Martha Sharp Crawford aka Sunny Von Bulow

This is the kind of family connection that is fun and makes me laugh.  Kent is related to Sunny Von Bulow, she is the grand niece of the wife of the brother in law of his grand aunt.

Here's how:

Kent's father was Nathan Harrell Moran
Nathan's father was James Henderson Moran III

James' sister was Fannie Lemira Moran

Fannie married James Benjamin Ezzell

James was the half brother of Harrison "Harry" Ezzell

Harry married Annie P. Sharp

Annie's  sister  was Martha E. Sharp

Martha married George Washington Crawford

and their daughter was Martha Sharp"Sunny" Crawford.

Sunny married Prince Alfred Von Auersperg and had two children: Princess Annie-Laurie and Prince Alexander Georg.  She and Prince Alfred divorced.  Sunny married Claus Von Bulow in 1966. A year later their daughter Cosima was born. Sunny died under suspicious circumstances in 2008.

That's it in a nutshell.  I'll be writing more about this interesting family connection at a later date.

Unknown Girl by Bingham of Memphis Tenn pre-1897

This is a beautiful picture of an unknown girl.  The photographer's mark is Bingham, Memphis Tennessee.  There seem to have been two Binghams in the Memphis Area.  Benjamin Bingham was the oldest photographer in Memphis when he died at the age of 63 in 1897 *Anthonys Photographic Bulletin no. 28 page 273.

There was also Brown H. Bingham who was in business with his uncle in the 1880's and then he opened his own shop in the late 1890's.  I'm thinking that Benjamin Bingham was Brown H. Bingham's Uncle and that Brown went into business for himself at the death of his uncle in 1897.

Of course I could be totally wrong!.  Either way this photograph of an unknown female relative was definitely taken in Memphis by someone named Bingham.

What I find interesting are her fingernails.  It looks to me as if they are painted and yet I don't know if finger nail paint was around at that time and if it was, would a well brought up young lady be wearing something so scandalous as fingerpaint?

The Finis Garrett Connection

Finis James Garrett is my husbands second cousin twice removed through the Harris family of Carroll County Tennessee.  Finis was born in Weakley County August 26, 1875, the son of Noah J. Garrett and Virginia C. Baughman.  He married Elizabeth Harris Burns.  She was the great grand-daughter of Williamson Harris and Elizabeth Battle Perry.  She and Finis had two children, Virginia Lee Garrett and Burns Garrett.

The family picture was taken June 29, 1953 on the eve of Jimmy's wedding.  I believe they are referring to James Henderson Moran IV.  Seated from left to right:  Virginia Lee Garrett, Elizabeth (Bess) Harris Burns, Finis James Garrett, and Burns Garrett.

Finis served in the US Congress from 1905 - 1929.  He had a failed Senate bid but was appointed judge of the  US Court of Customs and Patent Appeals by President Calvin Coolidge.  He later was appointed presiding judge of the court by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1937 and served until his retirement on September 15, 1955.  Finis died in Washington DC on May 25, 1956.  He and his wife Elizabeth are buried in Sunset Cemetery in Dresden, TN.