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knoxcotn-digest Sunday, February 13 2000 Volume 01 : Number 061
---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 13 Feb 2000 01:49:24 -0800 From: "Billie R. McNamara" <knox@tngenweb.org> Subject: [KnoxCoTN] 13 Feb 2000: Sunday Afternoon Rocking From: "j" <unicorn@sun-spot.com> Afternoon All, Last week I spoke on the words my grandfather spoke as he gave up his last tenuous grasp on our family's ancestral home and lands in LBL, "I will neither look back, nor be back". I described for you the autumn day in 1967 that marked the end of a season in a family. Today I want to describe for you what that did in terms of being one of the major reasons why I do what I do these days on the net, for myself and for others....and I have an idea, that similar circumstances are the reason many of you are here as well. I think more than a few of you will identify with my thoughts and motivations here... My cousin and I loved that homeplace dearly, as many of you loved a similar place that now exists only in your minds and hearts. I frequently "walk" through it, escaping todays to yesterdays and memories, willing myself to remember the touch of fabric, the coolness of hardwood floors on my bare feet, the weight of a fat white china cup in my hands, the way the afternoon sun slanted and cast shadows on the floor of a long front porch. Those memories are a comfort to me, because beyond the "things" I have that were there, they are all I have left of the place I knew. I know that many of you feel the same, and have another place you "walk" for comfort at times. But those memories I have, and you have, will be gone all too soon, leaving this world at the same time that we do...just as the memories of our grandfathers and great-grandmothers left with them, and unless they are given and passed on, it is as if those things had never been other than what "facts" are left behind on scraps of paper. This came to me in a very real way recently when the daughter of my first cousin (who is now gone to the next world) contacted me. A young mother, the family's heritage is beginning to be of importance to her. And she asked for my memories, the memories her mother died before she could pass on...and so I have begun to write them for her and to give her what I cannot leave in any tangible form other than description. I have walked her through the family homeplace willing her to see through my eyes, and I have introduced her to the great-grandfather she never knew, trying to give her a balanced picture of him, the good and the bad, making him human and of breathing living flesh for her. For the same reason, documenting the family line in that country is also important. I want to know who the grandparents of my grandfather were, because I have no memories of him telling me about them. I know he must have treasured memories of those who lived in his time, and I know he must have treasured the stories that he heard of those who did not. Because it was important to him, and knowing him, I know it was...it is also important to me. My grandfather was of another world and time, as many of yours were. And in that day and time, the passing on of roots came through the oral tradition. They little understood that the coming ways of this world would leave little inclination or time for oral passing of roots...and that unless a generation following them had the wisdom to record it, all was lost. I rue that I was young when he sat so long talking his long tales of "who begat who" and of things that had happened, where they happened, and those who peopled those stories. I am frustrated that I, as did his children, "tuned" much of this out. It is not just a matter of "proving" a lineage...much, much more, it is a matter of salvaging that which was important to one I loved...and giving it to those like my cousin's children and my own children.... passing on the things that were of importance in an endless chain of loving memories. I cannot turn back the clock, and I cannot make my grandfather be here again with me at a time in which I am ready and mature enough now to listen to his endless stories that wound on hour after hour....but I still draw breath, and I can piece together what I can find, add to that what I do remember...and give the next generation something far more precious than the money this family never had would be anyway. We no longer have our home in LBL, and even the family burial grounds where my great grandfather, great great grandfather and possibly before that are buried, have been taken from us. All we have is our history....and so you see why it is important beyond description why it is so important. It is all we have left of our roots. And I suspect that many of you, if for whatever reason your ancestral lands and homeplace are gone, feel the same. Please remember this when others contact you or post to a list. Their reasons may have nothing to do with wanting to join an elite organization, may have nothing to do with idle curiosity, may have nothing to do with simple scholarship and an abiding love of research....more often, I am finding, it is a situation in which family history is an anchor to hold to in this fast-paced and all too impersonal world. It is a situation in which all the heritage or "home" a family has left is its history. It is a situation in which a person regrets not finding important those things elders talked of at the time they talked of them, and with maturity wants to salvage what they can of the memories of elders who went on before them. Your words and help are often far more important than you can possibly realize, and will cause a heart to leap, bring tears to an eye in gratitude. In other words, it is often a matter of the "heart" and any small tidbit or fact, any direction you can find time to give, is more meaningful than gold to that person who longs so desperately to find his or her humble link in a long chain...and pass it on, giving the generation to come roots and a sense of belonging in a world that is uncertain. just a thought, jan ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 13 Feb 2000 11:02:29 -0800 From: "Billie R. McNamara" <knox@tngenweb.org> Subject: [KnoxCoTN] Orphanage? on Cecil Avenue? This message was posted to the Knoxville Welsh Society's message board, which I maintain. Richards is most assuredly a Welsh name, and the most-prominent Welsh family in Knoxville during the 1860-1930 period was the Richardses, who founded Knoxville Iron Works. I can't help this lady with her question, so I'm forwarding it here to pick y'all's brains. I grew up just over the ridge from Cecil Avenue, and we used to travel up and down it all the time on our way through North Hills to Broadway. My mama and her siblings were all born within spittin' distance of Cecil from 1928-1933. You'd think I would've heard SOMETHING about this, but I'm completely stumped. I know we don't have anybody on this list old enough to remember North Knoxville during the depression, but some of you may have heard mention of this place. Can anybody help Donna? If so, please write to her It's a little scary when you look at the dates -- he was an orphan during the infamous Georgia Tan baby-selling days -- and she didn't limit herself to just the Memphis area!
AUTHOR: Donna Gentry We <mwess@mem.net> DATE: Sunday, 13 February 2000, at 10:22:52 a.m. My 5' 8" dark complected Dad was in an orphanage from 1927 until mid 1931 when he was adopted. The orphanage was known as the baby home on Cecil Ave. His birth mother was Louise Richards and we now believe there is an east TN welsh connection. Does anyone know the name of the orphanage or home and where we might locate records. Otherwise, my families geneaology really has hit the "brick wall." Thanks for any help you can give. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 13 Feb 2000 12:18:18 -0500 From: iwells <iwells@utkux.utcc.utk.edu> Subject: RE: [KnoxCoTN] Orphanage? on Cecil Avenue? >===== Original Message From "Billie R. McNamara" <knox@tngenweb.org> ===== >This message was posted to the Knoxville Welsh Society's message board, >which I maintain. Richards is most assuredly a Welsh name, and the >most-prominent Welsh family in Knoxville during the 1860-1930 period was >the Richardses, who founded Knoxville Iron Works. > >I can't help this lady with her question, so I'm forwarding it here to pick >y'all's brains. > >I grew up just over the ridge from Cecil Avenue, and we used to travel up >and down it all the time on our way through North Hills to Broadway. My >mama and her siblings were all born within spittin' distance of Cecil from >1928-1933. You'd think I would've heard SOMETHING about this, but I'm >completely stumped. > >I know we don't have anybody on this list old enough to remember North >Knoxville during the depression, but some of you may have heard mention of >this place. Can anybody help Donna? If so, please write to her > >It's a little scary when you look at the dates -- he was an orphan during >the infamous Georgia Tan baby-selling days -- and she didn't limit herself >to just the Memphis area! > > > AUTHOR: Donna Gentry We <mwess@mem.net> > DATE: Sunday, 13 February 2000, at 10:22:52 a.m. > >My 5' 8" dark complected Dad was in an orphanage from 1927 until mid 1931 when >he was adopted. The orphanage was known as the baby home on Cecil Ave. His >birth mother was Louise Richards and we now believe there is an east TN welsh >connection. Does anyone know the name of the orphanage or home and where we >might locate records. Otherwise, my families geneaology really has hit the >"brick wall." Thanks for any help you can give.
Billie, I remember there being an orphanage on Cecil Street when I was a child. I don't know the name of it but maybe the McClung collection staff could help. It is where the present Broadway Towers, home for the elderly is now. Imogene Wells Knoxville, TN ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 13 Feb 2000 14:03:49 -0500 From: Billie McNamara <knox@tngenweb.org> Subject: RE: [KnoxCoTN] Orphanage? on Cecil Avenue? Thanks, Imogene! I read your note to my mama, and she said, "You're right! It reminded you of a jail, and we were told they were really bad to the children." Looks like we're on the right track -- I'll suggest that the original inquirant check with McClung.
At 12:18 PM 2/13/2000 -0500, iwells wrote: > I remember there being an orphanage on Cecil Street when I was a child. I >don't know the name of it but maybe the McClung collection staff could help. >It is where the present Broadway Towers, home for the elderly is now. > >Imogene Wells >Knoxville, TN > ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 13 Feb 2000 15:50:50 -0500 From: "Sally Singleton Lawlor" <jagger@kconline.com> Subject: [KnoxCoTN] David Craig, David Craig, David Craig, David Craig David Craig This is a multi-part message in MIME format. - ------=_NextPart_000_0063_01BF763A.1A3AB8E0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Well hows that? David Craig is my brick wall!!! Can anyone guess, He = was in Knox county Tenn from 1794 to 1810, I have court order records = for him, that's all. He married another brick wall, Mary Reed, can = anyone help me????? Sally - ------=_NextPart_000_0063_01BF763A.1A3AB8E0 Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD W3 HTML//EN"> <HTML> <HEAD> <META content=3Dtext/html;charset=3Diso-8859-1 = http-equiv=3DContent-Type> <META content=3D'"MSHTML 4.72.2106.6"' name=3DGENERATOR> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=3D#ffffff> <DIV><FONT color=3D#000000 size=3D2>Well hows that? David Craig is = my brick=20 wall!!! Can anyone guess, He was in Knox county Tenn from 1794 to = 1810, I=20 have court order records for him, that's all. He married another = brick=20 wall, Mary Reed, can anyone help me????? =20 Sally</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML> - ------=_NextPart_000_0063_01BF763A.1A3AB8E0-- ------------------------------ End of knoxcotn-digest V1 #61 ***************************** |