Genevieve was hidden in the group photo.  Here is a photo with her in it.  Yeah, Genevieve!!!

Family Reunion 2012

Greetings, Griggs Family!

It has been a couple of years since we last posted anything on the blog.  On May 18th, we had a family reunion at the Lakeview Country Club in Hartsville SC.  It was a wonderful day, visiting with family and getting some good eatin' southern family style.  Also, the kids had a great time on the playground and visiting on the lake around the clubhouse was fun.  Jenkins had everyone get up and introduce their part of the family and he read some of what we have written on the family.  When Howard got up, Bessie announced that Howard and she have been married for 72 years.  How remarkable is that!!!!
Jenkins also told talked about the progress on the family pavilion.  Billy, Raymond and Jenkins planted 200+ long leaf pines on the property and hope to get 500 total planted.  Also Kyle is looking into seeing if we can clean up the property where the Teal family is buried and to put a fence around it.

It was a fantastic time for all as you can see from the group photo below!!!  Thanks to Martin Pate (Nena's son-in-law) for taking this fabulous photo.  Lots of smiling faces and lots of young people.

Also here are other photos taken at the reunion.  If you took any photos, please pass them along and we will post them.  Also if you have old family photos or a family story, we are delighted to add them.  All you young ones, should ask your parents and grandparents to tell a family story which we can post!!!



PLEASE PUT NEXT YEAR'S REUNION DATE ON YOUR CALENDAR: MAY 18, 2013
The attendees voted to have the reunion at the same place next year on May 18th, 2013.  Reservations and a deposit have already been made!  It will be at the Lakeview Country Club, 401 Springwood Drive, Hartville, SC.  Dinner will be potluck again and we only ask that you bring the serving utensils.  Look forward to seeing you next year!!!

Reflecting on Early Childhood Memories of My Happy Visits

The sketch at the right is of the Griggs homeplace as drawn from the memory of BG Griggs. The sketch was drawn by LeVoid Davis for Lidge Johnson, son of Grace Griggs, youngest daughter of Burrell and Mima Griggs.

The following was written by Clarice Howle Watson Parker. She is the daughter of Teadie Irene Griggs, the eldest child of Burrell and Mima Griggs. It was written as a tribute to the dedication of the monument and pavilion at the old Griggs homestead. (Photo of Teadie, Tom and Baxter Howle, 1916)

We grow up living such busy lives, we seldom take time to convey stories and events that connect us to our past and future generations. Writing down incidents and events that occurred during the early years is one way to insure that our children and grandchildren have a link to their family’s past.

When I was very young, I can’t recall my age at the time, I asked my mother if I could go spend a week with my grandmother and the answer was “no”! Being a determined head strong child, I kept nagging my mom until one day she gave in. I could go, but with the condition that I would have to stay two weeks instead of one. I thought at the time this would be wonderful! (Teadie Irene Griggs standing outside of the old Griggs home with Fumiko Howle, Edith Howle, Janet, Joe and Eva Aguiar).

Everything was wonderful until the end of the first week. I became so home sick I was miserable; my heart ached; I wanted to see my sister Edna Rae so badly, (she was always my guardian angel and I loved her very much). With thirteen months between us, we were almost like twins, and of course I wanted to see my Mama. My mother would not give in and I had to stay another week.

My grandmother, Aunt Grace and Aunt Kate tried real hard to make my last week enjoyable. The lesson I learned from this experience is that my mother meant what she said, regardless. Visiting my grandparents with other grandchildren was a happy time for all of us.

While I was spending my two weeks at my grandparents, early in the morning before anyone was up, I could hear them reading the Bible and discussing the scriptures. This was done before the huge fire place which was in the kitchen area. There was a huge mantle over it which held the big clock, snuff boxes, matches, keys, etc. My grandparents were God fearing people and very active in the Brown Springs Baptist Church. (Teadie Irene Griggs in the left photo)

Grandmother was superintendent of Sunday School and when Edna Rae and I were there together visiting, she would ask us to sing in church. I remember one song, the title was, “You Got to Walk That Lonesome Valley”. I wish I had a recording of that! Edna Rae sang alto and I sang soprano.

On one of my visits I was playing in the front yard one afternoon and a big truck came in the yard with an organ on it. Everyone there came running out so excited! It was unloaded and placed in the living room. Aunt Grace and Aunt Kate were very excited. Both of them could play, but Aunt Grace played better than Aunt Kate. She played at church every Sunday. After supper at night everyone one gathered in the living room and we sang hymns. I guess that is where I found my love for music!

On Grandpa’s farm, there were apple trees, pecan trees, a large grape arbor and a huge cane patch. There was a large fenced in garden with all kinds of vegetables for our meals and for canning. Grandmother’s pantry was filled with all kinds of vegetables, pickles, relishes, preserves, etc. I remember going to the gardens and helping my Grandma gather vegetables for the day’s meal.

Grandpa also grew cotton, corn, tobacco, sweet potatoes, Irish potatoes, and hay for feed for the mules, cows, and hogs. In the kitchen area there were two big barrels, one for flour and one for corn meal. There was also a big lard can and a long slim table where grandma made bread.

My grandparents boarded a couple of school teachers; they occupied the room off to the side of the front porch. One of the teachers was Mary Bryant from Dovesville, S.C. She was a cousin of Grandma’s. Every morning my grandmother with the help of Aunt Grace and Aunt Kate made lunch for everyone going to school. Looking back now, I wonder how my grandmother did all that work. One thing is sure, every child had chores to do and they were done!

I remember one time Mary Bryant was the only teacher staying there that year and Uncle Bill was having a problem with reading, so she said she would help him, and she did. Every night I remember hearing them in the living room after I was bed. Free tutoring! I also remember that Uncle B.G and Bill were invited to home to Dovesville for a week with her. Grandma packed their bags with their best clothes. (I need to talk to B.G. about this). By the way, Cat Pond School, where we attended was the community school. I still wonder why it was named, “Cat Pond”. Could be that was where stray cats were dropped off.

Before I was old enough to go to school, Grandma would let me go to school with Miss Bryant and stay all day. I remember sitting by her desk in a chair. She would always give me something to keep me busy. I believe Grandpa was a board member of that school. My grandfather was a hard working man. He was a tall, slim man. I can’t recall him ever being stout. Grandmother was a little on the heavy side and as a young child, I loved sitting in her lap as she sang songs to me. Her lap was soft and her arms were loving. I know I was special to her because of her many expressions of love. (Clarice as a young lady in Hartsville in the right photo).

Grandpa was hard on his children in that he wanted them to grow up, get an education and be dependable and respectful to others. In those days so many children had to sacrifice education for labor on the farm. Just about everything that could provide food for families was raised on the farm. Therefore, there was no hired labor, it was provided by the children in the home and neighbors willing to pitch in.

The gardens in the spring and summer were filled with vegetables of all kinds. This provided an abundance of canned goods for the winter. Hogs raised would fill the big smoke house as sausage, ham, cracklins, and backbones would be made and cured. Fat was trimmed from every piece of meat and cooked out to make lard for bread and cooking. Corn provided grits and meal; and field peas grew in the corn field. These were dried to provide food for the table. Butter beans that dried on the vines were gathered for winter meals. Sweet potatoes were planted and harvested and placed in the potato bank for protection from the winter cold.

Cows provided milk and butter. Several dozen chickens made many Sunday dinners very special. Only thing, the children seldom ever had a choice piece. The adults ate first and children last taking the smaller portions, but we never complained. We had grape arbors which grew the biggest, juiciest grapes ever. They made jelly and preserves. I remember Aunt Grace and Aunt Kate slipped around and even made some wine with the grapes. Grandpa never knew about that! Grandpa never allowed onions to be planted anywhere. He said the hogs wouldn’t eat them. Aunt Grace had some in the corner of the garden and Grandpa pulled them up.

Sugar cane provided syrup for the family…molasses. In the winter time turnips and collards were favorite vegetables. Geese, ganders, and guineas gave us feathers for the feather beds we slept on. Our clothes were boiled in an iron pot and came out white as snow. Shirts were starched and pillow cases and table cloths were starched and ironed. Grandmother spent many hours at the sewing machine making everyone’s clothes.

Our water came from a big pump at the edge of the front yard. There was also a pump on the back porch by the kitchen. This was shaded by a very large fig tree. Peanuts were planted and everyone enjoyed them. Pecans from the trees were used in cooking and eating. We ate very healthy. We had all the fruits and vegetables we needed. 4


The Secret I Kept

I cannot recall my age, but I know I had to be able to write. One day when there was no one around the house but my grandmother and me, she said, “I want you to go to the toilet, (out house), with me. I want you to write a letter for me”. So, we went down past the cane patch to the toilet. This was a big “two holer” and she sat on one side and I on the other. She said that she wanted me to write a letter for her and she wanted me to promise not to tell anyone about it. I promised her I would not tell.

The letter was addressed to President Franklin D. Roosevelt. I do not remember the wording but it was about the fact that they were in danger of losing the farm and she was pleading with him to please make it possible for this not to happen. She signed the letter and I addressed it and took it up to the mail box, put the flag up and ran back to the house. This was on the main road above their house. Through the years I have kept this secret, not telling anyone until Pete, Jr. and I were talking and I shared this with him. He asked me to write down all of my memories about my grandparent’s life on their farm. How I wish I had taken the time to write down special sayings, jokes, etc., to share with my family.

My grandparents were hardworking, God fearing people who strived to make life better and worth living. My grandfather walked from his home to the Byerly Hospital where I worked as a nurse and operating room assistant. He was sick and it was early in the morning. I was on night duty at the time. The clinic nurse came to my floor and told me that my grandfather had asked for me, he was in the emergency room.

I went up there and he took my hand and held it. I can’t remember what was said and I didn’t know the seriousness of his condition at the time. I will never forget how his hands felt so gnarled from all of the hard work that he had done all of his life for his family.

Burrell G. and Jemima Ann (Mima) Griggs

On February 13, 1894 when Burrell and Jemima Ann ‘Mima’ were married, he was not quite twenty-two years old and she was not quite fifteen years old. However, it proved to be a great marriage considering that they lived together forty-one years until Mima’s death on January 30, 1935. They lived in the home they built for themselves, farmed the same land she was born on, and raised to adulthood eleven of their twelve children. There were no records of them ever living any place else. They took no long vacation nor traveled to other states or countries. They let the world and, whatever else they desired, come to them. Theirs was not only a good marriage, but a productive one as well. Their children were:

• Teadie Irene – Born August 13, 1896; died May 16, 1970. She married Jessie Lewis. When Jessie died she married Thomas Epaphroditus ‘Tom’ Howle. After Tom’s death, she married George Porter.
• Clarence Leroy – Born July 31, 1897; died March 11, 1920
• Amanda Lucille – Born September 11, 1900; died January 8, 1960. She married William Alfred Griggs
• Pauline – Born June 14, 1902; died January 23, 1986. She married Charlie Dewitt Chapman
• Maude – Born July 15, 1905; died January 8, 1970. She married Marion Pete Brunson
• Ruth – Born April 1, 1908; died June 29, 1974. She married Clarence LeRoy Moore, then at Clarence’s death, she married Dewey Jones
• Sonny – Born July 23, 1910; died February 7, 1912
• Madge – Born July 19, 1911; died December 23, 1992. She married Willie Gadi Chapman
• Kate Belle– Born November 12, 1912; died October 13, 1999; She married Bealer Dixon
• Grace – Born July 16, 1914; died January 3, 1999. She married Ollie Johnson
• Burrell G. – Born August 17, 1915; died August 13, 2008. He married Ara McFarland.
• William (Bill) – Born September 22, 1918; died January 7, 1977. He married Cecile Griggs.

Sisters with Mima (Mima - front; LtoR Mandy, Teadie Irene, Grace, Maude, Madge, Ruth, Pauline, Kate)

Maude Griggs Brunson, Bobbie Griggs Benoit and Margie Chapman Watson at Burrell's House

BG as a child

The first home that Burrell and Mima established was in a small log house located near the home of her parents, Mary and John A. Teal. It was on the land that Mary had inherited from her first husband, Alexander Clark. Later they moved to what we call the ‘old home place’ on Reedy Branch where they built their home. Later Burrell dismantled this house and moved it piece by piece to a new location on the farm. This is the same house Uncle BG and his wife, Ara, lived in after their marriage. Photo from left to right: Teadie Irene, Jemima Ann, Amanda, Burrell, Pauline, Clarence

The Burrell Griggs home place was always a beehive of activity. The house itself was not large or impressive. It started out as a small two or three room home, typical of other Southern country homes of the time. As children were born, rooms were added around the original house. There was no electricity, no running water – none of the conveniences of the modern world that we take for granted today. A wood burning stove was the only major appliance in the house. The house still provided a comfortable place to raise a large family, welcome visitors, and occasionally house school teachers who taught the Griggs children at the Cat Pond School. The summertime routine, as remembered and told to us by Uncle B.G. was as follows: "Around 4am, Pa and Ma would get up and start a fire in the stove. They then would read the Bible together, and for about an hour they would discuss what they had read. No doubt they would also discuss the children and the day’s activities. Pa then would go out to feed the mules and other livestock while Ma prepared the family’s breakfast. The family always had three cooked meals each day. For breakfast we had grits, eggs, pork meat, such as ham, sausage, side meat (bacon) or canned meat. We had berries and fruit in season and dried fruit, milk, biscuits, honey, syrup, and jelly.

1932 Party

The noon meal was ready about 11:30. It would be vegetables, biscuits, some kind of meat like chicken, pork, beef, wild meat and sometimes fish. We also are a lot of canned salmon, milk and buttermilk. Water was the normal drink. Evening meals were similar to the noon meal. We also ate cornbread and gravies. There were never many leftovers because all was eaten at each meal.

After breakfast everyone that was old enough went to work in the fields or at other assigned tasks. The major cash crop was cotton until later when tobacco was introduced. In addition Pa would cut cross ties for the railroad and poplar blocks. These items were sold for cash money. Pa was an expert when it came to picking out logs. No one was better. He could tell you how the tree would split. He later became involved in the production of turpentine.

The garden produced all types of vegetables. There were grape vines and fruit and nut trees. When not busy harvesting and preserving the garden products, the family was drying and canning food for future use. If extra food wasn’t canned, it was dried or placed in a hill such as a potato hill, to protect it during the winter months. Some potato hills had doors, but most did not. These weren’t ‘broken into’ until deep winter. Greens were raised in the winter months to provide for the winter food staple. There were kale, cabbage, collards and turnips in winter.

To provide meat for the family ten to fifteen large (200-250 pounds) hogs were slaughtered each year. They were not killed at the same time. Along about the middle of September Ma would request the first hog to be killed. Most of it would be used right away or would not be cold enough to salt it down. Then around Thanksgiving, five hogs would be killed and the meat would be salted and sugar cured using pepper and other spices and sometimes smoked. We also canned a lot of meat. The other hogs were killed later for fresh meat. There were no meat markets. The family always had lots of food. Corn was taken to Wilk’s Mill and ground into grits or cornmeal.

At 11:30am the family would all gather for the noon meal. After the meal was completed, Pa and Ma would go outside into the yard and each would lie down beneath a different tree and rest until about 2:00pm. Then they would return to their respective jobs until about one hour before sunset when everyone would return to the house in preparation for the supper meal. The stock would be fed, cows milked and all the animals secured in their pens for the night. Then the supper would be eaten after which the family would prepare for bed.”

This routine will seem boring today, but then it was necessary for the survival of the whole family.

Judging from the family they raised on very limited resources, Burrell and Mima Griggs were apparently a cut above the average parents of that time. At a time when life was extremely hard on most people in the South Carolina sand hills, the Griggs were doing relatively well with their cash producing ventures, garden grown food and meat preservation. There were many hams stored in the smokehouse. One time a man who worked on the farm stole a large number of them and carried them to Florence in a wagon. Someone told Burrell about it and he was able to follow the thief’s wagon wheel tracks to retrieve the stolen meat. There were so many hams curing in the smokehouse that he hadn’t noticed any were missing. Burrell was a natural planner, organizer and doer who was guided by deep religious principles and strong work ethics.

A great deal of credit belongs to Sarah P. (Aunt Sally) and J. Warren Johnson who raised Burrell. Sarah was called Aunt Sally by Burrell’s children, but she really was his first cousin. She was the daughter of his mother’s sister Elizabeth who married James P. Polk. It is also fitting to note that Burrell is buried very close to Sarah P and J. Warren Johnson in the Cedar Creek Church Cemetery less than a quarter of a mile from where he was raised. Once he married Mima Teal, it appears that his life revolved around the Teal family rather than his Griggs family. An exception is his relation to ‘Dink’ Griggs who was married to Burrell’s sister-in-law, Sarah Margaret Teal. They lived next door to Cedar Creek Church. We hope to expand this narrative on Burrell and Mima Griggs at a later date; however, it is fitting to close this chapter with the epitaphs carved on their grave stones:

Uncle Dink & Aunt Sarah Margaret 1950

Mima
We had a precious treasure one.
She was our joy and pride.
We loved her, perhaps too well.
Lonely are our hearts today,
For the lone we loved so dearly
Has forever passed away.

Burrell
To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die.

Burrell G. Griggs (Paternal Side)

Burrell G. Griggs, was born May 14, 1872 in Chesterfield County, SC and died July 24, 1939. He is buried beside his wife, Jemima ‘Mima’ Ann in the Cedar Creek Church cemetery in Chesterfield County, SC.

His mother was Ann Eliza Griggs, born December 10, 1853, and died September 12, 1913 in Chesterfield Country SC. Ann Eliza’s father was Lemuel ‘Lam’ or ‘Lamb’ Griggs who was born in 1805 and died in 1890. Her mother was Mary Ann Lundy, born December 6, 1816 in Darlington County, SC, the daughter of James Lundy. The 1850 US Census lists her as Mary Ann Lundy, 34 years of age – wife of Lemuel Griggs, 46 years of age.

Ann Eliza had five sisters and four brothers:

• Sara Ann – born November 30, 1836; died unknown; married John Tyner, Jr.
• Frances ‘Frankie’ – born April 8, 1839; died February 18, 1906; married Ellison A. Lundy
• James Madison ‘Jim’ – born June 26, 1841; died August 21, 1917; married Eugenia Philyaw
• Elizabeth – born November 12, 1843; died unknown; married James P. Polk
• Robert N. ‘Bob’ – born April 15, 1847; died February 11, 1918; married Silla Gainey
• Lemuel – born January 16, 1849; died unknown
• Ann Eliza – born December 1853; died September 12, 1913; married Rubin ‘Rube’ Gainey and later married Thomas W. ‘Tom’ Kelly
• Clement Glen – born May 2, 1856; died unknown; married Ann Liza Teal
• Patrick – born January 10, 1856; died unknown
• Mary Ann – born February 22, 1859; died unknown

The circumstances surrounding the birth, childhood and development of Burrell is sketchy at best. However, the following is what was told to Lidge (Jenkins) Johnson by his mother, Grace Griggs Johnson and Aunt Pauline Griggs Chapman.

‘Burrell’s father was Rubin ‘Rube’ Gainey and his stepfather was Tom Kelly. Burrell never saw his father. However, his father came to see him one time when he was a baby. He was disguised as a ‘rag-man’ because he was wanted by the law for killing his sister’s husband who was said to be an extremely mean, cruel man who would ‘string’ her up and beat her. At the time Rube shot and killed Jones, Ann Eliza was about eight months pregnant. When the child was born, Burrell had a bullet hole mark below his heart. Also the son of this boy had a mark in the same place. The first boy or nephew of ‘Rube’ Gainey was named Jim Jones, also known as ‘Babe’ and married Ola Johnson, the sister of my father, Ollie E. Johnson and they had one daughter, Elouise Jones. ‘Babe’ had been married before and had children older than ‘Ola.’

Burrell Griggs was not raised by his mother, Ann Eliza and stepfather, Tom Kelly, but by Sara P. Johnson, wife of J. Warren Johnson. Research indicates that Sarah or ‘Sally,’ or ‘Aunt Sally,’ as she was known by Burrell’s children, was born September 18, 1862, the daughter of Elizabeth Griggs Polk (Burrell’s mother’s sister) and her husband James P. Polk (he died February 4, 1937).

Sarah P. ‘Sally’ and her husband J. Warren Johnson, lived a short distance from the current Cedar Creek Church where they are buried very close to Burrell and his wife ‘Mima’. They had lived nearby on Underground Branch Road. Uncle BG Griggs thinks that Aunt Sally was married before she married L. Warren Johnson, probably to a Teal. She and J. Warren had several sons – Ike, Cord and others.

Although little is known about his early childhood and his youth, Burrell matured into a solid man of high principles, strong religious and family values, and work ethics which were maintained through his entire adult life and were passed on to his family. He loved God, family and country which is evident in the things he did with his life. Never a man of great wealth, he provided for his family’s needs. He educated, clothed, sheltered and fed them well for the times. There were no stories of wants or needs being missed by this great man. He knew what he was about and what he had to do, and he did it.

On February 13, 1894, Burrell married Jemima Ann ‘Mima’ Teal, daughter of Mary Patience Ousley Clark Teal and John A. Teal. Jemima was born July 10, 1879 in Chesterfield County SC and had three sisters, one brother, four step brothers and one step sister. Her mother’s first husband was Alexander Clark, who was killed in the Civil War.

John A. Teal - Father (Maternal Side)

John A. Teal was born on December 12, 1851, in Chesterfield County SC. He was the third child of William and Mary Teal. The 1860 US Census lists John A. as being 7 years old. The age discrepancy is understandable considering that he was born December 12, 1851 and the census was taken in July of 1860. The names of the other children listed are those of his adult brothers and sisters. His father, William Teal, was listed as thirty-three years old and born in South Carolina. His mother, Mary Teal, was listed as thirty-one years old and also born in South Carolina. William and Mary’s children are as follows:

• Effie – born 1849
• Jane – born 1850
• John A. – born 1852
• Ann Eliza – born 1853
• Mary – born 1854
• Robert – born 1855
• W. H. – born 1858

The listed names of the children are the same as told to Lidge (Jenkins) Johnson, by Aunt Pauline Chapman and by Uncle BG Griggs. They said that their grandfather John A. Teal’s brothers and sisters were Eliza, Jane, Mary, Bob (Robert), and Billy (W. H.). All of the children listed on the census were born in South Carolina. At the time the census was taken the family was living near the Chesterfield Court House.

John A. Teal married Mary Patience Ousley Clark, a widow who was fourteen years older than he. She first had married Alexander Clark, and they had four sons and one daughter. Alexander had served and was killed in the Civil War. The marriage of John A. Teal and Mary Patience produced four daughters and one son.

The 1880 US Census listed John A. Teal’s age as twenty-seven and his wife’s age as forty-one. At the time of the census, the children who were living in the household were

• Eliza Jane, 6 years old
• James R., 4 years old
• Sarah M., 2 years old
• Jemima, 1 year old
• Gilbert Clark, 24 years old working as a turpentine operator
• Isaac Clark 19 years old working as a laborer

Based on the ages of the children it is estimated that John A. and Mary Patience Ousley Clark were married around 1873 or before. He was a farmer and they lived on the 230 acre farm that Patience’s children had inherited from their father, Alexander Clark. The children later conveyed the farm to John A. Teal.

At this time little is known about John’s childhood and life before he married Patience. We do know that he was a giant of a man. It is said that his foot was 7” wide and 16” long. We have a shoe that is reported to be one of his shoes. He was a good father, loved God, and tried to do what was right. The evidence of this lies in the relations he had with his children and step-children.

The 1900 US Census shows John and wife Patience, daughter Sarah M. and Patience Elizabeth and granddaughter Hattie L. living in the household. Neighbors are Burrell and Jemima Griggs as well as John’s son James R. Teal and daughter-in-law, Hannah.

After Patience died in 1909, he lived most of his remaining years with his daughter Jemima and her husband, Burrell Griggs, until his death in 1918. He is buried beside Patience in a small cemetery.

Mary Patience Ousley Clark Teal - Mother (Maternal Side)

Records indicate that Mary Patience was born in 1837 (could be 1839 according to 1860 Census) in Darlington County, SC and died in Chesterfield County, SC on April 15, 1909. She is buried beside John A. Teal, her second husband, in an old abandoned cemetery on Underground Branch Road near Cedar Creek Church.

Mary Patience’s father, James Ousley, was born June 30, 1795 in North Carolina and died in South Carolina August 10, 1881. He attended school and was a successful farmer. The Ousley home place was on Ousleydale Road in Chesterfield County SC. In 1850 his land was assessed at $2000 – quite a sum for those days! The 1880 Census shows that he was living with his son, James in Steer Pen SC. He was 86 years old.

James Ousley’s wife (Mary Patience’s mother) was Mary Griggs, born September 12, 1794 and died January 21, 1864. James’ and Mary P. Griggs Ousley’s children were:

• Sallie - born August 7, 1824; died December 11, 1879
• Betsy - born 1826; died 1896
• Mary - born December 4, 1828; died 1910
• Rebecca - born April 1, 1831; died October 23, 1870
• Isaac - born 1832; died July 16, 190?
• Henry C.- born December 15, 1835; died Unknown
• Patience - born 1838; died 1909
• Jemima H. - born September 25, 1842; died July 12, 1872
• James W. - born December 27, 1846; died December 20, 1925

Mary Patience first married Alexander Clark (born about 1827), who served and was killed in the Civil War. They had one daughter and four sons. The daughter was M. Ellen (born about 1859). The sons were Gilbert (born 1856), William (born about 1858), Isaac (born 1861) and Alexander (born about 1863).

As a small boy in the early 1940’s Cousin Jenkins (Lidge Johnson) remembers swimming in Little Cedar Creek and remembers the water as being cold and so crystal clear the bottom was visible as pure white sand. He states that he has never again experienced such a pure environment.

During the Civil War as General Sherman’s marauding troops marched through South Carolina, they visited Patience’s unprotected home in search of food and supplies to steal. As the soldiers plundered through the house she bravely sat on the front porch holding two of the young children on her lap hiding under her apron two hams which the soldiers did not find!

At the death of her first husband (Alexander Clark), Patience was left a large farm of 230 acres on Little Cedar Creek. This farm was transferred to John A. Teal on August 28, 1886, from the children of Patience T. and Alexander Clark. These children were William, Gilbert, Isaac, Alexander and M. Ellen Clark Wilks. This information is from pages 654 and 655, Book 8, Titles to Real Estate of Chesterfield County SC. At the time, this area was known as Steer Pen Township (according to 1880/1900/1910) census.

Patience married John A. Teal in 1872. He was born December 12, 1851, and died February 9, 1918. He was much younger than Patience - almost the age of her first son. We have no knowledge of his parents at this time. However, he had brothers (Bob and Billy) and a sister (Mary) who married a member of the Gainey family. John A. Teal, or “Big Papa” as he was known, a large, double jointed man of huge proportions, was a good and gentle man. Their marriage produced one son and four daughters:

Patience and John with daughters: Jemima Ann, Sarah Margaret, Patience Elizabeth and Elisa Jane

• Elsia Jane, born 1874
• James R., born 1876
• Sarah Margaret (known to us as “Aunt Sarah Margaret”), born January 22, 1878
• Jemima Ann (our grandmother), born July 20, 1879
• Patience Elizabeth, born July 17, 1882.

These births doubled the size of Patience’s family. She now had five sons and five daughters.

An interesting note here is that all of the living grandsons of Jemima Ann Teal were at some time nicknamed ‘Jim Teal’ after James A. Teal, our grandmother’s brother. He was a junk collector/dealer and quite possibly a very eccentric individual. According to Uncle BG Griggs, Jim came home one night excited about how he had just killed the biggest ‘cooter’ he had ever seen. In reality, he had chopped up an old abandoned Hudson Terraplane automobile with an axe. For the younger family members, this car had the rounded look of a huge turtle shell!