Written by Esther Eley Jones 2012
 |
Alice Lee mother of Ester Eley: This photo
was taken in West Carroll Parish, Louisiana. |
Alice Lee Eley was a mystery woman to me. Who is Alice
Lee Eley and why did I think she was a mystery woman? Alice Lee Eley was my paternal grandmother, my
father’s mother. Alice “Granny” as we all called her was a quiet, short,
serious person. She was the youngest of the William Alfred “Willie” and Emma
Lee children. Here is the history of the
Lee family, and the story of how I became part of this very outstanding name in
history.
William Alfred Lee and Emma Meadows married in
Tallapoosa County, Alabama, which is located on the southeast border of Alabama
close to the territory of Georgia. William and Emma were the parents of nine
children with five of them living. Alice
Lee was born to William Alfred Lee and Emma Meadows on 09 November 1887 in
Tecumseh, Cherokee County, Alabama. She was the youngest child of William and
Emma. William was a farmer and a blacksmith, and Emma was as the younger
generation now a days call it “a stay at home mom.” The Lee family migrated from Cherokee County to
Newsite, Tallapoosa County, Alabama sometime before 1880. Wm. A. Lee, Emma, and
two children, James W. and Dollie O. Lee are on the 1880 census there in
Newsite, Alabama. William was a blacksmith at the time of the census taking. Then,
in 1900, the Lee family, William Alfred, Emma A. Lee, Robert, and Alice were
living in Channahatchee, Elmore County, Alabama. Alice Lee was twelve years old
at the time of the census enumeration date 12 June 1900. Apparently four of the
children had died before the 1900 census was enumerated. The family moved several
times over the years due to difficult times, and looking for better farmlands. The
family left Alabama sometime between 1900 and 1910, migrated to Police Jury
Ward 1, Jackson Louisiana, and settled in Eros, Jackson Parish, Louisiana.
The family had a long journey from Elmore County,
Alabama, which is south of Tallapoosa County, to Jackson Parish, Louisiana. On
today’s map that would be about 364 miles traveling by vehicle on super
highways; however, they were not traveling in vehicles and on super highways. They
were traveling by wagons pulled by horses. Poor economic conditions during 1880s
and early 1900s most likely were the reason for the Lees’ migration. Living
there in Eros, Louisiana were William A. Lee, Emma, and Alice Lee, age 24 years old, and living in the same
household were Robert, Leaky, Emma, Willie, and Mary Lee. Robert was William and Emma’s youngest son.
Living down the road from William’s family was his oldest son James W. Lee,
Uncle Jim as the family called him and his wife Nancy or Aunt Nannie, and their
eight children. Neighbors living next door to William and Emma were the John H.
Edwards family. William and Emma’s oldest daughter married John H. Edwards
before they migrated to Louisiana. The Edwards had four children living with
them who were listed on the census for that year.
Three years after the Lee family settled in Jackson
Parish Louisiana Alice Lee and Jackson Lawrence Eley were married. At the time
Alice married, she was living in Oak Grove, West Carroll Parish, Louisiana. J. L. Eley and Alice Lee were married 26 June
1913 in Floyd Louisiana. R. E. Lee, Uncle Bob, Alice’s brother, was the
security for the marriage license. The Security was where J. L. Eley would owe
the Governor one hundred dollars if the marriage did not take place. I suppose you could say that was an incentive
for Jack to marry Alice since one hundred dollars was a large sum of money for
that family during that era. However, taking out a security was a law during
those times. Alice’s, father and mother were there at the time of the marriage.
J. L. or Jack Eley’s parents, Joe and Eliza were deceased.
Jackson “Jack” and Alice had six children, two sons
and four daughters. My father, Esters, was the oldest of the six children. Then
there was Irma, Dolly, Ellen, Robert Lawrence, and Gladys. Jack or Granddaddy Eley died 30 October 1944
in Oak Grove, West Carroll Parish, Louisiana and had lived in that community
one year. He lived in a rural area, Pioneer, seven miles northwest of Oak
Grove, Louisiana, in Ward 4. He was 62 years old when he died suddenly of
angina pectoris or a heart attack. The family was going through an emotional
time after the death of Granddaddy. Granny was left alone so the family decided
she would live with Aunt Gladys, her youngest daughter, and Uncle Tinker Copes
and their three children. This decision was an easy one since Aunt Irma lived
in Texas, Aunt Dollie lived in Mississippi, Uncle Lawrence lived in Arkansas,
and Esters, my father, had eight children and there was not room for another
person in his three-bedroom house.
My father, Earstus (Esters), was the oldest of the six
children. Therefore, I was one of several of Granny’s grand children. When I
was growing up in West Carroll Parish, Louisiana Granny would come visit us on
occasion, about once a year as I recall. She was a short woman, medium built in
size, and old for as long as I could remember.
My family lived in Concord Community in West Carroll Parish and she
lived in Pioneer, Louisiana with my Aunt Gladys and Uncle Tinker Copes. Granny
Eley had a habit that kept us “kids” entertained. She was a snuff dipper and
she knew how to spit that snuff. She had mastered that snuff spitting down to
an art. She kept her snuff jar tucked away under the mattress for safekeeping,
or she thought.
Granny Eley always had to have her large syrup bucket
sitting beside her rocking chair for her spit bucket. She could sit in her
rocking chair and hit that syrup bucket dead center as she spit her snuff. She
always had a good aim and never missed that bucket. We “kids,” (that is what we
were called, you would think that we did not have names) would sneak around and
watch her. We would peak around the door facing to watch as she rocked in her
rocking chair and enjoyed her snuff. We were very good at sneaking around too.
She never caught us sneaking and watching.
Keep in mind that we lived in the country and this was entertainment for
us, and we enjoyed the entertainment immensely.
One day I decided that I would get her snuff
jar from under the mattress and enjoy me a dip of her snuff. I got a pinch out
of the jar, placed it in my lip like I had seen Granny do many times, and went
outside so I would not get caught, to enjoy my first time at snuff dipping.
Well, I shall never forget that day for as long as I live. It was nothing like
what it was supposed to be from watching Granny enjoy it. I became dizzy
headed, almost passed out, was sick to my stomach, and felt like I would die.
Nevertheless, I could not tell Mother or Daddy what I had done because of the
consequences. Daddy was not a snuff dipper and neither was mother. Mother was
the ultimate in cleanness. Therefore, I suffered, and made my sisters promise
not to tell on me. However, Mother and Daddy did find out and had a good laugh
over my experience and I did not suffer the consequences because I had learned
my lesson. As a result, my snuff dipping days were short lived. Granny had
mastered that snuff dipping and snuff spitting down to an art and I decided
that from that day on Granny was the master of that art and she had rightfully
earned it. On each side of Granny's mouth was a permanent stain from her many
years of dipping snuff and it running down the side of her mouth. I can only
imagine that she started that addiction when she was a young chap. Probably
Emma was a snuff dipper.
Another thing that is etched in my mind is that she
would count the biscuits that we ate for breakfast. That was during the era
when mothers cooked breakfast for family, family members ate breakfast
together, there was order and manners at the meal table, and mealtime was a
hallowed time for family. Now Granny
would pick one of the eight children to sit beside at the table. Now, the one
she sat beside was excited, until she started nagging about the number of
biscuits eaten. Mother and Daddy did not care how many biscuits we ate as long
as we ate a "good meal."
Mother always cooked an abundance of food to feed the family of ten, and
if I remember correctly Granny never offered Mother help in cooking the meals
or doing chores around the house. She was there visiting for leisure time,
which was her yearly obligation even at Aunt Gladys’ home.
Granny Eley made her permanent home with Aunt Gladys
Copes, her youngest daughter after Granddaddy Eley died. When we made a visit
to see Granny my family would get in our old truck, with all eight kids piled
in the back, and go visit Granny, Aunt Gladys, Uncle Tinker, and their children.
You can only imagine how much fun we “kids” had with a name like “Tinker.” These
visits were few due to the hardship on our family. Aunt Gladys and Uncle Tinker
never could come visit our family even though it was five in their family. Now these trips to visit them were quite an
adventure! Our hopes were that we would make it there and back without a flat
tire, the truck breaking down, or the battery dying. This was during the time
period before paved highways or super highways and convenient stores along the
way. This was wide-open territory with nothing along the way for miles. We traveled from Concord Community to Pioneer
on these gravel roads until 1957 when daddy moved his family from West Carroll
Parish Louisiana to Clay Community in Jackson Parish Louisiana where daddy was
born to Alice Lee when she was twenty one years old.
Alice Lee Eley died 29 January 1960 of kidney cancer.
She was 73 years old. She died in Pioneer, Louisiana. Alice was living with her
daughter Gladys, son-in-law, Tinker Copes, and their three children at the time
of her death.
