This is Eunice Amelia Paulk. She's my 1st cousin 4 times removed. Our common ancestor was her grandfather and my 4th great-grandfather, Reverend Cyrus Paulk, Sr.
My 3rd cousin, Norma, emailed this amazing photo to me. Wasn't Eunice a beauty?
Eunice, who also went by Una, was born in 1842 in Ohio. She was the third of seven children born to Ferdinando Paulk and Amelia Lindsay Humphrey.
In 1860, she was 19 years old and was living with her parents and siblings in Washington, Lee, Iowa. And her occupation was listed as a "teacher in common school."1
She was still living in Washington, Iowa in 1870.2 However, she wasn't living with her parents then. She was 28 years old and was living with William and Laura Davis. I don't know of any family connection with the Davis family, so Eunice may have just been boarding with them. She was still teaching school at the time.
Eunice moved to California sometime after the 1870 census was taken. Each of her six siblings also moved to California.
On 2 March 1876, Eunice married Franklin Lafayette Johnson in San Joaquin, California. They had one child, a daughter, named Mary Grace Johnson.3
By the time the 1900 U.S. census was taken, Eunice was a widow. A nephew, John Ferdinando Paulk, Jr., and a niece, Mary Amelia Paulk, both children of Eunice's brother, John Ferdinando Paulk, Sr. were living with Eunice and her daughter Mary Grace in 1900.4
By 1910, Eunice had moved to Pasadena.5 Two of her nieces, Amelia (Amy) E. O'Neil and Mary A. Paulk, were living with her.
Eunice passed away on 20 February 1913 in San Joaquin, California.6
Thanks for reading!
Jana
© 2014 Copyright by Jana Last, All Rights Reserved
1 Year: 1860; Census Place: Washington, Lee, Iowa; Roll: M653_330; Page: 652; Image: 660; Family History Library Film: 803330. Line 23.↩
2 ] Year: 1870; Census Place: Washington, Lee, Iowa; Roll: M593_404; Page: 450B; Image: 527; Family History Library Film: 545903. Line 38.↩
3 Ancestry.com. California, Select Marriages, 1850-1945 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc, 2014. Original data: California, Marriages, 1850-1945. Salt Lake City, Utah: FamilySearch, 2013.↩
4 ] Year: 1900; Census Place: Dent, San Joaquin, California; Roll: 108; Page: 2B; Enumeration District: 0100; FHL microfilm: 1240108. Line 58.↩
5 Year: 1910; Census Place: Pasadena Ward 6, Los Angeles, California; Roll: T624_86; Page: 5A; Enumeration District: 0311; FHL microfilm: 1374099. Line 44.↩
46 Ancestry.com. California, Death Index, 1905-1939 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013.Original data: California Department of Health and Welfare. California Vital Records-Vitalsearch (www.vitalsearch-worldwide.com). The Vitalsearch Company Worldwide, Inc., Pleasanton, California.↩
Eunice is a lovely woman and What a beautiful and unusual hair style! I've never seen anything like it before!
ReplyDeleteHi Cindy,
DeleteHer hair really is something! Those curls are so pretty. Thanks for stopping by!
I was also thinking how unusual Eunice's hair style is. She is indeed beautiful, and perhaps a touch original :)
ReplyDeleteHi Yvonne,
DeleteYes, her hair is unusual. I wonder if it was styled especially for this photograph, or if she wore it like this always. Thanks for stopping by!
She had great eyebrows -- (did women tweaze back then??). I wish someone had taken a picture of the back of her head too. Do you suppose she wore a bun?
ReplyDeleteWhat great questions you have Wendy! Her eyebrows really were great. I don't know if they tweezed back when this photo was taken. But, I read that Victorian era women did pluck their eyebrows. This photo may have been taken in the 1860's or 1870's, so I'm not sure if eyebrow plucking was going on then.
DeleteAnd it would be fun to see the back of her head too. I wonder if all of her hair was gathered into those two beautiful side curls. Thanks for stopping by!
The first thing I noticed was her hair - quite different that any style I've ever seen in a portrait!
ReplyDeleteHi Carol,
DeleteYes, her hair was so striking and so very pretty. I wonder if other women wore their hair like her at that time, or if she was a trend-setter. Thanks for stopping by!
Love the photo! The high button shirtwaist with the white collar makes me think of a school teacher.
ReplyDeleteHi Colleen,
DeleteI wonder if this is how she dressed when she taught her school classes. Stylish indeed! Thanks for stopping by!
If only pictures could talk. I would love to hear what's going on behind those eyes.
ReplyDeleteHi Ann,
DeleteOh yes! Wouldn't that be awesome? If only.... Thanks for stopping by!
Think of the stories that go between those census residence changes - all the different locations, and people she lived with. What a story!
ReplyDeleteHi Cynthia,
DeleteYes! There are so many missing pieces to her story between all of those census years. I wonder if she kept a journal and if so where it is now. Thanks for stopping by!