Dick Sloan family

The wonderful old photograph above was brought to the recent Sloan Family Reunion by Katherine Sloan Conwill, daughter of Ogal Sloan, and granddaughter of Dick Sloan whose family is pictured above.    Below is an edited version courtesy of Cousin Rita (thanks, Rita!).   Without the "clutter" of tears and scratches, the image and the people in the old photograph are much easier to "see" although I confess that I find that the spots and tears add so much character.

The house in the photograph was torn down several years ago, and another home rebuilt in its place, still being used.   You can still see the old lumber and beams from the original house that were used in the construction of the "new" home.   Dick Sloan lived in the Peaceful Valley community (Cardsville was the post office address) along what is now known as the Carolina-Van Buren Road. 

This 1914 photograph is of Richard Curtis "Dick" Sloan and his family by his first wife, Jessie Ellen Potts. Dick, the son of William and Caroline Sloan, and  Ellen, the daughter of Jesse H. and Frances "Fannie" Potts, had nine children.  When Ellen died about four years after this photograph was made, Dick later remarried to a widow in the community, Mrs. Mary Elizabeth "Ella" Attaway Hood.  Dick and Ella had one son, Ogal Gaston Sloan, named after two of his half-brothers.

Left to right, pictured are:  Rosa Lee Sloan (Berryman), Richard Gaston Sloan, Rebecca Sloan (Attaway), Pollie Sloan (Kendricks), Roy Medford Sloan, Roberta "Bertie" Sloan (Fowler), Ogal Alton Sloan, Dick and Ellen Sloan, and Dick's sister Elizabeth "Babe" Sloan who never married.

Only seven children were present for the photograph, but if you have sharp eyes you will have noticed the portraits of the two missing children.   These portraits, propped up on the porch behind the family, are of Roman Fred Sloan and Minnie Sloan (Rayburn), the oldest children who by 1914 were married and living away from their parents.   Sweet how they were remembered and included in the photograph.  Also, notice the items that have been brought out of the house onto the porch for the background of the photograph, as well as the family's two puppy dogs!

The children of Dick and Ellen were first cousins to the children of Dick's brother, Jackson Sloan, who was married to Ellen's older sister, Melissa Caroline Potts.