In the picture, the lady on the left with my mom and dad is my Aunt Artie Durham Johnson. She was born in 1893, a few years before my mom and dad. . She married Dad’s older half brother, Uncle Elvin Durham, 1887-1926. I never knew Uncle Elvin because he had passed away before I was born, and I do not have a photograph of him. But I was told he was a teacher and that he and Aunt Artie lived on Ragged Ridge when they were first married. This picture, about 1966, is a good depiction of my aunt’s personality. She was personable and pleasant just as she appears to be in the photo. I wish all our email group could have known her.
My older siblings, especially my sister Hazel, really loved Aunt Artie and looked forward to her visits. Probably just about anybody familiar with the losses my aunt faced would have admired her, too. Family history from the 1900’s can involve a lot of sadness when enfant mortality and pandemics were the common lot. Aunt Artie and Uncle Elvin’s first child died very young. A few years later, they lost one daughter (13) to typhoid. Just 3 months afterward, Uncle Elvin himself died of typhoid. To make a time of grief even more complex, Aunt Artie was pregnant at the time of his death. Elvin Jr., was born five months later in December.
I can’t explain how Aunt Artie found the strength to carry on and take care of her remaining six children. She must have prayed to God over and over to help bring her and her young ones through the struggle. Her oldest child Carlos, was only twelve at the time. In spite of what had to be shattering grief, Aunt Artie did not give up. I remember how Hazel used to speak of the whole family with respect. My mother would have said it this way, “They had grit.”
I believe life did improve for her family when Aunt Artie married Mr. George Johnson, a single parent with young children himself. Together they merged their families into one new household of good people in Lincoln County. We didn’t know if she would bring her family back to see us, but she did. And some time we would go to see them as well. I have one early memory of a visit there. I had never seen bee hives before, and I didn’t know what those little “houses” in their back yard were, but I thought they were cute. I noticed that bees kept going and coming, and I knew bees could sting. I was just old enough to know I’d better not go too close.
A few years later Carlos, Aunt Artie’s son, married Mr. Johnson’s daughter, Della Johnson. One of Della and Carlos’ first homes was the farm adjoining our farm. To this day the house still stands. Maybe you have visited the site with Donald on one of his famous hayrides. It is past the pond, on past the woods, and on to the top the hill. You can see it through the trees in the winter. Carlos and Della were good neighbors. Carlos seemed to love to spend time talking with Dad especially. Even after they moved away, for many years Carlos and Della came back to our reunions