My Adema Cousins - Part 2

by Glenn N. Holliman

Recently while sojourning in the warmth of a February Florida, my wife, Barb, and I stopped and visited my cousins, the Bob Ademas.  You may recall I wrote of the Ademas, my 2nd cousin, through the George W. (1844-1928) and Frances Wilson Osborne (1851-1940) line; these two persons are great grandparents of both Bob Adema and myself.

Below, Bob and Gayle Adema in Brandenton.  The photographer in the mirror is yours truly.

This time in what is becoming a twice annual meeting, we met Bob and Gayle's daughter and son-in-law, Vicki Adema McIntyre and her husband, Todd McIntyre.  Below, Vicki, Todd and Barbara Holliman.

Vicki for many years was with the Ringing Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus, in charge of ordering feed for the many animals, and especially the elephants.  With the closing of the circus, she is now taking some time off before her next adventure.  Todd is writing a book on chemicals we may not know we are ingesting or inhaling in our 21st Century lives.

Below, Bob holds a picture of his mother, Vicki's grandmother, Gladys Osborne Adema (1913-2003) who lived in Damascus, Virginia.  Gladys met and married Bob's father, Howard Adema (1909-1984), who was working in the 1930s for the Civilian Conservation Corp in Virginia, but whose hometown was Buffalo, New York.

During our meeting this year, I remembered discovering a photograph of Gladys when she visited my Aunt Louise Stansbery Sherwood (1915-2006), a grand daughter of G.W. and Frances Wilson Osborne.  Louise and Gladys were first cousins.  Below, Louise, right and Gladys at Louise's home at Scenic Point, Louisville, Tennessee, April 2, 1978.  Ft. Loudon Lake (the Tennessee River) is in the background.

So, I close this remembrance with a picture taken in Damascus, Virginia in 1938, almost 40 years earlier, in which both Gladys and Louise were present.  Left to right are Geraldine Stansbery Holliman Feick (the writer's mother, 1923-2015), Louise, Gladys and Doris Osborne Akers (1912-1986). Two sets of sisters, both first cousins visiting the home of Dave and Pearl Osborne Wright.

Some Families of Damascus, Virginia, Part XIV

The Larger Family of Dave and Pearl Osborne Wright
by Glenn N. Holliman

In 1938, two cousins and an aunt from Bristol, Tennessee visited Doris Osborne Akers (1913-1980) and Gladys Osborne Adema (1914-1998) at the home of Dave and Pearl Osborne Wright (1890-1980) in Damascus, Virginia.  The two cousins were my Aunt Louise Stansbery Sherwood (1915-2006) and my mother, Geraldine Stansbery Holliman Feick (1923-2015).  Their mother, my grandmother, Mayme Osborne Stansbery (1896-1943) was with them.

Posed in front of the Wright Inn (their home) in Damsacus in the late 1930s is from left to right Doris, Louise, Mayme, Geraldine and Gladys.

In 1938, America was still emerging from the Great Depression, Hitler was grabbing Austria and parts of Czechoslovakia, and in Damascus, the Civilian Conservation Corp was about to close down its forest restoration projects.  The United States was entering a debate on whether a huge arms build up was necessary to counter the growing militarism of Japan and Germany.  The world stood at the cusp of violent change and war.

In 2011, numerous America wars later, the only survivor of the group photo, Geraldine, returned with her son, Glenn N. Holliman (yours truly b 1946) and one of the sons of Gladys, Bob Adema, on the left. We stood in front of the old Wright Inn, now owned by others.  Yes, just as in 1938, the country was emerging from a Great Recession, but fortunately today our Asian wars are winding down, not up.

Some Families of Damascus, Virginia, Part X

by Glenn N. Holliman


This is the tenth in a series of stories with photographs of  my great uncle and aunt, Dave and Pearl Osborne Wright and their many years of life in Damascus, Virginia.  Pearl is the grand daughter of Isaac and Caroline Greer Wilson of Ashe County, North Carolina. As ever I am grateful to Phyllis Mink, daughter of Doris Osborne Akers,  Bob and Rob Adema, descendants of Gladys Osborne Adema and Geraldine Stansbery Holliman Feick, a niece of Pearl Osborne Wright and this writer's mother, for making many of the historical photographs available.

Above Bascomb Wilson Osborne rests his arms on his two daughters, Doris and Gladys Osborne who after their mother, Dora Kruger Osborne, died in 1922 were raised by Dave and Pearl Osborne Wright in Damsacus, Virginia. Bascomb Wilson is named after his mother's family, the Isaac Wilsons of Ashe County, Virginia.

To the right, Gladys Osborne (1914 - 1998) poses in Damascus, Virginia.  In the first quarter of the 20th Century, loggers stripped the mountains surrounding the valley village.  In the 1930s, Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal created the Civil Conservation Corp which came to Washington County, Virginia and began to replant the forests and restore the streams.  One of the officers of the local CCC was a handsome young man named Howard Adema, a native of Buffalo, New York.  He met Gladys, sparks flew and they soon married.



Below, young Howard Adema, left, stands with his supervisor, Earl Watson, at the CCC camp in Damascus.  The year was 1935 and tens of thousands of young America men were building roads and parks in the national forests.

Seventy six years later, one of the sons of Gladys Osborne and Howard Adema, Bob Adema, visits the stairs and bench built by his father and the CCC at the Backbone in the National Forest just south of Damascus.

Next posting, more on the lives of a family in Damascus, Virginia....

When We Were Greers, Part XVII

by Glenn N. Holliman

Mary 'Polly' Morris (1787 - 1880), The Ancestress of the Family!

This was an amazing prolific family.  By the time Polly Greer (my generation's 4th great grandmother) died, she gave birth to 17 children who in turn produced 100 grandchildren, 250 great grandchildren and as many as 300 great great grandchildren by the time of her death!


One of her great grandson's, The Rev. William A. Wilson, has left us with a list of the 17 children and their date of birth.   Mary was born September 17, 1787, the summer the U.S. Constitution was written in Philadelphia, a year and a half before George Washington became the first President.  She died February 29, 1880 with the 19th President, Rutherford B. Hayes in the White House.

At the age of 13 1/2 Polly married Jesse Greer Sr. on January 17, 1800.  The babies came often until she was 43 years of age.  Imagine, 30 years, usually pregnant!

Fannie Greer - Jan. 24, 1801 (The President of the U.S. was John Adams)
Benjamin Greer - Nov. 9, 1802 (The President of the U.S. was Thomas Jefferson)
Joshua Greer - Dec. 18, 1803
Nancy Greer - Feb. 21, 1805
Jesse Greer, Jr - Dec. 16, 1806 (this is my generation's 3rd great grandfather)
Polly Greer - June 9, 1808
Sallie Greer - Nov 4, 1810 (The President of the U.S. was James Madison)
Jennie Greer - Oct. 8, 1812
Betsy Greer - Nov. 17, 1814 (The White House was burned by the British)
Joseph Greer - Dec. 13, 1815 (The War of 1812 ended)
Andrew Greer - April 14, 1818 (The President of the U.S. was James Monroe)
Synthia Greer - Oct. 1, 1819
Franklin Greer - Feb. 22, 1822
Isaac Greer - Oct. 14, 1823
William Greer Greer - Jan. 1825
James Y. Greer - August 14, 1827 (The President of the U.S. was John Q. Adams)
Elvira Greer - Feb. 16, 1830 (The President of the U.S. was Andrew Jackson)

Below in the 1950s are two of Jesse and Polly Greer's thousands of descendants: Bascomb Osborne and his daughter, Gladys Osborne Adema.

Adema, Wright and Osborne Photographs

by Glenn N. Holliman

2010

Rob Adema took this photograph of his parents, Gay and Bob Adema along with yours truly (far left) at their summer home over looking Lake Erie. We are overlooking Cedar Bay at Pt. Claborne, Ontario. Bob's parents, Howard and Gladys Osborne Adema, purchased the home in 1940. We spent much of our day together, not just eating the Western New York favorite - beef on wick - but reviewing old photographs.

Photo by Rob Adema

1940s

Is Bob in the photo below? Back row left to right are Flea and Doris Osborne Akers, then Gladys Osborne Adema, the girl is Virginia Osborne, the daughter of Bascomb K. Osborne (in the Navy uniform) and his wife Edith, far right, back row. Now I am on uneasy ground. I think front row looking down is Phyllis Akers, then Bob Adema (?), Bascomb K. and then Peg Adema Noeltner.

Where and when was this taken? Gladys and Doris are my mother's first cousins, all having grown up in the same area of southwest Virginia and upper East Tennessee in the 1920s and 30's.

From Phylllis Akers, Sept. 14, 2010: The picture of all of us was taken in front of Mom and Dad's house in Damascus. The people are: Back row, l to r - Flea Akers and Doris Osborne Akers, Gladys Osborne Adema, Edith Osborne - Bascom's (Bab) wife. 2nd row: Phyllis Akers, Bob Adema, & Peg Adema. Front, kneeling: Bascom (Bab) Osborne with daughter Gini. Don't know the date of that but looks like I'm sad that everyone is leaving.

More Adema and Stansbery Pictures

by Glenn N. Holliman

More Photos from Bob Adema

1930s

Below is a photograph of Geraldine Stansbery Holliman Feick's first cousin, Gladys Osborne Adema, probably while on an outing in the Virginia mountains.

1995 in Ohio Cousins Revisit

Below, left to right are Geraldine Stansbery Holliman Feick (Gladys's first cousin), Bob Adema, a son of Gladys, Gladys and The Rev. Don Feick, my Mother's husband.  Fr. Don, an Episcopal priest, had a parish in Ohio, and while there he and Gerry visited family she had not seen in over a generation. Bob has saved many Osborne, Adema, Wright and Stansbery family photos.

Adema, Osborne, Aker and Stansbery Photographs

by Glenn N. Holliman

Photos provided by Bob Adema and his family albums.

1938

This picture is of Osborne and Stansbery ladies with spouses. My mother, Geraldine Stansbery, Mayme Osborne's second daughter, is far left and at age 15, unmarried, but with a brilliant smile!

Moving to the right from mother is Frazier King, the husband of Louise Stansbery, my aunt who has her arm in his. This marriage was ill-fated and dissolved after only a year and half. Frazier's family owned King's Department Stores in East Tennessee.

To the right of Louise is Howard Adema and his wife, Gladys, the parents of Bob Adema and Peg Adema Noeltner. Elmer 'Flea' Akers stands next to his wife, Doris. 'Flea' and Doris had two children, Phyllis and David.

This series of photos was taken in front of David and Pearl Osborne Wright's home in Damascus.

1930s

Below is a cute photo of 'Flea' and Doris Osborne Akers in southwest Virginia. So formal in those days with Flea wearing a tie and Doris in high heels and yet curled up on the grass in front of a cabin. Doris is my mother and Aunt Louise's first cousin by Bascomb Osborne. Flea and Doris are the parents of Phyllis and David Akers. Phyllis has been sharing photos and information also with me on our family.

Osborne and Stansbery Photos

by Glenn N. Holliman

1920s

This is Bascomb Osborne, my great uncle (1887 - 1970) with his two daughters, Doris and Gladys. I love the straw hat of the times and the sheep. Where was this taken? Damascus, Virginia after his wife, Dora Kruger Osborne, died in 1922?

1938

Years have passed and Gladys and Doris have grown up and married. Left to right in Damascus, Virginia are Geraldine, age 15, my mother; Louise, my aunt, Gladys and Doris. My mother was age 15, and she was striking a saucy poise that day!

Photos in the Post WWII Era

by Glenn N. Holliman

Last night, July 6, Rob Adema visited Barb and me here in Newport, PA, as he was en route to business calls in Central Pennsylvania. Rob is a great great grandson of G.W. and Frankie Osborne, through their son, Bascom, a brother of my grandmother, Mayme Osborne Stansbery. Bascom is sometimes spelled with or without a 'b' on the end.

Photo above is l to r, Glenn Holliman (b 1946) and Rob Adema (b 1966) July 6, 2010 in Newport, Pennsylvania practising genealogy. Glass is of Coca-Cola, sort of. Photo by Barbara Holliman.

We sat up late examining documents and old photographs. In celebration of his visit, I am posting several photos we looked at closely as they reflect both his direct line and our over lapping families. I believe the 1945 photo is courtesy of Phyllis Ackers, and the 1954 picture, a family snapshot by my father.

A contemporary photo of Rob's parents, Bob and Gay, and his Aunt Peg Adema can be found on the Contributors page of this blog. August 20, Barb and I will be visiting Rob and his parents, Bob and Gay, outside of Buffalo, NY to look at more family memorabilia of when our ancestors lived in Southwest Virginia, East Tennessee and Western North Carolina.

Now the Wilson/Osborne frontier families, under many different names, are spread across the nation.

Photo above taken approximately 1945 at the Elmer 'Flea' Akers home in Damascus, Virginia of the children and grandchildren of Bascom Wilson Osborne, one of the five son's of G.W. and Frankie Osborne. Back row, l to r - 'Flea' Akers, Doris Osborne Akers, Gladys Osborne Adema, Edith Osborne (wife of Bascom Kruger Osborne, who is kneeling). Front row, l to r - Phyllis Akers, Bobby Adema, Peg Adema, Uncle 'Bab' Bascom K. Osborne, in Navy uniform, and his daughter, 'Gini' Osborne.

Photo of Pauline Osborne Smith, daughter of Thomas 'Toby' Osborne, one of the five sons of G.W. & Frankie, in the early 1930s rowing a boat. In the photo below, she is pictured in the 1950s with her children in a visit to her first cousin, Geraldine Stansbery Holliman Feick.

Taken in the summer of 1954 in Johnson City, Tennesse at the home of Geraldine Stansbery and her husband, Bishop Holliman. Left to right in front of the 1948 Plymouth are: Louise Stansbery Sherwood (daughter of Mayme Osborne Stansbery), Rebecca Louise Holliman Payne, then 4 years old on her aunt's knee, and standing is one of Pauline Osborne Smith's children, name unknown.

Kneeling with his Cocker Spaniel, Sandy, is the writer, Glenn Holliman, age 7. Behind standing sans shirt is Vance R. Sherwood, Jr., also age 7, now a published clinical psychologist. The tall young man is another of Pauline's children, name unknown.

Continuing left to right are Dave Wright, husband of Pearl Osborne Wright, Geraldine (Gerry) Stansbery, sister of Louise Sherwood, Pauline Osborne Smith (whose photo above is of her rowing a boat), and Pearl Osborne Wright, who is Geraldine and Louise's aunt.

Pauline and children lived in Sumner, Washington at the time. Pearl and David Wright in Damascus, and Louise and her son, Vance, in Knoxville, Tennessee.

An aside, it was Dave Wright who in 1912 gave his mother-in-law, Frankie Osborne, her first automobile ride from Damascus to Glade Valley, Virginia and back!

More family history in the next posting....