Wingard Children – Depression Era Alabama

Wingards came to Alabama sometime around 1820. Leaving South Carolina, they settled in Pike County, west of Troy, Alabama. Look at a good map and you’ll be able to locate Wingard, Alabama. My great grandfather, George Franklin Wingard, married into the Moore family. The Moore-Wingard family farm, called Elmdale, was located on the Pike County and Montgomery County line. It was sold to a paper company in the early 1950s. Montgomery County is where my Dad (George), Uncle John, and Aunt Martha did a good part of their growing up. I love these photos. How different was Depression era Alabama!

(l-r: Uncle John, Aunt Martha, Dad)


One thing you’ll notice in several of these pictures is the bright Alabama sun – all eyes shut!



I tended to pigs for a time, I guess in order to uphold the family tradition.


Here are some photos of my Dad . . .

. . . and Aunt Martha . . .

. . . and Dad and Uncle John at a tender age.

Here’s Uncle John on a bad day . . .

. . . and in a happier time.

George Franklin and Carrie Lou Wingard’s home at Elmdale.

What a happy time it was when cousins from Arkansas visited! Uncle Bryan Thompson’s three children join the Wingards out in a cotton field. (l-r: Uncle John, Jane, Aunt Martha in front, Warren, Dad, and Bert.)

I am grateful for my family and their heritage. By God’s grace “from generation to generation we will recount [his] praise” (Psalm 79:13)

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