Allie B. English Sims

Left standing Allie B. English oldest living child of Jesse and Lula Anderson English
Jesse English seated holding Effie Mae English, Next standing Alma Viola English, Seated Lula English holding Anderson English, Right standing Ruby English. (click on the picture to enlarge)

Allie B. was my paternal great grandmother. Prior to Allie B.'s birth Jesse and Lula had twin girls Laura and Lee Anna born in November of 1900 and died February, 1901. Allie B. was born in April of 1902. Lula passed away from complications of child birth in 1919. Not shown in this picture is Rosa Lee English who was not born at the time of this photograph. The baby in this picture, Anderson, was born in October, 1912 and he appears to be about 6 months old so we can guess that this picture was taken in the early spring of 1913. With that established we know that Allie B. born in 1902 was 11 years old in this picture.

The house in the picture was in the Eleanor Community west of Graceville Florida. Although you may not think it a fine house by todays standards it actually was a very nice house for the time. If you look closely you will see it was of the typical "Southern Dog Trot Style," built on piers, usually boulders cleared from fields on the property. The main characteristic of the Dog Trot Style house was a central hallway open to the elements on each end with doors leading to the living quarters on either side off of the central hallway. Usually a porch stretched across the front and the back of the house. Alot of the household work was done on and around the porch. Between the house and the kitchen there was usually a hand pump with cedar or cypress wooden tubs used in preparing and preserving vegtables and meats.

During the late 1800's and early 1900's cattle and hogs could roam free. So you may wake up to your neighbors hogs in your garden or even sleeping on your porch if you didn't have a fence around your house to keep them out. The typical livestock for any homestead consisted of a milk cow, for milk and butter, and chickens to provide eggs, along with hogs that rendered cooking oil and provided several months supply of cured cuts of meat, like bacon and ham.

Ideally your house was near a creek or stream and you used the cold waters to help preserve things that needed to stay cool, unless you had the modern convience of an ice box. Before the electric refrigerator if you were lucky enough to live in a populated area a wagon came by with blocks of ice, which you bought to fill your box and keep your food cool. I doubt the English family in Eleanor had one. But they might have eventually had that luxury. Cousin Joe Watford said he remembers a general store there.

The kitchen was usually located behind the main house in a seperate building. It was one room with a fireplace or in more modern kitchens of the early 1900's the kitchen usually had a wood burning stove, with an oven. Cast iron pans and pots were used to cook and bake in.

You will notice two fireplace chinmeys in the picture of the English home. The living areas on one side of the dog trot hallway usually had a large room for the family to gather around to do their inside chores, entertain themselves, and dine. The other side of the dog trot contained the areas where the family slept. Sometimes a loft was floored and a rail or knee wall built in the upper portion of the rafters. Sleeping porches with screens and shutters were common also for large famalies.

The laundry was usually done on the back porch or in the yard close to the porch where there was a big black cast iron kettle to heat water and boil the clothes for cleaning. After the clothes boiled in hot water they were scrubbed on a wood and metal ribbed board that was placed in a wooden tub filled with clean water. The clothes were then rinsed in clean water again and hung on a line to dry. Or if there was a stream close by the laundry would be taken to the stream where a fire was built for boiling the water.

Most clothes were made in the home along with bedding and quilts and pillows. The indigo plant was grown for the blue dye they produced and walnut trees were sought out for the brown dye that could be derived from boiling the shells. Feathers from chickens and ducks were saved to stuff mattress ticking and to make bed pillows.

Most clothing was blue and brown and the natural whites cotton and linens produce. A few sheep were raised for wool that was carded, spun and then woven into cloth. Woolen fabric was usually reserved for top coats. The woolen yarn was knitted into socks and sweaters and gloves also. Worsted wool was made into hats and heavy top coats. The mild climate here in the south didn't call for too many wool coats. But I am sure in the winter a warm wrap or coat made of wool was welcome.

As the benefits of the industrial revolution spread, fabrics and other household goods were more readily available through dry good stores. Spinning wheels and fiber cards and hand ticked mattresses were a thing of the past. Granny used to tell us about mattresses stuffed with corn husk. I can't imagine sleeping on a mattress filled with corn shucks. Allergy sufferers like my self and nephew Colton, would have had a really hard time. I made that comment to Granny once and she said, "Oh people didn't get sick back then like they do now. They worked too hard and ate good food so they didn't get sick. All there was to eat was what you could grow or kill. Sugar was a luxury. Honey or molasses was used most of the time as a sweetener." Unknown to everyone then, honey probably sustained good health for them, along with fresh vegtables, fruits and nuts and the gloriously good citrus that was plentiful.



Allie B. English Sims, Anderson English, Rosa Lee English Childree back and front right Alma Viola English Watford. This picture was taken while Anderson was in the Army during WWII.  Judging from other photos obviously taken the same day as this one I am guessing that the year of this picture is around 1943.



Allie B. and youngest daughter Betty Jean Sims...... Niki can you help me identify age of your mom here? ........I think She looks like her son Mark Hollister here. Cute as pie!!!.....:)



This picture is the only picture I have found of Allie B. and her husband Henry Sims with some of their children.
Left to right back row: Luvern Sims Holland, Eunice Sims Watford, and Louise Sims Seay. Front row, Henry Sims, Betty Jean Sims, and Allie B. Sims English. Based on other photos taken the same day I think the date of this picture would be around 1948 or 49. The mising children are daughter Bonnie Sims Riley and Eddie Lee Sims, their only son.

This picture is of Allie B. with her grandchildren, Doyle Holland left, Faye Bell Seay, and Bob Holland on the car. This picture appears to have been taken the same day as the previous photo. I am guessing that my dad, Doyle is about 10 years old and he was born in 1939 so this is around 1949.

The back of this photo has written on it, "Our little doll house! Ha Ha."

This is Allie B and Luvern, my grandmother. Allie B. probably wouldn't like this one with the toothpick in her mouth! But I like it. It appears that the whole family was at Allie B. and Henry's house and again based on my Dad's age in one of the pictures I think this is around 1950-53. I love her apron. She probably wore one constantly.

This is my favorite picture of Allie B. I am guessing again this was in the early 50's late 40's. Her hair has turned white in this picture. All of her children ended their lives with beautiful thick curly white hair. Louise is the only child living today and she has a head full of beautiful curly white hair.

This picture was tucked away in a book and I don't remember ever seeing it before.

Back row Hubert Holland, Eddie Lee Sims, Elmire Holland holding nephew Doyle Holland.

Front row: Luvern Sims Holland, Bonnie Sims, Eunice Sims, Louise Sims, Annie Sims Blackmon Moss, sister in law to, Allie B. English Sims shown right standing. Betty Jean Sims is the little girl holding the doll in front.

This is Henry Isaac Sims, my great grandfather, with his pigs. The little ones are cute! But don't ever try to pick one up with the mother close by.......that's another story for later!




Henry Sims with Kieth Holland in front on the pony, Steve Holland in the middle and then Greg Holland on the back.

 

This picture of Great Grandaddy Sims and the boys was taken around 1969 in Ruskin, Florida. Henry and Allie B. seperated and eventually divorced in the early 50's and he moved to Ruskin.  His brother Houston Sims was farming vegtables there. Henry was a big drinker and I think his drinking finally drove a huge wedge in the relationship. Granny told me that her mother expected much more from her father than he was willing to give. Allie B. passed away in 1955 from a heart attack while she was visiting with Aunt Louise in Marianna, Fl., she was 53 years old.

Thanksgiving break 1969, Daddy drove us all down to visit with Henry and his wife Rosa Bell. Daddy loved being with Henry. Henry lived in Ruskin Florida, not far from his brother Houston's farm. Henry and Rosa Bell, his new wife, lived in an old airstream mobile home in the middle of several acres with out buildings where he collected old cars and sold the parts. He raised minature ponies that he sold to the carnival companies to use for pony rides at state fairs. He also raised chickens and roosters and pigs until he became too old to handle the work. I don't remember any cows I don't think he had the pasture. I really don't remember too much about where his home was except being there the fall of 69.  I always liked to listen to Great Grandaddy's stories but I didn't care to go to his house that much. The water was sulfur water. It made me think of rotten eggs. Oh how I do hate that smell. I didn't get to know Rosa Bell, very well and have very few memories of  her. The boys, my brothers, were in heaven at Henry's house though. We all loved the ponies and feeding the chickens. We wanted to explore each and every car and barn on the place. Daddy held us back though afraid we would get hurt or find a snake. Snake was all he had to say to keep me from doing something!

That's all of the pictures I have of Allie B. right now. Cousin Jesse English, may have some more pictures of her that he shares with us soon. I plan to post pictures of all of Allie B.'s siblings and children and relate as much information as I can about each one. Just to record the family history......

I don't know if I will ever be able to really capture the true essence of the love that was shared in this family and that has been passed down generation to generation. All of the memories are not good but then people are not always good. Sometimes we all fall short of what is expected of us. But the very truth of life is that love never fails.

Love bears all things, believes all things, and hopes all things and endures all things. With love and commitment, and devotion to each other and the belief that family is the greatest gift and privilege we are given in life, famalies stay together. Together we endure the tests of time that seem to always come to each and every one of us.

Have a great week.