Granddaddy Vann, Born June 23, 1878 - Died October 10, 1933Sam R. Vann, Sr.
above: (L-R) Jack, Grace, Jim, Sam Jr., Emily, Bumps (Felix), Edith below: Kate Helen (L) and Mary Owens (R)
Seven of the nine Vann children were born in this home (above) (The Vann Home as I call it), which still stands at 105 W Church Street in Headland. Uncles Jack and Sam, Jr. were born in the first Vann home, on Railroad St. We're still searching for a photo of the Railroad St. residence. That home itself no longer exists.
Granddaddy Vann purchased The Vann Home in 1917. Today, the Vanns refer to their old home as "the Covington House," after the family that once lived in and then later sold the home to Granddaddy Vann. Be sure to click the image above that shows the succession of owners of the property. Incidentally, the current owners of this home also own the building on the Headland square that was once Vann Dry Goods, a business owned and run by Granddaddy Vann. It's now the coffee shop, Koinonia Kaffe.
more pics of the Vann home
My grandmother Edith (Vann) Espy painted this portrait of The Vann Home. I believe she painted one of these for each of her siblings. I also found this sketch, which was more than likely her guide for the painting. Just recently, Uncle Jim (the cute little baby boy on the table in the above photo) led me on a tour of the grounds of The Vann Home. After you finish exploring this post, click here to enjoy that video.
Click this image to enlarge and read Sam R. Vann's obituary. The one above is also an obit (from The Abbeville Herald).
Uncle Sam told us that he carried a copy in his pocket "during the War" until it fell apart. - Mike Vann
The Dothan Eagle
Wednesday, October 11, 1933
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(L-R) Mary Owens, Edith, Bumps, Kate Helen, Jack, Grandmother Vann, Sam Jr., Grace, Jim, Emily
Uncle Jim also recently led a tour of the Headland United Methodist Church Cemetery, where Granddaddy Vann and numerous other relatives are buried. To see the video, click here. Uncle Jim, Aunt Grace, Dad, Bill Vann and Sam Vann III were all very helpful in gathering this information and providing descriptions.
5 comments:
I had e-mailed Bill Vann about Granddaddy Vann's death. I had heard he had had all his teeth pulled just before his death.
Me: Infections in the mouth can spread to your blood stream and become deadly if not treated properly. (from a dental website) Could this have happened to Sam Vann, Sr.
Bill: It’s highly probable. Aunt Grace seems to be the most authoritative source on the events surrounding his death and she declares that he had all his teeth extracted soon before his death, although others dispute the juxtaposition of the two events. Most seem to agree that his cause of death was the heart and there is yet another connection with hearts and bacteremia (bacteria in the bloodstream) that could support the heart/tooth etiology. His demise over a few days argues for such a connection. Anyway, hold these thoughts for a real-time, nuanced discussion.
I just saw the “old house” & “gravesite” videos. Great work and thanks for putting this together. Sid & I talked years ago, prior to Uncle Jack’s death about videoing a roundtable discussion w/ all the siblings, but as usual, procrastination got the best of us. Needless to say, I am sick we never followed through. I know Jim is most accessible, but I’d like to suggest you get Aunt Grace & daddy together alone in a quiet place and interview them on your next trip down. I think they could add to Uncle Jim’s info, maybe more accurately and also give a 10 year earlier perspective. Just a thought, but thanks again for taking the time for the videos so far. Let me know if I can help with any of this.
Sam III, April 2010
(Sam and Bill Vann actually later interviewed Uncle Sam and Aunt Grace. It's on this bog.)
The old house is no longer standing. It was on Railroad Street in the general vicinity of where the Alabama Power Company now has an office. The street runs from Broad Street to the parallel to the tracks out west toward the Peanut Mill and crosses the tracks the to intercept with the Midland City Highway. Uncles Jack and Sam were born in this house before the family moving to the “ Covington House” the home on Church Street so near and dear to us. Bill Vann, January 2010
My sister (Martha Backshear Salisbury)forwarded the pictures to me. I enjoyed seeing all the Vanns. Of course, Bumps was our favorite. Dot and Bumps were so nice to Mother and Daddy when they moved back to Headland. Jack was also so nice to Mother during WWll when Dadddy was away. The story is that Jack taught Mother to drink rum and coke, which was always her favorite. - Brenda Blackshear Smith, Sept. 2009
My daddy died in that front bedroom of the Old Vann home when his sister Leta Merritt lived there. He had cancer pretty much all over and had recently had surgery for colon cancer ... they had removed part of his colon and given him the cancer diagnosis...he was staying with Aunt Leta while he was recouperating...and she found him dead on the floor by the bed in that front bedroom. We didn't have an autopsy done, but it was said that the cancer could have caused a blood vessel to break, or he could have had a heart attack...he was only 64...which seems really young now! Carol Oates
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