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My Adventure Through Our Family Tree Branches Surnames in this Blog 
SATURDAY'S STRUCTURE - Myrtle Hill Cemetery, Rome, Georgia

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McCaffrey Family Lot 


THURSDAY'S TREASURE - Odalie Fortier Horst's 19th Century Lacework Never heard of tatting before? 


WONDERFUL WEDNESDAY'S PHOTO - 1927 St. Paul's Graduation Class

Posted by Susan Thomas at 8:49 PM 1 comments 


HOMETOWN TUESDAY - Rome, Floyd County, Georgia 1880-1881 


MONDAY'S MOTHERS - Bridget Kennedy O'Donnell, 1838-1893 

- Father Walsh

Posted by Susan Thomas at 9:01 PM 0 comments 


SATURDAY'S STRUCTURES - Frascati Park, Mobile, Alabama

Frascati Park, on the western shore of Mobile Bay, was the major attraction for white Mobilians for many years after the end of the Civil War. Henry Nabring, who owned the famed Battle House hotel in Mobile, started the park in 1867. Martin Horst (1830-1878), my great-great-great-grandfather, purchased the park from him and it was Horst who developed it into a major entertainment park.

The park was situated at the end of the Old Shell Road. A drive down this beautiful road alone was considered an enjoyable Sunday outing.
Frascati had a hotel on the grounds for many years, as well as a restaurant. The park featured light opera, performances by militia drill teams, open air concerts, Labor Day demonstrations and other amusements, and was popular for picnics and other social gatherings. It was also the sight of encampments of the Alabama National Guard. Apparently it appealed more to the upper classes of Mobile society.

In an interview in the Mobile Register in 1977 with then 95-year-old Mrs. John Marston, she remembered Frascati:

"It was about two acres, most of it along the bay. Mrs. Marston remembers that there were benches, and that summer theatre was presented there. Light opera companies presented the Mikado and similar fare, and that Frascati had an open air restaurant with latticework.

There were swings and seesaws for amusement, as well as something called a 'Flying Jenny,' Mrs. Marston said. 'It had about a 12-foot board hitched to a post in the middle of the board. People would get on each side, and somebody would get in the middle and push. Then when it was going he'd sneak out on all fours." [Mobile Register, July 10, 1977; page 18]

The Horst summer home, a large frame house put together entirely with wooden pegs, was located on the Frascati grounds facing Mobile Bay. Many happy days were spent there by the family in the summers. Frascati was located at the western end of Franklin Street, at what is now called Choctaw Point.

On July 4, 1876, the date of America's 100th birthday, cities and towns across the country organized and held grand celebrations. Mobile, too, celebrated throughout the city, including a large all day event at Frascati Park. [Read article below]

After Martin Horst's death in 1878 Edward (1858-1901), his second son, managed Frascati. By 1888, the property had been sold to R.C. Kennedy who continued to run it as before.

In June 1882, Oscar Wilde, the famed Irish writer and poet, lectured on 'Decorative Art' at Frascatti's Summer Theatre during his tour through the South, still recovering from the War. In a retrospective published 1978, the Mobile Register recalled the days leading up to his visit:

"In Mobile 96 years ago, June was a hot month especially the last week in June. Mobilians who could do so forsook the nearly 100-degree weather for cooler surroundings while those who remained made the best of it by going, whenever possible, to the bay.

An especially popular spot on the bay was Frascati near Choctaw Point. Here one could enjoy the beach, sip something refreshing at the bar, attend a program at the Summer Theatre, or just lounge under the live oaks swaying in the gentle breezes.

On the last Sunday of the month the crowd of bathers were treated to an additional and very uncommon amusement: two men came onto the beach and, after undressing themselves, entered the water where they frolicked for some 15 minutes. The shocked crowd scattered in all directions. Later, at Recorder's Court, the judge whose notions of proper ways to beat the heat did not include this one fined the men $5 each. All a bit sensational, and later in the week occurred another exhibition that was not much less so." [Mobile Register; August 20, 1978; page 108]

On October 2, 1893, Mobile was hit by the severest storm ever recorded there at the time. Southeast gale winds of 72 miles an hour hit the area and waters from the bay overflowed into downtown. There was a record-breaking rain and many of the cities old live oak trees fell. The storm completely destroyed Frascati and the Old Shell Road. Frascati was not reconstructed.

After the park was destroyed, Monroe Park was opened (where Brookley Field is now located) and it reportedly catered to a "more democratic clientele . . . of middle and working class people".

The entertainment park Mobile's citizens once enjoyed is now part of the industrial area around Mobile's Port Authority property. "Frascati Shops", a railroad car service company, was still using the original 1800's building attached to the right side of the Horst family's summer residence for its tools and equipment, as late as 2009. Alabama Port Authority Bids for the building were announced in 2009 - its fate is currently unknown.
Posted by Susan Thomas at 11:43 PM 3 comments 


SUNDAY'S OBITUARY - Elizabeth Agnes McCaffrey Flemming (1858-1922)

Elizabeth Agnes McCaffrey was the third of thirteen children born to Thomas Joseph McCaffrey (1832-1896) and Charlotte Elizabeth McCluskey (1838-1917). Lizzie, as she was called, was born December 23, 1858 in Baltimore, Maryland. Lizzie is my great-great-grandmother.

Lizzie's father, a pipe moulder by trade, left his family in Maryland to move south at the start of the Civil War to support the Confederacy. He worked at the ironworks at Brierfield and Tannehill in Shelby County, Alabama. After the war, the whole family moved south, first to Shelby County, then later to Rome, Georgia. It was in Rome that Lizzie met her future husband, Charles Clinton Flemming (1854-1932). Born in Darlington, South Carlina, he, too, had moved with his family to Rome in the 1860's.

Lizzie and Charlie were married on April 9, 1877 at St. Mary's Catholic Church, a small wooden church built in Rome in 1874 by the 30 Catholics in the city. Although Charlie's family were Baptists, he had converted to Catholicism as a young man. It was here in Rome, where her parents and siblings, and his parents and siblings lived, that they started their own family. Five children were born here in the city. For a while Charlie worked  as a clerk in a local store. By 1891 the family had relocated to Birmingham, where Charlie worked for the Great Southern Railroad. By 1900 he was the Yardmaster. In 1902 he retired from the railroad and started Charlie's Transfer Company. [See "Saturday's Structure - Charlie's Transfer Company", September 18, 2011]

Lizzie and Charlie went on to have a large family, ten children, with eight surviving to adulthood. Their children born in  Rome were: my great-grandfather Harry Clinton (1878-1955), Susie Elizabeth (1879-1908), Minnie Agnes "Mamie" (1880-1881), Charles Clinton (1884-1935), and Elizabeth Imogene "Imo" (1886-1919). After moving to Birmingham they had the other half of their family: James Benjamin (1889-1932), Charlotte Teresa "Lottie" (1891-1937), Sarah Marie (1893-1963), Thomas Joseph (1896-1918) and Willie Mae (1898-1898). Many of their sons went to work with Charlie in his successful company.

On July 17, 1922, at 2:00 AM, Lizzie died at home, 1115 St. Charles Street.. She was 63 years old. Her death certificate listed "acute cardiac dilation" as the cause of death. Her funeral took place the following day. The Birmingham News  reported her funeral on the front page of the paper on Wednesday, July 19th.

﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿Body of Well Known Local Woman Buried in Elmwood

"Funeral services for Mrs. Elizabeth Agnes Flemming were held Tuesday morning at 9:30 o'clock from St. Paul's Catholic Church. Following impressive services at the church burial took place in Elmwood Cemetery, with Lige Loy in charge.

Mrs. Flemming is survived by her husband, C. C. Flemming, three sons, C. C. Flemming, Jr., J. B. Flemming and H. C. Flemming, and two daughters, Mrs. J. B. Thomas and Mrs. L.  McMurray, all of Birmingham. Pallbearers were A. H. Geohegan, John McGeever, Bart Harris, Ryan Mullane, H. J. Kribbs and W. E. Frawley.

Mrs. Flemming was 65 years of age and had lived in Birmingham for many years. She was widely known and had a host of friends who join the family in mourning the loss of a dutiful mother and companion.

The funeral was largely attended and many beautiful floral tributes were sent." (Birmingham News, July 19, 1922; page 1]

Posted by Susan Thomas at 1:21 AM 0 comments Labels: Flemming, McCaffrey, Obituary Me and my Dad Summer 1967