2020 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 2: "Favorite Photo" - Madaline Eva Moore Hunt and Her Best Friends

This week's theme is one of those that can be incredibly daunting, simply because I have so many family photos that I love! It was a tough decision, but in the end I decided on three beautiful photos that span four friends, four interwoven family lines, and 70 years.

Top, L-R: Madaline Moore Hunt (with back turned), Margaret Hunt Douglas (holding son, Roy Douglas), Juanita Hancock Hunt, and Anna Mae Hancock Kelly. Taken circa 1941.
Bottom Left, L-R: Margaret Hunt Douglas and Madaline Moore Hunt. Taken in 2013.
Bottom Right, L-R: Madaline Moore Hunt and Anna Mae Hancock Kelly. Taken in 2009.

I found the first photo in an album of old photos from the childhood and teenage years of my mom's maternal grandmother, Madaline Eva "Madge" Moore Hunt. It was taken in 1941: Mamaw* Madge was 18 years old, a newlywed, and pregnant with her first child. She is the one on the far left, with her back turned. Beside of her is her sister-in-law, Luticia Margot "Margaret" Hunt Douglas holding her first child, Roy Douglas. To Margaret's left is Juanita Hancock Hunt (who married a cousin of my great-grandfather's), and on the far right is Anna Mae Hancock Kelly, Juanita's sister.

I don't remember ever meeting Juanita, but I grew up knowing my great-grandmother Madge, my great-great-Aunt Margaret, my cousin Roy, and Anna Mae. When I found this photo in 2011 Roy had already passed away, but Mamaw Madge, Margaret, Juanita, and Anna Mae were all still living. I came up with the idea to recreate the original photo of them 70 years later, in the same location, and in the same poses. I loved how after 70 years, the same teenage girls who posed for an impromptu snapshot were now in their late 80s and still best friends. 

Unfortunately we never got to recreate the photo, but I found the next best thing. The photo of Mamaw and Margaret on the bottom left was taken at Mamaw's 90th birthday party in 2013, and the photo of Mamaw and Anna Mae on the bottom right was taken at a church function in 2009. I was sad that we never got to recreate the the original, but maybe it was for the best; Mamaw's first baby that she was expecting when it was taken passed away after living for only twelve hours, and Margaret's son that she was holding passed away years before I ever found the original, in 1999. If we had done the recreation, it would have only been a reminder that not everyone was there to make it complete.

Anna Mae was the first of the four best friends to pass away, in 2014. Mamaw followed three years later, in 2017. My great-great-Aunt Margaret is still alive and well and preparing to celebrate her 96th birthday next month, and as far as I know Juanita is also still alive and well. 

I mentioned in the first paragraph that the photos represented four interwoven family lines. It is obvious how Mamaw Madge and Aunt Margaret are related to me, but I was surprised to find that Juanita and Anna Mae are also doubly related to me, and by marriage they were all related to one another. I explained already that Mamaw and Margaret were sisters-in-law; Margaret's brother, Ernest Zacharias "Zack" Hunt, was my great-grandfather. While preparing for this blog post I found that Juanita and Anna Mae were Papaw's* cousins on his mother's side. Papaw's great-grandfather, Henry Chapman Hancock, and their grandfather, Thomas Horton Hancock, were brothers. I also found that Juanita and Anna Mae's grandmother, Mary Bradley, was the sister of my great-great-grandmother on my mother's father's side, Nancy Bradley. I suppose it truly is a small world.

* For anyone unfamiliar with Appalachian terminology, the names "Mamaw" and Papaw" are often used instead of "Grandma" and "Grandpa."

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My descent from Madaline Eva "Madge" Moore Hunt is as follows:

Madaline Eva Moore 1923-2017

great-grandmother

Phyllis Carolyn Hunt 1943-

Daughter of Madaline Eva Moore

Lora Marlene Quinn 1961-

Daughter of Phyllis Carolyn Hunt

Allison Quinn Kessinger

You are the daughter of Lora Marlene Quinn