Life on Little Mulberry

My maternal great grandmother Zula ACORD STEPP had two brothers that lived to adulthood. John and Joe ACORD. Below are more stories from 'Remembering the Ozarks' told by Vernon EATON that mention the boys and life on the Little Mulberry, where my mom and aunts have cabins sitting on about 5 acres and where my grandmother grew up. She wasn't born yet in 1937 but down there things have a way of changing very little. I hope it remains unchanged for generations to come.

Remembering The Ozarks: John Acord

Remembering The Ozarks: The Summer of 1937

Remembering The Ozarks: Gee Haw

My mom and daughters can tell you a story of snakes and the Little Mulberry, themselves.....

Looking across the Little Mulberry to the Road leading to Whiskey Creek

Mom's Cabin at Whiskey Creek

Brad riding Judy while Grandma Bondell holds her. 

My cousin Brad getting to ride Judy. I can remember Grandpa Trig and Grandpa Leroy plowing their gardens. 

Remembering The Ozarks -- The Spanish Fandango

I am so excited to have found these stories. In this next article it will mention a few people I am related to but not descended from: Art Stepp (my maternal grandmother's brother), John Acord (my maternal great grandmother's brother -- Art's uncle) and Opal Stepp (Art's first cousin).

John Acord made an appearance in this blog post.

I wanted to share this story for my husband, who loves to play guitar and is a lot better than he thinks he is.

The Spanish Fandango

Remembering The Ozarks -- Uncle Bill Evans

There is this story that is told in my maternal line that our ancestor (my 4th great grandmother) Effie Conner was Native American. It's said that her maiden name was BULL. My DNA shows traces of Native American DNA but it's very minimal. I have blogged about Effie before but one thing I always come back to is the pictures of her grandson, the brother of my 2nd great grandmother, Clara India (named after an old community in Madison County-- India) . He just looks Native American to me. I only have a few pictures of my 2nd great grandmother but they aren't as clear as this one of William or Uncle Bill as he was called.

William Walker Evans

William Walker Evans was a preacher, the son of Josiah Evans and Jane Conner. I don't want to write too much here, but rather use this as a platform to share another article written by Vernon Eaton in 1998.

This is the second article Vernon has written saying he didn't know where the Evans came from, but thought maybe Texas. They came from Webster County, Missouri. Josiah and Jane went down into Texas for a very short time before settling in Madison/Johnson County. Before Missouri, their families were from Knox County, Kentucky.

Remembering The Ozarks -- Uncle Bill Evans

Until next time,
Becky

Remembering The Ozarks -- The Spoke Plant Rock Throwers

Sometimes when I come across really great finds, I completely get caught up in the excitement and just share it on Facebook with family and friends and it never occurs to me to share it here on my blog. I really need to start sharing it here, and then share my post on Facebook.

A few years ago the following picture was shared with me on Facebook. It has so many of my ancestors and connected family in it. I didn't know the story behind the gathering of family and friends, but yesterday, I stumbled across this very photo, attached to a wonderful story written by Vernon Eaton, in his series 'Remembering The Ozarks'

Zula Stepp (in the headscarf) is my maternal great grandmother. Argie, Art, and Merle are my maternal grandmother's older siblings.

Now for the story!

The Spoke Plant Rock Throwers

*Article taken from Newspapers.com

Until next time,
Becky

The Man Behind The Stories

Yesterday I shared a few stories from The Madison County Record series 'Remembering The Ozarks' that were full of wonderful stories about my Spoke Plant ancestors. They were written by Mr. Vernon Eaton. I wanted to make sure and share a tribute to him because I am so grateful for his stories. Here is a write up from that same paper, written in 2004. I am not only grateful for Vernon's stories but of all the wonderful pictures his father, Mr. Robert 'Bob' Burton Eaton took of my family. He was a really great photographer.

To read the write up click here

He really did a great job of writing. There may have been a few minor errors here and there, but it in no way takes away from the stories behind all the bare facts. I'll leave this here, as I'm off to see if he ever wrote that book!

Until next time,
Becky

Remembering The Ozarks -- Shopping At Spokeplant

I am not a descendant of the subject of the following story but this tribute to her deserves to be shared. She was the wife of my great grandfather's brother, Jubal Early Stepp. She is also related to me because she was the niece of my great great grandmother Julia Bohannon Melson. Rachel's father was Julia's brother. Confused yet? It's easy when it comes to my Ozark family roots.

This story also shows how my great great grandmother Rebecca Merrill Stepp went by Becky, just like me!

From The Madison County Record at Newspapers.com

Remembering The Ozarks -- A Saturday Night On The Little Mulberry

I cannot thank a man I never met enough for the series he wrote in The Madison County Record during the 1990's called 'Remembering the Ozarks' in which so much of my family history is shared. This story is by far my favorite. Thank you Mr. Vernon Eaton. Newell Stepp was my maternal great grandfather. 

*taken from Newspapers.com