Hi, y'all!! Welcome to the South!

I'm Susan Harper. Those smiling faces above are some of my ancestors. In the center of the 2nd row from the back, right in front of the post, are my great grandfather - George Washington "Tump" Harper - and my great grandmother - Lettie A. (Bobo) Harper. Surrounding them are their boys (they had four) and their families. (My grandparents, Perry and Flora (Burttram) Harper, are on the back row, right end.) There was something about photos back then; no one wanted to smile.

The picture was made around 1917 or 1918 at the "old home place" in the High Point Community outside of Albertville, Alabama. That's up on Sand Mountain. Tump and Lettie met, married (1884) and lived in High Point until their deaths - Tump in 1945, Lettie in 1952. They're both buried in Bethany Baptist Church cemetery, a church that they helped to found.

I thought I had a picture of my great-great grandparents, John William "Buck" and Sally (Jarrett) Harper. (Unfortunately, it turned out not to be them but a son and his wife.) Family lore has it that Sally is buried in either the Hightower, Alabama or Bowden, Georgia area, but we haven't been able to find anything to prove this. We have, however, found Sally and the children on the 1870 Fulton County, Georgia census. And there is a community which is or was called Hightower in the Fulton County area. I just haven't had a chance to travel over there yet to try to verify the information. One story about Buck is that he died somewhere on Sand Mountain during the CSA retreat from Atlanta towards Florence, Alabama, as a result of wounds he suffered during the Battle of Atlanta. Again, we haven't been able to prove this because we can't find any record of his military service. If you have any information on Buck or Sally, or recognize anyone else from our Rogue's Gallery and would like to share your information,  PLEASE contact me.

This picture on the left is one of Tump and Lettie by themselves. Tump (born in October 1863 or 1864) was the youngest of Buck and Sally's children.  Click on it or any of the following thumbnails to view a larger picture.
 

 

These two gentlemen (right) are my great-grand-uncles, sons of Buck and Sally - Francis Marion Harper (on the left) and his brother, Joe Harper. (Joe may be short for either Joseph or Josiah.) This portrait was possibly made between 1880 and 1900. Marion was born around 1862 in Columbus, Georgia according to his death certificate. We know nothing about Joe. Census information leads us to believe he may have been born around 1853. If anyone recognizes him and/or the picture and can give us any information, please contact me. I want to thank another "new-found" cousin, Nancy Dewine, for this picture.

 
This picture on the left is of Francis Marion Harper and his wife, Martha (Shaw) Harper. We don't have any information telling us when or where the picture was made. I'm guessing, though, that the picture was made in the western area of Birmingham, probably in the early 1900s. Thanks to my "new" cousin, Clyde Harper, for this photo.
 
 

The family on the right is that of John William "Bose" Harper, another of Buck and Sally's sons. Bose had 2 families; this one is his first family with wife - Martha E. (Collier) Harper. I believe this photo may have been made around 1896 or 1897. From left to right, we have (we think): Mary Eppie Harper, Sarah Etta Harper, Martha (seated) holding Birdie Jane Harper, John Thomas Harper, Bose (seated) holding Minnie Luna Belle Harper, Joe David Merrill Harper, and William Arthur Harper. Another son, Walter was born in 1883 and died in 1887. In May 1898, Martha died giving birth to twins Mattie and Hattie. One of the twins died at birth, the other died in September 1898. In 1899, Bose married Nancy Ann Ethel Hornsby, moved his family to Oklahoma, had six more children along the way, and died in 1913.

These pages are constantly under construction as we find more information (and my web-creating skills get better).  Please check out our link to Family Tree Maker: the Harper Family Home Page for our genealogy report. I hope to add a tree and information on some of my other lines later. If you recognize any of these good folks and have any information you'd like to share (as I have and will share mine), please contact me at suharper@bellsouth.net.