― Ansel Adams
According to Yahoo, an estimated 880 billion photographs will be taken next year. Already, more than six billion photographs are uploaded to the social media site Facebook every month. What this means is that folks are taking more pictures than they ever have, and the kinds of pictures they are taking are changing just as much. The more technology and culture change, the more Ansel Adams' words ring true. We owe it to ourselves to take time and look into photographs not simply look at them for they have as much to teach us about ourselves as they do about others. At our last meeting, a very interesting photograph was presented:
At first glance many would see this picture and pass it by, not recognizing the people seated, but looking into the picture we see more than faces, we see stories. And thanks to the work of Mrs. Irene Gordon Berry Haynes and Dr. Wayne Finley we are able to know those stories. There are three generations pictured here. Seated in the back row on the far left is Reverend B.W. "Bennie" Mathews, beside him on his left is his wife Sarah Jane "Sally" Ingram Mathews, to her left is her daughter Jessie Elizabeth Mathews Crews with her husband Jesse B. Crews. In the foreground we see her daughter Sara Will Crews Finley with her husband Wayne House Finley and their son Randall Wayne Finley. This picture, with it's proud subjects in their dapper attire speaks of more than period clothing and time gone by, it speaks of the bond of family; the sacred connection we have both to our past and our future.
Looking into the picture even farther we begin to hear their stories take life:
[Back row, left in photo]
Benjamin William "Bennie" Mathews (July 31, 1871-July 2, 1968) married Sarah Jane "Sally" Ingram (October 18, 1874-March 20, 1971) on September 9, 1892. They were the parents of five daughters and one son. They moved to Lineville from Delta, Alabama in 1900. His parents were William Benjamin "Billy" Mathews and Mary Carolyn Smith, her parents were Francis M. Ingram and Martha Buzanne Smith.
Bennie attended high school in Lineville and later attended Lineville College. He obtained a teacher's certificate by examination and taught school in Clay County for only a few years. he was ordained as a Baptist minister and pastored several churches in Clay, Randolph, and Cleburne Counties. Bennie was popular as a minister and pastor. He held many revivals, baptized more than one thousand people, performed several weddings and conducted many funerals. He also farmed and sold produce.
Sally was a devoted wife and homemaker. She was devoted to her six children, all of whom grew up in Lineville and resided with their families in the area.
[back row, right in photo]
Jesse B. "J.B." Crews (Dec. 7, 1903 - Dec. 13, 1996) married Jesse Elizabeth Mathews (Nov. 11, 1907 - Aug. 18, 1996) in 1926. They were parents of two daughters and one son. The son died a few months after birth. J.B. came to Clay County as a young man from Randolph County. Jesse was a Lineville native. His parents were Lewis Pearce Crews and Eliza Ayres Crews of Randolph County.
J.B. was a graduate of Cleburne County High School. Initially he was affiliated with a service station in Heflin and then moved to Talladega where he worked in a drug store. He elected to be a businessman and was able to obtain the local Gulf Oil distributorship. He retired from the distributorship after forty-seven years (1929-1975).
J.B. and Jesse were both active community leaders and dedicated members of the Lineville Baptist Church. J.B. served his church in many capacities. He also served the City of Lineville on a number of boards and committees including the City Council, and School Board of Trustees. Jessie was dedicated to her two daughters and her extended family. She was a member of a number of civic clubs and was routinely a hostess. They took great pride in their hometown of Lineville.
[In the foreground]
Wayne House Finley (b. April 7, 1927) married Sara Will Crews (Feb. 26, 1930 - Feb. 20, 2013) on July 6, 1952 in Lineville. Their children are a son, Randall Wayne, and a daughter Sara. His parents were Byron Bruce "B.B." Finley and Lucile House Finley. Bruce was a native of Chambers County but his family moved to Clay Co. in 1903 when he was a young child. Lucile was a native of southern Clay Co.
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| From Reverse: O.A. Champion-Baker, B.B. Finley in the barber's chair the south of Ashland Square, Ashland AL. |
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| 1923 or 1924 O.A. Champion-Baker B.B. Finley in chair South Side of Square in same building as drug store |
Wayne was born in Goodwater where his father was a school teacher. Later the family moved to Millerville in southern Clay Co. where Wayne graduated from high school. The family moved in 1947 to Lineville where his parents resided for the rest of their lives. Wayne's college days at Jacksonville State Teachers College (now JSU) were interrupted by military service. After graduation, he entered the University of Alabama for graduate study in education. Following another tour in the U.S. Army, he enrolled as a graduate student at the University of Alabama Medical Center in Birmingham. he and Sara were married while she was a medical student and he was stationed at Fort McClellan, AL. After service he obtained a PhD. degree in Biochemistry and then entered medical school.
Sara grew up in Lineville, attended Lineville Public Schools and entered the University of Alabama as a Pre-Med student in 1947. She received her MD degree at the Medical College of Alabama in Birmingham in 1955. After an internship at Lloyd Noland Hospital in Birmingham, she had research fellowship training in the Department of Pediatrics at the medical college.
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| Wayne and Sara Finley honored with a portrait by UAB Medical School |
Wayne and Sara were the recipients of traineeships at the University of Uppsala in Sweden during the year 1961-1962. They spent the year in Sweden studying medical genetics. Their children were preschool age. Sara's sister, Janice, postponed college for a year to spend it in Sweden with the Finley's. Wayne and Sara returned to Birmingham and accepted faculty appointments at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. They established the first medical genetics programs in the southeastern U.S. which consisted of diagnostic laboratories, a genetics clinic, and training facilities. They worked together for thirty-five years before they retired. Sara retired as a Professor Emerita and Wayne as Professor Emeritus. They both individually and together received a number of awards and honors.
***
Randall Wayne "Randy" Finley, [seen in the top photo at one year of age], was born in Birmingham while his father was a first year medical student and his mother, Sara, a research fellow in pediatrics at the Medical College of Alabama. Randy attended the public schools in Mountain Brook, AL. His undergraduate degree was from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN. he obtained his MD degree at UAB and completed a residency in radiology at the Baptist Hospitals in Birmingham. He and his family reside in Vestavia Hills, and he is in a private practice group in Birmingham.
Randy's sister, Sara J. Finley (almost four years younger than Randy) attended Mountain Brook public schools. She received her undergraduate degree at the University of Alabama where she received a number of awards for her scholarship. She attended Vanderbilt University Law School. She currently is the General Counsel for CVS Caremark and resides in Nashville, TN.
***A very special thank you to Mrs. Irene Gordon Berry Haynes (July 29, 1886 - April 14, 1971). Mrs. Haynes, daughter of George J. Berry and Elvira Germany, compiled the scrapbooks which were made available by her Grand-Nephew, Dr. Wayne Finley.
George and Elvira Berry moved to Clay County, Alabama near Cleveland's Crossroads between 1870 and 1880 from Chambers County, Alabama. George had served in the C.S.A. 34th Infantry during the Civil War. He became a successful farmer. Mrs. Haynes lived various places but during her latter years was a resident of Clay County. Mrs. Haynes was a sister of Dixie Berry House, wife of Anthony Crumbley House, Jr. and grandmother of Dr. Wayne Finley (noted above).
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| George J. Berry pictured on his farm in Clay Co. AL. |
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| Reverse of George Berry Photo: Geo. J. Berry Born 11-25-1836 Died 6-27-1926 ? Alabama Please return Photo to Dr. Wayne H. Finley 3412 Brookwood Road B'ham, AL. 35223 His maternal Great-Grandfather moved to 34th Ala. Infantry b. in ? Chambers Co. |
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