Vivian Maupin Long's Photo Album: Lee and Louise

 Several years ago, I inherited my grandmother's photo album always intending to share the photos on this web site, but it was shoved in a bin stored under a chair because "life" happened.  Recently a cousin came over and I showed him the album.  So, before I put it away again here are some photos.  I believe all of the outdoor photos where when the Longs went to Arkansas to meet the Wickers before (after?) Mother (Arky/Louise) and Dad (Lee) were married.
Amendment:  I'm going to say AFTER they were married judging from the trees in Arkansas---looks like October or November and they were married in September (having known each other just 6-8 weeks I believe)

Lee, Vivian and Roy Long

"Lee"---love the look if you enlarge this.

Billie and Louise

Louise's Red Letter Poems

 While going through my books, I opened this one and saw this inscription "From Mrs. E.W. Newsom To Louise Wicker Harrisburg, Ark. 1930"

 I noted some writing on one page---took me back to my poetry reading days.  Those markings were for reading a poem aloud for a contest or a grade.

 Then, I found these notes written by Mom.

Raising Canes

 While at a family gathering, I noticed that my Aunt Mary and Uncle Ron both had old canes.

 Mary's cane, which is hand-carved was from her grandfather Thomas Henry Long.

 Her husband Bill said she left it in a shopping cart recently, and he had to go back to Walmart to retrieve it---I totally understand.

Her grandfather is seated on the left.  He died in 1940's so the cane is at least 70 years old.

Not to be outdone by his sister, Ron said his cane was from their father Roy Long.

I wish had photos of Roy and Thomas with their canes. . .I will keep looking.  But, this is grandpa about at the age when he would have used that cane.

I do have a photo of my other grandfather, Wes Wicker, with a cane on the far left of the photo.  He was injured as a young man in a horse riding accident and walked with a cane on and off for the rest of his life.

Mother used her father's cane, and we inherited it from her.

That cane meant a lot to her, too, but she put an address label on it so she'd be sure to get it back. . .maybe Aunt Mary should do that, too.

News from Harrisburg, Arkansas 1933

Harrisburg, Arkansas, Dec. 29, 1933---I love that my grandfather's name is printed at the top of the newspaper "Wes Wicker." There were several articles that my mother had under-lined or drawn around with a pencil.
Louise Wicker (#5) was 13 years old when this newspaper was printed. The photo above shows her in 1932 with a group that won 4th place in ???
I can remember Mom talking about "Shorty" whom I think was "Big-Daddy", a man who was like a grandfather to her (all 5' of him).
Pictured above is "Big Daddy" with Jane, his granddaugher Barbara, and me.
This is another photo of Louise in 1932 (second row, third from the left).
I'm pretty sure Mom was in this 7th grade class.

Harrisburg High School in 1930's

This photo is from 8th grade---Mom has the X above her, although I don't think this looks much like her (other than the hair)
This is about a 7th grade prank which Mom probably participated in.
This was their neighbor---the Matthews-- whom Mom thought was "well-to-do" with her friend Jessie as a servant. Not marked in the newspaper is a small blurb "Bruno Redman was over from Waldenburg Saturday." I'm guessing that this was Jessie's future father-in-law because Mom always said that the Redmans were German.
I'm not sure of the date on this photo. But Mom couldn't be much more than 15 in this photo with Billie at 12 or 13.
I love the ads in the old newspapers and magazines. At the top was a listing of the movies showing at the Jonesboro theater, then ads from a few local stores and for the "new Ford V-8"

Louise's Christmas Memories

Several years ago, my daughter Rebecca gave my mother Louise Wicker a book to record her memories. After a year or two, Mom returned the book to Rebecca who typed the memories to share with all of us.
She said on another page:

I was always in pageants, plays at school. I had just started school (no, I was 7 years old) and was in a play. My mom had made us flannel sleepers (all kids). I came off stage and Molly [a family friend] told me my dad had been hurt and my mom had to leave.

My grandfather Wes Wicker had many leg injuries. One injury was from racing horses (when Mom was a baby), but in his later years he operated heavy road-building equipment and I believe one had turned over and crushed his leg.
Louise often mentions "Jessie" who was just a little older than Mom, but was a servant in the Matthews' home. My parents stayed friends with Jessie and her husband Albert Redman until the Redmans died. Mother loved the irony that Jessie who had been a servant married Albert Redman who became a wealthy rice farmer in Arkansas.
While I don't have any photos of Mom's Christmas trees, I do have photos of her grandchildren decorating a freshly cut cedar tree with popcorn and cranberries at her house.
They hand-made ornaments, decorated the tree with lights, but we always called it the "Christmas Tree for the birds" since they snacked on the decorations.
Other Christmas memories Mother shared:

One thing we had at Christmas night was fireworks, roman candles, sparklers. You see there was no such thing as all these lights.


Our [Christmas] celebration was always at home. Mother was a great cook and the highlight was always our dinner fruit salad. Lady Baltimore cake [recipe here] and Dad made eggnog for the adults that came by.

One Christmas, Billie wanted a Mickey Mouse watch. Of course, I thought I was too old. I got a standard. They were hid and I rooted until I found thembefore Christmas. To this day, I love Mickey Mouse watches (that I thought I was too old for)

[The best Christmas] was the year I got my first pair of roller skates and 2 pair plaid stockings (long that fit on supporters). It was a warm Christmas. By evening, both pair of stockings were gone but I had my skate key around my neck on a string.

No matter how little money there was as children (the Great Depression-no one had money) but dad would barter; they always made Christmas special--Molly, Pearl and Ann helped. So Billie and I were special. We never felt we didn't want what other kids had [actually, I think she means the opposite]

For more about Molly, Pearl and Ann (the Everette sisters), click here.

Louise Wicker Long ID crisis--- Post 9-11

Every thing went fine with Mom's identification until 9-11. With the Homeland Security Act, a person needed more than just an affadavit from her mother and an inaccurate birth certificate. Mother started worrying about how she was going to re-new her driver's license which didn't match the name or birth date on her birth certificate. So, she decided to hire a lawyer to correct her birth certificate. She got new documents in addition to the ones she had had. She now had documents from cousins to add to her portfolio of proving who she was. Notice she had her name listed as "Louise Alice".

Her cousin Verna McCaleb was 93 and had had a similar problem (her mother was Mary Ann Williams b.Oct 1891 Tennessee, one of the James B Williams kids---so, I think Verna was really my grandfather's first cousin).Verna says "It took me almost a year getting mine corrected. . .what I hated most I had to go to court and pay a lawyer to prove I was living. Silly, but I had to do it. The Dr. and My Dad both must have been drunk. "
Undoubtedly they had the same doctor---there weren't that many in the bootheel of Missouri in the early 1900's. When I saw the name, I laughed. So, mine isn't the only family that has a long history of substance abuse. And, yes, that's the same Limbaugh family---probably a great uncle of Rush.
Mom thought she was finally going to have it all settled after 80 years of inaccuracy when. . . the lawyer died. You would have thought he did it to spite her. She fretted that she would not be able to re-new her driver's license---there were lots of stories of people being denied because the license information didn't match the birth certificates. As I was re-newing mine, I noticed that she could get a passport with the documents she had. So, we got her a passport which matched perfectly with her driver's license and she was able to re-new her driver's license. It was cheaper than hiring another lawyer (that she was afraid would die). I think by this time she had thought getting an accurate birth certificate was jinxed---maybe she was right, but we got around it.

Louise Wicker Long Identity Crisis 1970's

In the 1970's Mom needed to "get her Social Security in order". I think she needed a new card but also knew she would need a birth certificate to claim Social Security in the future. Mother had never had a birth certificate, but had carried this affidavit (above) all of these years.
So, Mother sent off for her birth certificate. Although she went by the name Louise, her name "at birth" was "Alice Louise". (See above)The state returned her money and said it wasn't on file. She tried again driving to Jefferson City, but still they couldn't find her birth certificate. Finally, she contacted her state representative (whom she'd known since the 1940's) to see if he could "pull some strings." He was able to locate her birth certificate, but it had two problems---first, there was no name other than "Baby Girl"; second the birthdate was wrong.
Mother found out she could correct one thing on her birth certificate, but to correct two things would require a lawyer. Even to correct her name, she needed to get certain documents.
First, she needed a certified copy of the census.
Then she needed school records---check
and check.
Finally, she needed an affidavit from a relative who was alive when she was born---her aunt Ruth Williams Ezell and her uncle James Ezell. They also told her that the reason she had no name was my grandparents were fighting over her name. Grandpa wanted to name her Catherine and Grandma would not have it----that was his old girlfriend's name. The only explanation Ruth could give on the birthdate being wrong, was that the doctor was a lazy drunk who had failed to register the birth. So, to save his butt, he made the date July 20.
So, she had her birth certificate corrected with the name---she didn't think the birthdate was that important. Actually, several members of the family preferred July 20 because July 1 was too soon in the month. But, for the rest of her life, individuals referred to her inaccurate birth certificate---if a birthday card was late, "Well, no one really knows when your birthday is anyway."
It's unfortunate that someone chose to put "Alice Louise" on her birth certificate---the documents she submitted clearly indicated she went by Louise, but I think Mom wanted it to match with Social Security so there would be "no problem." Guess again---the same situation happened again after 2001!