Bell Camp: Day One

Day one consisted of cemetery/house hopping.

Our first stop was the Oconee Hill Cemetery. It’s a lovely, historic cemetery and the setting for a book called The Song of Daniel by Philip Lee Williams. It is a huge place and I had no clue how to find my relatives except for a photo I had of some steps with my great-grandparents’ names on them. I had the kids and Chuck on the lookout for Baileys and not only did they find some, but also some Eberharts, Seagraves, Bells plus a few other names that the kids thought were funny. It was the photo that saved the day – we found the steps and then nearby the graves we were searching for. I was so excited!

I had not been to the cemetery since 2000 for Aunt Marie’s funeral. Our little Juliette Marie is named after her as am I and my cousin Susan and my daughter, Leah. Juliette is also named for her mom, Claire Marie, her Noni and two great-grandmothers on her Mom’s side. We are all MARIE STRONG!!

 

I found the resting places of my grandmother and great-grandparents, also. We found a random Sorrells headstone, which is how my husband and I are connected, but that’s another story for another day.

 

Great-great-great grandparents Sim and Lucy Bailey

The next stop was the Friendship Baptist Cemetery in Danielsville. This is where Dad’s parents, grandparents, and other relatives are buried. I remember going here a few times as a kid when Mom and Dad would bring flowers and clean up the area a little bit. I also found the graves of Uncle (Give me some sugar) Eugued and Aunt Mabel Nash. Huff is a another family name and there were Huffs buried there, including my great-grandmother Annie Tallulah Huff Graham.

 

There’s a great story about one relative named Peter Hoff/Huff. Way back in the day, Peter Huff was a bootlegger who went by the name of Pint Peter since he supplied the pints for discreet drinkers in the area. When the government came in to put in a post office, they asked the people what to name the area. They said Pint Peter, but a misunderstanding resulted in it becoming Point Peter. Using gps, we were able to find the location, but the area is now referred to as the Glade. However, we did find a road sign, which led down a dirt road to a quarry.

 

We headed back to Athens for lunch at The Varsity.

 

After lunch we located three old family houses in Athens. The first was on Sylvia Circle where we lived when I was about two. Again, it was a photo that led us to the correct house. The next was Grandma’s place on Vine Circle. It looked very much like I remembered it.  The last was a house where my great-grandmother Lucy lived in the 1940s. I found the address on a letter that was in a box of letters Mom had saved. I also have a picture of Lucy sitting on the steps of that very house which was built in the 1920s. I wanted so badly to go up and knock on the door, but I settled for taking a picture from the car window.

 

That night we once again walked to Mellow Mushroom for supper. Hey, if it ain’t broke…

Artist at work in Mellow Mushroom

Day one of Bell camp was full of family history and a walk down memory lane for me.

Scooter and playground break

 

 

 

Family Reunion

On June 22 we had a Bryan/Bailey reunion. It was the first one ever for these two groups, but it turned out to be all Bryans – the Baileys were all interconnected to the Bryans as we had no Baileys in attendance outside my grandmother’s line. This was also the first reunion in 10 years and the first one ever for my grandchildren and daughter-in-law. It was a wonderful time of connecting and reconnecting.

Aunt Betty, at 92, was the oldest one there. She is still very much “with-it”. She gets around remarkably well, has no hearing loss and little memory loss. I visited her this past March and thoroughly enjoyed our time together. We talked about a lot of family history as I was full of questions. We also, along with my cousin Melanie, worked together to finish a puzzle she had started of the state of Georgia.

Aunt Betty, 92, with her nephew Johnny

My cousin, Susan, had the most descendants present at the reunion: her two sons and three of her four  grandchildren. Her son, Randall, who is a pastor, asked the blessing before we dug into what was a vast amount of food. Cousin Linda’s Pecan Chess Bars were to die for!

I met cousins Kathi and Kim for the first time. They flew down from Illinois. There just wasn’t enough time to spend getting to know them better, but it was wonderful to hug them instead of just messaging via facebook.

 

Kathi, Kim, me

Cousin Johnny, his wife Mary Lou, and granddaughter Sarah came the farthest – all the way from San Antonio, Texas!

I realize this post may not interest anyone outside the family. I just wanted to share a little. If you have Family Reunion experiences, please share in the comments.