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Family
Tree - The Vermillion Family
Childhood Memories
I can see my great-grandfather, "Rev. William Vermillion" (image)
yet
as I let my mind travel back over the years.
He was my grandfather, Tom Vermillion’s father.
My clearest memories of him are the trips he would make from his home in
Midway, Virginia on his horse. He would be sitting astride the saddle with a big sack full of pears
across the saddle. He presented
quite a picture as he rode into the yard. He
was a small man, probably not more than five feet and five inches tall.
He was rather husky built, with a twinkle of merriment in his blue eyes.
His hair was white as snow and where the hair left off, the snowy beard started.
He wore his beard almost to his waist.
His legs were so short that instead of his legs hanging down on either
side of the horse, they more or less stuck straight out, for the pears were
where his legs were supposed to be. He
would have made an ideal Santa Claus. Of
course, I didn't know what Santa looked like at that time. Needless to say,
the pears were delicious and the memory would last a lifetime.
Uncle Bill
William was called
Uncle Bill by most of his friends and neighbors. He and others were building the
Midway Methodist Church (image) and he was up on a ladder hammering away when someone
passed by and called to him saying "Uncle Bill, what are you doing up
there?" He answered and said,
"I am working to beat the devil."
I'm sure he did beat the devil lots of times for he preached at this
church as he was able.
About Their Cat
One cold winter
night, he and Grandma Katie (image) were sitting near the fireplace to keep warm when
their cat came in and curled up near the hearth to keep warm too.
Just for fun, grandpa said, "Let's divide the cat, Katie; which end
do you want?" She said, "Well, I guess I'll take the head end."
So, that left the tail end for Grandpa. When
the cat woke up after its nap, it started itself a tongue bath.
When everything else was clean, it raised its hind leg and starting
licking its butt. Grandpa said, "Katie, slap that cat!
Your end is giving my end a licking!"
Granny Katie’s Cow Missing
Granny Katie had
a cow that had just had a calf and she broke out of the pasture and walked off.
Granny was very worried about her and was out trying to find her. Granny
had a slight hearing problem and when her neighbors called and ask where
"Uncle Billy" was, she thought he was asking about the cow and
answered back, "Lord, I don't know, but I'm afraid its bag will "spile".
Needless to say, that little incident was all the neighbors needed for a good
laugh.
Great-grandma Katie Vermillion
Now
it just won't do to leave great grandma Vermillion out although I can't remember
anything but an old woman. (image)
She came
to our house "The Cabin" for a long visit. She was a little short, round-type woman, about five feet tall.
She was more like a little child. We
had a little toy self-playing piano and she would sit and listen to it and sing
along with it for hours at a time. That
was my great-grandmother Kathryn (Katie) Peters, married to William
Vermillion.
Poked Her in the Rear
One time when Granny Katie was driving her cow home, it was raining and
she had her umbrella and my dad, who was just a little fellow, was with her.
She was mad at the cow for causing her to have to drive it home.
My dad heard her say, "I'll poke your brains out, you old heifer!”
She was poking the cow in the butt with the umbrella.
My dad
said, "Grandma, I think the brains are in the other end."
Katie Was Married Before
My grandma Katie
was married to a man named Moss. He
was caught stealing opossum hides and when grandma found out about this, she
divorced him. She had one child by
him; her name was Virginia. She
grew up and married Will Beverly. After
her husband died, she would visit us and stay for weeks at a time.
She would sit and crochet all the time.
We all loved Aunt Jenny.
Granddad - the Bear
They lived in the
Midway area and probably in a log house. One
cold winter night, they sent my granddad, Tom to the basement for something,
probably potatoes to cook in the fireplace.
When he started into the basement, something gave a loud growl.
He was so scared, he ran for dear life around the house to the door.
When he got inside, he slammed the door and bolted it.
Just in time too, for a big bear was scratching on the door, trying to
get in. The doors back then thick
and heavy and the bear finally gave up and left.
I have heard my granddad tell this. This
was my Dad, Schuyler Vermillion's grandparents on his father's side. The
house where my great-grand parents lived is still standing, not too far from the
New Methodist Church, but I don't think this was where they lived when they were
raising their family.
My Granddad Tom hurt when Hoboing a Train
When
they were just little boys, my granddad was starting to hop a train just east of
Gate City. He was trying to get
hold of the ladder when his hand slipped and he went under the train.
He had a bad head injury and his leg was cut off about halfway between
his knee and foot on the right side. (image)
His
brother Sam (image1) (image2)
lived near where the accident happened.
He was carried to Sam's house and a doctor came and used a handsaw to
finish cutting his foot and leg off. He
was unconscious for about three days, which was good in one way, for they had no
painkillers back then.
My Granny Knitting Stump Socks
After
his leg healed, he was unable to do lots of things on the farm.
He bought a tri-pod camera and he would go everywhere riding horseback
making pictures. (image)
Granny would
develop them in a dark room. I
don't know the process, but they turned out fine.
I have several of his pictures now. They are probably around a hundred
years old. They are still in good
shape. Since
he was crippled, he had to wear either an artificial limb or a peg leg.
My granny had to knit stump socks for him, as they were not sold in
stores. Sometimes, he would get
big blisters on the stump and he would have to use his peg leg until they were
healed. He started taking orders
for artificial limbs.
Making Pictures and Fitting For Glasses
He
rode horseback wherever he went; (image) he may have combined the trip to do more than
one thing, for he started giving eye tests for people that had poor vision.
He had this little slide with numbers on it. He would let the person
close one eye and when they could see the letters on a card, which was held up
at the end of the slide, he would mark down the number on the slide. This is
still in the family. And tell
which eye it was. He did this with
both eyes. That way, he had a
right and left side and the number to tell how strong the magnifier should be.
As long as people needed just magnifiers, this was pretty good.
Better than nothing, for there were no eye doctors’ back then.
Since
dad was always with them, Granny and Granddad farmed and had a good garden.
They must have had plenty to eat. They
made their kraut in big jars and dried lots of things.
They had their molasses and honey, which was used to sweeten since they
couldn't get sugar back then.
Granddad Could Not Read or Write
My
granddad, Tom Vermillion, could not read or write, so my granny (she could read
and write very well) taught him to sign his name so he could sign checks.
He would sign his name "G. T. Vermillion".
Granddad and Granny Vermillion married young
My
granddad and grandmother (Granny) Vermillion were married very young; he was
eighteen and she was sixteen. (image) Their first child was my Uncle Kelly.
He was born on August 20, 1894. Then on August 10, 1896 my dad was
born. They grew up at what was called Wayland area, which was in the
Midway Section of Scott County.
My Dad and His Brother Kelly
I'm sure my dad
and Uncle Kelly did most of the work after they got bigger. (image1)
(image2) Back then, they didn't know what additives were.
Their food was like it should be. Of
course, they had hogs, chickens, and milk cows for the milk and butter.
They would make apple butter and plum butter. I have a picture of my granny standing behind a plum tree. (image)
The tree was so full it looked like it would break the limbs.
Married to Myrtle Porter and Valice Gray
As time went on,
my dad and his brother grew up into fine looking men. (image)
Of course, it wasn't
long before they were married. My uncle married Valice Gray (image)
(born December
27, 1899) and my dad married Myrtle Porter (image)
(born July 24, 1895 in Nickelsville,
Va.). They were both beautiful young women. (image)
The people that knew my
mother said she was the prettiest girl in the area. I'm sure she was, for
she was still a beauty when I was growing up. She was beautiful until she died
at age seventy-five (on 9-21-1970).
The Black Velvet Band
Mommie and my dad
were married on the third day of April, 1915.
Rev. Ewell Good performed the ceremony. They were married at the Bell Burk
house, which stood upon what was known as the bluff. My dad had walked
my Mommie down to the end of the swinging bridge, and there among the trees and
rocks, and a view of Copper Creek, he proposed to her. I am so glad she
said, “Yes”, for they made a very handsome couple. (image)
They were both
black-headed and had dark brown eyes. My dad was six-feet tall and my
mommie was five-feet and two-inches tall. (image)
She had very fair complexion
and that made her hair and eyes look even darker. She always wore a black
velvet band around her neck.
Dad Having Flu and Double Pneumonia
I think it was
1916 when my dad had the flu and double pneumonia.
That was during World War I. I
think that was the first flu had ever hit the USA. Lots
of people died. Dad was bad off for
several days. They told me later he
was near death.
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