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We'll finish Great-Grandmother
McNair's adventure this week. Mrs. McNair was the great-grandmother of
Moultrie's Tom Vereen. Mr. Vereen has been so kind and has allowed me to
share this wonderful letter with you all.
The adventure continues: We made
a brave start early the next day, but took the wrong road and went and
wound up at an abandoned saw mill. We turned about, drove all day - and
could find no place to stay before dark. We were turned away several
times and it was nine o'clock p.m. before we secured shelter.
They could give us no cooked
food, so we bought some bacon and made cornbread and sweet potatoes over a
camp fire. Myself and children slept in a narrow bed, but we got along
all right - when things looked so gloomy (???) dangerous and we could not
discern the road in the night - the colored driver and gentleman friend
who made the trip with me and the children would carefully search for our
wagon tracks in the dried (??? - mud?) and I drove the mules with my feet
over the wagon (???) front until they found the right wheel tracks in the
darkness. This kept us going with frequent halts.
We drove into Albany about 4 p.m.
at the close of the fourth day and failed to secure lodging - according to
our friends, previous directions. The main hotel in Albany had been
burned - but there was a big house with windows overhead like a warehouse,
and we saw such a room and a breakfast next morning. Bill $80 - "to be
exact, $82."
We started out very early next
day from Albany to Macon. We had all sorts of delays - hard luck - cold,
with a piting (sic) snow.
And finally were stalled by a
wreck - which had slashed several cars laden with salt and the rain was
pouring in tourents (sic) when we left the railroad train in Macon.
It was not possible to hire a
chair to sit in. In the Brown House that night. My husband hunted up a
friend to find where we could sit and might get shelter and he took us in
- and they fed us - and (???) us and comforted us - until we sat up until
after midnight relating adventures - mishaps, etc., and the more we told,
the more we had to tell - and could finally quit the conversation to even
get to bed. We were joyous and happy - this was my first, but last visit,
to Moultrie - but I am here at 86 years of age telling you (???) about the
early days of Moultrie.
Letters such as the one by Mrs.
McNair give us a peek into a time that is long past and a feeling of what
life was like for those who came before us.
Have you ever thought about how
the most precious thing you can leave your children, grandchildren and all
the rest of your family is a record of your family history.
Money can be spent, property can
be sold, jewelry can be lost or sold but family history is something that
can be forever passed down from generation to generation.
Today, genealogy is the most
popular hobby in the United States! Genealogy has long surpassed former
favorites stamp collecting and gardening to be number one!
With the popularity of genealogy
- the study of family history - comes support for researchers in the form
of books and records and forms and genealogy programs and publication and
so much more designed to make the discovery of your own roots just a
little bit easier.
It's really not complicated.
It's really fun. It's a hobby that you will enjoy forever and one that
will lead you to new friends who happen to be kin to you and new friends
who aren't kin and adventures and experiences that will enrich your life.
We're so fortunate in Moultrie to
be the home of The Odom Library. It is one of the best genealogy
libraries in the South - at least - if not the best in the entire
Southeast!
It's free, there's no charge for
using the library. Copies are a dime. Irene Godwin, Ann Glass, Monique
Green and Catherine Bryant are always delighted to help you begin your own
journey into the past of your own kith and kin!
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