While I was in Craven County, NC to attend my grandmother’s funeral, I had an opportunity to do gather more information about her side of the family. I have to get it all recorded still! While there I was able to take pictures of my relatives’ headstones at one of the family cemetery. There are around 40+ people buried there and I got at least half of them. I also got a few headstones at the church cemetery (where my grandmother’s services were held and we have a lot of family there), but only about 3 or 4. I have a cousin who will help get the ones I missed.
While there, I also was able to talk to my grandmother’s brother. I only remember him vaguely before now, but he showed me something that absolutely wowed me! I was telling him how I had finally elucidated the accurate name of his grandfather and he said, “Speaking of Samuel Becton Lawhorn…” and pulled out a 16 x 20 picture of his grandfather. So, with this picture, this is now the oldest picture of an ancestor that I have. This man, Samuel Becton Lawhorn was born in 1871 and died in 1916.
Furthermore, at his house, he has a picture of his parents, and while I had pictures of his father, I had no pictures of his mother and didn’t know what she looked like. He explained to me that this picture of them was created as an oil painting based on pictures of the two of them taken independently and at separate times — they were not originally posed together in the picture. Neat isn’t it?
