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Oma Seay
Oma Seay
My dad's mother was Oma Seay Vincent (1888-1955) but all her grandkids called her "Mammaw", "mother Vincent", or some other endearing name. Sadly, I never knew her that well (she died when I was only 8 years old) but my oldest brother, Richard Glenwood Vincent, was close to our grandmother. She took Rick (1941-2017) to New York City on her trip there in 1944. A street vendor took a photo of them (see below).
(Click the photo for a larger picture)
On May 23, 1944, Oma wrote a letter to her cousin Maud McLure Kelly regarding the trip. CLICK HERE for a transcript and scanned images of the actual letter. She took my brother Rick with her to visit her youngest son, Harry Burgin Vincent (1924-2001), who had joined the U.S. Navy.
Uncle Harry was assigned to the U.S.S. Wisconsin, a battleship, as part of his WWII requirement. When I was young, my father, Hap Vincent, told me about battleships. He was in the Merchant Marine so I wondered where he got the info.
It's obvious he got some of it from his kid brother, Harry, and may have visited with Harry aboard his ship for all I know. I remember dad telling me that battleships had 16 inch guns. The U.S.S. Wisconsin had 9 of them!
As a Seaman 1st Class, Uncle Harry was in training. He completed his training the year following his mother's visit (above) and in January 1945 he was promoted to Petty Officer 3rd Class. We're fortunate to have his Navy Training Course Certificate which he may have given to his mother. I inherited it from Aunt Evelyn Vincent Farris (1913-1980) who got it after my grandmother died.
(Click the photo for a larger picture)
Because my grandfather was a retired Louisville & Nashville railroad worker, my grandmother could go anywhere the L & N line went. Her pass allowed her to travel anywhere in the nation she wanted to go. The name on it is incorrectly typed as "O.C. Vincent." My grandfather's name was D. Oakley Vincent (1870-1955). His initials were "D.O. Vincent." The railroad would have known that.
It makes me wonder if they were trying to give her initials which were "O" (for Oma) and birth surname "Seay" which is incorrectly sometimes assumed to be the letter "C."
Here's her 1946 railroad pass.
(Click the photo for a larger picture)
I never knew that much about her family but my dad's family research trips helped me learn more. Two of those trips were to visit Oma Seay Vincent's neice, Mary Lamar. Born Mary Elizabeth Seay in 1911 to my grandmother's brother, Beaury Walker Seay, Sr. (1884-1966), Mary had collected all sorts of family stories and legends alone with a great deal of family information.
Dad hoped to learn more information about the family from her and he did. However, Mary was very restrictive about allowing us to copy anything. She would now allow it. After 2 or 3 visits to her seeking to learn more, she died in 1998 without ever having shared any copies of anything she collected on the Seay family.
Neither would she allow us to take photos. However, she did permit another relative to take notes and his wife had a photographic memory. She also shared photos with him. Thanks to him, I have much of the information Mary shared with us orally.
Information about my grandmothers siblings and ancestors can be found on her parents pages on this website. Her parents were John Nathaniel Seay (1862-1927) and Fannie Walker Pace (1861-1947). Family stories and history about Oma's siblings can be found on her Fannie Pace's page.
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