1993

Geneaology, Beginnings, Again

     It was in 1969 or 1972, I've forgotten which, but it was at a Hughes reunion over at Paris Mountain state park that I started asking questions. Well, maybe it was even earlier, like while I was still in high school, or then again it was 1969 and still in college. Anyway it was before I went into the navy.
     I think it was grandaunt Eddie Harbin that I was asking who was so-and-so, who's their parents, who's this, who's that. She would give the names and I would scribble them down on paper. "His father was Joel Hughes ... his/her father was Joel Hughes ... they were both named Joel ... his wife was Delilea, he was married three times and all his wives were named Delilea ... their children were ... it's good you're getting all this down before I pass away ...."
     But high school, college and navy years came and went. Then it was work and other things of so-called life that came and went. She passed away along with granduncle Addison and others I should have talked with.
     After the trip to the British Isles in April 1993 I started the geneaology project to keep busy at something during my temporary retirement.
     Basically it was a lot of sitting in the library at Easley scrolling through the old Sentinels and other records and scanning through the books. And spending time looking through the old books and records at the courthouse, both probate and court. And then there were the trips to other librarys and courthouses, Laurens, Greenville, Anderson, Abbeville, Spartanburg. I've walked through most of the cemetarys in the area too. And some of them more than a few times when ever I learned some new name to look for.
     I was on the way to Laurens one time and driving the '87 red toyota truck. I knew it was getting close to a 100,000 miles then. The numbers rolled over while on Interstate 385. It was near where it merged in with old 276 on the East side of Mauldin. I pulled over to the side and sat a while, then went on down to Laurens.
     Jackie had been doing geneaology on her family for a while too. I spent lots of time over at her house talking and sharing info and guesses about who's who and who married who. She was the one who learned about geneaology people being called grave diggers. There were occassional news reports about cemetary vandelism and real grave diggers about the same time too. So that term picked up a bad meaning.
     I was reading through the Sentinels of about 1910s or so. I can't remember now, it was early 1900s. I was looking for the usualy columns and article headers, Pickens Social and Obits. There was one that caught my eye. It was about William Robert Hughes, one of Toliver and Matilda's sons, who had died. It mentioned him being part of the Hughes family who's other son, Jeremiah, had been killed a few years back. So I chased down the history about Jeremiah the Easley Town marshall.
     I may have stopped by the Easley police department that same day. I had copies of the 1892 articles and was going to see if they had any records. They didn't. One of the policemen there made jokes about knowing of the incident. The chief, I guess, had made them copies and was looking over them as he came back down the hall. He had noted the short time, a few months, between the killer being caught and being hung. Justice moved more swiftly back then.
     A while later when I was down at Columbia at the State archives building I stopped by the law enforcement academy where they have a memorial for law people killed. I gave them the material but they said it had to start with the local law departments. So I stopped by the Sheriff's office one day. There wasn't anyone there. I scribbled a note and left it on one of the desks. Later I saw Sheriff Stone up in the parking lot between the old bank and Feedroom. I called out to him and asked about it. He said it had all been turned in and his name was added to the memorials, the one in Columbia and DC. Again later I was back in Columbia and stopped by to look. It was kinda nice to know I caused a plague to be on the wall there.
     I was over at the Greenville probate offices, they're are/were in the old Bell Tower Mall building. I guess I was just looking for any names then, going through the files one Hughes name at a time. I came across a really long microfische record for John Hughes. That's always good, the short ones never seem to reveal much. It also meant there was lots of litigation going on.
     As I was reading it I started seeing familar names: Sally, Toliver, Jere, Doc and others. That was my one and only real find, the kind that makes one feel good about finding something after all the months of looking. So that lead to the story about John R (Doc) Hughes being killed just over into Greenville county.
     It was after I got the first booklet done and some of the old pictures redone. I went over to Marvin Gravely's house to let him look at the pictures and see if he recogonized them. And I aske him about what he remembered about who. He remembered being told about one of the Hughes' being killed while jumping over a branch near a fence. That bit of info was in the probate record too. The killing was over the landlord thinking John R was using fence wood for fire wood, and it was near a branch.
    

1994
The second truck wreak
     I had my red Toyota truck serviced: oil and filters change, plugs, brakes, and other such stuff done. It was Friday after work and I had gone over to the neighborhood garage to pick it up. I drove it toward town along Meece Mill and Shady Groove roads I guess. I was looking for a place to eat supper like I use too.
     It was football time at the high school. So I drove on through town and started down Jewell Street. There were cars alread parked along the outside lanes next to the football field. People were headed across the road to the stadium.
     I got through most of it, past where you turn to go up to the high school. There was a group of kids up on the side of the hill. I glance up that way and then back to the left to change lanes and get on the outside. I get turned around just in time to see the tailgate of the truck in front of me just a few feet ahead of the hood of my truck.
     It's too late but I stomp on the brakes at the same time I hit it.
     I remember sitting on the ground leaned up against a tree for a while. And then there's the ambulance people down where the other truck got pushed into a tree. One of them got a broke leg I learned later. The rest of it was the usual after accident type of stuff. Getting wrote up, insurance and all that. The truck gets hauled off to a junk yard up past Dacusville. I walk up to the Feedroom and get Harold to take me to Mom's house.
     She had already heard about it. Jackie was driving up the hill and saw my truck and me sitting on the ground. She had already called Mom and Mom had already been calling my house.
     I eventually get around to getting the white truck, one 5 years older than the one I wrecked. And the red truck I sold to a junk dealer over near Hickory Nut mountain. He probably got 10 times out of the parts than what I got. It probably could have even been fixed.

New Stove Top
     I was still staying at Mom's house I guess. I may have started living back at my house. But anyway it was November and Mom's birthday. I get a new range top for the counter. There had been problems with the old original one for a few years. I get Jason to come over and help put it in. That was the usual hassle too. It wouldn't exactly fit, there was a gap around the edges. So part of the old one, the ring around the outside is still there with the new range sitting in it. The controls for the old one were on the front of the counter. I made a bit of wood work to fit into it and painted it a different shade of yellow. Probably the same paint as I used on my house.