Granddad JC's Eulogoy

Granddad JC passed away early in the morning on June 16, 2022. 

Uncle Sterling gave the eulogy at his funeral on June 18, 2022. Here is a transcript of the speech:

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About a week and a half ago I went by my dad’s house where he had become bed ridden. He was lying there with his eyes closed. I grabbed his right hand with mine and said, “Hay man.” He opened his eyes but only his right eye cracked open. He said, “Is that you Sterling?” And I said, “Yes sir.” Then he said, “You’re looking good.” I said, “Thanks, and you are too.” Then he said, “I know.”

There’s something you need to know about the Connell’s. We all have a sarcasm/crazy gene. At funerals we are all telling jokes and having fun. The Thompson side isn’t much different either. So with us, we’ve got a double dose. But mamma always said that crazy people have more fun.

My mom was my dad’s scribe.

Here’s an example...

June 19, 1991 at Argyle State Park near Colchester, Ill. On our way to Carthage ... Gas $1.14 per Gal.

Last night, JC + I set up the tent, and I got a supper ready... We cleaned up + packed things away then went for a walk on their nature trail.

It was unbelievable that out here in these flat prairie lands there could be such deep ravines + high bluffs. Poison ivy had leaves as big as plates – looked like a rain forest. Walked through a stand of pitch pines that were soaringly tall. A creek ran all along the trail at the bottom of the ravine.

Eulogy of

Julius Clyburn Connell

Known to ALL as JC

My mom didn’t know that was his name. She asked him what “JC” stood for? He told her, “Julius

Caesar.” She didn’t find out that it was Julius Clyburn until the day they signed their marriage papers. And even then she said, “Hey, that’s not right.” Then he had to come clean.

In our family we tell stories. Most of this eulogy is quoted from stories by my dad or by my mom.

The effort to condense my dads life experience into a speech lead me to a unique place. To make this talk work I’m going to need your attention, your imagination and some help.

Throughout the eulogy keep these 3 things in mind: 1) JC was a Quiet Man, 2) He was a Man of Action and 3) Remember... I’m taking Snap Shots in time to give you a sense of his essence.

First ... I talk a little about his early life.

Second ... Some Military stories

Third ... Some Family stories

Fourth ... Part of JC and Izzy’s romance story.

OK.... Let’s get started.

This is what he said, “I was born the 21st of March 1929 on a small farm near Camden, South Carolina. Of course the stock market fell that year, but all wasn’t bad that year.” His mom almost didn’t get back to the house before he was born. It should be understood that the year wasn’t all bad due to his birth making the year better just by his presence.

He said, “Well, I was 7th in a family of 10 children, so by the time I got to the table there wasn’t much left. We grew Cotton (for money) and Corn, oats and peas to feed the stock. “I learned to swim in the shallow edges of Hermitage pond at 3 years old.”

At 10 years old I took care of the cows. One time when he was coming in from the field he decided climbed onto the mule, which was headed for the shelter. It was feeding time for the mule and he was heading into the low side of the shelter... the animal entrance not the people entrance. This path basically would have scraped the young JC right off the mule but he caught onto a beam and swung safely down. At 10 this was exciting stuff.

He stated that “There were 6 relatives that had nearby farms. And I was welcome at all of them, so I was kinda wild and free growing up.” He was able to fish and hunt at will. Uncle Doug told me that they practiced a lot of “shooting from the hip”. Also, any thing they got out there they would

build a fire and cook and eat it on the spot. Doug said that being able to shoot from the hip saved his life in Korea.

In the winter of 1939 his teenage brothers and sister were going to town in the car. He wanted to tag

along. But they didn’t want him to ride with them. Their mom made them take him along. So they

reluctantly agreed and took him. He was wearing one of his sisters coats. On the way, they stopped at the top of the hill, where the dragged him out of the car and stuffed him in a culvert pipe in the ditch. They told him to keep quiet and they would pick him up when they got back. Teenagers taking care of little brother.

He loved football and played for Camden High school. It may have been a state championship team. I

don’t think he was a star player. He dropped out of school to go to the military.

Now to the Military stories.

“But on a serious note, I realized that I had no support for an education, therefore I decided to enter the

military to take advantage of the G.I. Bill. After a hitch in the army with the occupation forces after WWII in Italy” He was in Trieste, up north and on the back side of the boot. He was being flown up onto the Alps and rounding up German hold outs. He said, “It’s not natural to jump out of a perfectly good plane and it’s also not natural to strap slick boards to your feet on the side of a mountain and ski

down on snow and ice.” He said, “The  only proper way to ski is behind a boat.”

“I was sent for by the Red Cross because my mom was sick in the hospital in Camden.” When he got to

NY he hopped a train heading south without paying for a ticket. (In Europe all GI’s rode trains for free.) Not so in the States. When arrived in DC he found the train heading to South Carolina. He hopped on. There he was confronted to show his ticket. He didn’t have one and had no money. The conductor allowed him to stay and was put up in the luggage rack in an all female sleeper car. He thought

that was pretty cool. They stopped the train for him at the Camden train station early in the morning. He got off the train with his duffle bag and started walking down Hwy 1 and got about 100 yards before someone stopped and asked him where he was going. He said, “I’m going to the hospital to see my mom.” The guy said to hop in and then took him to the hospital arriving just as his mom was leaving.

After getting back, “I entered Clemson and was there for a year. Then I received a draft notice classification - I.A. That meant immediate draft. A friend and I decided it would be best to enlist in his old Air Force squadron, and we did. After two and 1/2 years in the Air Force, my dad died in July 1953 and I received a compassionate discharge from the Air Force to take care of my mom until she passed in October of 1953. I met Izzy Thompson at my mother’s passing. She set her sights on me and I was a goner!” (We will come back to this in a minute.)

Once married they were in Kentucky where Bob was born. Then to Germany where Grace was born. When they came back to Fort Jackson (Camden) Bob was speaking German (something about a helicopter). They joined the Church in Camden the year before Joe was born in Camden, then they went to Puerto Rico where Foy was born. So that makes Foy a Puertorican. They came back to Fort Jackson (Camden) and in June, just before I was born, they drove with all the kids to the Temple in Salt Lake

City, UT to be sealed as a family for all time and eternity. The military moved my dad to the White House so we ended up in Viginia where Lois was born. I guess that makes her a Virginian.

He went to Thailand and we stayed in Camden. He went to Germany and we went too. First to West Berlin – inside of East Germany and then to Bremerhaven on the North Sea.

He hated the gray overcast sky in Europe. He would always comment on the beautiful, blue South Carolina sky. Also, the South Carolina clouds were his favorite. He retired in 1971.

We always thought he was a communications expert but he worked on Top Secret stuff for the military that was not declassified until 1988. He would call to talk to his brother Doug and Doug would ask,

What are you doing? The reply: Talking to you. Where are you? The reply: I’m right here. They would play this little game of question/answer.

Third ... Some Family stories

My dad was called to be the Bishop of the Camden ward in the mid 1970s. He helped grow the  congregation and helped raise the matching-money to build this very chapel. But what most people do not know is that every Sunday before church, he would get sick... just thinking about having to talk from the pulpit. He never complained.

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Foy had his permit and was driving with my dad sitting in the passenger seat. They were heading past

Hermitage Baptist Church on Hwy #1 going home. My dad said “Slow down some.” Foy eased off a little but ended up passing a couple of cars before turning on McCrae Rd. At this point, with a commanding tone, JC said, “When I tell you to slow down it’s NOT a suggestion. I’m NOT your

friend I’m your father. Don’t let it happen again.” Foy was stunned. My dad rarely raised his voice.

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We had Family Home Evening every Monday night. We would all get together and learn something about God or something about life. This one time it was something about life.

We were sitting there and my dad holds up a roll of toilet paper. “This is a roll of toilet paper.” he explained. “We are using entirely too much with each flush. So, we need to review how to use the toilet paper more efficiently.” He demonstrated the 3 square technique and how to fold the tissue for multiple wipes. He had us on the edge of our seats. He was serious and so were we.

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Lois said that mom had no problem spanking her but daddy only did it once with her. After that he would talk with her about what she did and his disappointment in her. She said that a quick spanking would have been much easier.

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He loved vanilla ice cream dipped in chocolate (a Brown cow) he would share his stash with any grand or great grand child. ALSO, any time he took the kids to an event on the way home they would stop for ice cream.

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We were always spread out all over the property. Way back in the woods. When he or mom needed us he would call us back to the house like trained dogs. He had a very loud and unique whistle that he did. If you heard it, you’d better get your hip in gear and move as fast as you could back to the house. Joe’s the only one of us who was able to master the whistle that daddy did. Occasionally I’ve been around when Joe does that whistle and I find myself trying to figure out where to run to. That training is

deep.

Finally... Part of JC and Izzy’s romance story. “She set her sights on me and I was a goner!”

So, it’s true that JC and Izzy first met at his mother’s wake in October 1953.

Izzy told her mother that she had just met the man that she was going to marry.

A little later there was a dance at the Shrine Club north of Camden. JC arrived with a lady he had been dating and Izzy arrived with her sisters Lib and Suggie and her brother Lloyd. JC’s date was being difficult so he walked over and asked Izzy to dance with him. She said what about your date? Then JC explained to her that his date was leaving the dance with someone else.

He was quiet but he was focused and had nerves of steel.

So, they started to dance. My mom said, “He was stepping all over my feet.” She thought to herself, “This won’t work. He can’t dance.” Then he leaned in and said, “I’m sorry about my feet. I washed them before I came and now I can’t do anything with them.” Then she said to herself, “OK.... He’s funny. This might work.”

Later...

When he had trouble getting the right words to propose to her, she helped him by saying, “Are you trying to say, Let’s get married?” and he said, “Yes that’s it! We ought to.”

Ever since I can remember, my mom would finish my dad’s sentences. It was a natural thing for them.

It was November-December 1953 as they began making plans.... She was 21, he was 24. You know we think of them as we remember them – an older version with wisdom. But they were just starting out 21 and 24 years old. He was starting college down in Tampa and staying with his sister June. Izzy had to finish her Senior year at Winthrop. They set a date for June 1955 for the wedding. But ended up getting married in December of 1954. That’s another story that there’s no time for.

He started school but ended up working at Maren Construction in Tampa in their Surveying division.

He had studied surveying when he was at Clemson. Izzy graduated in the Spring of 1954, and she went

straight to work at an all night Diner at Myrtle Beach owned by her sister Lib. Meanwhile, she was trying to find work in Tampa as a new teacher.

This is from my mom’s journal entry dated on her birthday March 31, 1999. She was 67...

“It was July 3rd 1954. We hadn’t seen each other since New Years Eve. After a long, late shift at the diner I went to bed.

[As morning came] “A little sound from outside was turning into a soft whistle - I pulled the curtain a little to the side and looking toward our little porch was miracle of miracles - soaring spirits hitting my brain, joy filling my soul - JC! Here, now, !!

"I hit the door running and ... [leaped] like a wild thing into ... [his arms]. He was holding me up off the ground hugging me so hard I could barely breathe.

"He had hitchhiked all the way from Tampa to Myrtle Beach to see me.

"He had had no sleep, no food, just faith and a desire to come and hold me.

"I had to go to work - we were able to talk a little - then I put him to bed in my bed – still unmade and he slept as I worked - I got off (2 AM) and he met me at the drive-in - We walked down the beach until he suggested we climb up on a lifeguard stand - which we did – and talked and laughed and planned and renewed our vows of love for each other . . .

"He had to leave going back at first light on the 4th in order to be back to work on the 5th!

"Has anyone ever felt so loved, cared for, blessed, glad, happy and at peace?

"Here, 45 years later, he has again surprised and brought that sweetness rushing back, filling me with joy - one dozen gorgeous long-stemmed blood- red roses with a note “Thanks for the wonderful memories and good times .. Love and kisses” JC

"JC and I were talking .... the other night and he confided to me, some of the times he has treasured the most were in the evening when he’d gotten home from work, supper was over and we were getting the children ready for bed - getting them bathed, things ready for school the next day, playing w/ them some, me reading them a story, Family Prayer, helping them with their prayers, kissing them goodnight, tucking them in, going back with water if they needed it - waiting a while and then going back around and being humbled seeing these precious, beautiful children asleep in the safety of their beds in our home.

"I remember yet the feeling of his strong arm around my waist pulling me so close I’d have to lean my head on his arm. What comfort, what peace, what gladness to know this is what we wanted, to have a family to care for, love, raise up in truth and light together - And he loved it as much as I no matter how tired it made us.”

I can see it in my minds eye. On the other side of the veil, my mom will see my dad and say, “It’s so good to see you!” and he’ll say, “I know.”

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Description of Broadus R. Connell by his son JC

He was about 6’1”. He had a normal Caucasian face, straight nose. I guess he was a pretty handsome
fella’. He told me one time he went to a square dance out here. He was havin’ a lot of fun and he was
dancing with these girls and all. Got ready to leave, and this girl was waitin’ there and he picked up 2
kids. He had Roddy and Norman picked him up and went with him. I guess Mama was there too.
He was a frank fellow. I never heard him swear or curse. Only one time. He was doing something, he  hit his hand with a hammer or something… Anyway. He really hit his hand. I think I would’ve said a lot more than he did. You never heard a swear word from him.

He could do most anything. He could butcher a cow, take it and hung it in a freezer locker down town and made hamburger out of a lot of it. We used to ride to town on the wagon without a body on it. Just sit on the tongue. The tongue is the one that goes all the way through and all the way out the front. We’d go to town and I’d be sitting up there to ride down there. He owned a store, 2 houses, you know where the creek is, over by the mill – little store restaurant there. Well he owned one store there and two houses right there.

He sold those to pay for Norman’s tuition to Clemson. So Norman graduated from Clemson. Ivy got a year or two years and he went to OCS. He was an officer. And the 505th airborne infantry division. I’ve got two pictures of him. One where he was a Sargent and when he was 2nd lieutenant. Dad worked all the time, but he liked to read the paper and joke. He was just an ordinary guy. Liked to fox hunt. He would take the dogs. A lot of mornings he’d get up and go and go fox hunting. He’d leave the dogs and come back home and go to work. And the dogs would come in and Mom always fixed some cornbread. And something else she’d put on cornbread to feed the dogs. That was the most things he do was fox hunt with some of the guys. They would go out. Said they were fox hunting one night they got this tree of ‘coons. And somebody was going to go up and try to knock him out. There was an old grey-headed man standing there looking up and that coon jumped right out on top of that guy’s head. He probably thought that was sand. You know white beard shinin’, probably thought that was sand and He was surprised I guess. Just a little hunting things. Dad watched his money and he took care of our family well.

Click to get audio from interview

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From an interview of JC Connell  by Katie on 2/10/2015
Thanks again to Mary Ann for transcribing this interview!

Grandma Izzy's Professional Career

Just the other day, I realized that I knew that Grandma Izzy taught school right before she married Granddad and that she was teaching school after her children were grown, but I didn't know about the years in between. I asked Mom and here's the gist of what she told me about Grandma's teaching years:

She was pregnant at least once while teaching, probably with Uncle Bob.

Mom doesn't remember Grandma working while the kids were small.

Grandma taught early morning seminary for church in their home when the kids were small, giving them breakfast before the seminary students came.

When Aunt Lois was 3 or 4 Grandma started working at a preschool, which she signed Aunt Lois up for. When Aunt Lois started kindergarten, Grandma started teaching kindergarten, and continued to teach it for many years.

After a while, Grandma needed a change, so she started teaching 4th grade. She taught that for a few years, and was so good at teaching the kids to read that she was asked to transfer to the middle school to help some 6th graders who'd never learned to read. She succeeded, and kept teaching at the middle school for many years after, transferring to 7th grade at one point.

Grandma also taught seminary for many, many years. As mentioned earlier, she taught seminary when her kids were younger. She taught again when Uncle Bob started 9th grade and continued until Aunt Lois was done with high school.

Mom said that Grandma taught for a total of something like 17 years. She finally retired a few months after Granddad retired.

1986-87 school portrait

Granddad JC and vehicles

From an interview with Granddad JC:

My Dad and his dad both had cars, Model Ts, way back. They parked it at the old mulberry tree back at his house and uh we'd go out and play in it. See, our house was right over here, and we had a road that came and our driveway went straight up to our house, on the right side. That's where they had the barns, and the car shed, and the corral, and the pump. That was all on the far side--the east of the house. We had barn full of corn, and full of fodder and hay, and the stables.

I learned to drive on that little A Model convertible. They had a beautiful buggy and a horse when I was a little baby. They were going to church and I wanted to go but they wouldn't let me go. They'd keep me at home. I remember raising Sam because they wouldn't let me go to church. It was a real nice black buggy, then they started getting cars. He used to work on the roads here. He ran the road machines--my dad. That was the last job he had. First they had a tractor, like a D8, big tractor, pulling the road machine with a blade and Dad would drive the tractor. He had a prisoner that would operate the road machine that turned the blades and worked the sides of the roads.

They did all the roads back here, they were mostly--why, McRae road was a dirt road back then! Yep.

Izzy: They were terrible dirt roads!

JC: They were muddy, slick. I remember one time I was working for quality cleaners on a delivery truck. We got down to the country--paint hill, I think they called it that, with the red clay and all. We turned the corner and had to go up just a little incline and dad gummit the back end of the car started to slide over because of the crown in the road and it was so slick and all. It started sliding over I jumped out and took the side of the car--we had like a station wagon; they called it a suburban, the back doors would open up like that. Anyway, I took the side of it and I pushed it into the center of the road. I was about 14. I kept it from sliding into the ditch. That was really an experience!

Granddad JC and time with cousins

Here's Granddad JC talking about his time with cousins

It was a stupid thing. I was wanting to go to visit my cousins in North Carolina. But I was the only one wanting to do it. I don’t know what happened, but I put on a raincoat, I was barefooted and was wearing short pants and all.

I went down to Aunt Docia’s. She lived on Fair Street on the corner right there by the school and she was a nurse. And I was going to see if she was going to North Carolina – I might have asked her for money to ride the bus up there. I dunno, it was crazy--it never materialized – she said oh yeah, so she put me in a car and brought me back home. <chuckles> so this was the end of my trip to North Carolina.

My cousins always came down here. We all had so much fun. When they came down here we all got out of the beds and let the older people use on the beds and we slept the floor. That was fun. We’d sleep there and then get up in the morning and we’d go out and play, hide in the hay stack and all this stuff. That was fun. All this was open land around here – farmland. We played like Blind Man Buff or you cover your head and everyone goes and hide and you go out and try to find them. Mostly Red Rover Red Rover. You ever play that? <chuckles> We’d do that. Crazy.

They’d come at Christmas time; maybe Thanksgiving. Not really other times.

In the wintertime, we’d set trout lines down right down there in the pond and catch catfish. And we’d have catfish stew. Every-well we'd need some more so we would go down there and run the line.

Somebody said they were down there runnin' the trout line and they got the boat on top of a stump when there was an alligator, comin' around there. It was on the stump, so they couldn't move the boat to get away from the alligator! They must've hit it on the head with a paddle or something to get away; I dunno exactly how they got away.

That was over at Aunt Julia’s over the top of the hill up there. It’s all grown up now. The house is gone now, I don't know what happened.

Yeah, those were fun times. Fun times for the kids.

Aunt Docia on right as a recent nursing school grad

Note: I assume that the cousins in NC were Cora Lawrence (nee Connell)'s children. Does anyone know?

Granddad JC Serving in the Church

I did some interviews with Granddad JC over a year ago, and never got around to transcribing them. Mary Ann was amazing and did them all for me! Here's the first one, Granddad talking about serving in the Church:

Oh-gahlee. You know we came back to Camden and we were members of the church and so they called me as Elders Quorum President. There was nothing going on. I said what’s goin’ on? There ain’t nothing goin’ on. So I said shoot, let’s go on and do something. And so we started going on fishing trips. We’d go down and set up appointments and we’d go down and go deep sea fishing. We’d catch a bunch of these big groupers, you know. Some of these beautiful red colored fish. I can’t think of the name right off. We’d catch a bunch of fish and bring ‘em back. We’d spit ‘em up or something like that. That was good.

We had a good active elders quorum by the end. Then they called me as bishop.

I can’t think of the president that called me as bishop. Now who was that? Anyway. He was the stake  president and he called me as bishop. So I started as a Bishop and that was really - from going from a sergeant to a bishop. I had some interviews and I must’ve been kinda curt with some of the people. But we had a good ward and it grew.

Actually when we joined the church there was only 4 or 5 families coming to church and then after I was bishop for a year or so. We started working every Friday night and all day Saturday, we would cut wood for the building fund. And we raised a lot of money cutting fire wood and stove wood and selling them by the pickup loads. We did that all day. The was a Okelberry* family here and he was a woodsman. He had a chainsaw, and he had - they called it a go-getter – his wife would drive it and she would go out and catch the logs from the trees that he’d cut down, and pull ‘em up. And their son was a big guy too and he would trim ‘em up and throw them in too. And then we would - all the members - would split ‘em up into small pieces. We would load the truck and so many truckloads of firewood.

What years were you Bishop?

From 1976 to 1982.

So your Mom [Grace] was in college for a lot of that time and then married. But things were moving in the church. We built the church and everybody worked on it. We did the lawn, we did the sprinkler system, and I put up the satellite dish. We just, everybody pitched in. We also had a farm out there to work, but we sold the farm. We had a well drilled out there and we had a shed to park the tractor or so out there.

The farm was on a road 5 miles out of town towards Bishopville of Hwy 34. But we did a lot of work. Going and doing all the time. I bought a truck, got a brand new truck, that we were throwing these rolls of hogfencing on there about 4 ft. high. It scarred that truck all up. I had it about a year, it was beautiful, and it was all scuffed up. But it ran good – I kept it a long time. In fact I think Nathan – White Datsun – used it.

The white Datsun

*Corrected from Huckleberry

JC's careers

Last time I visited SC, I asked Granddad JC about his different jobs and schooling. I learned some neat things and put others into place. This is what I learned:

After learning to work hard on the farm as a child, Granddad's first job was at a dry cleaner's. He helped clean the clothes and he also made deliveries.

Next, I can't remember if he enlisted first or attended school first, but Granddad attended Clemson University for 1 year. He studied mechanical engineering.

He was stationed in Italy when he found out that his mother's health was failing. He returned to South Carolina just in time to be with her before she passed away. While at home, he met and courted Izzy Thompson. They married about a year later. Granddad mentioned that this was probably the best decision he'd ever made in his life! After a short pause and a look at Grandma, he said it was probably Grandma's, too.

JC & Izzy

JC's next job was in Tampa, FL. He worked for a surveying company. Before marrying Grandma, he lived with his sister June. After they were married, Grandma found a job teaching at a local elementary school and they moved to an apartment of their own.

Later, Granddad re-enlisted and they moved around, living in several different places, including Virginia, Germany, and Puerto Rico, among others. Granddad also was stationed in Thailand for a while during the Vietnam war while Grandma and the kids stayed in South Carolina.

Grace, Bob, JC

Granddad retired from the military in the early 1970s. After retiring, he attended Columbia College (a women's college) on the GI bill. There were several other men there, but they were all veterans. It was something special about the GI bill; I don't remember exactly what. He majored in art education. He made several clay pots and painted various things for projects, including a portrait of my mom.

After graduating, Granddad taught art in Kershaw County schools for one school year. His most memorable experience was teaching in a room just below the gym at the elementary school in Bethune. Needless to say, it was hard to teach with all the noise of basketball and other sports going on just above him.

At the end of the school year, Granddad interviewed at Wateree Textiles, and got a job as a warehouse manager. He organized it and made it run like a well-oiled machine. The company liked his work so much that they had him organize another department.

JC, circa 1991

After retiring from that position, Granddad didn't work for money anymore, but he has worn out his life working for the Lord. He and Grandma have served more than 7 church missions, including a proselyting mission to Germany, several missions from home, and a family history mission in Salt Lake City at the Family History Library there.

Southern 4th of July traditions

This past weekend, I had the privilege of spending some time celebrating the most recent holiday with family in South Carolina. My maternal grandparents came to the cookout that we had to celebrate the Fourth. While visiting with them, my mom asked what a Fourth of July celebration was like when they were young. My grandfather explained his experience, starting by saying that the time around the Fourth of July was a pretty relaxed time on the farm, since the rush and busyness of Spring planting had been completed but the work of harvest had not yet started.

Next he talked about the food at the family's celebration, starting with the kids' job of churning home made ice cream.

"We'd get a piece of ice from the ice house down town and pack it in around the churn. It was the kids' job to churn it. We put some of the sacks for packing cotton in on top of the ice and churn to keep it insulated. One of my most common jobs was to sit on top of it while another kid turned the crank to churn the ice cream."

He also listed some of the things they'd eat to celebrate the Fouth--none of it involving hot dogs or hamburgers, pasta salad or potato chips.

Chicken and dumplings
Fried chicken
Corn on the cob
Fresh vegetables from the garden such as beans, okra, cucumbers, squash, and tomatoes
Watermelon
Pecan pie

Granddad said that there was always a lot of food and he always had a really good time. Grandma added in that her mom always made a coconut cake to go along with the celebrations she experienced growing up. Granddad also got a really big smile on his face when he remembered the pecan pie--it was probably a real treat! Also, I wouldn't be surprised if there was more variety served at their celebration that either I don't remember Granddad mentioning or that he didn't think to list. I'd think corn bread would be a given.

Wouldn't it be fun to try a Fourth of July celebration like this?

Pictures of Robert Jackson Connell's chimney!

Ever since Granddad told me that his grandfather Robert Jackson Connell and grandmother Matilda Bowers lived near the corner of Canada Drive and Rowe Street, I have been itching to walk through the woods around there and see what I could find. My recent stay in Camden offered me the golden opportunity!

My husband and my brother were kind enough to accompany me on the walk through the woods. We walked around for a while before finally finding some ruins of what I'm guessing was a chimney. I felt kind of silly for walking around so long because I think you might even be able to see some of the bricks from the road! (I'll have to go back to double check) The bricks and mortar were almost literally at the corner of the two roads. It was hard to get a good picture because of the dappled sunlight and shadow in the area; I'm hoping to come by at a time better for taking pictures so you all can get a better idea of what it looks like.

The bricks and mortar had fallen into a wide (about 7 or 8 feet) trench and blackberries and wild cherry trees were growing nearby. It was truly picturesque.

I asked Granddad about the trench and if it was man-made or not. He said no, it wasn't man-made and that it was where the water went when it rained; the trench was made completely by erosion. Hearing that reminded me of how all that land used to be cleared of trees and was all farm land, with corn, cotton, or oats growing as far as you could see. I imagine that wasn't as good for preventing erosion as trees and the leaves and pine straw that come from them. Granddad told me that the runoff trench was close to the house, but not right next to it. He also reminded me that all the wood that made up the house had been taken for firewood, so there wouldn't be much to see. He had forgotten about the chimney and told us to look for the old pump that was connected to a well there but was a short distance from the house (that's why we didn't find the old chimney right away). We couldn't locate the pump but we're thinking about going again sometime when the leaves have fallen off of the trees because it might be easier to spot it then.

Matilda Catherine Bowers

Parents: J. Bowers, Diana Connell
Birth date: About 1859
Marriage date: About 1885 to Robert Jackson Connell. She was about 26 and he was about 29. They had five children: Docia, Broadus Robert, Luther Wilburn, Charlie Lee, and Cora Lee. Charlie and Cora were twins.
Death date: 18 June 1901

Matilda was born a short 2 years before the outbreak of the American Civil War in Lexington county, SC. Her father was not listed in the 1860 census with her family, so I'm guessing he had died sometime between 1858 and 1860. The family also moved from where they lived in 1850 to live right next door to a John Connell in 1860.

Sometime around or before 1885, Matilda married Robert Jackson Connell in Lancaster, SC. According to the information on FamilySearch (gathered by people other other other than myself), he was her first cousin; Matilda's mother and R.J.'s father were siblings. Matilda and Robert's first child--Docia--was born in 1886, followed by Broadus in 1891, Luther in 1895, and the twins Charlie and Cora in 1896. Sometime after Charlie and Cora were born and before her passing in 1901, the family moved to Camden, in Kershaw County, SC. I'm sure she worked hard keeping her family fed and helping to do work on the farm in between giving birth to her children. Matilda passed away in 1901 at about the age of 42.

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I wasn't able to find very many records for Matilda, but I did find two sources that give enough information to infer important dates and happenings in her life. Those sources would be her headstone at Malvern Hill Cemetery and the 1860 Census. The death records for her daughters Docia and Cora strengthen the link to the woman recorded on the headstone and Robert Jackson Connell, and help prove that she is the wife

Headstone at Malvern Hill Cemetery in Kershaw County, SC
In 1860 Census

In children's death certificates:
Docia
Cora Lee

Family neighborhood

When Granddad J.C. was a kid, they had a little neighborhood of family members living nearby. It looked something like this:

I don't remember if Granddad said that his aunt's house was his great-aunt's or if it was just his aunt, but he said it's where Lena (a cousin of ours) and her family lived when I was growing up. Granddad said that it was like a small neighborhood with all of the family so close by. I'm sure they could see each other's houses from their own homes because Granddad said there were no trees around when he was a young boy -- all the land was used for farming crops like cotton, corn, pea vine hay, and oats for the mules.

The roses that grow along some parts of McRae Rd. and Canada Drive were planted by Granddad JC's grandfather Robert Jackson Connell. Evidently Granddad JC's mother Laura really liked the roses as well, because she planted some next to her house. Granddad said that Robert Connell's house was situated in the bend of Canada Dr., smack dab in the middle. He had crab apple and mulberry trees near his house, as well as an old Model T car that Granddad JC would play in as a boy. Granddad said that the house was nice, but that after Great-great-granddad Connell passed away it fell into disrepair and eventually couldn't be used because his family took wood from it for fuel in the winter.

Bird Brushing and Broadus Connell

I asked Granddad J.C. if his parents did anything with him and his siblings at bedtime. I wasn't sure what I'd get since there were so many kids, but I thought I'd ask. It turns out that his parents did do special things with their children at night. Laura would make sure her children said their prayers at night, and Broadus (pronounced "Broad [as in Broad Street] - us") would tell them stories from his childhood. I asked Granddad if he remembered any of the stories, and this is the first that he told me:

They would go bird brushing on the farm -- you probably don't know what that is; let me explain. They cleared a lot of land to make room for plowing and farming. When they cut down the trees, they made piles of brush. Birds would settle in the brush at night. In the morning, Broadus and 3 or 4 other kids would ease up to the brush pile. One kid was on one side while the others waited on the other side with big limbs. The kid with the side to himself would make a lot of noise, and the birds would fly out on the other side where the other kids waited with their clubs. The children would hit some of the birds out of the air and bring them home to be prepared for eating. I asked Granddad what kind of birds they were, and he said they were birds like robins and jays. Then he said that there were hard times in those days. I guess even fairly well-off farmers with a lot of land still had hungry times in those days.

Source: Granddad J.C.

Mattie Elizabeth Young

Parents: John Zachariah "Zed" Young, Elizabeth J. Owens
Birth: November 22, 1869
Marriage: About 1892 to Henry W. Marcus. Laura was around 22 or 23, and Henry was about 30. They had two children: Leila and Laura.
Death: May 16, 1915

I couldn't really find much information on Mattie Young. I did find one census record for both before and after she married Henry Marcus, which each have interesting information on them.

Mattie was the oldest of her siblings; she must have been expected to help out a lot with the house. From what I've read about how age-order affects the psychology of an individual, oldest children tend to try to be examples, are more likely to be perfectionists, and feel more responsible for things that need to get done. This makes sense, because in order for her family to be successful, they needed her help to get all the work done around the house and farm. Th 1880 census lists Mattie's father's occupation as "farm labor" -- I'm not sure if that means he worked on his own farm or on someone else's farm. I imagine that as the first child, Mattie's name was picked out long before her birth, unlike her younger sister Julia (listed as "infant" in the 1880 census).

By 1900, Mattie and Henry had been married for 8 years (according to the census taker, anyway). When they married, Henry already had a son, Ivy, so Mattie started out married life with the extra challenge of having a child already part of the family.

Mattie was only 45 when she passed away in 1915.

1880 Census Cedar Creek Township, Lancaster, SC

1900 Census DeKalb Township (in or near Camden), Kershaw, SC

Robert Jackson Connell

Robert Jackson Connell was born 5 years before the Civil War broke out. He moved his family from Lancaster, SC to Camden, SC. He also lived through the turn of the century, WWI, and passed on shortly before World War II.

Parents: Stephen Jackson Connell, Mary Jane Graham Stevens
Birth: April 1856 in Lancaster, SC.
Marriages:

1. Around 1882? in Lancaster, SC to Matilda Bowers, my great-great grandmother. Robert was about 26 and Mathilda was about 23. They had 5 children: Docia, Broadus Robert, Luther Wilburn, Charlie Lee and Cora Lee. Charlie and Cora were twins.
2. Around 1900 to Laura Rowe. Robert was about 44 years old at the time, and Laura was about 27. I haven't seen any record of children that the two of them had, but Laura helped raise the children that were still at home from Robert's previous marriage.
3. Around 1927 to Maggie Dabney. Robert had adopted Ralph Leon Connell who was left on his doorstep when Ralph was just a baby and married Maggie when Ralph was about 5 years old. Robert was 71 and Maggie was only 25 when they married.

Death: August 3, 1934. Robert was about 78 years old.

I didn't find as many records for Robert as I did for Broadus and my other great-grandparents; I think it's because any records of Robert are older and thus less likely to be extant than records of Broadus. This is what I did find:

1870 Census:

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Robert's family was living in Flat Creek, Lancaster County, South Carolina when this census was taken. You can see that Robert is the oldest child in his family. He was 13 years old and helped on the farm. He had not attended school in the last year, even though two of his siblings had. I'm sure it was because his father needed help on the farm. You can also see that his mother went by Mary Jane. The two numbers in the middle on the same line as his father are the value of the real estate they lived on and the value of Stephen's personal estate. I think that Stephen owned his land--there are other people who didn't have a value in the box for the value of their real estate, so I think those other people must have been renting. Anyway, the next highest value for real estate on this page was $514. His personal estate was not valued as highly as some of the others on the page, though.

1880 Census:

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This one's interesting. Robert is working as a farm laborer with the Belk family. His name is on the bottom line. There's no irrefutable proof that this is the Robert Connell that's related to us, but he's about the same age and still in Lancaster County, SC. This is a different town than he grew up in--Gills Creek--but I think that the chances of this being a different Robert Connell are very low, especially considering that I didn't find any other Robert Connells living in Lancaster County at the time. I'm guessing that the person the census taker was speaking to didn't know Robert's exact age because this lists him as being 21 here when he was 24 according to the birth date on his death record and 23 according to the last census. Other details fit, though, because Robert didn't marry until about 1882 or later, and this 1880 census lists him as single.

1920 Census:

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30 years passed between the last census I found Robet in and this one. As you can see, Robert is in his 60's (according to the birth date I have, he's 64, but this census lists him as 62). He married, had children, and then remarried. He owns his own farm near DeKalb township (DeKalb is north of Camden, on the way to Lancaster but in Kershaw County, but I think this is probably near Canada Dr. on the east side of Camden because Broadus is settled nearby), but it has a mortgage on it. All of his children have grown up and moved out except his two youngest sons, who help him on the farm.

1930 Census:

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In this census we see that Robert has married again. According to our records, he's around 72 or 74 by this time, but he told the census taker he was only 67. I think it was probably more that he lost track of his age than that he was ashamed of it. He also has a very young child, Ralph. I couldn't find any other information on Ralph, so I asked Granddad J.C. for information about him, and I wrote a post about him.

There's a column on this census that lists the age at first marriage that I forgot to label. It lists Robert as being 21 when he first married (probably another memory lapse. It HAD been a very long time since then) and Maggie as 25. Since Maggie was only 28 when this census was taken, I assumed that her first marriage was to Robert. I wish I had more records because this is such a mystery! I wonder if Laura (Robert's second wife) was alive when they adopted Ralph and if Robert married Maggie because he needed help with Ralph. If Laura wasn't still alive when the boy was adopted, I have no idea how Robert thought he was going to be able to take care of a little boy. It is a puzzle.

We also see from this that Robert still worked as a farmer. Since he lived so close to his children--Broadus's family was on the census just a few lines up from Robert and Robert's son Charlie's family is listed on the very next line after Robert's family--I'm guessing that they all worked together on their farms. On this census, I included Great-Great-Uncle Charlie Connell just so you could see a little about him. The census says that he worked as a bus driver for the public schools and was a veteran of WWI (it just says WW here because WWII hadn't happened yet). Even though he worked as a bus driver, he's listed as living on a farm, so I'm sure he did both.

Broadus Robert Connell

Broadus Robert Connell

Granddad J.C. described him to me as a tall man, probably around 6 feet tall. I imagine that he also had a good sense of humor, since both Granddad J.C. and Uncle Doug (Granddad's brother) were both good at making jokes. He valued education enough to sell a valuable horse that would be missed on the farm so that Granddad J.C. would be able to go to college. He himself only had a 4th grade education.

You can see how tall Broadus was compared to other men in this picture. You'd think he would have dressed up a little for a picture, right?

Birth: March 31, 1891
Marriage: April 11, 1914 to Laura Elizabeth Marcus. Broadus had just turned 23 years old less than two weeks before the wedding. Laura was 19 years old. They had 9 children, and here they are in age order, oldest to youngest:

Roddy Broadus, Norman Gonzales, Ivey Kibben, June Lucile, Stephen William, Dorthy E, Julius Clyburn (J.C.), Douglas Marcus, and Betty Joyce. Granddad J.C. is the only one of his siblings still living.

Death: June 24, 1953

1920 Census:

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Broadus worked on his farm and Laura was working as a house wife. Their three oldest children had been born. At this point, they were renting.

Something really neat from this census, when you see the whole page this was taken from, is that there are four families of Connells on this sheet (Frank, Mary, Robert, Broadus) and a family of Sinclairs (we're related to them on the Connell side). Frank Connell is Broadus's uncle, and Robert is his father. I'm not sure who Mary is; I'm guessing that she's some sort of cousin. 

There's a note along the side of the census that says, "These are all houses off from any road except country roads." I'm guessing that everyone in these houses worked on the same general farm. There are also a few African American families on the same census page, probably indicating that they were sharecroppers on the farm. Their last names are Taylor and Joye (or Jaye, I'm not sure). Granddad has told me that he remembers playing with a little boy whose parents were sharecroppers on his familly's farm.

1930 Census:

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 Here you can see that the family has grown from 5 to 8. What isn't shown by these censuses is the birth and death of Dorthy, who was born prematurely in November of 1927 and only lived for 21 days.

On a more positive note, we see here that the family is no longer renting, but own their own home and live on a farm. Broadus was working as a laborer on a county bridge, probably to bring in some extra money for his family.

This census page also has more Connells on it. Broadus's father is there with a new wife (Maggie) and a son who's the same age as Broadus's kids. Broadus's brother Charlie is also there, but the rest of Charlie's family is on the next page of the census.

1940 Census:

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This census shows all of the family members, including Bettie Joyce, the baby of the family. We see that the oldest son has already completed two years of college. 

Another thing we see is that Broadus worked on the farm for his main occupation and Laura still stayed at home. Broadus was a hard worker--he had worked fifty-five hours on his farm in the week before this census was taken. All of his children that were old enough to go to school were attending a school of some kind.

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I found a record for Broadus's passing when I was looking for more information on him on FamilySearch. Unfortunately, no image is associated with the record, so I was unable to glean any additional information from that record.

Laura Elizabeth Marcus

Laura Elizabeth Marcus, Granddad J.C.'s mother.

I found this picture among Aunt Lois's Facebook albums. She got the pictures in the album from Uncle Bob.

Birth: August 3, 1894 in Rock Hill, SC
Marriage: April 11, 1914 to Broadus Robert Connell. They had 9 children, and here they are in age order, oldest to youngest:

Roddy Broadus, Norman Gonzales, Ivey Kibben, June Lucile, Stephen William, Dorthy E (I'm guessing the E is probably Elizabeth for her mother?), Julius Clyburn (J.C.), Douglas Marcus, and Betty Joyce. Granddad J.C. is the only one of his siblings still living.

Death: October 24, 1953 in Camden, SC

Here's what I found for her on census records:

1900 Census:

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 So this census record is a little confusing. It shows Henry W and Mattie Marcus as husband and wife, but it shows three Marcus children (Ivy, Lela, and Laura) as children of Harry Mattox. I am guessing that they are really children of Henry and Mattie Marcus and the census taker and those giving him information bungled the record. It will take additional research to find out. Aunt Lois has informed me that Laura's half brother is Ivey, so things fit together. This census shows that both of Mattie's and both of Henry's parents were born in South Carolina. It also shows that Henry worked as a blacksmith at at least one point in his life. They rented their house.

One neat thing about this census that I haven't seen in others is that it lists the birth month and year as well as the age of the person on the census.

1920 Census:

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Here's Laura a few years after her marriage to Broadus Connell. You can see that her name was spelled "Lora" on this census, just as Granddad would spell his first daughter's name when naming her after his mother. Laura was working as a house wife and Broadus worked on his farm. Their three oldest children had been born. At this point, they were renting.

Something really neat from this census, when you see the whole page this was taken from, is that there are four families of Connells on this sheet (Frank, Mary, Robert, Broadus) and a family of Sinclairs (we're related to them on the Connell side). There's a note along the side of the census that says, "These are all houses off from any road except country roads." I'm guessing that everyone in these houses worked on the same general farm. There are also a few African American families on the same census page, probably indicating that they were sharecroppers on the farm. Their last names are Taylor and Joye (or Jaye, I'm not sure). Granddad has told me that he remembers playing with a little boy whose parents were sharecroppers on his familly's farm.

1930 Census:

Click to enlarge

Here you can see that the family has grown from 5 to 8. What isn't shown by these censuses is the birth and death of Dorthy, who was born prematurely in November of 1927 and only lived for 21 days.

On a more positive note, we see here that the family is no longer renting, but own their own home and live on a farm. Broadus was working as a laborer on a county bridge, probably to bring in some extra money for his family.

1940 Census:

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This census shows all of the family members, including Bettie Joyce, the baby of the family. We see that although the highest grade of school completed for both Laura and Broadus is only the fourth grade, but their oldest son has already completed two years of college. Granddad J.C. told me that when it was time for him to go to college, his parents had to sell a valuable horse in order to pay for it. Obviously they understood the importance of education, even then.

Another thing we see is that Broadus worked on the farm for his main occupation and Laura still stayed at home. All of their children old enough to go to school were attending a school of some kind.


Laura passed away before my mom was born, so there aren't many people currently living that knew her. I'm guessing that this picture was taken shortly before her passing, since the car in the background looks like the style that was common in the 40's and 50's. I sure am thankful for all the hard work she must have put into her family.

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

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.