Sepia Saturday

Sepia Saturday

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Mama don't take my Kodachrome away.....

With Kodak filing bankruptcy and my discovering a new photo, I thought I would make up my own theme.  The photo I found is pretty gaudy in color and I did tone it down a little with my photoshop program.  The thing that amazed me about the photo is the change one can see from photos with life's physical changing process, the change in housing and the change in clothing styles, even if it is only 70 or more years.

The house has been moved to Lorimor, but my Grandfather Charles Burgus and Grace Turner Burgus built and lived in this house north of Murray on a farm.  He was a farmer and they raised 10 children in the house. They did move away from the four square house so that the children could attend high school in Murray by buying a farm near there.









The ten Burgus children are at left.  My dad is the silly one on the right.  They look like they were just back from church.  The two on the left front are twins and my dad is on the far right. Dad was born in 1918 and he looks about ten here so 1928 is my guess for the time period.







Here is an informal shot of the ten at the city park with their mom and dad in the middle.  Mama and Papa I should have said.  They were a close bunch even though eventually three of them moved away from the Murray area.  One brother ended up living in Creston, Iowa, another brother was in the Indianola area and a sister lived in the Chariton, Iowa area.  The rest lived on farms in the Murray and Osceola, Iowa area. One sister went off to Oregon and another sister followed for a couple of years but eventually all were back living close to each other.






I have a first cousin that could probably date this photo for me.  I know that the one brother Carl in the back row had earlier lost his only son in a drowning accident and you can see the effects on him in the photo.  Ruby in the front row, next to my grandmother Grace was the one who moved out to Oregon and worked for the war effort, welding in a plane factory.  She did return to the Murray area after the war with her husband. I don't know if this is before the war but my dad looks young, left front row and he doesn't look like he has gone to war at that time.


Back row: Eva Burgus Dovenspike, Carl Burgus, Doris Burgus Forbes, Donald Burgus, Amye Burgus Ramsey, Cecil Burgus, Mary Burgus Farr
Front row: Jesse Burgus, Charles Thomas Burgus, Grace Elizabeth Turner Burgus, Ruby Burgus Henderson, Ralph Burgus


Kodachrome photo appears from the past and it is such a typical home photo.  I like the way that the one guy is cut off and my Uncle Donald can't be seen at all except you know he is standing behind Aunt Amye with her beehive hair.  If she had not worn her hair that way, we would have seen Donald.

It almost seems like time traveling ahead a hundred years, but it probably isn't any more than 30 years or less from the photo above.  The above photo had to be in the 40's and the photo at left had to be in the late 60's.
The house was built in 1959 by my dad.
Ralph died in 1957 so they are down to nine.
It is the summer and the style of dresses must be late 60's.  We lost Aunt Ruby in the early 70's.


Front row of Aunts: Doris Forbes, Amye Ramsey, Mary Farr, Eva Dovenspike and Ruby Henderson.
Second Row:  Cecil Burgus, Jesse Burgus, Donald Burgus and Carl Burgus

I was so surprised to find this photo of color in a pile of pictures in one of my dad's old cigar boxes. It really jumped out at me as they entire group and their spouses are now all gone.  My mom was the last to pass away in 2008.  The photo brings back all the memories of the family dinners that happened every year. It was either Thanksgiving or at Christmas time.  All the uncle and aunts would be there with spouses and my cousins of the younger family members were there. Cecil, the oldest, and his wife Bertha attended but their two children had move away out of state. We sometimes saw the son Roger and his wife, but rarely did we have a visit from their daughter Cecilia. Those two being the oldest cousins are gone also.

Thanks for stopping by my posting.  Check out the others who are participating in Sepia Saturday from all over the world by clicking here.










11 comments:

Postcardy said...

It really is like time travel to see the same people at different ages.

Wendy said...

My husband comes from a large family. They love a group photo and always try to stand in the same spot. Fun post!

Bob Scotney said...

I can't envisage a family of ten, although in tracing my family's history my ancestors all had large families. Good to see how your family changed through the years.

I thought your post was going to be a plug for Kodax.

Alan Burnett said...

You are always welcome to make up your own theme Larry. Whatever the theme, your posts are always so interesting.

Jo said...

What a lovely series of photos of a close family - your Dad looks like he's having a good laugh in the first photo :-) Jo

Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy said...

These are such wonderful photos of your family over the years. Thanks so much for sharing their story with us.

Kathy M.

Little Nell said...

What a great idea Larry, to show The Ten through the years, but it really hits home doesn’t it when you realise they’re all gone. It’s a nice way to pay tribute to them and their parents.

21 Wits said...

You are part of an amazing family! Lucky you! Your theme is perfect, and it makes me quite sad in our life time right now that things have gone the way they have for long time companies like Kodak...and wonder Bread.

Caroline Gill said...

Thank you for visiting my swan post. What amazing photographs! We have just returned from my first visit to your fine country. One of the highlights was taking the ferry to Ellis Island, NY, and using their family history centre/center to try to find a record of the arrival in the US of my great great grandfather's niece, a Scottish MacDonald, born in NZ! We have yet to track down the record, though we know from other sources that she was there . . .

Sr Crystal Mary Lindsey said...

What a wonderful family you have. Ten children and probably all birthed home. My mother was also born in 1918. And she is still alive. They don't made them like that any more.

Karen said...

I always enjoy your photos. I have a relative who has done a lot of work collecting photos and recording the Williams family tree. What a treasure! Thanks for your kind comment at my blog. Blessings!