Cecil Denver Wallace, Sr: An Interview with Grandma Kathleen, Part I

I just finished a delightful conversation with my Grandma Kathleen. In that conversation, I asked her about her father, Cecil Denver Wallace, Sr., and learned a lot about him and Grandma's family as she was growing up.

Among other things, Grandma and I share this in common: Whenever someone asks for a story from us (whether it's a funny story, a serious story, or a story about anything else), we immediately blank out and go, "Duuuuh." Just kidding. Grandma doesn't go, "Duuuuuh." But it is pretty much impossible for either of us to come up with a story on demand.

Because I already knew this, when I called Grandma to learn about Granddad Cecil, I came prepared with questions! Lots of questions. As we proceeded through the interview, I realized some of the questions were inappropriate for the time period, since recreational activities did not have as much emphasis during the time period when Grandma was a child, but many of the questions were just what we needed to facilitate the conversation.

I learned that Granddad Cecil ("Cecil" for the rest of this post) had several occupations, since he had the summer off as a high school band director. He worked as an instrument repairman, a private music instructor, a gardener, and rabbit caretaker. His main instrument was the cornet. When Grandma Kathleen was in high school and her family owned a restaurant, she remembers him helping in the restaurant as well.

Grandma remembers that a back room in their house was used as Cecil's instrument-repairing workshop and that the living room was often converted to a music shop. When asked, Cecil would perform solos on his cornet.

Cecil was also "able to repair anything, including clocks.  He did everything that needed doing.  He even painted our house - inside and out.  It was a two story, very high house."

Cecil spaded their garden by hand. This must have been a big task, as the garden was big enough to produce so much that Grandma Lucy spent a lot of her time canning. He also took care of rabbits that the family raised to eat. Grandma Kathleen says that must have been a business as well, since they had so many. At one point, Grandma Kathleen had a pet rabbit. When the pet rabbit died of natural causes, her parents didn't tell her for a long time after it had died. I didn't think to ask why until we were finished talking, but I like to think that it was because they didn't want her to be sad about the rabbit.

Cecil Denver Wallace, Sr: An Interview with Grandma Kathleen, Part II

When I asked what Cecil's character was like, Grandma told me that he wouldn't tolerate any shenanigans (those are not her exact words). I asked if he was strict, and she said yes, definitely! The family didn't have a lot of worldly goods and did not have much time for leisure activities, and there were absolutely no summer vacations. However, they visited relatives that lived in the area about once a week. Grandma said they would visit grandparents on both sides as well as aunts, cousins, and uncles. She mentioned that there were a lot to visit, since Grandma Lucy came from a large family.

Grandma Kathleen's family would also go to family reunions on her mother's side. The reunions would always be held at some family member's farm. Many of them still had farms at that point. There would always be watermelon, and sometimes there would be home-made ice cream! Grandma remembers helping to turn the handle to churn it.

I asked if Cecil was quiet or talkative, and Grandma told me he was neither one nor the other; he didn't dominate a conversation, but he wasn't mostly silent, either. He usually dressed in a white shirt and trousers. Sometimes he wore a necktie, and he always wore a suit for church. The family attended a Methodist church a few blocks away from their home--close enough to walk--and Cecil taught Sunday school at one point.

Holidays were fun. There were always a lot of presents under the tree at Christmastime, although many were small presents, such as a tube of glue that would have cost about 10¢. All the gifts were individually wrapped by Grandma Lucy.

At Easter, the kids would have an Easter egg hunt. Cecil would hide the eggs. I asked Grandma if he made them easy or hard to find, and she laughed as she said, "Hard!" I had guessed as much by the way Grandma had said earlier that he was strict. I'm sure he didn't make anything easy for his children.

All Grandma remembers from the 4th of July are sparklers that she would play with.

Looking for a romantic story, I asked, "Where or how did Cecil meet Grandma Lucy?" I found out that neither one told any stories from their courtship, and they both came from Amelia; Cecil lived in town with his father who ran the saw mill and Lucy lived out on a farm. They unromantically met each other through living close together; Grandma says they went to the same very small high school.

One funny memory that Grandma shared with me is that Cecil took her fishing once. He borrowed a fishing rod from a friend for her to use, and right at the very beginning, Grandma got the line tangled in some high wires above the lake where they were fishing. She said that was all that she remembered, and I can understand that she remembers that part of it so vividly! I'm sure that Cecil was pretty upset with her for tangling his friend's fishing line (and hence his fishing rod) in those high, hard-to-reach wires, especially given Cecil's strict attitude.

At the very end, Grandma remembered that they had a movie camera (a rare thing in those days) that Cecil would take movies of the kids in the snow or riding bikes. She said she would see if she could send what she had to me, so I will put it up if I get it!

Vital information - James Oren Thompson, Sr.

James Oren "J.O." Thompson, Sr. 


He was described as "about 5'10", Dark Brown hair, blue eyes, ruddy complexion, with a darker skin tone."

Birth date: July 2, 1892

Marriages: 

1. June 30, 1912 (Three days before his 20th birthday) to Lula J. Hanson
2. July 30, 1918 (26 years old) to Grace Viola Campbell

Death date: February 5, 1968

Records of James Oren Thompson:

• In the 1920 census. It shows that he was married to Grace Thompson, had a son James under a year old, lived in Mecklenburg County, NC, was born in Georgia, and that his occupation was that of electrician.

Click image for greater detail

• Information about him on a web page dedicated to descendants of David Atticus Nolan
• Marriage information to Grace Viola Campbell at Mecklenburg County register of deeds

The Old Magnolia Tree

In the woods not far from the home I grew up in stands a tall and majestic magnolia tree. The old tree is so big that it takes two or three children holding hands to go all the way around it. If you look around the tree, you will see an old rotting log to one side, and then realize that it was an enormous branch that broke off the tree years ago. There are grape vines as big around as your arm hanging off of the tree. A few feet away from the base of the tree is a small clearing about 20 feet square. As you look at the clearing, you can see a some bricks and mortar--evidence that a house stood in the clearing years ago.

The house that used to stand in the clearing belonged to my great-grandparents, Broadus Robert Connell and Laura Elizabeth Marcus. Granddad J.C. grew up there. I don't know what happened to the house, but the magnolia tree was a popular destination for my older sisters and me. My sisters would climb up the grape vines to get to the first branch, which was about 10 feet above the ground. I was brave enough to do it once or twice, but I never got past the first branch or two. My sisters were able to climb high enough to see Hermitage Mill Pond quite some distance away. I wonder if Granddad climbed on that tree, too?

From what Mom tells me, the beautiful old fashioned roses that bloomed in front of our house every spring were grown from cuttings that Grandma Laura had in her garden at that house. None grow in the clearing anymore, but I have seen the same variety of rose growing along the roadside in several places in about a 1-mile radius from that house. Granddad J.C.'s family owned a lot of that land, and I wonder if Grandma Laura planted them to beautify the farmland.

Granddad J.C. told me once that there were cornfields that belonged to his family for miles around. Since then, the land has been parceled off to various family members and others through wills and sales. I remember visiting my granddad's cousin James--or "Juicy" as he was nicknamed--at least a mile further down McRae Rd. from Granddad J.C.'s house.





EDIT: Granddad J.C. says the roses at the corner where Canada Drive and Rowe Street meet were actually planted by his grandfather Robert Jackson Connell, so I'm guessing that a lot of the other roses were planted by him as well. I think it's sweet that even in a life filled with so much work and practicality, he found beauty important enough to find time to plant these roses. As soon as I have a place to plant them, I'm going to take a cutting and have some of these roses at my house.

James Oren Thompson "J.O."

J.O.  was a headstrong man. He worked at the mill for a dollar a day, and kept a large garden/farm off to the side. He motivated his children to do important things (like finishing highschool) by daring them. "You'll never be able to do that." Then they would - just to prove him wrong.

He was a religious man, and a renowned healer. People would come for miles around to have him pray over them.

Also, since lovers lane was near his house, he would "happen" to shoot birds near them, scaring too-frisky couples back to appropriate affection.

More later...

Grace Campbell

Grace Viola Campbell, mother of Grandma Izzy and 9 other children.

This is what I know about her as a person:

• She was a seamstress
• Her husband was not as well off as her family was
• She was 23 when she married and 24 when her first child was born

Birth date: September 4, 1894

Marriage: July 30, 1918 to James Oren Thompson, Sr.

Death date: March 18, 1960

Records of Grace Viola Campbell:

In the 1920 census, as Grace Thompson

Information about her on a web page dedicated to descendants of David Atticus Nolan

Birth and death dates on FindAGrave.com

Marriage information at Mecklenburg County register of deeds and on FamilySearch.

Quilting with Grandma Izzy

I have really wonderful grandparents, on both sides of my family. My mother's parents left a legacy in the (small) town I grew up in--many people I met knew of my grandparents and admired them.

I lived just a short walk down the road from my maternal grandparents, so my siblings and I would go over to their house often to visit, to be babysat, or to help in their garden. I even took piano lessons at their house!

One of my favorite things to do at Grandma Izzy's house was work on the quilt she was currently working on. I was the youngest of all my sisters coordinated enough to do the stitch work on the quilts (no, they were not tied quilts!), and while we quilted, Grandma would tell stories. Boy, could Grandma tell stories! Unfortunately, I don't remember them, but I do remember how much I enjoyed spending time with her and my sisters. Eventually, we made one quilt for each sister except for me--I think people were running out of steam by the time they got to me, and I don't remember telling anyone how much I wanted a quilt.

Quilting with Grandma was something I looked forward to and enjoyed doing with my sisters. I could feel her love for all of us, and I loved the family bond that came from it.

Water skiing with Granddad Jerry

After writing my post about quilting with Grandma Izzy, I thought it would be nice to make a post about something I did with each of my grandparents. The big thing that we grandkids did with Granddad Jerry--besides listening to fun stories from his childhood--was learning how to, and then actually water skiing with him.

Granddad was very patient teaching us. We'd start out standing on land, holding on to the handle while he taught us how to hold the handle and stand correctly so we wouldn't fall over once we were skiing. Then we'd go out to the boat, and once we got to deep enough water, we would put on the skis and slide into the water. It was fun trying to get a perfect score (smile, wave, no splash).

The beginners would learn how to ski on the barefoot boom. It was easier because you didn't have the extra factor of the rope going slack (and therefore losing your balance) and you could also hear Granddad coaching you, since it was right next to the boat.

Me learning to ski on just one ski. It's a lot harder than two!

Eventually, we'd get a short length of rope tied to the boom to ease us in to skiing behind the boat with the full length of rope.

I started skiing when I was about 8 years old, I think. It took me a long time to finally get the courage to cross the wake--the small wave created by the movement of the boat--but once I did, there was no stopping me. You do get a nice thrill when you cross the wake, especially if you do it fast enough! }:)

The older kids learned how to do tricks--skiing with the handle between your knees (no hands!), turning around 360 degrees, lifting up one ski for the "skier salute", just to name a few. I did a couple of them, but the skier salute was the only one that I felt safe enough doing to do more than once or twice.

One of my favorite things to do was to "double up". We would set up another rope and two people would ski behind the boat at the same time. I think you can see why I enjoyed this so much:

Hannah spraying Seth

When we were done skiing, we'd head back to my grandparent's house. Granddad taught us that we should always thank the person driving the boat. We did every time that we remembered, and would use his special nickname that we had for him--Mr. Nice Guy. One person would remember to say "Thanks Mr. Nice Guy, for driving the boat!" and then there'd be a chorus of "Thanks, Mr. Nice Guy!" as we all tried to make Granddad feel appreciated so he'd take us out again.

Thank you, Mr. Nice Guy, for all the fun times!

Muggins with Grandma Kathleen

Grandma Kathleen is one of the sweetest women I've met. She is very soft spoken, but a great disciplinarian. You know, one of those where the soft, serious voice is scarier than yelling.

She fits the description for the ideal grandmother: she has a stock of sugary cereals just for her grandchildren, a candy bowl, treats after every meal, AND lots of games and kids books. She was always up for playing games with us, even when other adults might find our games childish and tedious.

My favorite game to play with Grandma is a card game called Muggins. I think it's a pretty old game, because they don't sell the cards anymore. I just did an internet search for it, and there were no results for the particular card game I'm thinking of. However, we played the game with cards from the game Flinch:

Picture taken from here

The gameplay is very similar to the game described in this Wikipedia article, except that you say "muggins!" instead of "flinch!" when a player fails to play a playable card. Also not mentioned in the article is that the person who yells "muggins!" gives their top card to the person who failed to notice the playable move. Thus, if you are good at spotting muggins opportunities, then you can get rid of your cards more quickly. There are evidently several versions of Flinch, but we only played one version of Muggins, where we would deal out all of the cards evenly between the players.

Another difference is that playing cards in the middle took precedence over playing cards on other player's discard piles. This made for a fun twist to the game, as well as more muggins-calling, since most players were more intent on giving cards to other players (giving the first player a greater advantage over the second player if no one notices that they should have played in the middle instead).

Grandma had no mercy when it came to calling Muggins on her young grandchildren, but that was part of the fun of it all. We would play Muggins over and over again just to get the chance to muggins Grandma, who was nearly perfect in her muggins playing. If we did catch Grandma and call muggins on her, we would brag about it at the dinner table that night. We also had fund piling our cards on each other's discard piles, pretending that we were doing them a great favor in giving them so many cards. So many fun, happy memories!

PS: if you are interested in trying the game out for yourself, it can be played using regular face cards. Austin and I did so with two decks of cards. Muggins is more fun if you have more than two players, though.

Stories with Granddad J.C.

Granddad J.C. is a soft-spoken Southern man. He is kind and thoughtful, but oh! can that man have a good laugh! Many times his jokes will sneak up on you, and all of a sudden you're laughing about something he just said. I can picture the scene now: a group of my siblings and I are visiting with him and Grandma. Granddad is telling a story about his childhood in his deep, rumbly voice. He and Grandma both were excellent story-tellers and Granddad was particularly good at getting us to laugh.

One particular story I remember Granddad telling was from Christmastime when he was a child (if I remember correctly):

One Christmas when Granddad J.C. was small, his parents bought a HUGE bunch of bananas -- we're talking the size of the ones you see on the tree -- for a Christmas treat. Unfortunately, his parents got the bananas a week or so in advance, so all the kids were salivating as they waited for Christmas to finally come.

Sometime before Christmas, my great grandparents had to go on a day-long trip. They knew the bananas were in danger of being eaten, so they put the bananas in their bedroom and locked the door.

Well, one of Granddad J.C.'s brothers couldn't stand the temptation any longer, so after he tried the door, he tried the window to his parents' room. My great uncle could just barely wriggle through because it was a very small window, but he made it!

Well, if a boy ever had a feast, that boy did! He ate and ate, and then ate some more. He ate all the bananas that he could hold. He ate so many bananas that he couldn't fit through the window again! He just had to wait there until his parents got home, and take his punishment.

When Granddad told us this story, he had our sides aching from laughter! He's told some other good ones, like how he had Grandma convinced that 'J.C.' stood for Julius Caesar until their wedding day, when the preacher read, "And you, Julius Clyburn Connell ..." Another good one is the story of shortly after their marriage, Granddad took Grandma to a work party and couldn't remember her name when introducing her to his boss because he'd always called her "Honey."

What a great set of grandparents I have! I couldn't have picked better ones myself. And since I have such wonderful grandparents, that means they raised their kids right, so I have amazing aunts, uncles, and cousins. I am a lucky woman!

EDIT: It turns out that the banana incident happened to Granddad's cousins.