A Name That Captured My Imagination: 52 Ancestors Prompt “Free Space”

 

A Man Named Newborn Faughn

Newborn Faughn: 1900-1983 – Not Related

 

Interesting names always catch my eye, but some names are so special that they touch my heart and imagination. As an example, I have a distant cousin who was named Leafy Dell Park—a park I would love to visit. Can’t you just imagine that leafy dell?

While examining maps of land purchased by the Tennessee Valley Authority for another blog post, I noticed the name of a landowner whose farm lay near that of the ancestor I had been researching. The name was so charming that I wrote it down, delighted by it. Over the next few weeks, every time I ran across that note, I experienced that sense of delight all over again.

Newborn Faughn.

Isn’t it an amazing name? Can’t you just picture it in your head? A brand new baby fawn. Did he make his parents think of a little fawn when he was born? Perhaps he had spindly, long legs for a baby, or big brown eyes.

Photo of newborn fawn, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Even though he isn’t related to anyone in the family tree, I will provide a brief biography of Mr. Faughn.

Newborn Faughn was born April 20, 1900 to parents Mary Lee and Ollie Faughn. He had several siblings, but none of them had such a charming, unusual first name. He grew up in Kentucky, and married Maude McMurtry in 1925. They had one son, Randle Faughn, who died at age 27 following a long illness.

Following Maude’s death in 1963, he married Eula Jean Hall. Newborn worked as a construction worker and farmer during his life. He died August 11, 1983 and was buried in Calvert City, Kentucky.

I wonder how Newborn Faughn felt about his unusual yet beautiful name. I suppose it led to teasing at school. However he felt about it, the name will live on in my imagination.  

Sources:

Findagrave Entry for Newborn Faughn. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/52478070/newborn-faughn?_gl=1*d5sy80*_gcl_aw*

https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/62308/records/87959112

Obituary. The Paducah Sun. Paducah, Kentucky. Aug. 12, 1983 issue.

Wikimedia Commons photo of newborn fawn by Jerry Segraves. http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/byways/photos/64104

 

A Leisurely Surprise: 52 Ancestors 2026 Prompt “Leisure Time”

 

Aunt Gail: Biking, TV Watching, and Hunting?

Gail Jandy Livingstone: 1934-2011 (Maternal Aunt)

 

I was scrolling through old family photos to find images of ancestors enjoying leisure-time activities, and ran across some fun photos of my husband’s Aunt Gail. However, I found more than I was looking for as I reviewed photos from Gail’s life. Along with images of leisure-time fun, I discovered images of her first husband, someone I hadn’t even been aware of, and had never recorded in the family tree.

Gail was my mother-in-law Laurel Jandy’s younger sister, born to Ed and Lorene Smith Jandy on June 30, 1934. Laurel was nearly eight years older than Gail. As a result, Gail grew up almost as an only child; since Laurel was off to college and then married before Gail even entered high school.  

Among family photos were some charming ones of Gail enjoying leisure time activities. The first photo shows her posing on her bicycle, probably in front of the Jandy home in Detroit. Younger children are visible riding tricycles behind her. She looks to be in her early teens, so the photo was probably taken around 1949 when she was fifteen.

The next photo is a delightful one—five teens sprawled on a living room floor, their smiling, intent faces lit up by the light of a television (not visible in the photo). This was probably the first television the family owned. Television sets became popular in the World War II era and many families acquired their first sets. I believe Gail and Laurel are the two girls in the photo, although I could be wrong. The left-most girl is definitely one of the Jandy daughters. It looks more like Laurel, but the rest of the photos in the group featured Gail, so I can’t be sure which sister is which. Watching television, of course, became one of America’s favorite leisure time activities.

The third leisure time photo I found was an intriguing one. It shows Gail posing with a young man and some dead animals. Both the man and Gail are holding guns, so had been hunting. This seemed an unlikely pastime for the Gail I knew, but perhaps the young man enjoyed the sport.

But who was the young man? I quickly discovered that he was Gail’s first husband, Joseph William Neff. The couple became engaged in 1954 and married in June 1955. 

While I found the engagement notice, I have been unable to find a marriage record or newspaper announcement of the wedding. I did find wedding photos, including the one below.

Before discovering these photos, I had been unaware that Gail had been married before her marriage to Phil Livingstone years later. Gail and Joe’s marriage ended in divorce at some point. Gail was once again using her maiden name by 1959, as this passenger arrival record from McGuire Air Force Base shows, so the divorce likely occurred just a couple of years after the marriage.

So here I am, spending my leisure time updating my Ancestry tree to include Joseph Neff. And all thanks to a 52 Ancestors prompt that sent me rummaging through old family photos.

Sources:

Family photos.

Engagement Notice. Des Moines Register. Des Moines, Iowa. December 19, 1954.

New Jersey, U.S., Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists of Airplanes, 1956-1969. A4112-Neward, 1957-1969. Ancestry.com.