“If you would not be forgotten as soon as you are dead, either write something worth reading or do something worth writing.” —Benjamin Franklin
Where There’s a Will
By Betsy Cross Thorpe
When I first saw the words Where There’s a Will on the 52 Ancestors in 52 Week’s list of prompts my initial impulse was to alter the prompt and write a piece titled Where There’s a Will There’s a William.
My thoughts were that it would be fun to give a nod to all the Williams who populate the various branches of the Roe and Isaacs family tree. My maternal family tree.
I also found it a topic that most can relate to. For whom among us does not have a Uncle Billy or Cousin Bill to love?
With that thought in mind I looked at the tree. I searched the name William. Perched near the top sat the name of my four times great grandfather—William Dawson. He was born in 1772.
I privately dubbed him William the First.
Starting with him I followed the name William all the way down to my generation. I searched both my grandfather and grandmother’s sides of the tree. From the first William Dawson down to my own first cousin William Gregory Roe who was born in 1964, I found nine direct line relatives with the given name William. All born over a span of one hundred and ninety-two years.
Another twenty-six males named William are scattered among different branches of the tree.
As far as I can tell William R Fowler lived longer than any other William that I am related to. He died in 1936 at the age of ninety-two. Sadly, baby William Gordon Combs was the youngest of the Williams to die. He passed away in 1930. He was only fourteen months old.
I lost my nerve for the project. Grandparents, uncles, cousins, and in-laws. Past and present. There are just too many Williams on this side of my family to write about in one weekly blog post.
I realized it would be much easier for me if I simply conformed with the prompt and wrote a piece based on how it was originally written.
The following passageis my belated attempt at conformity. It is my anlysis of a Last Will that one of my ancestors made and signed one hundred and thirty-six years ago—almost to this day.
On May 13, 1884, at a time when the estimated life span for a man living in the American South was forty-one years, at the age of sixty-four, my third-great grandfather, Daniel Franklin Manus, of the County of Lyon, of the state of Kentucky, made and signed a will.
It was the only will ever made by him.
There is really nothing unusual about Daniel Manus making a will. People have been making wills to dictate what happens to their estate after they die since the time of the Ancient Greeks. However, while most of his instructions are just what one would expect to find in a simple will, I did find some of his statements and instructions to be somewhat out of the ordinary.
His first request was that his funeral expenses and any just debts that he may owe be paid out of any money he might leave.
That is a standard instruction, nothing unusual there.
The will then went on to say that if Daniel Manus left no money, then those expenses were to be paid out of his interest in a crop of tobacco that he stated was now being grown on land he owned. A woman named Mrs. Beck was growing the tobacco.
I snapped to attention. The words now being grown jumped off the page.
This will was signed on May 13. Tobacco grown in Western Kentucky is usually cut and harvested sometime in August. Did he expect to be dead before then? Did he have reason to believe that he would die before Mrs. Beck harvested the tobacco she was growing on his land? Did my third great grandfather dictate this will from his deathbed?
The will did not say.
It simply stated that after his just debts were paid out of the proceeds from the tobacco being grown on his land, that his small amount of personal property and his eighty acres of land was to be held and kept in the possession of his widow until her death. It also contained a directive stating that considering the smallness of his effects that his funeral expenses ought to be very moderate.
At this time Daniel Manus was married to a woman named Elizabeth Terrell Manus. She was his second wife, thirteen years his junior. He married her on December 31, 1876 shortly after the death of his first wife Susannah Elkins Manus. Susannah is my third great grandmother. Daniel and Susannah had several children together, five of which were still living in 1884 when he made this will. All five were daughters, all married. The youngest, Emily Manus Isaacs is my second great grandmother.
The will stated that after the death of his widow, he desired that his second eldest surviving daughter Susan C.T. Hall receive one bed and fifty dollars before any division of property. That the rest of the estate be divided equally between his five daughters.
How unusual. To show preference to one child over all the others seems odd. Why Susan? Why one bed? Was she a favorite? Did she have a special need? Was she more impoverished than her sisters, or did she simply just ask that he leave her a bed?
Once again—the will did not say.
While the motives for his unusual bequest will continue to fuel my imagination, I must accept that the truth of why he favored the one daughter over four others in his Last Will shall forever remain hidden in the past.
I frequently sit and look at all the many wonderful photographs of my family from Louisiana and Mississippi. There are so many photographs I could have chosen but I kept coming back to this one of my Grandpa Roe. In this picture he is identified as a fireman for Genoa Mill at Bluff Creek in East Feliciana Parish, Louisiana. This picture was taken in 1913. I asked my self, “Why would I choose this one out of so many?” Simply, this photo included many hard working people, it was viewed by many, demonstrated the work in Louisiana and how this work brought income to many in this area.
I had always thought of Grandpa Roe only as a farmer on the homestead in East Baton Rouge Parish. I did not realize he worked the in logging industry. That in itself is pretty amazing considering that his two eldest grandsons , from my father’s branch of the family tree, and a large lumber of his great grandsons, went on to work in the logging industry after our family migrated north to Oregon.
They did so not knowing that were following in our Grandpa Roe’s footsteps!
This picture was sent to me in the mid 1970s when I first began to pursue genealogy. Betty Roe Ginn, youngest daughter of Eugene Green Roe sent me much of the information on the Roe family. Eugene Green and John Roe shared same mother, Elizabeth Pulliam. Betty tramped through the piney forest of East Baton Rouge looking for the remnants of the homesteads of Grandpa Roe and Great Grandpa Roe. She nor any of the other cousins located any signs anyone lived there due to the overgrowth of woods.
I was blessed to meet Betty in August of 2003 when my brother Frank and I visited her and other family members in Louisiana and Mississippi. Our cousin, Terri Roe Sarka knew where the homestead had been located and took us there. We could not get into the area because of the overgrown and road was obliterated. We felt a closeness to our grandparents just being near the site.
Frank and I then went on to visit Chatham and Yazoo City, Mississippi. Those were places our family lived before coming to Oregon. We also drove through Anquilla his birthplace. We were able to find Oak Grove Baptist Church in Tolarville, Mississippi. Our Isaacs grandparents are buried in the cemetery on the church grounds. Mama’s brother, Kelly Isaacs had the headstone made and installed sometime in the 1980s.
I have tried to find the newspaper this was posted in. So far unable to find. My niece, Betsy pointed out this was not an article from a 1913 paper but was a picture taken during that year and printed in a newspaper at a much later date.
So if anyone has anymore information about the mill I would so appreciate hearing from you.
Post Script:
I marvel at how many photographs my mother brought to Oregon when we came in 1946 by Greyhound bus to Oregon.
If not for my mother (Ruby Isaacs Roe) keeping contact with daddy’s (Henry David Roe) side of family we would not have any Roe connections.
At every crossroad follow your dream. It is courageous to let your heart lead the way. Thomas Leland
Thanks to Amy Johnson’s podcast mid January; Betsy Thorpe, my niece suggested we collaborate and follow Amy’s hints to preserve our family stories. We started on week four and are now catching up. Fresh start was the January 1st hint. It brought to mind a number of fresh start ideas. What I have learned from my DNA results is my fresh start.
I had been told since early childhood, that I most likely was 1/16th Cherokee Native American. My maternal grandmother, mother, her eldest brother and her eldest son had high cheek bones, slender face and dark thick hair. Other relatives agreed. My understanding was the line came through my mother’s grandmother, who died young. The story told about her was she had been adopted as a child and no information has been found about her biological or adoptive parents.
Another niece was the first to have a DNA test and her results – no Native American. Betsy and I decided to have ours done. I admit, I was skeptical about testing that was not related to medical reasons. My sister (Nannie Roe Cross) and her twin brother (Herman Frank Roe) agreed to participate. A cousin on my paternal side and two cousins on my maternal side joined us in this endeavor. None of our results came back with even a smidgen of Native American. These results indicated to us it was a story told and retold and had been passed down as truth.
As I said, I was skeptical, so I had a second test done with a different company. Results were very similar. I am convinced the results were correct. Even though a cousin on my mother’s side said, “I’ll believe Aunt Ruby over any of the results. However, recently he had his DNA done and of course; no Native American. Is he a believer now? Not sure.
From the results it confirmed I was 61% Europe West, 10% Great Britain, 10% Ireland and the last 4 regions less than 10% each. This result was received in 2016. Another idea that was proven correct, was that I would have a large portion from Germany. My great grandfather on my father’s side immigrated to America in mid 1800s. I made the assumption he was full blood German. Over time Ancestry appears more overlapping of and refining areas. With updates today, Ethnicity is England, Wales and Northwestern Europe at 78%, Ireland and Scotland 17% and Germanic Europe at 5%.
Long story short, I am a blend of many nations and proud of it. I had hoped my journey would find when and where our ancestors arrive in America. So far I have not. But because of my DNA results I have met relatives on both sides of my family. I am blessed to have connected with them as our family increased with this knowledge.
Post Script:
A surprise for me was that the twins were not closer in DNA results. They both show England, Wales and Northwestern Europe as top with there numbers around 81%. Ireland and Scotland listed as second and Nannie’s is greater at 16%. She has only one other ethnicity which is Norway and 3%. Franks last 8% is split between Germanic Europe, Eastern Europe/Russia and Sweden.
In my search I have found some skeletons related to DNA; possible relatives we were not aware of. For some of them, I will leave others to pursue.
“The bee collects honey from flowers in such a way as to do the least damage or destruction to them, and he leaves them whole, undamaged and fresh, just as he found them.” Saint Francis de Sales
Bikini Atoll Nuclear test July 1, 1946
Eugene “Gene” Roe GMC3 January 1, 1946
Eugene (Gene) Roe was my brother. He was the eldest of the Roe children. He was born October 17, 1927 in Holly Bluff, Mississippi to Henry and Ruby Roe.
This is a story about the Bikini Atoll Nuclear Test event that Gene witnessed from aboard the USS Rollett as a Gunner’s Mate Third Class. In late January or early February of 1946 the ship sailed from Port Huenema, California to the sea off the coast of Bikini Atoll. They were considered the “floating Navy” while others were on the island building and preparing for the Nuclear Test. As best understood they were there to transport equipment and supplies to the island. The many ships around the islands provided survey information, housing many working on the project and miscellaneous tasks. Gene told us that on the day “Test Able” was dropped his ship was far out and they were on deck to take pictures and observed the blast. This test was initially scheduled for May 15th but due to delays in construction it was rescheduled for July 1, 1946.
Pictures of mushroom after Test Able, taken from the USS Rollett
He was on the ship traveling to and from Bikini, as well as the time there for a total of 6 months. He returned to Port Huenema. In a letter he wrote home, he expressed how good Port Huenema looked on return.
He received the WW11 Victory Medal and the American Area Campaign.
This information obtained from the “Bikini Atoll Nuclear Test” booklet each received that were present. (Unable to find a link to this pamphlet, much to many pages to attach.)This was considered the Crossroad Experiment and “Test Able” was the first of many nuclear tests in the Marshall Islands. J.D. Burky was Commander-CEC-USN of the 53rd Naval Construction Battalion. He was in charge of the assigned mission of accomplishing all the required shore construction. This was noted from the booklet that was compiled of this projection with pictures and dates. Gene kept his and it is now in possession of his children.
In this pamphlet it has pictures of the ships arriving and LST 881 bringing in the heavy equipment and unloading on the beach on March 14.
Each page of pictures show how the work of a water purification system and cement forms to install the tower were being done.
Bikini Atoll Nuclear Test pamphlet
Commander Burky (on right) briefing prior to raising of tower
The bomb was named Gilda, after Rita Hayworth’s character in a 1946 film. It was dropped from the B-29 Superfortress Dave’s Dream of the 509th Bombardment Group.
For more on information on this and on other tests performed in the Marshall Islands follow the links posted below.
I was unable to find information about the USS Rollett
Gene’s letters do not report his duties other that watch duty and his experience of putting an 18 inch hole in a L.C.V.P. He doesn’t say how but feared reprimand-none came. He and other sailors managed to get it back on the ship without it sinking out of sight. In this letter is his willingness to send money if dad would go to Oregon.
The landing craft, vehicle, personnel or Higgins boat was a landing craft used extensively in amphibious landings in World War II. Typically constructed from plywood, this shallow-draft, barge-like boat could ferry a roughly platoon-sized complement of 36 men to shore at 9 knots.
“Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.” Aldous Huxley
Easter 2020 Peter Rabbit brings to mind memories
Easter 2020 was very different; celebrating with Covid-19, not going to church on such a special day. No big family and friend’s dinners after church service. My son and family came for dinner. We were sitting outside visiting and eating at a distance and no hugs. My sweet daughter in law brought me a chocolate bunny; she had added a mask and gloves to him. In the packet was “The Tale of Peter Rabbit” by Beatrix Potter. I had not read the story since my grandchildren were small. I read it as I sat nibbling on one of the rabbit’s chocolate ear. I pondered the story about Peter Rabbit eating too much at Mr. McGregor’s garden. After he finally made it home, he was too sick to eat the blackberries his siblings ate that night. These tales below inspired by Peter Rabbit and overeating.
This story was told to me by cousin Imogene Combs Graziano years ago when I visited her at her cabin in Yucca Valley, California.
Imogene told me that she always looked forward to going to my mother’s (Ruby Isaacs Roe) house to visit. She and my brother, Buddy had always been close; even from their toddler years.
The following story took place in Mississippi, during summertime when blackberries were ripe.
“Aunt Ruby was making a blackberry cobbler for dinner. She sent Buddy and me down the road to the mail box; they lived off a country road. In the mail was a packet of what looked like chocolate. I told Buddy we could share it and he said, “no, we’ll get in trouble.” I told him no we would just hide the wrap and no one would ever know. I could get him to do what I wanted. So we ate the chocolate and hid the evidence. We thought we were so cunning.
Well, by the time we got home we both had to run to the outhouse; multiple times, and taking turns. Aunt Ruby ask us what was wrong. We both just told her our stomach was upset. We were sent to bed and everyone else enjoyed the blackberry cobbler! Just like Peter Rabbit!
I am sure by now you have realized it was NOT, just chocolate but a sample of EX-LAX. I am not sure after all we went through that day; that we learned our lesson. Years later we confessed to Aunt Ruby and we suspected she always knew.”
Post Script:
Cousins Herman and Jim Isaacs, Uncle Kelly and Aunt Eleanor’s sons (Herman and Jim) had a similar experience. They were living in Cottage Grove Oregon near the town of Saginaw.They found a similar chocolate package in their indoor bathroom and promptly ate the entire package. Well, needless to say, it wasn’t long before those two boys were fighting over the bathroom. Aunt Eleanor found a mess! After that chocolate didn’t taste so good to them.
“What is seen is not always a reality to others.” Author Unknown
Evelyn Emily Combs October 30, 1906 – October 7, 1933
Evelyn Emily Combs early 1930sJessie Lee, Evelyn and Ruby Lurline CombsImagene Combs Sometime in the mid 1930’sWilliam Gordon Combs Aged 14 Months 1930
AIR
This story was told to me by my mother Ruby Isaacs Roe many years ago.
Evelyn, mama’s oldest sister was due to deliver her fifth child.
Mama walked to her home; she was living at Germania, Mississippi. Mama said as was close to house; she could see sheets flapping in the wind on the clothes line. When she arrived; she asked Evelyn if she had brought the sheets. Evelyn responded she didn’t have anything on the line. Mama said that was puzzling as she clearly saw the sheets.
Shortly after mama’s visit Evelyn gave birth and the doctor said both she and the baby girl died. Mama knew her sister was really gone, but she always hoped that the baby had lived. She hoped the doctor had found a home for the baby to help Evelyn’s husband who had just suffered the loss of his wife He already had three young children to care for. It would be very difficult for a man in his circumstances to properly care for a new born baby.
At that time it wasn’t unusual for a doctor to find a home for a motherless child.
Off course, I don’t know that is what happened. But I do know that mama clung to that hope for the rest of her life. This was just what mama hoped.
Mama was known to have premonitions, and she always said that looking back on the day she went to visit Evelyn that the sheets she saw flapping in the air were a premonition of her sister’s death.
Another time I clearly remember mama’s premonition of death was June 8, 1964, my high school graduation night. Me, mama, Daddy, my youngest brother Alan and my nephew Robert were all sleeping. When the phone rang. It was almost midnight. It was unusual for the telephone to ring in the middle of the night and we all ran to living room to find out who was calling .
I will never forget what mama said just before she answered the phone. She said “death bells are tolling for someone tonight”. She said this before answering the phone, when she picked up the phone we learned that my cousin Herbert Kelly (H.K.) Lisenby had just died in a terrible car accident.
H.K. was home on leave from the Navy. He was the son of mama’s youngest sister Bea.
I don’t remember who called to tell us of H.K.’s death. Others died at the crash scene also.
H.K. Lisenby 1963-64
Mama always said her she had premonitions as far back as she could remember. She also told me that they did not always deal with death.
Children of Jesse Lee and Evelyn Marie Combs:
Jesse Lee Combs, JR 1924-1997
Lurlene Ruby Combs Bradshaw 1928-2008
William Gordon Combs 1929-1930 (14 months old on 1930 census,
Lucille Imogene Combs Graziano 1931-2015
Baby Girl October 7, 1933 – October 7, 1933
Questions I wish I would ask mama;
Why were you not there when Evelyn delivered?
Who took care of Jesse, Lurlene and Imogene during and after her death?
When did you get to see Evelyn after her delivery and death?
Did you talk to the doctor after both died?
What caused William’s death?
Germania is not listed as a town on the current map of Mississippi but there is a Germania Road
Post Script:
After writing this story, I received a copy of a letter dated thirteen days before Evelyn died. Her grand-daughter, Debbie Russell Warner found it among her mother Imogene Combs belongings. It is possible that she wrote the letter before my mother came to visit and that the letter was never mailed. It is also possible the letter was sent and that my mother kept it all those years and gave it to Imogene when she came to visit my mother in Oregon many years later.
Another question that goes unanswered.
The letter is attached, very newsy about everyday life. My sister, Nannie and I marvel at how long it has been kept and under these circumstances.
This letter confirms something I have always known and loved about my mother and her sisters; they loved each other deeply. They kept in touch even under the difficulties of life they faced. This legacy of love for each other is passed on to my sister Nannie and me.
Letter From Evelyn Combs to Her Sister Ruby Roe. The letter is dated 13 days before Evelyn Died.
“If you look for truth, you may find comfort in the end; if you look for comfort you will not get either comfort or truth only soft soap and wishful thinking.” C.S. Lewis
Fire and Family Skeletons
By Gerry Roe
John Roe, Henry, Dawson, Ary, Rivers back row L-R, Lucie, Joseph, Jimmy, Annie and Nannie sometime around 1909Siblings, Frank Roe and Gerry Roe, Near the old Roe Family Homestead, Baywood/Pride Louisana, August, 2003
I don’t remember who first told me the story about the day my grandmother Ary O’Dell Dawson caught the family homestead on fire. I don’t even remember when I first heard it. But this is the story that was told to me.
Grandpa John and Grandma Ary Roe lived on a homestead in Baywood/Pride, East Baton Rouge Parish, Police Jury Ward 5, Louisiana. Grandpa John was in the field plowing and grandma came out and said she had a headache. She wanted him to go into town and get some aspirin. Since he was almost done with the plowing; he said he would finish and then go. Well, as the story goes, that was not good enough my for grandma Ary.
I assume all the children were outside the house and that the house was located close to the fields because grandpa was able to get there in time to put the fire out, before the house burned down.
Ary was my father, Henry David Roe’s mother. I remember hearing this story and thinking, why would she do such a terrible thing?Did she set the house on fire to get his attention? Did she start the fire because she was angry?Was the story even true?
My father talked very little about his family and or how he grew up, but later in life I talked with some of my cousins in Mississippi and Louisiana about grandma and how my father and his siblings grew up.
After talking to them I came to conclusion that this story is true.
No one has ever told me if grandpa got her some aspirin.
No one has ever told me what month and year this happened.
The story I was told that she went to Minter City, Mississippi. It is in Leflore county.
From my searching the census rolls of 1920 of Beat 1, Leflore, Mississippi I find Ary Dawson Roe living with her son Jimmy Louis and wife Nora. She had taken Lucy (17), Edward, Cappie (10), Rivers (7) and (Louisiana) who was listed as Hester (4) on the census. She is listed as mother to Jimmy; children are listed as his brothers and sisters and she declares her marital status as a widow.
The 1920 census same parish has grandpa Roe, Joe and Dawson. They are listed as this spelling for Rae. He also is listed as a widow. My father Henry did not initial go with her and I find him on a 1920 census (same parish different district) living in his sister Nannie and brother in law Luke Coghlan’s household. Notes I found that my mother wrote was that daddy was seven when his mother left. That would be 1913 and he stayed on homestead with his father until he was eleven (1917) and then went to stay with his mother until he was thirteen (1919). When he left her he went to Arkansas and worked with Wallen and Davis Sawmill until the company went to Holly Bluff and he worked for them until 1930. This a big discrepancy.
These are only theories: one could be because of the young age of my father and the circumstances he told my mother ages incorrectly. Second possible theory is she did leave in 1913 but came back and had her last child, Louisiana in 1916 and then left again. There is a third possibility and that could be severe postpartum depression after so many children. After much research of the census and remembering the story. My conclusion is that my father’s dates are incorrect. I am inclined to think the incident happened around 1917 or there about. I don’t believe she left and returned. Also, since I finding him on the 1920 census with his sister Nannie; I believe his date of going to Arkansas would have been in the early 1920s. Something I learned from further research was that the homestead was not in East Feliciana Parish as I always understood.
The winter of 1928 his father came to visit him and my mother in Holly Bluff, Mississippi. The last time daddy saw his father was in 1932 when he went to the homestead to see him. Dawson was still living with his father but would not speak with daddy. In 1933 grandpa Roe had a heart attack and Dawson went for the doctor but when they returned grandpa Roe had died.
Family Skeletons unearthed:
Both Ary and John on census of 1920 are listed as a widow
“Ultimately, the great truths of family history don’t live in any book. They live in the hearts and minds of the living descendants.” Laurence Overmire
Two months ago, when I saw the word Water on the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks list of weekly writing prompts it reminded me of a story my grandmother Ruby Isaacs Roe, liked to tell about the day she was born. She was born on February 9, 1911, in western Kentucky, near the banks of the Cumberland River.
As the story goes, winter was colder than usual that year. It was so cold on the day she was born that the river froze. It froze solid. The ice was so thick that one man drove a heavy mule drawn wagon all the way across the river, from one bank to the other.
Two months in advance of when the Water prompt was due, I knew that was the story to tell. I would write of that cold icy day when my grandmother first arrived in this world. It was the perfect story for Water
Or so it seemed.
My plan started to change after last week rolled around. That’s when I wrote a blog post about my sixth great grandmother Elizabeth McKibben Rhea. I wrote about her for the 52 Ancestors weekly prompt, Nearly Forgotten. After I wrote the piece, I just couldn’t get her off my mind.
Every time I sat down at my desk to write about the day my grandmother was born, I was distracted by thoughts of Elizabeth McKibben Rhea. I couldn’t stop thinking about how in her young years she traveled 3,346 nautical miles across the Atlantic Ocean from Ireland to reach the Virginia Colony in the New World.
That’s a lot of water to cross over.
Young Elizabeth McKibben was among the first immigranst from Ireland to arrive in Virginia. The Scotch Irish Presbyterians began to arrive in the colony sometime around 1730. They mostly arrived from the city of Londonderry and other parts of Northern Ireland.
According to Eyewitness to history.comThe passage to America was treacherous by any standard. Many of the immigrants were too poor to pay for the journey and therefore indentured themselves to wealthier colonialists – selling their services for a period of years in return for the price of the passage. Crammed into a small wooden ship, rolling and rocking at the mercy of the sea, the voyagers – men, women and children – endured hardships unimaginable to us today. Misery was the most common description of a journey that typically lasted seven weeks.
I can’t fathom all the unimaginable hardships she suffered. But, unless she was a small child when she made the voyage, she probably knew how miserable it would be long before she booked passage. I also don’t know if she was indentured when she arrived in Virginia. I truly hope not. I can’t imagine any way that she could have prepared herself for the horrors of that system. No matter her age.
I am on a mission to learn more about Elizabeth McKibben Rhea. Water played a role in her early story.
I am excited to uncover more about her and I am curious to see where my future writing prompts lead me.
“If we celebrate the years behind us they become stepping-stones of strength and joy for the years ahead.” Anonymous
NEARLY FORGOTTEN, This collection of memories was recorded by Gerry Roe.
The following set of memories were submitted by some of Henry David Roe and Ruby Isaacs Roe’s children and grandchildren.
RANDY AND PEANUTS AND THE BIG FISH THAT DIDN’T GET AWAY
Submitted by Randy Cross:
It was summertime and before the year of the big snow of 1969 that collapsed part of the roof on Grandma and Grandpa’s house on Hardscrabble Road.
During the summer many us cousins would go spend some time with our grandparents. Me and my cousin Peanuts (Terry Roe) were 10-12 as I remember.
One day we went down to the creek behind Mr. Haines house to fish. A big salmon bumped us and we started hitting it. Peanuts grabbed a pitchfork and got it. It was big fish, but we carried it home to Grandma.
That night we had salmon for dinner. Thanks to Grandma and her cooking skills.
Ruby Roe standing to left of house on Hardscrabble Road in 1969Randy Cross earlier picture before memory
PEANUTS FINDS A BEE HIVE IN THE BARN
Submitted by Sherry Roe Carroll: I can’t remember how many of us cousins were at Grandma’s house that day. It was when she still lived out on Hardscrabble Road. A lot of cousins were there. We were all playing down at the barn. It was back on the property, down past the garden. We were in the upstairs part of the barn, jumping up and down in the hay. My brother Peanuts jumped up and hit his head on a bee’s nest. He ran out of the barn, all he way to Grandma’s house. The bees were chasing and stinging him. He was crying and yelling loud. He had lots of stings. Grandma took care of him. and had lot of stings. Some of us other kids got stung too, but not nearly as bad as my brother.
UNCLE ALAN AND THE RAW THE EGG
Submitted by Sherry Roe Carroll:
As Sherry recalls her Uncle Alan Roe had gone with her and some cousins down to the barn to collect eggs. He told them they had to be careful with the eggs. He said that if anyone broke an egg they would have to eat it raw. She broke an egg, and according to her, her Uncle Alan told she had to eat it. She said she asked him why she had to eat the egg, and as she recalls he answered “because I am older than you .”
Sherry has many wonderful memories of times spent at Grandma’s house in Drain.
Regarding her memory about the raw egg, her uncle says he doesn’t recall the incident at all.
Alan Roe Cottage Grove, Oregon just before move to Drain, Oregon
NO FREE LUNCH
Submitted by Nannie Roe Cross
Taken from Booth Kelly Lumber mill site on web; this was similar to memory of mill at Dorena, Oregon
Nannie Roe Cross says that most who knew her mother, Ruby Isaacs Roe thought of her as the quintessential homemaker and mother. But she wants people to know that there was another side to her mother. That she was also an ambitious and entrepreneurial woman. Back in Mississippi during the time of the New Deal helped support her family by working in a WPA sewing room. She also remembers that after the family moved to Dorena, Oregon and her father was working at the Booth Kelly Lumber Mill that her mother helped pay the bills by preparing a noon meal for the men who worked at the mill with her Father. Some of the men at the mill were single and they didn’t mind paying for a hot midday meal.
The men would walk across the bridge up the road at lunch time. It was probably their main meal of the day. Nannie says she was probably ten or eleven years old at thqat time, but she worked hard to help her mother cook a hot Southern meal, of fried chicken, potatoes and gravy, biscuits and cake.
The meal preparation would start with her mother killing the chickens that they would serve. All the food was fresh, because they only had a small ice box to store food in. Everything was cooked on a wood stove, even in the heat of the summer.
Nannie recalls helping her mother wash the dishes and clean the kitchen after the men ate their lunch. Not as easy task. She recalls that they did have running water. She said that they hot water tank held water that was warmed by coils running through the wood stove. She had to help keep the fire going. No fire – no hot water.”
Once the dishes were washed and the kitchen cleaned it was time to start over. Her mother had several mouths to feed and there was a big evening meal to prepare everyday.
Nannie said that she can’t remember when the family finally got an electric refrigerator. She also said she wished she had asked how mother how much she charged for those lunches. They were a lot of work to prepare.
Late 40s or early 50s, Ruby Roe outside Dorena houseNannie and Jearldine outside Dorena house
THE BEST JOB IN THE WORLD
Submitted by Betsy Cross Thorpe:
Hard work achieved much!
When I was a child it seems that most Sundays were spent going to visit my Grandparents in Drain. It was about an hour and half drive from our home in Springfield. As I recall my dad would often stop at a gas station along the way and buy me and my brothers a soda pop and some other kind of treat.
Sometime around 1964 that routine changed.
That’s when my aunt, Jeraldine Roe got hired at the Hastee Freez in Drain. From that time forward for as long as she worked there we would stop at the Hastee Freez on our way to my grandparents house. From that time forward my Sunday afternoon treat almost always included a soft serve ice cream cone expertly served by aunt.
I was so impressed by the way she swirled the ice cream. She looked so important in her uniform. She sounded so grown up and professional when she called back an order. At the age of ten, I was quite convinced that my aunt was luckiest girl around.
For I was quite certain that she had landed the best job in the world.
EAT IT. IT WILL MAKE YOUR HAIR GROW CURLY
Submitted by Betsy Cross Thorpe:
I always wanted to have curly hair. Ringlets. Like Shirley Temple. That was my dream. So, looking back, it now comes as no surprise to me that I wholeheartedly believed a good-natured nonsensical comment that Grandpa once made to me. I fell for his malarkey, hook, line and sinker.
One sunny summer morning he saw me pick past a piece of burnt toast that topped a stack of buttered toast that Grandma had just placed on the table. “Take the burnt toast” he said. “Eat it. It will make your hair grow curly.” I grabbed the burnt toast. I was so excited to eat it. Why hadn’t someone told me this before, I wondered, how long will it take for the curls to grow in?
My hair never grew curly, but there was one unintended pleasing consequence born out of my gullibility and belief in the infallibility of Grandpa’s words. In my quest to have a headful of curly hair I learned to savor the taste of burnt toast. The smokey flavor. The crispy texture. My favorite breakfast food.
Yes. Eating burnt toast always makes me happy.
And yes. I still cling to the dream that one day my hair will grow curly.
The following memories were submitted by relatives of Henry David Roe.
ANNIE GET YOUR GUN
Submitted by Melba Flowers Pine and her son Steve Pine:
Melba is the daughter of Annie Elizabeth Roe Flowers. Annie was the sister of Henry David Roe.
Melba Flowers Pine and her son Steve Pine, son tell how Annie Elizabeth Roe Flowers was a strong woman. They say she was the bread winner of her family. Melba said “I am afraid to stay by myself now. My mother worked the second shift at McComb, Mississippi cotton mill. I had to stay by myself. My siblings J.W. and Donnis Mae had already left home. Sometimes a friend would stay with me. We would hear some noises and be afraid. When mother came home I would tell her. She immediately would go to the back door where she kept a shotgun. She would go out on the porch and shoot the gun in the air. It made her shoulder sore; but she was a strong woman and it made me feel better.”
Melba’s husband, Harold was a career military man. , Steve said that his granny would come to see them wherever they lived. She would travel alone on a Greyhound Bus. The only place she didn’t visit was when they were in the Philippines; she didn’t want to fly. She did fly later when Steve graduated. Steve said, “Granny was fearless! She was a strong woman.
Three generations Annie Flowers, Steve Pine and Melba Pine
Memories submitted by relatives of Ruby Isaacs Roe
FAMILY HOSPITALITY
Submitted by Jim Isaacs:
Jim is the son of Henry Kelly Isaacs. Henry was the brother of Ruby Isaacs Roe.
He recalled a time in 1966 when was in route from one Air Force base to another. He came to Cottage Grove where his father his father lived . His father drove him to Napa, California which was near Travis Air Force Base, which was where he was headed to. Jim recalls spending the night with his cousin Bill Roe and his wife Carol. Bill was in college at the time. Jim and his father really appreciated being able to stay with them.
The next morning Jim and his father left for the air force base. He boarded a plane and flew west to Japan, then on to Thailand. His dad got in his car and headed north back home to Oregon. .
Jim recalls that he had very good visit with his cousin Bill.
This last memory is written by Gerry Roe in memory of Jim Moore. Jim was the son of Marie Isaacs Moore. Marie was the sister of Ruby Isaacs Roe.
Gerry Roe reconnected with her cousin in the last years of his life. They grew very close. He shared many recollections, reminiscences and memories from his life with her. Gerry penned the following in his stead. It is her hope that these snippets of recollections will help keep her beloved cousin’s memory alive.
REMINISCENCES OF AN OLD TIME FIDDLER
Jim Moore 1946 somewhere in Mississippi
My cousin Jim told me a number of stories about his love of music and years of singing with the Old Time Fiddlers. He was a charter member; it was started in a member’s home in Cottage Grove, Oregon in the 1950’s. I had the opportunity during this time to attend the monthly Gospel sings in Springfield and Cottage Grove where they played and sang. He and several of the remnants of the band were playing. By the time he could no longer play they were down to one living member. What a joy to see those old time men and women give it their all with the gospel music. What I most remember is the family reunions where he, his brother Manuel and nephew Cyrus White would bring out the guitars and start strumming. My mother, Ruby would be near and begin to sing with them. They were in their own world of singing some of those sad backwoods songs of Kentucky and enjoying the past.
The last weeks of Jim’s life he shared with me his life story and his love of building guitars. He had one hanging on the wall. His granddaughter Amanda has provided several pictures of his working on one.
I cherish the times we had together before his death in 2019.
Isaacs reunion 1990 left to right Manuel Moore, Ruby Roe and Jim MooreBohemia Days 1990 Jim Moore rightThree stages of constructing a guitar by Jim unknown yearAlmost there!
“The Scots-Irish were the first to proclaim for freedom in these United States.” President William McKinley
The McKibben family was part of the Campbell Clan, one of the most powerful clans in the Highlands.
NEARLY FORGOTTEN
This post you are about to read is titled Nearly Forgotten. In this post you will read about Elizabeth McKibben Rhea. Her name tops the branches of the Roe side of my maternal family tree. Yet on the pages of Roe family history she is a Nearly Forgotten figure.
But first, before I tell you about Elizabeth McKibben Rhea, I want to take a moment to explain how me and my aunt Gerry Roe come up with the titles and topics for the blog pieces that we post here on Tales of Our Family.
We follow a genealogy blog called 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks. It features a list of weekly writing prompts aimed at genealogists who are interested in writing about the people who populate their respective family trees. The prompts are designed to help people like me, and my aunt think about our ancestors in new and creative ways.
As you have probably already surmised, the prompt for this week is Nearly Forgotten.
You may have read the previous post titled Nearly Forgotten: a collection of memories that my aunt posted on Tales of our Family yesterday. In the post, she shares a small sampling of the many nearly forgotten family memories and stories that she has gathered over the years.
The substance of my post is quite different from the one my aunt posted yesterday. Hers records some of the nearly forgotten memories shared by family members from two generations. Mine draws attention to a nearly forgotten deceased person on our shared family tree.
I merely take the time to point out the differences between our same titled posts to give you an example of the genius behind the prompts offered on the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks blog.
Each weekly prompt inspires an assortment of ideas from the hundreds of genealogists and writers who follow the blog. They almost always find an unusual, unique and entertaining way to share their family stories.
.
Elizabeth McKibben Rhea.
Elizabeth McKibben Rhea is my 6th great grandmother.
She was of Scots-Irish descent. She was born in 1725 in either Scotland or Ireland. She landed on the shores of Virginia at least thirty -one years before the beginning of the Revolutionary War. She was married to Daniel Rhea. She gave birth to Grisella Rhea in 1745.
I don’t know when and where she died.
The esteem of being a Virginia Colonist is not yet associated with her name. I plan to correct that oversight by uncovering revealing information about that period of her life.
My goal is to assure that from this time forward the name of, Elizabeth McKibben Rhea, my nearly forgotten ancestor is mentioned often in the chronicles of Roe family history
I NEED HELP
I am going to start my research by trying to learn Elizabeth’s country of origin.
If you know what the term Scots -Irish means, please leave a comment in the comment section of this post.
Tales of our Family; Stories That Cross Time 