Life was simple back then...

 Life was simple back then... 

This photo is of Grandma Mattie  Franklin and her daughters Melissa and Emily  and her sister Jenny and her mother Granny "Tiny" Keeter. 

Circa 1940's 

From left to right standing: Melissa, Emily, Jenny, Mattie 

Seated in middle is Granny Keeter with Lucille Keeter on the right 

(no name on photo for the lady seated to the left of Granny Keeter)

Tiny Keeter with her son Billy , early 1950s photo

Tiny and her son Billy Keeter 

I never got the know Tiny (Tina) Keeter 

as she died in 1953 before I was born.  

Tiny was the mother of my grandmother Mattie Belle Keeter Franklin.

This photo from the Franklin family archives was taken early 1950s -  

family history found at the cemetery!

We visited the cemetery where my Grandpa and Grandma Franklin are laid to rest.  Brandon had been up the week before and helped Dad clean it up and cut the grass, etc. 

 Also found that Grandma's sister and husband are buried in the same cemetery at Thompson Chapel Baptist Church. Jennie Keeter Quinn and Mitchell Quinn.  There were lots of Keeters in this cemetery! 

 Just to the left of the grandparents is a small marker and flowers for my brother Stephen Anthony, who died a few hours after birth, on October 25 or 26 in 1956.  To the right of the grandparents is a small marker for my great grandmother, Granny Tina Keeter.  






While doing family history research on line, my sister Debbie found that in one census, Granny Keeter actually lived with the family of  J.J. Bates for a time, so we are not sure if she was adopted or what. We were excited to find his tombstone also.

Granny Keeter

My cousin Pat emailed me some photos for the reunion slideshow - including this picture of "Granny Keeter" taken in 1950.  I think this is the first time I have seen a picture of Tiny Keeter, who was Mattie Bell Keeter's mother (and my great-grandmother)! I found her obituary is listed in the Spartanburg Herald-Journal on Oct 2, 1953 and she is listed as "Tina" Keeter, age 83 so she was probably born in 1870.