Wednesday, June 9, 2021

Living a Legacy + Book Giveaway

 By Tiffany Amber Stockton




Last month, the family from the famous book, Misty of Chincoteague, came to life in living color here on this blog, with facts you likely had never heard before, especially if you only read the book or saw the movie. If you missed last month's post, you can view it here: https://www.hhhistory.com/2021/05/the-beebe-legacy.html.

This month, it's time to get a little personal in sharing some of the tidbits from my family history. I'll also be giving away not one, not two, but THREE different books. Haven't done a giveaway in a while, so I'm making up for lost time. *winks* Read through the post to the bottom for further details.


MY GRANDFATHER, DANIEL WESLEY GAULT, JR.


When I was a little girl, my mother read me the story of Misty of Chincoteague, then regaled me with stories of her father and how he knew Grandpa Beebe, Paul, and Maureen. She also showed me a picture of her standing with Misty! You can imagine my wonder and awe at seeing my mother and her father as "famous." At least to a little girl, anyway. *grins*

Daniel W. Gault, Sr. &
Carrie (Jester) Gault
But let's go back a few years to 1919, when my grandfather (Pop-pop as I called him) was born on Chincoteague Island. His parents, Daniel W. Gault, Sr. and Carrie Jester Gault had both been married before but lost their respective spouses and brought one child each to their marriage. Pop-pop was the first of seven children to follow, nine altogether.

When Pop-pop was 6 years old, the very first official Pony Penning Day occurred. I can just imagine him as a young lad eager and anxious to race to the island's beach area where the water from the channel which separated Chincoteague from Assateague lapped against the sand. That very beach would be where the saltwater cowboys would drive the wild herd across the channel and onto Chincoteague to be sold at auction. The events surrounding that day will be a key highlight in the first book of my proposed trilogy for Harlequin. Stay tuned for 2022 for more information on that.

Daniel W. Gault, Jr. &
Esther Mae (Seiple) Gault
Through the 1920's and most of the 1930's, Pop-pop remained on the island with his family. As with everyone, times got extremely difficult during the Depression. My mother remembers stories told to her of how her grandfather would cut up old car tires to use the rubber in order to re-sole the shoes of his children. Talk about ingenious! I admire the true survivors from that era, the ones who did whatever it took to survive and never gave up. And from the time Pop-pop was thirteen, he took a position behind a barber chair in his father's barber shop to bring in additional money for the family, cutting hair like his father before him.

After Pop-pop graduated high school in 1937, the barbershop on the island was sold and his family moved to Washington, D.C., where he met Esther Mae Seiple, my future grandmother. Two years later, WWII began, and in 1941, Pop-pop enlisted in the Army, only to be sent to the Panama Canal. When he returned after 5 years, he married Esther and joined his father in business at the Father & Son Barber Shop on Pennsylvania Avenue, just south of Capitol Hill.

Galt Jewelers stamp on packages
Galt & Bro, Inc. Jewelers, est. 1802
Together, they cut the hair of many senators, congressman, and Washington elite. Their clientele was quite the "who's who" list in D.C. Makes sense, as another part of my family is Galt (name spelled without the "u") and they owned Galt & Bro, Inc Jewelers, which opened in D.C. in 1802, and served numerous presidents among other society members. The business was the "oldest business in the District" and remained open always near the White House for nearly two centuries before quietly closing its doors in 2001. Oh, the stories I could tell about President Abraham Lincoln's watch being repaired there when the first shots were fired on Fort Sumter, or Edith Galt taking over ownership after her husband died then going on to marry President Woodrow Wilson while he was president. But those are stories for a whole other series. *grins*

Senator barbershop
my older brother's first haircut
Back to my Pop-pop. Around 1952, not long after a barbershop for senators and representatives was opened in the basement of the Capitol building in the late 1940s, my great-grandfather retired and returned to Chincoteague island, leaving Pop-pop to run the barbershop alone. He did that until 1966 when the Safeway grocery around the corner decided they wanted to expand with a new loading dock and bought out the entire block where that barbershop sat. That's when he moved with his wife and daughter (my mom, born in 1950) out of the city to Suitland, Maryland, then rented a chair in a barbershop in Fairfax Village. That chair was where my older brother received his first haircut at about 2 years old.

Pop-Pop with me and older brother
Pop-pop remained there and worked until 1979 when he left Maryland and returned to Chincoteague Island, where he took over ownership of a barbershop there and rented an apartment across the street. That apartment holds very fond memories for me, as I remember visiting him and sitting on his knee making up stories about how my older brother and I were in danger in some way and he came to the rescue. See? I was telling stories even at the early age of 4. *winks* Unfortunately, that time together was short-lived, as a heart attack took Pop-pop's life in 1982. I was only 6 years old, but the memories have lasted, and now his legacy lives on through this blog as well as the upcoming books I'm writing.




NOW IT'S YOUR TURN:

I don't have any books on my family history published YET, but I *do* have books celebrating family connections and generational stories. So, that's what I'm offering in the giveaway today.

For your chance at one (1) of three (3) FREE books from my Brandywine Brides trilogy (Bound by Grace, Stealing Hearts, Antique Dreams), answer one of the questions below in the comments and leave your email address as a way to get in touch with you if you win. Good luck!

* Select one unique fact from the post above that stood out to you and share why it appealed to you.

* What stories do you have of your own family ancestors surviving through the Depression? What did they do to feed themselves and their children or to avoid being evicted from their home?

* Is there anything in your family which has been passed down through the generations? Perhaps a skill, a trade, a legacy, a house, or a building?

Leave answers to these questions or any comments on the post below. Next month, I'll be sharing about how my great-grandfather provided clams and oysters to the White House and received personal thanks from the President himself. Come back on the 9th of July to find out more.


BIO

Tiffany Amber Stockton has been crafting and embellishing stories since childhood, when she was accused of having a very active imagination and cited with talking entirely too much. Today, she has honed those skills to become an award-winning, best-selling author and speaker who is also an advocate for literacy as an educational consultant with Usborne Books. She loves to share life-changing products and ideas with others to help better their lives.

She lives with her husband and fellow author, Stuart Vaughn Stockton, along with their two children, two dogs, and two cats in Colorado. She has sold twenty (24) books so far and is represented by Tamela Murray of the Steve Laube Agency. You can find her on Facebook and GoodReads.

14 comments:

  1. Thanks for the post. Your family history is SO rich! Most important to my mom was the fact that she lived in the same house that she grew up in and my stepdad is still there. My brother will inherit it so that will be the third and fourth generation in the house. It's not all that unusual, I guess, but that was very important to her. bcrug(at)twc(dot)com

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    1. Actually, Connie, these days it seems family legacies are going the way of the dinosaur. Far too many people simply don't appreciate tradition and heritage anymore. :( So, it's a great thing hearing about your mother living in the same house where she grew up and your brother eventually inheriting it. Thanks for sharing!

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  2. Oh my gosh - absolutely devoured all the Misty books and my dream is to visit Chincoteague one day! I loved how Pop-pop jumped right in and began cutting hair. I bet he was really good at it! Fancy cutting the hair of those in government… The conversations must have been incredible. Thanks for the giveaway. I am looking forward to your stories about Chincoteague! bettimace at gmail dot com

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    1. Betti, my grandfather definitely developed a knack for it. He even continued that barber shop well into his adult years and right up until he passed away. Sometimes, I wish I had been older with him to have been able to talk about all those fascinating conversations he must have had. :)

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  3. My mother, daddy and I went to the same school in the same building and all of us played basketball in the same gym in our small town.
    mauback55 at gmail dot com

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    1. Melanie, that's quite a legacy in two generations. Wonder if you ever heard stories about your parents when you were attending or even playing basketball. :)

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  4. How interesting!

    I'll answer question #2... my grandfather was college age during the depression and did any job he could find to pay for college... One of which was cleaning poop from monkey cages at the Detroit Zoo.

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    1. Oops! Forgot the email address! SteveJoin@ DonohoAnalytics. com

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    2. Way to go to your grandfather! No job is too demeaning if it pays money and helps you achieve your goals or even survive. :)

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  5. Hi Tiffany, my paternal side of the family migrated from Indiana to SW MO in the 1880s by covered wagon. Eight of the Utter brothers settled in the four-county area where I now live. Most of them were farmers, so during the Dust Bowl Era they were able to scratch out a living selling farm veggies and fruit from their orchards. jenningskaren1973atgmaildotcom

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    1. Karen, you do what you have to do! Selling veggies and fruit to others is a great way to help keep people healthy in spite of financial challenges. Communities coming together in a crisis. LOVE it!

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  6. Hello Tiffany My Mother and Daddy always told Me stories of the great depression and My Grandfather could not work so my Daddy worked and helped take care of his siblings because he was the oldest in his Family! Thank you for this wonderful post!

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    1. Sarah, I can relate to that. Even though it wasn't the Depression, I was the most responsible of my siblings, so I was tasked with caring for them in the 1980's when both our parents had to work hourly jobs with no paid time off. As much as I love general prosperity in our times now, a part of me wishes for tough times again, because that's when people really pull together and a unique closeness is reached among family and friends.

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  7. Sorry forgot my email address Sarahbaby601973(at)gmail(dot)com

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