Sixty-Two Years Ago Today My Mama Was Pregnant

Sixty-two years ago today, it was a Friday, in the little Upstate South Carolina town where my parents lived with my three brothers and my older sister.  My Mama was nine months pregnant and it was June and HOT.  

Oh, the old Victorian house up on the hill with its wrap-around porches where they lived had its twelve foot ceilings to trap the heat up high and its many tall windows to let the air pass through, but if you're nine months pregnant with no air conditioning, it was hot.

Now.  My Mama had to have been pretty miserable what with her being "in the family way" and all. It being a small town and most of the people kin didn't help her misery much.  I'm sure they all stopped by to ask her why she hadn't had that baby yet and such, as if she had a choice in the matter.

Mama wanted the baby to come today because she used to work for and with a couple who lived up in Cliffsides, North Carolina who were both born on June 24th.  They were good friends and both were delighted when she told them the new baby was supposed to come on their birthday, but there was no sign of the baby.  Not that day, but that night brought a trip to the hospital.  

Aw...you probably already guessed.  That baby was me!  I was born on a Saturday morning after keeping my poor Mama up all night long the night before.  Born a day late and a dollar short they always said. 

When I was still right little, Mama took me to Cliffsides to meet the couple she knew who were born on June 24th.  I remember them.  They were a happy pair.  Both were thin with dark hair and big laughs.  The woman was a good bit shorter than the man.  They lived in a house that was "neat as a pin" Mama said, but all I remember about that house was there was one of those old telephones on the wall that had a crank on the side and you put the piece to your ear and talked into the other piece.  I remember standing on a little stool and playing with that phone that day.  It kept me busy quite the while.

Their phone looked like this, but it was black.

The lady asked me why I didn't come a day sooner?  I didn't know what to say.  This made everyone laugh, but I didn't get the joke.  I felt embarrassed and wanted to leave, but Mama was having a high old time with her friends so we stayed till almost dark.

I wish I could remember their names.  They were very nice people.  I think I saw them once more during my childhood.  I think they visited us one time, but we never went back to their house in Cliffsides.  Mama didn't like riding in the car much.

Isn't it funny what the mind remembers?  Not sure why this memory popped into my head today, but I thought I would share.

McAdenville, NC = Christmas Town, USA

From the time I was a teenager until I was 40 years old, I remember going to McAdenville, North Carolina at Christmastime to see the lights. 

The traffic is horrendous, but the lights are spectacular and worth the wait - especially if you have little ones whose eyes reflect joy along with all the colors and twinkles. 

McAdenville wasn't always a Christmas town. Originally it was just a quiet little mill town in Gaston County, North Carolina.  If you travel from South Carolina on Interstate 85 towards Charlotte, you'll see the exit. I find its history fascinating.  

Back in 1956 they decided to decorate a few outdoor trees.  I've always been told that the mill owners pay the electricity bill for the town during the month of December, but I don't know how true that is.  I do know that the mill owners have always played a part in the decorating of the town.  

Everyone loved and enjoyed seeing the first trees decorated so much that the next year they decorated more...and the next year more...and the next year more...until it has morphed into "Christmas Town, USA" as it appears today.

Some of the trees they decorate are up to 90 feet high!  It is certainly a beautiful sight.  Children of all ages delight in seeing the lights. More and more people go every year, I am told, so expect delays, but go if you can.  It is always FREE, and FREE is always the right price.  For more information click HERE.

I sure hope to go again sometime myself.  It truly is lovely.

Sharing 101 Things to Do in Asheville, NC from localadventurer.com

I've been a little under the weather the past few days.  Okay.  I admit it.  I've been more than a little under the weather.  

My poor sable Border Collie girl, Dolly, is also sick, so I haven't had much time for writing.  I'm hoping to feel much better soon.

In the meantime I've been daydreaming about the Asheville/Hendersonville area where I plan to move next year when I retire.  I happened across this website today:

http://localadventurer.com/things-to-do-in-asheville-nc-bucket-list/

and thought I would share.  It is a great list of things to do in the Asheville/Hendersonville, NC area.  I hope to do all of them after I retire and move there!

Click the link and enjoy!

Remembering Hurricane Hugo: A True Story

Hurricanes are like wars.  The destruction is brief compared to the clean up of debris and lives.  The emotional scars of both seldom ever truly heal.

Back in late September 1989 Hurricane Hugo, a category 5 storm, set its sights on South Carolina.  It made landfall as a category 4 hurricane just north of Charleston, SC, and people 27 years later are still thinking and talking about it.

To view some photos of the devastation click HERE.

The coastal regions of the Carolinas and Georgia took the brunt of the storm, of course, but Hugo was not satisfied to just destroy the cities on the coast.  Hugo went to Charlotte.

I was married with three sons (ages 11, 13, and 15) and living in Blacksburg, South Carolina at the time.   Blacksburg sits in Cherokee County on the North Carolina / South Carolina line on I-85 about an hour's drive from Charlotte.  The storm raged all night that night and into the day that day and then it became eerily quiet as the eye passed.  We thought the worst was over.  We were wrong.  The back side of the storm was worse than the first.  The wind howled and stormed its way through those hills like I had never seen it do before or since.  It was a nightmare.  

I was home alone with my sons that day and we were scared to death.  

Our house was located in the middle of a hardwood forest.  You could not see the neighbors from our home.  The hurricane force wind that somehow made it so far inland was whipping our trees like they were just hickory switches.  Many trees fell in our forest.  Everyone anywhere around lost power, which means, since we had well water, we lost water too because our well pump was electric. 

We fared better than most.  Our house was left intact with no damage.  Our cars were okay.  We were alive and well.  

But that was not the tale for our Carolina lowcountry people and our neighbors to the north and east, York, Rock Hill, Kings Mountain, Gastonia, Belmont, Charlotte.  All those cities and areas had major damage.  

Once our electricity came back on and we could see the news, I experienced sheer terror.  You see, I couldn't reach my brother, Tom, on the telephone and Tom and his family lived in Summerville, South Carolina at the time. Ordinarily, Summerville is a lovely little city just north west of Charleston, South Carolina, but at that time Summerville was devastated.

I tried and tried and tried to call Tom, but all the phone lines were down.  We did not have cell phones back in 1989, so we were relying on Southern Bell (BellSouth) whose lines between the upstate and the lowcountry were mostly all cut by fallen trees and such.  It took nearly a week for me to reach my brother.  By that time I was truly frantic, but he was okay.

Tom, who had been career US Navy, wasn't afraid of storms.  He's seen many a storm on the high seas, so he thought he'd go outside to see the hurricane that night, but about the third freight train that came down his street drove him indoors.  Those "freight trains" were actually tornadoes spawned by the hurricane.  Everyone said they sounded like freight trains.  

Tom's neighborhood was in shambles, but his house was spared major damage.  His family was okay in Goose Creek, South Carolina as well although their house had roof damage.  

I breathed a long sigh of relief once I was able to talk to Tom.  I felt like I had been holding my breath for a week not knowing if he and his family were okay.  

Six years after Hurricane Hugo I moved to lovely Charleston, South Carolina.  Then in September 1999 Hurricane Floyd, another category 5 hurricane decided to visit the Carolinas.  It had downgraded to category 2 by the time it made landfall, but made its mark all the same.

But that is a story for another day.  I'll tell it to you by and by.

My Ancestor, William Humphries, a Patriot, Wounded at the Battle of Kings Mountain, October 7, 1780

Yesterday I told you that my sons and granddaughters are direct descendants of Col. Frederick Hambright, who fought in the Battle of Kings Mountain. 

Today, I am going to tell you about my ancestor who fought and was wounded in that same battle, so my sons and granddaughters are direct descendants of more than one Patriot who fought and was wounded in that battle.

My ancestor is not famous like Col. Frederick Hambright.  He was not a commander.  He was just a soldier fighting to protect his home, family, and way of life.  He was an honorable man. 

Most of us born and raised in and around Blacksburg, SC and/or Kings Mountain, NC probably have more than one ancestor who fought in that battle...just a matter of tracing the ancestry and making the connection.

I am a direct descendant of William Humphries, who fought in the Battle of Kings Mountain.

Here are the generations  from William Humphries to me. Some further  information follows:

• William Humphries (1750-1827) - Marianne Walker
• Samuel Humphries (1781-1849) - Nancy McCraw (1772-1850)
• Sylvester "Cill" Humphries (1830-1864) - Margaret Lemmons (1832- )
• John T Humphries (1851-1928) - Adalissa "Lissie" Lemmons Humphries (1853-1943)
• Janie Susan Humphries Batchelor (1891 - 1956) - Dawson Marcus Batchelor (1892-1927)
• Ruby Batchelor H. Batchelor (1917-2005) - Thomas R. Batchelor (1900-1962)
• Alice J. Batchelor Hambright (1955- )

William Humphries was born in Virginia about 1750 and died May 30, 1827. At some point in his life he migrated from Virginia to settle in Cleveland County, N.C. 

His war records describe his service in the Revolutionary War, and show that he served at different times under Colonels Campbell and James Williams in the South Carolina troops and was brigade quartermaster in General Sumter's brigade. The records also show that he was wounded at the Battle of Kings Mountain by a ball passing through his thigh.*

He served two years as a Patriot and was pensioned under claim No. W4000 (The number was partially illegible.  W4000 may be incorrect.)*

The site of his old residence is about one-fourth mile North of the North and South Carolina state line.  He was buried about one hundred yards west of the old home place, his grave being marked by a stone furnished by the War Department for Revolutionary War soldiers.  His grave and stone are no longer there though.  Please see below for why and where.

William Humphries was married twice. First to Marianne Walker, who was the mother of his son, John Humphries, born in 1768.

William Humphries' second wife was Francis Sarratt. 

Names of the known children of William Humphries are:

          (1) John
          (2) William II
          (3) Samuel
          (4) Jesse
          (5) David
          (6) Margaret
          (7) Francis
          (8) Susannah
          (9) Anderson
         (10) Jane

There is some discussion about which wife had which children.  Some records show Marianne as mother to the first five children and Francis the rest, but some records show Marianne as mother to the first eight children and Francis the last two, so I'm just listing the names of the children for you. 

I do know that Samuel, my ancestor, was Marianne's son.

William Humphries' Headstone Camps Creek Baptist Church, Cleveland County, NC
William Humphries' headstone is presently at Camps Creek Baptist Church in Mooresboro, Cleveland County, North Carolina. However, his remains are not there. They are still located at his home place, unmarked.

After William's home was sold the new owner plowed under the graves and discarded the tombstones in a ditch where members of the Humphries family found them and placed his headstone and his son William Jr.'s headstone side by side at Camps Creek Baptist Church.  May they rest in peace.

*Reference: "History of First Humphries Family Settling in No. 1 Township, Cleveland County, North Carolina" by J.C. Coleman Humphries

Col. Frederick Hambright and the Battle of Kings Mountain - October 7, 1780

Col. Frederick Hambright was a Revolutionary War hero who replaced Col. William Chronicle as Commander of the Lincoln County Militia when Col. Chronicle was killed during the Battle of Kings Mountain.

Born Freiderick Hamprecht in Neunstetten, Germany, May 17, 1727 (d May, 1817), eleven year old Frederick Hambright and family members arrived in Philadelphia October 27, 1738 aboard the English ship St. Andrews, Captain Steadman, master.  


Since "Hambright" is a misspelling of Hamprecht, it is believed that all the Hambrights in the world descend from or have a relationship to Col. Frederick Hambright.

Col. Hambright was 53 years old when he fought and was wounded at the Battle of Kings Mountain in Blacksburg, SC, near Kings Mountain, NC.

There are monuments and markers placed in and around the battleground to honor him.

You may have noticed that my last name is Hambright.  I am no blood kin to the Hambrights, but my sons and granddaughters are direct descendants of Col. Frederick Hambright and his wife, Mary Eaker Hambright.

The Hambright generations follow.  If you'd like to read more about Col. Frederick Hambright, click HERE.

• Generation   :  Peter Hamprecht (ca 1587) m. Eva _____? (ca 1591)
• Generation   :  Hans Wilhelm Hamprecht m. Margaretha _______?
• Generation   :  Wilhelm Hamprecht (1657-1727) m. Anna Barbara Streaner (1659-1753)
• Generation   :  Hans Conrad Hamprecht m. __________? (Neunstetten, Buchen-Baden, Germany)
• Generation 1:  Col. Frederick Hambright, Sr. (1727-1817) m. Sarah Hardin (1733-before 1780)
• Generation 2:  Frederick Hambright, Jr. (1766-1844) m. Mary Eaker (1772-1832)
• Generation 3:  Madison Hambright (1811-1857) m. (2) Elizabeth Manning (1816-1848)
• Generation 4:  James K. Hambright (1848-1916) m. Nancy A. Porter (1859-1916)
• Generation 5:  James A. Hambright (1885-1953) m. Ora A. Peeler (1892-1984)
• Generation 6:  J. Davis Hambright (1920-2012) m. Virgie B. Leagan (1922-2012)
• Generation 7:  Keith L. Hambright (1954-____) m. Alice J. Batchelor (1955-____)
• Generation 8:  K. Davis Hambright (1973-____) m. Mandy Greene (?-___)
• Generation 9:  Sharon L. Hambright (1999-____)
• Generation 9:  B. Paige Hambright (2001-____)
• Generation 8:  Marcus W. Hambright (1976-____)
• Generation 8:  Eric M. Hambright (1978-____)

Col. Frederick Hambright is also one of the characters in New York Times best selling author, Sharyn McCrumb's recent historical fiction book, King's Mountain.  This book is a must read if you are interested in Revolutionary War history.  It tells the story of the Battle of King's Mountain in an interesting novel format.  It is fascinating!