Americana at it's finest...A Priceless Story had to be told or be lost forever

My Auntie Mabel Williams, 1915

I've had a passion for my family history since I was in Jr. High School.  My grandmother told me about the birth of the Maybelline company and how my Great Auntie Mabel mixed the ashes from a burnt cork with Vaseline and dabbed the mixture on her brows and lashes to make them grow and give them more color.   She told me how Mabel’s brother, Tom Lyle, a 19 year old entrepreneur with a small mail-order business in 1915, realized the value of her idea and brought it into the world.  He invented mascara and he named his company Maybelline in her honor and it became the greatest success in the cosmetic field.  I gave a speech, got an “A,” and won popularity overnight. From that minute on, I became obsessed with uncovering the lost story about the people who shaped my life.  

My Grandmother, Evelyn F. Williams 1917

I spent time with all my grandparents, parents, aunts and uncles, collecting stories, photographs and vintage Maybelline ads for years and years.  Then, in 1978, when my grandmother was killed in an arson related fire, I was determined not to let her memory die and vowed to write her story.  For the last the next 20 years, I became an intensive journal writer, using the Ira Progoff system, and eventually found my writer's voice.  

My Father, Bill Williams and me, 1983

When a fire took my own home in 1993 and all my memories with it, I turned to my father for support and sat for two and a half years writing a 963 page manuscript about the family and the Maybelline history.  However, it wasn’t until fate brought Bettie Youngs, an author and publisher, into my life that the book began to take form.

After three years of working together, and my story being edited a dozen times, The Maybelline Story was born and will be sent out into the world to inspire, entertain and leave a legacy for the people I have loved and who have passed on.  If I wasn’t given this passion, a piece of American history would be lost forever and would have died with me.  I hope other people have also been inspired to research their roots and capture what they find for their children and grandchildren.  

Family History is the greatest gift one can pass on..... and to connect with your background..... PRICELESS. 

Be sure to connect with my hilarious,  Saffrons Rule Blog at http://saffronsrule.com/

Priceless Maybelline Family History became a Memoir after meeting my Publisher Bettie Youngs.

I've had a passion for my family history ever since I was in Jr. High School, when my Nana told me about the birth of the Maybelline company.  She demonstrated how my great auntie Mabel mixed  ashes from a burnt cork with Vaseline, dabbed it on her brows and lashes to darken them and hoped the concoction would make them grow.  Nana's love for Maybelline's history ignited a fire in my belly as she painted colorful pictures with her words.  She explained how my great uncle Tom Lyle Williams, a 19 year old entrepreneur with a small mail-order business in 1915, realized the value of his sister Mabel's idea and decided to market it as mascara and name it Maybelline in her honor.

My grandfather Preston with his
little sister Eve Williams, 1908

Nana was so proud of Maybelline's great success in the cosmetic field that she suggested I give a speech at school.....I did and I got an A+.  From that minute on, I was obsessed uncovering the lost story about the people who shaped the Maybelline Company and my life.   After spending precious time with my parents, grandparents, great aunts and uncles gathering memories, collecting photographs and vintage Maybelline ads, I was determined to write my book.  Then, in 1978, My dear Nana died mysteriously in an arson related fire and I vowed not to let her memory die.  So for the next 20 years I studied being an intensive journal keeper, using the Ira Progoff system, until eventually I found my writer's voice.

My father - great uncle Tom Lyle - Nana 1967.

When a fire burned down my home in 1993 and all my treasures were lost, I turned to my father, Bill Williams, to help me reconstruct a 963 page manuscript.

 

I believe I was divinely inspired  to leave a legacy before a piece priceless piece of American history was lost forever.  I hope other people will be inspired to research their roots, capture their family's story and preserve it for their children, grandchildren and beyond.  

History is the greatest gift one can pass on and connecting with your ancestors is priceless.  My Nana's words still ring in my ears today, "Sharrie Darling" she'd say, "you can lose everything, but nobody can ever take your background away." 

Check out ancestry.com today and see who's in your family tree. 

Benjamin Franklin, Patriots in the Maybelline family.

Excerpt from a letter written by Tom Lyle Williams' partner, Emery Shaver, to Tom Lyle Jr. in 1932 discussing the Williams family's roots in American history.

Dear Tom Jr,


Ann Franklin Harris was the half sister of Benjamin Franklin, the celebrated patriot and philosopher, and your great grandmother, many times over.

[Ann Franklin’s father Josiah Franklin, Born December twenty third, sixteen fifty-seven, in Ecton, North England, married twice. First to Ann Child, born sixteen fifty-two, who had seven children, the fifth, Ann, your direct descendant.  When Ann (Child,) Franklin died in childbirth on July forth sixteen eighty-nine, in Boston  Mass.  Josiah married a second time to Abiah Foulger on November twenty fifth,  Sixteen eighty-nine, and produced ten more children, seventeen in all and among  them the great Benjamin Franklin.  If you will pick up Benjamin Franklin’s autobiography, you will be able to red part of your own ancestry. Since his father was your many times great grandfather, and in his story of his life, Benjamin tells all about it.  I hope all this does not confuse you, but I had to get off the main story of your descent to mention how you are descended from the Franklin line, for I know you will be interested.]

    

Deacon Jonathan Williams Jr. was a patriot of the “First Water” during our unpleasantness with Great Britain, the Revolutionary War. I know for certain he presided over the meeting held in Faneuil Hall directly after the Boston Massacre, to protest against that slaughter, and he headed the famous “Boston Tea Party,” when that group of men disguised themselves as Indians and went down to the wharves and threw the tea into the Harbor!  This should give you a new interest in history.

Deacon Jonathan Williams Jr. and his wife Grace (Franklin Harris) Williams, had many children but we have complete records of only two, Nancy and another Jonathan!  Jonathan Jr. and Grace (Franklin Harris) daughter Nancy married Samuel Bradford, the Marshall of Massachusetts, and your ancestor, her brother Jonathan 111, became the well-known Col. Jonathan Williams of the War of 1812. 

As a youth Jonathan 111, visited his grand-uncle Benjamin Franklin in England and through him secured a berth on several cruses to the West Indies.  Later, during the Revolutionary War, he was entrusted with several important commissions by Benjamin and was finally appointed Commercial Agent for the Colonies in Nantes, France, at the time that Franklin was Ambassador to France.  Later, through enemies of Franklin, Namely John Adams and Henry Lee, he was accused of dishonesty in an attempt to discredit Franklin, but he cleared himself, although it caused him the embarrassment of having to go into bankruptcy. 

    

Political enemies of Franklin rejoiced when they succeeded in humiliating him and his grand-nephew, however, it did them no good as Jonathan Williams 111 became famous as first Major, then Major General and finally Colonel Williams, organizer and first superintendent of West Point Military Academy.  I have a Photostat of an engraving made from his portrait that I shall also give you.  

While Jonathan 111, was Commercial Agent at Nantes, he fell in love with Marianne Alexander, the daughter of William and Christian (Aitchison) Alexander, of Scotland, of noble family and very rich (The Sheriff of Edinburgh.) A It seems William Alexander did quite a bit of select spying for Benjamin and was one of his closest friends, so you may be sure that it proved a brilliant match when Franklin’s grand nephew and Alexander’s daughter were married at the home of the Dutch Ambassador in Paris, and Franklin was present at the ceremony of course. 


Love, Uncle Dutch