Grandma Remembers, Part Deux
February 13, 2008 5:29 pmMy maternal grandparents were known as Mama Davis and Papa Davis. They had sixteen children, but lost four in infancy. Many of my family have quite interesting names. Papa Davis was born James Madison Davis. Mama Davis was named Bertha. Their daughters were Olive Bertha, Flossie Etta (also known as Momo), Sadie, Alice, and Bernice. Their sons were Jessie, Grover, Edward, Comer, Hollis, Clay, and Clifford.
Papa Davis was very talented. He owned lots of land which was forested and also good for farming. He “thinned” trees which were sent to paper mills. By thinning the trees, the other trees grew better. Papa had a wonderful workshop that many of the local men enjoyed using. He was also the local horseshoer.
Mama and Papa Davis had 48 grandchildren. Lord knows how many great and great-great grandchildren they had. Papa lived to be 92; Mama made it to 89.
Here are some more good family names. I have cousins named Ouida Faye Bagley, and Lucy Belle, Minnie Belle, and Lucy Kate. Then there’s Marian Earl Chaney and Virgie Chaney. Berta Davis, Lovey Mae Hicks. Zula Mae Pea. Ester Butts and her sister, Lucy Butts. (John said to add Lucy Bowels, but I won’t.) Oh, and my Aunt Momo was married to Uncle O.C. The initials didn’t stand for anything. Their daughter, Boyde, had a son named Freddy Funches. My sister, Frances, is married to Luther Smith, also known as Smitty Smith.
Ruthie’s named after John’s mother, Ruth Marie. If we’d named her after my mother, you’d all be calling her Olive Bertha. Now wouldn’t that be fine?
4 Responses to “Grandma Remembers, Part Deux”
Those are very funny names hehehehe…..
What a lovely family tradition, the names!! I love hearing about all these name which were once popular, but are now, rarely heard. I truely like Olive, but for Ruthie??? I don’t know!
We have a few, many out of Alabama, too!! (Maybe it is the state?) My mother, born in Collinsville, TX is Joy Dan, after the favorite Uncle Dan (my maternal grandmother’s brother). My grandmother was Fetna Pauline, who never used “Fetna” (Gee, I wonder why?) was born in Alabama. Her mother, a Cherokee, was Morgan Fetna Roan — a fine line of horses (teehee), also born in Alabama, and Morgan’s father was Jackson Woodland Roan. Pauline was one of 11 children. I don’t remember most, but they had more usual names (Mary, Beatrice, Dan, etc. [although I suspect like Pauline, these were not their REAL names]) but I do remember my great uncle Buford. Now that is an odd name!!
Thanks so much for sharing this with us, Nita. I hope you and Dadums will post again with more of your stories. They are such important times for all of us to remember and reflect on, as will be the current times to another generation.
Kate
Well, what can I say…..if this was a game of family names “one upsmanship” I would lose big time….except of course for my own middle name…..which my mother gave to me naming me after her favorite aunt (who essentially raised her), promising me that I would score BIG TIME when she passed away because she was one of those smart people who never had kids to waste money on! Well, the good news is that when she passed away at age 96 having outlived her husband by about 10 years ,her estate of several million dollars+ of fabulous farmland in central Illinois went to the Guide Dogs For The Blind. The bad news is that I was aced out (though my mom did get a small sum which she shared with me)……and I suffered through all those years of elementary school taunts. But I did learn to be a good playground fighter! Kind of like that old saying that what which does not kill us will make us stronger!
Wow, and were times different or what? Sixteen children…..hard to even imagine that some women spent about 1/3 to 1/4 of their adult life pregnant. And, as we all know, those were not easy times in a whole variety of ways. As I sit here writing this and my washer and dryer are humming along and the dishwasher just finished I think about what it would be like to have to do all of that by hand. And even more. Makes you tired just thinking about it!
Well, wonderful stories. Thanks again for sharing them.
Nancy
I love hearing stories about Americans — “Americans” meaning people who aren’t Jewish and whose family histories in the States go back before the 20th. Century. Something of the immigrant mentality gets passed on down. Different screwy names though — Tibby, Mildy, Finny, Gussie, Sollie and Irv for example. Tibby, my 82 year-old mother, somehow began a life-long love of country music in Brooklyn in 1955 and named my sister, Barbara Sue. Loved your recollections — may you tell them for many years to come.
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