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

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Catching People Unaware

On March 10, 2015 By dancingpalmtreesIn Atlantic City, Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Catching People Unaware, DeBorah, Lamb, New Jersey, Stephen Vincent Palmer13 Comments

http://ceenphotography.com/2015/03/10/cees-fun-foto-challenge-catching-people-unaware/

I’m not sure if this fits totally within the challenge but here goes: The first photo is my brother Stephen at the Queens Centers for Progress Holiday Party 2013 rudely shocked by Santa’s itchy beard.

The second photo taken by my Dad Edward Palmer is me, looking not too sure of the Lamb my parents got me from their trip to Atlantic City circa 1959. I was only a few months old and my paternal grandparents were babysitting. From the look on my face I don’t know if I was scared of the camera, taken aback by my parents return or thinking, “You guys went to Atlantic City, NJ and all I got was this stinking Lamb?”

My brother Stephen surprised by Santa's Beard — My brother Stephen surprised by Santa’s Beard

Share Your World

On March 9, 2015March 9, 2015 By dancingpalmtreesIn Abundance, DeBorah, Finances, Income, Money, Prosperity, Riches, Salary, Share Your World, Stephen Vincent Palmer, Wealth11 Comments

Share Your World

http://ceenphotography.com/2015/03/09/share-your-world-2015-week-10/

When you lose electricity in a storm, do you light the candles or turn on the flashlight? How many of each do you own?

So far no blackouts have occurred since living in Brooklyn. Before when I lived in Queens I was fortunate in that the development I lived in had its own power plant so if the lights went out in the rest of New York I still have electricity. If that happened now I’d prefer a flashlight.

You are given $5,000 and the chance to exchange it for one of two envelopes. One envelope contains $50,000 and one contains $500. Do you make the trade? Why or why not?

I’d trade up to the envelope with $50,000, quit my job and travel for one year to every warm sunny island I could get to. I’m ready for adventure! Roadtrip!!

What’s your first memory?

I must have been around two and saw my baby brother in my former crib. He reached his hand out to me and I bit him!! He screamed, my mother ran in the room and put me out!! LOL!! Fortunately now I’m well past the biting stage and my brother and I are very close.

What do you do if you can’t sleep at night? Do you count sheep, toss and turn, or get up and try to do something?

I have chronic insomnia. I rarely sleep well. When the problem first started the doctors put me on Ambien, however that has very bad side effects so I had to stop taking it about 2 1/2 years ago. Now I just take Advil PM. When it does not work I write.

Bonus question: What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

Made it through work last week. Awaiting my new bed which I hope will solve my back pain problems. So I look forward to getting relief from back pain. Am Also grateful that the snow is melting and the weather is getting warmer here in New York!

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.

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

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.

When I hear this melody as sung by The Mills Brothers I envision them all dancing in Heaven.

http://youtu.be/0ma8t2m2FQ8

Manchild Reborn into the Void

On February 2, 2015 By dancingpalmtreesIn Bondage, Chain Gang, Hades, hell, Island of Lost Souls, Prison, Purgatory, slaves4 Comments

Manchild Reborn into the Void

Looking out my lonesome boxcar I see my brothers in bondage singing freedom songs. Wondering when their healing will come as I seek mine. Islands of Lost Souls sentenced to endless purgatory.

Lightning- Long John (Old song by a chain gang)

http://youtu.be/4G5KtQynWvc

American where is my traveling train? Darkness enters dawn diminishing shadows play havoc with sun, moon, and stars. Tuning Forks humming. When will I see my Rosie again? Overseer rifle gun trained on me.

Southern Prison Blues Rosie Chain Gang Blues YouTube

http://youtu.be/es-5VEFM49Q

Steamer Trunk moth riddled clothes. Ashes scattered into the Ganges. Speckled Watchmen screaming swing that pick boy. Keep that rhythm. Berta, Berta every day is Monday. I’ve fallen into a dark place with no sight of myself. Cleansing Monsoon wash me into dank sinister funeral sands.

Berta, Berta

http://youtu.be/sxC04N23U3o

Early morning every morning I rise on the wrong side. I cut myself on shards of volcanic ash but the boulders cannot crush my soul. Freedom is a lonesome word.

Prison Songs – Early In The Mornin’

http://youtu.be/zsiYfk5RV_Q

When that sun goes down then I escape in mind if not in body. In my dreams I see her beside me. A voice keeps calling me. Is it my honey sweet baby or an Angel fit to carry me home? Death Angel. Death Angel, holding the reapers sword.