Walter & Tamsie Cummings

Yesterday's post was of two young girls, Lizzie Lee Davis and Doris Cummings. This is a photo of Doris' parents, Walter and Tamsie Cummings. Walter and Tamsie's families strongly discouraged their marrying due to the fact that they were cousins. In addition, Tamsie's father died from tuberculosis and it was thought that she might also die from the disease. Tamsie and Walter's relationship was frowned upon, and relatives advised them that their children wouldn't be "born right" if they married. And so Walter left for Texas in order to put some distance between them. It didn't last, however, and after a while, Walter came home to Tamsie, saying, "Tamsie, if our children are idiots, we'll just raise them." They had eleven children, all of them "born right," including my smart and beautiful great-aunt Coleen Robinson who is 95 years old today.