A favorite practice that continues today is to save the hair from a child’s first haircut. Among the collections of the Spotsylvania County Museum is an artifact of that time-savored tradition. George William Pound was born on December 13, 1899. He was one of four children of Lula May Pound (1870-1949) and William Henry Miller (1848-1914). The couple was married in December of 1891, and lived in a rented house on the road from Thornburg to Snell. William was a farmer, and George would follow in his footsteps until the 1930’s.
Below is George’s curls after they were cut.
A photograph of his mother below, taken around the time of the “cutting” accompanies the locks of hair as well as a photograph marked in pencil, “George before his hair was cut.”
George was drafted, and served as a private in the U.S. Army during World War I. His draft registration card below indicates that he was tall and still had his red hair.
After the war, George returned to his occupation as a farm laborer. In the 1930’s he moved with his mother to Washington, DC. Records indicate he worked as a machinist in the laundry industry and never married. He died on May 27, 1992, and is buried at Cedar Hill Cemetery in Suitland, Maryland.
One can only wonder if he cried when those red curly locks were cut!