James Henry Bennett

April 15, 1918 to June 3, 1998.

It hardly seems it could be fourteen years since my dad passed away. It seems as if I could answer the phone and it would be the most natural thing to hear his voice.

He had the most penetrating questions. I know mother misses him.

When Matthew was deployed to Iraq, I picked him up at BWI and drove him to Dover AFB. Matt remarked that he wished his grandfather was still here and he could talk with him. I wished the same for him and for all of us. We respected his strength and understanding.



Jim grew up in lean times. If you read about Patie, his mother, you will know his mother made all his clothes for many years. This was not unusual for the times and community. He was loved and blessed to have a wonderful family.

Jim was a good student. So good that Mr Dorman, his teacher/principal, taught Jim math; then he had Jim teach younger students. Mr Dorman went on to be Superintendent of Schools in Spartanburg. Gaye, Barbara, Ashley & Brittany later graduated from the high school named after him.

Daddy told me about visiting his Grandfather, going out into a field and using his pocket knife to cut open a watermelon on a hot summer day. He told me about his chores and taking supper to his dad at night.

Jim's dad worked for Spartanburg waterworks. Their home was on a little rise overlooking Rainbow lake. This was a great source for entertainment and as a teen Jim worked there as a life guard.

Dating...

Mother and daddy met on a double date.  Mother told her friend she wanted to go out with the tall guy, but daddy spotted her and decided she was the one for him.  It is easy to see the look in his eyes in this photo.  Wow!   

 

Greenbay Packers
For many years my dad told us he "played with the Greenbay Packers".

Well he did - sort of. During WWII many of the Packers players enlisted in the army. They were stationed at Ft Benning at the same time my dad was stationed there. They had scrimmages together.

When we lived at Ft Benning, he told me the truth. But from time to time, he left out that they were just scrimmages.

Fort Benning
I am unsure what part of Daddy's officer training was done at Ft Benning, or Ft Jackson. However, I know part of his training was at Benning. He was commissioned before he married. He wrote to mother through out the war.

He was stationed there after returning from Okinawa. Barbara was born at the end of that assignment. We returned for two years for his last assignment before he retired in 1961.

Mother had a box of letters she saved. I hope they hae been saved. Many things are lost as folks "down size".

Daddy didn't share that much about the war. He served as an intelligence officer on the Texas on D-Day. Most of the men who trained to be officers for the war did not return. He was stabbed by a bayonet. He had schraprel had to be removed from his back side.

At one point he commanded a group sent to a fiord in Iceland. German u-boats would hide there to compete repairs. His men would look for them when they came and radio for bombers to come to destroy them. He learned to ski. It must have been a nice break from heavy combat in the middle of the war. This ended when snow drifts began to blow and cover their base of operations. They had a forced march out. Planes could not land to evacuate them. He lost all the hair on his body from frostbite. Even his eyebrows were gone for a while. (There are no photos to document this, but his sisters confirmed this through the years.)


Beach Trips








I have to add more, much much more. But later

Easter Memories

Easter brings wonderful memories. New Easter dresses and suits for little boys. Family get togethers. Easter egg hunts.

Have to put up extra photos and stories. Later.

My Baby Boy is getting married.

Once upon a time... decades ago... after my first son was born... I had one of those hormonal moments new moms have. I cried, not big blubbery tears, but tears.

When my husband asked what was wrong, I sobbed " One day he will be six feet tall, his feet will hang off the bottom of the bed and he won't want to kiss me goodbye."

A few years later when Chris was a preschooler, we were out somewhere in Rock Hill. I asked him to give me a kiss. His response was priceless.

"Not here, wait 'till we get home."

It made me laugh. This little guy was so particular about who would see his feelings. There was never a doubt he loved me. I was Mom, but he was private.

Well, Chris, my "baby boy", is six two, his feet can hang off the bed, but he still gives me goodbye kisses.

Now he is in love. In love with a beautiful young woman. He is still private about his feelings. It doesn't matter. It shows. It creeps out of the corner of his smiles, in the twinkle in his eyes. It shows in his laughter. He can hardly wait to begin the next chapter in his life. He is in love! He adores Danielle.

It is easy to see why. She is bright, funny, and she loves him in return. What a wonderful gift to love someone who loves in return. She motivates him and empowers him. They free each other to be their very best.

Danielle brings along a wonderful family. Parents, brothers, sisters, nieces and nephews and more who love and support her.

Mom's pray for many blessings for their children. We want them to be healthy, to get past the emotional aches and pains of life. Mom's are fixers. We want everything to be all better. Ultimately we know that it is about having them become the adults they need to be. Then they need someone new to help them.

Even when my children were little, I have asked the Lord to prepare someone special for them. To surround that special person with good people to help them grow. To give them strengths that would help as they faced challenges together - challenges I could not anticipate - challenges that were for them to handle. I have prayed for a special wife for each of my sons and a special husband for my daughter. Someone who would make them better, stronger and happier. Someone to share laughter and tears. Someone to hold them close.

So I left it up to Heavenly Father. To put those special people right there in front of one another. All ready and prepared to be a helpmeet in life. They had to choose one another. Mom's don't get to pick (at least not today)..

I hope my sons are the answer to another Mom's prayers. I hope they are all they need to be to support her little girl - all grown up. Then Heavenly Father will have answered all our prayers.

Talk to the Animals - My Dr Dolittle

Everyone has favorite memories. This picture captures one of mine.

This was Matthew's first birthday. Matthew was busy exploring the yard from the new vantage point of becoming a walker. He noticed everything. Grass. Pinecones. Leaves. Everything looked new and more interesting looking down on them.

Plus

Grandparents were coming for a birthday party. I brought down a broom to sweep the patio. Matt was on his own (right at my feet).

I didn't notice the magic at first. Nope - I didn't realize anything was different, but Matthew did.

While I swept the patio, pulled out the grill, unfolded lawn chairs, Matt was engrossed in a corner next to the steps. Then I heard it. Matt was talking. No not talking to me, but to something in the corner. When I crept over to see just what was so interesting, I heard him again.

"Meow. Meow."

There was no cat.
There was no kitten.
Nope there wasn't a dog either.

Ants. A row of ants.

Matthew was talking to ants with the only animal "words" he knew. "Meow." He had learned his animal language playing with a friend who lived next door. She knew how to talk animal because she had a cat.

Matthew has forgotten how to "talk animal" now. Lots of people forget as they grow older.

Writing Your Story

Even very accomplished, currently famous people, who achieve a great deal of recognition, will be forgotten in the blink of an eye. (Watch "Jeopardy" some evening, the contestants may not remember who was Secretary of State four years ago.)

I am unaware of any ancestors who have a history book written about them. Most likely that won't happen in the future either. A few have been mentioned in a county history. A few have been mentioned in news articles. Some are recognized for military service. Some had political positions. But in the course of time even Presidents are forgotten by most people.

Our family has a nice collection of interesting folks. Most led fairly ordinary lives. Occastionaly they did/do something special or received recognition. As much as I enjoy learning about their lives, their challenges, their accomplishlishments, I also love learning about the simple memories of more recent relatives. My Aunt Lois remembers her Grandmother Poteat's Gingerbread and Sweet Potatoes. Her Grandfather Poteat liked to tell ghost stories and play checkers. My mother-in-law never forgot a birthday. My dad asked great questions.

Everyone has special stories and memories. Hopefully you are recording your stories. The sweet, the sad, the funny, the awe inspiring,and the tender stories all have a place in "your story".

If you were sitting around the table talking about your freshman year in high school, what story is always shared.... write it down. If you could see your best friend from fourth grade, what would you talk about... write it down. My most embarassing moment in junior high ... was when I slid down a dry spillway for a large pool. I tipped back on my heels and my backside. The concrete surface was rough like sandpaper; so when I got to the bottom of the grade, the back of my shorts was gone. I had to walk home through two neighborhoods with an almost bare backside.

Every life has ups and downs, choices to make and outcomes that follow. Somethings are private for now. Someday you may find a reason to share when feelings once tender have healed. Those are personal decisions. Your Story is yours to share as You choose. I encourage you to record memories that will help your family through the years.

Someone said, "A life recorded is a life twice lived."

John Bishop Harry

Birth: Mar. 7, 1774
Death: Feb. 10, 1868

John Bishop Harry and his wife Sarah Ann traveled to Lincoln County , NC on their honeymoon in a covered wagon. They settled in Lincolntown where he kept the old tavern and inn. By trade he was also a silversmith, clock maker and gunsmith.

In 1835 John Bishop, whose nickname was "John Bull", was a State Senator representing Lincoln County . He took an active part in the organization of Cleveland County in 1840-41. He help survey the new county and lay out the county seat, Shelby .

He surveyed the bounds of the new county (Cleveland NC) and laid out the court house square and the streets of Shelby, the county seat of the new county. Shortly after the new county was formed, he purchased a large tract of land in the southern end of the new county which on its south side joined the South Carolina state line. Here, he established his home on Buffalo Creek. Later he built a home and moved to a new location about 2 miles south of his first home. Here he lived the rest of his life. He established a great slave plantation on this farm which included about 8 square miles.

Buried ( Near Gaston, York Co. NC.?) in Old Shiloh Pres. Church cemetery about a half mile inside the South Carolina line from his big plantation and about 3 miles from his old home place.


An unfortunate accident befell John Bishop while returning from Raleigh on horseback. He was caught in a heavy thunderstorm and thoroughly drenched for hours. The dye from the red lining of his hat mixed with the rain and ran in his eyes. It injured his eyesight and he was almost blind during the last years of his life.

John Bishop owned many slaves and over a thousand acres between Buffalo Creek and the South Carolina line. The land lay along a stream called Jacob's Branch. There he built a large home for his wife and family. After the death of Sarah Ann, he sold his home to Major Borders. He moved two miles up the road and built a smaller, rectangular home with one large room, a fireplace in the south and two pot racks at the north end. He had a dozen slaves that lived nearby and assisted him. Here he lived out his last years in luxury and comfort. A beautifully executed will in his own handwriting shows that he was well educated. It is also interesting to note that a map of his property made by him showed the location of a money swamp where gold, silver and Confederate money was hidden during the War Between the States. The money swamp was never found.

s/o David & Anna Bishop Harry

A different side of W G Harry

As an adult looking back at my grandfather, he was an "old man" in his late 50's and beyond. We know parents and grandparents from our vantage point. Our children and grandchildren see us as the people we have become. These pictures are from the Universtiy of North Carolina college yearbook, the "Yackty Yack". They show his classmates view of who he was.

(As an aside, the yearbook did not play it safe in describing students. A number of comments regarding other students were very biting and judgemental.)

While I never thought of my grandfather as a "Bull Moose", the reference seems to apply to his defense of Teddy Roosevelt in a debate. Another article shows he was a big man on campus, he was on a select student government "Grand Council". Apparently it was a select group of student government campus representatives. Hope to include a picture and comments.






The young man in the lower picture is not identified. Mother told me that the college asked him to have an extremely young roommate. The young man was the youngest college student accepted at UNC at that time. Apparently he went on to become someone of prominence in some way. But this might not be the same person.

http://library.digitalnc.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/yearbooks/id/856   This is a link to the digital copy of the yearbook.

Granddaddy always felt close to UNC. Mother and I took him back for his 50th reunion.


In 1910 Granddaddy Harry was a census enumerator.

 https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-267-11573-36460-11?cc=1727033&wc=M9WN-78J:1554826732  Try this link if you are interested in seeing his handwriting.

		F
		F

Head	David F Harry	M	59	North Carolina
Wife	Fanny G Harry	F	60	North Carolina
Daughter	Maggie L Harry	F	22	North Carolina
Son	Woodfin G Harry	M	19	North Carolina
Son	Benjamin A Harry	M	18	North Carolina