More Old Photos - Comparisons

In my last photo post I showed a picture of my dad:


...followed by a picture of me:


I have some other comparison photos that you may enjoy...

Between high school and college, Mom served as a missionary for a couple of years in the Appalachians. She helped start a church in Caney Valley near Surgoinsville, TN. This is a picture she took back around 1960 of the church that was built for the people there:


About 11 years ago, I went up and found the church. It's still being used, but hasn't changed much; neither has the valley.


This is a picture of my wife-to-be, Lois, and her dad back around 1980. This was about the same time when we first met. I was in youth at church with all of her older siblings just after Mom died and Dad remarried:


A few years ago, my wife discovered that she still had that old outfit. Our daughter, Hope, was about the same age as my wife when the picture was made so Lois dressed her up in it and had her dad hold her for a photo:


Here's a 2-in-1. I'm on the left. My oldest son, Luke, is on the right:


Here's an old picture of me trying to push my dad into the piano. This piano was the same one on which I learned to play:


This is the piano that belonged to my dad's parents. Pa-paw wanted to give it to me, so we brought a truck one year and hauled it home. That's my youngest son, Luke looking like he's about to fall off the piano bench there:

Old Photos

I don't know why I do this. Dredging up memories makes me melancholy, but I love old photos. I recently went through my mom's old slides and several other photos that my brother has gladly digitized. Some are photos that I've had uploaded for some time. There are more than I want to put in one post so I'll have to make this topical somehow. This post is a sort of photographic genealogy. First, my dad's side of the family:



This is my great-grandfather James Pemberton (after whom I was given my first name) with my great grandmother, Elizabeth Rose "Mom" Pemberton. my pa-paw, Martin Andrew Pemberton, is the baby.


This is Mom Pemberton with her children. My great-grandfather had long since died when this photo was taken. Pa-paw is wearing the red tartan shirt.


Here we have 4 generations. I'm the squirmy kid with my dad on the far left, Pa-paw on the right and Mom Pemberton holding me.


My dad's mom (Ma-maw), Reba, was a Lovitt. Here are several of the Lovitts in a school photo. Even the teacher was a Lovitt. The Lovitts were known as a family to have dark features. Ma-maw is on the back row and hard to see.


Here's a reunion of that class from the early 80's. Ma-maw died in '85. She's on the front row in the blue spotted dress. Great aunt Marie is a couple of people to the right. The tall fellow on the back is one of my great-uncles, but I never met him. The teacher is the fellow on the left and is kin somehow.


This is Pa-paw in the navy about the time of WWII.


This is Ma-maw, probably from the late 20s or 30s.


Here is Ma-maw and Pa-paw Pemberton in the late 70s.

This is their son, my Dad: Martin A Pemberton, jr.


By comparison, this was me about the same age.


Now for my mom's side of the family:


Let's see if I can get these people right. I believe we have David and Margaret Ochs and their son, Isaiah. My great-great-great grandparents and great-great grandfather respectively.


This is a younger photo of Isaiah Ochs. Somewhere the name was changed to a more English spelling pronounced the same: Oaks.


This is my great grandpa and grandma Albert and Mary Oaks. I got my middle name from him. Mary's maiden name was Fox and her mother's maiden name was Harper. It is the Harper characterstics that are most prevalent on this side of the family.


This is my favorite photo of them. Great grandma Oaks was a pistol and it was all grandpa could do to keep her tame.


Their daughter is my grandma, Coral Reeder. Here she is with my grandpa, Ralph Reeder.


This is a photo I didn't know I had. A younger grandpa and grandma Reeder, she with the French braids she kept for years, putting in the floor of the old farm house.


This was my mom, Ruth Arlene Reeder, as a senior in high school.


My happy family in the 70s.

Family Photos 2007

My side of our extended family just got together for photos. it's been five years since we've had these taken and it's remarkable to see how everyone grows and changes. This is the whole family:






1. Luke - the oldest son of Lois and I
2. Lois - my wife
3. Morgan - the daughter of my step-brother Mike and his wife Lisa
4. Yours truly
5. Mike - my step-brother
6. Lisa - Mike's wife
7. Mark - my brother
8. Carrie - Mark's wife
9. Hope - the daughter of Lois and I
10. Paul - the youngest son of Lois and I
11. Martin - my dad
12. Ruth - the oldest daughter of Mark and Carrie
13. Diane - my step-mom
14. Anna - the youngest daughter of Mark and Carrie
15. Landon - the son of Mike and Lisa



Grandparents and grandkids. (What is Hope looking at?)


Dad and Diane and their three muchachos.


Lois and I and our three kids.

Fall Pictures

As dry as it's been, the leaves have really been pretty. The other morning it rained (yay!). When I walked out, it had stopped, but the rain had scattered some of the leaves and the morning sunlight filtered through the clouds had created some nice hues. I snapped a few photos from my phone before heading to work, so the pictures aren't great quality, but it should give you an idea of the autumn here in Statesville, NC.