For the Scamp in us All ca 1921

I liked this picture when I first saw it but I loved it when I noticed that Jim Moran seems to have a child in a headlock while holding a cigarette casually in the other hand.   That blonde haired little boy is his son Nathan "Bub" Moran.  I don't know whose house this is or who the friends are but I love how everyone takes no note of the play between father and son.  

Kent said he had always heard stories that his dad (Bub) was a scamp and a handful for his dad (Jim) but for his mother, Virginia Moran, he was a sweetheart.  Yesterday was the 32nd anniversary of Bub's death.  This picture is dedicated to him and the scamp in all of us.

Mason Harrell Ezzell ca 1915

It's always wonderful to come across a picture that has been annotated but sometimes that presents more questions than it answers.  We have a baby picture and on the back is written "Mason Harrell Ezzell 3 months and 4 days old".  I thought for sure it would be easy to figure out who this baby was and where he belonged on the family tree but I'm a bit stymied.

My best guess is that he is the son of Robert Andrew Ezzell Sr. and Susan Harrell.  Robert's father was Mason Ezzell.  I had assumed that the baby's name was a combination of his grandfather and his mother's maiden name creating Mason Harrell Ezzell.  The photographers mark is Dyersburg Tennessee and it looks like it says "Darnell" for the studio.  Robert and Susan were married in Dyersburg in 1900 and were living in Dyersburg up into the 1920's. Which seems like a good indicator that I have the right Ezzells. However, I can't find where they had a son by that name.  There is a Thomas Mason Ezzell and a James Harrell Ezzell but that's as close as it gets.

So I began looking at the other Ezzell's who might have had a baby around the same time period but that didn't work out either.  My best hope is that some day an Ezzell descendant will do a web search and come across this page and hopefully be able to clear up the mystery about Mason Harrell Ezzell.

I keep coming back to speculation.  If it is a son of Robert and Susan perhaps it's a case of changing their mind on the name.  Perhaps this could be Thomas Mason or James Harrell.  Perhaps it could be a child they had that died young and doesn't appear in any records that I've been able to find.  Whatever the case may be, he was a cute little thing.

Of course the other connection to the Moran family is not just via the Ezzell name.  The Moran's have their own Harrells: Charles Harrell Moran and Nathan Harrell Moran, my husbands great uncle and his father.

Virginia Lee Garrett and Benjamin Gund Koehler, 1924

Back in October I blogged about the wedding of Virginia Lee Garrett and Benjamin Gund Koehler.  The Garrett's are cousins of the Moran's as I mentioned previously.  However, tonight I was going through photographs again and because of that previous post I was now able to correctly identify a wedding picture that we found at Moran House.

This photograph is from the wedding of Virginia Garrett and Benjamin Koehler, June 5 1924.  The wedding was held at the Dresden Tennessee Methodist Episcopal Church.  Rev. S. L. JEWELL officiated and is seen standing behind the bridal couple.  The little boy to the left dressed in white is the ring bearer and my father-in-law, Nathan Harrell Moran.  For more information regarding the wedding, what the bride wore, who attended be sure and read the entry previous entry from Oct 11, 2012.

Bunny Jumper, circa 1920

Happy Easter!

This cute little jumper was worn by Nathan Harrell Moran (Bub) as a youngun.  I wish we had a picture of him wearing it but if such a thing existed he probably got rid of the "evidence" long ago!

Would also like to mention that it's Bub's birthday today.  If he were alive we would be celebrating his 94th!

Nathan Harrell Moran abt 1920

This little boy is my father-in-law Nathan Harrell Moran aka Bub.  He was born in Dresden Tennessee on April 8, 1918.  His parents were James Henderson Moran III and Virginia Shumate.  His older brother was James Henderson Moran IV and their younger sister is Louise Marion Moran.

While stationed in Germany he met his future wife Maria Franceska Fuhrman (Ria). Their oldest son Charles Scott Moran was born stateside in Alabama while their youngest son, Nathan Kent Moran, was born in Japan.

During the 1960's the family lived in Kansas City.  They returned to Dresden after the passing of Bub's father in 1968 and took up residence in the family home known as Moran Place.

Bub was a devoted husband and a concerned parent and he was a bit of rebel.  In addition he enjoyed sports and fixing mechanical things.  He was a proud member of the Air Force and was a Major at the time of his retirement.  He liked big cars, airplanes, and the occasional beer.  Bub enjoyed watching Sanford and Son but hated Archie Bunker and All in the Family.

He did not dwell on the past nor was he interested in family history and would probably not understand nor care about our interest in genealogy.  Perhaps that comes from living in a home steeped in family history.

Bubs two children grew up.  Both attended college.  Scott received his Master's degree in Education and Kent, my husband, earned his Ph.D in History.  Both men married and have children thus assuring the Moran name continues.  Bub's wife Ria is alive and doing well at the age of 86!  Moran Place is 117 years old and though it's not as grand as it once was it's still hanging in there.

Bub passed away on January 6, 1982, in the same bed and room where he was born at Moran Place. How many of us will be able say that when our time comes?

His birthday is just a few days away.  He would be 94!


Happy Birthday Bub!

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Commemorative Bible from Quincy Shumate

Gift from Quincy Shumate to Nathan Harrell Moran.

This small bible was given to Nathan Harrell Moran (Quincy has the name reversed) from his great uncle Quincy Shumate to commemorate Nathan's grandfather, Nathan M. Shumate.  The only reason I can come up with for presenting the bible at this time is because Nathan Moran graduated from Dresden High School in 1936 and it was a graduation gift.  Nathan Shumate died in 1899.

Nathan Harrell Moran lowriding in 1918

This is a very young Nathan (Bub) Harrell Moran in his perambulator on a fine summer day in front of the Moran home.

At home in Dresden, 1918

This is Virginia Shumate Moran holding her second born, Nathan Harrell Moran (b April 1918).  The fellow in the sailor suit is his  older brother James Henderson Moran IV.  This picture is from a scanned negative that was taken in 1918.