George and Katie – the Only Photo and Family Stories, Saved
George and Katie c. 1910s, South Carolina
Grandma Katie was a proud black woman who commanded her household.
I remember her in a wheelchair, fully dressed every day, in that big apron with the pockets on the underside where she kept her snacks and her .32 pistol. When I was three or four years old, she was my babysitter while my mother was at work. She was also my protector when I misbehaved.
Sometime after her passing, Grandpa George injured his kneecap while gathering logs for curing tobacco and he became my babysitter while my mother worked. I followed him all over the place, and he would carry me over the ditches and put me down again. I don’t remember the exact month or year (I’m guessing July, August, September of 1948 or 1949), but the last time I saw him walking was one Friday evening. Mrs. Lula and Reatha (aka Grandma) were grading and tying tobacco. George said he was going for a walk around the farm. He would not let me go with him because he didn’t want the mosquitoes to bite me. I did follow him, though, at a distance out of sight.
Grandpa George did not return that evening, Friday. They made searches for him on Saturday but did not find him. They found his tracks in the field. I remembered hearing someone calling from the direction of the Emory field where I last saw him. Granddaddy Handy (Grandpa George’s son) and Mother sat down and questioned me, listening to my account. On Sunday morning, they found him out in the middle of the cornfield, sunburned and dehydrated.
I saw Grandpa George only once more before he died, through the window at Conway Hospital, 72 or 73 years ago.
Oral stories from John Glover, George and Katie’s great-grandson.
This is the only picture of George and Katie their great-grandson, Trey, has ever seen.
It was ripped and disintegrating when he brought it to us to scan. After digitizing, a bit of Photoshop work repaired the tears and damage, giving George and Katie the respect their portrait and lives deserve. Trey’s older brother, John, knew their great grandparents. He shared these stories with Trey, us and you, giving us a glimpse into their lives in the 1940s, on a farm in South Carolina.
Saving and sharing stories and photos like George and Katie’s are why we do what we do – family history is the stuff that matters.
“In all of us there is a hunger, marrow deep, to know our heritage – to know who we are and where we came from. Without this enriching knowledge, there is a hollow yearning. No matter what our attainments in life, there is still a vacuum, an emptiness, and the most disquieting loneliness.”
— Alex Haley