Tuesday's Tune ~ When I Get Where I'm Going

Losing a family member is one of the most difficult experiences we will ever face.  Whether it be a spouse, child, sibling, parent, grandparent, great grandparent, uncle or aunt, the loss of someone who has been an important part of our lives is heartbreaking.

Henrietta D. Smith, 1836-1917

I often experience feelings of loss when I think about my ancestors.  Its not the same feelings of loss as I mentioned above.  But its still a loss.

A loss of never knowing who they really were and how they lived their day to day lives.  Never having the opportunity to sit in rocking chairs on their front porches while listening to them tell their stories.

Unable to ask them questions, join in their laughter, share their tears.  Never having the chance to hug their necks and tell them I love them. 


When researching our family histories, we gather information, documents and photographs of those who lived and died before we were born.

A small number of researchers are extremely fortunate to have a relative or friend still living who can relay firsthand (or secondhand) information.  Other researchers are given the gifts of letters, journals and maybe even recordings left behind by family members.

These conversations and gifts allow us to catch glimpses into the lives of our ancestors. 

I love to catch the glimpses!  However, these glimpses usually prompt more questions.  Some of my questions are answered by digging deeper into records research or collaborating with other family members and researchers.  Others?  Well, those answers will have to wait until I get where I'm going.

"When I Get Where I'm Going" was written by George Teren and Rivers Rutherford.  It was recorded by country music singer, Brad Paisley, and released in October of 2005.

Lyrics:

When I get where I'm going

On the far side of the sky

The first thing that I'm gonna do

Is spread my wings and fly

I'm gonna land beside a lion

And run my fingers through his mane

Or I might find out what it's like 

To ride of drop of rain

Yeah when I get where I'm going

There'll be only happy tears

I will shed the sins and struggles

I have carried all these years

And I'll leave my heart wide open 

I will love and have no fear

Yeah when I get where I'm going

Don't cry for me down here

I'm gonna walk with my granddaddy

And he'll match me step for step

And I'll tell him how I missed him

Every minute since he left

Then I'll hug his neck

So much pain and so much darkness

In this world we stumble through

All these questions I can't answer

So much work to do

But when I get where I'm going

And I see my maker's face

I'll stand forever in the light

Of his amazing grace

Yeah when I get where I'm going

There'll be only happy tears

Hallelujah

I will love and have no fear

When I get where I'm going

Yeah when I get where I' going

Sentimental Sunday ~ The Old Steele House

Side view showing the storm cellar

My three-great grandfather, James Luther Smith, built the original house for his granddaughter, Mary Virginia "Mollie" Blackman and her husband, Isham Alfonso "Al" Steele.  In the beginning, the house had only four rooms and a kitchen.

The front room was built some time prior to 1900 as Mollie and Al's daughter, Mary Allye, was born in this room on March 9, 1900.  The storm cellar seen in the photograph above was built prior to 1911 by a white mustached man referred to as "the Irishman."  A long porch was built across the front of the house in 1922 by Mr. Tom Hardin and a bigger kitchen was built ca. 1925.  The side porch was built in the early 1930s. 

In 1911, Al Steele and family moved to Childress, Texas to live near one of Al's sisters, Lydia Francis "Lyd" Steele and her husband Silas Abe Greer.  While the Steele family was living in Texas, the Edmon Clark Chambers family lived in the Steele House.  In Ollie Chambers' collection of remembrances, Down Memory Lane, she recalls the following:

Our parents rented the Steele house in 1912.  That was indeed a terrible year for our family.  Mearine, Luceil, Darris and Ollie had typhoid fever.  The only help our parents could get was an old colored woman named, Annie Barkshire. 

There seemed to be many tornadoes or hurricanes at this time.  There was a storm cellar in the side yard in easy access to the front porch, in which our parents kept a lantern, plenty of matches in a can, fresh water was kept in jars or bottles, also quilts for us to sleep upon.  There were benches in the storm cellar.

Annie Barkshire always came to our house to join us in the storm cellar.  Our parents always had a big can that had a top on it, in which they kept canned foods, vienna sausage, potted meat, crackers and cookies.  If Mama had time, when we went to the storm cellar, she took cottage cheese that she had made, also fresh milk.  Fortunately, we never had to stay in the storm cellar long enough to use up all the food.  However, you can imagine with four hungry girls, Annie Barksire, and Mama and Papa, that a great deal of nourishment was consumed.

In 1912, Claude and Vivian Martin Enright were living in the Steele house where their son, Claude Martin Enright was born. 

Robert Otis Moss and Marion Smith were married in the Steele house ca. 1922. 

Sisters, Sarah Virginia and Evelyn Steele Ogden, were born in the Steele house in 1922 and 1926, respectively.

My grandparents, Bruce and Mary Allye Steele Edmonds lived in the Steele house until 1958 when they swapped houses with their son (my father), Bruce Alfonso Edmonds and his family.

The old Steele house is gone now.  Fire destroyed it about twenty years ago.  I grew up in this house.  Many years were spent playing under the old pecan trees planted over 100 years ago by my great-grandfather, Al Steele. 

We never had to use the storm cellar for protection from tornadoes and hurricanes but it made the perfect fort for playing cowboys and indians with my brothers and friends.



(Cross-posted from Pathway To Remembrance)

Treasure Chest Thursday - Charlie's Nite Club

Will Peck, IV gave the following description of Charlie's Nite Club in his History of Sicily Island, 1976 writings:

In the late 1940’s the citizens of our community experienced the end of an era, some not realizing the impact it had made on the area. Kathryn Benedict of Mississippi, came to Sicily Island to teach English and art and fell in love with a local boy, Charlie Smith. With her help Charlie opened what was to become one of the most famous nightclubs in Louisiana.

When citizens of the community went to Natchez or Monroe to shop at the most fashionable stores, they visited with the proprietors on a first name basis, since they mingled, dined and danced at Sicily Island the night before.

Ike St. Clair became known as one of the best bartenders in the country. There were also the bouncers, Bully Smith and Duke Kiper, who were well known for their ability to perform.

Bud Scott, the popular musician from Natchez, played at Charlie’s many times.

Reflecting, one can see how Mrs. Mollie Steele always knew about the exciting things happening at the club – not from Charlie, her first cousin, who came to see her almost every day, but through her trusted maid, the hilarious Annie Barkshire who was married to the well known Ike Sanders, the cook at Charlie’s.

When the nightclub closed, many of the dealers left and reestablished in Las Vegas, thus ending a nostalgic period in the town’s history. Old patrons will always remember Wednesday nights as Homer Rushing’s voice rang out to an excited crowd, “It’s nine and it’s bingo time.”

The Children (and grandchildren) of Edward Dorsey "Dorse" Smith

Edward Dorsey "Dorse" Smith was born on March 3, 1870 to James Luther and Henrietta DeGlando Smith.  He married Helen Jackson circa 1905.  Helen was born on May 30, 1885 in Mississippi.  After Henrietta's death and the property division, Dorse and Helen lived in several different houses before buying the lot where the Gordon and Mary Nell Higgins house stands today.  When Dorse's brother, Buck, moved to town, Dorse sold his house to Mr. Denham and bought the old Smith home back. 

Dorse died on April 2, 1940 and Helen died on April 10, 1917.  Both are buried in the Old Pine Hill Cemetery.

Dorse and Helen had the following children: 

The Children (and grandchildren) of Francis Marion "Frank" Smith

Francis Marion "Frank" Smith was born on November 24, 1867 to James Luther and Henrietta DeGlando Smith.  On September 19, 1886, he married Nettie Watson.  Nettie was born on September 4, 1868 in Harrisonburg.

Frank died on July 7, 1953 and Nettie died on August 9, 1946.  Both are buried in the Old Pine Hill Cemetery in Sicily Island.

Frank and Nettie had the following children: 

The Children (and grandchildren) of James William "Buck" Smith

James William "Buck" Smith was born on December 10, 1862 to James Luther and Henrietta DeGlando Smith. On February 8, 1883, he married Margaret A. "Mary" Kendrick.  Upon the death of his mother in 1917, he received twenty acres and the old Smith house which was included in the acreage. 

Buck died on July 23, 1936 and Mary died on January 4, 1921.  They are both buried in the Old Pine Hill Cemetery in Sicily Island.

Buck and Mary had the following nine children: 

The Children (and grandchildren) of Tom and Kate Smith Chisum

On March 23, 1881, Thomas Jefferson "Tom" Chisum married Catherine "Kate" Smith.  Tom, the son of Isham Russell and Mary Polly Walling Chisum, came to Sicily Island circa 1876 from Limestone County, Texas.  He was born on January 3, 1852.  Kate, born on September 24, 1859, was the daughter of James Luther Smith and Henrietta DeGlando Smith.

Kate died on April 23, 1936 and Tom died on December 4, 1934.  Both are buried in the Old Pine Hill Cemetery in Sicily Island.

To the marriage of Tom and Kate were born the following five children: 

Virginia "Ginnie" Smith Blackman, daughter of J. L. and Henrietta Smith

Virginia "Ginnie" Smith was born on March 14, 1856 to James Luther and Henrietta DeGlando Smith.  On November 15, 1872, she married Joseph A. "Frank" Blackman in the home of her parents by the Justice of the Peace.  Witnesses were:  E. L. Keenan, James Kelly and James H. Young.

 

James Luther Smith Family....The Beginning

James Luther Smith (1830-1911)

James Luther "J. L." Smith was born on November 9, 1830 in Saratoga County, New York.  He left New York at a young age and traveled by boat to New Orleans.  There, it is believed that he worked on boats and was a policeman for about a year.  

Henrietta DeGlando Smith

While living in New Orleans, J. L. met and married Henrietta DeGlando circa 1853.  Henrietta was born in New Orleans on September 29, 1836.

By 1860, J. L. and Henrietta had moved to Catahoula Parish and were living in the area of Trinity.  Some time between 1870 and 1880, they moved to Sicily Island where they bought a farm joining Gottleib Krause's farm.  The farmland was purchased from Mrs. Mary Doniphan and was part of Midship Plantation.  Part of this property is now Highland Cemetery.

In 1875, J. L. built a larger home.  The front part was four large rooms divided by a hall from front to back with an extra large fireplace in each of the two front rooms.  There was a railed gallery running the width of the front.  The large dining room and kitchen was an ell on the back with a porch on the inner side of this ell and across the back of the main house.  In the yard, out from the kitchen, there was a summer house where many household chores were done in the summer. (Our Island Heritage, Vol. 3, 1978, compiled by Sophie Haley and Mickie Smith)