Photo of Drusilla Catherine Headrick and Alice Headrick Burns

Alice Headrick Burns (left) and her aunt, Drusilla Headrick Grigsby

Drusilla Catherine Headrick, born 10 1861 in Murray County, Georgia, was the daughter of William and Mary Comings (Emert) Headrick. She married first, John Keith, in Bradley County, Tennessee, and later, Samuel W. Grigsby, in Murray County, Georgia. She never had any children, but she and Sam raised Sam's nephew, Walt.

Drusilla was my father's beloved "Aunt Sis," a great aunt. Daddy and Lois (Headrick) Cox, Uncle Horace's daughter, were the only ones who ever mentioned Aunt Sis to me, as far as I can recall. They both loved her. Apparently she was a kind old woman. I believe she made a dress for Lois once, maybe many clothes.

We have an old photo of Aunt Sis. In it, she is very old and wise looking. She is sitting with her niece, Alice (Headrick) Burns, my Granny's older sister. Alice is in an old ladder-back chair and is leaning over with her arm around Drusilla. It is the photo of a loving niece, and I can almost feel the kindness and protective instinct of Alice toward her old aunt.

The photo above is retouched (manually, by me), but I'm providing copies the raw, damaged photos below for documentation and comparison. The speckling over Alice's eye in the damaged photo was caused by my original retouch years ago, an attempt with a pencil on the original photo. The actual photo just has white spots where the glossy/image layer of the photo is just gone.

Alice Headrick Burns and Drusilla Headrick Grigsby, original image before retouch; has some colored-pencil retouching on the original.

Caption on the back of the Drusilla Headrick Grigsby/Alice Headrick Burns photo

I plan to do a few more posts about Drusilla Headrick.

I first published the photo and documentation on my website, Southern Muse. I also shared it on FamilySearch (to be picked up by Ancestry, of course), and am reposting it here. My reasons are that I fear a site-hosting fiasco as Yahoo switches over to Aabaco Small Business. God forbid that I should lose Southern Muse after all these years, but it could happen. I can't imagine trying to transfer that large, cumbersome, disorganized site that I've built to a new host, if it should come to that. I'll just try to salvage a few gems ~ among them, Drusilla.

Drusilla C. Grigsby, army widow of Samuel W. Grigsby: married 1903. Extract from Pension Payment Card

[Extract from document image of the US Veterans Administration Pension Payment Card for widow, Drusilla C. Grigsby, drawn on soldier, Samuel W. Grigsby; contains veteran's year of marriage and widow's name]:

Name: Grigsby Drusilla C.
Certificate No. 830791 ARMY WIDOW.
Law: Act April 19, 1908. ACT SEPTEMBER 8, 1916. ACT OF MAY 1, 1920

Name of Soldier: Samuel W.
Service: Priv. I. 2. Tenn. Inf.

Issues married 1903

Class: Orig.
Rate: 12.
Date of Commencement: Dec. 7-1916.
Date of Certificate: Sept 13-1917

Class: Inc.
Rate: 25.
Date of Commencement: OCTOBER 6, 1917.

[Separate Section]: "MINORS--$2 PER MONTH ADDITIONAL."

Name: Inc 30 [Increase].
Commencement: May 1, 1920

Fees: none.

GROUP 2

[Transcr. note: I used "/" as a divider, as between boxes on the form].

"United States Veterans Administration Pension Payment Cards, 1907-1933," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1-17442-125096-61?cc=1832324 : accessed 09 Oct 2014), Griffith, Oliver - Grigwire, Peter > image 660 of 782; citing NARA microfilm publication M850.

Samuel W. Grigsby, Private, Co. I, 2 Tenn. Vol. Inf., died 9 June 1911: Extract from Pension Payment Card

[Extract from document image of the US Veterans Admin. Pension Pmt. Card on soldier, Samuel W. Grigsby; contains veteran's date of death, widow's name]:

Grigsby, Samuel W.
Certificate No. 767149 Army Invalid.
Service: Pvt Co I. 2" Tenn Vol Infr.
Law: Act of February 6 1907

Disability: [blank] [Stamped: "Dead"]

Issues.

Class Rois.: Rate 15
Date of Commencement: 2 Mch 1907.
Date of Certificate: 24 Oct 1907.

Class: Inc [increase]:
Rate: 20.
Date of Commencement: 26 Feby 1909.
Date of Certificate: 29 Mar 1909.

Fees:
Died 6/9 1911
?--crued? order dated 9/13/17
payable to widow Drusilla C

Transferred from: KNOXVILLE, TENN.

Died: ["19" is lined through] June 1911

Bureau notified: 3-798 7/31 - 8/4/11

Remarks: Felker Tenn

Former Roll No. 1306/168 Act of June 27 1890.

[Note: on the roll no., above, "1306" is underlined; under that is written "168."]

Citation for record: "United States Veterans Administration Pension Payment Cards, 1907-1933," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1-17442-123813-72?cc=1832324 : accessed 09 Oct 2014), Griffith, Oliver - Grigwire, Peter > image 746 of 782; citing NARA microfilm publication M850.