| Notes |
- General Notes: The Lammon Tree. Additional Info from Jane Atkinson Linton and Elmer Burns Lammon.
Ed was the youngest of seven children.
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The following is part of a taped interview with James Edward's sister, Avis, in 1988.
Avis had an excellent memory and other family members wanted to capture some of it for posterity. Present were Nancy Lammon, daughter of Elmer Fields Lammon; Donnie B Beagles, Ed's wife; Ann Lammon, his daughter; and Joseph Edward, his son. - EBL:
NANCY: The little stories that Daddy used to always tell, the little funny stories - and Uncle Ed. Where did they get that? Was your daddy that way?
AVIS: Yeah.
NANCY: Or was your mother that way?
AVIS: Mama was.
NANCY: Just always telling little -
AVIS: Lammons were all witty. The Fields were always kind of strict, straight-faced, straight-laced.
DONNIE: Like Aunt Irene.
AVIS: Yeah, Aunt Irene got hers.
ANN: She's a Fields, isn't she?
AVIS: She's a Fields.
DONNIE: Irene never has crossed her legs.
AVIS: She said Papa told her that the ladies didn't do that.
NANCY: Oh, really? Ann, uncross those legs.
ANN: Well, I remember Daddy saying that Papa said that women - he said a whistling woman and a cackling hen -
AVIS: And a crowing hen.
NANCY: What now?
AVIS: Yeah, because a whistling woman and a crowing hen never comes to a good ending.
ANN: That's right. And Daddy said that a crowing hen - you know, sometimes a hen will try to act like a rooster and cackle. And they said Granddaddy would go out and kill it if it did it - right then - and I don't know if that's -
EDDIE: We never did whistle in our house either.
NANCY: Oh, really?
EDDIE: Huh-uh. Ed Lammon wouldn't permit whistling in the house.
DONNIE: You didn't cut up at the table either.
NANCY: Listen, Aunt Donnie, have I not ever told you that my mama and daddy used to threaten us when we were little, if we misbehaved, they would send us over to live with Uncle Ed? I'm serious. They did. And you talking - it's the truth - and you talk about straightening up. We wouldn't open our mouth for days. I'm serious. That's true. That was the truth. And we'd come over to spend the night - I'd come over to spend the night with Ann. And we'd get tickled at the table, and he'd get so mad. Or we'd go to bed in there and get to laughing, and you couldn't stop. And, I mean, he wouldn't put up with that. And Daddy, he didn't have any problem with that. He never made us behave or what -
ANN: Honey, Daddy wouldn't put up with anything like that. All of our friends were afraid of Daddy.
NANCY: Tell me about it.
AVIS: I remember something about when y'all were little, and other folks trying to -
NANCY: Yeah. I'm telling you, it's part -
EDDIE: It's a matter of record here.
NANCY: That's exactly right. That's part of the real record.
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James Edward Lammon, known to everyone as Ed, came into the world in 1911. He was the youngest of the children of Edward Barnes Lammon and Alice O'Keith Fields, and, according Avis, Irene, and Sadie, they spoiled him. In an interview, Avis said, "Edward was the baby of the family, and we all spoiled him because he was real, real sweet." The Lammon boys - and this included lots of Ed's cousins, too - were well known in Hartford for their pranks and practical jokes.
The following story was told to your editor by James Hardwick. [But, a little background first: James Hardwick, in a telephone conversation, after I had received this story from him, asked me if I knew anything about the Assembly of God Church. Answering that I was aware of it but had never attended a service, James explained that they believe that the end of the world - the Second Coming of Christ - will be soon. In other words, we are living in the last days, according to prophecies that have been fulfilled, and the world could end any time now! - EBL]
One breezy, dark, Sunday night, during church service, James Edward Lammon and one of his buddies were flying their kites, but not in the usual way. Usually, people fly kites during the day. Up to their usual pranks, however, they had tied cattails to their kites, cattails that had been dipped the in kerosene and set afire! The kites, invisible at night, were aloft with those cattails attached, now lighted, blazing! Someone sitting close to a window, looked out and saw that the sky was on fire! Others saw the fire. They must have thought that judgement day had come, since all they could see was the fire floating about in the sky. The meeting broke up, as James recalled. Another incident, this one related to the editor by Rachel Lammon, daughter of Lee, and Ed's first cousin: A fully assembled carriage was found atop the roof of the Alabama Hotel in Hartford one morning. The culprits were never found, but Lammon family insiders knew who did it.
According to James Hardwick, Ed played the drums in the Coffee County High School Band. All of the Lammon boys seemed to have an aptitude for mechanical things, and Ed was particularly talented.
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The following is compiled from stories told by Avis Lammon Atkinson and Donnie Beagles Lammon and is contributed by Joseph Edward Lammon:
In 1924, I believe, Edward Barnes Lammon, being the eldest of his brothers and sisters, moved to Enterprise with his wife O'Keith to work as a millwright. Of his seven children, two were still young enough at this time to live in his household, Avis and James Edward. Another son, Elmer, was in the US Navy at the time and later moved to Enterprise. Ed's father, Edward Barnes Lammon, died of Bright's disease in 1925 at the age of 53. O'Keith and the two youngest children later moved from Enterprise to Dothan to live with her eldest child, Sadie and her husband, Charles Herbert Johnson. Ed worked for Herbert in his shoe repair shop in Enterprise. Herbert's son, Clyde, was only a year younger than Ed was and they became good friends. About the time of the depression, 1930 or 1931, James Edward left home to avoid being another mouth to feed and became a hobo for about 3 years, traveling first to Florence, South Carolina, in 1930 to visit sister Avis. Avis was married and already had her first baby, John Keith. James Edward visited only briefly and, declining Avis' invitation to stay longer and perhaps get a job there, left for California. There he worked as a farm laborer in the San Joaquin Valley, near Merced, picking oranges, cabbages, lettuce, fruit, and whatever was in season. James Edward, being a fairly muscular and tough physical specimen, also spent some time there as a prize fighter, probably the bare-knuckle variety. He returned to Enterprise in about 1934 or 1935, where he took a job with Herbert, sister Sadie's husband, who owned a shoe repair shop. "Herbert said that Ed could repair shoes better than anyone who had ever worked
for him, if he wanted to," Avis recounted many years later. Later, he worked at the funeral home, and the Ford place, and often ate at Carmichael's Café. Ed was a good customer there and Mr. Dan Carmichael liked him. Working for Dan Carmichael was a young lady named Donnie B Beagles, who worked there as a waitress. Mr. Carmichael said to Donnie, "?now, Miss Donnie, you just fix your plate and when he comes in, you sit down with him and eat." Because she was too modest, she wouldn't do it, but they did meet later and, after a whirlwind courtship, married one night at midnight in 1936. Colley Pittman, probate judge, did the marrying. They moved to DeFuniak Springs, Florida. This made Dan Carmichael "fuming mad", Donnie said later, having encouraged the couple to meet, and afterwards losing a good waitress because of it.
Following are Ed's Obituary and a proclamation honoring him:
ED LAMMON
Funeral for Ed Lammon, 70, will be held Friday at 2 PM. from the First Baptist Church of Enterprise with Dr. Bill Montgomery and the Rev. Burney Reese officiating. Burial will follow in Meadowlawn Cemetery with Searcy Funeral Home directing. The body will lie in state at Searcy Funeral Home until one hour prior to funeral time. Mr. Lammon died Wednesday in his home. He was a longtime resident of Enterprise and operated Ed's Restaurant until his retirement in 1973. He was a member and deacon of the First Baptist Church where he taught a Sunday school class for many years. He was also a member of Gideons International. Survivors include: his wife, Mrs. Donnie Lammon, Enterprise; one daughter, Ann Day, Enterprise; two sons, Elmer Lammon, Tampa, Fla., Dr. Eddie Lammon, Enterprise; two sisters, Irene Hardwick, Dothan, Avis Atkinson, Hartford; one brother, Otis Lammon, Montgomery, and six grandchildren.
PROCLAMATION
WHEREAS J.E. Lammon has given precious evidence of his walk with the Lord Jesus, and
WHEREAS Ed Lammon has faithfully served his Lord as Sunday School teacher and deacon in the First Baptist Church of Enterprise, Alabama, and
WHEREAS Ed Lammon has shown his concern for spreading the gospel by personal soul winning and Christian counsel, and
WHEREAS Ed Lammon believed in the authority of the Scripture and promoted its distribution through Gideons, International, and
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the deacon body of the First Baptist Church of Enterprise convey to his family their love, respect, and admiration and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that Ed Lammon's memory be honored by having an Adult Sunday School Class bear his Christian name, and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we seek as a church to continue the work to which Ed had committed his life and resources. This being done the 1st day of May, 1982, Jerry W. Byrd, Chairman of Deacons Maxie Searcy, Vice Chairman John Moates, Secretary
The following note from son, Elmer:
Daddy had an extraordinary amount of mechanical ability and ingenuity. He could fix almost any mechanical device. At various times, he was an auto mechanic and accumulated a mechanic's uniform from every car dealer in Enterprise. I think he had a low tolerance for supervision, would get unhappy and change jobs. Unafraid to ?take a swing? at a new venture, but lacking the capital and business skills to succeed, he started several small businesses that failed: a stock car racing venture in Montgomery, an electric motor rewinding shop, a poolroom, an ice cream parlor, "Ed's Big Cone". (The racing venture ended with the whole family being chased out of the race track one night when there wasn't enough "gate" to pay the prize money.) I remember that he decided against a McDonalds franchise in Enterprise because he would have had to pay 5 or 6 % of sales to the parent company. Finally, in about 1952, in a move that put me all the way through college, he and mother started ?Lammons Café?. It was named that until Daddy bought a new sign with shimmering sequins on it (a new development at the time), for which the signmaker charged by the letter. They changed the name to "Ed's Restaurant" and joked about it, although I never could figure why he didn't give her some credit in the name of the business. He kept the books, paid all the bills and taxes, fixed everything that needed fixing. He opened every morning for breakfast and stayed until Mama came in later. He cut all the meat, including grinding the hamburger meat, went to Panama City every week or two to pick up fresh shrimp and fish. Mama always said she couldn't have done it without Daddy's support. They were a good team. Daddy always had a quick temper and was hard to deal with, for me, anyway, and for Ann, too, I know. As children, we were afraid of him. When I got old enough to drive, I knew that, before asking for permission to use the car, it was very important to try to find him in a good mood. It seemed to me like he was almost never in a good mood, and when permission was given, it was given grudgingly. Maybe this is something all boys go through but I don't think so. Anyway, he sort of mellowed later in life, and his main job, it seemed, at Ed's Restaurant was to sit out front and drink coffee and talk and joke with the regular customers. They claimed to have solved many of the world's problems at the coffee table!
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1911 - 1982 (70 years)
