11 July 2010

After being without it for quite some time, I finally convinced Joey to let me renew my subscription to ancestry.com. Back in October, I had a 14-day free trial, but long before that (I believe it was 2006), I had an actual subscription for a full year that came free with the Family Tree Maker Software I received as a Christmas gift. Until now, I have never actually paid for a subscription, but as a sale/promotion for Independence day, subscriptions were 20% off.

A month ago, mom, Jess and I looked through Grandma CREED's cedar chest again. It had been years since looking at her belongings, and the first time since I got serious about my genealogy. Inside we found some truly priceless treasures!

• Grandma CREED's baby book - perhaps written in Great-Grandma Gladys SUMNER CREED's handwriting!
• Uncle Dennis' baby book.
• Grandma's wallet - as it was when she passed away - that contained "useful" photos.
• An LP record of a gospel group from Fries, VA.
• And my favorite - a box of old postcards written to Great-Grandma Gladys.

I suppose I vaguely remember being told at one point that Gladys died from Tuberculosis, but somehow I had not ever recorded that piece of information. Mom reminded me of it as we were looking at the postcards. One of the postcards was written by Great-Grandpa Roby CREED and was addressed to Gladys at the Catawba Sanatorium in Virginia.

Apparently, she was being treated there for a while before she died. The postcard was mailed in 1943 and Gladys died in 1945. I am not certain, at this point, whether she died at the hospital or at home.

The Catawba Sanatorium, I have found through online research, was once known as the Roanoke Red Sulphur Springs Resort. I have even found some photos of it. Today it is Catawba Hospital - a mental health hospital. None of the original buildings remain, but several articles mention a fountain built over the springs that stands under a gazebo and is still on the grounds of the hospital. It is said that there are names of former patients on the fountain, but I have yet to find a documented list of those names. I suppose I will have to go and visit it myself one day and see if Gladys' name is among them.