My Aunt Emma Rae Hammond Eskridge relayed the following story at the White Family Reunion July 26, 2009 at Pine Grove Church. Aunt Emma Rae heard this story directly from her Great Aunt Sara Jane White Lee, the daughter of Thrashley White and Eliza Ann Jones. Sara Jane White Lee’s birthday was June 7, 1854 and Aunt Emma Rae’s mother Lissie Arie White Hammond’s birthday was June 7, 1894. Sara Jane and Lissie Arie shared the same birth day, June 7th. Aunt Emma Rae remembered Momma Hammond (Lissie Arie White Hammond) having Aunt Sara and Uncle Thomas Lee over for dinner on June 7th for many years to celebrate their joint birthday. Aunt Sara Jane told many stories but the one Aunt Emma Rae remembered was one about the bantam rooster and Sherman’s troops. Prior to the Civil War, Chesterfield held one of the first secession rallies in the South, encouraging the state to secede from the Union. Sherman remembered this in March 1865 as he marched through the uplands of South Carolina and viewed the event as an act of treason justifying retribution. Sherman’s troops burned barns, destroyed crops and gardens, killed livestock, plundered, and ate anything they wanted included chickens. Sara Jane was 10 years old when Sherman came through and she had a prized pet bantam rooster. She was afraid the Union troops would catch and kill her pet rooster. Her dad, Thrashley White removed a board from the ceiling of their house and put the rooster into the attic to hide him from the troops. The troops entered the farm and they destroyed the early spring garden, destroyed all they could, but did not find the bantam rooster. Sara Jane was afraid the rooster would crow and give away his hiding place but he remained quiet. The rooster survived the close call and was retrieved from the attic healthy and whole. Aunt Emma Rae remembers seeing Uncle Thomas and Aunt Sara Lee drive up in their bright yellow car. Aunt Emma Rae said she remembered this story because she also had a pet bantam rooster at the time.
[The Lineage: Thrashley White & Eliza Ann Jones White – James Heywood, Sara Jane, John Ervin, Henry Wiley, Lucy hardy, William Franklin, Ellison Thrashley. Henry Wiley & Emma Hudson Eddins had 8 children one of whom was Lissie Arie White. Lissie married Absalom (Bub) Hammond and they had 5 children. One was Emma Rae Hammond who married Ernest Randolph Eskridge; Lissie and Bub had 3 sons. One was my dad Leon Fay Hammond]
Submitted by: Leon F. (Bud) Hammond Jr.
August 2, 2009
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This is a great story - and exactly the sort of thing that I hoped would emerge here.
ReplyDeleteI love the stories that come down to us over the generations. It is important to realize that our stories and memories will be as important to those who come behind us as these stories are to us.