I Remember Grandma

Grandma Dawson has been gone from earth for over 30 years now, but my memories of her continue to stay close to my heart.

Me and Grandma

Amanda Leona Dawson, I'm her namesake. 
She told everyone that, but my mom tells me she didn't always say that. Mom says when I was born, she would share with friends that she had a new grand-baby, named Amanda. Folks would ask her where the name Amanda came from and she would answer that she didn't know. (She used her middle name, Leona.) I guess after a while, I (and my name) kinda grew on her!)

Grandma was an awesome cook as most grandmas are. My family and most of our cousins gathered at Grandma's quite often on Sunday after church for dinner. You want to talk about good eating, you can't find food like that anywhere. Grandma never seemed to sit down when we ate dinner. She spent the whole time passing the food. One would not get their plate cleared before she was passing the food again! She made the best glazed sweet potatoes. I never knew anyone else that made them the way she did. She also made this type of gravy for potatoes. We called them dumplings, but they weren't like the dumplings we eat here in the south. Apparently, the dumplings were actually my Great- Aunt Mildred's recipe. Oh my, another thing I couldn't wait to get a taste of.

I often remember stealing a sip of her hot tea. I was "too young" to drink tea, but you know grandmas; they always break the rules for their grand-kids. I guess that is why I still love a good cup of tea with sugar and cream!

Grandma & Grandpa's Home on Easton Street
This picture was taken in 2014 .. long after
they were in heaven.

Yes, Grandma served all of us at the table, but she lived a servant life for everyone. To bring in a little extra money, she would clean houses. Mom says she learned all about keeping a house from Grandma Dawson. But the most important thing about Grandma is that she loved Jesus. She prayed daily for her four children and her 17 grandchildren.

Grandma & Grandpa's Family

I recalled my Uncle Tom Barrett saying at her funeral. "You could always find Grandma on her knees. Either serving others or praying."  TWEET THIS

Now that is a heritage to leave behind!

What's in a Name?

This post is inspired by a prompt from Reflections of a Mother's Heart

The prompt was "Share a Memory about a Grandparent"

Psalm 61:5

For you, O God, have heard my vows; 

You have given me the heritage of those who fear your name.

As a child, my grandmother would always introduce me as her namesake. For some time I wasn't sure how that was so.  Everyone called her Leona and my name is Amanda Lynne. It turns out her name was Amanda Leona. As was common in those days, many went by their middle names. My grandmother did because she was named after her grandmother (my great, great grandmother), Amanda Headley Hukill. You can see her in the picture below with her husband Jesse and their daughter Mary. I always made me proud to know I was the third Amanda. And I was curious about my heritage.

I recently learned that  Amanda Hukill was quite a strong woman.
She had a difficult childhood, losing her mother at a young age. But she persevered. Records show that she was a strong Christian woman. She left her mark by donating the stain glass windows in a small Methodist church in SE Ohio. But more than this she raised her children to know and love the Lord as well. This heritage was passed on to my Great Grandmother Birdie Moody, then on to Grandmother Amanda Leona Dawson, who passed it on to my father, Gene Elwood Dawson, who then passed it on to me and my siblings.

I thank God for a heritage of at least 5 generations that lived for the Lord.

Thanks to a cousin, Myron Moody for writing up the following information about Amanda Hukill
*********

Amanda Headley was born 18 September 1848. She married Jesse Hukill and was the mother of Birdie Hukill Moody and grandmother of  Amanda Leona Moody - Dawson. She died on 16 January 1909.

That’s the short version of her life. In truth, we don’t know a lot of details, but by piecing together 
census records, marriage and court records, newspaper articles and other odd bits, we begin to see a determined woman who overcame more than a little adversity in her life.

Let’s start at the beginning...

Moses Headley was born 21 September 1812 in Ohio. His parents were probably Joseph and Mary 
Headley. Moses was a farmer in Yellow Creek Township, Columbiana County, Ohio. About 1838, he married Hester Ray, the daughter of Samuel and Penelopy Ray. Hester was born 24 July 1817 in Virginia (probably the portion that is now West Virginia). At the time of the marriage, the Headleys and Rays were both living in Columbiana County, Ohio. Moses and Hester had the following children:

- Penelopy Anne, born 4 December 1839

- Morgan, born 4 September 1841

- Mary Ann, born 10 April 1844

- Amanda, born 18 September 1848

- George Ray, born 11 November 1849

- Rebecca, born 11 March 1852

- John, born 30 July 1854

The gaps between some of the birth dates suggest that there may have been 1 or 2 other children who didn’t survive. On 8 September 1854, just over a month after the birth of John, Hester died, leaving Moses to care for the family on his own. Certainly, the older children could help – Penelopy would be 15 and Morgan would be 12 – but it must have been a significant crisis for the family. At age 6, Amanda would have to grow up quickly.

By 1860, it’s evident that the death of Hester may have been too much to overcome. A look at the
census of 1860 reveals some dramatic changes in the family. We find Moses as a resident of the 
Northern Ohio Lunatic Asylum in Cuyahoga County, OH. His diagnosis is listed as “disappointment”. The children are scattered, living with various other families. Only two have been located in the census so far – Morgan is living with John and Janet McBane, and John is living with Benjamin and Mary Foster – both in Yellow Creek Township, Columbiana County. I suspect the other children are living with families in the area or with relatives but were listed as children of the host family.

By September of 1866, Moses appears to have recovered and married Nancy Green. The 1870 census finds Moses and Nancy living in Yellow Creek Township, just a few houses away from Moses’ son John, now 16, who is still living with Benjamin and Mary Foster. The Foster’s own a farm, and it looks like John and Moses are both working on a farm. Moses and Nancy have a child of their own, Clarrie, who was born about 1867. A second child, Charles Elmer, was born in 1870.

The rest of the original family is still scattered in 1870. Rebecca and George, 18 and 19, are living with the Hobbs family in Hancock County, WV. The eldest Hobbs is Isabella Ray Hobbs, likely a relative (sister?) of Hester Ray Headley. Morgan is still living with the McBane family in Columbiana County. 

Our Amanda, now 22, turns up in the household of John and Julia Braby, with her occupation listed as a seamstress. The Braby’s are living in Buffalo District, Brooke County, WV.

Jesse Hukill, the youngest son of William and Sarah Lazear Hukill, lived in Buffalo District in Brooke County. Jesse was born on 7 July 1847, in Brooke County. On 28 Oct 1873, Jesse and Amanda were married in Brooke County. In 1875, Jesse’s father died and left the farm to him. 

While not confirmed as our Moses Headley, a man named Moses Headley died in the Columbiana 
County infirmary on 13 July 1879. Moses’ second wife Nancy is said to have died in a fire. In any event, neither has been found in the 1880 census, and both children are living in the Fairmount Children’s Home in Stark County, Ohio in 1880. It’s said that Clarrie, the daughter, was adopted and never heard from again. Charles Elmer, the son, is said to have been taken in and raised by Amanda and Jesse Hukill. 

This seems credible as it was reported by Bazil Headley, Charles Elmer’s son.

Jesse and Amanda began their family on 13 Oct 1874, with the birth of Julia Ann. Julia was followed by...

- William Joseph, born 5 July 1876

- Birdie, born 13 March 1878

- Bessie, born 6 April 1880

- Martin Emmett, born 3 Sep 1882

- Sarah Catharine, born 20 August 1884

- Golda Ellen, born 20 August 1886

- Mary Eliza, born 3 January 1889

By all available accounts, the family was able to manage well enough on the farm. When they weren’t working on the farm, the kids attended Buchannon School, a one-room school house. They all had shoes, but only wore them to school and church. Amanda made sure they got to church every Sunday at Kadesh Chapel.

On 1 July 1893, tragedy struck the family with the death of Jesse. His death was the result of “stomach trouble”, and it would have a lasting effect on the family. Amanda must have certainly thought about the consequences of her mother’s death almost 40 years earlier, and what this unexpected turn could mean to her own family. As the estate went into probate, it quickly became obvious that the family could not cover their debts, and the court ordered that the farm be sold to satisfy those debts. By 1894, Amanda was left with eight children, about $300 and no place to live.

Jesse’s sister Priscilla and her husband Richard Waugh found them a small farm to rent in Gould’s Run in Jefferson County, OH. Amanda loaded their possessions into a wagon, and she and the family made their way to Wellsburg, and took the ferry to Brilliant. From there they travelled up to New Alexandria and down Chapel Hill to Goulds. Bill and Emmett hauled coal and the three oldest girls (Julia, Bird and Bessie) got jobs as house maids. Amanda took care of the younger children and the farm. Together, they managed to make the rent.

After about a year, they moved to Georges Run and rented a house. Eventually, they built their own house. Around this time, Birdie got a job as a cook at the jail in Steubenville. Check out the 1900 Census and you’ll see her listed there along with the jail’s other “guests”. As the children grew older, they eventually got married and moved out on their own. While they were together, Amanda made sure they all still went to church at the Georges Run Methodist Church. She stayed active in the church and was instrumental in collecting money for the stained glass windows that are in the church today.

As the children began raising their own families, they began an annual gathering with their mother at Christmas. This continued long after Amanda passed away.

Amanda Headley Hukill died at her home on 16 January 1909 in Jefferson County, OH. Her body was taken back to West Virginia and was buried next to her husband Jesse in the cemetery at Kadesh Chapel. 

Hukill Siblings
The lady in yellow is my great grandmother, Birdie Hukill- Moody

The family she worked so hard to keep together began visiting their parents’ graves every year on 
Memorial Day, then going to Julia (Hartley’s) house for dinner afterwards. This annual reunion of the Hukill family has continued for over a century. [as of 2016, this reunion is still happening every Memorial Day]

Not a bad legacy, Amanda.

- The above information was gathered by Myron Moody

We attended the reunion every year that I remember
until we moved to Wisconsin.
This is my mother, Elaine Dawson and I
 in 1965 .... I was 3 1/2 

Genealogy of Amanda (me) ..
Moses (1812-1879) & Hester Headley (1817-1854)
Amanda Headley Hukill (1848-1909) & Jesse Hukill (1847-1893)
Birdie Hukill Moody (1878 - 1973) & Samuel Moody
Amanda Leona Moody Dawson (1904 - 1984) & Thomas Elwood Dawson (1900-1971)
Gene Elwood Dawson (1935- ) & Elaine Easterday Dawson (1937- )
Amanda Lynne Dawson Farmer (1961- )

The Three Amanda's 

Jesse & Amanda Hukill with daughter Mary

Amanda Leona (Moody) Dawson
1904-1984
with husband T. Elwood Dawson

Amanda Dawson Farmer
1961 -
with husband Michael

Reminiscing;

A Dog is Man's Best Friend?

This post is inspired by a prompt from Reflections of a Mother's Heart

The prompt was ""What was the name of your favorite pet? Why was it your favorite?"

I'm not what you would call a pet lover. Folks have always thought this odd since I grew up on a farm. The thing is, you are just more likely to find me sitting in the free stall barn with a cow than rolling in the grass with the dog. I didn't mind them being around, but they needed to serve more of a purpose than just being there. The funny thing is .. dogs and cats seem to love me. Whenever I go where there are pets, the animal is all over me. What's with that? Maybe, they are just trying to be my friend.

We did have lots of cats and dogs around the farm. At one time we counted 17 cats. But most of them were too wild to get near, but they certainly did their job well. That is ... pest control!

As for dogs, for some reason people thought our farm was a good place to drop off their unwanted puppies. Cosmo and Henry were two of these. Cosmo was a small wiener type dog. He had a scar on his side where apparently he had been hit by a car. We had to take care not to touch the area because it still caused him pain. He was nice to have around, but I really don't remember much else about him.

Most of the dogs that came to the farm attached themselves to my brother, Alex. He was truly the one the dogs loved. There was  a German Shepherd we named Henry. He was Alex's protector. I don't think he ever left Alex's side. No one could mess with Alex without Henry coming to his defense. Once Dad was disciplining Alex and Henry would have nothing of that. He began to growl at Dad to the point that Dad had to stop.

My sister, Kandy and brother, Alex
 with "Bonnie" who followed Jack.

We had to leave Henry behind when we moved to Wisconsin, but we decided that we did need to have a dog for handling the cattle so we purchased a pup, a border collie.  Again, Jack became a permanent appendage for Alex. I recall a time that Alex and I were chasing one another around the barn. .. Just in fun. Jack was running along with us. Alex ran through the milk house door and I followed. As I went through the door, I fell straight to the floor. 



Thinking my foot got caught in the door, I turned to find Jack  holding my leg! He was protecting Alex from me! Fortunately, it was winter and I was dressed in a snow suit. Jack's teeth only went through the fabric but not my skin. If I recall, the same thing happened to our sister, Marcy ... only it was summer time. I think that ended with a tetanus shot and a few stitches.

As I mentioned, I really had no use for the dogs until one rainy day when I had to go down to the pasture and bring the cattle up for milking. I called Jack and we headed down to the pasture. 

Before long, Jack disappeared and I was fit to be tied. This proved that having the dog around was of no use. I was grumbling to myself as I walked down the path until I looked up and here came the cows. Jack had run ahead and brought the cattle up and I was saved many steps. This gave me a great appreciation for the dog. He indeed proved his usefulness that day.

"Best Friends"
My youngest brother, LeAdam with Bonnie

Jack with with us for many years. After he left, we got a new pup, Bonnie. She was around mostly during my college years, so I didn't know her too well. There are many more stories about the Dawson dogs floating around. Maybe my siblings will share some in the comments below [Hint Hint].

 Now-a-days, I'm still not wild about having a pet dog, but in all truthfulness, I think I have a spot in my heart for them. I certainly appreciate that pets serve their purpose for many people. I have friends that would be so lost without their pets and I know that their pets are a true blessing to them. 

I've always enjoyed this poem by Jimmy Stewart about his dog named Beau.

Reminiscing;