Alchemy of Clay

Why would my grandfather, George Elmore Rogers, move from Galveston TX to Fort Worth, with his wife, Ada Rogers and children?  He was the bookkeeper for a Wholesale Fish business at the time of the census of 1910, and had built a lovely home for his family. 

Rogers home built by George Rogers, Sr. Galveston, TX

In 1916 there were two events which were pretty momentous...his oldest son, Elmore (10 years old) died of an accidental drowning just 3 weeks after Ada Rogers gave birth to her only daughter Ada Mary.  My own father, George Junior (called Junie) was 2 years old at the time.

But little Ada Mary's life was short and by records that exist today on Ancestry, probably had a tragic ending.  For a family which relied upon prayer and not medicine, according to the death certificate, her having glaucoma for at least 8 months probably affected her brain.  Whether medicine could have offered anything besides pain relief, I don't know.  She died in 1919 just short of 3 years of age...in Houston, TX.  That was where my grandmother's mother was  living and offering healing as a Christian Science practitioner.

I think my grandmother and her daughter probably spent a lot of the last months of Ada Mary's short life in Houston. 

I believe my grandfather worked as a bookkeeper at a meat packing plant in Fort Worth for a Mr. Dumble.  The Rogers moved from either Galveston or Houston between 1919 and 1920 so were living in Fort Worth, TX by the census of 1920.  My father was only 6 at the time.  And two years later their youngest son, James, was born in Fort Worth.

Beef in a meat packing plant in Texas

My cousin, Patricia Rogers, has posted on her Ancestry site the following about the George Rogers Sr. family.  Her source was probably her father, James.

They resided in Galveston until 1918, at which time they moved to Meadowbrook Drive in Fort Worth, Texas, where he (George Sr) was employed by the Fort Worth Packing Company as office manager. This began a friendship with the company Manager, Norman Dumble that lasted twenty-five years.

I believe the Dumble ranch was a favorite place for the young men to learn how to hunt.  My father (Junior) is pictured above, and there are also pictures of him and my mother before they married in a similar setting.

My parents before they married, probably at the Dumble Ranch

The Rogers home

There's also a story about the Fort Worth home that burned and how my grandfather once again built a brick home for his family, while they resided in a garage.

The Rogers family endured hardships, which weren't unusual for that time in US and Texas history.  But as I knew my grandparents when I was young, they always had a positive attitude, and were cutting jokes at every opportunity.

So this is my contribution to a meme dealing with butchers and packing plants.
 
This week's Sepia Saturday post...click to see more!