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Toddlers and Angels

June 4th—the day my sister Sharon died—always makes me pause.  My mind shifts back to the dark days of 1994. Then, when the veil between here and after was thin and my mind was continually occupied by thoughts of my sister - memories, regrets, wishes - I was on high alert, ever watchful for her presence.  Desperate for a sign that she was okay was a natural response to the traumatic way she died. I wanted reassurance. I found myself looking for women that looked like her in the grocery store or on the street, just to get a glimpse of her face one more time. For months, even years later, my heart would nearly leap out of my chest when I spied a young lady with long, dark, curly hair or a face that resembled hers. Of course, I was invariably disappointed when that person wasn't Sharon, and I couldn't pretend it was all somehow just a bad dream. But there were a few times, when our daughter was a baby and toddler, when it wasn't me but Anne who seemed especially attuned...
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GENEALOGY CHALLENGE 2021 - Wedding Photo



GENEALOGY CHALLENGE 2021

Wedding Photo - January 5th entry of a 31-day challenge to post a document, photo or artifact on social media every day in January.


By Nancy Gilbride Casey


Today's entry is a wedding photo of my husband's great grandparents, William Roy Stephen (1886-1971) and Dessie D. Stallings (1890-1966). They were married on 18 April 1911 near Fort Stockton, in Ward County, Texas.1 The original photo was at the time in the possession of my husband's uncle, the couple's son, Earl Stephen (1924-2008).

A wedding announcement in The Dublin Herald shortly after the couple wed noted:
 
"Mr. Stephen is an Erath County product, but has spent the major portion of the past five years at Ft. Stockton, where his good fortune developed to such a degree as to enable him to win a wife, a winsome young lady who was considered one of the bells of that section."2
 
William Roy Stephen was born in Dublin, the grandson of William Franklin Stephen, one of the early pioneers of Erath County. William Franklin Stephen was, in turn, the brother of John Miller Stephen—one of the founders of Stephenville. 

Dessie Stallings was the daughter of William Dixie Stallings and Arah Huffman Roe Stallings, and born in Ward County, Texas.

The wedding article (below), notes that it had been excerpted from a longer article published in the Pecos Valley Irrigationist; I've searched high and low for that publication to obtain more details on the couple, but have had no luck to date. Any fellow researchers out there know where to find a copy, printed 21 April 1911, let me know!
 

 

 
NEXT UP:  A military record.


1 Pecos County, Texas, Record of Marriages, Vol. 2, p. 173, Marriage of Roy Stephen and Dessie  Stallings, 18 April 1911. 
2 "Stephens-Stallings," The Dublin Progress (Dublin, Tex.), Vol. 22, No. 48, Ed. 1 Friday, 14 April 1911, p. 8, col. 5; digital image, The Portal to Texas History (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth593518/m1/8/ : accessed 4 January 2021).
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  1. AmandaJanuary 5, 2021 at 3:22 PM

    Retired Tarleton librarian and archives manager here...I did a search in the US Newspaper Directory at the Library of Congress' Chronicling America site. The newspaper was actually called the Pecos Valley Irrigationist. It looks like the University of Texas - Permian Basin Library *MAY* have some issues in their Permian Historical Society Collections. Suggest you contact them at libraryarchives@utpb.edu.

    https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn86090634/
    https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn86090634/holdings/
    https://utpb.alma.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01UOTOTPB_INST/10ndpmq/alma991001077469704731

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  2. AnonymousJanuary 5, 2021 at 3:58 PM

    Thank you Amanda. I too have checked Chronicling America. I checked with UTEP a few years back and they said they could not find it. I might try again, just to see if fresh eyes can find it! Appreciate the look! Nancy

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    1. AmandaJanuary 5, 2021 at 11:02 PM

      It's likely they did not have all issues, but yes, fresh eyes can help. The library's website references newspaper clippings in that collection, so it could be in some sort of vertical file. You might also want to try Texas Tech - they have a pretty extensive Southwest Collection in their Special Collections. Good luck!

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