Strong Genes and Eyebrow Peaks

Today's prompt is FACIAL FEATURES 

Below is a collage I made of my great grandmother, Bondell BYNUM and her direct ancestors. 

First off, I consider myself incredibly lucky to have these pictures. The oldest picture dates somewhere around the late 1890's or early 1900's. There is one feature that stand out to me in all of these and that is the way their eyebrows all come to a very sharp point mid-arch. 

Left to Right: Bondell BYNUM, Kinchen BYNUM, Lou Elmer REYNOLDS, Arkansas WOOD

1. Bondell was the second child born to Kinchen BYNUM and his wife Ludia MOORE
2. Kinchen was the first child born to Lou REYNOLDS and her husband John Thomas BYNUM.
3. Lou was the third child born to Arkansas WOOD and her husband Thomas REYNOLDS
4. Arkansas was the youngest child born to Blount M. WOOD and Frances PARHAM

I did a little research and found that a person's eyebrows can tell you a lot about them. According to Chinese face reading, if your eyebrows have high, pointed arches, you are a fun-loving, outgoing person who thinks fast and talks faster. You love to be spontaneous and need near-constant stimulation to keep you entertained and interested. You also have a great sense of humor, but may be over-emotional, at times.

I've looked through pictures of my grandfather and I can sometimes see the same feature in one of his eyebrows but it's not always as prominent. I feel like my mother's eyebrows are both very round. And I feel like mine are more like my grandfather's -- one is sometimes pointy but this day and age with all the plucking and waxing, it's hard to say what my natural eyebrow shape is. But there's no denying the trait in the first 4 photographs.

Grandpa, Mom, Me

Until next time,
Becky 

Furniture Man

Today's genealogy prompt, hosted by Genealogy Girl Talks, is #occupation. It took me half of the day before I thought of an ancestor that wasn't listed as a 'farmer'. My 2nd great grandfather, on my mother's side was Kinchen Leroy Bynum. I have written about him briefly, here.

Kinchen was the oldest child born to John Thomas Bynum and Laura "Lou" Elmer Reynolds. He was born 9 November 1893.

Here is the Bible page listing the birth (and death) of the children born to John and Lou. My Aunt Diane is in possession of this treasure.



Here is a family portrait taken when Kinchen was about 10. He is the young man standing on the right. His brother Sidney is standing on the left, and little Grace is sitting on Papa's lap.

Because I love old family pictures and am blessed to have family that shares them on this side of my family, here are a few more of him.

I would guess him to be about 15-17 here:

And here he is with his beautiful bride, Ludia Belle Moore.

Now for the picture that prompted this post, Kinchen's WW1 Registration Card. It even gives his street address. 2004 North 10th Street, Fort Smith, AR. This could quite possibly be where my great grandmother Bondell was born the following year. I also love that it has his signature.

Kinchen says he is employed by the Ballman-Cumming Furniture Co. as a laborer. In the 1920 census, he is still living in Fort Smith, earning a wage, as a laborer for a furniture company.

City Directories from Fort Smith tell me that in 1925, widowed and remarried, Kinchen now works for Ward Furniture Manufacturing Company as a finisher and by 1928 he had worked his way up to inspector.





In 1930 he is found living in Tulsa, OK where he rents his home and is now earning a wage as a shipping clerk for a furniture company. The Tulsa City Directory from 1931 shows that he worked for the E M Brown Furniture Company.

The thing I want to point out, and hopefully someone can tell me, is that here in my home town, when I was growing up, was a furniture store called Bynum Home Furnishings. My mom used to tell me we were related somehow on my grandma Bondell's side. If you're reading this and know the answer, please let me know the connection.


Until next time,
Becky Drake

Since publishing this, I was informed that my Aunt Michelle has a wardrobe that was built by Kinchen. Below is a picture: