FYI . . . the names in bold print are my direct ancestors.
Shortly after her arrival in Texas (from Mississippi) in 1869, a young orphan by the name of Mollie West became acquainted with Joseph Nettles, a Civil War veteran twenty years her senior. On 02 July 1871 in Burleson County, Miss Mollie became Mrs. Joseph H. Nettles.
Miss Ruby* recalled her little Grandmother telling her that Joseph Helidorah Nettles was born 23 March 1832 in Alabama. He had several brothers and sisters who died in a yellow fever epidemic during the Civil War. A surviving sister married a Muldrew and lived near Houston, Texas.
By 1861 Joseph was in Texas, where he enlisted for the duration of the Civil War in the Grimes Co. Greys, aka Co. G of the 4th Texas Infantry. The Fourth Texas was one of three Texas Regiments to serve in the famous Hood's Texas Brigade of the Army of Northern Virginia. The Texas Brigade was often said to be the best under the Confederate flag.
Having miraculously survived the battle of Antietam (September 1862), which is considered by many to be "the bloodiest single day of the war," Joseph was then wounded on the second day of fighting at Gettysburg (02 July 1863), and again in the battle of the Wilderness (May 1864).
In a letter dated 15 Sept 1871, Della Vick wrote, "I went to the barbecue in Lexington last Saturday was two weeks ago. There was a good many people there but we came home and went to Prospect to preaching that night. It is four miles. There was five joined that night and among them was Mollie Nettles used to be Mollie West."
The newlyweds lived for a time in the Rockdale area with Mollie's relatives, Mr. and Mrs. Billy Perry, and later with Mrs. Courtney Valentine Nalley. Soon they moved to Lexington where Joseph had a woodworking shop in connection with the Hester blacksmith shop. Here their first child, Nona M. (1872-1949), was born. Miss Ruby wrote that . . .
Their home was on Doak Lane, the old Giddings road south of now old-town Lexington, and just across the lane lived Dr. Doak and family. In 1929 this writer had to have emergency surgery for an almost ruptured appendix, and the surgery was done in Taylor, Texas by Dr. Edmund Doak. Later, when my grandmother was told who my surgeon was, she laughed and told me this story.
When my grandmother's Nona was a baby, Mrs. Doak had a baby boy named Edmund. One day Dr. Doak was called out on a case in which he needed the help of his wife. She hurriedly nursed her infant then took him across the lane to my grandmother to tend until they returned. The case took longer than had been anticipated, and baby Edmund began to have hunger pangs. Finally, Grandma could stand his crying no longer and sat down and nursed him as though he were her own. 'I had plenty for both babies,' she laughed.
Other children born to Mollie and Joseph were -- Mary T. (1873-1874); William E. (1874-1947); Beulah A. (1876-1947); Wallace Lee (1880-1881); Emma Patience (1882-1964); Minnie (b/d 1884); Velma I. (1885-1974); and Joseph Alfred (1889-1944).
- Nona married Frank Moore and they had children, Blanche, Earl, Carl, Elva, Maude, Bernice, and Corinne.
- Will did not marry.
- Beulah married Tom Bryant, a widower with children Jim, Ola, Betty, Tommy, and Edna; and they had children Inez, Luther, Dorothy and Claudia.
- Emma married Charlie Muston and their children were Erma, Ima, Gertrude, Stella, Nona, Gladys and Pauline.
- Velma married Oscar Peebles and had children Aubrey, Frank and Shirley.
- Joe married Carrie B. Yeager and their children were Ruby (aka Miss Ruby), Frank, McLarty, Wallace and Carrie Belle.
Mollie also reared a granddaughter, Grace, who married Guy Burroughs and they had children Guy, Jr., Cecil, Vincent, Don and Joanne.
A deed for 100 acres of land in the Daniel Walker League, bought from J. C. Coker, was filed by J. H. Nettles in Giddings on 12 Oct 1882. Later adjoining land was bought and here the family grew up. This was in the Cole Springs community west of Tanglewood.
"J. H. Nettles was not a well man due to hardships and exposure during the Civil War, and 01 May 1890, he succumbed to his illness. He was 58 years of age" and was buried in the Hugh Wilson Cemetery near Tanglewood.
Gene, Grandma's half-brother, had not married so he came to live with the family and help make a crop. To baby Joe he was more like a father than an uncle. He often took the child with him as he rode horseback over the community or to Tanglewood for supplies. The girls began leaving home as they married and established homes of their own. Gene also married, but Will remained at home with his mother.
As the widow of a Civil War veteran, Mollie began receiving a Confederate pension in March of 1916. In the beginning she received $53.50 annually. By the time of her death in 1939, the amount had been increased . . . to $25.00 a month.
Miss Ruby stated that, "It was on this place (in Cole Springs) in a house, the main room of which was of huge hewn logs, that this writer was born in 1910."
Another of Mollie's granddaughters, Ima (Muston) Pounders, recalled that their Grandma would save old newspapers, catalogs, etc., and would then use the papers to fill the gaps between the logs in the cabin walls.
Several granddaughters fondly recalled Mollie's special cookies that were baked in Mollie's old wood burning stove. Mollie had an old tin container which served as her "cookie jar" and was replenished regularly.
Regarding the community switchboard which was operated by Mollie at one time, Miss Ruby said that . . .
I remember exactly on the log wall where that switchboard hung. I also remember the menfolk getting together sometimes to fix the lines when a windstorm or something caused a break in them. . . .
And it was here that my grandmother became ill in 1938 and finally went to Lott, Texas, to live with her youngest child, Joe, and his wife, Carrie. She passed away 01 May 1939, having lived a widow exactly forty-nine years. She was buried beside her husband in the Hugh Wilson Cemetery near Tanglewood.
According to Mollie's obituary, she was known as ". . . one of earth's dearest and sweetest little mothers" and that "from the wisdom of her years she gave counsel, advice and help to all who sought it, and truly will she be greatly missed by all who knew and loved her." Miss Ruby said that . . .
My Grandmother never knew what it was to have an "easy" life, but she knew how to make the best of what she had. She told this writer one time, "You take the good and the bad as they come. But if you look at things the right way, the good always comes out ahead."
*The original version of this family story was compiled by Ruby Lee (Nettles) Vance (1910-2003), and was published in the 19th April 1979 edition of The Giddings Times & News in Giddings, Lee County, Texas. The occasion was the 14th annual Lexington Homecoming. . . .
There's One in Every Family . . . somewhere in the family tree, every family has at least one . . . that extra-special aunt or uncle . . . the childless aunt who raised her sister's fatherless child . . . the uncle who made the merry-go-round that is still a favorite part of childhood memories . . . the unmarried aunt who stayed home to care for her widowed mother . . . the newly married uncle who assumed guardianship for his orphaned younger sisters . . .
And 150 years ago in Oktibbeha County, Mississippi . . . as this country teetered on the edge of a deep chasm that would someday be referred to as the Civil War . . . 8-year-old Mary Annie "Mollie" West was on the verge of becoming dependent on a very special aunt and uncle for her very safety and well-being . . .
On the 27th day of November in the year 1860 . . . Mollie's Aunt Mary and Uncle Bill were observing the 26th anniversary of the date when a then 20-year-old Mary became the bride of a 33-year-old widower by the name of William Noel Valentine (aka Uncle Bill) . . .
Aunt Mary . . . aka Mary F. Valentine nee Carter . . . was an older sister to little Mollie's (widowed?) Mother, Sarah West nee Carter . . . and and on the 1860 census for Starkville, Oktibbeha County, Mississippi, Mollie (i.e., Mary) and her family are near-neighbors to this Aunt Mary and Uncle Bill . . .
During the years of the war between the states, Mollie's immediate family members often sought shelter with this Aunt Mary and Uncle Bill, who lived in a home of six rooms, a long wide hall, two large porches and a portico in front of Mary's room. Mollie said she spent many pleasant hours in their well-stocked library, where losing herself in books allowed her to briefly escape from the harsh realities of those years.
In later years, Mollie would say of this safe-haven that, "There was also a large cellar under the house with two huge boxes in it that held apples from the orchard across the road from the house. I can see and smell those blossoms yet when Spring comes each year! The house was surrounded by a picket fence that enclosed a large yard. The walk from the front yard gate to the house was lined with jonquils, daffodils and snowdrops. The house itself was white, set on brick pillars. So it was a pleasure to be there out of our little cramped home."
The following links will take you to more information on these and other families in and around Oktibbeha County, Mississippi during the years of the war between the states :-
This blogpost was prepared in honor of all of those special aunts and uncles in the family tree . . . and in celebration the 100th edition of the Carnival of Genealogy over at Creative Gene . . . where the geneablogger known as Jasia just recently celebrated her 5th Anniversary as the Keeper of that blog. Thanks for being a part of our geneablogging world, Jasia!
On this date in our family history . . . the 24th day of October . . . in the year 1852 . . . a baby girl is born in Oktibbeha County, Mississippi . . . the proud parents are Richard C. West (ca. 1816 - bef. 1865) and Sarah Mildred Carter (ca. 1830 - ca. 1868) . . . they name their 1st-born child Mary Annie West, but she is almost always referred to as Mollie . . . her sweet face can be seen framed in the center of the group photo, and Mollie can also be found at the center of the photo in the upper left corner where she is pictured with four of her adult children.
- Mollie marries and becomes the mother of nine children, including a daughter by the name of Emma Patience Nettles (1882-1964). Emma's face is framed in the group photo -- she is on the left.
- Emma has a daughter given the name Ima Lois Muston (1906-1999). Ima is the little girl with the big white bow in her hair -- her face is also framed.
- Ima has two sons, including the father of the Keeper of this geneablog -- Forrest Lee Pounders (1927-1996).
Regarding Mollie's childhood, Miss Ruby wrote that . . .
Her birthplace was a one-room log house with one window and one door, and a stick and mud chimney. We were quite poor, I guess, said Grandma, but I never remember being hungry.
Here they lived until the Civil War broke out in 1861. Because the men folk were soon away from their homes fighting or training, the women and children often gathered in the homes of relatives who had houses large enough to accommodate them.
Sarah Mildred's sister, Mary, who had married Wm. VALENTINE, lived in a home of six rooms, a long wide hall, two large porches and a portico in front of Mary's room. The VALENTINE children were Dave, John, Lou and Margaret, and their WEST cousins were Mary Ann (Mollie), Billy and Dave. So for the four long years of war the VALENTINE residence was often home to the WESTS.
The above quote is from a narrative about Mollie's Memories which was compiled by one of Mollie's granddaughters -- Ruby Lee Vance nee Nettles (1910-2003) . . . Miss Ruby is a daughter of the Joe named in the photo in the upper left corner, and is a 1st cousin to my paternal grandma, Ima (mentioned above) . . . the group photo used in the collage has the following names handwritten on the back of it . . . from the left . . .
- Back row: Jim Hooper holding Pauline Muston, Mrs. Jim (Polly) Hooper, Joe Nettles, Mrs. Emma Muston, Mrs. Frank (Nona) Moore, Guy Burroughs, Mrs. M. A. (Mollie) Nettles, Will Nettles, Cy Cook, Mrs. Cy (Blanche) Cook, and Tom Bryant.
- 2nd row: Erma Muston, Ilona Thomas, Ima Muston, Elva Moore, Gertrude Muston, Maud Moore, Stella Muston, Inez Bryant, Bernice Moore.
The following notes were jotted down while attempting to acquire information from Ima about the folks in the group photo . . .
Log house ... two big rooms ... kitchen ... shed built on side ... fireplace built out of big rocks ... stuffed newspapers between logs ... Polly & Jim Hooper ... no kids ... friends in Wharton of Emma & Charlie ... moved back to Tanglewood with Emma & girls after Charlie's death ... lived near ... helped out where they could ... buried in Tanglewood ... gave Ima lilac pickle dish upon marriage to Jake ... Ima used to clean for Grandma Nettles ... swept yard ... cleaned ... baked cookies ... got 25 cents ... spent at variety store in Rockdale ... Donna (Emma Muston) did sewing ... Ima did field work ... hauled water ... milked cows before school ... moved cows to pasture ... walked thru pastures mile or so to one-room schoolhouse ... had merry-go-round ... teacher boarded at Aunt Nona's and Uncle Frank's ... Miss Norene drove from Tanglewood to teach ... school Christmas programs ... Christmas at home ... made paper decorations ... cut wrapping paper in strips and twisted ... had Victrola ... dance on Christmas Day ... chickens laid eggs on bed between pillows ... Uncle Will had cows ... cream separator ... sold cream ... took T-Model to Rockdale ... Uncle Will used house for barn after built new house ... vegie garden by barn ... no flowers ... after marriage to Jake, Ima made syrup from sugar cain ... strip ... cook ... make juice to make syrup ... shared with neighborhood ... Donna gave cow and calf to Ima upon marriage to Jake ... made butter ...
For further reading about our Mollie . . .
This ca. 1938 image is a photo of Mary Annie Mollie Nettles nee West holding one of her great-grand-daughters . . . as of ca. 1932, this Mollie (1852-1939) still had very specific memories about what was happening on the 22nd day of February during the 12th winter of her life (1864) in Oktibbeha County, Mississippi . . .
Closer came the fighting until one day we could hear the cannon booming as a battle was fought over a bridge maybe twelve miles from our home. I remember what they called that bridge, though I don't know how you would spell it ... Sookietoncha, it sounded like [i.e., Sakatonchee].
It made cold chills run over you to hear that cannon. We had already had several wounded soldiers to take care of . . . Aunt Mary [Mary Valentine nee Carter (1814-1892)] and Mother [Sally West Thomas nee Carter (c. 1820-1868)] were fine nurses ... but now they really poured into the house.
I remember that Col. [Jeffrey] FORREST had come by the day before and asked Aunt Mary for a horse to ride. She had told him to take his pick, only leave her old Tom to ride, since he was real gentle. But he insisted on using Tom, and in anger she told him, "I hope he does you no good, Sir!"
Late the next day, after the battle at the bridge, old Tom came home riderless with blood all over the saddle. Col. FORREST had been killed on him. Aunt Mary wept in remorse and never again rode old Tom. Col. [Jeffrey] FORREST and Gen. [Nathan Bedford] FORREST were brothers, and we saw them often.
Assuming the above family story is true . . . then Old Tom is mayhaps depicted in the painting, Vengeance at Okolona, by John Paul Strain . . . these recollections of the years of the war between the states were told to Ruby Vance nee Nettles (1910-2003) by her paternal grandmother, Mollie . . . this same Mollie is a 2nd great-grandma to the keeper of this family history blog . . .
Thirty-three years ago today . . . on the 19th day of April . . . in the year 1979 . . . a family history article written by Ruby (Nettles) Vance (1910-2003) appeared in The Giddings Times & News in Lee County, Texas . . . the article was written for the occasion of the 14th annual Lexington Homecoming . . . this Miss Ruby was a granddaughter of the subject of the story -- Mollie (West) Nettles (1852-1939) -- and she introduced the story by saying . . .
One afternoon in the summer of 1932 this writer visited her aging grandmother for the purpose of taking notes on some of the Civil War stories she had heard her tell all her life. . . .
This Mollie is a 2nd great-grandma to the Keeper of this family history blog . . . and the entire text of that 1979 article about those rememberings (plus a few notes from me) can be found > HERE < . . . meanwhile . . . later that day in 1932, probably weary from relating her "rememberings," Mollie told her granddaughter that . . .
There were twenty-one families of relatives and friends who finally in 1869 had finalized plans to come to Texas where it was hoped it would be easier to start over. So we made the long trek from northern Mississippi and that in itself is a long tale. This afternoon is about spent and I have chores to do. Come again and I'll tell you of the trip and our early years in Texas.
Miss Ruby later stated that . . .
Regretfully, this writer never did go back, except on briefer visits, to pick up where we left off that day. However, we do remember some of the things she told at times about that trip. . . . My grandmother never knew what it was to have an easy life, but she knew how to make the best of what she had. She told this writer one time, "You take the good and the bad as they come. But if you look at things the right way, the good always comes out ahead."
On this date in our extended family history . . . the 15th day of September . . . in the year 1871 . . . Miss Della Vick of Lexington, Texas sat down to pen a letter to her Aunt Amanda back home in Oktibbeha County, Mississippi . . . and makes mention of the fact that . . .
I went to the barbecue in Lexington last Saturday was two weeks ago. There was a good many people there but we came home and went to Prospect to preaching that night. It is four miles. There was five joined that night and among them was Mollie Nettles used to be Mollie West.
FYI, this Mollie just happens to be my 2nd great-grandma! . . . and this is just one in a series of letters to Aunt Amanda by kith 'n kin who left a war-ravaged Mississippi following the years of the war between the states . . . hoping for a better life in Texas . . .
On Saturday, March 20th, 1999, the sun rose at 6:32 a.m. A short time later, as that sun continued to rise steadily over the fields of Texas wildflowers and peeked through the east-facing window of Room 203 at Richards Memorial Hospital in Rockdale, Ima Lois Pounders nee Muston breathed her final raspy breath here on this earth.
According to the UT-McDonald Observatory, the sun seldom rises precisely in the east or sets precisely in the west. But on this, the day of Grandma's final Homegoing, the sun rose due east and set due west, because this day was the vernal equinox ~ the beginning of spring in the northern hemisphere.
The following information was printed in the memorial bulletin which was distributed at Grandma's memorial service. It is downright impossible to condense nearly a century of living into a four-page leaflet, but this serves as a very brief summary of my Grandmother's life.
THE YEAR WAS 1906. And . . . the President of the United States was Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt. O'Henry's The Gift of the Magi was published. School Days & Anchors Aweigh were popular songs. Shirtwaist dresses were in fashion. And . . . the second of seven daughters was born to Charlie and Emma Patience (Nettles) Muston at their home in rural Lee County, Texas. Charlie and Emma named their new baby girl Ima Lois. Over the next ten years, Ima and her big sister, Erma, would be joined by Mollie, Stella, Nona, Gladys and Pauline.
YOUTH. Charlie and Emma and their seven little girls were living in Wharton County, Texas in 1915 when Charlie died. Ima was nine years old at the time. Emma and her seven young daughters returned to Lee County to be near Emma's widowed mother, Mollie, at Cole Springs. They made that journey home in a wagon which was pulled by a gray mule named "Jack" and a gray horse named "Bill". A cousin would later state that, "...I can yet visualize the old log house down the slope and the house across the swale where the widowed Aunt Emma Muston resided with her daughters." When Ima spoke of her youth, she remembered the good times as well as the hard times. There were her Grandma Nettles' cookies, trips into town on Saturday, dances in the homes of friends and neighbors, church services under the brush arbor, Sunday dinners, and many, many more.
MARRIAGE. On 20 October 1926, Ima became the bride of Jacob Edmund Forrest Pounders (1902~1957). Their children were Forrest Lee Pounders (1927~1996), Dovie Louise (Pounders) Green (1929~1999), and Arlin Dee Pounders (1936~1988).
OTHER. Ima spent many hours crocheting while sitting in her favorite chair by the window in a corner of her kitchen. She enjoyed working with multicolored threads which were as varied as the colors of the flowers she delighted in growing in her yard. Five of Ima's crocheted doilies were incorporated as nosegays in the family spray which was placed on her casket. That same floral display also featured mock orange, english ivy and bridal wreath from Ima's yard.
As a young girl, Ima attended the Cole Springs Baptist Church in rural Lee County. After moving to Rockdale, she became a faithful supporter of the First Christian Church. Ima was employed by Linwood Mehaffey for over 50 years. Her friendship with the Mehaffey's continued until her death.
DEATH. Ima made her final journey "Home" on the first day of spring in the year of our Lord, nineteen hundred and ninety-nine. Her earthly remains were laid to rest beside her husband and their two sons in the Hugh Wilson Cemetery in Tanglewood. On the day of Ima's funeral, the cemetery was covered with bluebonnets, wild phlox and Indian paintbrushes. It is the same country cemetery where Ima's mother, her maternal grandparents, as well as numerous other kith and kin are buried. Ima's Page at Find-a-Grave
Rockdale Reporter
Rockdale, Texas
May 4, 1939
Monday, May 1 at 1:10 p.m. marked the passing of one of earth's dearest and sweetest little mothers, Mrs. M.A. Nettles. She was born near Starkville, Mississippi, October 24, 1852, daughter of Richard and Sarah Mildred (Carter) West, and christened Mary Annie, but known practically all her life as Mollie. She was nine years old when the Civil War began and many were the interesting tales she told concerning it. In 1869 her family, together with several other families, came to Texas in wagons drawn by oxen and settled in and near Lexington.
The following year she married Joseph H. Nettles who had a woodworking shop in connection with the Hester Blacksmith Shop. They soon moved to Williamson County, but a few years later moved back to Lee County and bought a home in the Cole Springs community, near Tanglewood, where a son, Will, still lives. On May 1, 1890, her husband passed to his reward, preceding her by forty-nine years to the day. Of the ten children born to this union, six survive her, two boys and two girls dying in infancy. The surviving children are --
She had lived on the home place with her eldest son, Will, until February of this year, when she went to Lott to make her home with her youngest child, Joe, and family. It was here, following an illness of bronchial pneumonia, that she passed to her reward. The last six or eight months of her life was spent mainly in bed, but she was given loving and careful attention and was a sweet and patient sufferer. From the wisdom of her years she gave counsel, advice and help to all who sought it, and truly will she be greatly missed by all who knew and loved her.
All of her children, all but five of her twenty-seven grandchildren, and many of her forty-four great-grandchildren were present for the last rites, besides a great host of other relatives and friends. Services were conducted at the Baptist Church in Tanglewood Tuesday afternoon, May 2, 1939, by the Rev. O.J. Morgan, a former pastor of hers. She was a member of the Baptist church, joining in her early girlhood. Interment was in the family plat at the Tanglewood cemetery with Phillips & Luckey of Rockdale in charge. Those coming from Lott for the funeral were --
- Mr. and Mrs. Ed Phillips
- Dr. and Mrs. Patton
- Mr. and Mrs. Luther Reaves and daughter, Dorothy
- Mrs. Claud Day
- Mrs. Grover Stucky
- D. Watkins
- Judge Smith
- Pat Carter and son, Pat Jr.
- Dewey Wright
- Miss Annie Lou Gibbs
The last named was her constant attendant after moving to Lott, and truly a grand-daughter could have been no sweeter to her own grandmother than Annie Lou was to Grandma, who lovingly called her my girl. Present also was Mrs. Richard Mundine Sr. of Taylor, an old friend of the family.
Our Mollie is six years of age in 1859 when a 4th of July celebration is held in her hometown in Oktibbeha County, Mississippi . . . both of her parents are still alive at this time . . . as well as both of her grandfathers . . . Grandpa West is enumerated in Starkville on the 1860 census . . . while Grandpa Carter is in Pontotoc County, Mississippi . . . Aunt Matilda (West) and Uncle Britton Valentine are in Oktibbeha County . . . as well as Aunt Mary (Carter) and Uncle Bill Valentine (Britton and Bill are brothers) . . . a decade down the road, Mollie is a 16-year-old orphan on a wagon train headed for Texas . . . she would later pass on many of her memories of the years of the war between the states . . . wonder if any of these family members participated in the large assemblage described in the following newspaper clipping from 1859 . . . or if they had an inkling of just how much the world they lived in was about to change . . .
SOUTHERN BROAD-AXE [WEST POINT, MS], July 6, 1859, p. 2, c. 2-3
The Starksville Celebration
It was our good fortune to be present at the Celebration at Starkville yesterday. There was a large assemblage of the citizens of Oktibbeha, and neighboring counties there and although the most of them were strangers to us, it required but half an eye to see that every countenance was lighted up with enthusiasm -- and every eye sparkled with the fire of patriotism which warms the American heart at the return of our Independence Jubilee. A band of skillful performers enliven the spirits of the vast concourse of chivalry and beauty with lively, stirring strains of music -- and the old Star Spangled Banner, so dear to the eye and the soul of the freeman, spread out its proud folds on the morning breeze.
At 11 A. M. the Exercises began with reading of the Declaration of Independence by Mr. Wm. Lockhart. Mr. L. first paid a beautiful tribute to the band in attendance after which he read the Declaration in a clear distinct voice audible to the whole crowd, and took his seat amid rounds of applause. After a thrilling performance by the band the young orator of the Day -- H. L. Muldrow Esq., was introduced and entertained us for perhaps an hour with an elaborate discussion of the topics so naturally presented to one occupying his responsible position. We know not which to most admire in the oration -- the Feast of Reason -- the flow of soul -- the seasoning of happy expression or the bouquet of elevated thought and beautiful language so appropriately addressed to the Ladies, which came in as a welcome dessert and was highly appreciated, and loudly applauded as the speaker resumed his seat.
Some gentleman then read to the audience the patriotic Appeal to Mississippians in behalf of the Mount Vernon Association from the gifted pen of Mrs. Col. I. N. Davis. There is a noble sentiment of lofty public spirit in every line of that truly beautiful poem which does honor to Mrs. D. as a friend of patriotism, as a devoter of chaste poetic literature, and in the sublime capacity of an American woman.
A procession was then formed and we all marched to the table in a neighboring grove, where a sumptuous dinner was prepared for all. The Agricultural Society was addressed at the Court House, by Col. I. N. Davis in the evening, and the whole crowd stayed to hear him. His remarks were to Southern farmers -- they were forcible and to the point -- made up of happy conceptions and appropriate delivery. His reasoning was so clear and logical that any mind comprehending 2 and 2 make 4, must aknowledge [sic] the justness of his conclusions. The people of the South must see the truth of Col. D.'s position on questions of vital importance to her interests now, or regret in later years that they were so short-sighted.
. . . A delightful affair was the surprise birthday supper given Mrs. M.N. Nettles [i.e., Mary Annie "Mollie" Nettles nee West] of the Cole Springs community Saturday night. Grandmother was born in Starkville, Miss., October 24, 1852, which makes her 84 years of age. She is a mere handful, this little grandmother of mine, weighing less than 100 pounds, but she enjoys fairly good health, and is able to be up and about her work most all day long. She keeps house with the help of the daily visit of a granddaughter, Miss Gladys Muston, for her bachelor son, Will. She is blessed with a large family, having six living children, twenty-seven grand-children, and forty great-grandchildren.
Those visiting in her home Saturday night were:
Written by Mrs. Robert Vance and published in The Rockdale Reporter and Messenger (Rockdale, Tex.), Vol. 64, No. 38, Ed. 1 Thursday, October 29, 1936 Page: 3 of 12
I took these photos in the Hugh Wilson Cemetery in Tanglewood, Lee County, Texas. The wildflowers are bluebonnets and wild phlox, and indian paintbrush in the inset photo. The tombstones mark the burial sites of my 2nd great-grandparents, Joseph Helidorah NETTLES (1832-1890) and Mary Annie "Mollie" Nettles nee WEST (1852-1939). It was 177 years ago yesterday -- 23rd March 1832 -- when Joseph was born in Alabama.
On this date in our family history . . . the 20th day of July . . . in the year 1869 . . . Wm. N. Valentine sits down in Oktibbeha County, Mississippi to pen a few words to his Dear and well beloved Children now in Texas . . . in said letter he makes note of the fact that . . . Now the matter is not Exactly fixt up by us yet as I really have not as yet solde out but that will only operate in this way if anything should happen that I do not sell John will Remane one year longer and make a crop and during the year prepare and winde up my affairs that we may leave un dun and next winter he and his wife for this will take place if we under stand by him go on stay but if the Land is solde or not land Meary your mother Jo Thomas and Molly West will cum as soon as my Bisnez is wound up Wm and John and Jo Thomas will starte as Early as they can git of theri crop I will stay and close out all of the unsetled Bisnez and then well will go by steam . . . this Molly West, aka Mary Annie Nettles nee West, is a great-grandma of the Keeper of this family history blog . . .
Remembering the Grandmas . . .
for Ancestor Appreciation Day . . .
I hear the voices of my grandmas
Calling out from a distant past
"Please do not let us be forgot.
Record our stories that we may last."
Tell the children of our wanderings
Let the kinfolk hear the tales
How we braved the new horizons
How we blazed the olden trails.
How we buried too many babies
How we struggled to keep them fed
How we caressed the hands of our loved ones
As they lay dying on their beds.
How we endured many a hardship
With an eye to the future goal
To create a more promising future
And to keep our family whole.
They were as different from each other
As the scraps in a crazy quilt
Yet once the pieces were sewn together
Another generation they had built
I can sense them calling out to me
From the gloaming of my past
"Please do not let us be forgot.
Record our stories that we may last."
Begotten . . .
and may they never be forgotten . . .
Remembering my Grandmas . . .
- Berta Mary Sharp, and her mother, Nellie Lemaire
- Elizabeth Marilla Smith, and her mother, Eva May Brackett
- Ima Lois Muston, and her mother, Emma Patience Nettles
- Jerusha Marilla Barker, and her mother, Jerusha Lakin Hobbs
- Josephine Wingfield Davis, and her mother, America James Fears
- Mahala Lee Roberts, and her mother, Patsy Gill
- Mary Alexandrien Lemaire, and her mother, Elizabeth Waring
- Mary Annie West, and her mother, Sarah Mildred Carter
- Mollie Olive, and her mother, Clementine Jordan
- Nancy Virilla Quinn, and her mother, Sushannah
- Phoebe Merrill, and her mother, Olive Jane Goodwin
The above family poem was composed by BeNotForgot back in 2009 in response to a challenge posted at Genea-Musings: Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Poetry and Genealogy . . . and the Wordle (name cloud) was created at wordle.net . . .
The following poem was composed as an introduction to an imaginary book about the entire community of kith 'n kin that is buried in a certain little country cemetery in Central Texas ... many are connected to a particular group who were known as "Us Mississippians" during the latter part of the 19th century ... written as if talking to the descendants of my nieces & nephews, et al ...
May I share with you a little story
of a quiet resting place
tis a small country graveyard
home to those who have finished life's race.
Tis a lovely place in the springtime
bluebonnets & wild phlox abound
here & there a pink evening primrose
a lovely pallet amidst nature's sounds.
Allow me to introduce a few folks
who begat the who who begat you
for one of these days there will be a time
when I won't be here to walk with you.
Let's start here at the grave of my Father
a gentle humble man was he
he loved making little kids giggle
always enjoying the sound of their glee.
And over here, these are his parents
they were married for 31 years
Pa Jake died early, but Granny lived on
she outlived their two sons & her peers.
Jake's parents are next in this row of graves
of loved ones of which you're a mix
they left Belgreen, Alabama for Texas
in the year eighteen hundred and ninety-six.
And over yonder is Pa Jake's Grandma
she's buried a few rows away
the homemade marker just says Grandma Cain
with no mention of a birth or death day.
Now let's stroll a little bit farther
past the graves of our kith 'n kin
to the other end of the graveyard
where older markers are known to stand.
(Did you happen to bring your camera
you know there's always an image to save
like that tree standing there in the corner
like a guardian over each silent grave.
I have captured it during each season
in winter, spring, summer & fall
there just seems to be something about that old tree
that has spent years watching over us all.)
Now that grave belongs to my Dad's Grandma
the mother of seven was she
not a son did she have, all girls in the house
and a widow when the baby was wee.
Near to her are her own loving parents
the father who served with John Hood
& the young bride from Mississippi
who beside many a grave has stood.
Dear One . . .
These graves hold the dust of your history
for many years they have been gone
they lived & they died before you were born
these generations have all traveled on.
And when I have slipped the bonds of this earth
with this family is where I will be
& this ground is where my dust will rest
only rememberings will be left of me.
So when you come here to reminisce
& these old acquaintances to renew
may the memories never dim, let them be not forgot
'cause they begat the who who begat you.
~ The ancestors spoken of here ~
My Father
Forrest Lee Pounders (1927-1996)
His Parents
Jacob Edmund Forrest Pounders (1902-1957)
Ima Lois Pounders nee Muston (1906-1999)
Pa Jake's parents
James Madison Pounders (1867-1942)
Mary Susan Pounders nee [Cain] (1873-1950)
Grandma Cain
Sushannah Cain [?] nee Holland (1841-1930)
My Father's Maternal Grandma
Emma Patience Muston nee Nettles (1882-1964)
Her Parents
Joseph Helidorah Nettles (1832-1890)
Mary Annie "Mollie" Nettles nee West (1852-1939)
... plus a large number of assorted kith 'n kin,
many being the very people who were mentioned
in the family stories told by these ancestors ...Hugh Wilson Cemetery
This poem was composed for -- and has been submitted for consideration to -- the 89th edition of Jasia's Carnival of Genealogy.
Special thanks to footnoteMaven for the delightful COG poster.
