Last fall I shared a little “makeover” of the frames of these portraits of my great-great-great and my great-great grandmother. They hung in the guest room above the bed…

I never really LOVED these portraits and my daughter swears they gave her nightmares when she came to visit. I have to admit, they are a tad on the “ghoulish” side even with lighter and brighter frames.

Before I reveal the changes I made, I have to share this “small world” story!

A friend of mine tagged a friend of his on Facebook on an article about a house his friend owns…a house he now runs as a B&B in Arkansas City, Arkansas.

The minute I saw it, I knew it was the house my great-great grandparents (Hubert and Ionia Furr) built in 1910…the house my great grandmother grew up in and my grandmother was born in! (My great great grandmother is the portrait on the right, her mother on the left!)

I immediately contacted the owner…he had very little history on the house other than what was written up in the National Register bio. I, being the keeper of the family photos and documents, have sooooo much more!

Poor guy…I flooded his email with pictures of my great great grandparents, the house and all the documents I could find.

I think one of the neatest things I have is a picture of the house while it was being constructed…

I won’t bore you with all the pictures and documents I have about this home and my ancestors and the little town in southeast Arkansas.

But this house and the people who resided there have a tremendous amount of history.

It is the house where my ancestors lived during the 1918 pandemic. A flu pandemic that killed almost 700,000 in the United States and 50 MILLION world wide.

The house also survived the great flood of 1927 that wiped out most of the town and actually changed the course of the Mississippi River.

While I was digging through all the family documents looking for more information on the house to share, I ran across this letter…written by my great-great grandmother during the flood of 1927 to my great-grandmother….

I won’t post pictures of the entire letter, but this is the transcript…

Arkansas City, Sat ? (postmarked May 3, 1927)

Dear children-

Am going to make this do for both you girls. Haven’t heard from you in more than 2 weeks and twill be 2 weeks Tues. since we have had a newspaper. Everything is closed here on account of water-we have 85 inches inside the house only 5 steps of the stairway being visible. You can imagine my state of mind as the South Bend break will give us more water by tomorrow I suppose. We go in and out of the house through the middle bedroom window in your old bedroom. I step off the roof onto a floating dock where I keep the chickens. Only lost two by drowning.

Water came in town last Sunday 2:30 and was 2 ft deep in 20 minutes. I waded above my knees getting up the hens and by dark it was in the house. It has been raining ever since til today when it has fallen ½ in. to get ready for the next rise. The wood shed and garage bucked up and Daddy has wired them to keep them from floating off in a storm. The teacherage is entirely under water and lots of other houses.

The town is simply ruined. An airplane takes the mail and your telegraphs were sent by radio by way of Memphis and so had to be sent collect.

I am so worried because we can’t send Gladys’s board money and do hope the matron will wait on her or that you will take her to your house for this last month. We have no way to get the money tho the levee board owes Daddy $125 or $150 which will be paid when this strain is over. The youngsters run bateaux on the bank porch so of course the bank is closed for the time. Please help us out in this pinch and we will make it up to you some way. I do hope the next rise will not be much for 2 ft. will ruin the ceiling.

The Matthews are upstairs in 2 small rooms. 2 of the boys sleep over here and they seem to be having a good time. Of course all my flowers are done for the crude oil is killing the vine on the house. Most every one lost their chickens. Lawrence Demarke (?) must have lost over 1000 also Emmat Furlong. The water came too fast to let them be picked up.

I suppose all Watson is nearly washed away. Mr. Kemp’s house disappeared as did everybody elses. The little Dollar house is on the Pike if it hasn’t fallen to pieces.

The break at Scott Miss. Saved us from the Miss. R. as we would have broken either at Chicot or Fulton inside of 3 or 4 hours. The river fell here nearly 2 ft. the first day and is much lower now than it is on the inside of the levee. Several hundred tents are on the levee and it is a queer sight. The govt is feeding them and the negros seem so happy.

We will have no more school this term. The girls left for Memphis and I guess they finally got to Conway. Betsye is at the hotel tho’ Daddy and I both invited her to stay with us. Bro. Still’s furniture is in the water upon a scaffold not high enough. All Mrs. Cunningham’s furniture and best clothes are in her house with the water up to the roof. I left most of my dishes downstairs so I guess they will be lost.

Well I hope you girls and your girls also Bill are well and happy. Want to hear from you soon and find how Gladys arranges for her board. Daddy is well and busy helping the distressed.

Granny Muff died this afternoon in a box car. Will be buried on the mound.

Love to you all and if we are washed away dispose of the remains as you please, Mother

I share all this for one reason.

To remind you…our country and our ancestors have survived pandemics and floods and wars.

Like our ancestors we too will survive…and we will thrive. We just have to stay positive and focused on our future! In 100 years our great great grand children will be sharing stories of our strength and endurance during difficult times….we are living proof!

So now the changes…heirlooms in their own right and a bit more cheerful.

These prints are from Hawaii and Bermuda…my parents traveled there in the 80s and these have been in my mother’s home for 30+ years. She is in the process of distributing a few things in her house so I took them and reframed them and decide they would be perfect in the guest room!

They are a tad off-center so at some point I probably need to rehang them. Someday…nice thing about this room, I literally only go in it a handful of times a year, before and after guests. Unlike wall decor in my living room or bedroom, this isn’t going to keep me up nights…lol!

Maybe I can find a narrow something-or-another to hang on the left to balance it out.

Not sure what I will do with the ancestral portraits…but I will find some where perfect for them…eventually.