Hank, Merle and Waylon. West Asheville.

Sunday, May 29, 2011

Professor Joseph Samuel Espy

This is my great-great-uncle, Joseph Samuel Espy.  He was a son of my paternal great-great-great-grandparents, Robert Marion Espy and Elizabeth (Watt) Espy.  He was a brother of my great-great grandfather, Thomas Franklin Espy.  


Robert Marion Espy's date of death should read 1958, and the Coolidge professor was Norman Flavius Coolidge, uncle of future US President Calvin Coolidge.

Again, Norman Flavius Coolidge



The Abbeville Herald
June 13, 1929

The Abbeville Herald
August 4, 2005

The Wiregrass Farmer
October 31, 1929

The Dothan Eagle
November 12, 1929

The Wiregrass Farmer
November 14, 1929

The Abbeville Herald
November 14, 1929

John J. Espy, Sr. and son Major Espy attended the funeral.  J.J. and Joseph were first cousins.




"In 1948, Uncle Joe's son Carl Espy (a multi-millionare living in Savannah, Georgia) did two things to honor the memory of his father.  In Abbeville (AL), he donated chimes for the First Baptist Church.  In Lawrenceville (AL), the Missionary Baptist Church, standing near where the Academy once stood, had closed in 1946.  The church was badly in need of extensive repairs.  Carl Espy paid for the expense of repairing and reopening the church."  - Jack Elliot, "The Lawrenceville Academy"

Here's a biography of H.H. Golson, whose son Billy accidentally ran over and killed Professor Espy.



And here's a mention of Professor Espy and the young Billy Golson in another article by Henry County historian, Larry Smith.



I'm putting this article way down here, because it seems to have a few big mistakes.   

The Abbeville Herald
May 13, 1926

It was an uncle of the future president - not grandfather.  His name was Norman Flavius Coolidge.  But the spelling of his name on the historic marker is Cooledge, which makes me question everything a bit more.  The whole first paragraph seems wrong.  Was his grandfather ever in the South?  An uncle was!

Friday, May 27, 2011

Bo Sightings

Bo, me and sister Leslie, New Orleans Hotel, Sugar Bowl 1984
Thanks to Dad, who's been getting Auburn sports tickets for over three decades, as a child I not only watched the great Bo Jackson play during his storied career on The Plains, but also had the chance to meet him a few times.  At that time, in the '80s, this was really big-time.    I will never forget the Auburn-Michigan Sugar Bowl in New Orleans.   We went inside the Super Dome for a practice and saw Bo and his teammates getting ready for the game and speaking to the media.  Later, we hurried back to the team's hotel where we greeted the Tiger players and coaches.  That's where my sister Leslie and I had the above photo taken.  Then, the next day or two we were back at the team hotel.  This time I got word of which room Bo was staying in.   Of course, being a sports-crazed 13 yr. old, I went up the elevator and knocked on Bo's door.  Wearing his bathrobe, Bo opened the door and stepped out into the hall to talk with me. His backfield mate/best friend, Lionel James, was singing in the shower, and we could hear him because the door was propped open a bit.  It was quite funny.  Bo, who was already a huge star, was very nice and courteous.  I was certainly awestruck.

I had a chance to meet Bo two other times.  Once, in Athens, Georgia, after a victory over the Dawgs, Dad took us around the backside of the stadium where the Auburn team was walking to the bus that would take them back to their hotel.  Bo walked out, smiling from ear-to-ear.  He was wearing camouflage and holding a box of KFC chicken.  I walked up and got his autograph.  On another occasion, after Bo had left Auburn and begun his professional sports career, I was back in Auburn getting ready to see a basketball game.  Bo was working out on the baseball field, and he happened to be wearing a Kansas City Royals uniform.  When he finished his workout, he left the baseball diamond and started walking across the basketball coliseum parking lot.  He was with his girlfriend (perhaps wife at the time).  And, strangely enough, they were by themselves.  I spotted Bo and walked over, spoke with him and got his autograph once again.  Bo was his usual nice self.

While I am sharing Bo stories, I need to throw in that my sister had a class with him at Auburn.  She asked him if she could get his autograph for her brother, me!   If he only had known of my other successes!  Leslie said that Bo jokingly asked out loud, in front of the other students, how much he should charge my sister.

Finally, if I had to really, really brag about my one Bo moment, it might just be the following picture and story.

A-Day Race of '84

I was one of the kids who raced Bo that day.  My cousin Jeff sent this photo w/ article to me and thought he spotted me in the picture.  I believe I was further to the right of Bo and out of picture.  All I know for sure is that I certainly didn't outrun Bo, even with a 30-40 yard head start.  To see where Bo ranks in the fastest 40 yard dash times ever, click here.  And here's Bo, in his own words, talking about his fastest 40.

Thanksgiving, 1985.
What triggered all these Bo Jackson memories was Auburn's recent national championship and an e-mail an ole Samford University fraternity brother sent.  He attached the above picture and the following description.

Hey Allen -

This picture was taken near Auburn at my uncle and aunt's (aunt is my mom's sister) hunting lodge on their land.  Bo went there quite a bit to hunt - with my uncle while in college, and after.  They were much a family to him, and of course he loved hunting.  My family always gathered every Thanksgiving there at the lodge for the whole weekend.  Bo spent that Thanskgiving day with our family- eating, hunting, playing pool......and came back to hunt the next morning.....then the following day is when he played in the Iron Bowl that they lost on the Van Tiffen kick

For Thanksgiving dinner after hunting, I remember thinking how weird it was to be sitting at the table right next to Bo - along with my two brothers, and three of my cousins....just hanging out, and then him showing us a few pool tricks.  A memorable day to say the least.  After the iron bowl, we were all still at the camp house, and Bo called to ask if he had played well enough to come back to hunt some more!

Happy New Year!!

Andy

In late summer 2012, when we were on our visits to Headland to spend time with Dad, one evening Kade and I treated Uncle Don and Aunt Marilyn to dinner at Hunt's in Dothan, AL.  We wanted to do something for them, simply because they had generously opened up their home for us to stay.  Anyway, we went to Hunt's and found a booth.  I looked over and saw this Bo Jackson quote.  The dinner was nice, and the conversation was even better.  One topic we touched on was Madonna's controversial statements at a Moscow, Russia concert, and how all that tied back to an all-girls rock band that had been charged with inciting religious hatred and desecrating church symbols after they broke into the country's largest Orthodox Church in Moscow and performed one of their acts.  When I asked Aunt Marilyn what would happen if a similar situation happened at the Baptist Church in Headland, she said a strong reaction (a la Putin) would be likely.  And I agreed.

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Spring is Here!


Asheville has tons of Tailgate Farmers Markets where you can find flowers, herbs, vegetables, smoked trout and much more. I stopped by this one the other day and made this short video.

The other day a friend of ours spotted a large black bear in a community just near a park where we walk. Kade and I decided to take our car and drive around in search of the bear. Couldn't find the bear, but we did spot some other wildlife.

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Kade's Family Tree

On our last trip to Bangkok Kade did her own look into her family tree. One weekend I went with her and her dad to visit relatives on his side of the family. They mostly live in the Thai capital, Bangkok. Kade's dad is the youngest of nine children. Like many Thais, his parents came from Chinese immigrant families who left Southern China for a more prosperous life in Siam in the 18th and 19th centuries. These Thai-Chinese, as they are called, are one of many Asian ethnic groups that make up the Thai people.










Kade's paternal grandmother's funeral

This is a Thai-Chinese Buddhist funeral, and was a burial, not a cremation, which is what's mostly done in Thailand, especially among traditional Thais.  Thai-Chinese (and that's the correct word order) would be like a certain ethnic group in the USA:  Irish-Americans, German-Americans, Jewish-Americans and so on.  Although all early Thais migrated south out of what is modern-day China, usually the Thai-Chinese classification refers to Chinese that have emigrated to Siam/Thailand in the past 300 or so years.  Kade's father's parents did just that - likely arriving as kids long before meeting, falling in love and marrying in Thailand.  They eventually had nine kids, Kade's father being the baby.  But the Chinese ventured south for different reasons - perhaps escaping wars and political upheaval, and sometimes simply for the thrill of exploration, good ole love and to pursue riches.  In the early years of Chinese settlement in Thailand, it was commonplace for the well-connected, up-and-coming Chinese to offer a beautiful young lady to the King of Siam, who had scores of wives and concubines.  Poor guy!  This gift was presented to the king to ensure that the Chinese-Thai community could establish real roots in the Kingdom.  Keep in mind, this is how the emperor Napoleon and the aristocracy of Europe and elsewhere did business, held on to wealth and established allies.  On a funny note, to show how this could backfire when it does not go as planned:  Napoleon approached Russian Czar Alexander I to ask for his daughter's hand in marriage.  The Czar, knowing in part that this was Napoleon's attempt to gain influence over Russia, rejected this proposal.  Napoleon felt insulted since he was used to getting his way.  Not long after, Napoleon led a massive invasion of Russia, only to be defeated in a war for the very first time and further humiliating the emperor.  Did not getting the girl lead to this?!!?  But back to Thailand.....the current Thai king is 1/4 Thai-Chinese, and the Thai-Chinese community, although just 15% of the population, is very prosperous......so much so they are often referred to as the "Jews of Asia." 

From the coffin to the right, Kade's dad is the 4th one in the front row.  Her brother is the same row, the third child from very the end, wearing a white cap.  To the left of the coffin, Kade is the young child sitting on her mother's lap.  Her sister was not born then.

Not exactly sure of the costumes.

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Fun Mondays


On Monday we went to Blowing Rock, NC, a very scenic mountain town north of Asheville.  It was Uncle Bumps' favorite vacation spot, so says his son and my cousin, Bill Vann.  After spending the afternoon in and around Blowing Rock, we made it back for a nice dinner at Limones, a restaurant we had not tried in downtown Asheville.  I was very impressed with the ambiance and the quality of the food at Limones.  Divine!  Enjoy my latest video creation.