(Top left) Dolphus Eller is seated on the left, with his wife behind him. Tom Snyder is seated on the right, with his wife Nora behind him. I believe this photo was taken in Millers Creek, Wilkes County, N.C., probably in the 1930s.
Tom and Nora were my grandparents. They were Wiley Thomas Snyder (1892-1988) and Nora Bessie McNeil Snyder (1900-1992). Dolphus was Rev. Adolphus Worth Eller (1898-1966). Mrs. Eller was born Ethel Elnora Wells (1899-1979). Dolphus was Nora's 2nd cousin.
It must be a Sunday, since Tom is wearing a dress shirt and slacks, instead of the overalls he wore Monday through Saturday for farm work. My guess is that the Snyders invited the Ellers to Sunday dinner (right after church). Actually, I just learned that this is a photo of the A.W. Eller homeplace, so maybe the Snyders went to lunch at the Ellers'. Tom and Nora's daughter Carrie (my mother) said whenever they had guests, Nora fried chickens. They gave the breast pieces to the guests, then the other adults chose the next best pieces, so the kids got the least favorite pieces (the neck being the worst). Carrie always ordered fried chicken breast!
Dolphus and Ethel are buried in Arbor Grove Methodist Cemetery, whereas Tom and Nora were lifelong Baptists, so Dolphus wasn't their preacher, but was a neighbor and relative.
Dolphus and Ethel were the parents of the triplets, Billie J., Betty Jo, and Bobby Jean, whose sad story I told in this blog post.
(Top right) Tom and Nora with their 3 oldest surviving children. Left to right: Tom, Mozelle, Carrie in front, Nora, Neil.
This photo was taken about 1931 (from the ages of the children) on Tom and Nora's farm in Millers Creek. I recognize their barn in the background, along with the garage and chicken coop.
Along with Tom and Nora, Carrie Mae Snyder Disher (1926-2001) and James Neil Snyder (1922-1993) have passed on.
(Bottom left) Photo taken on 25 Aug 1933 in Wilkes County, North Carolina, at the Reddies River Primitive Baptist Church (near Wilbar). This is the grave of Louise Jane Whittington Snyder (1863-1933) on the day of her funeral. She was Tom's mother.
(Bottom right) "Lawrence at the homeplace that burned." This is Nora's brother John Richard Lawrence McNeil (1911-1974). She called him Lawrence, but others called him Bud or Mac. Lawrence is wearing the overalls that Wilkes County men wore to do farm work. I belied this phot was taken in the late 1920's (or early 1930's) in Wilkes County, N.C.
Lawrence led an interesting life. Unlike most of my family, he left Wilkes County. But before leaving, he married Alma Adelaide Adams (1910-1998) in 1929 and they had 3 children:
- Billie Jeanette McNeil Millen (1930-2013)
- Jewel Dean McNeil Brown (1933-2007)
- Richard Jerry McNeil (1935-2012)
They were divorced in 1942. Alma remained in Wilkes County with the kids, and Lawrence moved to California. He lived in San Francisco the rest of his life, marrying two more times. He changed the spelling of his last name to McNeill.
I don't remember the story of the burned homeplace. Since Nora said it was the "homeplace," I believe it was the home of her parents, George Thomas McNeil (1870-1930) and Clara Eva Hettie Ellen Jarvis McNeil (1873-1959), in Millers Creek.
Another note: Despite being buried at the neighboring Methodist church, Dolphus was a staunch Baptist, often baptizing in a nearyby river, so might very well have been your grandparents' preacher.
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