To: Ilaine who wrote (40681 ) 6/17/1999 9:15:00 AM From: nihil Respond to
"But she had boxes of hair dye in her bathroom cabinet. "that dye to dye her hair. My grandmother's first marriage was to a rich plantation owner who had a showplace like Camellia Gardens near Charleston. He died supposedly picking a mountain flower for her (suspiciously like a Hapsburg story to me) and left her with a small boy, and, of course, no money. The system went into effect, she visited friends and relatives on a husband search. She married my grandfather (unmarried small-town lawyer) in Edgefield. I don't think she ever loved him romantically. She had four children with him. They all graduated college -- a teacher, professor, priest-physician, lawyer. Grandfather never had two dimes to rub together, was uninsurable, and tight as $2 dollar shoes. His family hated his refusal to spend money, but he took every little lawyering job that paid a buck, bank attorney, city attorney, county attorney, referee in bankruptcy, county Democratic chairman. He kept hogs and a cow and milked it everyday. He would walk home from work with a rented mule (he refused to ride a mule -- he was a gentleman) and plow several acres of market garden. An old man plowing in his business suit and hat (he owned no work clothes). I loved to hear him curse the mule. He taught me to plow. He was tough as nails at age 76. Shy. Afraid to speak in court. A bad trial lawyer, but according to his bar "his name on a title search was as sure as a decree of the Supreme Court." He had unreasonable expectations of his sons and his grandsons. Honor and honesty were everything. He wasn't a kind man to his wife and children. But somehow, I respected him immensely.
