Photographs of Eula Reed Tyler's Family

Some wonderful old pictures have been shared with me in the last few years, and it's time to start sharing them with you.  As I work on the stories behind the ones I've received, I'll start with a couple of my own.  (Remember to click on pictures to view them larger.)

Eula Reed Tyler - wife of Levy Tyler - Statesboro, Ga.

The handwriting of my grandfather John Osborne Reed (1894-1965) identifies his Aunt Eula and her family.  I had this photo for 30 years before I got into genealogy and finally discovered who Eula Reed Tyler was. 

Mary Eula Reed was a daughter of James Henry and Mary Cook Reed and a great-granddaughter of Samuel and Mary Clark Reed.  She was born in Blackville, South Carolina, about 1869.  She grew up in the Blackville/Healing Springs area of Barnwell County and was a member of Healing Springs Baptist Church. 

About 1887, she married Levi Sylvester Tyler, Jr. from across the South Edisto in the Willow Swamp area.  Levi was a son of Levi Silvester Tyler (1823-1864) and Catherine Thomas (1834-1904).  This was not the first time Reeds and Tylers had gotten together.  Levi's father was a brother of Anna Rebecca Tyler who married James William Reed (son of Hugh and Jane McSpeddon Reed).

On the 1900 census, Eula, Levi, and their four children were living in Bamberg.  Living with them were Eula's parents Mary and James Reed and her younger sister Elizabeth Julia "Bessie" Reed.

On 27 April 1901, Bessie married George Edward Hudson.  On 17 May 1901, Eula's father James died. (To date, I still have not found a death date for Mary Cook Reed.)

By the 1910 census, Eula's family had moved to Brier Patch in Bulloch County, Georgia.  Eula and Levi remained in Bulloch County until their deaths (Eula on 6 Aug 1936 and Levi on 28 Dec 1933). They are buried at Emit Grove Baptist Church in Statesboro, Georgia. 

Granddaddy drew arrows for Eula and Levi.  Eula's children were Alma (1889-1951), Lee Oren (1890-1960), Bertha (1893-1964), and Clifton R. (1895-1966).  It is easy to tell who the boys are (Lee standing and Clifton sitting.  I am not sure who is who among the three young women.

Notice, though, how everyone is dressed up, and the young woman in the middle in the back is all in white.  Could it be someone's wedding day?  Alma married about 1914-15 when Clifton was 9 or 10 years old.  Lee married Letitia Addie "Leta" Kearse from Barnwell County by 1910.  Perhaps the woman to the far right is Leta.   

Maybe this next picture will help.  Or maybe not!

Front

Back

This photo was also my grandfather's.  These hats were high fashion the first decade of the 20th century.  The gentleman seems to have been a Mr. C. W. Pat____ (Patterson?) from Pembroke.  (Pembroke is 25 miles from Statesboro.)

What do you think?  Could Alma be the bride in the family group picture?  Could Beulah be the young woman standing in front of Levi?

This last picture of the Tylers was marked by my grandmother "Some of Osborne Reed kin in GA name Tyler." Well, that's a start!

Look closely to see that this photo was taken at the same house as the family group picture.  I never dreamed I would ever know who these people were, but, after a great deal of research on Ancestry.com and some pretty hard squinting, I am ready to make a guess.

Please remember that this is my best guess, and, while I believe it's a pretty good guess, I cannot vouch for its accuracy.

The man on the left would be Lee Oren Tyler about age 27.  The man stooping would be Clifton R. Tyler at 21.  Eula's first five grandchildren were all boys and were born in 1910, 1913, 1915, 1915, and 1916.  The youngest baby here looks to be around a year old.  Assuming these are Eula's first five grandchildren, this picture was taken about 1917.  

The oldest child would be Lee's son Cleveland Furman Tyler at about age 6.  The next child in the line would be Lee Oren Tyler, Jr. at about age 4.  I'm going to venture a guess that the man on the right is Alton Howard, Alma Tyler's husband, at about 32 years, and that the child next to him is his son Willard at about age 2.  The child in the middle I guess to be Clifton's son Jesse Clifton Tyler at about a year old.  Peeking around him would be Lee's son Daniel Elbert Tyler at about 2 years old.

I realize I am really sticking my neck out with these guesses.  I certainly hope that anyone who can actually verify who these folks were will contact me here.  Just post a comment below or write to me at samuelreedfamilyATgmailDOTcom.

If anyone is interested in verification of the actual facts stated herein, please contact me at the same email.
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