Major, Back in the USSR

Moran Baxter, Major Watt Espy, Sr., George Grimsley, July 1959
(Aunt Marilyn gave me this bag.  A piece of treasure!)

This trio from Alabama is preparing to embark on a Roquemore Goodwill Beef/Dairy Tour to Russia and the Ukraine with other agribusiness leaders. A fairly large delegation toured the U.S.S.R. in order to inspect farming methods and share knowledge. M. W. Espy, Sr. is my grandfather.

My daddy, George H. Grimsley, Sr., represented education.  My future father-in- law, Moran Baxter, represented agriculture.  And Mr. Major Espy represented the business and banking sides of American culture on that trip.  - Karen Grimsley Baxter

I remember when they went. I started working with Mr. Espy Oct. 1959 and he talked about the trip constantly.  - Edna Whitehead

Major on the left

Walking towards Red Square and St. Basil's

Red Square is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The words 'Red Square' in Russian are Красная площадь or Krasnaya Ploshchad. The word Krasnaya actually has two meanings in Russian: Beautiful (the archaic meaning) and Red. And, the square itself was actually named using the archaic meaning, thus actually making it Beautiful Square. However, over time, it was switched to Red, although there's no link between the name and Communism. The square was etablished in 1493 but given the name Krasnaya Ploshchad in the 17th Century. St. Basil's was constructed in the mid-16th Century.

That must have been a new camera Granddad Major was working!

Kremlin walls, towers and government offices. The word 'kremlin' means fortress. Kremlins are actually found in many towns and cities in Russia. These fortified complexes were built to keep out enemies and provide a symbol of power. The Moscow Kremlin "embankment" was first inhabited by Slavs in 1090.

Kremlin Walls, Palace and Cathedrals

World-renown Bolshoi Theater, first constructed 1781, subsequent fires caused it to be rebuilt a few times, currently getting a purported $1 billion upgrade (yes, that's a billion)

Monument of Grand Duke Yury Dolgoruky, the founder of Moscow in 1156

One of Stalin's Seven Sisters: The Hotel Ukraina. Constructed from 1953-1957, 34 floors, the last of the "series."

Lenin Stadium (today it's called the Luzhniki Olympic Complex), opened 1956, seating capacity 78,000 plus.  Here's the stadium view today, as seen from Moscow State Tower.

Another of Stalin's Seven Sisters: Moscow State University, looks like a wedding cake

Train Station in Moscow

A dacha in the countryside

Soviet/American Delegation

Envelope that Aunt Marliyn sent to Major, N0. 1 Gorky is now No. 1 Tverskaya, and it's the address of the National Hotel in Moscow

Found this picture on Tumblr.  Dated 1959.  It would have been taken from the very hotel where Granddad Major's group stayed in Moscow.  They stayed at the National Hotel on Tverskaya Street.

I would love to have been there for the debriefing of Granddad Major after his return from his trip.  I wonder what kinds of things he learned, what interested him, what perceptions he had going and what his thinking was upon returning, and also whether or not he had chances to sit down for a chat with Russians and locals wherever he visited.

Back in 2007, Dad actually toured St. Petersburg, Russia for a day, as a part of a cruise to some Scandinavian countries plus Estonia and Russia.  The late Nick Weeks of Headland spent a little more time in St. Petersburg on his trip- again, a cruise - in the 90s.  I recall asking him about it, and he said the city was very beautiful.

Mount Pisgah Camping

 
Forget us....see those mountains that are in our backyard

Thank goodness I had Sidney Poitier's biography on tape. I eventually went to sleep.

The zebra skin kept off the bugs and bears!

A scene from Brokeback Mountain

Here's a summary of what I know about the camping trip:

Our reserved spots are D1 and D2 (on loop D!).  Check-in is at 3pm, but we can check in earlier if they are available. Check-out is at noon Sunday. (Oh, no, so EARLY for Allen!) I guess we should just head on down to the sites whenever we each arrive........

Sarah is welcome to bring her dog (Tracey too), as long as he's on a leash and she cleans up after him (so says the campground guy).

We will bring a tarp to string up in case it rains..........sure hope it doesn't!!!

Here's what Anthony and I will bring, food-wise:

ice (and we can get more at the store by the campground)

Mojito stuff (mint, Nicaraguan rum, club soda)

1 1/2 lbs ground beef for burgers

buns and fixin's

zucchini for grilling (plenty of zucchini!!)

some kind of chips

eggs for the a.m.

potatoes to fry up in the a.m.

small camp stove for coffee in the a.m.

decaf coffee

foil and paper towels

frying pan

pot for boiling water in the a.m.

maybe our little gas grill that we had at the park cookout?

Allen and Kade are bringing (that I know of):

2 Cornish hens

"leaded" coffee & creamer

French press

plates, utensils, cups

charcoal and lighter fluid

- Lisa

Kade and I have a loaf of bread.  Also, we have enough mosquito repellent for all.  Oh, we will bring a few cans of coke and sprite plus a couple of gallons of water.  We are scratching Cornish hens from our list, but will bring burgers for the two of us.  Sarah and Dan, meats are your own responsibility.

- Allen

Uncle Sid - Charles Watson Sidney

*Charles Watson Sidney (to friends, Sid; to family, Uncle Sid)

*Birth: August 23, 1894

*Hometown: Brooklyn, New York

*Education: Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute

Sid is in the back row, right in the center.  It looks like this would have been in middle school.

*WWI Veteran: Prior to the war Sid served in the U.S. Coast Artillery and later became the radio operator on the merchant ship Aztec that in 1917 was torpedoed by the Germans in the first few weeks of the U.S. involvement in the war. Later he served as a gunner's mate in the U.S. Navy.

*Occupation: Electrical Engineer, Marconi Wireless Tel Co., 233 Broadway, NYC

*Sid met Sarah Frances Espy in Florida; they married about 1925. He was 31; she was 22.

The Birmingham News

Jan. 2, 1925

*A census conducted in 1930 showed that Uncle Sid and Aunt Frances were living in a home on Franklin Street in Bloomfield, New Jersey.  At some point they moved to a home in Summit, NJ - not far from Bloomfield.  Click here to view it.

*Uncle Sid also began working at RCA in helping develop television. He had been good friends with and had worked with David Sarnoff, who became the first general manager of RCA, and who some people credit with having invented television. Ironically, although TV had become in vogue in part to Uncle Sid, he personally never owned one.

May 4, 1939

May 18, 1939

July 1940

Sept. 26, 1940

May 1941

*While living up North, Uncle Sid was diagnosed with bladder cancer, requiring numerous operations and frequent visits to hospitals and doctors.

The Wiregrass Farmer

July 1942

*Around 1946, Uncle Sid and Aunt Frances boarded a train in New Jersey, passed thru the Atlanta train terminal and made their way to the Wiregrass. They decided that the Espy family home on Church Street was where they desired to live. They bought the Espy Home from Granny Espy and began remodeling it. Granny Espy lived there with them up until her death. Interestingly enough, family historian Watty Espy believes the renovation of the old Espy home actually prolonged Uncle Sid's own life. Apparently, Uncle Sid had been told he had only months to live. Defying all odds, once in Headland he lived six more years. And, Watty believes the "home project" was something that truly motivated and inspired him. Uncle Sid and a "negro" worker tackled that huge project. An example of Uncle Sid's skill: he used his engineering expertise to reconfigure the electrical wiring so he could turn off all the lights in the house using the one light switch by the front door.

*Cousin Beverly Dayries heard the story that "some busybody in Headland, noticing that Uncle Sid was not "going to work," asked him what he did for a living. Uncle Sid, sharp as a tack, said, "I’m a minder - someone who minds his own business."

*Uncle Sid had quite the reputation for being intelligent. Beverly said she was told that J.J. Espy, Sr., the family patriarch, remarked, "Uncle Sid is one of the smartest men I’ve ever met." Watty concurred. "He was the most brilliant man I had ever seen. He spoke several languages. He had a number of patents. He could talk about almost anything and I could listen to him for hours. His curiosity was wide spread."

*An interesting hobby Uncle Sid had was raising turkeys behind the Espy House. Beverly remembers that he even once shipped a live turkey to her family home in Atlanta.

The Wiregrass Farmer

Nov. 21, 1946

Feb. 1949

August 1949

May 1951

June 1951

This bell used to be in the yard of the old Espy home in Headland, Alabama.  Cousin Beverly (Espy) Dayries thinks it belonged to Uncle Sid, and was a Navy ship bell.

*Uncle Sid’s struggle with bladder cancer eventually caused his death. For awhile, just to get through the day, he had started injecting himself with morphine every four hours. Beverly recalls, "Aunt Frances’ part of the house included the front bedroom downstairs, and that is where Uncle Sid was when he could no longer maneuver the steps to go upstairs. Uncle Roby, then the minister at the Headland Baptist Church, helped Aunt Frances with Uncle Sid - lifting him, etc. Clarence Mixon also helped out. I understand that Uncle Sid died in the bed in the front downstairs bedroom."

The Wiregrass Farmer 

July 3, 1952

*Charles Watson Sidney died on June 27, 1952, at the Espy house in Headland, AL. Beverly remembers, "As was still sometimes the custom in Headland, his body was laid out in his coffin in the bay window of the living room. I went to Headland right after his death and stayed with Aunt Frances at the house. We slept upstairs. I still remember how creepy I felt sleeping upstairs knowing his body was in the house. After his death, when I visited Headland, I always slept at Aunt Frances' house, and I was always placed in that same downstairs front bedroom where he died - same bed, etc., I don't know if she later changed the bed, mattress, etc., but it was something I was always aware of when I visited her."

*Watty stated, "Uncle Sid was not very religious and he didn’t belong to any formal church, although he attended services at the Baptist church with Aunt Frances from time-to-time." He is buried in the First Baptist Church cemetery in Headland. Watty further stated, "Uncle Sid was a very, very good man."

This historical sketch of the life of Charles Watson Sidney was jointly created by Beverly Dayries and me. Beverly provided the bulk of the research by scanning and e-mailing historical documents and family photographs, which did nothing but make me more and more enthusiastic about learning who this man was. All I had previously known was that Charles Watson Sidney was the first husband of our precious aunt, Frances Espy. I had taken the photograph of his tombstone and then one thing led to another. First, it was going to Uncle Watty, our family historian. Then, it was cousin Beverly who completed the story and satisfied my curiosity. I must also give credit to Beverly’s husband, Bud, who helped double-check our facts and proof our writings.