musical sewing box and wind up it every so often just to hear that lovely melody. In my mind’s eye I can still see the brownstone in Harlem where they lived. If I think very quietly and carefully I can envision all the rooms and marveling at my perception of largeness and space. Then it fades away to St. Albans, Queens and the house on 115th Road where I grew up. A house that shrank after my parents deaths. Too many memories crowding in on each other so I sold it in 2000.

My parents Edward & Mable Palmer were married for 40 years from 1955 to 1995 when my Dad passed away. My Mom went to join him in 1998.

Marriage was very serious to both my grandparents and parents. It was not a trial run or something to be thrown away or cast aside like we see now. Eva Gordon was my Grandfather’s second wife as his first wife had passed away. There was a big age gap between them as my Grandfather William Palmer was in or near his 40s and I would guess my Grandmother to be maybe 20 or 21 at the time of their marriage.

All of my grandmothers boy children died from polio except my Dad Edward Gordon Palmer. I can’t even begin to imagine giving birth yet not knowing whether or how long your children would live. I guess that’s why people had so many kids in the 1910s, 1920s & 1930s. There were so many diseases and no vaccines that it was a miracle if a child lived beyond toddlerhood.

Grandfather William Palmer with 4 of his children at Mt. Morris Park in 1926. My Dad is not in the photo because he was not born until 1930.

Fast forward to December 1955 when my parents Edward and Mable Palmer married. I was born first then my brother Stephen came along in May 1961. By 1963 Stephen was age two and had not spoken a word. Doctors back then labeled Stephen “emotionally disturbed” and advised my parents to put him away in an institution. My parents Did Not take the doctors advice but took their son back home, loved him, raised him and taught him as much as they could. For those of you who remember the horrors of Willowbrook you know why my parents could never do that to Stephen. Today Stephen works and has an active social life.

I say all this about my family history to point out that marriage is no Garden Party. You take the good and the bad the better and the worse and yes in sickness and in health. Love is not all the sappy romances we read about in books or see on TV or in the movies. Love is the real world. Real Life. Where there are no guarantees but many unseen rewards.