Contributed by: William Umphlett
THE WALTERS FAMILY WRITTEN BY BELLE WALTERS GRIFFIN THIS IS THE STORY OF THE MARRIED LIFE OF THOMAS BRYANT WALTERS AND HIS WIFE MARGARET ANNE STOKES. WHEN THEY MET AND WHERE I DO NOT KNOW • BUT MAMA ALWAYS SAID HE WAS WEARING GLOVES AND A DUSTER AND DRIVING TWO HORSES TO A BUGGY WHEN EVERY ONE ELSE WAS DRIVING ONLY ONE. ThEY MUST HAVE MET AT A COUNTRY CHURCH AS THAT WAS THE CENTER OF THEIR SOCIAL ACTIVITIES. PAPA WAS TWELVE YEARS OLDER THAN SHE WHO WAS NOT QUITE EIGHTEEN. BOTH OF THEM HAD LOST THEIR PARENTS AND SHE HAD BEEN LIVING A YEAR IN WINDSOR, N.C. WITH HER BROTHER JESSE BROWN STOKES AND HIS FAMILY. PAPA WAS AN OVERSEER OF A LARGE ESTATE IN BERTIE COUNTY. THEIR COURTSHIP WAS SHORT AND THEY SAID THEY NEVER KISSED UNTIL JUST BEFORE THEY WERE MARRIED AND THEY SAID THIS KISS SEALED THE BARGAIN. THEY WERE MARRIED AT ThE HOME OF HER OLDEST BROTHER HENRY CLAY STOKES IN HERTFORD AND HAD THEIR WEDDING SUPPER AT ANOTHER BROTHER’S RESIDENCE. BOTH BROTHERS LIVED IN LOVELY OLD HOMES ON WATER STREET IN HERTFOR)FACING THE BEAUTIFUL PERQUIMANS RIVER. THIS BROTHER WAS WILLIAM FRANCEIS STOKES. THEIR FIRST YEAR WAS SPENT AT THE HILL REED PLACE NEAR HERTFORD WHERE PAPA FARMED RENTED LAND. THE NEXT YEAR THEY MOVED TO A FARM ON THE HARVEY POINT ROAD WHERE FLORENCE, THEIR FIRST CHILD WAS BORN. IT WAS AT THIS HOUSE THAT MAMA KEPT A TRAMP FROM ENTERING HER HOME BY HOLDING HER BABY CLOSE AND WHISPERING TO HER TO KEEP HER QUIET WHILE THE TRAMP TRIED IN VAIN TO BREAK IN THE DOOR. IT WAS ALSO WHILE LIVING HERE THAT THEY ATTENDED A WEDDING AT THE “OFF” WHITE HOUSE (ALPHEUS WHITE) ThAT AN OLD GRANDFATHER CLOCK WHICH HAD NOT WORKED FOR YEARS STRUCK SEVENTEEN AT THE WEDDING CEREMONY. AN ELDERLY LADY WHO WAS VISITING THERE, MRS. BIDDLE, RELATED TO THE GOV. STONE FAMILY IN BERTIE WHO LIVED IN THE HOPE HOUSE, DECLARED THAT THIS WAS A BAD OMEN FOR THE BRIDE. MY MOTHER, A YOUNG WOMAN, WAS STRUCK WITH THIS REMARK SO FORCEFULLY THAT SHE REMEMBERED IT THROUGH THE YEARS AND SHE RECALLED THAT THE BRIDE LIVED EXACTLY SEVENTEEN YEARS. MY PARENTS WERE INTELLIGENT, WELL BORN AND THRIFTY, BUT NOT WEALTHY. THEIR FOREBEARERS WERE VICTIMS OF THE CIVIL WAR DAYS. MAMA’S FATHER HAD LEFT HER A SMALL AMOUNT OF MONEY AND PAPA’S FATHER HAD A GOOD FARM IN NANSEMOND COUNTY, VIRGINIA, BUT HIS SHARE IN THE DIVISION WAS SMALL. THEY WORKED AND PLANNED AND SAVED AND MOVED OFTEN- -EACH TIME BETTERING THEMSELVES. THEIR NEXT CHILD, MARY, WAS BORN ON THE SUMMER FARM. I AM NOT SURE WHERE THIS FARM IS. THE NEXT CHILD, JENKINS, WAS BORN IN WINFALL AND BELLE WAS BORN AT THE HOME RECENTLY VACATED BY THE JACK HUNTER FAMILY-- A PLACE NEAR ANDERSON CHURCH, IN THE VICINITY OF THE HOME WHERE MY MOTHER WAS BORN. PA.PA HAD BOUGHT THIS FARM, AND BY NOW HE HAD BOUGHT AND SOLD SEVERAL PIECES OF REAL ESTATE AND WAS ABLE TO BUY THE OLD JOE NEWBY HOME PLACE SIX MILES FROM HERTFORD. THIS WAS QUITE A NICE OLD HOME AND A VERY GOOD FARM WITH FINE TIMBER ON IT. MY FATHER RAISED STOCK HERE AND SOLD SHEEP AND CATTLE TO THE MARKET. HE IMPROVISED AN INTERESTING HOUSE FOR HIS CATTLE WHERE THEY COULD FEED THEMSELVES FROM BINS AND GET THEIR WATER FROM A TROUGH FED BY A WINDMILL--THE TALK OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD--AS THIS WAS THE FIRST IN THAT AREA. GRACIE WAS BORN HERE AND DIED HERE WHEN SHE WAS ONLY TWO YEARS AND EIGHT MONTHS OLD. WHEN SHE WAS QUITE YOUNG THE OLD HOME WITH LARGE BRICK ARCHES AND DOUBLE DECKER PORCHES, BURNED TO THE GROUND. I, A VERY SMALL CHILD MYSELF, SAT IN THE TOOL HOUSE DOOR AND WATCHED OUR HOME GO UP IN SMOKE. THE OLD FAMILY FURNITURE WAS BURNED AS WELL AS THE THINGS MY PARENTS HAD COLLECTED THROUGH THE YEARS. ONE OF THE FEW PIECES THAT WAS SAVED IS THE DESK IN MY LIVING ROOM AT THIS TIME. IN ONE OF THESE DRAWERS WERE ALL OF PAPA’S VALUABLE PAPERS, AND THOSE WHO CAME AS A BUCKET BRIGADE, SO TO SPEAK, WERE ASKED TO BE SURE TO SAVE THIS DESK ABOVE ALL ELSE. UNDAUNTED BY THEIR GREAT LOSS, THE WALTERS FAMILY WITH THEIR FIVE CHILDREN MOVED TO A SMALL TENANT HOUSE ON THE FARM AND MADE PLANS TO REBUILD. THIS THEY DID FOLLOWING THE PATTERN OF THE OLD HOUSE BUT ON A MUCH SMALLER SCALE. EVENTS AT THIS PLACE DURING MY TWELVE YEARS THERE WERE MEMORABLE. STOKES WAS BORN HERE WHEN HIS MOTHER WAS FORTY. A YEAR AFTER THIS PAPA BUILT A NEW HOUSE ON ONE OF HIS NEAR BY FARMS WHERE WE LIVED ABOUT A YEAR WHEN A PLACE HE HAD ALWAYS WANTED WAS FOR SALE--THE GILLIAM FARM--AT HERTFORD. BY NOW PAPA HAD SOLD HOMESITES AND FARMS TO TWENTY-TWO PEOPLE AND HE WAS READY TO BUILD HIS DREAM HOUSE. HE AND MAMA HAD ALWAYS WANTED A HOUSE ON A HILL WITH WATER NEAR BY. THE VIEW AND BREEZES FROM DOUBLE DECKER PORCHES BACK AND FRONT WERE A DELIGHT TO ALL THE FAMILY. (MORE LATER) THE OLDEST DAUGHTER, FLORENCE, WAS MARRIED IN THE PARLOR AT THIS HOUSE TO A NEIGHBORHOOD SWEETHEART DURING THE SECOND YEAR HERE. THE FIRST YEAR SHE AND HER SISTER MARY HAD NARROWILY ESCAPED DEATH FROM TYPHOID FEVER WHICH THE DOCTOR THOUGHT THEY CONTRACTED FROM SO MUCH MOVING OF SOIL AROUND THE PLACE. MARY WITH SHORT CURLY HAIR--SHE LOST HER HAIR DURING HER ILLNESS WENT TO COLLEGE IN GREENSBORO THE NEXT YEAR AND JENKINS VERY SHORTLY WENT TO TRINITY PARK IN DURHAM. BEFORE EITHER GRADUATED BELLE WENT TO GREENSBORO. WE WERE PROUD OF OUR PARENTS FOR BEING ABLE TO SEND ALL OF US TO SCHOOL. FLORENCE HAD ATTENDED LITTLETON. WE WENT TO THE ACADEMY IN HERTFORD WHEN WE HAD MOVED IN OUR NEW HOME. THE GIRLS TOOK PIANO LESSONS UNDER MISS EMILY SKINNER. INCIDENTALLY, HER TWO UNMARRIED AUNTS, THE MISSES HARVEY HAD MADE MAMA’S WEDDING DRESS AND HAT---PINE AND GRAY. AFTER MARY GRADUATED AND TAUGHT SCHOOL SEVERAL YEARS, SHE WAS MARRIED IN THE SAME PARLOR. JENKINS WAS A SEMI-INVALID ALL HIS LIFE AS AN ASTHMA SUFFERER, BUT WAS GAY AND UNCOMPLINING AND HAD A VERY GOOD MIND. HE MARRIED A SWEETHEART HE HAD LOVED FOR YEARS. PAPA BUILT THEM A BUNGALOW ON THE WATER FRONT ACROSS FROM OUR HOME. HE LIVED ONLY THREE YEARS AFTER THE MARRIAGE. BELLE WAS MARRIED THE SAME YEAR HER BROTHER WAS TO A BOY SHE MET IN RALEIGH AT THE R.R. STATION WHERE HE WAS ON HIS WAY TO WAKE FOREST AND SHE TO GREENSBORO. THEY WERE SWEETHEARTS FOR TEN YEARS BEFORE THE MARRIAGE AND HAD MANY FOND MEMORIES OP THE HOME PLAC’L THEY WERE MARRIED ON THE HILL BY THE RIVER AT SUNSET UNDER AN ARBOR OF FLOWERS FROM THE NEARBY WOODS ARRANGED BY HER BELOVED BROTHERS. NOW ONLY MAMA AND PAPA WERE LEFT AT HOME AS STOKES HAD GONE TO CAROLINA. HIS STAY WAS CUT SHORT BECAUSE OF HIS FATHER’S HEALTH. PAPA HAD A STROKE THE YEAR BELLE WAS MARRIED AND LIVED FOUR AND A HALF YEARS. STOKES WAS THE COMFORT OF HIS MOTHER AS HER DAUGHTER FLORENCE HAD DIED AFTER NINE YEARS OF MARRIAGE AND LEFT TWO SONS WHO MADE OUR HOME THEIRS MOST OF THE TIME. MARY LIVED NEAR ENOUGH TO COME OFTEN AND SO DID BELLE. STOKES ONLY LIVED TO BE TWENTY-SEVEN AND WITH HIS DEATH MAMA REALLY FELT ALONE. AFTER A FEW YEARS t4A, WITH HER HUSBAND AND DAUGHTER MARY THAD, MOVED FROM THEIR HOME IN THE COUNTRY TO LIVE WITH MAMA. THEY STAYED THERE UNTIL SHORTLY BEFORE MAMAS DEATH WHEN THEY MOVED TO A HOUSE IN HERTFORD WHICH THEY NOW OWNED, TOOK MAMA WITH THEM AND KEPT HER UNTIL HER DEATH AT AGE NINETY—TWO. SHE HAD THE MISFORTUNE TO BREAK HER HIP FOUR YEARS BEFORE HER DEATH. MARY HAD MADE A NAME FOR HERSELF AS A MOST SUCCESSFUL TEACHER. ALL THE FAMILY EXCEPT BELLE ARE BURIED IN THE UERTFORT CEMETERY. MARY DIED AT AGE EIGHTY-FOUR. MAMA’S GRAVE IS NEAR TWO HALF BROTHERS, HENRY AND WILLIAM STOKES AND HER HALF SISTER, MARY ELIZA ELLIOTT, AND HER SISTER LUCY STOKES HUNTER. HER PARENTS, EXUM SCOTT STOKES AND HIS WIFE ELIZABETH BROWNE ARE ALSO BURIED IN THIS CEMETERY. STORIES OF HAPPENINGS DURING THE FORTY-NINE YEARS OF MY PARENTS MARRIED LIFE WOULD BE A REAL HISTORY OF THAT PERIOD. COMING SO SHORTLY AFTER THE CIVIL WAR THEY HAD TO RELY ON THEIR OWN RESOURCES TO SURVIVE. BOTH WERE INGENIOUS, INIDUSTRIOUS AND HAD A REMARKABLE SENSE OF VALUES. THEY ALWAYS LOOKED TO THE GOOD LORD FOR GUIDANCE. AMONG MAMA’S PAPERS AFTER HER DEATH I FOUND A COPY OF LETTER TO THE CHRISTIAN ADVOCATE ASKING THAT HER SUBSCRIPTION BE RENEWED AND STATING THAT THE PAPER WAS THE FIRST TO WHICH SHE AND HER HUSBAND HAD SUBSCRIBED AFTER THEIR MARRIAGE AND SHE NEVER WISHED TO BE WITHOUT IT. MAMA MADE ALL THE CLOTHES FOR HER ENTIRE FAMILY WORE AND CUT PATTERNS FOR NEIGHBORS. SHE READ TO HER FAMILY FROM THE CHRISTIAN ADVOCATE, HER BIG FAMILY BIBLE AND TAUGHT HER CHILDREN POEMS AND STORIES FROM THE FEW BOOKS SHE HAD. BESIDE THE INCOME FROM DIRT FARMING, PAPA RAISED CATTLE, HOGS AND LAMBS FOR MARKET. HE ALSO SHEARED HIS FLOCK OF SHEEP EACH SPRING AND SOLD THE WOOL TO WOOLEN MILLS. FOR YEARS WE SHEARED THE SHEEP BY HAND--ALL THE FAMILY HELPING. AND THEN CAME A MACHINE WHICH THE CHILDREN TURNED BY HAND. IN ADDITION TO THE INCOME FROM THE SALE OF WOOL AND MUTTON, THE SHEEP KEPT THE LARGE LAWN MOWED. MY FATHER SEEMED AHEAD OF HIS TIME AS HE NOT ONLY BOUGHT A WINDMILL--THE FIRST AROUND--BUT HE ALSO HAD THE FIRST WIRE FENCE IN TUE COUNTY. UNTIL THEN RAIL FENCES WERE USED. FROM HIS SAVINGS HE WAS ABLE TO BUY SMALL (AT FIRST) TRACTS OF TIMBER FOR RESALE. THERE WERE FEW, IF ANY, SURVEYORS IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD, SO PAPA SURVEYED THE LINE FOR ONE OF THE MAJOR ROADS LEADING TO HERTFORD. HE DID THIS BY CLIMBING TREES AND MARKING THEM FOR THE ROUTE. HIS ADVICE WAS SOUGHT BY MANY. HIS CHILDREN LOVED HIS FIRST HAND STORIES. ONE I RECALL TOLD OF A “HAND” WHOM HE SUSPECTED IN MINOR THEFTS, STEALING COTTON. ONE NIGHT PAPA WENT TO THE BARN AND FOUND A LADDER SET UP FROM A SHELTER TO THE LOFT WHERE THE COTTON WAS STORED. BE QUIETLY STOOD BY UNTIL A PAIR OF LEGS APPEARED ON THE WAY DOWN. THE FELLOW CALLED TO PAPA, THINKING HE WAS THE ACCOMPLICE HE HAD WATCHING FOR HIM AND SAID “I HAVE IT. LET ME DOwN”. WHEN HE SAW WHO HAD HIM, HE DROPPED THE COTTON AND HIMSELF AND BEGGED FOR MERCY. HE WAS THE SAME FELLOW ON WHOM PAPA HAD EARLIER PLAYED A JOKE--AFTER ALWAYS FINDING HIM NAPPING AND LOAFING. HE TOLD THE FELLOW TO GO BEHIND THE BARN AND GET HIS NAP OUT AND HE WOULD CALL HIM WHEN HE WANTED HIM. THE MABI OBEYED AND AFTER SEVERAL HOURS HE PEEPED OUT AND SAID. ‘BOSS, ARE YOU READY FOR ME?”. “NO”, CAME THE ANSWER. AT SUNDOWN HE AGAIN PEEPED OUT WITH THE SAME QUESTION. WHEN HE REALIZED WHAT HAD HAPPENED IT SEEMED TO WORK FOR A WHILE. MAMA MATCHED THIS TALE BY TELLING HOW SHE STOPPED A FELLOW FROM STEALING EGGS. HE HAD BEEN BRINGING THEM IN THE EVENING AND SOMETIMES TEY SEEMED TO COME UP SHORT. ONE DAY SHE PAINTED AN EGG LACK AND WROTE ON IT WITH CHALK--”REPENT JUDGEMENT IS NEAR”. THE MAN COULD NOT READ SO HE TOOK THE EGG TO MAMA. AFTER SHE READ IT TO HIM, HE NEVER STOLE EGGS FROM HER AGAIN. AN OLD COLORED MAN NAMED “UNCLE MOSE”, ATE HIS SUPPER ON OUR BACK PORCH WHILE JENKINS AND BELLE STOOD AROUND BEGGING FOR A STORY. ONE OF HIS FAVORITES WAS THAT “SOME DAY GABRIEL WILL BLOW HIS TRUMPET AND YOU CHILLUN WILL NOT BE READ3 UNLESS YOU MIND YOUR MA AND PA. NOW MOSE WILL BE READY CASE HE LIVES RIGHT”, HE’D SAY. NOW MAMA, ALWAYS LISTING FROM A DISTANCE SLIPPED OUT ONE NIGHT WITH AN OLD FOX HORN AND AT THIS POINT IN HIS STORY LET OUT A LOUD BLAST RIGHT BEHIND THE OLD MAN. HE JUMPED CLEAR THE OLD HAND HEWN BENCH AND BEGGED FOR MERCY AT THE HAND OF GABRIEL. THIS SAME UNCLE MOSE WAS WALKING DOWN A DARK ROAD ON MOONLIGHT NIGHT WHEN A DIM OBJECT IN A NEAR BY TREE SAID- WHO**WHOO ARE YOU”? THIS KEPT UP UNTIL THE OLD MAN TOOK OFF HIS HAT, BOWED LOW AND SCRAPED HIS FOOT AS THE SAID REVERENTLY——”THIS IS HOSE, MARSE LORD, DIS IS HOSE”. WHEN THE WALTERS FAMILY MOVED FROM THE NEIGHBORHOOD UNCLE MOSE WAS VERY SAD, AS WE WERE. NE SEEMED TO HAVE DEVELOPED A COUGH AND WAS ADVISED, HE SAID, TO GO TO A HIGHER CLIMATE. HE MOVED TWO MILES DOWN THE ROAD AND WORKED FOR THE PARENTS OF FLORENCE’S IN-LAWS UNTIL HE DIED AT A RIPE OLD AGE. HE HAD FOUND A GOOD HOME WITH TEE UMPHLETT FAMILY AND I AM SURE HE MUST HAVE BEEN READY WHEN GABRIEL BLEW HIS TRUMPET. MANY MEMORIES LINGER OF HAPPENINGS AT THE NEWSY HOUSE. EACH SATURDAY PAPA WOULD PUT ON HIS SECOND BEST CLOTHES, DON HIS NECK TIE AND PUT HIS LOVELY GOLD WATCH IN HIS POCKET, TAKE THE MEMORANDUM MAMA HAD MADE OUT AND GO TO HERTFORD SIX MILES AWAY, AFTER KISSING ALL OF US GOODBY. I FORGOT TO SAY THAT MAMA HAD TRIMMED HIS BEARD. WHILE THERE HE GATHERED ALL THE NEWS SINCE HIS LAST TRIP AS HE KNEW THE FAMILY WOULD BE EAGERLY AWAITING HIS RETURN. BELLE AND JENKINS RAN THE QUARTER OF A MILE TO OPEN THE GATE AND GET A RIDE BACK TO THE HOUSE WHERE THE MERCHANDISE WAS OPENED, THE CHILDREN’S SHOES TRIED ON ETC. OUR FEET WERE MEASURED AND THE SHOES WERE BOUGHT ACCORDINGLY. WE WERE TOLD ABOUT CONVERSATIONS HE HAD HAD WITH HIS OLD CRONIES. MR. PAT SMALL ALWAYS TOLD ABOUT THE BIGGEST---NO MATTER WHAT THE CONVERSATION CONCERNED. MR. FLEETWOOD ALWAYS HAD ADVICE TO GIVE ON HOW TO REAR CHILDREN. MR MATT WHITE, THE RIGHEST MAN IN THE COUNTY, REPORTED ON HIS BIG DEALS AND HIS WINNING HORSE RACES. PAPA ALWAYS MADE A VISIT TO BLANCHARD’ S DEPARTMENT STORE WHERE HE ENJOYED CHATS WITH BILLY AND TOM BLANCHARD. IT WAS ALWAYS EXCITING TO HEAR ABOUT EVENTS OF PAPA’S TRIPS, BUT I RECALL ONE OUTSTANDING ONE. HE WAS RETURNING HOME OVER THE FLOATING BRIDGE ROAD AND WAS ABOUT THE MIDDLE OF THE CAUSEWAY IN WATER MORE THAN A FOOT DEEP WHEN A LARGE BLACK BEAR JUMPED OUT OF THE BUSHES IN FRONT OF HIM. HE DID NOT KNOW WHETHER TO STRIKE AT THE BEAR WITH HIS BUGGY WHIP OR STRIKE AT HIS HORSE TO MAKE HIM GO FASTER. HE MADE THE LATTER CHOICE AND THE BEAR SHUFFLED ALONG CLOSE BY UNTIL HE SEEMED TO TIRE OF THE CHASE. THIS STORY ALWAYS MADE THAT ROAD MORE INTERESTING TO ME. THE ROAD WAS FIRST BUILT, WE ARE TOLD, BY BEAVERS GNAWING DOWN TREES AND ROLLING THEM WITH THEIR NOSES TO FORM A SORT OF ROAD TO THE NARROWEST PLACE IN THE RIVER. WHEN THEY REACHED THE CHANNEL, IT SEEMS, THEY COULD SWIM THE DISTANCE TO LAND. THIS ROAD HAD DIRT ETC, HAULED ON IT TO MAKE CROSSING POSSIBLE AND A FLOATING BRIDGE WAS BUILT--HELD UP BY WHISKEY BARRELS. THIS FURNISHED A CROSSING UNTIL A GOOD ROAD AND A GOOD BRIDGE WRE BUILT. WHILE PAPA WAS IN HERTFORD, MAMA WALKED A MILE TO JACKSON’S COUNTRY STORE WHERE SHE TRADED EGGS FOR LAWN AND LACE TO MAKE HER DAUGHTERS’ DRESSES. THE.WERE ALWAYS A FEW PENNIES LEFT OVER FOR STICK CANDY FOR THE CHILDREN WHO EAGERLY AWAITED HER RETURN. ON ONE OCCASION AS SHE WALKED UP THE LONG LANE, LINED WITH CEDARS TO THE HOUSE, A MAN SEEMED TO APPEAR FROM NOWHERE, WALK SLOWLY TOWARD HER UNTIL HE SUDDENLY DISAPPEARED AS IF BEHIND A STUMP. HER THOUGHT WAS THAT A MAN WHO WORKED FOR US WAS EITHER TRYING TO SCARE HER OR WAS ON HIS WAY TO THE CATTLE BARN. SHE LOOKED IN VAIN, BUT NEVER COULD EXPLAIN THIS———SO PUT IT DOWN AS JOE NEWBY’S “GHOST” WHICH WE WERE TOLD HAD HAUNTED THE PLACE EVER SINCE IT LEFT HIS HANDS. WHEN PAPA HAD BOUGHT THE PLACE THE DEEDS AND RECORDS COULD NOT BE FOUND SO WE WERE ALWAYS A BIT UNEASY ABOUT A CLEAR TITLE. MAMA AND “AUNT” MARGARET JOHNSON HAD CLEANED THE BOUSE THOROUGHLY BEFORE MOVING IN, BUT ON THE DAY THE FAMILY MOVED IN A BUNDLE OF PAPERS LAY ON THE HALL FLOOR WHICH PROVED TO BE THE LONG LOOKED FOR RECORDS OF THE PLACE. THESE PAPERS WERE CAREFULLY KEPT BETWEEN WINDOW GLASSES IN THE DRAWER OF THE OLD SECRETARY NOW IN BELLE’S LIVING ROOM. THIS IS ABOUT THE ONLY PIECE OF FURNITURE THAT WAS SAVED WHEN THE HOUSE BURNED. THE WEEKLY TRIPS TO HERTFORD TOOK CARE OF MOST OF THE FAMILIES’ NEEDS, HOWEVER, TWO OR THREE TIMES A YEAR THE COUPLE WOULD GO TO ELIZABETH CITY TO GET SPECIAL THINGS. THEY WOULD LEAVE EARLY IN THE MORNING FOR THE TRIP, TAKE LUNCH FOR BOTH MAN AND BEAST AND BRING BACKS BOLTS OF BLEACHED AND UNBLEACHED COTTON AND BOLTS OF OTHER MATERIALS WHICH MAMA THOUGHT COULD BE USED FOR HER FAMILY’S NEEDS. BEFORE I LEAVE OFF TELLING ABOUT EVENTS THAT TOOK PLACE WHILE LIVING AT THE NEWBY HOUSE, I MUST ADD THAT SINCE THERE WAS NO SCHOOL IN THE COMMUNITY WREN WE MOVED THERE, PAPA GAVE A PIECE OF LAND AND A SMALL ONE ROOM BUILDING WA PUT UP. WE BOARDED THE TEACHER. IN THE SCHOOL ROOM A WATER BUCKET AND A TIN DIPPER WERE USED BY ALL UNLESS SOME HAD A MOTHER LIKE OURS WHO GAVE US A TIN CUP. ALL TOOK THEIR LUNCHES IN A TIN BUCKET OR A BASKET. A WOOD HEATER FURNISHED THE HEAT. THOSE WHO SAT NEAR THE STOVE NEARLY BURNED UP WHILE THE OTHERS FROZE. ALL WORE LONG UNDERWEAR AND STURDY HIGH TOP SHOES, HOWEVER, SO MOST OF US SURVIVED. MAMA TAUGHT HER CHILDREN TO READ, TO SPELL AND TO FIGURE ON OUR SLATES. AN HOUR FOR LUNCH GAVE US PLENTY OF TIME TO PLAY. SOME OF THE GAMES WE PLAYED WERE “FOX IN THE WALL”, “DROP THE HANDKERCHIEF”, “STEALING STICKS” AND “GOOL”. I NEVER QUITE KNEW WHAT THIS WORD MEANT UNTIL YEARS LATER, BUT FROM THE RULES OP THE GAME, I HAVE DECIDED IT MUST HAVE MEANT “GOAL”. MAMA STARTED A SUNDAY SCHOOL CLASS AT THIS LITTLE BUILDING AND OCCASIONALLY A PREACHER WOULD COME FROM SOMEWHERE AND PREACH. WE LISTENED TO WHOM SO EVER CANE. WE ALWAYS HAD THEM STAY AT OUR HOUSE. TWO MORMANS CAME ON ONE OCCASION AND STAYED SEVERAL DAYS. I REMEMBER THEY CLAPPED THEIR HANDS A LOT WHEN THEY PREACHED AND TALKED VERY LOUD. PAPA QUIZZED THEM AT LENGTH ON THEIR BELIEF AND WE ALL LEARNED A LOT ABOUT MORMANISM. THE MEN WERE NAMED GEORGE E. COOK AND LEVI DUNN. MY BROTHER JENKINS, ALWAYS A WIT, WENT AROUND THE HOUSE SAYING ----GEORGE E.----COOK--—I BELIEVE I AM DONE. THE LITTLE SCHOOL HOUSE CALLED SNOW HILL HAS LONG BEEN GONE, BUT ON THE SITE STANDS A VERY ACTIVE METHODIST CHURCH. WREN I WAS TWELVE WE MOVED TO HERTFOR. TO TELL OF THE MANY EVENTS THAT TOOK PLACE WOULD TAKE VOLUMES. AS I HAVE SAID EARLIER, FLORENCE WAS MARRIED IN THE PARLOR AND SO WAS MARY AND BELLE WAS MARRIED ON THE LAWN BY THE RIVER. IN THE “COMPANY” ROOM UP—STAIRS FLORENCE’S ONE GRANDCHILD, MOULTON’S SON WAS BORN AND IN THIS ROOM STOKES DIED. LEONARD, FLORENCE’S OLDER SON WAS WITH HIM WHEN HE HAD ThE FATAL HEART ATTACK. MY FATHER DIED AT AGE 75 IN THE DOWNSTAIRS BEDROOM. IT WAS IN THIS ROOM THAT MAMA SLIPPED AND BROKE HER HIP YEARS LATER. THE KITCHEN WITH ITS LARGE FIRPLACE WAS VERY SPECIAL TO ALL OF US. THE WARMING CLOSET IN THE MAJESTIC RANGE WAS ANOTHER ATTRACTION AS IT USUALLY HELD GOODIES FOR US WHEN WE CAME FROM SCHOOL. THERE WERE ALMOST ALWAYS TEA CAKES ON THE TABLE, TOO. SINCE JENKINS HAS ASTHMA MANY OF THE CHORES AS ERRAND BOY FELL TO BELLE. SHE CAME TO LOVE THE BARN AND STABLES ALMOST AS WELL AS THE HOUSE. ONE THING SHE DID NOT LIKE WAS LOOKING AFTER THE “SETTING” HENS IN THE PERSUADERS AS THEY WOULD PECK HANDS IF THEY WERE DISTURBED. JENKINS AND BELLE RAN THE SHEEP TO THEIR SHELTERS EACH EVENING AND DURING COLD FEBRUARY DAYS THEY OFTEN HAD TO PICK UP A NEW BORN WOBBLY LAMB, TAKE HIM HOME, FEED HIM WARM MILK AND DRY HIM OUT BY THE KITCHEN HEARTH. THERE WAS USUALLY GOOD FRUIT IN OUR LITTLE ORCHARD ON THE HILL, BUT THE WILD GRAPES BY THE SPRINGS IN THE WOODS WERE OF MORE INTEREST TO BELLE AND JEN1CINS. THEY WOULD CLIMB THE BIG GRAPE VINES AND SWING ON THEM WHILE THEY ATE GRAPES, SANG DARLING NELLIE GRAY AND WATCHED THE GOLDFINCHES SIP WATER FROM THE COOL SPRING BELOW. WE HAD A BOAT NAMED “MARY BELLE”. SOME TIME WHEN THE GIRLS HAD DATES THEY TAKE IT HOME AS THEY SANG--ALL WHO COULD AND ALL WHO COULDN’T——-IN THE EVENING BY THE MOONLIGHT, CARRY ME BACK TO OLE VIRGINIA AND GOOD NIGHT LADIES”. PAPA BOUGHT A SEVEN PASSENGER PAIGE AUTOMOBILE IN 1915, ONE OF THE FIRST IN THE COUNTY AND LEARNED TO DRIVE BY THE TRIAL AND ERROR METHOD. THE FAMILY WENT ALONG, BUT WITh HIS SLOW SPEED AND NO OTHER CAR ON THE ROAD, OUT LIVES WERE NOT IN DANGER---UNLESS FROM THE REARING HORSES WE MET WHO WERE FRIGHTENED BY THIS NEW CONTRAPTION. OUR FAMILY SOON BEGAN TO SCATTER SO THIS CAR WAS SOLD FOR A FIVE PASSENGER ONE. PAPA FOUND TIME TO TRY TO TEACH HER GIRLS ALL SHE KNEW ABOUT HOMEMAKING AND SEWING. MARY BECAME VERY PROFICIENT WITH HER NEEDLE. SHE AND FLORENCE WERE BOTH GENTLE LADIES LIKE THEIR MOTHER. FLORENCE WAS ONCE VOTED THE PRETTIEST GIRL IN PERQUIMANS COUNTY AND WAS PRESENTED A CUT GLASS PICKLE DISH. STOKES LOVED BOOKS AND EVEN THOUGH HIS FATHER KEPT HIM BUSY, HE ALWAYS TOOK A BOOK ALONG TO READ IF A LEISURE MOMENT CAME. IN HIS POCKET WHEN HE DIED WAS FOUND A COPY OF EMERSON’S ESSAYS, AS WELL AS SOME LINES HE HAD WRITTEN. HE ALWAYS WANTED TO WRITE POEMS AND SHORT STORIES. STOKES HAD ONE OF THE LOVELIEST NATURES I HAVE EVER KNOWN. EDGAR GUEST WAS NOT FAR WRONG WHEN HE SAID---”IT TAKES A LOT OF LIVING IN A HOUSE TO MAKE IT HOME--A HEAP OF SUN AND SHADOW” THE LETTER I WROTE TO THE BUYERS OF THE PROPERY A FEW YEARS AFTER MY MOTHER’S DEATH CAN BEST TELL HOW I FELT ABOUT THE PLACE WHERE WE “LIVED AND LOVED, AND LOVED AND LIVED AND DIED”. JULY 1966 DEAR MR. AND MRS. HARRELL, WHEN TWO LOVERS SIXTY YEARS AGO BRIDGED THIS STREAM, FELLED TREES AND PLANTED NEW ONES AND BUILT A HOUSE FOR THEIR FAMILY BY THE WATER, THEY FULFILLED THEIR FONDEST DREAM. BEING A LITTLE GIRL, I GREW UP WITH THE PLACE AND CANE TO KNOW THE MESSAGE OF THE FROGS IN THE CREEK AS I DID THE SONG OF THE KATY-DIDS IN THE TREES. WARM MEMORIES FLOOD MY MIND OF HAPPY DAYS THERE--OF LITTLE THINGS AND BIG, OF SUMMER EVENINGS ON THE UPPER PORCH FIGHTING MOSQUITOS, LISTING TO PAPAS GHOST STORIES OR WATCHING HALEY’S COMET. THIS IS A HALLOWED SPOT YOU’VE BOUGHT WITH LITTLE WILD VIOLETS AND BLUE BONNETS BY THE WATER--AND IF YOU’LL LISTEN CLOSELY WHEN THE CRITTERS IN THE SWAMP ARE ASLEEP AND THE MOON IS HIGH, YOU WILL HEAR SWEET MUSIC IN THE TREES AND SEE F?RIES DANCING ON THE LAWN. WHEN 1972 COMES, YOU WILL SEE TWO OTHER LOVERS ON THE HILL BY THE RIVER WHO HAVE COME AGAIN AT SUNSET TO THE SPOT WHERE FIFTY YEARS AGO THEY SPOKE THEIR WEDDING VOWS UNDER A VINE COVERED ARBOR ARRANGED BY TWO LOVING BROTHERS FROM FOLIAGE IN THE WOODS. MAY YOU AND YOUR DEAR ONES LIVE AND LOVE AT THIS DEAR SPOT FOR MANY YEARS. SINCERELY, BELLE WALTERS GRIFFIN