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| Mama and Sue |
Have you ever had anything so precious, beautiful, lovely, wonderful that it is hard to explain? That is my Mama. My mama had 8 children and I was number 5 in the line of brothers and sisters. I was the first one born after we moved to the country and the first one born in a hospital. I do not know a lot about my mama's childhood but I do know that she was born in Knoxville, TN over on Forestdale Avenue according to Aunt Mabel. Later they moved to Lincoln Park and my Grandpa worked for the McClain Nurseries. Mama went to Inskip School and she went through the 8th grade. Here are a few pictures of my mama when she was young.
My mama had 7 brothers and 2 sisters. This is the youngest picture I have of my mama. She is sitting on her moms lap there in the middle of the picture. That is her dad sitting to the left of her mom.
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| Playing the piano Mother's Day 1992 |
My mama must of been between 12-15 when she began to play the piano. She said they had an old pump organ shut away in a room and she would go in there and taught herself to play. My mama had a gift for playing because she never had a lesson but played in church for over 60 years not only for the choir but for different groups to sing. She would make that piano talk. And look out if she ever got "happy" the piano might just walk when she was playing it.When my mama was 15 years old her life changed in many ways. Her mom died. At the time they said she had consumption but my mama said she knew later it was cancer. When her mom died her four older brothers and sister had already married. So the four younger brothers and sisters went to live with the ones that were married. My mama went to live with her brother Paul and his wife Ella. They lived in the Forestdale area and went to Forestdale United Brethern Church on Forestdale Avenue. And that's where my dad came in. My dad was related to the Warwicks and they went there to church also. So my dad met my mama at church when she was 15 years old and he was 17. They got married when she was 16 so they must of know each other only about 10 months. Mama probably turned 16 in July after her mom died in May. My dad probably turned 18 in February before they married on March 15, 1928. Not sure when this picture was taken but the youngest one I have of them.
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| Mama and Daddy |
From what I understand Papa Spencer gave them a place to live over on Oak Hill Avenue in the Lonsdale Community. John, June, Phyllis and Jim were born while they were living on Oak Hill. Mama used to tell about walking from there to where Papa and Granny lived down on Spencer Street in the North Hills Community. She talked about passing houses that had lamps in the windows and how pretty they were and that she hoped one day she would have lamps in her windows. My dad used to talk about walking to work at Albers Drug Company on State Street and how his shoes were so thin he could step on a dime and tell whether it was heads or tails. But that is a tale for my dads blog that I will get to later. Mama and daddy must of been married about 3 years before they had any children because John was born in May of 1931. I know lots of memories were made in the house on Oak Hill but that was before I was born. From my figuring they lived in the house on Oak Hill for about 13 years before they moved to Edmondson Road in 1941. Here are a few pictures of my mom when she was younger.
The house they moved to on Edmondson Road was a new home. I don't know how many homes were built but it was called the Highland Homesteads. I know there was already some homes in that area because the Reeser house was a log house and the Langston house and Warwick house was old and the one at the end of the road was old. The house had a kitchen, living room and 3 bedrooms. It had a back porch and a front porch and an outside toilet. It had a well with a hand pump on it at the back porch. It had a basement that was partially dug out. Mama and daddy had a bedroom, I guess June and Phyllis had one and John and Jim the other. After four more children were born I know at one time Jim and Bill and me and Mary slept in the same bed two at the top and two at the bottom. Some additions were made to the house over the years including a bathroom and a living room. The original living room became a bed room and one of the bedrooms became the dining room and the wall taken out between the kitchen and dining room. The back porch was enclosed and became the laundry room. I haven't been in the old house since 1992 when my mama died so there may be other changes now. That was my home for 19 years. The home I grew up in, the home I loved and the home of my memories. I have no bad memories of my childhood. I was loved and knew I was loved by my mama and daddy. My mama was a beautiful lady. She did not wear makeup except for just a dusting of powder. I never saw her with lipstick or eye makeup of any kind. My mama never wore pants. She always wore a dress or skirt and blouse. One time when she went to the beach she wore a bathing suit. One of my most precious memories of my childhood was my mama being home. When I got up of the mornings she was home, when I walked up that hill from school in the afternoons she was home, when I went to bed at night she was home. Every morning she would fix breakfast. It was usually gravy and biscuits, oatmeal or pancakes and syrup. Homemade syrup made from sugar and water. I never went to school hungry. Mama always fixed a big supper. It was usually beans and potatoes cornbread or biscuits. I have seen mama many Saturdays go out in the back yard and wring a chicken neck off and scald and pick feathers off of a chicken to have for Sunday dinner. One of my favorite things she would fix for Sunday was banana pudding. I would stand at the kitchen cabinet watching her make the pudding and when she would turn her back I would get a vanilla wafer and a slice of banana and eat it. I still remember it so vivid. Also she made the best chocolate cake with white boiled fluffy icing that you ever tasted. And her chocolate pies and chicken and dumplings were to die for. At Homecomings you better get in line if you wanted some of my mama's chicken and dumplings. When my brother Jim would come home she made sure to make him a French Coconut Pie. She made the best Peanut Butter Fudge. So needless to say my mama was a good cook. I remember mama washing clothes in the kitchen on the old wringer washer. After she would wash them and run them through the wringers she would take them outside and hang them on the lines in the back yard and up the fence that went from our house up to the Haires house. The line would be flapping with daddy's white shirts. My daddy wore white shirts not only to work but to preach in so she had a lot to wash. She would also starch, sprinkle with water and stand for hours at the ironing board ironing them. With 8 kids she spent many hours over the ironing board. I remember she would wear the old worn out white shirts as aprons. I can see her now as she would go through the kitchen flapping that white shirt apron running the flies out of the kitchen. It seems like every time it was wash day it was also pinto beans day. I can still smell them cooking. My mama also knew how to use a switch. My daddy corrected with a belt but my mama used a switch. I am sure I must of been the perfect little angel because I don't remember many switchings. but maybe I just knew how to hide. I not sure which ones got a switching when she pulled over at the cemetery on Adair coming from Aunt Mabels. Probably Mary and Ron. She also knew how in church to reach over and not only pinch but put a little twist into that pinch on the leg. On Saturday nights my mama would prepare for Sunday. She would lay everybody's clothes across the back of the couch with their shoes and socks on the couch. Sunday was always a big day at our house. We never entertained the thought of not going to church. My daddy was the Pastor and my mama was the pianist. My mama had many jobs in the church. She taught the YWA's (Young Women's Axulitary) the WMU (Women's Missionary Union) at Highland and taught Sunday School for many years at North Acres. She was the pianist at every church my dad Pastored playing until she was 80 years old. Most of my memories of my childhood with mama was just growing up and her being the greatest mama in the world. I never heard one bad word said in my presence about my mama. Also she never talked bad about anyone. If one of us did she would always say "now girls, lets not say that". Below is a picture of me and mama at my wedding. Mama would babysit for me when my kids were little if I needed to go shopping or somewhere. My kids all loved her so much. Pam and Byron were the only ones that got to know my dad.
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| Mama and Sue June 2, 1962 |
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| Last picture of Mama and Daddy |
For the next 20 years my mama lived by herself. Once my brother Bill lived with her while they were building their house and another time my brother John before he moved to Florida but mostly she was on her own. My sister June lived just behind mama and could walk out there and could see her house from where she lived so I am sure she looked out for her many times. But as I have said we all have our own memories but these are mine. Mama would go to visit my sister Mary for a few weeks at a time each year. Every summer mama would come to my house and help me shuck and cut off corn and break and can beans. Mama continued going to church and playing the piano. I was working at this time but I was usually off on Monday and Tuesday and that would be the days that we would go out to eat. I would pick her up and before we got down the hill past the Resser house she would be rummaging through her pocket book looking for us a coupon to eat with. Mama was not a big shopper I am sure due a lot to not having extra money to shop with. She rarely bought a new dress but still wore the polyester dresses that June, Mary and I made for her. My mama was a very good manager. I don't know how much her SS was but it was not much due to the fact that the churches my dad Pastored had not paid into SS for him. And because of that fact the church my dad was at when he died gave her a little money each week. I think when it started it was $50. I am not sure if it was ever increased or not. I also know I had some brothers and sisters that helped her some each month. But even at that she did not have a lot of money. She never went in debt unless there was no other choice. One of the big things me and mama had in common was going on a diet. Especially on a Monday morning. She liked the diet where you could eat ice cream. She loved her ice cream. She looked for a dress for my niece Melissa's wedding and found one at Proffits that was a size 12. Probably the smallest she had ever bought. This was the dress she was buried in.
My mama loved her sisters Mabel and Irene. They would go out to eat and mama would pick up Aunt Irene and they would go to Aunt Mabel's house and she would drive them to Shoneys or where ever they would go. The pizza place out on Merchant knew them by sight and when they would walk in the door they would put them a jalapeno pizza in the oven. My mom was a writer. She wrote many poems and prose. Most of her poems were religious. She had poems written on every thing. Especially the white cardboard that would come with stockings. After she passed away my niece Judy typed all of her poems and had them put into a spiral notebook for everyone. My sister June also had a CD made of her playing the piano and gave to each of us. Only having an eighth grade education I never realized how smart my mama was until my later years. She was an avid reader and also a Bible scholar putting lots of time into studying for her SS lessons. She would watch TV and she liked Murder She Wrote among other shows. Below is a poem my mom wrote about her and her sisters going out to eat and a picture of the three of them.
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| Aunt Mabel, Mama, Irene |
AT SHONEYS
I have two sisters, Mabel and Irene, they are the nicest sisters you have ever seen.
They call and say, let's go out and eat. So to Irene's I go and get on her street.
I honk on the horn, and she comes a humming, And to Mabel's we go for that supper we're hunting.
We hop in her car and to Shoney's we go. We go in the sunshine, the rain, and the snow.
We give our names before we can pass, The great supper's waiting, we've got there at last.
We go in a room and sit down at a table, Me, Irene and sister Mabel.
The waitress says, how are you this evening" We are just about starved, but she stands there just beaming. What will you have on your order tonight, The fish is good, but the oysters are just right.
So the oysters we order with a salad so green, And a baked Irish potato, such as you have never seen. And the coffee galore, But we always ask for more, And with this supper so big, We act like the three little pigs, Which thought they would get no more, The waitress asks "no dessert"? We all answered and said no, we already hurt.So we took our bill, And our money to the till, And because we could eat no more, We went out the door. And we could hardly wobble, And all of us said, what makes us such a big gobble? So back in the car we went, Because we are not thru eating yet. At Mabel's house there's apple pie, And then we all begin to cry, For ice cream to stack way high. So at the store once more, Irene hops out the door, And goes hurrying inside with a smile and a sigh, And brings out ice cream for our good apple pie. We will be sorry in the morning, And this ends our supper at Shoney's.
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| Mother's Day 1992 |
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| Mother's Day 1992 |
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| July 23, 1992 Mama's 80th Birthday |
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| Greenwood Cemetery |
Here are a few of my favorite pictures of mama.
MY MAMA'S HISTORY
My mama was born on July 23, 1912 to John Henry Ramsey and Neppie Louanne Ramsey. She was named Conilee Texas Ramsey. There was another Conilee in the family but I have no idea where she got the name Texas. She was one of ten children of John Henry Ramsey and Neppie Luanne Ramsey. Her brothers and sisters were born in this order. Joel Edmond (Rilla), Paul Madison (Ella), Claude Ernest (Georgia) Sarah Mable (Jim), John Howard (Nora) , Jacob Clifford (Edna), Conilee Texas (Edd), Flora Irene (Harley) , Albert Alexander (Margaret) and Charles Leroy (Jewel). My grandfather was a relative of the Ramsey's from the Ramsey House. I have been told at one time they owned all of the property where Chilhowee Park is, I do not know this for a fact but I was told that somehow his brother 'beat' him out of the property. But true or not my grandfather was a tenant farmer and never had much of anything. My mother never talked a lot about her days growing up. In 1927 at 46 years old her mother died. Mama would of been 15. At the time they said she died of consumption but mama said she knew later it was cancer. So at 15 years old and with 9 more brothers and sisters my mom was basically without a home. Some of her older brothers and her sister Mable had already married and the ones still at home went to live with some of them. She went to live with her brother Paul and his wife Ella down on Forestdale Avenue and that is where she met daddy.
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| Mama's daddy John Henry Ramsey |
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| Mama's mother Neppie Louanne Ramsey |
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| Grandpa and second wife |
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| Back Row: Mabel,Edmond,Paul,Ernest,Howard, Grandpa Clifford, Mama, Irene, Albert, Charles |
