winifred alwilda "ruth" perryborn august 22, 1906
photo december 1906
4 months of age
born on a _____, in ______________, at 2:00 pm, she weighed 9 lbs
she died on february 26, 1977, while hospitalized at glenwood hospital, west monroe, louisiana, from complications of pneumonia - at that time, she lived in monroe, across the ouachita river from west monroe - her burial is in the gilstrap plot in the winnfield louisiana cemetary -
ruth 19093 years old
with parents
george franklyn perry
cora agnes rowan perry
august 29, 1910
postcard photograph
with handwritten note of cora agnes on reverse side BELOW
ca. 1910age 4
ca. 1911age 5
ca. 1912age 6
handwritten notes on back of photo above indicatehair dark brown - eyes light brown
dress white - bracelet gold
ca. 1916
no date on photo
group photo of ruth perry at about 10-12 years of age
handwriting on photo is that of ruth as adult
her mother and father are on the back row as marked
ruth is on front row right end and her childhood friend, ruth wilson,
is on the left end
1917 - 11 years of age
handwritten notes [left] on reverse of photo above written by ruth perryaddress on card handwritten by cora agnes rowan perry
lace cloth dress - coral beads and coral colored ribbon
the card is addressed to mr and mrs j sullivan
"mrs j sullivan" is MARY ELIZABETH [BETTY] HAYES ROWAN - mother of cora agnes [granny]
mary elizabeth, after the death of cora's father, in ____,
married again - this time
to JACKSON SULLIVAN in 1912 -
jackson sullivan died in 1937 and is buried in childress texas
1919age 13
ruth wilson [left] and ruth perry [right]
ruth wilson was the best friend of mother - she used to tell stories of how they were often thought to be twins because they looked so much alike even though they were not related at all -
1922 - age 16 yearson june 11, 1922, two [2] months before her 16th birthday, she married for the first time, to RAY JOSEPH RAINES, from whom she was divorced april 12, 1926 [caddo parish louisiana?]
1925-1930identity of man unknown unless RAY JOSEPH RAINES* or PICKETT PRICE LYNN
it is known that she and raines were divorced april 12 1926
[*his last name is often spelled RAINS which is believed to be the original spelling]
1925-1930
1926-1927ruth perry raines and JOHN PHILLIP RAINES
born april 21, 1923
died april 24, 1935
photo on louisiana avenue school steps - shreveport louisiana
of her marriage to ray raines, she had one child, john phillip raines, born april 21, 1923, during the time that they lived at 1304 oakland street, shreveport, caddo parish, louisiana - handwritten notes on the back of this photo reflect date and location and that she handmade the gray coat she is wearing here -
ruth
wearing same coat as in photo above
on location looks to be a school ground so probably make same day as one above
handwritten note on front is ruth's as adult "ruth - shreveport la"
1926john phil on the left - ruth's friend rachel and her son
shreveport louisiana
note on back of card says "allen and john phil - odessa texas 1930"
the identity of allen is unknown
late summer 1930age 24
hobbs new mexico
handwritten notes on the back of this photo give the date and location -
john phil would have been 7 years old but there are no pictures of him taken in hobbs
1930this may have been taken also in hobbs new mexico but the exact location is not known - there are no notes on the back of this picture -
photo of her mother, cora agnes rowan perry, made on this same blanket in front of this scrub brush tree - the film markings on the back of this photo and on the photo of her behind the umbrella [where the location is known as hobbs] is the same on both photos - and the film print numbers are the same which would seem to indicate that at least the photos were made from the same roll of film -
1930
again, no notes on photo to define date and location, but the location seems to be the same as the one known definitively to taken in hobbs new mexico
ca. 1930neither date nor location are known for sure
ca. 1925-1930
no date on photo but her handwritten note below on reverse is to her mother, cora agnes
ruth perry raines lynnpickett price lynn
born june 22, 1902 - tula rosa new mexico
died april 5, 1936 - lamesa texas
photo may or june 1933
the man is thought to be PICKETT PRICE LYNN since they were married april 14, 1933 -
the handwritten notes on the back of the card indicate the date but not his identity - the other words written are "read patio" but where that is remains unknown
1934 christsmasabilene texas
cora agnes rowan perry berry and ruth's first son, john phillip raines
december 1934john phil
just four [4] months after this picture was made, on april 24, 1935, just twelve [12] years old, john phil died - if memory serves, we were told that he developed appendisitis and died as a result of complications - mother never ever recovered from his death and always kept a pictoral shrine of him in our home - john phil was buried in mount zion cemetary in marthaville louisiana, the home town of his father - anytime our family was traveling anywhere near marthaville when we were children, we always made a side trip to visit his grave -
ca. 1930-1935
again, definitive time and location undetermined
top photo is dated june 16, 1929 and appears to be at same location of one below -
no notes on other photo to indicate date nor identities of either man
the taller man on left is believed to be cb berry, ruth's stepfather, although this is not certain
the other man is unknown as is the location of the photograph
* * * * *
HER EARLY LIFE STORY
the early life of our mother was tumultuous to say the least - from what she told us, her parents were not happy from the time of her youngest memories - according to her, her father was controlling and her mother apparently, like most women of her time, did not, often, anyway, contradict her husband - her mother and father divorced ca. 1928 and ultimately, her mother re-married, as did her father -
her mother's second marriage was to CB BERRY, a texas businessman who, at the time of his death, was a very wealthy lubbock resident and owned at least one large hotel there - my grandmother and cb married __________, 19____ -
her father's second marriage was to EUNICE FAYE PICKARD - she was actually four [4] months younger than our mother, having been born december 25, 1906 - papa perry and faye [we were not allowed to refer to her as our grandmother, but only as papa perry's wife], married december 24, 1937 - they had no children of their own and the story from our mother was that when they were about to marry, they came to her and told her and she told them that they must never have a child of their own - and they did not - to say that the relationship between our mother and our grandfather's wife was strained is to put it mildly - [however, when, as children, my brother and sister and i visited them in new mexico, i have only happy memories] -
during the 1920's-1930's mother and her mother spent a great deal of time together, some of it traveling - in those years, the two of them wrote poetry prolificly and there are several volumes of their poetry which are now being prepared for publishing -
as mentioned above, john phil, mother's first born, was the apple of her eye - she adored him totally and from his death, she never recovered - two [2] years before his death, she married pickett lynn who she called her "cowboy" - with john phil the child of her love, pickett was the man of her love - she and pickett were married in 1933 and on april 5, 1936, he was tragically killed in an automobile accident to which she was witness - as a matter of fact, it was the car in which she was riding that struck and killed him - the story was that she and pickett were out with friends of theirs, headed to a picnic, the women in one car and the men in the lead car - at some point, the car door next to pickett opened somehow as they drove, he fell out of the car and was hit and run over by the car in which our mother was a passenger - he died in lamesa texas and was buried in big springs texas, just north of town - like john phil's grave, whenever our family traveled and were within 100 miles of the cemetery, we made a side trip for our mother to visit his grave - our father never complained -
her mother's second marriage was to CB BERRY, a texas businessman who, at the time of his death, was a very wealthy lubbock resident and owned at least one large hotel there - my grandmother and cb married __________, 19____ -
her father's second marriage was to EUNICE FAYE PICKARD - she was actually four [4] months younger than our mother, having been born december 25, 1906 - papa perry and faye [we were not allowed to refer to her as our grandmother, but only as papa perry's wife], married december 24, 1937 - they had no children of their own and the story from our mother was that when they were about to marry, they came to her and told her and she told them that they must never have a child of their own - and they did not - to say that the relationship between our mother and our grandfather's wife was strained is to put it mildly - [however, when, as children, my brother and sister and i visited them in new mexico, i have only happy memories] -
during the 1920's-1930's mother and her mother spent a great deal of time together, some of it traveling - in those years, the two of them wrote poetry prolificly and there are several volumes of their poetry which are now being prepared for publishing -
as mentioned above, john phil, mother's first born, was the apple of her eye - she adored him totally and from his death, she never recovered - two [2] years before his death, she married pickett lynn who she called her "cowboy" - with john phil the child of her love, pickett was the man of her love - she and pickett were married in 1933 and on april 5, 1936, he was tragically killed in an automobile accident to which she was witness - as a matter of fact, it was the car in which she was riding that struck and killed him - the story was that she and pickett were out with friends of theirs, headed to a picnic, the women in one car and the men in the lead car - at some point, the car door next to pickett opened somehow as they drove, he fell out of the car and was hit and run over by the car in which our mother was a passenger - he died in lamesa texas and was buried in big springs texas, just north of town - like john phil's grave, whenever our family traveled and were within 100 miles of the cemetery, we made a side trip for our mother to visit his grave - our father never complained -
CHRONOLOGY:
june 1, 1922 she married ray joseph raines [also sometimes spelled "rains"]
april 21, 1923 her child john phil born
april 12, 1926 she divorced ray raines
____, 1928 her parents divorce
_______, 1930 her father's mother dies
april 14, 1933 she married pickett price lynn
april 24, 1935 her child john phil died
may 17, 1935 her maternal grandmother mary elizabeth hayes rowan - sullivan [granny] dies
april 4, 1936 her husband pickett lynn killed
_____, 1937 her step-grandfather [jackson sullivan] dies
__________, ___ her mother re-marries
december 24, 1937 her father re-marries
april 30-may 1, 1938 marries our father
march 12, 1939 her mother, cora rowan perry berry, died
june 1, 1922 she married ray joseph raines [also sometimes spelled "rains"]
april 21, 1923 her child john phil born
april 12, 1926 she divorced ray raines
____, 1928 her parents divorce
_______, 1930 her father's mother dies
april 14, 1933 she married pickett price lynn
april 24, 1935 her child john phil died
may 17, 1935 her maternal grandmother mary elizabeth hayes rowan - sullivan [granny] dies
april 4, 1936 her husband pickett lynn killed
_____, 1937 her step-grandfather [jackson sullivan] dies
__________, ___ her mother re-marries
december 24, 1937 her father re-marries
april 30-may 1, 1938 marries our father
march 12, 1939 her mother, cora rowan perry berry, died
