| Notes |
- General Notes: B-1900 Alabama Soundex Info from Jane Atkinson Linton, 10 Jowers Rd., Gordon, Alabama 36343.
The following is an excerpt from "Some of My Memories", Clyde Johnson, 1996.
"In 1915, while attending a camp meeting in Dothan, Alabama (a town approximately 100 miles southeast of Evergreen) Dad met Sadie Lammon. After a courtship (the details of which I know little) of about one year they were married March 14, 1916. Rev. O. B. Justice performed the ceremony. After a brief honeymoon, they visited my maternal grandmother and me. Until that visit, my stepmother had never seen me and I can remember, vaguely, going to her and into her arms. I remember crying when they made ready to leave. It was not their intention to take me from my grandmother at that time, but Sadie, for whatever reason, decided she would take me immediately. What a responsibility for my stepmother. What a change in the life of my grandmother who had cared for me for three years plus What a change for my father. I can't know the change in my life. But surely the four of us carried the effects of that day all of our lives.?
Daughter Rachel Johnson Rigby provided the following note. It was a handwritten note of unknown date by her mother, Sadie. __(Elmer Burns Lammon)
"My Grandy L [Grandfather James Lammon] owned lot of land in Hartford - given - Grist mill and variety shop - and his children lived around him. He had large 2-story house across the street from where we lived. Where Avis lives now [700 W. Main St. - EBL. per Jane Atkinson] with porch all around house and decorative banister at top of porch and also at floor - made in their variety shop - " Sadie Lammon Johnson
The following note contributed by granddaughter Rebekah Rigby:
Herbert & Sadie
My "Pa Johnson" (Charles Herbert Johnson) and "Ma Johnson" (Sadie Lammon Johnson) were wonderful grandparents. How could a kid ever ask for any better? Whenever we went to Andalusia to visit we usually left after school and would make it there before Pa Johnson would close his shoe shop. The moment we drove up, we became the most important "customer" that there was. Pa Johnson would come out to the car, if he beat us, because we were usually scrambling to get out and get in that wonderful world of shoe repair. To this day when I go into a shoe shop the smell brings back so many great memories and I can close my eyes and see my Pa Johnson.
He would save his wooden thread spools and make us little wagons that would be pulled by a clothes-hanger and consisted of 4 wooden spools for wheels. We were on cloud nine and knew that we were so special and so important. Pa Johnson would always come home at noon for a big meal and then take an hour-long nap and
then go back to work.
When he came home for the evening, we would all sit in the living room and play games. We would play Chinese checkers mostly because that was his favorite game. He would sit in his chair and read until it was time to go to bed and then Ma Johnson would bring out the Bible and read and then we would pray, not just "now I lay me down to sleep," but we prayed and God heard and answered our prayers.
Ma Johnson would be just as happy to see us. She would always have something extra special for us. When we got there in the evenings we would have cereal at night or sandwiches and a glass of milk. Ma Johnson was never old to me. She was always full of life and always tried to plan a great time for us. At noon she would have cooked a great big meal and we would all sit down to eat when Pa Johnson came home.
We would start the prayer and sometimes during the prayer or right after we would hear the train whistle and Ma Johnson would grab the youngest and the rest of us grandkids would scurry off behind her going to wave to the train. She would just stop at the porch but we would run all the way to the track and wave the whole time the train passed by, until the caboose came by. Then we would all turn and go back to our meal that was waiting for us. Every time I hear a train whistle I think of her. After our huge meal at noon we all laid down for a nap.
Ma Johnson would come lay down with us at times, she loved birds and she had a birdbath and feeder outside our window and we would look for all the new birds and see how many different ones we could see. She usually took her shower then and would relax many times on her own bed. (Now that I think of it she was getting rest from the night before or storing up for that night).
When bedtime came at night, all the grandkids would pile up on two twin beds that were pushed together and Ma Johnson would be in the middle and we would all fuss to get next to her. She would read to us and tell us all kinds of stories and tell us stories of her childhood and she would tell us how much she loved us and how much God loved us.
I remember that she would gather everyone's glass at the end of our noon meal and rinse off the ice and load it all in one cup, add a little water and put it in the refrigerator. She would drink from it periodically for the rest of the evening. I would sneak in the kitchen and drink some of her water sometimes - it was just better than getting my own cup for some reason - it was the best ever.
Ma Johnson didn't just help us wave to trains. She would come out and play hopscotch, make mud pies and help us cook them on an old wood stove in the yard, she would make string houses for us with lots of different rooms, she even introduced us to "painted deserts". She would go with us to the clay cliffs (They were only small hills but to us they were cliffs) and break off chunks of different colored clay. We would take our treasures back to the house and scrape off colors and add them to jars in different proportions. I wonder what happened to all the ones we made and gave to her - she saved them - I saw them.
My grandparents were the greatest. They pastored a church in Opine, Alabama. Ma Johnson would always take a water jar with her that had ice in it, because us grandchildren would get thirsty sometime during that day. Great memories, no bad memories. We were the richest kids that ever were. We were always happy and had great times.
When it was time to leave none of us were ever ready. Ma Johnson would stand in the driveway and wave with both hands till we were out of sight, and we would go by Pa Johnson's Shoe Shop and he would give us candy or something and wave good-by and we would leave.
When my Uncle Billy died, his daughters, Mary Ann and Sharon, my sister, Rosemary and I (Rebekah) went to Pa Johnson's Old Shoe Shop (which is now a beauty shop) we all talked about the smell and the great memories that we had. The new owner's liked our stories. The old homestead is still there also. I went back
after Ma Johnson died and the new owners let us take a tour, you could hear all the sounds of our childhood rush back in.....-Rebekah Rigby
Note from Rosemary Rigby:
Ma Johnson
Without hesitation, I can say Ma Johnson was the greatest influence in my life. Here I am 20 years after her death and I still long to tell her every little thing about my day. I share many of the memories at her house that my sister has made reference to - identifying the many birds that visited her bird bath, playing on the railroad tracks, sculpting with the clay, sitting on the porch swing after dinner, all of us wanting to sleep in the same room with her, and our nightly devotions and seeking the Lord for His direction and His will in our lives.
She was my best friend and the closest thing to Christ on earth. She was humble, had a servant's heart, never had anything bad to say about anyone, never complained and was full of compassion. After Pa Johnson passed away and she came to live with us, I had the pleasure of sharing my room with her until her room was added on. This was a lot more fun than just the occasional visit. I would play hairdresser, she would scratch my back, we would read, play games, look at her many pins (other than her wedding band, this was the only jewelry she owned or wore) and talk late into the night. She smelled of Noxema, Ben Gay, and Jergen's - the most heavenly aroma to me!
Her spiritual guidance is what I treasure most. I have no doubt the devil would tremble when she would begin to pray. She prayed like a mighty warrior - for her family and children and their children, for our country and its leaders, for our neighbors and communities, for our pastors and churches. She loved the Lord with all her heart and lived to serve Him until the day she died.
|
1896 - 1982 (85 years)
