Thomas Augusta, William and Mary's Oldest Surviving Grandson

On August 23, 2011, I was blessed to have an interesting two hour conversation with my mom's first cousin.  For some unknown reason when my siblings and I were children, we called him Uncle Thomas, but we called all of his siblings Cousin (insert first name).  Now that I'm older I sometimes call him Uncle Thomas and other times Cousin Thomas.  Either way, he's always happy to see me and I feel the same way about him.  He was thrilled to answer the same questions that I recently posed to his first cousin, my Aunt Bea.

How are you related to William and Mary Long?  Their son, Agustus Long, is my father, so I am William and Mary's grandson.   My father died in 1964.  My name is Thomas Augusta Long.  Everybody calls me Thomas, but when I was down south they called me Joe because they said I looked like my Uncle Joe Long (my grandfather’s brother).  (First cousins Bernice and Betty confirmed that Thomas looked like their Uncle Joe!)

What are your parent’s names?  Agustus and Janie Long.  My father had two brothers and three sisters.  I met Uncle Brown (Allan) and my Aunt Gertrude (Big Baby; my cousin Bernice called her Bay Bay).  The other siblings died before I was born.  I think my mom said they died in their 20’s.  My grandparents left Talladega, Alabama in 1929. After I was born, my grandparents went back to Talladega.  I am fourth of 12 children.  The oldest is my deceased brother, William (Bill), followed by Magnolia (deceased in childhood), and Walter (deceased).  I came next followed by Hannah May, Chaney Louise, Sam, twin girls (deceased at birth), Janey May, Doris, and then Rayford (Ray). 

When and where were you born? I was born June 2, 1930 in Gadsden Alabama.  (Cousin Thomas remembered that my brother Arnett's son, Raylee, was also born on June 2; pretty cool for him to remember this.)

Where do you live now? Akron, Ohio.  When I came north, I didn’t know where I was going.  My maternal first cousin came to Alabama to visit and drove me and a friend of mine to Akron in 1951.  I was the first one of my siblings to come north.  My cousin took me and my friend to a union hall.  A guy hired us on the spot. 

I didn’t know my Aunt Julia (my father's sister), who we called Aunty, was in Akron until my mom wrote me a letter and asked how my Aunty was.  I asked her where was Aunty, and my mom gave me Aunty's address.  When I went to see Aunty, she didn’t know who I was, but she knew I was one of her brother’s sons.  My friend and I had $1,800 from the job we were working.  We were working six days a week and couldn’t get to the bank.  So we asked Aunty to keep the money for us until we could get to the bank.  Aunty opened up bank accounts for both of us.   



Lisa



Janice

How many children do you have and what are their names/ages? I have four sons: Thomas Michael (Joe) born in 1954, Thomas Jerome (Jerome) born in 1956, Kenny Wayne (Chub) 1958 and Thomas Augustus (Man) 1977.  Two of my three daughters, Lisa Long Holley, born in 1953, and Janice Long Rivers are deceased.  My youngest daughter, Angela, was born in 1975.  Janice never missed my birthdays or Christmas; she was good to me. 

What are your memories of your grandparents, William and Mary?  I never met my grandmother, as she died when my dad was young.  We called my grandfather Papa William.  When I was around 6 or 7, I stayed with my grandfather for about 6 or 7 months.  I was injured when a mail truck ran over me and was then sent back to my mom in Talladega.  I really didn't know my grandfather too well.  The last time I saw him, I think was in 1943 when I went to pick up his lunch for him when he worked fo rthe rubber company.  I'm not sure if it was Goodyear or Goodrich. 

What do you want to say to the descendants of William and Mary Long?  If you bothered one of my sisters or brothers, you got come by me.  I liked to fight and I was a good fighter, too.  My mom would have me babysit.  I watched my brothers and sisters like a chicken.  I kept a level head.  I didn't drink and party.  Money is made to spend - keep a couple dollars, but enjoy it today - don't worry about tomorrow much.  Enjoy your life. 


Thomas, 2006



What do you want your descendants to know and/or remember about you as your legacy?  My brothers, Bill and Walt, and I were the hardest working boys you ever saw.  Everybody who knew us would tell you that.  We took our money home and gave it to our mother.  We had it hard, but we made it.  We didn't have anything, but we knew how to treat everybody.  My mom came up north by train to visit.  I told her the next time she came north, I would go and get her.  When she wanted to come in 1954, I couldn't get off work.  So I sent my brother Bill and my wife, Emma, with my car to get my mother and drive her back.  I took my mom and my Aunty everywhere they wanted to go.  I never said no.  I enjoyed taking them.



Bernice, William and Mary's Oldest Surviving Grandchild



Bernice with niece Deborah (8/2010)



I recently interviewed my aunt Bernice (Bea) Garrett Sigler, the oldest surviving grandchild of my maternal great-grandparents, William and Mary Long.  Here are her answers to the questions I posed. 

How are you related to William and Mary Long?  William and Mary are my grandparents.  They had six children.   Of their six children, only 2 had offspring: my mother, Julia and my Uncle Agustus.    

What are your parent's names?  Julia Mae Long Garrett and Selmo Garrett.  My father's nickname was Dyke.  They had four daughters.  I'm the oldest; the next two passed away as toddlers, and the youngest is my sister, Betty.  My mother died in 1999 at age 89; she was the last of William and Mary's children to pass away.  

When and where were you born?  I was born on February 8, 1930 in Gadsden, Alabama.  Where do you live now?  Akron, Ohio.

What are your memories of your grandparents, William and Mary? I did not know my grandmother Mary; she died when my mother was 16 years old.  My grandfather married two more times.  I'm not sure of my first step grandmother's name.  I think it was Ms. Travis, and I think his third wife's name was Ms. Phillis.  My grandfather was a store-front preacher.  Betty and I called him Papa, but our first cousins called him Papa Willie.

How many children do you have, and what are their names/ages?  I have 5 children: LaKeia Lashon (Mary Louise) Turner Neeley born August 29, 1947 – she was named after my grandmother (Mary) and great grandmother (Louise).  

Kathy Turner, deceased

My second child is Kathy Jo Turner.  She was born on September 5, 1954 and passed away on April 24, 1998.  I named Kathy after a girl on a soap opera and my girlfriend Nancy Jo.  My sister, Betty, had her second child, a daughter, Deborah, five days later. 

My first son and third child is Kevin Ray Turner who was born on February 26, 1956.  Kevin's middle name is for my brother-in-law, Raymond.  Kevin was born 2 days after my sister's birthday.  This was the second time my sister Betty and I were pregnant at the same time.  She had her second daughter, Sharon, earlier in the month on February 5. 

My fourth child and second son is Gregory Myles Turner; his birthday is May 2, 1958. 

My baby, Vickie Renee Turner Millender, was born on June 23, 1961. 

What do you want to say to the descendants of William and Mary Long?  My mother, Julia, was named after her father's sister, Julia Crawford.  My mother came to Ohio in 1941.  My mother used to have a rooming house on Valley Street in Akron.  I came to Ohio in 1938 and lived with my great aunt Julia Crawford. She and her husband, William, called me Bertha and enrolled me in school as Bertha Crawford. But everybody knows me now as Bernice. My sister, Betty’s children couldn’t say Bernice, so I told them to call me Aunt Bea.   I only met three of my mother's siblings: Gertrude (Bay Bay*), Uncle Gus, and Uncle Brown (Allan).  I think a first cousin named his son Lavelle after our Uncle Lavelle (note: the name Lavelle does not appear on the 1930 census for William and Mary's offspring). 


What do you want your descendants to know and/or remember about you as your legacy?   I opened up my heart and told my life story to my children.  I’m just Bernice.   I’m open-hearted, free-hearted and will do anything for anybody that I can.  I don’t meet any strangers.  I’m alright until you back me up in a corner.  Since the Lord has touched me, I’m not what I used to be, and I’m not what I ought to be.  I want my children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren to know I’m on my way.  I’m on the right track.  You have to work at it, pray, and go forward. 

Thank you, Aunt Bea for sharing part of your story with me and all of your descendants, including those not yet born!  Next up: my mother's first cousin, Thomas Long, the second oldest surviving grandchild.

*The 1920 census does not list a Gertrude or Lavelle; the census list Bula, a girl 3 years older than my grandmother, and Jessie, a girl 3 years younger than my grandmother - no middle names are given for either of them, so perhaps one of them is Gertrude.  The other boy named in the 1920 census is Iver Ella - perhaps his nickname was Lavelle.  I will explore these name differences with the other grandchildren.)      

William and Mary's Grandchildren

Bernice and Betty (Aug 2010)

As I mentioned in my previous post, William and Mary Long had six children.  Two of those children, Agustus (Gus) and Julia (my grandmother), married, and had children of their own. Julia and husband Selmo Garrett had four daughters.  Two (Mary Francis and Dorothy Jo) died in childhood.  Julia's surviving daughters are Bernice Garrett Sigler and Betty Garrett Miller.  Betty is my mother.  Agustus died in 1964 and Julia died in 1999.   



 My great Uncle Gus and his wife, Janie, had 12 children. The oldest was William (Bill) deceased, followed by Magnolia (deceased in childhood), Walter (deceased), Thomas, Hannah May, Chaney Louise, Sam, twin girls (Pollie Ann and Willie Ann, deceased at birth), Janey May, Doris, and then Rayford (Ray).    



Walter, Thomas, Ray



William (Bill)



  

Hannah, Janey, Thomas, Chaney, Doris
with their Mother, Janie



Sam with son Sammie and
Grandson Terry

I plan to interview each of William and Mary's grandchildren (hopefully in birth order) to learn as much as I can about my maternal great-grandparents.