Laura Southerland Ervin, daughter of John Alford Ervin and Laura Elizabeth Mumford Ervin, was born 7 October 1877. She was named after her mother Laura and an aunt's first husband, Bryant Southerland. Bryant Southerland was a well-known and fairly wealthy merchant in Richlands, North Carolina in 1860. He went away to serve the Confederacy in Abraham Lincoln's 1861-1865 War of Northern Aggression and never returned. In January 1865 Bryant was listed as a Prisoner of War. No one ever knew what happened to him. The Ervin family evidently had enough respect for Bryant Southerland to name their daughter after him.
According to one family story, Laura was not allowed to marry her first love, a physician. She later married a younger man. Bertram Guy Thompson was 4 years younger than Laura.
Laura married Bertram Guy Thompson in Goldsboro, North Carolina on 5 April 1905. Bert and Laura were married eight years before starting their family. They had three daughters who remained in or near Richlands most of their lives. Laura knew all of her grandchildren well as they lived and grew up nearby. The grandchildren called her "Big Mama" and she was always referred to as "Big Mama" even into the 21st century. "Big Mama" was not a large woman as might be implied but was a small and dainty woman. She suffered illnesses for several years when the children were growing up and she rarely left home. Bert did much of the shopping with the girls during this difficult time. However, Laura outlived Bert by about 10 years.
--Source: Reamey Winn, Ancestry.com public tree; accessed online and transcribed with some editing by Annie Duckett Hundley.
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According to one family story, Laura was not allowed to marry her first love, a physician. She later married a younger man. Bertram Guy Thompson was 4 years younger than Laura.
Laura married Bertram Guy Thompson in Goldsboro, North Carolina on 5 April 1905. Bert and Laura were married eight years before starting their family. They had three daughters who remained in or near Richlands most of their lives. Laura knew all of her grandchildren well as they lived and grew up nearby. The grandchildren called her "Big Mama" and she was always referred to as "Big Mama" even into the 21st century. "Big Mama" was not a large woman as might be implied but was a small and dainty woman. She suffered illnesses for several years when the children were growing up and she rarely left home. Bert did much of the shopping with the girls during this difficult time. However, Laura outlived Bert by about 10 years.
--Source: Reamey Winn, Ancestry.com public tree; accessed online and transcribed with some editing by Annie Duckett Hundley.
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Laura Southerland Ervin, daughter of John Alford Ervin and Laura Elizabeth Mumford Ervin, was born 7 October 1877. She was named after her mother Laura and an aunt's first husband, Bryant Southerland. Bryant Southerland was a well-known and fairly wealthy merchant in Richlands, North Carolina in 1860. He went away to serve the Confederacy in Abraham Lincoln's 1861-1865 War of Northern Aggression and never returned. In January 1865 Bryant was listed as a Prisoner of War. No one ever knew what happened to him. The Ervin family evidently had enough respect for Bryant Southerland to name their daughter after him.
According to one family story, Laura was not allowed to marry her first love, a physician. She later married a younger man. Bertram Guy Thompson was 4 years younger than Laura.
Laura married Bertram Guy Thompson in Goldsboro, North Carolina on 5 April 1905. Bert and Laura were married eight years before starting their family. They had three daughters who remained in or near Richlands most of their lives. Laura knew all of her grandchildren well as they lived and grew up nearby. The grandchildren called her "Big Mama" and she was always referred to as "Big Mama" even into the 21st century. "Big Mama" was not a large woman as might be implied but was a small and dainty woman. She suffered illnesses for several years when the children were growing up and she rarely left home. Bert did much of the shopping with the girls during this difficult time. However, Laura outlived Bert by about 10 years.
--Source: Reamey Winn, Ancestry.com public tree; accessed online and transcribed with some editing by Annie Duckett Hundley.
______________________________________________
According to one family story, Laura was not allowed to marry her first love, a physician. She later married a younger man. Bertram Guy Thompson was 4 years younger than Laura.
Laura married Bertram Guy Thompson in Goldsboro, North Carolina on 5 April 1905. Bert and Laura were married eight years before starting their family. They had three daughters who remained in or near Richlands most of their lives. Laura knew all of her grandchildren well as they lived and grew up nearby. The grandchildren called her "Big Mama" and she was always referred to as "Big Mama" even into the 21st century. "Big Mama" was not a large woman as might be implied but was a small and dainty woman. She suffered illnesses for several years when the children were growing up and she rarely left home. Bert did much of the shopping with the girls during this difficult time. However, Laura outlived Bert by about 10 years.
--Source: Reamey Winn, Ancestry.com public tree; accessed online and transcribed with some editing by Annie Duckett Hundley.
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