Margarette Rosa (Richey) Blount (1889-1975)

Margarette Rosa "Gran Margarette" Blount formerly Richey

Born 2 Jun 1889 in Greenville, South Carolina

Ancestors

Daughter of Anderson Hoyt Richey and Rosale (Pickens) Richey

Sister of Anderson Christopher Richey

Wife of John Logan Blount — married 28 Aug 1913 in Chicago

Descendants

Mother of Ruth Marjorie Beverly Blount, John Logan Blount Jr., [private son (1910s - 1970s)] and [private daughter (1920s - 1990s)]

Died 13 Sep 1975 at age 86 in Seattle

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Profile last modified 27 Feb 2023 | Created 26 Nov 2009

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Born in South Carolina, Margarette Richey Blount was known as Maggie during childhood, as Gran Margarette and G.M. in later years by her grandchildren, and still others called her Miss B. The 1900 Census lists the Richey Family living at 4835 Dearborn St. and in 1910 at 4421 Evans Ave, both addresses in Chicago. In 1920, Margarette was 20 yrs. old and a teacher at a boarding school.

We the family, are eternally indebted and grateful to Gran Margarette for it was she initially and subsequently my mother Richey who later saved and maintained the core photographs, letters, and in several instances, drawings, and mementos. All of this was discovered long after they were gone. As decades passed, because of death, transfers, and storage, this collective became further and further removed from our knowledge and memory. To the extent that we no longer knew it existed. If not for her, much would have been lost regarding the Blounts and Richeys.

The hard and complex part of all of this, and Gran Margarette made it much easier, is to fill in the blanks and empty spaces of our family record. We have no vivid colors here, just muted tones and brief sketches which we are still non the less so grateful to have.

It was astonishingly significant to discover, that decades after the fact, possibly 77 years later, that in 1930. it was Margarette who was a census taker in one of Houston's nine wards where the family lived. Overjoyed with the fruits of our research and the seeds of the internet; We saw with our own eyes... the entries were in her own handwriting and her name indelible for history.

Both Granny Billye and Gran Margarette planted seeds of learning.

Ah! Sun-flower By William Blake

Ah Sun-flower! weary of time, Who countest the steps of the Sun: Seeking after that sweet golden clime Where the travellers journey is done.

Where the Youth pined away with desire, And the pale Virgin shrouded in snow: Arise from their graves and aspire, Where my Sun-flower wishes to go.

Memories: 1

Enter a personal reminiscence or story.

Bobby Bailey

As children, we were indeed blessed to have two grandmothers however different, who were actively engaged in our knowledge and education. Curiously, a previously unknown background theme between them -- the love of nature was enhanced in both cases. Toward this end, certainly they influenced us in such different ways, on the one hand, the love of the garden, on the other – I recall Granny Billye’s voice reciting the wonderful poem’s beginning, “I think that I shall never see a poem lovely as a tree.”

In some instances, the seeds for learning came indirectly as with Gran Margarette’s great love of flower gardens. At no time would she actually teach us about the different flowers but we loved their beauty and color just the same. In my case, I learned their names on my own more accurately by overhearing mother and grandmother. Their conversation about flowers was consistent and ongoing, almost ritualistic. A large part of their talk had to do with the garden and flowers and also flowers as they would appear in the city or when we traveled to Canada, in short, whenever they appeared. I was delighted to see that this passion had begun many years before in Houston or even perhaps Chicago. From early Houston photographs, I discovered she also had gardens there. Somehow I thought this interest initiated in the Pacific Northwest. This great passion, as best we can observe, was a part of her entire adult life. She simply loved the buds, the blooms, the blossoms, and I specifically remember them in her right side garden when facing the house. Our first harbinger were the tulips we saw annually in the Spring. Followed by, but not necessarily in seasonal order: Gladiolas, Rhododendrons, Chrysanthemums, Digitalis (Fox Glove) and lastly, Roses of several hue and, I almost forgot, the blessed Sunflower. The photographs also revealed that her garden never stagnant underwent changes yearly. There were some plants constant but some other changes were always occurring.

posted 23 Dec 2012 by Bobby Bailey [thank Bobby]

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DNA Connections
It may be possible to confirm family relationships with Margarette by comparing test results with other carriers of her mitochondrial DNA. However, there are no known mtDNA test-takers in her direct maternal line. It is likely that these autosomal DNA test-takers will share some percentage of DNA with Margarette: