If You Got 'em Smoke 'em

 

 

This is week 13 and the prompt was 'favorite photo'. I am really enjoying this. How about you?

I had a really hard time deciding what photo to use. I really wanted to do one of my grandmother flashing a great big beautiful smile while holding a birthday cake, but I decided a lot of what I would write about might give out too much information... and the internet isn't always safe about things like that. I started going through all my genealogy pictures and nothing was standing out - or the ones that did, I had already written about those individuals. Then I went searching through my grandma's old photos and found one that I just had to write about.

Meet my Great-grandfather, Newell McKinnley Stepp, and his brothers-in-law, John Thomas and Joseph "Joe" Charley Acord. This picture was taken in the late 30's or early 40's. And you guessed it, they're stealing honey from a bee tree!

 

Newell McKinnley Stepp was born April 24, 1896, "out in the woods near Fallsville" as he said in an interview by my 2nd cousin Tarona , who kindly shared it with me. Fallsville is a small community in Madison County, AR. His parents were James Jonathan and Rebecca Matilda (Merrill) Stepp. When he was 21 years old he was drafted to fight over seas in WWI. He was a Private in the Trench Art., Co B 6th Regt., and was discharged Jan 29 1920 from oversea service. In the same interview mentioned above he said he served in France and never even had to shoot his gun! He said he must've just been there for numbers and that by the time the American boys got over there, it was pretty much over. He was in France for about 6-6 1/2 months.

Three years later on April 1, 1923 he married my great-grandmother Zula Jane Acord. The two boys in the picture above were two of her younger brothers. The one in the middle is John Thomas and the one holding the smoker is Joe.

Newell and Zula had seven children, one died as an infant. One of their daughters, my grandmother, Reba, had grown up watching her daddy raise bees and when she had a place to raise some of her own, she got some help from her family to capture some from a known bee tree out on 'Eldridge Holler' (not the one pictured). This story is one that much of my family still tells today.

My grandmother's youngest brother Dwight had cut down the tree but it had become lodged in another one. Everyone was trying to get Dwight to get out from under it - when Dwight's youngest brother Tooter (who had been drinking a little) showed up and also tried to get Dwight to get out from under the tree. Next thing they knew the brothers had gotten into a fight. A lot of the family was there, Grandma Zulie and a few grandkids as well. When the boys began fighting underneath that lodged tree, Grandma Zulie fainted and the little ones started crying because they had thought she died. Finally Tooter's wife, Roma Lynn and Dwight's wife, Peggy encouraged Tooter to come with them down to the creek and on the way there he began singing "poor little black sheep", feeling a sorry for himself.

As story telling goes... there's usually a few different versions. Here's a snippet from an interview Tarona did of my great-grandmother Zula in 1985 with her version of the bee tree story. Click here.

There seems to be a lot of hesitation in telling the famous bee tree story, but my second cousin Debra, Art's daughter, was one of the first to give her account (she was about 10 years old):

"We went way up in the holler that day. Everyone walked in. Tooter had been hitting the bottle and when we got to the business of robbing the bees, the tree (or some tree) had to be cut down. I don't remember who was doing the sawing with the chainsaw, but I remember Tooter & Dwight got into a fuss over something. As the tree was about to fall Grandma Zula came up to calm them down and the tree almost fell on her. Scared everyone to death!! Tooter was scared like everyone else and he started crying and singing "I'm the Black Sheep of the Family". He sang it all the way back to Grandma's house."

Dwight's wife Peggy remembered it like this:

" What I remember about cutting the bee tree

One afternoon we all, grandpa Stepp, Grandma Stepp, Art, Reba, Tooter, Dwight, their spouses and all the little kids walked up the hollow and up the hillside. We went to cut a bee tree for Reba. Grandpa Stepp told Dwight how to cut it. Cut it where it will lodge in another tree and come down slow so it won't bust the bee tree up. Dwight did just what Grandpa said. Tooter had already had way too much to drink. He grabbed the saw from Dwight. He said Dwight was the worst tree cutter and started over the hill to cut the tree it was lodged in. The bee tree was coming down and Tooter was under it. Dwight saw the bee tree was going to fall on Tooter. He ran over the steep hill and bulldoged Tooter and they went rolling over the hill. The bee tree hit the ground right by them. Grandma thought it was falling on them and she fainted. The little kids thought she had died and they were all running, screaming and crying. The bees had come out of the tree and had covered Dwight, stinging him all over. Tooter was wanting to fight Dwight. Roma Lynn and I got Tooter and started to the house with him. He was singing he was the black sheep of the family. We decided when we got to the creek where the foot log was across we would let Tooter fall in, hoping it would sober him up. That didn't work. We couldn't even push him off. He kept wanting to go back and fight Dwight, then he was say Dwight was the best brother anyone could have and then he should just go back up there and whip him. Wasn't much fun at the time but we have had a lot of laughs about it since. Dwight ended up with so many bee stings that he was very allergic to them the next time he got stung. Guess Tooter had so much alcohol in him that they didn't sting him. Grandma was ok and the kids finally settled."

Now for stories about Newell and his bee keeping skills - My great-aunt Merle remembers having to help her Dad rob all of their bees. She said her momma was afraid of the them. Merle recalls that before they got a smoker for keeping the bees off when they were getting the honey they used rags rolled up to the length of a flashlight or so and would light it with a match and it would smoke instead of flame up. She had to hold the rags and smoke the bees while her dad got the honey. She said she never got stung very much. She remembers one time when she was a young girl, there was a big tree in Chinquapin (near Friley) that had a bee hive in it. There were several people trying to get that honey and nobody was able to get it, the bees kept them away . Then her dad, Newell, and her Uncle Roy Bentnar decided to go and try to rob those bees. It was on a Sunday and a big crowd of people came to watch. They were successful in getting the honey. She said her daddy would just wipe the bees off him and he didn't ever swell up or anything. Aunt Merle dates the above picture around 1939 or 1940 because that was about when they got their first smoker. She said the way Newell would hunt for bees was by setting out some sort of sweet bait and when the bees would get full he would follow them home.

Newell's mother Rebecca (Merrill) Stepp would hear a swarm of bees coming and she would get under a tree and hold up a big wash pan and bang on it with a spoon and it would make the bees come and light on the tree. Then they would get them and put them into a bee gum.

This tradition of bee keeping hasn't died out with the younger generation. Newell's grandson James Stepp and Merle's grandson Sundance both keep bees.

James shared a memory of the last bees he caught:

"The last bees I caught was on the side of the road by where I work. A guy from work wanted them so I told him I would be back with them. I gathered up a cardboard box, some tape and some pruners to cut the limb off with. The hardest part was getting someone to hold the box while I cut the limb off. We got about 5-6 pounds of bees and the queen with no smoke or head net with neither one of us getting stung. I watched and helped my grandpa Harmon with his bees - the secret is to not be scared!"

With any luck, when my husband and I are able to move out to our 5 acres - we would love to try our hand at it. Both my mother and father-in-law as well as my brother and sister-in-law have been keeping bees for about 2 years now. I hope we can join in the "fun" soon!

Until next week,
Becky

And don't forget to check out my bee keeping sister-in-law's genealogy blog Days of Our Lives!

 

 

It's A Family Tradition

Here we are 12 weeks into this genealogy blogging challenge. This week the writing prompt is 'same' and I've decided to write about a recent discovery I made about my name and the name of FIVE of my ancestors. You see my given name is Rebecca Sue. I was named after both of my grandmothers - maternal first, paternal second. This year while building my tree on Ancestry, I discovered that my maternal grandmother was named after her grandmother and that her grandmother was named after hers and her grandmother was named after hers - for a total of NINE generations! The line in which I discovered this comes from Northern Ireland. The Irish follow a tradition in naming their children.

1st Daughter named after Mothers Mother
2nd Daughter named after Fathers Mother
3rd Daughter named after Mother
4th Daughter named after Mothers eldest sister
5th Daughter named after 2nd oldest sister or Fathers eldest sister

So while this tradition may have started out intentional, I wonder when it just became coincidence.  Now that I've picked up on it, I hope at least one of my three children will have a daughter and name her Rebecca and that her granddaughter will also be named Rebecca and on and on and on ....

My maternal grandmother's name is Rebecca Inda. She was also named after both sets of grandmothers. She was the fourth child born to Newell McKinley and Zula Jane (ACORD) STEPP. Newell's mother's name was Rebecca Matilda MERRILL and Zula Jane's mother was Clara Inda EVANS (Sometimes misunderstood to be Clarinda.) My grandmother married my grandfather, Leroy Harrison MELSON on November 23, 1955. She didn't have the opportunity to know her namesake because her grandmother died nearly three years before she was born. Also, just as I go by Becky instead of Rebecca, my grandmother goes by Reba, instead of Rebecca.

My grandmother's grandmother, Rebecca Matilda MERRIL, was born October 12, 1867 in Henderson or Buncombe County, North Carolina. She was the daughter of Abner MERRIL/MERRELL and Martha Elizabeth YOUNG. I still have a bit of a road block when it comes to Rebecca MERRILL's paternal line as I can't prove who Abner's father is. There were twin boys, William and Jacob MERRILL both of whom, apparently, named sons Abner. I have documented proof of William having a son, Abner. But only "word of mouth", undocumented, online family trees that say Jacob did. William's wife was Nancy McCRARY and Jacob's wife was Jennie M. McCARSON. Does the 'M' stand for Matilda? What was Nancy's middle name? Either way, I do know that Rebecca MERRILL was named after her mother's mother, Rebecca EDMONDSON.

Rebecca EDMONDSON was born around 1806 in North Carolina. She was the daughter of William EDMONDSON and Sarah PATTON (Sarah's sister is Elizabeth PATTON -who married Davy CROCKETT). Rebecca EDMONDSON married William YOUNG sometime before 1830. The two of them had at least six children together as he died fairly young sometime before 1850. Rebecca and her children are mentioned in her father-in-law, John YOUNG's,  Will as his son William's widow and heirs.



And much to my excitement, I just discovered while doing some research for this post that Rebecca EDMONDSON was named after her maternal grandmother Rebecca CATHEY. Rebecca CATHEY was the daughter of George CATHEY and UNKNOWN and was the wife of Robert PATTON. She was born around 1766 in Rowan County, North Carolina. Proof of her parentage and marriage to Robert PATTON comes from a court document, apparently a land dispute, out of Wilson County, Tennessee. It can be found in pages 112 - 115 - Wilson County (Tennessee) Court Minute Book - 1821-1825.

Below is the record transcribed and below it I included a cropped picture of the document so you can read the part that includes Robert and Rebecca PATTON:

Robert Neill versus George Cathey. William Neil, the complainant's father, sometime in the month of October 1783 gave to one George Cathey sixty-five pounds and securing for him lands in the western country. Said George purchased 640 acres in partnership with William Campbell. The bill also charges that William Neil gave to his son John Neil the tract of land. The bill also charges that the complainant purchased said land from John Neil his brother. The bill also charges that William and George Cathey, sons of George Cathey, executed their bonds of John Neil to convey to him said tract of land. Said bond has been lost. The bill also states to Violet Cathey, one of the daughters of said George Deceased and John Reed who had intermarried with Esther another of the daughters of said George executed a deed of relinquishment to the complainant. The bill also exhibits a release of Alexander Neil and James Neil, brothers to the complainant. The deed of relinquishment, dated 1 August 1821 given by John Neil, James Neil, Sarah Neil, John Plumley, William Plumley, Archibald Plumley, Jacob Howe, Hannah Howe, Benjamin Howe, and William Howe. That George Cathey, Violet Cathey, Jane Adkins, Samuel Lusk and wife Betsey, Benjamin Burgen and wife Mary are the children of said George Cathey deceased, that George Patton, John Logan, and wife Rebecca are the grandchildren of said George Cathey by his daughter Margaret who intermarried with Elija Patton and who are both deceased. Also Robert Cain and Daniel Cain, grandchildren of said George by his daughter Elizabeth who intermarried first with Robert Cain, also James Reed grand child of said George deceased by his daughter Elizabeth by her second husband Robert Reed, the said Robert Cain, Robert Reed and Elizabeth being all now dead. Also Robert Patton and his wife Rebecca who is daughter of said George, John Reed and wife Esther who is also a daughter of said George. Also Andrew Neil and wife Mary, the said Andrew being a son of William Neil Deceased and his wife Mary, a daughter of said George (Note: this last refers to the wife of Andrew-mp) Also Robert Gillespie and wife, Ann granddaughter of said George by his son William Cathey and George Cathey, James Cathey and Andrew Cathey and William Mahaly and wife Betsey, grandsons and daughter of said George by his son William Cathey now dead. And also the defendants James Neil, Mary grand daughter of said William by his son Archibald who is also deceased. Also Hardy Hightower and wife Hariet grand daughter of said William by his son Archibald, Alexander Neil, Samuel Neil, and gilbreath Neil, sons of said William and James Neil and wife Sally, Hannah Howes daughter of said William, also William Plumley and John Plumley, Jr., grandchildren of said William by his daughter Betsey who had intermarried with John Plumley, Sr. and is now dead. 1822

This PATTON/CATHEY line is new to me, as I only discovered them this week. I haven't been able to find conclusive evidence that Sarah PATTON was indeed married to Wm. EDMUNDSON/EDMONDSON other than records cited and kept at the Old Buncombe County Genealogical Society. I did however find a land record where William EDMUNDSON sold land to Thomas HEMPHIILL. Ages aren't given so I am uncertain as to whether this Thomas is Jr. or Sr. The younger Thomas would be William's son-in-law's uncle where as the older would be his son-in-law's grandfather. The land borders John YOUNG, Rebecca EDMONDSON'S father-in-law. The land description also mentions that a section of the land was originally granted by the State of North Carolina to a William YOUNG on the 17th of October 1796 - this William YOUNG is probably John YOUNG's father or brother as I haven't made it any further than John at this point in time.

So to recap - This tradition of naming daughters after their grandmothers has been going on for at least nine generations, spanning at least 200 years... unless one of my children continues the tradition.

Me (Rebecca Sue), my mother, my grandmother (Rebecca Inda), her father, her grandmother (Rebecca Matilda MERRILL), her mother, her grandmother (Rebecca EDMONDSON), her mother, her grandmother (Rebecca CATHEY).

Until next week,
Becky

And as always please be sure to check out my sister-in-law's blog over at Days of Our Lives.