Historians, Queens & Governors

Watt Espy's great-aunt, Eva Clyde Stovall Scott.  In 1961, she hands Governor John Patterson an autographed copy of her book, History of Henry County, Alabama, the first of its kind.  Below are pages of her book that document the Carroll Family line.  Later I will add her work on the Espys.  A big thanks to cousin Brenda Stroup for providing copies of these pages.

Standing behind Governor Patterson is my mother, Dinah Grace.  Mother, a high school junior at Abbeville High School, had been crowned Queen of the Henry County Civil War Centennial Celebration.  The pageant was held in Abbeville, and included ladies from all over the county.  A few days after the pageant, Governor Patterson came to Henry County for the commemoration and formally crowned the queen at the Henry County Centennial Costume Ball in Headland.  Below, be sure to read Governor Patterson's letter to my mother.   Later in the summer I will devote an entire post to the pageant, where I will include more of the governor's pictures with my mother and various newspaper clippings related to the commemoration and the pageant.

Lake Lure

In Uncle Watty's collection of pictures, I discovered this one..  I flipped it over and read the description.  Lo and behold, it's of Lake Lure.  Lake Lure is just down from us - literally just minutes.  It's the site where part of Dirty Dancing was filmed.  Kade and I have been there a few times, and have driven around the lake after sightseeing at Chimney Rock.  

To see some videos and photos of us at Chimney Rock State Park, where we were overlooking Lake Lure, click here.   And below are two pictures (one an old postcard) of Lake Lure that I Google Imaged in order to find that exact mountain scene.  Pretty confident I found it.

Source

U{DATE:  Here's a video I made in August 2013.  If you look hard enough, you can even spot me swimming!

Seeing Family in Charleston

One huge benefit of having this blog is that people I don't really know - distant relatives and others - reach out to me and introduce themselves.  Sometimes they have been following my blog for a year or more, and then they decide to e-mail me.  The best relationships I've made are with folks who say, "Hey, I have items you might you like."  That then leads to exchanging e-mails and sharing scanned photos.  It just opens new worlds to me - and them.  One such contact has been Brenda Skinner Stroup, who was not only Dad's classmate at Headland High, but a distant cousin of his.  And her husband Hank Stroup is a very close relative on the Solomon side!  Until Brenda contacted me, I didn't know either of them.

You and Hank Stroup are 2nd cousins 1 time removed with common ancestors Laura Emma Price and John Thomas Solomon.  Hank is Mark's 2nd cousin.  His grandmother, Mamie Oates and "Aunt" Kate were sisters.  I have tons of genealogy info from the Solomon side of your family. Would be glad to share.  I am also a distant cousin, as my 2nd great grandmother (Mahala Kirkland)  and Mark's 2nd great grandmother (Mila Kirkland) were sisters.  Mark was a groomsman in our wedding 46 years ago.  - Brenda Stroup, Jan. 5

E-mailing Brenda eventually led to making arrangements to get together in lovely Charleston, SC, not too far from where she and Hank live.   And this past weekend, we did just that.  Kade and I departed the scenic mountains for the lovely coast - about a four hour drive one way.  We had been to Charleston before and had wanted to go back.  The rich history, the stunning architecture, the lush gardens, the people watching, the nearby beaches and islands...Wow!  But our primary reason for going was to spend an evening with Hank and Brenda.   What an evening it was!!!!

This is Hank's and Brenda's wedding at the Headland United Methodist Church.  See if you can spot Dad (Mark Espy, Sr.).  He was a groomsman and usher.  Dad also hosted a breakfast for the groom at the Espy home on Main St.  The article in this post gives more details about the wedding and the breakfast.

The top photo is of the reception.  In the dark suit on the left is Major W. Espy.  In front of him is Edith V. Espy, congratulating Brenda.

Brenda and Dad were classmates at Headland High School. 

Just to show Dad's commitment to his high school class, check this out.  From 1962 till his death, Dad gathered with his former classmates at reunions.  In fact, probably his last public outing was to Meadowbrook for his high school reunion.  Brenda Stroup was also present.

Another discovery I made was that Hank attended Abbeville High School for one year and knew my mother very well.  In fact, I think he went out with her once.  Brenda also knew Mother, and thought very highly of her.  They talked about how Dad and Mother first met.  They also talked about my grandmother Dot and what a strong person she was.  In time, I hope to elaborate on a few of these jewels.

Lastly, my plan is to post, right here, the genealogy trail that links Brenda to my siblings and me.  And I will also share the link to an earlier post that will clearly detail Hank's connection to us.  So please check back.

Father's Day Weekend

Enjoyed all those years when Dad coached me in baseball and football.  Very good teams and wonderful memories. The pavilion dedicated to Dad and to my great uncle, Sam Vann II, is at the very sports park where Dad coached and is pictured below.

Espys at Samford

Samford University Board of Trustees, circa late 80's

President Thomas Corts, front row, light grey suit, 5th from left

My dad, Mark S. Espy, Sr., the youngest looking of the bunch, standing in the back center

In the coming days I plan to add some funny and interesting anecdotes about Dad being a trustee and how that influenced Mark's and my life at Samford when we went to school there.  I also will share some other facts about the board, and how Dad actually came to be a trustee.  So check back in!  Dad served in this capacity for over a decade. 

These two images of Major Watt Espy at Howard College in the '20s are a teaser of more to come.  Hope to post all that I have sometime next summer.

I'm sure that Daddy could have told you "a lot" about Uncle Major.  Definitely one of those "larger than life" figures.  Based probably solely on his recommendation, I got into Cumberland Law School.  - cousin Mike Vann

My first week at Samford a small number of students got invited to President Corts' home in Mountain Brook for a welcoming party for incoming freshman.  Another student who had been invited - Trey, I think - picked me up in his car and took me over to Corts' home.  We all sat out on the back patio and ate refreshments and drank some beverages (non-alcoholic, of course!).  I can't remember if we had burgers or hotdogs.  The only thing I really recall is that after Dr. Corts gave us a pep talk on life at Samford and what role models we'd surely become, we then all shared a bit about ourselves.  I don't remember what I said, but I know I was nervous!!

Later, my senior year, I was one of the students invited to speak at a coat-and-tie Samford fundraiser dinner at the Mountain Brook Country Club.  I only had to make a few remarks, and I remember specifically mentioning my grandfather graduating from Samford (Howard) and that he was a trustee for many years.  What I do know is that I probably should have prepared a little better!!!  Just hope Samford achieved its fundraising goals that year! 

While at Samford, my brother Mark had a "funny" encounter with the Dean of Students, Dean Cox.  I will have to get the story right from Mark.  It all ended with Cox stating, "Now.... don't you and I both know one of the trustees?"  (referring to Dad).  I think Mark got the point. 

When Mark graduated, Dad, being an trustee, was given the honor of presenting Mark his diploma.   By the time I had finished, Dad's tenure as a Samford trustee had already come to an end, so mine was done the traditional way.  Dr. Corts presented me my diploma.

  

In the mid-90s, when I was working at the bank in Headland, Bud Casey, the running back coach at Auburn during the Pat Dye and Bo Jackson era, came by to see my dad.  Bud was on a local sports TV talk show then, and I believe he was in the bank seeing if we'd like to advertise on his program.  I had met Bud when I was young - on recruiting trips he made to the Wiregrass and at various functions and games I went to with Dad.  I walked back to the lobby, near Dad's office, and Bud is standing around, laughing it up with Dad and couple of other bank executives, both of whom, like Dad, were Auburn graduates.  Very quickly, in front of Bud, somebody said, "Well, you know, Auburn is the best school around."  I piped up, "Excluding Samford!"  And one of them said, "Bud, give us your two cents on that,"  just knowing he would side with Auburn.  Bud paused for a second, and then said, "I travel around this whole state raising money and trying to get advertising, and one thing I notice:  the Samford graduates own the banks, and the Auburn graduates work for them."  All I noticed were red faces, starting with Dad's! 

Bud Casey - Sugar Bowl, 1984

 

Family members who went to Samford:  Major W. Espy, Sr., Edward Gray Jackson, Theodore Jackson, James Burhman Espy, Dewitt Barnette* (my grandmother Dot's brother, who played football there), Marilyn Espy (McClendon), Mila Espy (Woods), Mark C. Espy, Jr.,  and Major Allen Espy.  Mila's daughter Valerie Woods (Smith) studied there a year.  Cousin Abigail Sessions finished Samford.  And cousin J. Theodore Jackson Jr. of Montgomery is a current trustee.  There may be more!!!

And for all blog posts with mentions of Samford University, including my brother Mark's election as sophomore class president, click here and scroll.

*must confirm this one

Updated October 30, 2016.  BUT THIS POST IS STILL A WORK IN PROGRESS. 

A Lovely Day

Here are a couple of videos I shot yesterday.  I had been wanting these shots of the downtown.  When we later saw the rabbit, which obviously didn't mind us getting very close, I thought, "What a great way to end the day!" Yet something even more fascinating had happened.  In the late morning, when I walked outside, I felt this splash (like rain) on my bald head.  Perhaps it was more like what happens when someone flicks water on you with their wet hands.  It was already hot, and the rain had long gone, so this splash felt quite nice.  I then turned around and looked up, and on the roof was a small bird that was shaking its feathers, drying off from a bird bath.  It did the maneuver once more, and then took two hops and flew off.  I just couldn't help but think of my mother, who loved animals.  She had three "rescue birds" at home, in our house, when she died.  In fact, at Pet Smart, just seconds before she suffered a fatal cardiac arrest, she was thinking about buying a new bird cage - a bigger, more comfortable one for one of her birds.  She had a new cage in her buggy, and decided to  place it back on the shelf because the color wasn't right.  Something like that.  And then everything changed.  So, yesterday, when I saw that precious bird, and thought about that delicate splash on my head, my beautiful mother came to mind.

A Jade Mine

If you’re in travel anywhere in the world and don’t have an evolved and nuanced China strategy, you aren’t a serious player in 2013.   - Source

 

I was astonished at the number of Chinese tourists in Las Vegas last year when we visited - in the casinos, on the strip, everywhere.  And just the other day, when Kade and I were having a meal in a café in downtown Asheville, a huge tour bus stopped nearby and a bunch of Chinese tourists got off and started exploring the city.  It got me wondering about how Asheville, which already brilliantly markets itself regionally and nationally, is going to tap into this skyrocketing volume of new Chinese tourists (and other internationals) who are checking off their destination bucket lists.  Something is already happening. I've heard from my brother about Chinese tourists at the Biltmore Estate.  And then of course, this giant tour bus that stopped off in the city.  The whole prospect of strategically reaching out to this specific category of international travelers is quite intriguing, and if Asheville can do it very successfully, talk about a further boon to the local economy?!?!?  Before posting this on my blog, I actually sent an e-mail to the head of the Buncombe County Tourism Authority Board inquiring into this matter and encouraging them to capitalize on this.

 

      By 2015, 100 million Chinese will travel abroad, a benchmark originally forecast for 2020, according to the UNWTO.  - Photo Credit plus article Chinese travelers the world's biggest spenders

Everyone wants a Chinese tourist in 2013: How 30+ countries plan to lure them in  (an excellent article)

A booming economy and expanding middle class with a newly disposable income has made China the number one most sought after outbound tourism market in the world.  - Samantha Shankman

Incidentally, when I lived in Bangkok and was around university students and professional workers at the school where I taught English, except for the rare person who said they might be studying at the University of Alabama or Duke, I never heard anyone mention that they knew of Alabama or North Carolina. They just didn't really register. Now, the movie Sweet Home Alabama came out when I was there, so it prompted some discussion between my students and me, and it gave me a chance to talk about my home state.  Of course, I also mentioned the movie Forrest Gump, reminding them that it prominently featured Alabama. Overwhelmingly, though, when it came to traveling and/or studying, only large cities like New York, Los Angeles, Boston, Miami and San Francisco did they know well.

 

On a funny note, before Kade traveled with me to Alabama to meet my family for the very first time, she was looking for some gift items to give my parents.  For my dad she picked out some Jim Thompson ties that had elephants on them, being that the elephant is the revered national symbol of Thailand.  I said, "Kade, you don't want to do that.  You won't understand now, but you will later."  Now she knows!

Phil Jackson, Eleven Rings: The Soul of Success

Watch Former NBA coach Phil Jackson on PBS. See more from Tavis Smiley.

Phil Jackson talks about his book, Eleven Rings: The Soul of Success.   The most interesting part to me was his discussion about how he was raised in a very religious environment - "view from the pew" he says - by parents he loved and who loved him, and how he meshed his past with the new things that were coming his way as an adult.  And ultimately, he talks about how he used his personal philosophy and the spiritual dimension of his life to motivate his players and accumulate championships.  Every once in a while, I will see an interview and think, "I see some parallels with own life here."  And, "This is a person I can truly learn from."  Watching this last night triggered both of these thoughts.

About six minutes of the interview gets cut off.  Here's the transcript where you can catch the rest - an essential bit, I might add.

Hunt's Oysters, Uzbeks & Galileo Moments

I read some news other day about the significant decline of the oyster harvests in Apalachicola Bay in Florida.  Apalachicola is the place that supplies raw oysters to Hunt's, one of my favorite stops in Dothan, Alabama.  I was also very disappointed to discover that a big part of the problem is the feud between Georgia and Florida over the amount of fresh water that's spilling into the bay.   Hopefully this political sparring can be resolved soon and the oyster industry can begin to rebound and flourish once again.  Here's the story, Fighting to Save an Oyster Industry.

In the late 90s, a friend of mine from Uzbekistan - Kobil - came to visit me in the Wiregrass.  He was actually one of my English students in Tashkent in 1994.  By the late 90s he was enrolled at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN.   He drove down to Headland for a visit, and met my family, and even went to the Espy Cousins Christmas party.  The whole visit was surreal, both for him and me.  I just remember having good conversations with him, and I remember reminiscing about my time in Tashkent - the perceptions I had going in, and how they had changed over the course of the year living there and how they continued to evolve.  He too shared a lot, and gave his initial thoughts about Andy and me, and then went on to share how his interaction with us influenced him in positive ways.  One thing's for sure: Kobil's Wiregrass visit was a refreshing jolt from everyday life. 

Oh, and one thing I recall is that Kobil brought his prayer rug - he is Muslim - and used it in my guest bedroom for his daily prayers.  Out of all the students I had in Tashkent, he and maybe one other person were about as devout and committed to their faith as evangelicals in America are.  Overall, after years of Russification and Soviet Education, which involved a deliberate marginalization of Islam (and all other faiths), the Uzbeks I knew - of course, university students - were very nominal in their beliefs, and perhaps saw faith as merely a historical part of themselves as opposed to something they seriously follow.  But after the breakup of the USSR, the Central Asian states - and other republics too, including Russia - were experiencing a spiritual revival of sorts.  In Uzbekistan, this naturally was Islamic.  At the same time, outside faith groups (Christians from the West, Muslims from neighboring countries) were coming into Uzbekistan to proselytize.  I just remember Kobil - and one or two others - being very proud of their Islamic heritage, and having a sincere belief that would have fit right in at Samford, where I went to university, and where a lot of people are evangelicals. 

At Hunt's Oyster Bar in Dothan, Alabama.  Kobil shucking an oyster!

Henry County Auburn Experiment Station - Headland, Alabama. 

A year earlier, in 1998, for my vacation from the bank, I returned to Uzbekistan simply to see the students (friends) I had taught four years earlier.  My direct flight to Tashkent was out of NYC, so I got to see The Big Apple for the first time and visit (and stay with) my cousin, who was working for an investment bank there.  Anyway, when I got off the plane in Tashkent, I had a Galileo Moment, where I instantly felt I was in my element - being overseas, being in a different and stimulating environment.  One of the first things that happened when I got there was a surprise "Welcome Back" party.  Look closely and you will see Kobil seated to my left.  For the party, they brought all traditional Uzbek foods.  The Uzbeks, like Southern Americans and Northeastern Thais, have a reputation for being very hospitable.  Incidentally, they are also known for their watermelons and cotton!  Sound familiar?!?!?

1994.  Tashkent, Uzbekistan.  One of my classes of students.  Kobil is second from the left.

To get a fairly new update on Kobil, go here.
And for more of my Uzbek memories (w/ videos and photos), click here.