Mono Monday: Ancestors

One of my earliest blips, back in January 2012, was about this great-great-grandmother on my mother's side, Rosalie Virginia Johnson. In that blip, I shared the middle photo of the trio here, along with the fine old basket that she used during the Civil War, and several generations after her used, including me.

Thanks to blipper musings, who introduced me to Ancestry.com on that 2012 blip, I now know a great deal more about my great-great-grandmother, and many other relatives. Left to my own devices, I'd forget to eat and drink -- that's how compelling I find genealogical research!

I'm intrigued by this trio of portraits of Rosalie Virginia Johnson, which I plan to have framed as a unit one day. Whether young or old, she had an almost palpable quietness to her. Born in Virginia in February 1838, Rosalie was the eldest of the nine children born to Harriet Elvira Moorman and Lafayette Johnson over a period of 20 years. All of them survived to adulthood.

Rosalie was not so fortunate. She and her husband Andrew Jackson Grayson, an officer in the Confederate Army, had nine children, born over 18 years. One of their daughters died at age 19, a son died at one month, and the daughter who carried her mother's name died the day she was born.

Fortunately, their fifth child -- a daughter -- survived. If she hadn't, I wouldn't be here.

(Thanks to MrsLinda for hosting MonoMonday!)

Blip 1487