Author: SDBlackmon62

Week 20 – 52 Ancestor Challenge – Another Language – Hillbilly Slang

So, when I first saw this prompt I thought, “Wow, I  have nothing to write about, no one really speaks a foreign language and I’ve had to do virtually no document translation.”  Out of a clear blue sky, it hit me – Jerrellisms!

My husband is a self-professed hillbilly out of East Texas.  His family had their very own language.  I’ve heard time and again how his son would turn to him when they were visiting grandparents and say, “Translate?”

A few years ago we found out that one of his son’s coworkers had a white board in their office on which she wrote what she called, “Jerrellisms”.  “Jerrellisms” are words and phrases that Bo had picked up from his dad over the years, whenever he would use one, she would write it on the board with an explanation.  After thinking about this for a while I realized that my family also had some of these interesting words and phrases.

So, without further ado, I give you “Jerrellisms”

Deeneemite – “They blew that still up with some of that deeneemite (dynamite).”

Bums – “Those soldiers was droppin’ them bums (bombs) all over the place.”

Plowers – “Hand me those plowers (pliers) so I can tighten this up.”

Derbis – “That tornado sure left a lot of derbis (debris).”  This is one of my favorites because my Momma said this forever.  It wasn’t until she used it in the above sentence that I knew what she was talking about.

Slorsh – “Be careful or you’ll slorsh (slosh) the water out of that bucket.”

Warsh – “I need to warsh (wash) these dishes.”

Peffy – “That celery is peffy (limp).”

Blinky – “This milk tastes blinky (spoiled), we better throw it out.”

Stratty – “Boy, your hair is a stratty (tangled) mess!”

Winder Light – “We looked out through the winder light (window) and saw them comin’.”

Rarin & Pitchin – “She was always rarin’ and pitchin’ (throwing a fit) and her husband was so quiet and calm.”

Faunchin at the Bit – “He was faunchin’ (anxious) at the bit to get started.”

Holler – “He lived up at the head of the holler (narrow valley between two steep hills).”

Had-a-Runaway – I sprayed that whiskey up my nose and I ’bout had a run-a-way!”  If you read week 18, you know the story behind this.

I’ll swan – “Well I swan (swear).”

Ambalance – “We called an ambalance (ambulance) when we saw that wreck.”

Derk – “They hit oil and it blew right up through the derk (derrick).”

Pile Knots – “He had some painful pile knots (hemorrhoids).”

She do – “You know ole Lucy goes to that new picture show.”  “She do (she did or oh, really)?”

Clumbed – “He clumbed (climbed) that tree like a squirrel.”

Tabernickle – “We went to the preachin’ under the tabernickle (tabernacle).”

Croned – “I had a wreck and had to get my bumper croned (chromed).”

Sludge Hammer – “I busted that rock with a sludge (sledge) hammer.”

Then there are some sayings –

She looks like a busted can of biscuits.

Least said, soonest mended.

Don’t pee down my back and tell me it’s rainin’.

You can just get glad in the same britches you got mad in.

I know there are many, many, more that I can’t think of right now so I’m sure I’ll end up updating this one from time to time.

I’d love to hear what some of your family’s words and sayings are.

#52ancestors

Whispers from the Past…..

Week 19 – 52 Ancestor Challenge – Mother’s Day – For One More Day

“But there’s a story behind everything. How a picture got on a wall. How a scar got on your face. Sometimes the stories are simple, and sometimes they are hard and heartbreaking. But behind all your stories is always your mother’s story, because hers is where yours begin.”
― Mitch Albom, For One More Day

What would I give for one more day or even one more hour with Momma?  Pretty much anything.  I’d love to be able to sit and laugh with her over the silliest of things –

Momma had a heart for her children, nothing was too great a sacrifice when it came to her kids and her grandkids.  She loved us so much that at times I still don’t think we realize how much.  She loved spending time with us and she always had a memory to share.

We’ve laughed over the unusual way I got around as a baby, she even shared it when our church had a graduation celebration my senior year of high school.  See, I didn’t crawl, I would sit down on my bottom, grab my feet, and bounce.  She’s told me dozens of times about how I was running through the house and tripped on the threshold crashing into an end table and gashing just below my eyebrow.  She cleaned me up and put a butterfly bandage on it because she didn’t want me to have a scar from stitches.  More likely she didn’t want to have to bribe me with a new Barbie to keep me from having a hysterical fit if she took me to the doctor.  Then there’s the story about my older sisters and brother fabricating a story about living in a two story house.  Momma was a single mother in the 1950s, Bubba was her right hand and was often in charge of “the girls”.  When Momma was at work they weren’t allowed to have company inside.  They told a neighbor girl that their single story house had an up-stairs.  Naturally, she wanted to see inside and they had the perfect excuse not to let her in, “Momma’s not home.”  They would go inside and stomp around like they were going upstairs.

When we got new carpet all of our furniture was out on the lawn, Momma and her youngest grandson, Brian, laid in the floor and rolled all over the house on the new carpet.  Later, that same day, I caught her and Daddy kissing in the closet under the stairs.  She shooed me away.

She was often called “Nurse Grandma” because she was always caring for our bumps and bruises.  She would wait until a grandchild was sleeping and then carefully remove stitches.  She could cure anything with peroxide, carbolated Vaseline, and Baby Percy medicine if you were human or egg and milk if it was an animal.

She had a white Persian cat with one green eye and one blue eye named Pitty-Pat, actually the cat was my oldest sister, Linda’s cat but right after she got the cat, she left for college.  That cat lived to be 22, probably because she feed her buttered biscuits, which she would sit up and beg for.  When she was a young girl, she had a wolf.  She rescued three orphaned baby squirrels one time and built them a cage in our back yard, we had them for years,

Mother was so loving, kind, and patient, until she wasn’t.  One time that comes to mind was the case of a half wild cat.  Momma had been catching wild cats and having them “fixed”, this one old momma had a littler before Momma caught her and so the fun began trying to catch her and her wild babies.  She finally managed to and was dipping them for fleas.  One in particular was not having any part of this and had managed to stay just out of reach.  Finally, hot dripping with flea solution and just a little irritated, Momma grabs the cat by the tail, snatches it up by the scruff of the neck and “baptizes” it.  She pitched it down saying, “Well, now we know why God gave them handles.”  I couldn’t stop laughing.

Momma loved to tell about her childhood and how she and her best friend, Monaree Goode would slip across the fence at night and ride the neighbors horse, because Momma knew how to make a hackamore. The neighbor couldn’t understand why his horse always seemed tired.   She would tell about learning to play solitaire from an elderly lady that boarded with them and she and I would play for hours.

I always hated when she started out with, “Now don’t you dare laugh.”, that was a sure sign that I was going to laugh to the point of tears and she was going to threaten to “wear me out”, even though I was grown.  Not too long before she passed, I walked into her office and she started out by telling me not to laugh.  She proceeded to tell me about her adventure the night before.  Some years before, Daddy had installed one of the old-fashioned oval shower kits in our big claw foot tub.  Well, it seems that Momma had decided to take a shower in the middle of the night.  By this time her Parkinson’s was pretty advanced and she wasn’t very steady.  My Daddy was asleep across the hall and their little mutt had followed Momma into the bathroom.  It seems that everything went just fine until she attempted to step out of the tub.  Somehow she hung her foot and spun around at the same time thus falling backwards out of the tub.  Now somewhere in this craziness she managed to catch the shower curtain between the back of her legs and the side of the tub creating a sort of hammock.  Yeah, I lost it, I did ask her if she was hurt.  After swatting me a couple of times she proceeded with her story telling me how she had tried to “hollar for Daddy” but by this point she didn’t have a very loud voice.  Her next step was to try to get the dog to go wake him up, not.  I honestly can’t tell you how she got out of the shower curtain hammock because by this time I was gasping for air and crying all while the smacked me on the arm.  Momma, I’m sorry but it’s just one of my favorite memories.

Yes, I would give just about anything for one more day with my Momma, just one more hug, one more kiss, one more hug, and yes, even one more swat.

I love you Momma, till we meet again…….

 

 

 

#52ancestors

Whispers from the Past…..

Week 18 – 52 Ancestor Challenge – Close Up – Nights with MamMaw


Alta Leona Driver
MamMaw
1903-1998

I grew up in the town where my ancestors settled in 1875.  By the time I was 18, my two older sisters and my maternal grandmother were living on the same block that we grew up on.  I can’t count the times someone has asked me, “How does your family live so close together?”  That’s an easy one, we’re all to busy to get in each other’s way.

MamMaw moved two houses down when I was in my teens.  I remember many late nights talking with her and listening to her tell stories about the family.  She had an old trunk that had belonged to her mother and there were all kinds of treasures inside.  There was a boxed brush and comb set, her and Grandpa’s marriage license, a child’s depression glass cup and saucer that she got on the church Christmas tree when she was a little girl, old letters, receipts, photographs, etc.  I loved looking through the items she kept inside.  I remember one time that she couldn’t find the key and even as I told her, begged her actually, not to break the lock, she grabbed a screw driver and broke it open.  She was extremely headstrong.

She would sit for hours and tell me about how she and her cousin Ida slipped off to see my Grandpa off at the train station near the end of World War I.  Just before he was to board the train, they got word the war was over.  She talked about going to taffy-pulls, and getting out of sight of home and taking her shoes off to walk to school.

One of my favorite stories was about her dropping a “dead” wasp down the back of a girls high-top boot at school one day.  The girl was sitting so that her boot tops were away from her leg and when she straightened up, the wasp stung her and the fight was on.

MamMaw loved to watch Saturday Night Wrestling and many weekends I would walk down to her house and we’d drink Coca-Cola out of little glass bottles and watch the Von Erichs.


Norma Louise, Alta, Mary Ruth (my Momma) Grantham in the 30s

She was contrary to say the least.  I asked her sisters once if my Grandpa dying when she was only 27 and leaving her with two small daughters had made her the way she was, perpetually unhappy.  They responded with a resounding “NO, she was always that way, no one ever understood what your Grandpa saw in her because he was such a sweet man.”  I had to laugh, you can’t argue with the truth.

As cantankerous and contrary as she could be, she could turn right around and be the kindest, most thoughtful person ever.  I didn’t like peanuts until a few years ago and every year when she made peanut brittle she would pour some of the candy out with no nuts, just for me.  She knew how much I loved peach cobbler with lots of crust and no peaches, just juice, she had a small pan that she would fix me cobbler in, just the way I liked it.

I’m thankful for the time I got to spend with her, for the visits to cemeteries and the hours of talking about the family.  I’m grateful that she never kept secrets about the history of our family. She told me that it was important for me to know everything about our family, even the skeletons.  She told me “secrets” that she made me swear not to reveal until everyone involved had passed, but she made sure that they were preserved and handed down so that they weren’t lost with time.

I’m thankful for the time I got to spend “Close Up”, just the two of us, talking until the wee hours of the morning, for her always having orange juice in a glass carafe in her refrigerator, for knowing what “faunching at the bit” means, for being fortunate enough to have inherited many of the treasures that were in her trunk, for her fruitcake recipe and “gut gravy” aka giblet gravy, and for the mental picture she painted of “having a runaway” when she decided to spray whiskey up her nose to cure a sinus infection.

 

#52ancestors

Whispers from the Past…..

Week 16 – 52 Ancestor Challenge – Storms

Storms take many forms, lightning, tornados, rain, snow, tragedy………..

What greater storm could a parent face, than the death of a child?

Pheobe Ophelia Grantham
21 Dec 1887 – 27 May 1892

Pheobe Ophelia Grantham, second child and oldest daughter of Rufus Marion and Mary Ann “Mollie” McReynolds Grantham, born 21 Dec 1887 in Bosque County, Texas. 

By 1891 R. M., Mollie, Thomas Jefferson, and little Pheobe had migrated to Coleman County and the Roberson Peak area where baby Ada Elizabeth was born.

In the blink of an eye, their lives were forever altered. 

 

 

 

“Our darling one has gone before, To greet us on the golden shore”

#52ancestors

Whispers from the Past…..

Week 15 – 52 Ancestor Challenge – Taxes

“‘Tis impossible to be sure of any thing but Death and Taxes,”

The Cobbler of Preston by Christopher Bullock (1716)

I’ll admit that when it comes to using tax records for genealogy research well, I never have.  I know they are there, I know they can be a great source, I forget they are there.  Maybe it’s a mental block considering what I do for  living.  In case you don’t know, I prepare income tax returns for a living.

Don’t get me wrong, when I do happen to take a look at some of these records, they’re pretty interesting –

David Blackman was assessed $2 tax on a gold watch and carriage, Georgia, 1865

Goodridge Driver, Whiskey Distiller, 15 Gallons of Whiskey valued $30.42 tax, Georgia 1866

The problem I have with taxes is that I rarely find my family in these records.  I’m assuming they paid their taxes, man I hope so, I don’t want to try to untangle a mess that old, they just don’t often appear in my searches through these records.

I’ve kept every tax return I have ever filed – including property tax records, I wonder if someday another researcher will be glad that I’ve done that or if they’ll just think I was a hoarder?

#52ancestors

Whispers from the Past…..

Week 14 – 52 Ancestor Challenge – The Maiden Aunt or Bachelor Uncle

Uncle Albert by Lu’s fig bush at Bunger, Texas

Albert Ichabod Driver, Uncle Albert, died in 1951, 11 years before I was born.  While I never knew him, I’ve heard about him all my life.

Albert was the oldest son of John and Weltha Driver, born in 1871, he was only two years old when his family left the Nacogdoches, Texas area and headed West.  In 1874, the little family settled in Parker County near the town of Weatherford, where Albert’s younger brother, Henry, was born, near Long Creek.  In 1875, the family moved again, this time to the little town of Graham, where they would spend the rest of their lives.

Etta Cunningham

As a young man, Albert was engaged to a girl named Etta Cunningham.  Albert suffered from asthma and fearing he’d be a burden to her, he eventually broke their engagement.  His brother, Henry, went with her for a while but he met Louise Smith while visiting their Mother’s family in the Coleman area and married her.

In the early 1930s, oil was discovered on the family’s land, a few miles South of Graham.  Albert’s mother, Weltha, was a frugal woman, the family had lived through lean times and she believed in patching the patches on her clothes to make them last longer.  I’ve often wondered if this was because of an incident where a cow ate her new dress on their journey West…..  Albert and his sister-in-law, Louise, would do the laundry and would “hang Weltha’s worn out dress up in the ringer” then they would pull back and forth until the dress was beyond repair.  This was force Weltha to start wearing a new dress instead of “saving it.”

Albert never married and spent a good deal of his life farming with and looking after his parents.  He cared for them until their deaths.  Anytime I’ve heard relatives speak of Uncle Albert, the fondness is apparent in their voice.  His appearance was kindly and warm.  Many times I have thought about how his life might have been different if he would have had access to the modern miracle of rescue inhalers.

#52ancestors

Whispers from the Past…..

Week 17 – 52 Ancestor Challenge – Cemetery – Heath Springs, South Carolina

I’ve always loved cemeteries.  A fun outing for me is prowling around in a graveyard, hunting dead relatives.  I’ve also always had a type of “sixth-sense” as to where to find a certain grave.  I believe they call to me, wanting to be found.

Jerrell Blackmon at the graves of his 4th Great-grandfathers, William Fleming Bailey and Thomas Cauthen

About six years ago, I discovered that my husband had Revolutionary ancestors who were buried in a quaint little village in South Carolina.  At the time of the discovery, I was able to locate the cemetery online and to find some information about the aforementioned ancestors but, there wasn’t a lot to go on.

While making our way home from a business meeting, we made a detour and visited Salem Cemetery and the graves of two of his fourth-great-grandfather’s, William Fleming Bailey and Thomas Cauthen.  Both men fought in the Revolution and are believed to have been involved at the nearby Battle of Hanging Rock.

Cauthen Brothers

A dedication ceremony had been held in May 1976 for the Revolutionary Patriots of Lancaster County and the Cauthen memorial monument was erected by the Waxhaw chapter of the DAR in honor of the Cauthen patriots, Thomas and his brothers, James and William, who died in Lancaster County.  The address for the service was delivered by the Reverend Baker James Cauthen, a direct descendant of William Cauthen.

William Fleming Bailey

Also William Fleming Bailey is honored at this same site.  Bailey, was the father of Nancy Agnes Bailey, who married George Washington Cauthen, son of the aforementioned Thomas Cauthen.

It was a memorable occasion to visit the final resting places of these Revolutionary soldiers and to commemorate the day with a photograph of my husband with his hand resting on their monuments.

 

#52ancestors

Whispers from the Past…..

Week 13 – 52 Ancestor Challenge – The Old Homeplace – Texas Republic 1841, The Thomas Jefferson Walling Cabin

Thomas Jefferson Walling
(1811-1902)

Thomas Jefferson Walling (1811-1902) was born in White County, Tennessee to John Walling, Sr and Ann Chisum.  In 1832, he married his first wife, Nancy Ann Price, they had nine children.  TJ and Nancy migrated through Mississippi and Arkansas before settling in Nacogdoches, Texas near his brothers, John and Jesse, in 1836.  It was there that T J took the Oath of Allegiance to the Texas Republic and took part in the Texas Revolution with Captain Peck’s regiment.

In 1841 TJ claimed land near Henderson, Texas in Rusk County and he and Nancy built a one room log cabin measuring 20 by 19 feet, about 10 miles Northeast of Henderson, Texas. The cabin was built from hand-hewn pine timber joined at the corners by square notches and typical of many pioneer farm homes in the area. It is the only such structure known to survive from the era of the Republic of Texas in Rusk County.

When Nancy passed away in 1854, TJ married Eleanor Stone Hardy in 1855. They continued to live in the little cabin until 1859 when they moved to Hill County, Texas to the Walling Bend Community near his brother, Colonel Jesse Walling, who had fought with General Sam Houston at the Battle of San Jacinto.

TJ and Eleanor had four children including my great-grandmother, Nancy Ella who was born at Prairie Valley.   The family migrated across Texas, Eleanor died in 1899 at Edna Hill in Erath County and Thomas Jefferson dying in Merkel, Northwest of Abilene, in 1902.

The house and 307 acres surrounding it were sold in 1859 to John Henderson.  A contract made by Harrison’s widow in 1867 states that  the house is the home built by TJ Walling and the entire contents of the house are listed in an inventory.

In 1982, the little cabin was discovered in the woods near Henderson and thankfully it was rescued. The Rusk County Historical had it dismantled and it was reconstructed at the Depot Museum in Henderson, Texas.  Today the cabin stands furnished as it was during the life of Thomas Jefferson Walling and his family.  The dedication ceremony and erection of a historical marker were attended by many of the descendants of T J Walling.

 

 

 

 

T.J. Walling Log Cabin

“In 1841 Thomas Jefferson Walling I811-1902) and his wife Nancy (Price) erected this one-room log cabin.  Typical of many pioneer farm homes in this area, it was built of hand-hewn timbers joined at the corners by square notches.

Walling was a veteran of the Cordova Rebellion and Indian Wars, 1838-1839, and lived here with his family until 1859.  The Walling log cabin was moved from its original site (10 Mi. N E) to this location in 1982.”

Recorded Texas Historic Landmark – 1983

#52ancestors

Whispers from the Past…..

 

 

 

Week 12 – 52 Ancestor Challenge – Misfortune

Definition of misfortune

1 : an unhappy situation
2 : a distressing or unfortunate incident or event
My daddy’s family has been a mystery throughout the 40 plus years I’ve been researching.
Mary Rebecca Smith Black
31 Oct 1849 – 30 Oct 1930

Mary Rebecca Smith, my great-great-grandmother, was born on Halloween, 1849 in Georgia.   June 1869, she married John W Black in Grimes County, Texas, three sons and three daughters were born to their union.  John passed away in March of 1884 leaving the 35 year old Mary with six small children from four months to 13 years of age.

One would think that the young mother would have remarried, but as census records bear out, that was not the case.  In 1900 I found Mary and her two youngest children, Wayne and Fannie, living with her oldest daughter, Mary Alice, her husband, John M Machen, and their family.  June of 1911, Mary was committed to the Austin State Lunatic Asylum in Austin, Texas by her son-in-law, W T Higgins.
For 19 years, 5 months, and 13 days, this was her home, this is where she died.
I was able to obtain her commitment papers and her patient file a few years ago.  It was heartbreaking to read that the condition for which she was committed could have been easily treated with Vitamin B-12.
I’ve often wondered if she simply became overwhelmed with life after losing her husband.
#52ancestors

Whispers from the Past……

Week 11 – 52 Ancestor Challenge – Lucky or Blessed

I don’t recall anyone in my family named Lucky or, for that matter, anyone that was particularly lucky.  However, I can think of dozens of people who were and are hard-working, honest, salt-of-the-earth folks.

I was fortunate enough to have loving and supportive parents who always believed in and encouraged me.  I have sisters that are funny, compassionate, selfless people who are always willing to help someone in need.  I was blessed to have an older brother who had an amazing sense of humor, he was buried wearing Groucho Marx glasses because he just had to make us laugh one last time.  He had an imagination and talent for innovation that wouldn’t quit and a love for “his girls” that was all encompassing.

I “inherited” children and grandchildren when I married my husband and couldn’t love them more.  They’ve given me such joy over the last 22 years.  The many strands that make up the fabric of my family, both past and present, create a tapestry of love and blessings.

“Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.”

Over the 40+ years that I have been researching my family I have been what some might call lucky, I prefer to think of it as working hard, asking questions, and a good instinct for where to look for  information.  I have innumerable treasures that have been entrusted to my care by family all over the U. S.  My belief is that if you love the people you are researching, that love is rewarded.

Whether through luck, fate, chance, odds, or divine intervention, I’ve found long lost family and family we never knew existed.  The most special discovery of all was that of my cousin, MJ and her Daddy, George.

George Hooker Deer
&
James Coleman Black

Through DNA testing I discovered the older brother we never knew my Daddy had.  What a wonderful discovery that was! How exciting it was to see pictures of my Uncle George and see my Daddy smiling back at me.  I only wish I’d found him sooner but we believe that Uncle George was waiting to greet his little brother when Daddy passed away a month after making this joyous discovery.

So, while some may think that successful genealogy research consists of luck, I believe it really comes down to love, patience, and being blessed.

#52ancestors

Whispers from the Past…..