Treasure Chest Thursday - Aunt Grace was a Diva?

Aunt Grace Norris Bailey

A Page from the Scrapbook

I thought I knew quite a bit about my Great Aunt Grace.   A few years younger than my grandfather, she graduated from college and became a school teacher, eventually being voted into the Kettering (Ohio) Teachers Hall of Fame.  She married my Great Uncle, Harrison (Red) Bailey and they built a house on land ajacent to that of my grandparent's.  Though they remained childless, they shared their home with their "family"; a beloved succession of bulldogs.  Her name was quite fitting for a woman who carried herself with an air of style and elegance.  Yes.  I thought I knew quite a lot about this woman. That is, until yesterday when my mother brought me a box full of mementos that had belonged to Aunt Grace and I learned something quite surprising. My aunt was a diva.
There in the old box, among the scattered postcards, photographs, and blueprints, I found an old, dusty, ragged scrapbook.  Inside were pasted newspaper clippings detailing recitals and appearances where Aunt Grace performed as a singer.  The articles called her a "dramatic soprano".  Under each clipping Grace had lovingly described the event, listed the songs performed, and even detailed  what she had worn, such as "a peach taffeta dress" and "an orchid chiffon". Even though my mother remembered her aunt singing in church occasionally, she had no idea of the scope of her singing career and we were both surprised as we read of her accomplishments.   Several pages into the book, on  the side of the page she wrote, "been having a terrible time with my throat this winter so haven't been able to do much. Don't know if it will ever get better." On the following pages there are a few other clippings and then underneath a church program she wrote, "Solo at church one evening.  Got through it all right, but don't know how it sounded to listeners".  Then, on the page following the clipping that I have attached to this post, she wrote "Ralph Thomas gave another recital on June 2.  He was quite angry that I did not sing but finances said NO! and so did Dr. Sullivan, my nerves are very bad.  This Fall I hope to study earnestly - I can notice my voice is getting rusty."

 After this, the scrapbook ends.  Did her voice fail her? Was this the reason why her career went no further?  Was this when she decided to become a teacher?  How I wish I had known about this portion of her life!  How I wish she was here now to answers these questions and so many more!  I am very grateful that she never threw this scrapbook away and I wonder if there were times when she opened the book to remember those days.  The box has revealed many treasures that I will share in the future, but I had to begin with this discovery and the revelation that my Aunt Grace was a diva!

Fearless Females - Grace Norris Bailey

Today's prompt from Geneabloggers suggests we celebrate Women's History Month by sharing information about our Fearless Female relatives.   Today, I have chosen my maternal great aunt, Grace Naomi Norris Bailey.  My Aunt Grace was a true lady and a career woman at a time when that wasn't too common.  Born 9 February, 1906 to Harry and Elizabeth Routsong Norris, she was the only daughter and the youngest of their two children.  After graduating from high school, she went to college and received her degree in education. After college, she married Harrison "Red" Bailey on 23 September, 1938 in Kettering.  She continued teaching and she taught in the Van Buren Township/Kettering, Ohio school district until her retirement.  It wasn't long after her retirement that she was inducted into the Kettering Teacher Hall of Fame. 

Aunt Grace and Uncle Red did not have any children of their own, but instead shared their love with my aunts, uncles, and cousins and especially with the bulldogs they cherished so much. They always had at least one bulldog and usually there were two. I used to be scared of them because they would tend to "slobber" all over me whenever we would visit!  Their home was situated next to my grandparents property, so we could just walk up the hill to get to their house.  They had an outdoor pond long before it was popular to have one and we would delight in seeing the goldfish swimming around the lily pads. If were were lucky, there would be a couple of frogs hiding in the greenery too!

 Aunt Grace loved to play bridge and she was involved in many organizations around the Dayton area.   She even got into politics when the city wanted to widen the street in front of her house and take away several feet of her property.  She and her neighbors began a small group that protested the action and her they appeared on the news and in the newspaper, but sadly they weren't successfull at stopping "progress".

Several years before she passed away, she asked me if there was anything in her home that I would want someday.  I told her about a cedar chest I had seen in her attic on one occasion. She said "Oh, that old thing?" and she gave it to me then.  I posted a picture of it on one of my Treasure Chest Thursday posts.   Everytime I see that chest, I think about Aunt Grace.  She wasn't the kind of Aunt that smothers you with hugs and kisses, but I never doubted that she loved me.  When Aunt Grace died, many of her former students, some elderly then themselves, came to her funeral and told us what a wonderful teacher she had been.  When you can touch lives like that, I think it's the best legacy you can have.

Treasure Chest Thursday - The Old Notebook

A few years ago, my uncle gave my mother a large envelope full of items that had belonged to my Great Aunt Grace Norris Bailey. It is well known within her family that my mother is a lover of family photographs, so it was no surprise that my uncle decided to bestow this bounty upon my mother. Inside the envelope, we discovered an old photo album full of pictures from my great aunt's youth and her days at Otterbein College, newspaper articles, the guestbook full of signatures from my great uncle Red's funeral, and various other articles that my uncle had thought my mother would be interested. I borrowed several items to scan for my family history records and gave the envelope back to my mother for safekeeping.

A little while before Christmas, I revisted the envelope. This time I also found a small box that I hadn't noticed before. When I opened the box, I discovered a small, raggedy brown book. The pages were yellow with age and upon further inspection, I realized I had found a true gem of family history. Among the "practice" letters that Aunt Grace had written, along with a list of boys and girls she was inviting to a party, there were two written estate/probates records. One was for the estate of my 3rd great grandfather, Jacob Routsong and the other was for my 3rd great grandfather, Henry Sweadner. Each includes legal language pertaining to the executors, a list of the valuation of all property belonging to each man and a list of who bought what possessions and at what cost during the sale of the estates. As I read the list of what my ancestors owned and as I recognized the names of people who were early settlers here in what was then called Van Buren Township, I realized that I was holding a treasure. This book had been held by my ancestors. They had placed their signatures inside and left me a piece of their lives. I had previously purchased from the county a xeroxed copy of the actual "legal" copies of the estates that had been filed at the courthouse, but to have these original copies of the information means more to me than words can express. And I found it AFTER I had been through the envelope the first time. So let it be the lesson to you that it was for me. Never give up seeking your history. Even if you have been through the records before, check just one more time. You might find something you weren't expecting, and it could be fantastic!