Here you see a picture of Mary Alice Ulbrich, wife of Asa Carl Atkins, Sr., with two of her German uncles.
Her father arrived in America from Hammer, Militsch Kreis, Germany, in 1873. Her mother was descended from the McLaughlin family who left Killarney, Ireland, to come to America around 1815 and from the Hicks and Bailey families who arrived in Kanawha Co. WV sometime around 1830.
Although she never traveled far from Putnam County, West Virginia, Mary was articulate, interesting, and well read. Her grammar was perfect and her letters were a joy to receive. She was skilled at embroidery, quilting, crocheting, sewing, and gardening and she loved cats - especially black cats. No place was more dear to her than her country home on a hilltop near Buffalo. Nothing was more important to her than her family, followed closely by her life-long friends. In fact, she kept up a lively correspondence with friends she hadn't seen since girlhood.
Like many other mothers of her time, she made do with whatever she could find during the years of the great depression. Can you imagine cooking "wild carrots" (the roots of Queen Anne's Lace) or foraging for wild greens for your next meal? She did.
That feeling never went away. No garden was ever quite big enough and there were never too many jars of canned fruit and vegetables in her cellar. Mending and patching were a way of life – even when they were no longer required. She simply could not abandon her thrifty habits.
Mary had an abiding interest in family history. It is due to her love of family, her preservation of old documents, and her excellent memory that the Atkins family has such an understanding and appreciation of those who came before us and their journeys along the way.
She loved her husband, her son, and her two daughters. And when it was time, she loved her daughter-in-law equally. She was determined to always be independent and she managed to do just that. Although she did not drive and lived two miles up a mountain on a dirt road, she successfully lived alone for sixteen years after her husband died until she passed away at age 89 after suffering a stroke in the home they had built together.
I can't think of anyone who would make a negative remark about her.
That's quite a legacy.
Her father arrived in America from Hammer, Militsch Kreis, Germany, in 1873. Her mother was descended from the McLaughlin family who left Killarney, Ireland, to come to America around 1815 and from the Hicks and Bailey families who arrived in Kanawha Co. WV sometime around 1830.
Although she never traveled far from Putnam County, West Virginia, Mary was articulate, interesting, and well read. Her grammar was perfect and her letters were a joy to receive. She was skilled at embroidery, quilting, crocheting, sewing, and gardening and she loved cats - especially black cats. No place was more dear to her than her country home on a hilltop near Buffalo. Nothing was more important to her than her family, followed closely by her life-long friends. In fact, she kept up a lively correspondence with friends she hadn't seen since girlhood.
Like many other mothers of her time, she made do with whatever she could find during the years of the great depression. Can you imagine cooking "wild carrots" (the roots of Queen Anne's Lace) or foraging for wild greens for your next meal? She did.
That feeling never went away. No garden was ever quite big enough and there were never too many jars of canned fruit and vegetables in her cellar. Mending and patching were a way of life – even when they were no longer required. She simply could not abandon her thrifty habits.
Mary had an abiding interest in family history. It is due to her love of family, her preservation of old documents, and her excellent memory that the Atkins family has such an understanding and appreciation of those who came before us and their journeys along the way.
She loved her husband, her son, and her two daughters. And when it was time, she loved her daughter-in-law equally. She was determined to always be independent and she managed to do just that. Although she did not drive and lived two miles up a mountain on a dirt road, she successfully lived alone for sixteen years after her husband died until she passed away at age 89 after suffering a stroke in the home they had built together.
I can't think of anyone who would make a negative remark about her.
That's quite a legacy.
