Ensley Family Photograph Collection (SMC 91)
Biographical Information
John Edwin Ensley was born in 1889 in North Carolina and died Jan. 24, 1954 in Opelika, Alabama. Nellie, his wife, was born in 1893 and died in 1989. His father, James Ensley, was born 1861; mother Mary Alexander born in 1872. (Alabama deaths and Burials Index, 1881-1974). On the 1920 census, James and Mary had 6 people living with them; John 30, Nellie 27, Troy 21, Lena 20, Henry 15, and Cecil 9. All worked in a cotton mill except the two youngest. They lived in Columbus at 3022 1st Avenue in Ward 6. Troy Ensley and wife Bessie with boarder Ida Crowley lived at 3300 1st Avenue in Columbus by 1930. Both worked in a cotton mill. By 1940, John E. and Nellie, his wife, lived in Opelika, AL at 106 3rd Avenue, working as a card grinder in a mill; Nellie as a spinner. The “grandpa “referred to on the back of the pictures is John Ensley.
Scope and Content
This small collection of one folder in one box consists of 14 photographs of family members and 4 postcards.
Provenance
These pictures and postcards were given by Mrs. Sally Strickland of Phenix City, Alabama in June 1997. Materials are on loan, according to the deed of gift.
Permission to Publish
Permission to publish material from the Ensley Family Photo Collection must be obtained from the Columbus State University Archives. Use of the following credit line for publication or exhibit is required:
Ensley Family Photo Collection, SMC 91
Columbus State University Archives
Columbus, Georgia
Box and Folder List
1. 4 men in suits playing guitars and banjo; labeled on back Grandpa John Ensley, Uncle Henry Ensley and Uncle Troy Ensley-Ensley Orchestra
2. 4 men sitting on steps playing guitar, banjo, fiddle and cello - unlabeled
3. 2 men in suits with guitars- unlabeled
4. Lena Ensley….holding flag
5. Troy Ensley, grandpa's brother - in military uniform
6. Henry Ensley in military uniform holding rifle - unlabeled
7. Gary Trammel, Grandma Ensley's ( Nellie) uncle - in military uniform
8. 8 men in work clothes in a cotton mill
9. Little girl sitting holding a coke bottle - unlabeled
10. 5 adults, 2 children eating ice cream, leaning on car outside of a store -unlabeled
11. 3 young people, one boy on pony-Nellie, Cecil Mayladdie on pony, John
12. James Ensley, Grandpa's Daddy - pictured in casket
13. Older woman sitting in lawn chair - unlabeled
14. Portrait of an older woman
Postcards
1. To Nettie Ensley - Monarch Cotton Mill, Union S.C.
2. 3 cards from the “Twin City Low Twelve Club” to John Edwin Hensley informing him of the death of members, 1951, 1952
