Granny so loved her yards and spent many hours raising roses and gardenias. Every time I smell a gardenia, I think of Granny. She was a great mother and grandmother. Granddaddy passed away when I was about 12. I remember him as a prim and proper kind of guy. Most of my memories of him are sitting at his "library" or on the front porch. They had a huge house. The entrance was about 12 feet wide by 32 feet long. On either side was two rooms, each 16 x16 feet. At the end of the entrance room was a dining room, with the kitchen and a large back porch on one side and a large walk in pantry and small screened in porch on the other side. Granny was a good cook. Even after the modern cabinets were added, she kept her wood stove.
Johann Lewis (Ludwig) Redwine (Riedweil) Sr. and Barbara (Beechler) Stoner
Jacob Redwine and Rowena Rhinehart
John Mashburn Redwine
Matilda Darthula Redwine and Allen Bullard
Susan Bullard and Stephen Glynn Carroll
Charlotte Hulda Carroll and John Henry Alvin Blackstone
They are buried in the Hopewell Cemetery, about 8 miles west of Gilmer, Texas. in Upshur County......on F.M. 49
Childhood Memories from a book written by Aunt Ruth, Daddy's youngest sister.
My dad was a stocky, strudy man with piercing blue eyes and a ready wit. He was small in stature, but to me, he was a giant, capable of solving any problems, great or small.
Mother was a quiet, soft spoken lady with soft brown eyes and a sweet smile, whose whole life revolved around her family. She was never too busy to soothe hurt feelings, doctor a hurt finger, or pick a sticker from a barefoot toe.
There were no movies, no football games, and no Pizza Huts, so we made our own entertainment. We had an old pump organ, which had once belonged to my granddad. My middle brother, Ewel, learned to play it quite well, by ear, of course. We would all gather around it and sing together. Sometimes some of our cousins would come to visit us and join in. Mother would make peanut candy with molasses, or parch peanuts, and we would have some good times.
Our house was a large, old rambling structure with a hall down the center, with bedrooms for the boys on one side and ones for the girls on the other side. The big fireplace room at the front of the house was our parents' room. This is where all disagreements were settled, all problems were solved, and on cold nights, where we warmed our toes and made a run for our beds before they got cold again.
My dad always seemed to have a thrist for knowledge. Although he had a limited education, he read a lot and studied all the books given to him by our granddad. Those books were such a source of knowledge to Dad. He read, studied and educated himself. After I was an adult, Dad became active in, and went to work for, the agriculture program in Upshur County. He was chosen as a delegate and went to Washington, D.C., to speak on behalf of the farm program. He was also active in church work and served as an Elder in our church for many years. He instilled in us a strong and abiding faith in God. He was always active in community affairs and served as a school trustee.
Aunt Ruth, age about 23
Aunt Ruth, age about 67
Pictures taken on their wedding day and in later years
My Dad...
Ewel Blackstone ....... The middle son of Charlotte Hulda (Carroll) and John Henry Alvin Blackstone
Daddy was a quiet man, but we always knew when he spoke, he was very serious. He had a wonderful sense of humor. I got my ability to dream, from him. He always like to think of things as they might could be. He was a hard worker, and managed to buy a large farm (216 acres), at the end of the great depression. It was his pride and joy. Money was never Daddy's goal in life. He just wanted every day to be a day to remember.
He loved to talk about time he spent working in Panama, building barricks for the government. He loved his family, and we were always aware of that. Sometimes, I think he loved Mother too much. Even in the last few years of his life, he would still speak of their years together, with great fondness, finding humor in all the trials they had faced together.
To me, Daddy was one of the best looking men I have ever known, and the most honorable. I think he got the best from both Granny and Granddaddy. Their influence in his life was very visible. All of his life, he maintained his deep faith in God, his belief in being honest in all of his transactions, and enjoying life...one day at a time. He faced death knowing it was the end result of a long life. Once, he told me that as one gets older, death becomes less a threat. More especially, if one has faith in their hereafter.
Some of the fondest memories of my childhood was spent at Granny's. The big old house was so wonderful. I played under the big magnolia tree out front, with my cousins, Pat, Flo, and Brenda, while our parents visited on the big front porch. (Aunt Ruth wrote a poem about this tree. I have included it below)
Granny and Granddaddy received several magazines each month. Most people could not afford magazines back then, so it was so much fun to look through them, more especially the McCall's, because it had paper dolls to cut out. I recall one time asking Granny if I could cut the paper dolls out of her new issue. Granddaddy didn't want me to, but Granny carefully tore the page out and handed it to me.The farm magazines had "funnies" in them. We loved looking at them.
I remember eating at the round table in their dining room. It belonged to Aunt Lura. After Granny and Granddaddy were gone, Aunt Lura sold it to my mother's brother. He sold it to me. My daughter, Renee'', still uses it in her breakfast room. Since Daddy was the first to learn to play the old organ, it was given to him. When Mother and Daddy built their first home, they kept it for awhile. Later, they decided it was too large, so they asked Granny to let them leave it in her entrance hall. It was still there when Granny died, but someone took it before Dad could move it. Everyone knew that it had been given to Dad, so I really don't think it was a family member that took it.Back then, doors were never locked. After searching for years to find one like it, I finally did. Everytime I look at it, it reminds me of the days gone by.
I have Stephen Glynn Carroll's family bible. It is in bad shape, but I still love to view his hand writing where he entered the family information. Since my home is decorated in Texas Primitive style, I am able to display all of the old pictures and keepsakes. I have also instilled in my children a love for the past. I am so proud that I have accomplished this. Genealogy is my life. I wish I had more time to pursue it. I have plans to make a family book for my Blackstone cousins, including their memories of the "Good Old Days" spent at Granny and Granddaddy's.
