Sallie M Curb Arnold
Ross Griffith sent me an email from the Perry County rootsweb mailing list telling me about the story of his grandmother Sallie McAllister (Curb) Arnold. Miss Sallie was an accomplished artist with works in the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, DC and at the Birmingham Museum of Art, Alabama.Miss Sallie grew up on a large family plantation north of Marion in the now lost village of Curbville. Her family owned a vast majority of land in that area at right near 1000 acres. The large plantation home, called Whitehall Plantation no longer remains and which sat near or on Spring Hill Road off of County Road 29, was far from a public school and so her father converted the grand ballroom into a school room which later became Miss Sallie's art studio. Miss Sallie attended Judson College in Marion, Alabama from 1895 until she graduated in 1901. She later taught art at Greensboro, Sylacauga and at Livingston State Normal School.
In early years after graduation, between 1900 and 1906 or so, Miss Sallie painted these four watercolor paintings for whom Ross is now trying to learn the names of the people in the portraits. Known only by a brief description, these people were likely seen by Miss Sallie on a regular basis. The belief by the family is that they could have been workers on the farm or share-croppers who leased land from her father.
She married, raised a family and became a widow. Then after years away from painting, picked up the brush as if she had never stopped. She painted well into her 90's and lived to be 102 years old.
Ross would like you to see these images, which now reside in Birmingham, to see if you recognize the faces of the people depicted. If you know the Perry County, Alabama area, the ancestors and descendants of these four faces, please message me through this website for contact information pertaining to Ross and these photos. Help solve this mystery for Ross and his family.
SOURCE: Griffith, Ross & Lynn Marks