Martha Jane Evans

GEDCOM Note

BIOGRAPHY: Edgar Ruthen Watts, Sr., was the fourth child born toEsther Jane Evans and Julius B. Watts. He was born on 23 Nov 1861, at about the same time his father joined Hampton's Legion in the Confederate States Army. His mother's sister, Catherine H. Evans, married Harrison Edward Evans and gave birth on 5 Nov 1868 to Edgar's first cousin and future wife, Martha Jane Evans. They were my grandfather and grandmother, and my father's farm joined their farm, with our houses about mile apart. I loved to spend time at their house because my grandmother (MaMa) always had something good either in the warming closet of the stove or in the pie safe that was behind the stove. Now their house was unusual because there was two parts to it. The "sleeping" area was large and separated from the "living" area with only a covered "Dog Trot" connecting them. The sleeping area consisted of a porch extending across the front of the house. There was a "parlor" and three bedrooms and a "shed room" in which Aunt "Sis" slept. Aunt Sis was Martha Edward Watts, an old maid aunt born on 8 Dec 1903 (my birthday) and died 19 April 1941. She had epilepsy and MaMa always ordered medicine through the mail in an effort to find something that would help her. As a small boy I was always terrified of her when she had a seizure. Once during the winter she had a seizure and fell into the fireplace and was severely burned and left scars on her face. The "Living" part of their house consisted of a very large kitchen containing a large wood-fired cook stove with a reservoir on the end for keeping water warm and "warming closets" above for keeping food warm. Also in the kitchen was a very large fireplace around which everyone sat. MaMa was a very small, red-headed lady that was "tough as nails." She smoked a small clay pipe with a homemade stem made from a small joint of bamboo. She did not smoke regular pipe tobacco, but rather a plug chewing tobacco, using a little knife that she always kept in her apron pocket to cut it up fine enough so it could be packed into the bowl. She also dipped snuff which I believe was Tube Rose that came in a little can. She was very demanding of everyone in the family, and even as a small boy I could see that she was the dominant member of the family. She sold butter and eggs every week, and the money was saved to help pay off the mortgage on the farm. During the summer months her milk cows were kept on the back of the farm in what we called the pasture. It was just the forest area that was fenced in with barbed wire. During the early spring the forest would be burned allowing the "broom straw" to put out new growth, and this is what the cows ate during summer. Walking from the house to the pasture (about mile) every morning and evening, she would carry three pails holding ten quarts of milk. Once filled, she would return with one in each hand, and the third balanced on her head. She would not let anyone help because she was afraid they would spill some of the milk. In the summer of 1941, as she lay in bed with a severe skin cancer on her right jaw, she adamantly demanded that her "ditch banks" be cleaned and cut. Being in the process of harvesting the tobacco crop, we did not have time for ditch banks. This was winter work. She got out of bed, got a long bush knife and went out and cut about 100-200 yards of ditch banks before returning to bed. She died that October. I was very close to MaMa because even though she was a tough lady she loved me very much. I would run away from home just to go to her house and be with her. Once when I was on the back of the farm with my dad and he told me to go home, I stopped by MaMa's to eat dinner (lunch) with her. When dad got home and found that I was not there he knew where I was and want to get me. MaMa has a big weeping willow tree at their back door, and dad cut him a very large, demanding "Switch" from that tree and came into that large dining room where I was sitting on that long bench and took me out of the house and proceeded to "cut my butt." MaMa snatched me away from him and wrapped me up in her long skirt and apron. She would never let daddy "whip" me. Even though they were tough people they were also loving and I could not have had a better family. I was never as close to Edgar Ruthen Watts as I was MaMa simply because he died about three years before her. He had a very bad temper and would get mad when things didn't go his way. I remember once he had a sow that wouldn't do what he tried to get her to do, so he got mad and stuck her in the head with a pitchfork. I remember her head got so infected and swollen so bad she could not see. She finally died as a result. I remember some of his stories of taking rafts of logs down the Santee River during the winters and his overalls getting wet and freezing until they would stand alone when she took off. I remember his stories of hunting wild turkeys. It seems the turkeys were baited by pouring shelled corn in a long line so that all of the turkeys had to stick their heads along this line of corn to feed. He would build a "blind" at the end of the line of corn and when a large number of turkeys were eating he would shoot down the line. He said there was a gosh awful flapping as all those turkeys were killed. You must remember that he was using a muzzle loaded shotgun and got only one shot. My grandparents were the first in the family to get a radio. It was battery-powered because no one in the community had electricity. It ran off a dry-cell battery and the antenna was a long section of wire that stretched out into the field and was fastened to a tall pole. To conserve the battery the radio was used only for news during the week and on Saturday night all of my uncles, aunts, and cousins would go to MaMa's to listen to the Grand Ol' Opry. I'll always remember those nights because of the love, fellowship, and "goodies" that were served. SOURCES: Written by Alton Josey "Bo" Watts

BIOGRAPHY: Edgar Ruthen Watts, Sr., was the fourth child born toEsther Jane Evans and Julius B. Watts. He was born on 23 Nov 1861, at about the same time his father joined Hampton's Legion in the Confederate States Army. His mother's sister, Catherine H. Evans, married Harrison Edward Evans and gave birth on 5 Nov 1868 to Edgar's first cousin and future wife, Martha Jane Evans. They were my grandfather and grandmother, and my father's farm joined their farm, with our houses about mile apart. I loved to spend time at their house because my grandmother (MaMa) always had something good either in the warming closet of the stove or in the pie safe that was behind the stove. Now their house was unusual because there was two parts to it. The "sleeping" area was large and separated from the "living" area with only a covered "Dog Trot" connecting them. The sleeping area consisted of a porch extending across the front of the house. There was a "parlor" and three bedrooms and a "shed room" in which Aunt "Sis" slept. Aunt Sis was Martha Edward Watts, an old maid aunt born on 8 Dec 1903 (my birthday) and died 19 April 1941. She had epilepsy and MaMa always ordered medicine through the mail in an effort to find something that would help her. As a small boy I was always terrified of her when she had a seizure. Once during the winter she had a seizure and fell into the fireplace and was severely burned and left scars on her face. The "Living" part of their house consisted of a very large kitchen containing a large wood-fired cook stove with a reservoir on the end for keeping water warm and "warming closets" above for keeping food warm. Also in the kitchen was a very large fireplace around which everyone sat. MaMa was a very small, red-headed lady that was "tough as nails." She smoked a small clay pipe with a homemade stem made from a small joint of bamboo. She did not smoke regular pipe tobacco, but rather a plug chewing tobacco, using a little knife that she always kept in her apron pocket to cut it up fine enough so it could be packed into the bowl. She also dipped snuff which I believe was Tube Rose that came in a little can. She was very demanding of everyone in the family, and even as a small boy I could see that she was the dominant member of the family. She sold butter and eggs every week, and the money was saved to help pay off the mortgage on the farm. During the summer months her milk cows were kept on the back of the farm in what we called the pasture. It was just the forest area that was fenced in with barbed wire. During the early spring the forest would be burned allowing the "broom straw" to put out new growth, and this is what the cows ate during summer. Walking from the house to the pasture (about mile) every morning and evening, she would carry three pails holding ten quarts of milk. Once filled, she would return with one in each hand, and the third balanced on her head. She would not let anyone help because she was afraid they would spill some of the milk. In the summer of 1941, as she lay in bed with a severe skin cancer on her right jaw, she adamantly demanded that her "ditch banks" be cleaned and cut. Being in the process of harvesting the tobacco crop, we did not have time for ditch banks. This was winter work. She got out of bed, got a long bush knife and went out and cut about 100-200 yards of ditch banks before returning to bed. She died that October. I was very close to MaMa because even though she was a tough lady she loved me very much. I would run away from home just to go to her house and be with her. Once when I was on the back of the farm with my dad and he told me to go home, I stopped by MaMa's to eat dinner (lunch) with her. When dad got home and found that I was not there he knew where I was and want to get me. MaMa has a big weeping willow tree at their back door, and dad cut him a very large, demanding "Switch" from that tree and came into that large dining room where I was sitting on that long bench and took me out of the house and proceeded to "cut my butt." MaMa snatched me away from him and wrapped me up in her long skirt and apron. She would never let daddy "whip" me. Even though they were tough people they were also loving and I could not have had a better family. I was never as close to Edgar Ruthen Watts as I was MaMa simply because he died about three years before her. He had a very bad temper and would get mad when things didn't go his way. I remember once he had a sow that wouldn't do what he tried to get her to do, so he got mad and stuck her in the head with a pitchfork. I remember her head got so infected and swollen so bad she could not see. She finally died as a result. I remember some of his stories of taking rafts of logs down the Santee River during the winters and his overalls getting wet and freezing until they would stand alone when she took off. I remember his stories of hunting wild turkeys. It seems the turkeys were baited by pouring shelled corn in a long line so that all of the turkeys had to stick their heads along this line of corn to feed. He would build a "blind" at the end of the line of corn and when a large number of turkeys were eating he would shoot down the line. He said there was a gosh awful flapping as all those turkeys were killed. You must remember that he was using a muzzle loaded shotgun and got only one shot. My grandparents were the first in the family to get a radio. It was battery-powered because no one in the community had electricity. It ran off a dry-cell battery and the antenna was a long section of wire that stretched out into the field and was fastened to a tall pole. To conserve the battery the radio was used only for news during the week and on Saturday night all of my uncles, aunts, and cousins would go to MaMa's to listen to the Grand Ol' Opry. I'll always remember those nights because of the love, fellowship, and "goodies" that were served. SOURCES: Written by Alton Josey "Bo" Watts