Wisdom Wednesday~Family Takes Care of Family

Data extracted from John Henry Kennedy’s Standard Certificate of Death

State File No 1636

1. Place of Death
County:  Alcorn
City or Town:  Corinth, Miss.,
Inside Corporate Limits Edgar Vot. Pre.
Hospital: None
Street No.:  1412 Allen St.
Length of Stay in this community before death:  2 Months
2.Residence before Death:  Calhoun City, Calhoun County, MS
3.(A) Full Name:  John Henry Kennedy
3.(B) If Veteran, name war:  None
3.(C) Social Security: None
4.Sex:  Male
5.Color or Race: White
6.(A) Single, widowed, married, divorced:  Married
6.(B) Name of Wife:  Emma Robinson Kennedy
6.(C) Age of wife if still alive:  73
7. Birth Date of Deceased:  Sept.22nd,1866
8.Age: 78 Years 4 Months 14 Days
9. Birthplace: Tishomingo County, Mississippi
10. Usual occupation:  Farming
11. Industry or Business:  Farming
12. Father: Gipson Kennedy
13. Father’s Birthplace: D.K.
14. Mother: Martha South
15. Mother’s Birthplace: Tishomingo County, Mississippi
16. (A) Informant’s Signature:  M G Kennedy
16. (B) Address: Corinth, Mississippi, #3 Son.
17. (A) Burial:  Mt. Gillard Church Cemetery
17. (B) Date: 2- -45
17. (C) Place: 4 mi. E Burnsville, Tishomingo Co.
18. (A) Signature of Funeral Home director: McPeters Funeral Home
18. (B) Address:  Corinth, Miss
19. (A) Date recieved local registrar: 2/17/45
19. (B) Registrar’s Signature: Mary Lee Johnson
20. Date of Death:  Month: February  Day:  5th
    Year:  1945  Hour: 1:00 AM
21. I hereby certify that I attended the deceased from
    Feb 3, 1945 to Feb 3, 1945, that I last saw him alive
    on Feb 3,1945 and that death occurred on the date
    and hour stated above.
    Immediate cause of death:  Cerebral Hemorrhage due to
    Hypertension. Signature of Bernard Patrick, Corinth,
    Mississippi.
Questions and things of note.  I have notes but no confirmation that M G Kennedy is John Henry’s #3 son.  Am I missing a child or was this M G actually, Marshall Gipson, the #2 child of John Henry?  Was this a typo on the death certificate?   My curiosity also has the best of me as to his places of residence.  He had only been in Corinth, Alcorn County, MS for two months when he had passed; Calhoun City before that.  How long had he lived in Calhoun City?  Why did they move at this time in their life?  If they moved to be close to a child because of being elderly and possibly sick, what child lovingly took care of their parents late in their life?  Years ago, family took care of family. It was unheard of to put a family member in a nursing home, when there was family able and willing to take on the responsibility of their care.  In today’s fast paced world, most have lost the essence and the importance of how love and responsibility of family goes hand in hand.  One of God’s Ten Commandments was to honour thy father and mother and I often question how one can throw a parent, who spent years of devotion to rearing their children, into a nursing home and forget about them.  Don’t get me wrong, for I know there are some cases where the children just are not physically or financially able to care for their parents, but you rarely see these forgetting and not visiting them in the nursing home.  They stay in contact with that parent and keep a close eye on the care they are receiving.  Apparently, I am going to assume this was not the case here and that John Henry and Nancy Emmaline moved close to a child who was able to lovingly take care of them until their demise. Even tho’, the children did not follow in their father’s footsteps in learning the ways of herbal medicines, they did follow his footsteps of having a big and loving heart carrying down the importance of family thru generation after generation.  Now that I have been on my soapbox this morning, it’s now time to do a little bit of cleaning as I ponder the questions I have come across in this post today, that is, unless someone is willing to “lovingly” come do it for me and let me sit here and be a queen for the day!!….grins evilly as I look around for volunteers!!!

Talented Tuesday~Music-Expressions of the Heart in Melody

As far back as I can remember, music has always been a part of my family.  This may be bragging just a little bit, but hey, a mom has a right to brag whenever she can.  My son plays the trumpet and has been playing for years.  Is he out of college yet?  No, I think he has decided to become a professional student just so he can continue playing with his college band (lol) but yet I cannot help but swell up with pride when I overhear a doctor in music speak the words, “He’s the best this area has seen in a very long time.”  Then we have my uncle, my mother, some of my aunts, cousins, and even I play the piano.  Most of us are musically inclined while others are artistically talented and then there are some of us who are not satisfied with just one world but steps into both worlds of music and art.  My mother once told me when she started learning how to oil paint, that the evening sky was God’s canvas where he painted the beautiful sunsets.  Whether she had heard this or read it, or came up with it out of her mind, I have no clue, but I do tend to agree with her wholeheartedly.  Then there’s the times I have heard my Dad play the harmonica and wish he would record it for me to listen to whenever I want to….Maybe I should sneak over there and secretly record him doing just that!!!  Also, is the times I used to see an Aunt sit on the bench and start out with just 2 fingers on the piano, play about 4 or 5 notes and then the next thing you knew she was playing all over that keyboard, the white keys, the black keys, and even in the cracks.  When she was really having fun, she would even throw her foot up on the end of the keys and sound like Jerry Lee Lewis playing the piano, making us all laugh.  When it came time for Sunday morning, everybody went to church, and if you were lucky, my aunt, uncle, mother, and dad would sing a few songs as a quartet with an awesome harmony.  Below is a picture I could probably even use on a mystery Monday topic but I am hoping some of my extended family members will see this and recognize who is in this picture.  I was told the one on the left is a great-grandfather of mine but which one I am not sure.  A cousin of mine could not identify the fiddle player either.  Anyone recognize these two musicians? Just looking at these two, with their instruments in hand, I can close my eyes and almost hear the melodies they play wafting thru the piney woods  as they express the songs they have in their heart on the guitar and fiddle.

My Family Ramblings~ cheat sheet on wordless wednesday

ok ok ok….I did my wordless Wednesday posting a pic doohickey and I am about to bust a gut to be able to tell you about this gentle soul who was my great grand uncle so I am posting  my family rambling here. 

 Whether it be rumored or fact, this man was the family doctor and dentist and according to some family members, it has been told that he was taught how to care for his family from a Native American Medicine Man.  He pulled teeth and took care of sickness within the family.  He used nature – herbs to help heal his family from various ailments.  Many times Nancy Emmaline would go into the woods or down to the river banks looking and gathering roots, berries, bark, leaves, and wild herbs to bring back home for John Henry to mix up for his various medicines.  He knew that willow bark tea with wild parsley in it would ease joint pain for people who suffered from arthritis and that it would also help a sour stomach.  He became so well-known that he would send his medicinal herbs to other parts of the country either by people passing thru or by mail.  Eventually modern medicine took over and the knowledge he had of these herbs died with him for none of his children carried on what their father had learned and practiced the majority of his life.  What I wouldn’t give to be able to just sit down and pick his brain on herbs!! 

There is a story that John Henry Kennedy was on his way to see a patient when he ran across a family that was traveling thru during the depression looking for work.  John Henry Kennedy, Sr. stopped by the wagons and spotted 2 small children in one of the wagons.  I am sure he was taken by surprise when he started teasing about the little girl trying to ease their stop and worries over repairs by saying with a smile “Give me that little girl and I will take her home with me.” and the mother said no but you can have the boy.  The family gave no name so John Henry Kennedy gave the boy his name and he became a Jr.  He ended up going to school, fighting in WW2, married and had seven children.

Friday’s Ramblin’ Blog!

This week here in Alabama has really been rough.  Only today I was able to find out that my sister-in-law and her extended family are all well after the storms this week in Alabama.  Luckily, only their power has been out and her son and his family escaped harm even tho trees are down around their home.  My heart goes out to all those families that have lost loved ones in Alabama and the other states also from the tornadoes.  It looks like a war zone here in Alabama.  Over 200 are confirmed dead in Alabama alone.  Town after town has been flattened and there is no telling when and how we can rebuild as a state.  Not only have lives been lost but to a lot of survivors, their family history, mementos, photographs, and heirlooms are forever destroyed and gone.  The help that has come from other areas I know are truly appreciated.  Still, prayers and help are still needed and I know without a doubt these will be provided in some form or fashion.  Hopefully by this weekend, I can get back on track and become faithful once again on my daily blogs.  In the meantime, I am going to go spend some cherished time with my children and mother tonight.  Have fun all, and I will be back later tonight or in the morning one!!!  Happy blogging!

Family Recipe Friday – Enchilada Casserole and Cantaloupe pie???

I don’t know how my mother came up with this, but most of the time we had a new recipe to try at least once a week, sometimes more. It all depended on if she had time to look thru all of her cookbooks or not. We knew we were totally doomed if she happened to run across a new recipe book at the store and that book somehow would end up in our grocery bags mysteriously. We were not the typical family where the children had a dilemma of “not liking those yucky vegetables”. Our thing was, “”Uh Oh, it’s  “new recipe day…AGAIN! What have we gotta eat now?” When Dad came home from work, he never knew what to expect and we learned a long time ago to say how good it was even when we didn’t like it, to keep from hurting mama’s feelings and to not get that ‘You better not say a word!” look from Dad. She was always very proud of her accomplishments and it was hard to hurt her feelings and tell her we didn’t like what she had spent hours cooking. That is why I must tell about the cantaloupes. Mother had planted a garden this particular year and of course one of the crops was the infamous cantaloupes. Every time we turned around, someone was bringing in a ripe cantaloupe. There was so many cantaloupes piling up on the counter in the kitchen and she needed to do something with them to keep them from spoiling. What does she do? Pull out the dreaded cookbooks and spends hours looking for a recipe that she thought would be “scrumpi-delicious and totally irresistable to the eye and palate”. Cantaloupe pie!! Did I say cantaloupe pie? Of course, I did….one of the cookbooks she bought had that recipe in there!!! She proceeded to get her ingredients together and made several pies. They looked so pretty when they were pulled out of the oven and you could see Mama glowing with pride. Did I mention that looks can be deceiving? If that is one lesson you have never learned, pay heed to it now for future references, should anyone ever offer you a slice of cantaloupe pie! The first bite was just okay and by the time you were able to get the third bite down, you were looking for a place to spit it out. It didn’t matter who you were, if you were unlucky enough to come by the house, you were served…..Cantaloupe Pie! For once, we could not disguise the “Oh Lawdy!!! That stuff ain’t passin’ my lips!” look. Even to this day, she still laughs about how horrible those pies were and admits that was one of her “bloopers in cooking”!

Below is a recipe that she made famous at our family reunions. It was easy to make and served a lot of people and once family members tried it, it was expected of her to bring the dish. Hope you enjoy it because we sure do!

 Enchilada Casserole

3 lbs Ground Chuck

1 large onion chopped

3 sm cans tomato sauce

3 cans of mexican style corn, undrained

3 tsp marjoram

3 tsp cumin

3/4 tsp rosemary leaves, crushed

1 dozen corn tortillas

2 lbs (approximately) cheddar cheese, shredded

Brown the meat and drain. Chop one large onion cook it with the meat after draining the fat off. Cook until onion is tender. In a bowl, mix tomato sauce, mexican style corn, marjoram, cumin, and rosemary leaves. Pour half of the sauce mixture into the meat and onion mixture and simmer for 5 minutes. Line a very large casserole dish, or two 9×13 casserole dishes with corn tortillas. Pour and spread meat mixture evenly over the top of the tortillas. Layer with cheese, another layer of corn tortillas, rest of the sauce mix, and then top with cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Serve with salad or chips and salsa.

Sentimental Sunday – Mammaw’s Chairs

When you walked into the back door of Mammaw’s house that she and my Pappaw lived in before they died, the T.V. was right next to the back door and across the room were two big comfy wooden chairs with cushions.  The armrests on these chairs were also wooden and wide enough that you could set a cup of coffee, glass of tea, even your dinner plate if you needed to.  Many times when we would all pile in on Mammaw and Pappaw, Mammaw would fix her plate at mealtime and sit in her chair to eat while everyone else was around the table.  I often thought the reason she did that was to be kind and courteous to the family, allowing everybody to squeeze in around the table to eat and be together, at her table.  But in actuality, I now realize what it was. My Mammaw was smart!  Those chairs were much more comfortable than the ones around the table!  Not only was she close enough to not miss anything in the conversations flying around the kitchen table,  but she had the softest seat in the house at the moment!  When, and if she decided to sit at the table, an aunt would claim one of the chairs.  This aunt would get her tea and plate, sit down in the chair, tea glass on the arm rest and used her belly for her table for the plate of food( prays furiously this Aunt doesn’t come back and haunt me for telling this on her).  It didn’t matter if any of the grands were sitting in those chairs watching T.V. either, when it came time that Mammaw wanted to sit we were shoo’d out of ’em so she could rest for a bit.  My Dad, can also remember that it didn’t matter what was going on around the home, Mammaw would always have a cup of coffee waiting on the armrest of one of the chairs for him and she would be sitting in the other chair with her cup of coffee.  I am sure, they talked about many things over the years that has now long been forgotten and the conversations that has been remembered are cherished.  I can also remember the weekend we were visiting,  not sure if it was during the family reunion weekend or if it was just one of those weekends we were able to go visit, since we lived so far away, that Uncle Buddy brought in a game for people to play.  Now you have to also know why this game is significant.  Mammaw didn’t allow cards or dice in her home.  “That was the Devil’s work” and nothing of the sort was gonna’ darken her doorstep!  You see, my grandmother was a preacher for a pentecostal style church called The Church of God of Prophecy and she didn’t let anything in her home that she thought was of the Devil.  This game consisted of a board, marbles, and dice and was called Wahoo.  Uncle Buddy sat her down in her chair and showed her how it was just a game and not gambling and from then on she was hooked!!  She would play for hours on end, ready to play “just one more game”, when everyone else were about to drop, begging to go to bed, and using toothpicks to hold their eyelids open!  For the longest, cards were not allowed into the house, but those dice and that game board was always welcomed!  On the day that wrestling was on T.V., that was where you could find Pappaw sitting, jerking his legs or arms trying to help his favourite wrestler win his match.

I have no idea where these chairs came from nor how long my Mammaw had them but I can remember them always being there in the end of the kitchen waiting patiently for someone to sit and enjoy a time of rest. I still get to see and sit in one of the chairs when I go to my parent’s house.  In fact, just the other day I walked into the house and they were eating and the first place I grabbed was my Mammaw’s chair sitting next to the kitchen table.  And guess what!  There’s a T.V. in front of the chair just like at my Mammaw’s kitchen! The cushions, of course, has been changed and covered many times over the years, but still the same chair.  I have never thought about it until now in writing about these chairs that my mother has carried on a family tradition by having the chair next to the table with a T.V. in the kitchen. We all often say when we pass an old deserted farmhouse that is falling down, “If those walls could just talk…what secrets would they tell us”  I say, “If these two chairs could just talk…what family stories would I hear?”.  These two chairs will always hold many memories in our family history with some memories readily remembered with joy and laughter and then some memories never spoken of but rooted deep within our hearts, while protecting the family with promised silence as one sits enfolded in the arms of the chairs, taking comfort within the cushions.

Another story to try to decipher and source out

Well….I went over to my Dad and Mom’s Tuesday night about 10:30.  It seems like my night owl habits has rubbed off on them for they go to bed anywhere from about 10 pm until whenever,,,,,midnight….1 am…2 am…just whenever they feel like it!!  Well Dad could not get the sound to work on his computer when he tried to play a video of my niece Nakwisi singing on you tube.  I could brag and say my niece is just like me, beautiful and talented….hahahaha….(and we know this just isn’t so lol)  She will go a long way with her voice and I hope she lets nothing stop her or hold her back in doing something that she has loved to do since she was a toddler.  Not only is she a beauty but she has the voice of an angel!!  She’s will be 13 in a few days and I hope she has the best birthday ever!!  I love my 2 neices dearly and am so proud of both of them.  That is why, when I found out Dad could not get sound to download the you tube on laptop and take it over to them to hear her sing.  When mother listened to it I thought I saw her almost tear up and I could see the pride in both of my parents for their granddaughter they rarely get to see.  Well, by the time we got thru with watching the video, me checking and fixing Dad’s computer, and then me digging for some more information from my Dad on his family…..yano how it is….once that genealogy bug bites ya, there’s a never-ending cure and it constantly itches and the only salve that soothes it is that “Let’s Talk Genealogy Salve”.  And once you get your “fix”, you race back home, as I did going on 1:00am with instructions from my mother to go to bed and get some rest, but instead,  hop on computer and start searching like crazy with the new tidbits of information you just heard about on your family.  Tonight, I found out that the first name of my grandmother’s father was unusual and my grandfather used to tease my grandmother about it.  I also found out that one of her uncles was in the Civil War and that a musket ball had hit him in the leg and he lost the leg.  He had a wooden leg after the war.  Now, Dad can’t remember if this soldier was a McGlothlin or if he was my grandmother’s uncle on her mother’s side.  I am so hoping that I find out it’s a McGlothlin and tie the line in that way, because if I find him, then it’s a strong possibility I will be able to find out who my great great grandparents were and in turn then find out who my great grandparents are.  Another mystery, another hair-pullin’ search – gotta love it!!! And I do!!!!!!!

Mystery Monday – My grandfather who loved me but never met me

Today, I am going to dwell on my grandfather on my father’s side of my family.  Some of the info I will be sharing has been passed down to me via my father and mother, and other information is what I have been able to source out.  My grandfather was a very special man according to my mother.  She had the joy of knowing him and I only know of him thru my parents.  Frank Estrada Alderete was born in Floresville, Wilson County, Texas on 27 Jun 1897 according to his death certificate we were able to obtain from Arizona.  I have been able to find him on the 1920 census where he lodged with a family that owned a funeral home in San Antonio.  He was their chauffeer.  I have no marriage certificate nor birth certificate as of yet.  Some time between 1920 and 1934 he met my grandmother, Helen Mcglothlin.  I was told that she was born in Comanche County, Texas 22 Mar 1896.  They had my father, and again, we have no proof of my dad’s birth 18 Feb 1934.  When my parents needed to go to Italy for my brother’s wedding, Dad had to get a half cousin (now deceased) to verify that he was born in the United States in order to get his passport, and then later this was used for him to apply for his social security.  When my father was 3, they moved to Mississippi and after several moves, they settled down in Myersville, which is not far from Rolling Fork, Mississippi where my father graduated high school from.  My grandfather became the overseer of a plantation there in Myersville in the ’30’s and when Dad was about 12, their house burned.  Dad said all their important papers were burned up in that fire.  The owner let them move into the barn until they could get a house built for them.  Sheets and quilts were hung up to divide the different rooms off in the barn for their living quarters.  After Dad graduated from Rolling Fork High School, he enlisted in the army, served his time and then married my mother.  In 1957, my grandparents sold all of their belongings and caught a bus headed for Arizona and stopped to spend the night with my parents before going on.  Mother said that my Dad’s job was not the greatest at that time so he quit his job, and they packed the car up and moved to Arizona.  My grandfather petted and spoiled my mother horribly for she was then carrying me, his first grandchild.  He could not wait for the day when I would be placed in his arms but sad to say, just a few short weeks after moving to Glendale, my grandfather died of a massive heart attack on 18 Jan 1958.  I was born 15 May 1958, and from then until the fall of 1959, I had a grandmother who doted on me unmercifully, showering me with love, compensating for the love of the grandfather who never knew me but loved me.

So many questions, has come up concerning these two people in my life.  Why can I not find him on any other census?  And what about my grandmother?  I cannot find her either, nor, when their marriage took place.  On the death certificate of my grandfather, a social security number was put there that matched the social security card my father has on his Dad, but yet when I try to search out the databases for that number, nothing comes up.  So what gives?  What can I do to solve this mystery?

Ernest McGlothlin b.1892~1930 Census~Comanche

In the county of Comanche, Texas, Ernest McGlothlin, age 38, rented a home and resided with his wife, 2 sons, and 2 daughters.  Ernest  was born in Texas as was both his parents.  At the time of his first marriage he was 22 years old, and his wife, Elizabeth J McGlothlin, age 36, was 21.  Elizabeth and her father both were born in Texas and her mother was born in Illinois.  Ernest’s occupation was a farmer.

Children:

Arnold B, age 14, son, born in Texas
Juanita E, age 12, daughter, born in Texas
Tera W, age 10, daughter, born in Texas
James K, age 3 and 8 months, son, born in Texas
This family is one of the few McGlothlin families that I have found in and around Comanche and makes me wonder just how closely related I may be to them, that is, if the information I got from my father, who in turn got it from his mother, that she was a McGlothlin and born in Comanche, TX in 1896.  Whether I will find out or not if Ernest is a brother or possibly a cousin of my grandmother, remains to be unseen.
 
Enumerated 8 Apr 1930 by Cecil Sadler.
__________

Source Citation: Year: 1930; Census Place: Precinct 3, Comanche, Texas; Roll: 2311; Page: 3A; Enumeration District: 9.

Sentimental Sunday…Mammaw’s Biscuits

 

Lola Pearl Johnson Kennedy

 

I am sitting here wondering where and how to start about my grandmother. First of all, this is not the McGlothlin’s or Alderetes, whom are on my father’s side. The grandmother I am referring to is Lola Pearl Johnson Kennedy. My Dad’s father died in January of ’58 and his mother died when I was about 18-19 months old. To remember her, my dad’s mother? I don’t… but I have heard stories of how she doted on me. Now…back to Lola Pearl….better known as Mammaw. There are so many stories on her that this may have to be continued over several Sundays before I move on to another person. One of the earliest memories of her is when we would go to visit them. Usually when some of the other brothers and sisters of mom  heard we were coming they would try to make plans to come in also…..and of course practically all 8 kids and their families showed up for our family reunions on Labor Day weekend. A tradition that my grandmother started but sad to say is no longer recognized. We would arrive – now picture this….a car pulls up to a house – a husband and wife, four kids, and a dog is falling out of the car to see who could get to the one bathroom in the house first after the 4 hour drive and our grandparents are at the door trying to  greet us! The first thing my Dad usually had to do was fix the t.v. for my pappaw. He wouldn’t let anyone else touch it except for my Dad. Now this is Dad’s father in law who had at least one son that I know of that was trained in electronics but no one could touch that t.v. except my Dad and it didn’t matter if they sat there 6 months before we could get there with a broke t.v. or not. Only dad was allowed to work on it. Now let’s get back to my grandmother – It didn’t matter what kind of meal she cooked, every pot and pan was used – nothing was ever clean when she got thru and all condiments were brought out. My first memory I could just barely see over the table, totally fascinated by her hands kneading and rolling out the biscuit dough and cutting it into neat little circles, not realizing that those circles made the hot biscuits with butter and jam that I loved so well. I remember my mother fussing at my grandmother and instructing her not to be giving any of us biscuit dough when she would make biscuits for breakfast. Just as soon as mother would turn her back and walk away, Mammaw, with a twinkle in her eye and a soft chuckle, would pinch off some biscuit dough and sneak it to me. “SHhhhhhh…Don’t let your mama know I gave you some!!” And of course, I was right in there, being the staunch supporter of my grandmother, diligently keeping my floured covered mouth shut as I wolfed down the tidbit of dough. Both of us learned to perfect the most innocent look when it came to my mother even tho’ we were guilty as sin!   And OMG, when we sat down to eat breakfast – eggs, sausage and bacon, gravy, grits, every kind of jelly or jam you could imagine that Mawmaw had canned, and those lovely hot fluffy buttered biscuits that she so lovingly made melted in your mouth as you ate until you hurt at Mammaw’s breakfast table.

 

Lola Pearl Johnson Kennedy

10 Aug 1908 – 24 Sep 1983