Tribute to the Grove family

This tribute to the Grove family was sent to me by my friend “LaCreta.”  LaCreta’s grandfather, William Henry McCaslin was brother to Sarah Melvina McCaslin, the wife of Thomas Franklin Grove.

LaCreta is a fellow genealogist and provided me with almost everything I know about the McCaslin side of the family.  She is also the only person I know who has had the distinction of having her photo taken with Elvis Presley.  The photo was taken by LaCreta’s sister Virginia Counts who was on assignment for the local newspaper.

LaCreta and Elvis (LaCreta in left foreground)

LaCreta’s tribute:

A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words

This expression most certainly applies to Thomas, Sarah and their children.  In the last few days I have gone through the hundreds of photographs that Robert Henderson made available to us on 2 DVDs.  There must have been a camera available at all times with this family.

In those pictures I see smiling, pretty young sisters and their handsome brother. There are pictures of the girls with their arms around each other or with their friends and other family members. Later, the pictures show these same smiling, loving siblings all grown up, with spouses and children of their own.  Smiling...always smiling......This had to have been a very happy family with proud, caring parents.

The pictures say Thomas worked hard and provided well for his family.

They tell me Sarah was a dedicated wife and mother who probably sewed and made many of her daughter's clothes, as well as her own.  She surely had a big influence in the way her children were always well groomed.  They all certainly displayed a sense of fashion, from their cute hats and caps...the big bows they wore in their perfectly coiffed hair...to their neat and pretty dresses and coats...even their stylish shoes and boots!

The photographs of them in a card game, in funny poses,  goofing off at a swimming hole and clowning around with each other, or their friends, speak loudly of the sense of humor they all had.

The images of the girls in their school activities hint that they were serious students who probably couldn't wait to get to school each day.  I'll bet they were smart, too.

These pictures just have to tell us that these siblings could not have been so happy, creative, confident and fun loving without the influence of Thomas and Sarah, their loving and supportive parents.