Sedgefields Plantation Union Springs, Al.

I had the pleasure of stopping by Sedgefields Plantation in Union Springs, Al. yesterday. I snapped some pictures I will share with you. I understand from Lee Ann that this construction project is a historical restoration development on the Plantation grounds. My understanding is there is alot of quilting, cooking and hunting going on here! I will get the details and get back to you soon. I hope to be able to go back and take more. Looks wonderful so far. I love the setting and the architecture especially the shaker and copper roof.
The forest along Hwy. 29 in Bullock County is incredible. Very large old forest trees and old plantation and country homes line the highway. I would love to have an entire day to spend photographing from Union Springs to Tuskegee. It's one of those magical places in Alabama, that is rich with history and southern culture. More later...

I love this gate!



Hay field in Bullock County, Al.



Hay Field, love the landscapes!

Beautiful Hawaii

Church on the road to Hilo.

Kona Harbor

Kona Harbor lizard on a rail in the coffee shop garden. He has gorgeous colors. They were everywhere we went in the harbor.

I always dreamed of going to Hawaii and then one day it was possible! Wade and I went to the big island on our honeymoon and stayed for a week with some dear friends who lived there. We saw everything on the island. The volcano and the rainforest on the way to the volcano, Hilo and the Hula Contest Finals, and the East side of the Island was maybe my favorite. I found the little Donkey there.




This Maddonna was in "The Painted Church" garden where portions of  the movie Blue Hawaii with Elvis was filmed.  

 

The Painted Church

Fruit in the Garden of the Church

They had firecracker plants everywhere there. This was the retaining wall of the church.

Pineapple in Ferns at The Painted Church

Parker Ranch Waimea County, Hawaii when the fog burned off we had a beautiful day on horseback. :)

The snowtop mountains where Gloria and I rode horses on the Parker Ranch were beautiful too. I was close to heaven on that ranch. The ride up there was a dreamland of gorgeous views. I wish I had made more pictures on the ride up. It is an exceptionally beautiful drive. I was too busy being lost in the beauty of it all to take pictures.

For my birthday last month Wade gave me Sarah Vowell's book, Unfamiliar Fishes. It's about the U.S. becoming a superpower with the takeover of Hawaii, Guam and Puerto Rico and invading Cuba, and the Philippines.

I remembered this photo I took of the statue "Free Hawaii."  When I first saw it I was a little startled to look up and find it there next to the tree. Wade was too. I left there wanting to know more of the history of Hawaii.
I am about to start reading Sarah's book now.  I just have to be able to sit still and I haven't been to that spot in the road lately.  :) Later....

English Family Bethel Baptist Church

These are pictures I took in Bethel Cemetery, in August 2010, of the English family gravesites.

The day I visited the cemetery August 2010 it was raining very hard. I waited for a while and it stopped.

This is the way I found Allie's grave in 2004. The headstone reads E. James 1841. The name etched on the tombstone let us know this as her grave.

I am guessing this may be Martha English and Jesse English.

This may be for George English Brother of Jesse

This one with an "N"  puzzles me. I am not sure who this would be.





My Mom and Uncle, Mickey Holland, replaced Grandma Allie's broken tombstone in 2009.

The English Family plots are in the grassy area with the broken small stones.
I contacted the man in charge of the cemetery to ask if records of the burials exist. He told me that the early records were destroyed when the church burned in the late 50's.

I am also posting a statement sent to me from Joe Watford grandson of Jesse English. Son of Alma Viola English Watford and Joe Watford. The following was emailed to me from Joe in August 2010.

JESSIE E. ENGLISH  1879-1926

   JESSIE MARRIED LULA ANDERSON FROM AROUND PANAMA CITY FL. THEY HAD EIGHT CHILDREN. LEANNER AND LAURA WERE TWINS AND LIVED ONLY FOUR MONTHS, THEN IN ORDER WERE; ALLIE B.,  EFFIE MAE, RUBY D.,  ALMA V.,  ANDERSON E.  AND ROSA LEE.

   LULA DIED 2 NOV. 1919 IN THE HOSPITAL IN GRACEVILLE FL. OF COMPLICATIONS OF CHILD BIRTH. AFTER HER DEATH JESSIE REMARRIED BUT I AM UNABLE TO LOCATE THE RECORDS AND DO NOT KNOW TO WHOM.

   IT WAS TOLD TO ME BY A VERY RELIABLE PERSON THAT SHE WAS FOUND TO BE MISTREATING HIS CHILDREN AND HE PACKED HER BELONGINGS AND SENT HER BACK TO HER FAMILY. I CAN FIND NO RECORDS OF A DIVORCE BUT I DON’T BELIEVE THERE WAS ONE.

   NEXT JESSIE BEGAN SEEING ANOTHER LADY NAMED ANNIE SIMS BLACKMON, ANNIE WAS HENRY SIMS’S AUNT, HENRY WAS MARRIED TO ALLIE B. JESSIES OLDEST DAUGHTER.

   JESSIE DIED 13 AUG. 1926 FROM INJURIES RECEIVED WHEN HE WAS STRUCKBY AN AUTOMOBILE AFTER BEING DROPPED OFF FROM WORK ON OLD HWY.203 BETWEEN REHOBETH AND DOTHAN AL.   THE PERSON RESPONSIBLE, GENE WHIDDON, WAS SAID TO BE INTOXICATED BUT BECAUSE OF HIS NAME AND STATUS IN THE COMMUNITY HE WAS NOT CITED FOR THE ACCIDENT. I RESEARCHED MICROFILM AT LOVE LIBRARY OF OLD NEWSPAPER STORIES OF THAT PERIOD AND COULD FIND NOTHING.

   SHORTLY AFTER JESSIE’S DEATH ANNIE GAVE BIRTH TO A SON WHO SHE NAMED JESSIE BLACKMON. I HAVE BEEN UNABLE TO ESTABLISH THIS AS FACT BUT THE SOURCE MENTIONED PREVIOUSLY AFFIRMED THIS. JESSIE BLACKMON WAS BORN IN 1926.

  

WRITTEN BY; JOE F. WATFORD HE WAS MY GRANDFATHER.





These are the graves of the twins that Joe is mentioning born to Jesse and Lula. These two headstones are close to Allie B.'s grave.

Allie's grave stone replaced in 2010.

English and Sims Family Photos Album #1



#1 A.  Unknown to me......but for some reason I think this may be a sister of Allie B.'s. Possibly Ruby?




#1 B. This may be the twin daughters of Effie Mae and Andrew Ransom Foxworth. Would like to varify this with the family of Effie Mae if possible.



This past weekend I woke up to a friend request from Jesse English. The only Jesse English I knew was my Great Great Grandfather who passed away in 1926. Eye opening text message. :) I now know the Jesse English who contacted me is the son of Anderson English the only son of Jesse and Lula Anderson English. Anderson is the only brother of Allie B. English my great grandmother.

When Jesse English, my great great grandfather, died in an accident, his wife Lula had already passed away. Anderson was 14 years old according to records from Allie B.'s bible. She and her husband, my great grandfather Henry Sims, took Anderson and 11 year old baby sister Rosa Lee to live with them. There are alot of pictures of Anderson in Granny's photos. I am posting several photos that I will identify by number and hope that some of the new found English family members can help me accurately identify. I never new "Uncle Anderson". Granny talked about him all the time. Granny was born in 1920 so Anderson would have been about 8 years older than Granny. She always referred to him as "Uncle Anderson", and Rosa Lee was "Aunt Rosa Lee."



#1. Anderson English and his wife Gladys Hardy




#2 The lady on the left is Eunice Sims Watford and the lady in the middle is the wife of Anderson English, Gladys Hardy English, she is holding daughter Sharon Virginia English. The lady on the right Ruth Hardy Burch, sister to Gladys Hardy English and the man on the right is Harold Burch, Ruth's husband.




#3 Left to Right: Ruth Hardy Burch, Eunice Sims Watford and Gladys Hardy English




#4. Eunice Sims Watford



#5

#6




#7

 

#8

#9

#10



#11




#12. Bob Holland holding a pet raccoon.



#13

#14

#15

#16

#17 and 18

#19 Anderson English

#21

#22

#23. Eunice Sims Watford, Gladys Hardy English with daughter Sharon Virginia English, Ruth Hardy Burch

#24

#25. The little boy second from left is Bob Holland the others are unknown to me.

#25

#26

#27 Gladys, Anderson and Sharon Virginia English

#28

#29

#30

#31

#32

#33 Rosa Lee English I think

#34

# 35 Eddie Lee Sims and unknown male

#36

#37

#38



#39

To enlarge any picture just click on the photo. Thanks for any information you can share.