James Bassett "Jim" Gwin I
and

Adrian "Ada" Belle Vardaman


Updated 20 Feb 2016
Updated 3 Jun 2009

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A Tribute to My Mother by Adrian S. Gwin

The reformatting of the name font and census data for this page has NOT been completed. --John M. Gwin, Aug 2011

21.00--Richard Gwin; lived near Jamestown, Virginia, said to be of Scotch Irish descent; m. Sarah Chesley; at least one son:

22.00--Isham Gwin, b. ca. 1770 in VA; d. ca. 1833 in IN; m. ca. 1788 in VA to Mary Canterbury; 10 ch.:

23.04--John Gwin (middle name unk.)--b. in what was then Greene or Sevier Co., NC (later TN) 7 Nov 1792; d. 7 Mar 1877 at Wilsonville, AL; m. 8 Apr 1812 in Blount Co., TN, by Joseph Walker to Jane Walker, d.o. Thomas Walker, Sr., and Elizabeth Magill, both of VA; 9 (10?) ch.;

24.04--William Gwin (middle name unk.)--b. 18 Dec 1820 at Cahaba, AL; d. 29 Apr 1889 at Wilsonville, AL, bd. there also; m. 12 May 1842 to Roseann Carlisle Jones Wilson (b. 22 Aug 1822; d. 29 Mar 1907 at Tampa, FL; bd. at Wilsonville, AL).  [October 1999--Barbara Ward wrote: Found a marriage record Dallas County (AL) for a Wm. Guin and Rosa Ann Wilson 13 May 1842.]

25.03--William Sutton Gwin --my great-grandfather, b. 5 Jun 1848 at Cahaba, AL; d. 11 Sep 1916; m. 2 Dec 1868 to Ida Eliza Basset (b. 5 May 1845 in Worthing, Sussex Co., England; d. 8 Dec 1907; 12 children

26.01--Ida M. Gwin b. 5 Jul 1869; d. as infant 25 Jul 1870
26.02--William Bassett Gwin --b. 12 Dec 1870; d. as infant 30 Nov 1871.
26.03--James Bassett Gwin I--(see below)
26.04--Kate Lula Gwin b. 4 Jul 1874; d. 22 Aug 1953; never married
26.05--William Sutton Gwin, Jr. (called "Duck") b. 25 Dec 1875; d. 1956 (?); m. 18 May 1909 to Georgia Craft
26.06--John Louis Gwin b. 30 Sep 1877; d. 18 May 1942 in Arizona; m. 19 May 1906 to Ruth Irwin
26.07--Lucy Jane Gwin b. 13 Jan 1879; d. 18 Nov (1957?) in Prescott, AZ; m. 18 May 1898 to Lawson Rochester Hebb
26.08--George Henry Gwin b. 10 Feb 1882 at Wilsonville, AL, d. 8 Aug 1953; m. 27 Dec 1908 to Valera L. Riddle; 7 ch.
26.09--Maggie Bassett Gwin b. 14 May 1882; d. 1 Aug 1882--- died as infant
26.10--Unk. Gwin d. as infant
26.11--Nellie Densler Gwin b. 2 Apr 1887; d. 24 Oct 1948; m. George Marshal Marable; 1 ch.
26.12--Peter King Gwin, Sr.  b. 17 Oct 1888; d. 30 Jun 1956; m. 3 May 1911 to Betty Kate Cartwright; 3 ch.

Jim
and
Ada

Left:  Adabelle; her mother, Julia Ann Flynn Vardaman; and Jim and Ada's first two children, James (J.B. Gwin II), top left, and J.V. "Vardaman".

Right: L-R: Julia, J.V., James Bassett "Jim" Gwin, Sr., and James.

These must have been taken about 1914, as Julia Ida is not yet born.  It is not clear whether the family had traveled back to Coosa Co. to visit with Ada's mother or if her mom was visiting with them in Anniston.  (It is clearly too early for them to be living in Selma, as this move did not occur until Julia was born.)  James appears to be a little older in the second picture and with shorter hair than in the first, suggesting that these photos were taken on different visits.



And here they all are about 1918-20.  L-R: Jim, James, Adrian, Ada, Julia, and Vardaman, after they were living in the "new house" at 2101 Broad Street in Selma.  In July 2003, I, John M. Gwin, got to visit Selma and see this very home, which today is being used as a dance studio.  But at 2:00 on a cool Tuesday afternoon in late October 1921, this porch, front yard, and home were the site of the overflow crowd at the funeral of Grandpa Gwin, and where the flat stone marker several blocks away in Live Oak Cemetery now lies was the open grave awaiting his body's placement.  Following is a local newspaper's account of the funeral.

Funeral services for Conductor J. B. Gwin, who lost his life in the wreck of the Akron train Sunday evening near Greensboro, were held at 2 o'clock this afternoon from the Gwin residence, 2101 Broad Street, by Dr. John A. Davison, pastor of the First Baptist Church, and the Rev. E. W. Gamble, rector of St. Paul's Episcopal Church.

Many sorrowing friends crowded the home and stood with bared heads about the porch and in the yard, paying their tribute of respect to a man who in life had commanded esteem and a full mead of friendship from his fellow workers and acquaintances.

Words of comfort for the stricken widow and four small children were spoken in the beautiful funeral service, and masses of beautiful flowers bore silent testimony to the sympathy of hundreds of friends here and in other parts of Alabama.

Interment was made in Live Oak cemetery, pall bearers being Southern Railway conductors who had been closely associated with Mr. Gwin in his long years of service on the railroad and including, besides Capt. J. D. Riggs, whose place Conductor Gwin was supplying when he met his death, S.T. Walker, J. A. Freeman, S. E. Farrington, D. G. Mott, H. H. Hillman.

Gathered here for the last services were relatives from several distant points in Alabama and Georgia, among these being Mrs. Julia Vardaman, mother of Mrs. Gwin, and Mr. and Mrs. T. J. Webb, the latter a sister of Mrs. Gwin, all of Alexander City; Miss Kate Gwin and W. S. Gwin of Birmingham, George H. Gwin of Manchester, Ga., T. K. Gwin of Tuscaloosa, and Mrs. G. M. Marable of Talladega, all brothers and sisters of the deceased.  A cousin, Emmett Gwin of Mississippi, arrived Tuesday morning in time to attend the funeral.

26.03--James Bassett Gwin I, b. 21 Apr 1872 at Frog Level, AL, near Bellevue, in Dallas Co.; d. 21 Oct 1921 under the wreck of Southern Railway #17 near Greensboro, AL, as conductor of the train; bd. Tues, 23 Oct, in the Live Oak Cemetery, Selma, AL; m. 22 Feb 1909 in Birmingham, AL, to Adrian ("Ada") Belle Vardaman (b. 3 Feb. 1877 in Coosa Co., AL; d. 26 Feb 1954 in New Orleans, LA; bd. at Smyrna Primitive Baptist Ch. Cem., 2-3 mi. ese of Goodwater, AL); four children; ten grandchildren (2 of these adopted);

  •     see more photos of her taken about 1895,1900, and 1943;
  •     read a couple of his pre-nuptial letters to her;
  •     see a timeline of her life);
    • This is the last known photo of the four children of Jim and Ada Vardaman Gwin together:
    L-r: Dr. John Vardaman "J.V." Gwin, Adrian Sutton Gwin, James Basset Gwin II, and Julia Ida Gwin Loo.
    They had gathered in Laurel, Mississippi, to celebrate the wedding of
    J.V.'s younger daughter, Eileen Larkin Gwin, to Jay Austin.
    James would die shortly after on 1 Mar 1984.



    18   Charleston Daily Mail Monday, March 8, 1954
     
    Roving the Valley

    *      *      *

    With Friends And Neighbors

    By ADRIAN GWIN

            She went to work in 1901 as a telegraph operator.  Miss Adrian Vardaman was a country girl, but in 1909 she had been around.  After finishing Alabama College in Montevallo, she worked for Western Union, then the Southern Railroad.
        At the little station in Brierfield where she was agent-telegrapher, she would stand before the bay window of the office when a certain freight train went by.  Big Jim Gwin would be standing atop a box car.
        His good left hand would be twirling up a Bull Durham cigarette while he waved to her with his thumbless right hand as he passed the station riding the roof of his train.  He was a conductor, a handsome, big man.
        They were married on Feb. 22, 1909, in Birmingham.  On the train going up, Miss Adrian was wearing her bridal dress of dusty rose, a nice color to be married in.  Conductor Voltz stopped by her seat as the train pulled into the station.  All his life he had worn a fresh red rose in the lapel of his uniform, every day.
       Now he took his red rose and pinned it to Miss Adrian's dress.  "Wear it, sis, for luck," he said.
        She loved flowers, and especially roses.  So when Adrian Vardaman became Mrs. James B. Gwin that Washington's birthday in 1909, she wore a red rose on her dusty pink dress.
    ----------------
        Jim died under an overturned coach of his passenger train in 1921.  The train had picked up a passenger at Scotts Station, out in the prairie of the Black Belt, a flag stop station.
        As Jim started in the coach to take up the passenger's ticket, he felt a disturbance from the engine.  Thirty-five years on trains told him something was wrong, bad wrong.  He reached for the emergency cord as the coach     hit the broken rail, and Jim went out the window, pinned from the waist down. 
    ----------------
         Mrs. Adrian Vardaman Gwin returned to her telegraphy for the railroad.  The four small children became "railroad gypsies," as their mother "traipsed around all over the
    country," going where her telegraphy took her.
         Mrs. Gwin shipped hay from the prairie town of Browns; loaded cattle and gum logs from the swamp-town of McDowell; billed out more than a hundred cars of coal a day from the mining town of Aldrich; worked with the men at the smaller coal community of Straven; shipped turkeys and wool and milk from Gallion.
         Everywhere she went, she had flowers.  She raised the best roses in any neighborhood.  She always planted sweet peas, and her flower yards were wonderful to behold.  She received citations from the railroad for the cleanliness of her depots wherever she worked.  And she made gardens of flowers around some of them, wherever a seed would sprout into blossom.
    ----------------
         Then the depression hit the railroads.  Her last regular station was a little cross-roads agency out in the Black Belt--Scotts Station.
         The children were nearly grown when the railroad put her on the "extra board."  She returned to Anniston where she and Jim had bought a home 20 years before.  Roomers helped out a bit.
         With a son in medical school and the money gone, she struck out for New Orleans, La., to open a boarding house.  Her boundless  energy, her unfailing     spirit, and her determination that working wins everything, saw her through.    		      She put four children through college.  And she enjoyed every minute of it.  She worked like a  section hand every day of her life.  She laughed easily, and made friends quickly.  She had "beaus" every year of her life while she worked for the railroad, and in her later years she often went to see her old friends.
         She drove a car for years, sold it in 1934.  Then in 1950, past 70 years old, she bought for cash a big Buick that she had wanted for 16 years.  She drove it through New Orleans whenever she wished, and she drove it back to Alabama any number of times.
         After a heart attack in 1950 she slowed down a bit.  She quit painting the house each summer.  She hired a part-time maid to look after the eight rooms of her rooming house.  She quit papering the walls of the rooms each year, and she began to call the plumber instead of fixing the leaky commode herself.
         After all, she was 75 and more, and a person could afford to slow down a little.  But she still drove her car, still dug in her flower yard to plant sweet peas on the first full moon in October.  She continued to wash two dozen sheets from her bedrooms each week.  But she had an automatic washer, so that wasn't too much trouble.
         She took flowers to her neighbors almost every day, big bunches of nasturtiums and sweet peas and African daisies.
    ----------------
         They found her on the living room couch  that sunny afternoon last month.  Her nitroglycerin pills were spilled across the floor.
    		      It was Feb. 22, 1954. Forty-five years to the day since she was married.  They took her to Touro infirmary and made her comfortable.
         When her youngest son flew in from West Virginia a couple of days later, she was alert and cross.  "Why does a person have to be in bed!   There's so much to be done!" she said.
         Two days later she was sleeping peacefully when the magnificent heart of hers gave out.  The chief dispatcher was calling and her head went up as she heard her name.  Then she was gone.
    ----------------
         At the short service in New Orleans, her sons placed at her head a big bunch of rainbow-colored sweet peas and a dozen of the kinds of yardflowers she herself had raised.
         She took the night train out of New Orleans for her last trip back to Alabama.  They lifted her annual pass as she started the familiar overnight journey to Birmingham.  The railrod she had lived for from 1901 to 1936 took her home.
         Redbirds and mockingbirds were singing in the woods near the little church as she was laid to rest in the old Smyrna cemetery near Kelleyton, two miles from her native home.
         And she wore at her breast a big red sweet pea from her yard, one of the flowers she loved.  

         (EDITOR'S NOTE:  Daily Mail columnist Adrian Gwin resumes his writing with the above column after a week's absence in the south during the illness and death of his mother.)



    Most Unforgettable

    By Adrian Gwin

    [John M. Gwin NOTE, Mar 29, 2016: Last month, almost 15 years after he died, I found in one of Dad’s file cabinet drawers the copy from which I am transcribing this: five double-spaced pages on old Daily Mail newsprint in Dad’s unmistakable typewritten style.  I don’t know if it was ever published, but it was in the same format he used to submit his work that WAS published, so maybe it was.  It is undated, but the clues in the story get us pretty close, probably in the mid-1970's.]

        I saw him only once, though he is mine for eternity.  
        It was daytime, and I was sitting on the floor behind the screen door, looking out as the street car rolled to a stop.  I must have known that he was coming home.  
        He stepped down, carrying his old leather grip and a brown paper bag, and he strode across the unpaved street and into the yard, up the steps, and then he set the grip down and with one great arm he picked me up.  I was still crying.
        His voice when he spoke was like the voice of the big steam engines which pulled his trains—like the rumble of the trains themselves: big and powerful and overwhelming and yet soothing, comforting, and reassuring.
        “What’s the matter with my little man?” he said.  And then he reached into the paper bag and handed me a huge red apple, the biggest, reddest red apple I ever saw, even to this day.
        And with my face so close to his, I saw him.  I remember him for that time only. 
        That one time I saw my father.

        He was a railroad conductor, and a good one.  When the circus trains came into Alabama, they always asked for Big Jim Gwin to handle the trains.
        When a special was being made up for an excursion, Big Jim was always assigned to conduct the train.
    		     He started work for the railroad when he was 14, and he was a man then, big enough to carry off the 18 years that he told them he was.  He needed the job, and he lied about his age to get it, as a brakeman.
        He paid for the lie.  Before he was 17, his right thumb was smashed off in a link-and-pin coupling, an accident of inexperience, of immaturity.  But he worked for 35 years for the railroad with no thumb on his right hand, and his handwriting was as smoothly flowing a script as that of a Spencerian scholar.
         He had a phenomenal memory.  He could walk along a string of boxcars on a siding and minutes later in his caboose, he could jot down the numbers of the cars from memory, and identify each one as a boxcar, a flatcar, a “gong” (gondola), or “reefer” (refrigerator).
        He was a lusty big man, and he enjoyed living, enjoyed railroading, enjoyed working— my, how he could work!
        Once when he was riding the top of a boxcar, the wind tousling his thick, black hair, he started to roll a Bull Durham cigarette—left-handed, of course, because he had no thumb on his right.  And the train passed a little station called Brierfield, and Big Jim’s heart got caught up in the briar patch.
        The pretty young woman telegraph operator waved to him as he passed the station, and he waved back to her with his right hand, as he twisted the cigarette in the fingers of the other hand, and licked it, then with a sweeping motion, he struck a wooden match with one swipe across the seat of his overalls, and lit the cigarette.
        They were married in 1909, and I was the fourth of his children, born seven years later.
        And so I was perhaps four years old, and the year was about 1920, when I saw him that time.
        “What’s the matter with my little man!”
    		   I saw him, and I can see him today, just as he looked in that magic moment in time when I was so close to him.
        Nor do I remember ever really seeing him before, or since.        There must have been other times, but they do not recall themselves to me even when I try to remember him.  I do remember holding onto his perfectly huge hand with both of mine, and running my fingers over the great round stump of his thumb, and then shivering with the delighted reassurance  that his was indeed my dad, so identifiable among others because of the missing thumb.
        We have pictures of him, several as a young man, some taken only a few years before he “went away”, as my mother always referred to it.  But the pictures do not look like Dad looked that time I saw him.
        He went away in October of 1921.
        He had been on his regular run for three days, and when he carried his grip into the depot to check out and go home, the agent at the terminal handed him a note.
        A brother conductor was ill and could not take the short overnight run to Akron, and would Jim take it for him?
        He did.  And 30 minutes later, the train wrecked on a broken rail, pinning him from the waist down.
        I remember that Aunt Kate held me up to the casket to see my daddy “for the last time,” she said.  I remember there were dark places on the face of the man in the casket—and I remember asking why.  But I cannot remember what the man in the casket looked like.
            I know now that during all the years I was growing up on the railroad, in the little depots along the Southern in Middle Alabama, in the three-car passenger trains that carried me to and from school for several years, the railroad men treated me like I was one of their own children.  All of us, they did.     		 We were Jim Gwin’s orphans, I know now, and every flagman, every conductor, every porter, every baggageman and fireman and engineer was looking out for us—because we were Big Jim’s kids, and he was their brother who had given his life for a fellow conductor.
        All this I know now, more than fifty years after he “went away”.
        When I was a stringy little kid, I often talked to him in my prayers, for that was the only time I could talk to him, don’t you see?  He was up there with God, and when God was listening, wouldn’t Dad be listening, too?  It may sound a     little sacrilegious to say such things, but I’ve talked to Dad off and on for more than 50 years—and the only time I ever really saw him was that once in 1920.
        I remember standing beside him once in the bathroom as he used the commode.  I was holding his hand, and my eyes were level with the source of the stream he was putting into the commode, but I do not remember what he looked like that day.
        I remember that one day he came into his bedroom and found me absorbed in punching hatchecks with his ticket punch, and I remember that Mother spanked me for it.  But I cannot remember what he looked like that day.
        I remember one Christmas season when he came home bearing big bundles of packages, and I remember him setting them down in the front living room, but I cannot remember what he looked like.
        But I can see his big rough face as he held me on his shoulder that day and said, “What’s the matter with my little man!”—see him as clearly as if it were happening right now.
        It was the only time that I ever saw my dad, and it is enough, for I have him today, though he’s been “gone away” for more than 50 years.
        When I see him again, I know he’ll look exactly like that—for he is my dad.






    Some Pertinent Census Data

    1
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    5
    0
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    6
    0


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    From the 1 Jun 1870 census of Wilsonville, Beat #9, Shelby Co., AL
    res/fam
    		 Name
    		 Age
    		 Race/
    Sex
    		 Est.Val.
    Real/Pers
    		 POB
    		 Occ.
    		 John M. Gwin Comments
    3/3
    		 William Guinn
    		 49
    		 wm
    		 2000/3000
    		 AL
    		 manufacturer
    		 This is John and Jane (nee Walker) Gwin's son, William, b. in AL just after statehood, who married Roe Wilson; he is my gg-grandpa.

    		Rosanna Guinn 48
    		 wf
    		AL
    		 keeping house
    		 This is Rosa Anne "Roe" Carlisle Jones Wilson Gwin, daughter of Nathaniel Burdine Wilson and Jane Jones Wilson; she is my gg-grandma.

    		John W. Guinn 18
    		 wm
    		AL sawyer
    		 This is John Wesley Gwin, Will and Roe's son, who'll become a doctor and die in seven years treating an outbreak of one of the diseases that killed so many.

    		Rufus K. Guinn 16
    		 wm
    		AL works in saw mill
    		 This is Rufus King Gwin, named for their Cahaba neighbor and state senator who became Vice-president of the United States, William Rufus King; he'll marry his first cousin, Annie Turner (below), who is living in this same Gwin home in this census.

    		Lucy M. Guinn 14
    		 wf
    		AL attend school
    		 This is Lucy M. Gwin who will die in just a couple of years.

    		Iam G. Guinn 12
    		 wm
    		AL attend school This is Isham Griffin Gwin who will marry his next-door neighbor, Mary Etta Self (d/o Rev. and Mrs. Nathaniel Self of Wilsonville), and help his brother William Sutton Gwin take over their dad's lumber mill.

    		Thomas Guinn
    		 9
    		 wm
    		AL attend school  This is Will and Roe's son Thomas who will catch pneumonia in seven years and die a few days later.

    		John Guinn 77
    		 wm
    		 -----/300
    		 TN
    		 wheelright
    		 This is John Gwin himself, widower of Jane Walker Gwin, first of the Gwin family to see Alabama

    		Annie Turner
    		 19
    		 wf

    		attend school This is Annie Turner second know child of Will's sister Mary Gwin who first married Drury Roark and second Abel Turner, Annie's father; why she is living in this large Gwin household is only speculation

    		Texas A. Wilson
    		 14
    		 wf

    		attend school This is Texana Wilson, daughter of Joseph Jones Abernathy Wilson and granddaughter of Nathaniel Burdine Wilson. She is the niece of Roe Wilson Gwin, (above--Joseph's sister and Will's wife) the lady of the house.  As far as we know, Texana never married nor had children.

    		Henry Bassett
    		 13
    		 wm

    		works in saw mill This is a brother of Will's and Roe's oldest son's wife, their daughter-in-law, Ida Eliza (Bassett) Gwin (Mrs. William Sutton Gwin).

    		Mathew Taylor
    		 36
    		 wf

    		at home
    		 We know nothing more at this time other than what the enumerator wrote. It is very likely that this "Mathew" is actually "Mrs. Mathew" and that the enumerator didn't hear and record that part.  Remember that 1870 was only five years after the South's surrender in the Civil War at Appomattox. The survivors of the War had to take care of their own and each other. I belive that's what we are seeing here. Perhaps "Mrs. Mathew" is a war widow. Regardless, she and her daughter are living with Will and Roe.

    		Annie Taylor
    		 9
    		 wf


    		This is evidently Mathew's (immediately above) daughter Annie.

    		Robt. Lockridge
    		 36
    		 wm

    		farm laborer
    		 This is Will's and Roe's oldest son-in-law, Robert Lochridge, husband of Will's and Roe's oldest child, Mary Ann Gwin Lochridge.

    		Mary A. Lockridge 26
    		 wf

    		at home This is Mary Ann (Gwin) Lochridge.

    		John Lockridge 1
    		 wm


    		This is "Johnny" Lochridge, oldest child of Robert and Mary Ann.

    		Eliza Laurence
    		 25
    		 wf

    		teaching school
    		 We know nothing more at this time other than what the enumerator wrote. Remember that 1870 was only five years after the South's surrender in the Civil War at Appomattox. The survivors of the War had to take care of their own and each other. I belive that's what we are seeing here. Perhaps Eliza is a war widow (or even a war orphan). Regardless, she is living with Will and Roe.















    		I am surprised that I have not been able to find in 1870 Jim Gwin's parents (William Sutton Gwin and Ida Eliza--nee Bassett--Gwin).


















































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    8
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    8
    0

    1
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    8
    0     

    From the 19 Jun 1880 Census of Wilsonville, Shelby Co., AL
    res/fam
    		 Name
    		 Relat.
    to HOH
    		 Age
    		 Race/
    Sex
    		 Marr
    Stat
    		 POB
    S/F/M
    		 Occ.
    		  Other
    		 John M. Gwin Comments
    204/204
    		 William Gwyn
    		 head
    		 59
    		 wm
    		 m
    		 AL/TN/TN
    		 lumber and timber dealer
    		William Gwin, my gg-grandpa.

    		Rosa A. Gwyn wife
    		 57
    		 wf
    		 m
    		 AL/NC/SC

    		Roseanna "Roe" Carlisle Jones Wilson Gwin, my gg-grandma

    		Isham G. Gwyn son
    		 21
    		 wm
    		AL/AL/AL
    		 steam engineer
    		Isham Griffin Gwin, Sr., who will marry his next-door neighbor, Mary Etta Self, below.

    		Anne G Taylor
    		 boarder
    		 18
    		 wf
    		 s
    		 AL/AL/GA


    207/207
    		 William S. Gwin
    		35
    		 wm
    		 m
    		 AL/AL/AL lumber and timber dealer
    		William Sutton "Sutt" Gwin, Justice of the Peace and my g-grandpa.

    		Ida Gwin
    		33
    		 wf
    		 m
    		 England/England/England

    		Ida Eliza Basset Gwin, my g-grandma.

    		James B. Gwin
    		8
    		 wm
    		AL/AL/England

    		James Basset Gwin, my grandpa, who will die under the wreck of a train on which he's the conductor and only fatality.

    		Kate L. Gwin
    		6
    		 wf
    		AL/AL/England

    		Aunt Kate

    		William S. Gwin
    		4
    		 wm
    		AL/AL/England

    		Uncle Duck (William Sutton Gwin, Jr.)

    		John W. Gwin
    		3
    		 wm
    		AL/AL/England

    		Dr. John

    		Lucy J. Gwin
    		1
    		 wf
    		AL/AL/England

    		Aunt Lucy, who will marry Lawson "Loss" Hebb and raise an only child, son Gwin Hebb,

    		Margaret Gwin
    		1/2
    		 wf
    		AL/AL/England



    		Henrietta Hebb
    		15
    		 bf
    		AL/AL/England (sic!)


    208/208
    		 Nathaniel H. Self
    		53
    		 wm
    		 m
    		 AL/TN/TN Minister of Gospel


    		Elizabeth Self
    		50
    		 wf
    		 m
    		 AL/SC/SC



    		Marietta Self
    		19
    		 wf
    		 s
    		 AL/AL/AL

    		This is Mary Etta Self who will marry her next-door neighbor, Isham G. Gwin.

    		Betsy S. Self
    		18
    		 wf
    		 s
    		 AL/AL/AL



    		Susan J. Self
    		17
    		 wf
    		 s
    		 AL/AL/AL



    		Willie B. Self
    		15
    		 wf
    		 s
    		 AL/AL/AL



    		Nathaniel H Self
    		12
    		 wm
    		AL/AL/AL



    		Marin W. Self
    		7
    		 wm
    		AL/AL/AL


    209/209 John E. Densler
    		39
    		 wm
    		 m
    		 AL/GA/GA Merchant
    		This family's last name will become the middle name of my grandaunt Nellie D. Gwin (here she is yet to be born).

    		Sarah A. Densler
    		31
    		 wf
    		 m
    		 AL/SC/AL



    		Lula W. Densler
    		2
    		 wf
    		AL/AL/AL



    		John W.
    		4/12 (Feb)
    		 wm
    		AL/AL/AL



    1
    9
    0
    0


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    0
    0
     

    From the 1 Jun 1900 census of Selma, Dallas Co., AL
    Address/
    Res/Fam
    		 Name
    		 Relat
    2HoH
    		 DOB
    		 Race/
    Sex
    		 Age
    		 Marr
    Stat
    		 POB
    S/F/M
    		 Occupation
    		 John M. Gwin Comments

    alley, 1 N. Water
    St./11/11
    		 James J. Barnes
    		 head
    		 Oct 1857
    		 wm
    		 42
    		 m
    		 AL/NC/NC
    		 Lumberman



    		Willie D. Barnes
    		 wife
    		 May 1874
    		 wf
    		 26
    		 m
    		 AL/AL/AL




    		James B. Gwin
    		 lodger
    		 Apr 1872
    		 wm
    		 28
    		 s
    		 AL/AL/England
    		 RR Flagman
    		 This is my grandfather, James Basset Gwin, living on his own, working for the Southern Railway.


    From the 18 Jun 1900 census of Pct. 3, Sacofotay, Coosa Co., AL
    Address/
    Res/Fam
    		 Name
    		 Relat
    2HoH
    		 DOB
    		 Race/
    Sex
    		 Age
    		 MarSta/Yrs.Md./
    Ch.Bn./Lvg.
    		 POB
    S/F/M
    		 Occupation
    		 John M. Gwin Comments
    Name: Ada Vardaman
    Home in
    1900:    		 Socapatoy, Coosa, AL
    Age: 23
    DOB: Feb 1877
    POB: Alabama
    R2HOH: Daughter
    Father: John F Vardaman
    FPOB: Georgia
    Mother: Julia Vardaman
    MPOB: Alabama
    MarStat: Single
    House-
    hold:
    Name Age
    John F Vardaman 65
    Julia Vardaman 59
    Ada Vardaman 23
    Susan Flen 87
    199/207
    		 Thomas J. Webb
    		 head
    		 Nov 1861
    		 wm
    		 38
    		 m/13
    		 AL/GA/AL
    		 merchant
    		 This is Dad's "Uncle Jeff"--timberman, store merchant.

    		Magga M. Webb
    		 wife
    		 Sep 1870
    		 wf
    		 29
    		 m/13/0/0
    		 AL/GA/AL
    		"Aunt Maggie", my grandaunt.

    		 William O. Xavir
    		 boarder
    		 Oct 1865
    		 wm
    		 34
    		 s
    		 SC/MS/SC



    		Harry Gaddis
    		 servant
    		 Jan 1878
    		 bm
    		 22
    		 s
    		 AL/AL/AL
    		 farm laborer

    200/208
    		 John F. Vardaman
    		 head
    		 May 1835
    		 wm
    		 65
    		 m/35
    		 GA/SC/GA
    		 farmer
    		 My g-grandfather, John Forsythe Vardaman

    		Julia Vardaman
    		 wife
    		 Apr 1840
    		 wf
    		 59
    		 m/35/4/4
    		 AL/GA/GA
    		My g-grandmother, Julia Ann (nee Flynn) Vardaman

    		Ada Vardaman
    		 daughter
    		 Feb 1877
    		 wf
    		 23
    		 s

    		Here's Jim B. Gwin's future wife and my future grandmother, Adrian "Ada" Belle Vardaman.

    		Susan Flen
    		 mother-in-law
    		 Jan 1813
    		 wf
    		 87
    		 wd/--/6/4
    		 GA/SC/SC
    		Wonderful! Here is my gg-grandma, Susan Flynn, widow of Benjamin Anderson Flynn, at age 87 reporting she bore SIX children, four of whom still are alive in 1900!

    1
    9
    1
    0

    1
    9
    2
    0

    From the 5 Jan 1920 census of Beat 15, Anniston, Calhoun Co., AL
    Address/
    Res/Fam
    		 Name
    		 Relat
    2HoH
    		 Home
    Status
    		 Race/
    Sex
    		 Age
    		 Marr
    Stat
    		 POB
    S/F/M
    		 Occupation
    		 John M. Gwin Comments

    107 E. 13th St./
    34/39
    		 James B. Gwin
    		 head
    		 Owned
    Firm
    		 wm
    		 47
    		 m
    		 AL/USA/England
    		 Railway Conductor
    		 This is my grandfather, James Basset Gwin, Sr., who would die beneath the wreck of the Southern Railway train running from Marion Junction to Greenville, AL only two years later.


    		Adrian V. Gwin wife
    		wf
    		 42
    		 m
    		 AL/GA/GA




    		James B. Gwin, Jr.
    		 son
    		wm
    		 9
    		 s
    		 AL/AL/GA
    		James Basset Gwin, Jr., Dad's oldest brother; Evelyn's loving husband, Betty's and Juanita's loving father; worked as a respiratory therapist; avocations included genealogist and historian, gardener, illusionist, inventor, craftsman.


    		John V. Gwin son
    		wm
    		 7
    		 s
    		 AL/AL/GA
    		John Vardaman Gwin


    		Julia I. Gwin daughter
    		wf
    		 5
    		 s
    		 AL/AL/GA




    		Adrian S. Gwin son
    		wm
    		 3yr
    3mo
    		 s
    		 AL/AL/GA
    		My father, Adrian Sutton Gwin, named for his grandfather, William Sutton "Sutt" Gwin, who died 11 Sep 1916, the night before Dad was born in Selma, Dallas Co., on 12 Sep 1916.



    1
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    Vardaman from the Beginnings:
    An E.mail from Wanda Lou Kilpatric Slack,
    4 June 2002

    Subject:     Vardaman from the Beginnings
    Received:    6/4/02 11:51 PM
    From:        Wanda Slack, wandaslack@earthlink.net
    To:          John Gwin, jmcdgwin@zianet.com

    Dear John,

    Sharing!  You may Post or delete or save for yourself!  I will send several of these analysis`~~~~Wanda Lou

    Chapter II
    Coosa heritage
    July 1981

     Mr. JAMES B. GWIN of Metairie, LA, one of our newest members, writes that he is a descendant of Coosa County pioneers and has in his possession some memorabilia pertaining to our county's history that he wishes to donate to our museum.  Mr. Gwin states that his mother was raised on the Vardaman farm near Goodwater, Alabama, and relatives are still residing in that area.  We very much appreciate Mr. Gwin and look forward to hearing from him again.  He also states that among his many relics are some records pertaining to the Vardaman family and many names on papers which might be of value to our society.  Mr. Gwin hopes to be able to attend the official opening of our museum.  We trust this date will soon be forthcoming.  Mr. Gwin has prepared a cabinet of artifacts owned by his Confederate grandfather which contains scraps of Confederate history that he brought back from the War.  THANK YOU, MR. GWIN!

    Mr. Gwin is the son of Adrian "Ada" Belle Vardaman who was the daughter of John Forsythe Vardaman, who was the son of Edwy and Lucinda Mauk, early settlers of Coosa County, Alabama.  John Forsythe Vardaman is Mielda Vardaman's brother and great granduncle to the Ralph and Myrtle Kilpatric children.

    THE VARDAMAN FAMILY MUSEUM COLLECTION, A HISTORICAL TREASURE

     A veritable treasure chest is found when you peer into the drawers and behind the doors of the Vardaman family's memorial chest at the Old Rock Jail Museum.  You are swept back back over 140 years in time to the era of the War Between the States, which spanned from 1861 through 1865.  You can also hear the bugles and see the gleaming sabers being unsheathed and held aloft.  You can literally look into the tin-type photographed faces of the men and women who lived in a time, the tales of which still leave us spellbound.

     A beautiful, elaborately scrolled, wooden chest holds the Vardaman family's richly documented contribution to history.  Inscribed in the wood, on the board across the bottom of the chest are the words "This 18"-wide board was cut from the Vardaman plantation around 1920 by Webb Lumber Co., A specimen of the majestic pine timber of Coosa County."  At the top of the chest sets a painting of the Vardaman homestead.

     The information collected within the treasure chest of Vardaman history was taken from the analyses written by the late James Bassett Gwin, Jr.  He chronicled 112 documents, many of then preserved by his mother, who saved pictures and letters, songs, etc. brought home by John Forsythe Vardaman from the Civil War.  Gwin also built the beautiful chest that stores the Vardaman family collection.  He came to Rockford in 1981 for an Arts and Crafts Festival in a Confederate uniform he had made himself, recalled Mary G. Teel, a member of the Coosa County Historical Society.  At that time, he donated the chest and the collection to the Old Rock Jail Museum.

     J. H. ("Jack") Vardaman, Jr., was also, a source of information on the history of his family and their donation to the museum.  He is the great-grandson of Marshall E. and Clara O. ("Odie") Carlisle Vardaman; she was of Mt. Olive.  His parents were Jesse Harris and Elsie Bell Vardaman.  Jack resides in Alpharetta, Georgia, and is a researcher of genealogy.

     This summer (2000) Jack met with the great-great granddaughter of Mielda Vardaman Killpatrick, Wanda Lou Kilpatrick Slack, and her husband Robert, spending three days with them and introducing Wanda Lou to her relatives of the 19th and 20th centuries.  Wanda Lou is writing the history that follows:

     Jack Vardaman met with us in Alexander City, Alabama.  Bob and Wanda travel in an RV and stayed in a campground near Alexander City, Alabama.  They would meet up with Jack those next three mornings at the Hotel Jamison in Alexander City, Alabama.  The three, Bob, Wanda, and Jack, no longer "Strangers in a Box", departed daily for a wild, historical adventure back into the past.

     The first day was spent in Rockford, Alabama, at the Old Rock Jail Museum.  The following information was gleaned from this adventure.

     Ambrotypes of Sergeant John Forsythe Vardaman and other Confederate soldiers were used in a 1978 Confederate Calendar.  Wanda adds, "I do not have a copy of the calendar."  Vardaman's picture was featured in the month of March.  His final service with the Confederacy was in Company G, 2nd. Engineer Regiment, with the Army of Northern Virginia, C.S.A.

    Brandishing his sword, he is pictured wearing a homemade plaid shirt.  Over his left shoulder he wears a wide-strap leather satchel, possibly his courier pouch.  Over his right shoulder is a saber strap that was used to counterbalance the weight of the sword.  He holds the family Bible in his left hand.

     John Forsythe Vardaman, born May 19, 1835, had two brothers, James Mathis Vardaman and William Sanford Vardaman.  They were the children of Edwy Liles Vardaman and Lucinda Mauk Vardaman.   James Mathis served as second musician in Coosa County, M.G. Slaughter's Company, Hilliard's Legion, Company C., Cavalry Batallion.  Sadly, he died in battle ten days before the end of the war.  Only 20 and never married, he died below Petersburg, VA, March 30, 1965, and is assumed to be buried somewhere in that area of Virginia.

     William Sanford was a Private in Company G (Hillebee Blues), 14th Alabama Infantry Regiment.  He died early in the war, May 5, 1862, at the Battle of Williamsburg.  It is assumed he is buried in one of the battlefield cemeteries in the Petersburg/Richmond area.

     John Forsythe Vardaman joined the Confederate Army in Rockford, enlisting in the 5th Batallion of Hilliard's Legion as a scribe, secretary, bookkeeper, as a recruiting officer, and as a courier during General Braggs' invasion of Kentucky.

     Later he saw service in Tennessee.  He was at Chickamauga, Knoxville, Bean Station, and Strawberry Plains.  Before the Georgia Campaign, he was ordered to Virginia and to Captain John Howard's 2nd Engineer Regiment and served until the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox.  Under John F. Vardaman's photograph on display in the museum collection, it is written of him: "Early planter, schoolmaster, Christian layman, Justice of the Peace, Notary Public, and county superintendent of education. (John was a well-read man).

     Colonel John Hunt Morgan, who was killed by the Union Troops while resting in a house in 1864, was the subject of inspiration in a poem likely written by John F. Vardaman.  At the top of the page the words "Camp Enginr. Troops, Blandfort, VA., 1864" are written.  The last verse of this tribute is:

    "Morgan! What a hero!
    How fearless, and yet how benevolent!
    How dashing and yet how firm!
    Cautious but adventuresome!!
    Deceiving, but always gentleman and a star in the 'Lincoln War.'
    Alas he is gone.  Death seeks its victims where e'er they be,
    It matters not on land or sea.

     Other songs or poems brought home by John depict characteristics of the human spirit; they reflect shifting emotions, which will draw a smile or, perhaps, a tear.

     The Sonnets include:  "Root Hog or Die" and "The Southern Wagon".  There are also handwritten lyrics, complete with musical notes of a song about the state of Maryland, "The Bonnie Blue Flags"; a poem regarding the European conflict; and original notes of a song "Good News From Home," dated Feb. 26, 1860.  There are many more songs and poems in the treasure chest of the Vardaman family in the Old Rock Jail Museum, Rockford, Alabama.  The museum is open to the public.   If you are interested in some history of the old south, put this museum on your list of must stop and visit.

    Chapter III

    From Mieldah Vardaman Killpatrick's Memories, a letter she had written to her brother John Forsythe in the 1860's, is as follows.  Wanda Lou Kilpatric Slack has a copy of Mieldah's letter which is safeguarded in the Old Rock Jail Museum in the Vardaman family memorial chest donated to the museum in preservation of history during that period of time.  The chest also contains documents related to the Civil War, brought home by Confederate Sergeant John Forsythe Vardaman, brother of Mieldah.  These documents were preserved by his daughter Ada (Adrian) Vardaman Gwin, and donated by her son James Bassett Gwin, Jr., to the Old Rock Jail Museum located in Rockford, Alabama.  The Coosa County News of Coosa County, Alabama published 3 Volumes of the Vardaman memories: Volume 8, No. 39, dated October 1, 1999; Volume 8, No. 41 dated October 15, 1999; and Vol. 8, No. 42, dated October 22, 1999.

    A part of Mieldah's letter - all that was found was two pages.  Most importantly, it was written and signed by her hand.  Mieldah is the great-great grandmother of the editor of the Kilpatric Happenings document of family genealogy by Wanda Lou Kilpatric Slack.  Mieldah is also great-great grandmother to the 10 children of Ralph Weatherford and Myrtle Florence Sass Kilpatric.

     The following script is similar to Mieldah's handwriting as closely as could be matched from Word Processing fonts.

     (one side of sheet)

    And go subbing and scrubing about get and old hag wife and washing and go through the motion and say we have scourd

    brother my garden has bin like yours not much the ground was good but it was all planted to late for the spring season and dry weather cut every thing off in it I have a few cabage and toberlele good turnips patch we have no sweet potatoes we could not get no seed in the spring so I will have to come to see you to eat sweet potatoes my health is about like it was when I wrote to you last not good  but so much better than when I saw you I can tell just how I am when I don't do nothing but sit and sew ar knit I feel very well I feel like I could do any thing most of the time but I dare not do no  hevy work at all it will put me in the bed quick I can go to see sis every two or three days by taking my time walking slow and teston the way but feel which I start like I could walk it in a few minutes but I do not she lives a little over hald mile if you was to see me to day you would not think but what I could do anything I wanted to I feel well and am hatry and look as well as you have seen me in years and feel to the rest has all had good health except the whooping cough the five youngest children all had it some then had dangerisly bad but have all got about well Ma Carter and sis was here last night they are well they said they would write to you as soon we are all out of paper here

     (other side of sheet)

    and the cholery is raging in all of our inland town such as Huntsville Fayetsville nashville and we country crackers don't visit then at this time so when we get out of anything we do with our and expect to until that disease leaves our there has bin a great dal of sickness here more than has bin in years fore so the old settlers say but very few deaths but sickness very hard I was sorry to here of the death of Mrs burns sis has had very bad heald all of this year every since about six weeks after she was married she was takeing very singerles she walked our one day in her garden to pick some sallet for dinner and was struck with blindness pain in the back and hips and something like gravel and could not stand on her feet a minute and remained in that situation for several weeks her husband brought her home we had to work with her to save her she was long time I thought she wood never get well no more but she is so she can spin some and I am in hopes after a few months she will have her health again but I am afraid that she never will but don't let on to her she has bin very low spirited all the year but one consolation she has as good husband as ever lived I recon so far as bing kind to her he could not be no more so if he just can see  her on her feet or out of bed he is all right he is all  right any how it has bin bad on him I love him he bears his trials with so much patients be sure to write Miedla v Kilpatric, to J. F Vardaman's wife

     Mieldah's letter written in more readable Font------

     (one side of sheet)

    This is the way that Great-great-grandmother Mieldah Vardaman wrote; no punctuation, no paragraphs and spelling like it sounds!  God Bless her!

    And go subbing and scrubing about get and old hag wife and washing and go through the motion and say we have scourd brother my garden has bin like yours not much the ground was good but it was all planted to late for the spring season and dry weather cut every thing off in it I have a few cabage and toberlele good turnips patch we have no sweet potatoes we could not get no seed in the spring so I will have to come to see you to eat sweet potatoes my health is about like it was when I wrote to you last not good  but so much better than when I saw you I can tell just how I am when I don't do nothing but sit and sew or knit I feel very well I feel like I could do any thing most of the time but I dare not do no hevy work at all it will put me in the bed quick I can go to see sis every two or three days by taking my time walking slow and rest on the way but feel which I start like I could walk it in a few minutes but I do not she lives a little over half mile if you was to see me to day you would not think by what I could do anything I wanted to I feel well and am harty and look as well as you have seen min in years and feel to the rest has all had good health except the whooping cough the five youngest children all had it some then had dangerisly bad but have all got about well Ma Carter and sis was here last night they are well they said they would write to you as soon we are all out of paper here

     (other side of sheet)

    and the cholery is raging in all of our inland town such as Huntsville Fayetsville nashville and we country crackers don't visit then at this time so when we get out of anything we do with our and expect to until that disease leaves our there has bin a great deal of sickness here more than has bin in years fore so the old settlers say but very few deaths but sickness very hard I was sorry to here of the death of Mrs burns sis has had very bad health all of this year every since about six weeks after she was married she was takeing it very gingerly she walked out one day in her garden to pick some sallet for dinner and was struck with blindness pain in the back and hips and something like gravel and could not stand on her feet a minute and remained in that situation for several weeks her husband brought her home we had to work with her to save her she was long time I thought she wood never get well no more but she is so she can spin some and I am in hopes after a few months she will have her health again but I am afraid that she never will but don't let on to her she has bin very low spirited all the year but one consolation she has as good husband as ever lived I recon so far as bing kind to her he could not be no more so if he just can see her on her feet or out of bed he is all right he is all  right any how it has bin bad on him I love him he bears his trials with so much patients be sure to write (Mielda V. Kilpatric  to J. F. Vardaman's wife (This is the way it ended)

    #John B. Gwin analyzed  Mieldah's handwriting as being traditional old south talk.  He pointed out the fact that she did not use punctuation.  Her writing indicates that she did receive schooling.  He also made note that he thought that Mieldah was one of John Forsythe's favorite sisters.  She was the eldest child of Edwy and Lucinda Mauk Vardaman.  Mielda married Israel Thomas Kilpatric when she was only 16 years of age.  Israel was 24 years old.  Mieldah and Israel had 12 children.  Mielda died in January of 1884.  She was 58 years of age at death.  Israel was still living in 1900 according to the Madison County Census.  I have not traced down his exact date of death to date.  Mieldah and Israel are both buried in the Concord Presbyterian Church yard Cemetery in Hazel Green, Alabama.  There are headstones.  Israel's headstone is in error. It read Issac T. Kilpatric (d) 1898), I am still searching for date of death. According to the 1900 Census of Madison County, Israel was living with his son-in-law James M. Carter and daughter Minerva Carolina Killpatrick near New Market, Alabama. (Wanda Lou)

    This picture is of Mielda's 6 sisters.  It is thought that this picture was taken perhaps at the funeral of their older sister, our great-great grandmother Mielda Vardaman Killpatrick.  Mielda died in January of 1884 in Madison County, Alabama.

    These are the Vardaman sisters, who were from Coosa County, Alabama.  This photograph is dated around 1990, but if it were at Mielda's funeral it would be 1884.  The sisters are not all identified, but the one I have named them in order of their seated and standing alignment,  (L-R)

    Cynthia M. Hannon born Aug 5, 1859,  Meriwether, GA. Died June 13, 1905, buried at Rock Springs Baptist Church Cemetery, Clay County, Alabama;

    Frances Cemyra House was born January 11, 1831 in Meriwether, GA.  Died May 2, 1910,

    Mary Bruce Adair born April 18, 1832 in Meriwether County, GA, Died May 2, 1909,

    Zilphia "Puss" Tomme Holloway McPhail, born November 1, 1936 and died May 24, 1922 and is buried at Hatchet Creek Presbyterian Church Cemetery in Clay County, Alabama;  (note) Zilphia Vardaman was the second wife of John McLean  McPhail.  They were married at the residence of the bride's father, E. L. Vardaman.  Zilphia was named for one of her aunts, Zilphia Vining who first married Joseph Tomme and, after his death, Anthony Holloway.  Zilphia had no children of her own but raised John McPhail's 2 sons from his first marriage;  (standing - left

    Adeline Elizabeth Vardaman born November 14, 1843 in Meriwether, GA, never married and died March 25, 1923.  She is buried at the Rock Springs Baptist Church Cemetery in Clay County, Alabama. 

    Annie Lovedia Vardaman born October 25, 1945 in Merriwether, GA and died August 31, 1922 and is buried at Rock Springs Baptist Church Cemetery in Clay County, Alabama. (Note)  Jack's Vardaman's note has Annie Lovedia married to Benjamin Franklin Luker on February 29, 1873.  I need to ask Jack about that.)

     Other artifacts displayed in the treasure chest are:

    =A watch winding key of Edwy L. Vardaman, John's father who was born in 1804.
    =A cap box bullet from Appomattox
    =A notary public seal plate of John F. Vardaman's and the document proclaiming him notary public, stamped March 1878, and signed by Governor R. K. Boyd
    +The leather folder which John F. Vardaman brought back from the war
    +An ornate, polished wooden walking cane that belonged to John F. Vardaman
    and many other artifacts.
     

    John, The part about Mieldah's letter would be great to go in the Israel Thomas and Mieldah Vardaman Kilpatrick Genealogy! Think?  Wanda Lou

    Analysis of Document 102 by James B. Gwin

    This is a batch of photographs of Mrs. Ada Vardaman and her children.  Tin type and another very old paper photo was taken when she was a girl in Coosa County, Ala.  Others were taken of her when she was a young lady and after she married, old gfe, etc.

    Ada was the daughter of John Forsythe Vardaman and Julia Flynn Vardaman, and she was born and raised in Coosa County, Ala.  Buried in Smyrna Churchyard, Coosa County, Alabama.

    Ada Vardaman          Ada & Maggie 1944          Mrs. James Bassett Gwin, Jr.

     Adrian ("Ada") Vardaman Gwin, daughter of John F. Vardaman and Julia Ann Flynn Vardaman.  Their other children were Marshall Everett, John William Anderson, and Maggie Mae Vardaman who married Thomas Jefferson Webb. Of Kellyton, and Ada Bell (Adrian) who married James Bassett Gwin, formerly of Shelby County, Alabama.  Their son James Bassett Gwin, Jr., was the benefactor for the Vardaman collection of historical artifacts at the Old Rock Jail Museum in Rockford, Alabama.

    I will stop here. But these pictures just grabbed me in a strange and wonderful way.  I felt as though these ancestors were with me!

    I will send more - if you like - if you don't, I will send anyway! HO Hum!

    Wanda Lou

    Look who's talkin'

    Leo's are showoffs - God loves me, too!