A Party for Yer Old Uncle Ben

Wayne Hostetler sent me another great family picture recently. I'm not sure where he found it, but it's a good one and another picture that I've never seen.

Uncle Don, whom you will recognize as the smallest person in the photograph, says that the occasion must have been a birthday party for his uncle, Ben Frankland. That's Uncle Ben holding the birthday cake. My grandpa, George Dixon, is on the left in the back row, right behind my dad, Jerry Dixon. Uncle Jim is the other youngster on the front row. The two younger men in the back row are Uncle Ben's sons, Elbert and Ben Jr.

Uncle Ben Frankland was married to George's sister Stella. Uncle Ben worked at Firestone in Akron, Ohio. Uncle Don says that the picture was probably taken in Akron, because he doesn't remember his cousins coming with Uncle Ben and Aunt Stella when they visited in Anderson. My mom said once that Ben and Stella often stopped by Anderson to visit when they were heading home to Albion or on their way back home to Akron from a visit the the larger family in Albion.

I haven't been able to contact any descendents of Ben and Stella (Dixon) Frankland, although I won't stop trying. There must be some descendents still in the Akron area.