Huie Story from Lillian Green
Column for 12 29 05
Matgaret Collier
Fifteen members braved the cold Tuesday, December 20, for the Christmas meeting in The Leach House. Now I must say that it was not cold inside and that there was so much good food and good cheer that we knew that the Christmas holidays were very much off to a good start.
During the business meeting we were asked to consider whether moving our evening meetings to the afternoon would help more people to attend. The official vote will be taken at the Annual Meeting in January, so be sure to think seriously about the effect such a move will make and be prepared to vote your conviction on the subject.
During the social part of the evening everyone enjoyed going through the sale goodies, making their selections and giving their donations for the work of the Society. We may have to do this again sometime.
Several people from Brewton, Flomaton and other nearby areas have commented on how much they have enjoyed Lillian Green's recollections of life in McDavid when she was a girl. One person told me that he remembered "Daisy," the mule with the notched ear. Another person was particularly interested in the oxen. Today though we are going to skip the animal bit and use Lillian's memories of her Grandma and Grandpa Huie, so sit back and enjoy.
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Grandma nee Sally Broughton Terrell was born in Greenville, Alabama in 1860. Grandpa, George Witherspoon Huie, was born near Atlanta, Georgia in 1853. Grandma was a very smart lady in her time. She had a teacher's certificate and was a midwife, if needed. She said that she made her own shoes from felt hats. (My theory is that Grandma took the soles of something like sneakers today and then with a big needle sewed the felt onto those soles).
She made a very special salve that cured most sores (except my carbuncles). She would wash her hands and put Vaseline in one hand and pour some Merthiolate into the Vaseline. With a clean case knife she mixed that up really well and put it on some of her clean rags and tied that around the offending arm, leg or stomach.
Grandma dried any fruit she could get her hands on. She had frames about 30 inches high that were covered with hardware cloth. They raised currants and dried them on those frames. I never knew how she stored them but must have been in glass jars of some size. They also raised rice in a wet spot.
After Grandpa died in 1936, two boys about 16 years old came by one afternoon with a dead dog that they threw over her wood fence. She heard about it immediately and went down the dirt road to find those boys. She had them get the dog and carry it someplace else. She was about 5 feet tall and weighed a little over 100 pounds. She always wore those aprons with sleeves and that tied below her stomach.
The Huies had eight children, but two of them died. My daddy was the only boy to live. He really took care of his mama until just a few days before she died. My Aunt Abbie took her to a hospital in Pensacola where she died. Both she and Grandpa are buried at Ray's Chapel and each grave has a Georgia marble slab on the vault top. Birdie Mae Bell Huie, their oldest daughter, lived with them. She died in 1956, making it ten-year intervals between all of their deaths.
Grandpa Huie was one of the very best blacksmiths. He had the name of being able to make anything. They heated with a fireplace and Grandpa had made the instruments used for cooking in the fireplace. I know a special 6-years old grandson who got his great grandfather's tongs. He is proud of that possession. It's too bad that the other tools were stolen, included the anvil.
My grandpa was the missing link in his family from Georgia (Just a little humor thrown in). A few years ago we started attending the Huie reunions near Atlanta. Several there would say that the “W” in Grandpa's name was for "Washington," but I held out for Witherspoon and in the end was found to be correct.
Since some of you remember Daisy, I will tell you that Grandpa also had a little mule named Dan who lived to be 40 years old. At about 35 Daddy got the mule named Daisy, but he kept Old Dan until he died.”
End.
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Many thanks to Lillian for her contributions. There are more that we'll bring in occasionally.
Hopefully, this will inspire more of you to send in your family histories, because that is really what this column is mostly about. For now though, we'll wish everyone a Happy 2006. You'll be even happier if you join and support The Alger-Sullivan Historical Society. It's easy and painless to do so. Call Jerry Simmons, 256-2661, or go on line to the Society's web page. Hope to see you at the Annual Meeting on January 17. Stay tuned for particulars about this dinner meeting.