Unknown African American Family

Close up of Kitty, 1945, at the
Moran Family Reunion

The photographs below are not annotated so there is no way to know who these people are.  However, we know the Moran family had a housekeeper/cook named Kitty and we have a few photographs of her with her name listed on the back.  So, it's very possible that these other photographs are of Kitty's family.

Whoever they are we wanted to include them in the blog because they are somehow a part of the Moran family history.  Plus, they are some very nice photographs representative of life during that time period.

Unknown African American Family, Weakley County Tennessee.

Unknown African American woman, Weakley county Tennessee

Dresden TN Gun Club By-Laws 1923

SYNOPSIS OF BY-LAWS OF THE DRESDEN GUN CLUB APPLICABLE TO CLUB HOUSE
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The Board of Directors shall have charge of the Club Property, look after, and manage the affairs of this club.
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No stockholder or member of this Club shall be permitted to transfer, assign or sell his stock, without the consent of the Board of Directors, and any transfer or assignment or sale of said stock, without consent and approval of the Board of Directors shall be null and void, and any assignee of said stock shall not be recognized as a member of this club or have the privileges of this club unless said sale is ratified and approved by said Board of Directors.
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Until the present indebtedness of the Club has been extinguished the Board of Directors shall be empowered to make assessments at reasonable intervals to exhaust this indebtedness, afterwards the annual dues shall be $5.00 (Five dollars) payable annually in advance on Jan 1st. On the 15th of Jany., all members whose dues have not been paid, shall become delinquent and be deprived of the privileges of the Club until the dues are paid with a penalty of 15% for every six months or a part thereof.
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The Club House shall be open to members at all times and any member may at any time invite as guests any non-resident of Weakley County, except when Club House is full.  No member shall have as his guest at one time more than three residents of Weakley County.  He must register their names with Secretary, stating time they are to remain, and pay Secretary in advance fifty cents per guest for each day.
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No member shall use the property of any other member without first getting written permission.
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Children of Club members, under 21 years of age shall not be permitted into or stay at the Club house unless accompanied by their parents or some responsible Club member.
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Any member taking guest to Club House shall see that they obey the rules.
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Each member visiting the Club House shall upon leaving the premises shall see that the same are cleaned up and in good order, failing to do this he is subject to a fine of not less than $5.00, and his only appeal shall be to the Board of Directors.
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Many of the locals would go hunting at Reelfoot Lake.  One of the club houses that they looked at, and possibly used, was the Trenton Outing Clubhouse.

Weakley County TN Fair, ca. 1910

Here are some fun photo's from the Weakley County Tennessee Fairgrounds and race track near Dresden Tennessee.  These were taken in the early 1910's and were found among the photographs belonging to Charles Harrell Moran.

In addition there was a post card photograph of two unknown ladies that we believe was taken at the fair.  Their photograph was made using a new photography technique called Mandel's Positive Process these pictures were made on the spot making a trip to the photographer's studio unnecessary.  Up until this point photographer's worked out of studio's but in about 1913 the Chicago Ferrotype Company produced a Mandel-ette Postcard Camera. This camera was portable and used by street photographers. It made it possible for people to get inexpensive pictures of themselves in everyday situations, such as being at the fair.

The "parking lot" is on the opposite side of the fence at the Weakley County Fairgrounds, horse and buggy style.
The water wagon is being filled from the water tower on this side of the fence.

It looks like there was even a campground area at the fairgrounds.  Here we have people relaxing
at their tents and there are even some covered wagons parked out there.

If you look closely you'll see the Cherry Transfer Co. bus.  They moved people and were
also a furniture moving company.

I think this was the judges viewing stand at the race track.

Here's another view of the action at the fair.

Harness racing was very popular.  Here is a jockey riding in his sulky.  

Waiting for the race to begin?

Two girls at the Weakley County Fair.  Taken using Mandel's Positive Process Camera.
side one

Two girls at the Weakley County Fair.  Taken using Mandel's Positive Process Camera.
side two