Stereotypes

My family is a middle class, Caucasian family. Everyone in my family is hard working and strives to be successful. All the members of my family are so different. Some women stay home and are homemakers, some women work. Some family members attend church regularly, some just on the holidays. No matter the differences we face, we are a true southern family. We love each other and love spending time together. We sit on the front porch with glasses of sweet tea and tell stories, talk about old times, laugh, and cry. There aren't many stereotypes that my family fits, but this one definitely fits. One thing that never fails to bring our family together is food. I believe food is a huge part of southern culture. My great-grandmother was known for bringing food to people around the neighborhood. My grandmother is known around town for her baking. My mom is quickly gaining a reputation for her pound cakes, and I have gained a love of cooking from them. We love sharing recipes and passing them down. I make chicken and pound cake the exact same way my great grandmother did it many years ago.

Family Values

Although my family may have started with quite a scandal, throughout generations, our family put strong values and work ethic at high importance. Louisa Shaw did what she did because of the poverty that she had experienced. After her passing, the family wanted to ensure that they never had to be subjected to such poverty again. While many people were struggling to make ends meet and women were expected to stay home to take care of families, the Shaw women were working hard to help support their families. The women of the family worked hard to support their families as well as cook, clean, and run the household.
Education was also very important to our family. There are many teachers and pastors throughout the family history. My great grandmother took education very seriously. Having 5 boys, she frequented the school to provide additional discipline to the boys. One of her sons broke into the teacher's quarters of the school and spilled ink all over the whole room and himself.
There are many pastors in the family. Most are in the Methodist church. This perfectly refelcts our traditional family values. The family is very conservative.
The family is also very supportive of our country. All five of my great uncles and grandfather were enlisted in the military.

Pictured: The grammar school in Milstead Georgia where 3 generations of Shaws have lived.

Milstead United Methodist Church

 Billy Shaw

 Charles Shaw

 Grady

 Jack

James

Starting with a scandal

My family can be traced back to the late 1800's with Louisa Frances Shaw. Louisa lived in Lithonia, Georgia. This part of my family history begins with a scandal. Louisa was a kept woman for John Tredwell, a very wealthy man, and became pregnant at 12 years old. Louisa had 5 children by John Tredwell. The family was incredibly embarrassed by her and didn't talk about her lifestyle until after her death. Because if this, it has been extremely difficult to accurately track our family history past her. In my line, her son Columbus Turner Shaw plays a very important role.