This story is about Granny Franks and Pa Tom. They were the grandparents of my first husband, Marvin Lee Burns. Granny Franks was Katie Ella Smith Franks born Feb. 3, 1902 and died Oct. 14, 1980. She was the daughter of Joe Smith and Mary Molly Beasley Smith. They are buried at Dogwood Cemetery in Tunnel Hill, GA. Pa Tom was Thomas Napoleon Franks, born Sept. 18, 1895 and died March 27, 1977. They were married on April 3, 1916 and Granny always said that she was 13 at the time. But by my calculations, I think she was 14. By the time she was 20, she had 4 children and had buried 2 of them. Jesse Luther Franks lived to adulthood and so did Ruby Lee Franks. But Arville and Willie Mae died as babies and are buried at Dunagan Cemetery in Whitfield County in unmarked graves. Her youngest son, Ralph Winston Franks has marked these graves with a PVC pipe for the location but no headstones. Granny Franks would go many times to the cemetery and place flowers on the graves and Ruby continued the practice after her mom died. Tom and Ella are buried at Dunagan as well as Pa Tom's parents, Andrew Jefferson "Harve" Franks and Emily Bandy Franks.
When I first met Granny Franks, in 1962, I had arrived at her house with Marvin. We rode with Grady and Essie Burns to Pa Tom's house for a visit. They lived on the Cline Rd. in a small 4 room house with no indoor plumbing. I thought I would bust before I got back to "civilization". They also heated their home with a fireplace. Pa Tom would sit in his chair to watch the news on TV. After that, it was turned off. Occasionally, he would watch wrestling on Saturday nights but nothing else. It was a waste of electricity. Granny Franks was blunt in the way she talked and didn't pull any punches. She proceeded to tell Grady and Marvin that they should swap partners. The girls didn't match their personalities. I thought Essie would have a fit. She doesn't like me to this day. Grady was my friend, but jealously has a way of destroying many relationships.
Now Pa Tom liked to take a nip now and then and Granny Franks just couldn't stand the thought of this happening. She would often tell her son, Clyde, " Now don't you stop at that store and buy no whiskey. I can still take a switch to your backside." This was funny to me as she kept a bottle of wine beside her bed and every night, she would fill her thimble full and drink it before bed. She would tell you right quick," The Bible says take a little wine for the stomach's sake and that is what I do."
Granny Franks had a set of twin boys named Claude Edward and Clyde Andrew Franks. I could not tell these boys apart for anything. For a long time, I had to see them with their wives to know which one was which.Claude had married Aveline Chitwood. She was a twin as well and they had a set of twins, Reid and Rachel. They had 3 other children as well.
Clyde married a woman named Wanda Faye. They had 6 children, with only one girl out of the bunch named Connie. After Connie married, she had a set of twins.
Granny Franks could make the best egg custard in the world. Many times when I visited, she would have some cooling on the kitchen table. But she wouldn't cut them until Sunday dinner. She dearly loved fried rabbit. Ruby said she grew up with this meat for breakfast. Many years ago, people that lived in the country would eat rabbit since they didn't get to town very often to buy meat. Most farms raised their own meat for food. Hogs, chickens and cows and sometimes a few goats. They caught squirrels and rabbits as well. Cows were used more for milk and butter and Granny Franks had her favorite churn that she used for many years. One morning after Granny Franks got sick just before her death, Ruby called me to visit the store for her. I asked her what she wanted me to get? She wanted me to go to the old Colonial store where IGA is located now and get a rabbit. I didn't know that you could buy them cut up ready to fry. But they had them in the freezer section and so I bought it and took it to Ruby's house. She fried it and made biscuits and gravy. Granny Franks ate a little of this and died the next day. Its funny what people want to eat when they know it is their end of days.
Right after Jeff was born in 1966, it was Granny and Pa Tom's anniversary for 50 years. They wanted to go to Crawford Springs for a picnic. A lot of the family gathered at their house and we left. After lunch, it started to get very cold. We headed back to the house and on the way, it started to snow. By the time we got home, we had about 3 or 4 inches on the ground and my clothes froze on the line. Granny and Pa Tom had to stay at Ruby's house as the roads were closed and they couldn't get home. For their 60 anniversary, we had a big dinner at their home on the Cline Rd. Just about the whole family was there. They made a 5 generation picture with Granny Franks and Pa Tom, Ruby Franks Dean, Grady Burns with his son, Travis Burns, and the great great grandchild, Christy Burns. This was in 1976. Pa Tom died the next year. He started having mini strokes that made him bed ridden until his death. I spent many nights at their home sitting with Ruby while Granny Franks could get some rest. Ruth would sit as well on alternate nights. This is when Ruth made her puff and stuff quilt. I had never seen one before and it turned out very well. Ruby would piece quilts as well but mostly she would mend clothes. I treasure the memories that I have of them and wanted to share them with my children. As they grow older, they can hand down some of these stories to their children. Every one should keep up with their family. Genealogy is over 1/4 of the bible. If GOD wanted a record kept, then so should we.
All their children consisted of:
Jesse Luther Franks
Ruby Lee Franks
Arville Franks
Willie Mae Franks
Robert Clayton Franks
Claude Edward Franks
Clyde Andrew Franks
Ruth Francis Franks
Ralph Winston Franks
No comments:
Post a Comment