Sometime by Alla M. Foster

"Sometime" was written by Alla M. Foster.  A search for the author only pulled up one hit on google and that was to another poem (You Held It Tight) published in 1925 in The Brethren Evangelist.  The clipping was most likely saved by Jim and Virginia Moran and gives a little insight as to what they enjoyed and things that touched their hearts.  It does make me wonder if this poem was published around the time of the Great Depression and the collapse of the Dresden Bank.  

Though clouds may gather 'round the way,

And stars refuse to come,

One land we know has perfect day,

In you bright heavenly home.

Though friends forsake and all looks drear,

And Heaven seems far away,

Cheer up, sad heart, no more repine, 

Thou shall find light--some day.

Let friends forsake and foes appear;

Our Savior bore this all.

He knows how bitter is the cup,

His own was filled with gall.

Let earth and all its troubles go,

Look up--cast grief away,

Though clouds now gather dull and low,

All will be bright-someday.

Some day, sometime we all shall stand,

Upon that blissful shore,

And there the woes that grieve us now, 

Will trouble us no more.

So then be brave, poor burdened one,

Hope on, trust on, and pray,

God knows it all and in His time,

Will give the light--some day.

As I Lay Dead One Day, ca 1898

This clipping was among the papers of James H. Moran III.  I was not able to locate an author and the first time it shows up in a google search is in Life Magazine volume 32 issue 816, 1898.  It was titled "Afterwards".  The clipping compares it to an earlier poem by Ben King ca 1894.

"This one from Life contains some features of Ben King's "If I Should Die To-Night"

As I lay dead one day,
  With all the people round,
"Poor boy!" I heard one say;
  "He'll soon be under ground.

"He owed me ten, but then"
  (He softly smoothed his brow),
"Twill not occur again;
  He cannot reach me now."

"How natural he looks,"
  Another said.  "Poor lad!
He was so fond of books--
  He borrowed all I had."

Another: "Poor, dear sould!
  He loved my dinners so!
How sad! Yet, on the whole
  "Twas best that he should go."

Another: "Ah! so young!
  So hard it is to think
His song was left unsung--
  They say he used to drink."

Another: "He was bright!
  How pitiful to fling
Such gifts away, He might
  Have done some clever thing."

And still another groaned,
  As in his chair he sank:
"His loss will be bemoaned--
  They say he was a crank."

As I lay dead one day,
  While waiting for the hearse,
I couldn't help but say;
  "This might have been much worse!"

Gardening Club of Dresden TN 1939-1941

In addition to growing their own food the Moran's enjoyed growing flowers, big shade trees and at one time they had a grape arbor.  Or more specifically the grape arbor was an agricultural experiment of Uncle Bruds which didn't produce many grapes but it did provide a lovely addition to the grounds. 

Uncle Brud was very much ahead of his time in terms of farming and being green.  He was constantly trying to improve the land, looking for crops that improve soil conditions and all in all being a good steward of the planet.  He loved planting trees and was given the nickname Johnny Appleseed.  One of his projects involved planting pecan trees along Highway 22 for which he received approval from the county highway department.  But later when the highway was widened the trees were all cut down.

Virginia and Jim Moran loved traveling and along their travels they would visit places like Cypress Gardens and Ash Lawn.  Virginia particularly enjoyed the cultivation of flowers.  

So it was no surprise to come across a folder full of brochures about growing flowers and plants from the USDA, Farmers bulletins, and newsletters from gardening societies and guilds.  The really interesting booklets came from the Dresden and Union City Garden Clubs because they tell us who was a member and what the club was involved in.

We have four Dresden Yearbooks from 1939 to 1941.  We also have a Union city Garden Club Yearbook 1939/1940.  The first page of each yearbook tells who the book belonged to, in our case each one says Mrs. J.H. Moran (insert year), Dresden, Tennessee.   It explains what a woman's club is, when it was organized and the club motto. There are lists of members, past officers, committee assignments, by-laws, minutes of meetings and more.  

I particularly like the 1941 yearbook because the cover is hand printed with artwork.   So, I've selected 1941 as the edition to showcase here.  At some point I will transcribe the entire yearbook so that the content is searchable.

So far I have transcribed through page 10.

page 2

What is a Woman's Club?

"A meeting ground for those of purpose 

Great and broad and strong;

Whose aim is in the stars; who ever

Longs to make the listening world resound 

With sweeter music, freer tones. 

A place where kindly lifting words 

Are sailed; kindlier deeds are done;

Where hearts are fed; where wealth of

Brain for poverty atones; where hand

Grasps hand and souls find touch with 

Souls."

page 3

The Garden Club of Dresden, Tennessee

Organized March 9, 1936.

Flower..........The Rose

Shrub.............Crepe Myrtle

Evergreen.......Boxwood

Bulb................Daffodil

Motto..................."Watch Us Grow."

page 4

The Collect.

Help us O God, to grow in Spirit and

in truth; Lead us in thought, word and deed.

Let us be kindly one toward another reserving all

hasty judgment.

Save us to be straight-forward and unafraid.

May we grow calm, serene, and become

gentlewomen willing to work and wait for

the fullness of our plans.

Remembering always that we are as one in the

big things of life.

O Lord God, give us love and understanding

as a key to unlock the hearts of womankind

and bestow our gifts of truth and beauty.

page 5

Club Membership

Charter Members

Mrs. I.L. Banks            Mrs. Mary Irvine

Miss Ida Baxter            Mrs. J.E. Jones

Mrs. J.N. Brasfield        Mrs. H.E. Jones

Mrs. W.D. Brasfield      Mrs. R.E. Maiden

Mrs. Roy Brasfield         Mrs. L.D. Maiden

Mrs. Lee Brasfield         Mrs. J.H. Moran

Mrs. Allen Brasfield       Mrs. W.G. Nall

Mrs. Claud Brock          Mrs. Warren Pettigrew

Mrs. H.O. Cashon         Mrs. Peter Porch

Mrs. M.E. Chandler       Mrs. W.H. Pritchett

Mrs. R.A. Elkins            Mrs. J.E. Shannon

Mrs. H.C. Frazier           Mrs. F.G. Smith

Mrs. Tom Grooms         Mrs. Raymond Smith

Mrs. Pete Harris            Mrs. Ruben Taylor

Mrs. S.L. Hastings         Mrs. J.W. Thomas

Mrs. J.C. Holbrook       Mrs. A.G. Thomason

Mrs. M.D. Ingram          Mrs. J.C. Vaughn

                     Mrs. King Webb

Honorary

Miss Lettie Clement         Mrs. Fred Mayo

Mrs. W.E. Mischke         Mrs. Cayce Pentecost

Mrs. G.T. Mayo              Mrs. A.D. Stubblefield

                     Mrs. A.N. Walker

page 6

In Memoriam

Mrs. J.E. Jones . . . . . . Died December 7, 1938

Mrs. M.E. Chandler. . . Died April 23, 1939

Our Gardens

"The little worlds all set apart,

So loved by many a wistful heart,

Our gardens fair and green and still,

Where lovely flowers their sweetness spill.

So Sweet are they the soul forgets

All fear and longing and regrets;

For in these gardens worlds apart

The seeking one finds Peace O'Heart."

"Go make thy garden as far as thou cans't

 Thou workest never alone.

"Perchance he whose plot is next to thine

Will see it and mend his own."

page 7

Members for 1941

Mrs. J.O. Alexander        Mrs. H.E. Jones

Miss Ida Baxter               Mrs. R.E. Maiden

Mrs. O.W. Beard            Mrs. L.D. Maiden

Mrs. J.N. Brasfield          Mrs. Hobson Mayo

Mrs. W.D. Brasfield        Mrs. J.H. Moran

Mrs. H.O. Cashon          Mrs. Cayce Pentecost

Mrs. H.W. Davis            Mrs. Peter Porch

Mrs. R.E. Ellis                 Mrs. W.H. Pritchett

Mrs. R.A. Elkins             Mrs. J.E. Shannon

Mrs. S.L. Hastings          Mrs. H.A. Taylor (Maggie Fisher)

Mrs. Joe Hilliard             Mrs. A.G. Thomason

Mrs. M.D. Ingram          Mrs. J.W. Thomas

                       Mrs. King Webb

                       Miss Elsie Henderson

                       Mrs. John Smith

Honorary

Miss Lettie Clement           Mrs. G.T. Mayo

Mrs. Fred Mayo                Mrs. J.B. Underwood

Mrs. Harold Watson          Mrs. Lyn Claybrook

page 8

Officers

Ex-Presidents

Mrs. J.E. Shannon. . .1936, 1937, 1938

Mrs. H.O. Cashon. . .1939, 1940

Officers for 1941

President. . . . . . . . . . .Mrs. R.A. Ellis

1st Vice-President. . . .Mrs. R.E. Maiden

2nd Vice-President. . .Mrs A.G. Thomason

Secretary. . . . . . . . . . Mrs. L.D. Maiden

Treasure. . . . . . . . . . . Mrs. L.D. Maiden

Reporter. . . . . . . . . .  .Ms. A.G. thomason

Historian. . . . . . . .  . . .Miss Ida Baxter

Time of Meeting

Second Friday in Each Month

"Give fools their gold and knaves their power,

Let fortune's bubble rise and fall.

Who sows a field or trains a flower

Or plants a tree is more than all.

For God and man shall own his worth 

Who toils to leave as his bequest

An added beauty to the earth.

Page 9

Committes

Program and Year Book:

  Mrs. Joe Hilliard

  Mrs. J.W. Thomas

  Mrs. H.E. Jones

  Mrs. O.W. Beard

Nomination:

  Mrs. L.D. Maiden

  Mrs. J.E. Shannon

  Mrs. H.O. Cashon

Membership:

  Miss Ida Baxter

  Mrs. J.N. Brasfield

  Mrs. M.D. Ingram

Publication:

  Mrs. A.J. Thomason

Telephone:

  Mrs. H.O. Cashon

  Mrs. Hobson Mayo

  Mrs. H.W. Davis

Courtesy:

  Mrs. R.A. Elkins

  Mrs. R.A. Taylor

  Mrs. King Webb

page 10

Flower Show:

  Mrs. H.E. Jones

  Mrs. R.E. Maiden

  Mrs. H.W. Pritchett

  Mrs. S.L. Hastings

City Beautiful:

  Mrs. J.H. Moran

  Mrs. J.O. Alexander

  Mrs. Peter Porch

  Mrs. Cayce Pentecost

  Mrs. W.D. Brasfield

  Mrs. J.N. Brasfield

Rules for the Flower Exhibit

Cut Flower exhibits shall be classified

into two groups:

I. Arrangement--Consisting of Same Kind of Flowers

or mixed varieties

Silver Spray ca 1890's

This is a lovely little book book of poetry entitled Silver Spray and Illustrated by Benjamin D. Sigmund, a prominent artist of the 19th century.  Sigmund was known for his gardens, animals, landscapes and waterways.

It was designed in England by Hildesheimer & Faulkner, London E.C. and Printed in Germany.  The Name Geo. C. Whitney, New York also appears on the envelope.  Perhaps he was the distributor in the United States?

The featured poets are Shelley, Byron, Moore and Tennyson.
It belonged to Fannie Moran.  Perhaps a gift from a suitor?

Easter Lilies from the Poets' Garden, 1890

This wonderful little booklet in the shape of a bouquet of lilies belonged to Fannie Moran.  Published in 1890 by L. Prang & Co., Boston, Massachusetts, it was illustrated by Ornithologist and musician F. Schuyler Mathews.  Mathews (1854-1938) later wrote the first field guide to bird songs in 1904, Fieldbook of Wild Birds and Their Music.  Prior to recorded music song bird melodies were handwritten and transcribed.  Mathews continued writing and published many more books about birds and nature.

The book was given to Fannie by an Aunt, unfortunately I can't make out the name of said Aunt.

EASTER LILIES From the Poet's Garden
Illustrated in pen drawings by
F. Schuyler Mathews

L Prang & Co.
Boston USA

The wand-like lily, which lifted up, As a maenad, its moonlight-colour'd cup,
Till the fiery star,
which is it's eye,
Gazed through clear dew on the tender sky.
SHELLEY


We are Lilies fair,
The flower of virgin light;
Nature held us
forth, and said,
Lo! my thoughts of 'white!"
Ever since then, angels
Hold us in their hands;
You may see them where they take
In pictures their sweet stands.
LEIGH HUNT

I had found out a sweet green spot
Where a lily was blooming fair;
The din of the city disturb'd it not;
But the spirit that shades the quiet cot
With its wings of love was there.
I found that lily's bloom
When the day was dark and chill;
It smiled like a star in a misty gloom
And it sent abroad a sweet perfume,
Which is floating around me still.
J.G. PERCIVAL

Ye lovely flowers, tis yours to preach
Lessons of truth, and humbly teach
The faithless and the proud:
Array'd in garb of sweetest hue,
Our Father's care we trace in you,
And still to Him who made you true,
Ye warn the thoughtless crowd.

Let those of feeble faith, whose breast
With doubts and fears can never rest,
Consider how ye grown.
Ye toil not with perplexing care,
Ye do not spin the coast ye wear,
Nor paint those colors bright and fair,
In which ye sweetly glow.
BROAD

School Teacher poem and illustration ca. 1894

This poem was sent to Fannie Moran in February 1894, she was 22 at the time.  

There was no other note enclosed and no return address so we'll never know who sent the poem.  I do like the way they did squiggly lettering on the envelope, it shows a sense of playfulness as does the poem! 

School-Teacher

You scrawny old tyrant of small boys,

What is that prompts you to be

So savage and fierce with the urchins

That are sent to be taught at your knee.

Perhaps the motive that moves you

Is revenge on the whole of the sex--

Because none of them ever did take you

You wish you had all by the necks.