I found these five snapshots in a little Kodak envelope labeled “Mr. Mark Sullivan”  on the outside with a total charge of $3.00 for the developing and printing.  Apparently Mark had taken the photos while attending the 85th birthday party of his grandmother, Mrs. Elizabeth Nelson Frierson, called “Bama” by my father and all her grandchildren.  After talking with my Dad some years ago, I had written “Bama” on the back of the photo you see to the right in which she walks down the stairs at Cherry Vale with her oldest son James Nelson Frierson.  “Bama”  was born on July 22, 1849, so this party was taking place in July of 1934, a little more than a year before her death on October 4, 1935.

That the scene is her 85th birthday party can be seen by enlarging the photo to the left below and noticing the table has a cake with the number 85 on it!  There are other people behind the table but it’s hard to distinguish their faces.

The other three pictures show a front view of Cherry Vale, a view of his grandmother’s old house with a six year old Henry Franklin Frierson standing in the front yard, and the young Henry seated with his father Henry Vaughan Frierson (b. 5 Feb. 1880, d. 5 Jan. 1951) on the steps of Cherry Vale.  At the time of these photographs in 1934, Henry Vaughan Frierson is the  oldest living brother of Uncle Nelson.  The second son of “Bama”, William Delancey Frierson, had died in 1918 during the flu epidemic at the age of 41.

The old house seems to be showing its age in these shots taken during the Depression – the steps especially seem to need some repair!