_storiesofourancestors2

STORIES ABOUT OUR ANCESTORS
PART 2
All of these stories were recorded in l986 by Bobby Ray Mayo

The following account is about Grandma Nora's brother,
Johnny(nickname~ Jack) and his wife Piney as remembered by their daughter(grandma's niece ~ Margaret Mayo Mizelle)

Papa was a hard working farmer. From my earliest memories, we always had a large garden and lots of sweet potatoes banked. Mama raised chickens. We had plenty of chickens to eat and mama would sell some to get a little extra money for something for one of us children would need for school.

There was always a barrel of salt meat in the old log smokehouse that Grandpa John had built. I remember seeing the smoke seeping out to the cracks where the logs were joined.....you could almost smell the hams smoking.

In recalling my childhood, it seemed that the hogs were always getting out of the pen. I can remember the old hog pen....the pieced together wire with the old lightwood post. There was a boarded up pen where the sow and little pigs were kept.

I often think about the pressure that Papa had to be under....having a large family with several children in school and only 13 acres of land to grow the crops that were his only means of supporting his family. If it rained a great deal, he was afraid his crop would drown. If it didn't rain enough, he was afraid the crop would dry up in the fields. In the fall when Papa sold his tobacco crop, he would usually buy himself a bottle of whiskey.

Papa would top and sucker his tobacco himself so that we children could work for other farmers and make the money to buy our school clothes. Mama would go with us when we worked in tobacco for other farmers. Many people wanted to hire us. Mama was a fast looper and we children were all hard workers. Mama had no patience with lazy people.

Papa would pay us to pick the worms off of the tobacco. Check and I would go into the tobacco field early in the morning and pick until it grew too warm. For two weeks every summer, we went to Bible School. Check and I would pick enough worms so that when we went to Bible School at l0:00 a. m., we would have enough money to buy a Pepsi Cola and, occasionally, a cookie or two. For every ten worms we picked, we would recive a penny. Chester could always find more worms than I. I never learned his secret. Papa would also pay us to pick cotton after school. He raised cotton only a few years.

Papa and Mama used to play music and sing. One of my earliest memories is of Mama playing the organ and Mama and Papa sing. Papa could play the banjo beautifully. One of the first songs I remember them singing was about the Titantic.

Around 1949, Papa had a heart attack and had to take it easy.

Papa was always happy to see his children and grandchildren. If he knew some of us were coming for a visit, he would sit on the porch, anxiously waiting. Walter Harrell, my oldest living first cousin, said that Grandpa John, (Papa's father), used to do the same thing. Papa
seem to always have time for the grandchildren and they all loved him.

Papa would come over and spend the night with us, from time to time. On occasion, he came over just to spend the day. On the day that President Kennedy was shot and killed, Papa and I were riding around in Martin County waiting for my children to get home from school so that we could take Papa home. He loved to ride and look at different farms and places.

I have really missed Papa since he passed away in 1964.

MAMA

Mama was born Piney Virginia Elks. She was always proud of the Elks' name. We used to take long rides through the countryside and Mama would point out where her aunt, uncles, and other relatives had lived. Her Grandfather had
been a large land owner. He had been able to give each of his children a farm.

Mama was the smartest person I've ever known. She could do about anything she wanted to do. With the help of my brother Jack, Mama made our first sofa or "settee", as it was called then. She took a hammer, nails and saw and made the frame for a two seat settee. Mama padded it with old tobacco cloth---the type we used to cover the tobacco bed. She then took "cretonne", as it was called in those days, and covered the settee. What I would give for that settee today, but its been gone many years.

Mama cooked, for a long, long time, in an old kitchen that was separate from the house. During the winter months, she would nearly freeze while preparing our meals. The only area in the room that had a ceiling over it was where the eating table stood. After cooking our meal and eating, Mama would go in the house and take her shoes off to warm her feet ---they would be nearly frozen. There was a porch, which Grandpa John had built, that separated the house from the kitchen.

Mama cut the boys' and Papa's hair and she made my brother's shirts and pants until they reached a certain age. She was very skillful and creative in sewing. Mama could cut out a dress and make it without a pattern. She also made quilts and pretty spreads for our tables and dressers. Mama made beautiful dresses. I received many compliments on the dresses she had made for me.

Mama was an excellent cook. She would start dinner before going to work in tobacco in the mornings. She would then come to the barn and tie tobacco until about 1100 a. m., At that time, Mama would return to the house to finish preparing our dinner. We'd go home to our noon meal of fried chicken, fresh corn, green beans, butter beans, fried corn bread, and iced tea. Those were some of the best meals I've ever eaten. During the winter months, I remember Mama cooking collards, sweet potatoes, Irish potatoes, and cornbread dumplings. For our Saturday night supper, she would make a seafoam cake.

Mama really took pride in her garden. I'm sure she grew the largest collards that were ever raised in the Bear Creek Community. After working in tobacco all day, Mama would pick her garden until dark.

Mama loved pretty things. She had rows of flowers. Everywhere you looked, you would see flowers growing in our yard. Mama had a big tulip and hyacinth bed. She kept the prettiest and cleanest yard in the neighborhood. Our yard and barnyard were very large and we swept it at least twice a week. Mama would go in the woods and cut small trees. (I think they were dogwoods), and those were what we used to sweep the yard.

I've never understood how Mama was able to work so hard and such long hours. About the only time I can remember her resting would be on Saturdays. She would catch the bus and go to Washington. She would eat at a little cafe on Market Street called "Browns". She always ordered barbeque, slaw, cornbread and iced tea. After eating, Mama would go to the movies and then catch the bus back home. Once in a while, after Sundar dinner, Mama would lay down and rest until some of her children and grandchildren would arrive for a visit. When it was cold or rainy, she would make a dress or patch the men folks clothes.

During World War II, mama had three sons in the war -- Buss, Hubert, and Junior. All three were in the Normandy Invasion. Mama had many sleepless nights--sometimes I'd hear her crying softly. I shared Mama's bedroom with her. When she was really worried, she would get up in the middle of the night and straighten the clothes in the dresser drawers. She was thankful to God for her sons surviving the war to return home.

Papa passed away in July of 1964. Buss had died in March of the same year. After Papa's death, Mama continued to live at home until 1973 when she fell and broke her hip. She was never able to walk again.

Mama stayed with us until the summer of l975 and we put her in a nursing home which was located about 4 1/2 miles from us. Every evening, we would visit, put her to bed, and sit with her for a while. I often bathed Mama and would bring her a home-cooked meal from our house. Sometimes we would pick Mama up and bring her to our home for a visit. One day, we brought home Mama and five of her friends from the nursing home for dinner. Mama was lucky in that she had a roommate much younger than herself. Her roommate is still in the nursing home and I still do her laundry about every 2 weeks. I hated to put Mama in a nursing home but I was trying to hold on to a job I'd had sing 1951.

When we went to see her, Mama's eyes would light up. She would tell everyone that I was her daughter. Sometimes, she would call me "sister".

I often held and kissed Mama's wrinkled hand and remembered how she had scrubbed our clothes on a washboard with lye soap. We would fire up the wash pot and boil the clothes. We would boil the clothes first, and then Mama would scrub them until they were spotlessly clean.

While Mama was at the nursing home. I would make her a new dress, or apron, from time to time. She was always so happy with these gifts.

My daughter would often wash and set Mama's hair---it was a beautiful grey by then. My daughter, Jeannie worked at the nursing home and was able to check on Mama frequently.

In October of l977, Mama's health grew worse. We brought her back to our home and she died in the hospital on January 7, l978.

Some people say that I grow to be more like her, day by day. For me, this is the greatest compliment I could ever receive.

I remember a time, many years ago, when Mama was reminiscing about Grandma Margaret who had been dead for about 40 years at that time. Mama was crying and I couldn't understand her crying over someone who had been dead for so many years. But I was young - - now I understand. Mama had lost her Mama and Daddy by the time she was about 22. I was so lucky, I was almost 60 when Mama died. We had shared so many things together. I wish I could have given her all the nice things she so richly deserved but couldn't afford. We were lucky children to have her for a mother.

REMEMBRANCES OF UNCLE JACK AND AUNT PINEY
~BY LOUISE McGOWAN DUKE~
(DAUGHTER OF NORA MAYO AND LEVI McGOWAN)

I always looked forward to visiting with Uncle Jack and Aunt Piney when I was a child. We visited them quite often on Sunday afternoons. Their home was such a happy place to visit and Uncle Jack and Aunt Piney always made us feel so welcome,

Uncle Jack would play the banjo and sing for us - - he was a great entertainer. We always enjoyed listening to him. I believe that he made up many of the songs he sang and they
were alwasy good. He was very talented, and always the life of the party! Sometimes when he played, Guy, his son, would get in the middle of the floor and dance. Guy had pretty curly hair.

When the grapes were ripe on the vines, Uncle Jack would always offer some to us when we visited. Of course, we never refused, because in those days, if you didn't grow your own fruit, you simply did not get any. Those grapes were always a welcome sight to us. I remember eating so many that I felt like my tummy would burst! I have never tasted a grape that good since that time.

The memories of those times will live in my heart forever.
I feel that I am a better person for having been a part of the Mayo Family.

FREE HAND SKETCHES OF THE MAYO
HOMEPLACE AND IT'S CHANGES OVER
THE YEARS. THE LAST WE HEARD, THE HOME STILL IS OCCUPIED BY MAYO DESCENDANTS, HOWEVER MUCH RESTORATION AND REMODELING HAS TAKEN PLACE.

BELOW IS THE ORIGINAL HOME WITH THE DETACHED KITCHEN.