Amazing Graces

Victor Allen Grace & Dorothy Edwina Moore (Barnette) Grace

with daughter Dinah Jen Grace

Amazing Graces!

Shorterville, Alabama

In an interview I did with Dot in 1997, when she was 85 years old,  I asked her, "What has been the most rewarding experience of you life?"  Very quickly, she gave her answer. 

When Dinah was born.  We had been married six years before we'd had a child.  Her daddy, I guess, was more thrilled than I was.  When she came, she was just like him.  The doctor said he had delivered hundreds of babies, and she was more like her daddy than any baby he'd ever seen.  That thrilled Victor beyond words.

I picked the name Dinah after I got pregnant.  Victor let me pick the name.

After giving birth, I came home (w/ Dinah) in the ambulance, which was unusual back then, and got the best of attention.  Dinah weighed 8 lbs. 

Mother got lots of love from her parents, and loved them both dearly.  But she always said she was a "Daddy's girl."  Dot and Mother both talked about how Granddad Victor spoiled her rotten.  And Mom loved every minute of it! 

Mother would also always talk about how handsome her daddy was.  Dot would talk about this, too, and how he was a well-known ladies man before she came into the picture.  I believe when they married, Victor was 35, and Dot was 25.

This time three years ago Mother was in the hospital dying.  She held on another week, until August 6th.  We stayed by her side, and often talked with her about Dot and Victor.  Almost a decade earlier, Mother had been there for her mom, in the same way. 

I want to write something on the history of the Graces in Shorterville and prior to Shorterville, if we can go back far enough.  Gary Fleming and perhaps Tim Grace can help with this project. If any of my Grace kin read this, please contact me.  Thanks!

Click here for more on Victor, Dot and Dinah!

And here for my first post on Victor Grace.

Life's A Beach

Dinah Grace, Dorothy Grace, Stephen Barnette, Wilodene Barnette

Wilodene was Dot's sister-in-law - married to Dot's brother, Dewitt. Stephen and Mother (Dinah Grace) would be first cousins. I am fairly confident this was taken at Panama City Beach, Florida.  Circa 1947, just after WWII.

one of mother (Dinah Grace) - probably same trip above

My grandparents, Victor Allen Grace and Dorothy (Barnette) Grace, seated in the front.  Not exactly sure who the other people are, but Mother could be the taller girl standing on the right.  Victor and Dot would take trips to Panama City.  Circa early '50s.

The Abbeville Herald

August 2, 1962

 Mother - circa 1960s

sister Leslie and our grandmother Dot

My grandfather, Victor Allen Grace, holding my sister Leslie. 
Panama City Beach, Florida.  Circa 1960s.

Dad & Leslie

a condominium where we stayed in the 80s (possibly Pinnacle Port, where Dot's brother Dewitt lived)

These are some shells Mother kept.  We used to go hunting for sea shells.  Maybe these were some we found!

Some photos of us at the beach in the 80s.

Edd's Place

Growing up in Headland in the '70s and early '80s, Edd's Place on the town square was the place to grab a bite.  I remember those cheeseburger plates to go, sealed in a brown paper bag.  And it seems like there was a toothpick running straight through the burger, holding it together.  I ate some hot dogs, too, but I definitely was more into the cheeseburgers.  And I thought the fries were quite good.  Sometimes Mother would call in an order and I'd run in to get it.  When I entered Edd's, I recall seeing Tom Posey shucking oysters and fixing those hot dogs behind the counter.  At church, when I'd see Edd, Tom's father, in my child's mind he was a celebrity of sorts.  Probably most intriguing to me were the around town proclaiming the hot dogs to be the best in the world.  At that age, I saw no reason to dispute it.  They were indeed delicious.  Wish I could try one now. 

1983

During my travels I have been known to drop off a Headland National Bank cap or two w/ folks I meet or perhaps just trade one for some item of interest.  Probably a few bank pens are in far flung places as well. 

Bonnie Willis on right (circa 1940s)

Nov 1946

Jan 1947

March 1947

Sept 1949

1957

1963

1973 (1 of 2)

1973 (2 of 2)

mid-'70s

circa 1977

circa 1978

1979

1981

1981

1981

1982

1983

My dad, Robert L. Hennessee (left), was a recruiter for the Army when he came back from Germany in WWII. He was stationed in Montgomery and a huge fan of the perfect burger and local restaurants. (I don't think I ever ate at a chain restaurant with him - cafeterias -K&W, Piccadilly, etc. excluded) So... I am thinking he ate at Edd's whenever he was in Headland recruiting.  My dad was very charismatic and would have thought it a huge claim to fame to be able to say he knew "Edd" personally. This picture was most likely taken in the late 40's.?   - Barbara Hennessee   UPDATE: Apparently there's a question that this is even a photo of Edd Posey and Edd's place.