Aunt Mary’s Notebook

Aunt Mary Johnson (1927-1986) was a sister of my maternal grandmother. One of the things I inherited of hers is a notebook which contains Bible study and church notes. A cousin gave me this 7.5 x 8 notebook that was written possibly around 1953 and 1954. Only two pages of this notebook contain dates. Most of the pages are handwritten, but one page it typewritten. When I was a young girl, I used to receive letters written from Aunt Mary. However, I do not have any of those letters now. The gift of this notebook is precious because it gives me a sample of Aunt Mary’s handwriting that I used to read many years ago. Aunt Mary served Little Mt. Zion Holy Church in White Plains, NY as Sunday school teacher, president of the choir, vice president of the missionary department, member of the usher board, and secretary. Some of these notes in this notebook may have been recorded as Church secretary.

Bible Study Notes

Typewritten Notes


Youth Day Offering

Family Heirlooms

I have inherited numerous family heirlooms from my mother’s family. They include objects which were owned by ancestors dating back as far as my great-great grandmother Luvenia Jeffress Bullock (1864-1951.) In the late 1980s, my maternal grandmother gave me a chair which belonged to her Grandma Ven. “I’m giving you this chair that belonged to my Grandma Ven,” my grandmother told me, “but you got to promise not to sell it.” I did promise not to sell the chair. Even though I had not begun genealogy research at that time, I still saw value in this family heirloom and the importance of holding on to this family treasure.

When I first began researching in 1994, I used this chair at my computer. Today, this chair is located in a bedroom in my house and I sit in it often. These two photos were taken in 2002 of my great-nephew Vincent whom we call “C. J.” Grandma Ven is a 4th grandmother of C. J.