| Page Updated: 2020-05-04 |
| Main Menu: |
Pedigree Home |
MyKinFolks.org |
Photos & Documents | About |
|
MyKinFolks.org
(click for a larger image)
Maud Kelly's 1942 letter about a visit from my grandparents
(click for a larger image)
Maud Kelly's 1942 letter about a visit from my grandparents
Below is a transcription of Maud's 1942 letter with links to references below explaining it in more detail.
(1) Tues., Nov. 17, 1942.
Dear Dick:- Oma Vincent, Cousin Oakley's wife (2), has been here to-day, and had lunch with me. we have set next Tuesday, Nov. 24th, for us to go find "Grandpa" Vincent's grave. (3) She and Cousin Oakley will go from Calera either by bus or train. If by bus, they will call you from the bus station. If they have not phoned you by the time to meet the upbound L.&N., you are to meet it. I will come over by the morning bus, and will bring some films. Please have my kodak ready, so I can take pictures. (4) Then we will also go to Talladega, and will see Cousin Oma's mother, who is Fanny Pace, granddaughter of Dredzil Evans Pace. (5) Her mother is first cousin of "Cousin" John Haynes in Montgomery, and she thinks her mother has an old Pace Bible. She has lent me an Old Vincent Bible, but it is too faded to read much with the naked eyes. I am wondering about infra-red rays. (6) Leonie had her 82nd birthday yesterday. (7) So she has now started in her 83rd year. Milner (8) has been changed from morale officer to a staff place,- "Plans & Training" I believe is his assignment. Sarah (9) was here to-day and says that Dick Kelly is being moved out, destination not stated. I'll see you next Tuesday morning, as stated above. with love, Maud.
P.S. It may be that they will have to spend the night, but I think they may come on over to B'ham with me. Unless they come quite early in the morning, there would not be time to get them off on the down train, would there? Grandpa is buried near Renfroe, at "Rosum? Church"? (10) |
References:
(1) Maud Kelly
Maud Kelly (1887-1973) wrote this letter to her brother, Richard Kelly, Jr. (1891-1977), during WWII just 9 days before Thanksgiving Day.
(2) Oma and Oakley Vincent
Oma Seay(1888-1955) and Oakley Vincent (1870-1955) are my grandparents, my "Mammaw" and "Pawpaw." At the time of their meeting, Mammaw was 54, Pawpaw was 72, Richard Kelly was 51, and Maud was 55 years old. My grandparents were retired and the Kellys were close to retirement. Senator Kelly was a Captain in WWI, had served in the Alabama House of Representatives in the 1930s, and would be elected to the Alabama State Senate in 1943.
Maud McLure Kelly was the first woman to practice law in the state of Alabama. An award, named after her, is given by the University of Alabama Law School to worthy female graduates.
Maud and Richard were closely related to Oakley. Their mother, Leona Bledsoe Kelly, was Oakley's 1st cousin. Oma's mother, Fannie Pace (mentioned in the letter), was Maud and Richard's 3rd cousin.
(3) John and his children, Aaron Vincent & Louisa Vincent Bledsoe
"Grandpa Vincent" mentioned in this letter was the main purpose of the trip. They were speaking of John Vincent (1787-1871). John and his wife, Nicey Hawes (1794-1851) had 16 children. Their 14th child was Aaron Vincent (1835-1901) who was Oakley's father. Their 15th child was Louisa Vincent Bledsoe (1837-1898). Aaron and Louisa had gotten to be especially close after the Civil War. He lost everything he had and she lost her husband so Aaron and his family moved in with her for a while following the war.
Louisa was Maud and Richard's grandmother. They wanted to mark the grave of Louisa's father, John Vincent, but weren't sure where his grave was. Oakley showed them the location during this trip, they brought a shovel and placed the tombstone while they were there.
(4) Photos
Maud talked about taking pictures in her letter. CLICK HERE to view two of these photos from Kelly research notes kept by Maud and her sister Marion. The man holding the shovel in the bottom photo is Richard.
(5) Dredzil Pace, Fannie Pace, and Amie Pace Kelly
Maud mentions Dredzil Evans Pace (1805-1852) who was Fannie Pace's grandfather. Oma's mother, Fannie Walker Pace (1861-1947) who is mentioned in Reference Note #2 above is discussed in this paragraph of Maud's letter. Both Oma and Richard's father descended from Drury Pace (1745-1801), Dredzil Pace's grandfather. Richard's paternal grandmother was Amie Elizabeth Pace who married Samuel Camp Kelly. Amie and Dredzil Pace were 1st cousins.
I have no idea who "Cousin John Haynes of Montgomery" is. Further research is needed. He must also be a Pace descendant. Maud's letter says Fannie may have had an old "Pace Bible." If so, we don't know what may have happened to it. An early 1800s Pace Family Bible was donated to Auburn University but the people in it don't appear to be closely related to us. I have a photocopy of it. You can order one also from the Auburn University Library but I do not consider it worthwhile. Very little of it has significance to our Pace line. CLICK HERE for a synopsis of what you'll receive if you order a copy.
(6) 1828 Vincent Family Bible
The "Old Vincent Bible" Maud mentioned is the Vincent Family Bible printed in 1828 that I donated to Samford University Library.
CLICK HERE for the complete story of the old Bible with photos showing the faded pages Maud mentioned. No one has ever tried to have the faded pages analyzed professionally but I did once photograph them using an ultra-violet lamp. It did not help. Brigham Young University in Provo, UT and the Church History Department of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City, UT, use multi-spectral analysis for faded pages. It's a technology where a faded page is photographed using white light, infra-red, ultra-violet, etc. then merging the various spectrums using photo editing technology to read the page.
(7) Leonie
Leona Bledsoe "Leonie" Kelly (1860-1945) was Maud and Richard's mother. She was the 1st cousin of my grandfather, Oakley Vincent.
(8) Milner
This was during WWII. William Milner Kelly (1898-1970) was Maud and Richard's baby brother. Milner graduated from the University of Alabama where he played End on the 1921 & '22 winning varsity football teams. He served in the Alabama National Guard in 1913, the U.S. Army in 1918. He was the director of the Alabama Cattlemen's Association. His son, William Milner Kelly, Jr. (1927-2012) was a decorated Navy commander who served in WWII, Korea, and Vietnam.
(9) Sarah Irvin Bullock & and Dick Kelly Irvin
When Maud says, "Sarah was here today", she speaking of her sister Marion's daughter, Sarah Irvin (1911-1994). "Dick Kelly" was Sarah's brother, Richard Kelly Irvin (1915-2002), another member of the Kelly clan who was a decorated veteran. He served in Patton's 3rd Army in Europe, was commander of a POW camp in Sulzback, Germany, and later under Douglas MacArthur's occupation army in Yokohama, Japan after WWII. He received a Bronze Star while serving during the Korean War.
(10) 'Rosum' Church
I can't help but smile when I read in Maud's letter where it says, "Grandpa is buried near Renfroe, at 'Rosum? Church'?" That's the way my grandmother said 'Rosin' with an 'n' (keep reading for the explanation).
My Aunt Evelyn would pronounce it the same way. She called it "Rosum Hill" and said that was the name of the church. In her conversation with Oma, Maud Kelly was repeating to Richard what she had heard Oma say -- that John Vincent (1787-1871) was buried at "Resin Hill" (as in pine resin) except they pronounced it "Rawsun" or "Rosum." Ha-ha. My, how the pronunciation of words have changed over the years.
I wrote the church to find out where the name came from. They told me that church members had cleared a bunch of yellow pines to build the church. One Sunday, a church member sat on a pine stump and got pine resin all over his nice clothes. From then on, it became 'Rosun Hill' Church no matter what the official name was.
The official church name today is "Salem Presbyterian Church." CLICK HERE to read the full history of the church.
Final Details
The only transportation mentioned in Maud's letter is by bus or train. Oakley and Oma never owned a car and could not drive. He got around locally either by walking, riding their mule, or by mule wagon. As a retiree from the railroad, he and Oma cold travel by rail anywhere they wanted in the U.S. or Canada for free. Oma would telephone a relative or friend, plan a visit, then have that relative or friend pick her up at the local train station. She travelled all over the country that way.
Sometimes they would take the bus to Birmingham. If travel was closer, they would take the electric street car which I can recall from when I was a child growing up in the 1950s. Street car routes were referred to as "car lines" and were all over Jefferson County, Alabama. "Carline Ave" in Birmingham can still be found with a Google Maps search. I remember as a child going shopping with my Aunt Evelyn. We walked to the nearest car line and took the street car there and back. I remember it was noisy, jerking, and sparks flew everywhere as the rooftop electrical connector bounced from one wire to another.
When I asked Aunt Evelyn about bus routes, she said her parents would sometimes take the Greyhound bus to Birmingham. She said back then the buses and trains had regular stops at outlying communities.