MARSHALL, Edna Earle

EDNA EARLE MARSHALL

Identification on photo: EDNA EARLE MARSHALL
Photo taken: unknown photographer, circa 1950
Purchased: Aug 2019 at the Peddlars Mall in Lexington KY

Based on the hairstyle and fashions, I am placing this photo into a time period of circa 1950. I have a photo of my own mother which greatly resembles this and it was taken in that time period. Edna looks to be about 16 years old, so this would put the birth year at or near 1934-36.

This photograph is quite small - about 1.5" x 2" and has suffered some creasing, and loving wear. There appears to be something written on the front, near the lower edge of the collar, but I cannot make it out. The back bears the printed name Edna Earle Marshall and the cursive name (in reddish or brown ink) Edna Marshall.

On FindaGrave.com, I find an Edna Earle Thompson (1934-1989) who was married to Paul Anderson Marshall, and buried in Bethany United Methodist Church Cemetery, New Bethel Township, North Carolina.

When I search for that person on Ancestry.com, she immediately comes up in a  family tree with a photo (taken several years later) which confirms this is the same person.  Edna is the daughter of Henry W. Thompson and Bessie Mae Simpson. She was married at the age of 18 to Paul A. Marshall, and worked in Greensboro as an office secretary for a company called Standard Theater Supply. 

Edna died in 1989, leaving a son and three daughters. By means of the obituary in the local newspaper, I was able to see the surviving family members' names, and began searching immediately on Google, Facebook and other sources to see if I could find a direct descendant, to whom I could return this photograph.

Fortunately, I found a lovely story online about how the family continues to honor Edna's memory with a quilt square Edna stitched herself. The square is on display at the family's vineyards near Bethany and Reidsville, NC, and is part of the Rockingham County Quilt Trail.

I will contact Edna's family immediately.