James Blaine Friddles

When you first start doing genealogical research, you start out by putting your direct ancestors in and then you start filling out the list of siblings.  You never know what kind of story that you are going to find when you start looking beyond the names and dates, and sometimes the stories are rather sad.  My great grandfather’s brother, James Blaine Friddles is one of those sad stories.

James Blaine Friddles was born 29 Sept 1884 in Mountain City, Johnson Co., TN, the 4^th of the six children of Moses Friddles and Martha “Mattie” Brown.  (Moses had at least two other surviving children before this 3^rd family was born)  I don’t believe that he likely had a good childhood…perhaps better than his younger brother (my great grandfather – David Carl Friddle) but from everything that I have read, the family was not prosperous.  In the 1880, Moses Friddles is listed as a laborer.  I know that during the Civil War, he was called an “Artificer” and one of his main roles was shoeing horses in the 13^th TN Calvary, which is how he was injured.  I doubt he was able to work much and at about 60 years old, he was probably not what one might call an active father.  James’ mother was only 16 years old when she married Moses and would have been about 24 when James was born.  When James was six years old, Moses died (11 Mar 1890) and I am sure that the situation went from bad to worse.  Martha was left with six children, one of whom died about a year later.  From family stories, I think she ended up working for an old judge who lived nearby (I have heard him referred to Judge Vaught.  I believe he was Joseph L Vaught, who served in the area as a Justice of the Peace.  Joseph Vaught was in the Civil War and served with Moses Friddles and his daughter married Moses Friddle’s oldest son, Albert.)  Evidently, Martha worked as an housekeeper and I believe that Judge Vaught took it upon himself to teach at least my great grandfather how to read and write…and this was likely the case with with James’s siblings Roby, Jesse, and Callia.  Judge Vaught died in 1897 and by 1899, Martha aka Mattie was remarried to a John M. Tester.  In the 1900 census, I find Calia and David Carl listed as servants in other households, Roby is in the military in the Phillapines and Jesse and James are nowhere to be found.  I believe that they were in other households as servants just like Calia and David Carl. 

On 24 Dec 1901, James marries Dora Nevada Heck.  (daughter of Albert Heck and Susannah Kidd b. 15 Feb 1884 in Johnson Co., TN) and in a short time, they start their family.

• George Harrison Friddles b. 1902 d. 1902
• Jessie Raydell Friddles b. 30 Jul 1903 d. Jan 1986 m. Guy Landrum
• Bessie Mable Friddles b. 7 May 1905 d. 23 Apr 1996 m. Luther Cress
• Walter Paul Friddle b. 7 Sep 1906 d. Jun 1976 m. Doshie m. Mattie Brenson m. Evelyn McClendon
• Martha Callonia Ivalee Friddles b. 6 Mar 1909 d. ?? m. Charles Burnette
• James Howard Friddles Cleaton b. 1 Jul 1912 d. 10 Jan 1961 m. Bertha Ellen Watson

Tragically, Dora dies on 27 Oct 1912 of Typhoid fever in Greenville, Greene Co., TN and James is left to care for their children with the youngest only being a few months old.  As the story goes, James marries again…but there is a plan to take care of his children.  His new wife and he decide that they are going to farm out their children so they can be taken care of.  So, James does this and marries Emeline Guy on 4 Nov 1917 in Johnson Co., TN.

I have found in the records that Emeline was married to a Thomas Coleman Icenhour and had several children with him.  Thomas Icenhour lives until 1936, so I don’t know if a formal divorce occurred or what process was gone through to end the marriage.  He is found in the 1920 census remarried and with most of his children living with him.  It makes me wonder as to what happened to that marriage.

From what I have gathered from James Friddles descendants, this was not a happy marriage and within a few years, James wants to get his children back.  I know also that his older brother, Albert, had communicated with him and was encouraging James to come west because of the availability of land.  Albert Friddles had come out in the mid 1880’s with his family.  July Friddles Prestwood came out west shortly after 1900 and my great grandfather came out in 1910…so just about all of James’s living siblings were living out west…and the theory is that he was getting ready to bring his family out west.  However, that was not to be.  James was found alongside the road shot to death on 1 Oct 1928.  Officially, he committed suicide but family descendants don’t believe that and say that he was shot to death by his wife, because he was going to leave her.  According to the Tennessee, Deaths and Burials Index, 1874-1955 on Ancestry.com, James was buried at Withs Cemetery in the First District in what I believe was a paupers grave with no marker.  If someone can provide me some additional information, I would appreciate it. 

I have a photo of James Friddle in his marriage photo with Dora Heck and I have a photo that was probably taken about six years later and a later one that was probably taken during the mid-teens.  It is hard to believe that this is the same man – for you can easily see the aging and wear and tear of life on his face.  I don’t think we will ever know what really happened to James Blaine Fridddles – but I do know that when he died my great grandfather suffered the loss of two brothers in less than a week, because his older brother Albert died on 5 Oct 1928 just days after James died.  Grandpa Friddle might have gotten the news on the same day.  Julia Friddles Prestwood died a few years later in 1932.  My great grandfather lived to 4 Jan 1955.  He was relatively young 66 years of age, but he had outlived his entire family by many years.

James Friddles and Dora Heck - 1901

Friddle family - about 1904 - Standing in the back is James Friddles and Callia Friddles, in front,
the older woman is Mattie Brown Friddle, then Dora holding Jessie Friddle and unknown man - possibly husband of Calia.

Probably taken about 1915 or so - James Friddles with his children
Left to Right - Martha, Bessie, James holding James Howard, Jessie, and Walter

Roby Smith Dollar

Picture Caption:  Taken abt 1904: Left to Right, Back Row:  Etta Winifred “Freddie”,
Amanda Emaline “Eva”, Cora Eula, Front Row:  Roby holding Smithy Pearl,
Sarah Margaret holding Tempa Maude Elizabeth, Bertta “Annis” Eunice

Roby Smith Dollar was the youngest child of Elizabeth Pennington and Alexander Monroe Dollar.  He was born in Ashe Co., NC on 18 Apr 1868.  As a young man, the family moved to Laurel Bloomery early in the 1880’s.  His uncle, Andrew Pennington had moved there around 1852.  Shortly after they moved to Laurel Bloomery, his mother, Elizabeth Pennington died.  His father, Alexander Monroe Dollar then married Sarah “Lulu” Pearce.  Roby married Sarah Margaret Simmons on 3 Jan 1889.  She was the daughter of Joel Simmons and Tempa Ena Harris. 

Later photo - Only the youngest daughter, Carie Mae not picture.

Roby and Maggie were the parents of ten daughters. They were:  Cora Eula Dollar (1890-1988) m. Benjamin Harrison Sturgill, Amanda “Eva” Emaline Dollar (1892-1979), Bertta “Annis” Eunice Dollar (1894-1980) m Coy McKinley Parsons, Etta “Freddie” Winifred Dollar (1896-1988) m. Charles A Thomas, Tempa Maude Elizabeth Dollar (1900-2002) m. James Walker Beverly, Smithy Pearl Dollar (1902-1980) m. Walter E Parsons, Lena Cleo Dollar (1904-2004) m. Nathan Roth, Estelle Catherine “Kate” Dollar (1906-1989) m.  Raymond Freeman, Sarah Clyde Dollar (1909-2001) m. Thomas P. Jensen, & Carrie Mae Dollar (1911-2004) m. Wilfred Joseph “Fritz” Cloutier.

Roby worked alongside his father, brother, and uncle in a small family lumber mill located near the present Dollar Road in Johnson Co., TN.  After the death of his father in 1908, and the remarriage of his step-mother, Roby and Maggie inherited the family home near Shingletown.  Only a short time later, Roby lost his wife, Maggie, to pneumonia on 19 Feb 1912 and he was left with ten daughters to raise, the youngest being under a year in age.  With the help of his older daughters, Roby managed to raise his large group of children.  He worked as a farmer, lumberman and blacksmith.  It is interesting to note, that the house he lived in at that time, had been built most likely by his brother John Dula Dollar, and then passed on to his father, Alexander Monroe Dollar.  After Monroe Dollar’s death, the house went to his widow, and then was signed over to Roby’s wife, Maggie.  After her death, he inherited the little house.

Top Photo taken in 2009 - View of the house opposite the house -
2nd picture - View from the front porch - taken in 2004

Roby was known to say that “He would never be broke because he had his ten Dollars.” However, it was difficult for the family to make a living.  He was a single father with a large family and they lived on subsistence farming and whatever work he could pick up.  Then the depression hit, and his daughters had to move elsewhere to support themselves.   Some lived as close as North Carolina, and others who moved to Illinois and New York.  Roby sold his land and house in Shingletown and built a small house in Mountain City where he spent the remainder of his life.   

Painting of the little house that Roby built in Mountain City,  Painting by his granddaughter, Gail Dahl

 Most of Roby’s daughters enjoyed long and healthy lives.  Roby, Eva, Lena and her husband Nathan are all buried at Mountain View Cemetery and Sarah “Maggie” Simmons Dollar is buried at the Shingletown cemetery.

Shingletown Cemetery or Wesley Methodist Church Cemetery - Johnson Co., TN

Here is a genealogy report on the family

Roby Smith Dollar and Sarah Margaret Simmons had the following children:

             2             i.   Cora Eula Dollar, born 13 Mar 1890, Shingletown, Johnson Co., TN; married Benjamin Harrison Sturgill, 4 Jun 1913, Laurel Bloomery, Johnson Co., TN; died 18 Mar 1988, Milan, Rock Island Co., IL.

                           ii.   Amanda  "Eva" Emeline Dollar was born on 3 Jul 1892 in Shingletown, Johnson Co., TN.  She died on 28 Mar 1979 at the age of 86 in Richmond, Henrico Co., VA. She was buried in Mar 1979 in Mountain View Cemetery, Mountain City, TN. 

             3           iii.   Bertta "Annis" Eunice Dollar, born 5 Feb 1894, Shingletown, Johnson Co., TN; married Coy McKinley Parsons, 10 Apr 1918, Todd, Ashe Co., NC; died 20 Aug 1980, Lenior, Caldwell Co., NC.

             4           iv.   Etta "Freddie" Winifred Dollar, born 14 Feb 1896, Shingletown, Johnson Co., TN; married Charles A. Thomas, 24 Sep 1924, Laurel Bloomery, Johnson Co., TN; died 16 Nov 1988, Monmouth, Warren Co., IL.

             5            v.   Tempa Maude Elizabeth Dollar, born 6 Mar 1900, Shingletown, Johnson Co., TN; married James Walker Beverly, abt 1930; died 27 Apr 2002, Conway, Horry Co., SC.

             6           vi.   Smithy Pearl Dollar, born 4 Jul 1902, Shingletown, Johnson Co., TN; married Walter E. Parsons, 25 Jan 1922; died 25 Feb 1980, Valois, Schuyler Co., NY.

             7          vii.   Lena Cleo Dollar, born 24 Jun 1904, Shingletown, Johnson Co., TN; married Nathan Rothnagel, 5 Jun 1939, Johnson Co., TN; died 17 Feb 2004, Mountain City, Johnson Co., TN.

             8         viii.   Estelle Catherine "Kate" Dollar, born 14 Mar 1906, Shingletown, Johnson Co., TN; died 21 Sep 1989, Jacksonville, Clay Co., FL.

             9           ix.   Sarah Clyde Dollar, born 11 Aug 1909, Shingletown, Johnson Co., TN; married Thomas Peter Jensen, 6 Sep 1928, Monmouth Illinois; died 5 Feb 2001, Kirkwood, Warren, Illinois, USA.

           10            x.   Carrie Mae Dollar, born 11 Jul 1911, Shingletown, Johnson Co., TN; married Wilfred Joseph "Fritz" Cloutier, 1 Jul 1931, Larchmont, Westchester Co., NY; died 31 Jul 2004, Mount Vernon, Westchester, New York, USA.

Seth Pope & Deborah Perry.

This is one of my early New England families.  Both Seth Pope and Deborah Perry are first generation descendants of immigrants  Seth Pope was born 13 Jan 1649 in Plymouth, Massachusetts to Thomas Pope and Sarah Jenney.   If you want to read more about Seth Pope specifically check out In their footsteps - Seth Pope.  

Seth Pope was the oldest son Thomas Pope and Sarah Jenney.  His father arrived from England as part of the "Mary and John" immigration and arrived sometime between 1630-1632.  Sarah Jenney was born to her parents in Jul 1623 on the ocean voyage to America.  Seth was the oldest 11 children. Remarkably, 10 of those 11 children lived to adulthood...which seems to be remarkable for the time period.

 According to the Pope genealogy, Seth Pope first appears as a peddler in Sandwich, MA.  He ended up buying a boat and settled in Acushnet, MA.  He was active in the coast wide trade and operated a wharf and warehouse.  By the time of his death on 17 Mar 1727, he owned farms, dwelling houses, a saw and grist mill as well as his store and warehouse.

Deborah Perry was the daughter of Ezra Perry Sr and Elizabeth Burgess.  Both were immigrants from England - Ezra Perry having arrived with his parents in 1637 to Massachusetts from Devonshire, England.  Elizabeth Burgess was born in Truro, Cornwall, England and also probably arrived in 1637 with her parents as well.  They were married on 15 Feb 1651 in Sandwich, MA.  Deborah was the second of 6 children, and the oldest daughter.

I don't imagine that Seth Pope and Deborah Perry's life was easy - but it must have been much easier than their immigrant parents.  I always think about the journey across the ocean being a particularly harrowing journey and when these new arrivals got to America - it must have been a very strange place to try to forge out a new life.

My line from Seth Pope & Deborah Perry is:

Elnathan Pope m. Margaret Pope (Daughter of Isaac Pope and Alice Freeman - Granddaughter of Thomas Pope and Sarah Jenney - They were 1st cousins)
Seth Pope m. Sarah Winslow
Winslow Pope m. Mary Wheelock
Francis Pope m. Belinda Willey
Winslow Lonsdale Pope m. Nancy Ann Marie Lyons
Shirlie Louisa Pope m. Ulpian Grey Johnson
Frank Stewart Johnson m. Helen Marian Gage (my grandparents)

If you click on the links above, you will be connected to their Find a Grave profile.  This is one of best things that the internet has brought to modern genealogy.  The photos of some of these very old gravestones are being photographically preserved and made available to those of us who don't live close enough to visit these graves.  They stretch from old cemeteries in Massachusetts and Quebec, Canada to tiny cemeteries in North Dakota and Idaho.

Pennington Families in Johnson Co., TN

The Pennington surname is a common name around Johnson Co., TN and the neighboring counties (i.e. Ashe Co., NC, Washington Co., VA, Smyth Co., VA).  It is too simple to say that they are probably all related.  The truth is that we know they are related by DNA, but we can’t make an absolute connection between these families.  The Pennington Research Association has divided these Penningtons up by their oldest known ancestors and has labeled these groups by numbers.  Within Johnson Co., TN there are Penningtons from Group 7, 12, and 30 primarily…so the question is – who are these Penningtons.

There are two Andrew Penningtons that play a meaningful role in these Johnson Co., TN Penningtons.  Andrew Pennington (m. Mary Elizabeth Pope) b. 1813 is a member of Group 7 and is descended from Ephraim Pennington b. 1769. (He was thought to be a descendant of Micajah Pennington but we know now that isn’t the case).  Many of the Penningtons living around the Shingletown area are related to him and I would bet that that a large portion of those buried in Wesley Chapel Cemetery are somehow related to him including the Sexton family that donated the land built the Wesley Chapel Church. (Robert C Sexton was married to Mary E Pennington, daughter of Andrew Pennington.  Their descendants donated the land for the church.) 

Wesley Methodist Cemetery aka Shingletown Cemetery - Johnson Co., TN

Here is a list of the children of Andrew Pennington and Mary Elizabeth Pope: 

·         Mary E. Pennington b. 1836 d. 1916 m. Robert C. Sexton 

·         Levi Pennington b. 1837 d. bef 1860

·         John H. Pennington b. 1840 d. aft 1860

·         Ephraim Pennington b. 1842 d. 1904 m. Louisa Katherine Hall m. Margarett R Richardson

·         Martha Jane b. 1848 d. 1928 m. Madison M. McCracken

·         Margaret C. Pennington b. 1851 d. 1914 m. Pleasant Alexander Dixon

·         Nancy Laurinda Pennington b. 1853 d. 1930 m. Creed F Davidson

·         Adelaza Pennington b. 1856 d. aft 1860

There were also Penningtons in Shady Valley who were sons of Andrew Pennington’s nephew, Levi Daniel Pennington (Levi Wilson Pennington and Solomon Stansberry Pennington) My own Pennington line comes from the same family.  My 3^rd great grandmother was Elizabeth Pennington (Levi Daniel Pennington’s sister, daughter of Levi Pennington and Elizabeth Henson) and she was married to Alexander Monroe Dollar and their granddaughter, Sophia Dollar Friddle was my great grandmother.

The home that my great grandmother grew up in - near Shingletown!

The second Andrew Pennington (m. Hester Ann Blevins)  was born about 1809 in Ashe Co., NC and is a descendant of Group 30 (Father is most likely Abram Pennington) and was married to Hester Ann Blevins.  Andrew was buried in Smyth Co., VA but many of his descendants can be found either in or near Johnson Co., TN.  His son Andrew Jackson Pennington (m. Eliza Jane Gentry) is buried at Stateline Cemetery in Laurel Bloomery as well has his descendants.

Here are the children of Andrew Pennington and Hester Ann Blevins:

·         Abel Abram Pennington b. 1836 d. 1920 m. Emily Blevins m. Sarah V Able 

·         William Caolloway Pennington b. 1838 d. 1904 m. Nancy D Privett

·         Eli Pennington b. 1840 d. aft 1910 m. Catherine Emeline Allen

·         Mary Matilda Pennington b. 1842 d. 1920 m. Calvin Calhoun Davis

·         Naomi Pennington b. 1843 d. 1902 m. Andrew Jackson Davis – Child by Lee Blevins 

·         Hiram H. Pennington b. 1845 d. 1914 m. Margaret Huffman

·         Samuel Pennington b. 1845 d. 1932 m. Sarah Ann Huffman (Hiram & Samuel aren’t twins – one was born in January and the other in September)

·         Andrew Jackson Pennington b. 1850 d. 1913 m. Eliza Jane Gentry (This is the first line I would check for Johnson Co., TN descendants) 

·         Rebecca Pennington b. 1852 d. 1914 m. Andrew John Hart

·         Asa Ira Pennington b. 1853 d. 1904 m. Martha Emaline Sherwood

·         Eda Eveline Pennington b. 1856 d. aft 1920 m. David Pennington (Son of Lorenzo Dow Pennington – brother of Andrew)

The third group represented in Johnson Co., TN was the descendants of Malissa Ellen Pennington who married George Washington Hines and James Sluder.  Her father was Elisha “Dock” Pennington who died close to the Johnson Co., TN border but was in Ashe Co., NC.    Here are Malissa’s descendants…this info mostly comes from the census records and I haven’t filled out the families as well as I would like!

Malissa Ellen Pennington b. 1861 d. 1952 m. George Washington Hines b. 1856 d. 1911 m. James Melvin Sluder b. 1871 d. 1850

·         Roby Hines b. 1881
·         James Hines b. 1884 d. 1918 m. Rosa McGrady
·         Dock Hines b. 1885 d. 1918
·         Marvin Hines b. 1887
·         Wiley G. Hines b. 1889
·         Otis Hines b. 1891
·         Rosie Hines b. 1895
·         Lidy J Hines b. 1898
·         Dolly Hines b. 1902

So, if you are trying to research the Pennington family in Johnson Co., TN, they most likely came originally from Ashe Co., NC from the early 1800’s as both the Andrew Pennington b. 1809 (Group 30) and Andrew Pennington b. 1813 (Group 7) were both born in Ashe Co., NC and the Group 12 Pennington (Desc. Of Samuel Pennington) also come from Ashe Co., NC in the early 1800’s.  So most Johnson Co., TN Penningtons likely have connections coming from Ashe Co., NC.  These families are good starting points in your Pennington research.

Happy Birthday, Mom Friddle!

Sophia Dollar and David Carl Friddle
 m. 22 Dec 1908 - Johnson Co., TN 

My memories of my great grandmother are a bit hazy.  She died the day before I turned 12 years old...and there are some memories that I think that remember clearly.  Usually they had to do with her telling me stories that I am relatively sure now were not altogether accurate - but they made a good a story.

Today would have been her birthday, and as these anniversaries pass year by year, I always think about her.  When I hear the saying "They don't make em like they used to!"  Mom Friddle is who I think of...she was a pioneer woman when she came out west at 16 with a 1 year old to live up on Grouse Flats in Wallowa Co., OR.

You might wonder why I refer to her as "Mom Friddle."  It was what my mother always called her.  She and her sister Joan were Mom Friddle's first grandchildren.  Mom Friddle didn't really consider herself old enough to be a grandmother, so therefore she didn't want to be called Grandma.  So, the name stuck and my mother always called her Mom Friddle and called her own mother "Momma!"  I never heard her call either one any differently.

I now know so much more about Mom Friddle.  I have seen the place that she was born, photos of her siblings and of her parents.  I even have a photograph of her as a young child.  I know where her family came from and even have a picture of her maternal grandfather.

Taken about 1895 - Left to Right - Claude Elmer Dollar, John Dula Dollar holding Sophia Vestelle Dollar
& Bessie Margaret Elizabeth Dozier Dollar

However, so much of what I know was told to me by someone else or something I researched.  The few precious memories that I have of her that I know are mine are still very important.  Perhaps the most important one for me personally, was the afternoon I spent down at her house after riding my bike from house down to hers.  This was a big deal...my mother trusted me to ride my bike by myself.  I think there was a couple of miles between our houses.  You probably wouldn't let a kid do that today without adult supervision, but it was a different time back then.  I remember walking into her house and Mom Friddle sitting on the couch with her hankie in her hand.  Mom Friddle's head was always shaking - I think it was Parkinson's disease.  It never really bothered me because she had never really looked any differently.  She was wearing her dark glasses and I can't really say I ever saw her eyes. I knew I was welcomed and what followed was an hour or so of stories.  I now know that most of those stories weren't true...because I tried to research the facts.  Her grandfather wasn't a local sheriff and she didn't likely spend a night in jail cell as a child.  (This wasn't because she was in any trouble - she was staying with her grandfather)  Mom Friddle also didn't probably see a body hanging from a tree reflected on the wall in the cell in the moonlight...but it was a darn good story that definitely impressed me...and creeped me out.

Left to Right - Claude Friddle, Sophia Dollar Friddle, Jack Friddle, Capitola Friddle Shearer

So, today it is her birthday.  It has never been hard to remember as it was a day after my brother's. It would have been her 121st birthday...she died not that long after her 85th birthday, rather close to my own birthday...so yet another date that isn't hard to remember.  So, here are a few links to blogs that I have written about Mom Friddle that you might enjoy!

• Learning to Shoot
• 119 Years Ago Today
• Coffee & Hot Toddies
• Three Great Dames - Happy Thanksgiving
• The Most Important Women in My Life
• OK Pop, Turn Over
• February 8th

Before the Beginning...

I began genealogy research back around 1996 with my mother.  We both began with installing Family Tree Maker and putting in everything that we knew.  We started hitting the local library to see what we could learn and even took my Dad down to Salt Lake City to experience the Family History Library.  It is easy to say that we began our research on that date, but truthfully it started much earlier than that.

Betty (Mom) lower left with her sister, Joan and mother Capitola. - at 1949

My mother spent a lot of her early years around her grandmother and grandfather and had the opportunity to learn family stories first hand.  She was always interested and involved with her grandparents and was fortunate to be able to spend a lot of time with them.  They helped make my mother the person she became.  So essentially, Mom became a storehouse of information and that process didn't stop.  When she married my father, Mom quickly became an important member of Dad's family  I remember her telling me of a visit by her father in law (Frank Johnson) at one point where it was just the two of them.  She said that they sat at the kitchen table and talked about his family.  Mom got out a piece of paper and wrote down what he told her.  That piece of paper became the foundation of most of what we knew about my Grandpa Frank's family.  Mom remembered Grandpa thinking that his family history didn't quite measure up to Grandma Marian's family, so he felt surprised when Mom asked him.  We soon found out that his family was just as impressive as Grandma Marian's, but that would have taken us much longer to find out without the groundwork that my mother had done.

Dad with Grandma Marian and Grandpa Frank - abt 1957

Like my mother, I spent a lot of time listening to the stories of my family members.  I can remember as a child, sitting at the feet of my great grandmothers (Mom Friddle and Granny Shearer) and my mother's godmother (Aunty Jones).  These three ladies were born 1894, 1890, & 1889 respectively. Their stories about riding the stagecoach during their youth in the Lewiston area always stuck in y mind.  It was rather astonishing that it took a full day of travel to travel the same distance that took us 25 minutes in the car.  Later as a junior in high school, I remember getting the opportunity to ask my Grandma Cappy and Grandpa Gwen about their lives during the depression.  As Mom and I began researching, it was my turn to question my mother about the family stories that she had heard as a child.  For several years, we had my great uncle to question as well.  He always said that he didn't know that much, but he knew much more than he thought.

I had my Grandma Marian up until a few years ago and learned a wealth of family stories from her. She took a lot of joy out of the information that Mom and I found and later the information that I found...and participated in our research as well.

So now I have become the storehouse of family stories. Mom passed away almost 10 years ago, all of my grandparents are gone and many of the older family members are no longer with us  There are still a few living and I still try to take the opportunity to learn from them.  However, much of what we have found has been dependent on a lifelong interest in our family stories...and if Mom and I had never sat down and listened to the stories of our older family members, perhaps we wouldn't have the wealth of family history that we now have.  Even though my mother is no longer here, I still think of the genealogy research as "ours" because Mom and I began the journey together.  Before we began that research, we had several lifetimes of stories to start that journey!

Remembering Granny Shearer

Today would have been Nettie Pearl Moody Shearer's birthday  I knew her as Granny Shearer.  I always think of Granny around the holidays, probably because that is probably when I saw her the most.  She was born on 7 Dec 1890 and she died in 25 Nov 1980 and I was 13 years old.  I have written a blog about Granny before and I am posting links to those blogs.

Three Great Dames

The Most Important Women in My Life

My Beloved Granny

 One of the biggest impacts she had on my life is my love of cooking.  She took my mother when she was 8 years old and began to teach her to cook.  Her son, Gwen Dean Shearer, had married a widow (my grandmother Capitola Friddle Tannahill) and gave her two new granddaughters.  She immediately bonded with my mother and very soon, she had my mother standing on a stool helping to cook at logging camp.  My mother's love of cooking came from her.  Every Christmas and Thanksgiving, I make a salad that I am sure came from Granny. My niece has named it "Grandpa's Crappy Salad"

So here is how you make it:

1 Large box of Lemon Jello - follow the directions and use the set jello
2 containers of Cream Cheese - at room temperature
1/2 cup of finely chopped celery (you can use more if you like)

Take the set jello, put it in the mixer and whip it with softened cream cheese until combined.   After it is mixed together, then add the celery and mix by hand.

I don't mind the salad until you add the celery - but I must admit that it is an acquired taste.  My grandmother loved that salad as well.  Now, don't judge Granny's cooking by that salad :-)  I am pretty sure that it came out of the 1950's.

So...Happy Birthday Granny.

Taken abt 1949 - Left to right:  Cappy, Floyd (Granny's husband) , Betty, & Granny