Introduction
Greetings, to my national and international readers! I trust that you are each doing well.
Mrs. Appalachian Irishman is about to get over the “CHV” (Children's Home Virus) that she contracted, on 11/16/2022. She still has a little cough. My wife laid up sickly until 11/22/2022, when she went back to work. The Children's Home does not need to send sick children to school! I had only mild symptoms of the “CHV,” which my wife tried not to give me. To those who are still obsessed with “Corona Myopia Psychosis,” no, my wife did not contract the China virus again! She did not take a made in China test, to see if she had contracted the China virus again! (See my first 5/1/2022 article, under section “3/28, Monday: China Test Kits for China Virus.”)
This article is about family heritage, on November 24th, for three select years. I'll highlight Thanksgiving 2022, Granny and Papaw Ferrell's marriage license in 1908, and Mom's birthday in 1932.
First, however, I have to share my power outage restoration “murakle” of Sunday morning! It's funny!
My Gift of Restoring a Power Outage
To my readers in northeast Tennessee, did you survive the heavy rain overnight Saturday into Sunday? On Sunday, our power went off at 4:58 AM. I called the power company, at 7:23 AM, to check the status of the outage. I could only speak with a robot (which is the “new normal” of “outstanding” customer service). While I was on the phone, answering “yes” or “no” to the robot's questions, the power came back on, at exactly 7:25 AM!
It was a “KUB reboot murakle!” (A “miracle” is God's action that sets aside natural law, such as raising the dead. A “murakle” is my way to describe a serendipitous coincidence!)
So, when any reader in the KUB electric area has power go off, just call me! I'll call the KUB robot for you. Your power will be back on, while I'm on the phone with the robot! I “promise,” believe me or not!
Now, let's get back to family heritage, on November 24th, for three select years.
Thanksgiving, Thursday, 11/24/2022
For recent Thanksgivings, either my youngest brother and his family came down here, or we drove up there. At times, other family had joined us. On this Thanksgiving, my youngest brother and family visited his brother-in-law, who recently took a wife. They spent time with them. My brother and family didn't have time to stop by here, on their way to or from west Knoxvegas. I think that I heard him honk his horn, on I-640.
Mrs. Appalachian Irishman and I had a good Thanksgiving gathering with her folks – her father, her two sisters, our niece, and her good first cousin. After the fixins were ready, I led a prayer to the Good Lord, and we sat down to eat. “Favorite” sister-in-law was sickly and stayed in bed. (She'd done a “no good deed goes unpunished” a few days before and was “rewarded” by coming down with a case of the snots.) We all talked and joked on several topics. Pepper, our niece's ol' puppy, enjoyed the droppings that I gave her.
My youngest sister-in-law (who is also my “favorite”) had traded cars. She needed to swap out the temporary license plate for the permanent plate. It's a nice looking, silver 2019 Kia Niro (not Nero) hybrid SUV. After the Thanksgiving meal, youngest sister-in-law, our niece, and I went outside, to change the tag. It should have been a one-man job that takes about three minutes.
Wrong! The rear bumper, at the plate attachment, must have been designed by an outer space alien! What should be a simple design requires an advanced degree in engineering to figure out!
Over the course of about twenty minutes or so, my father-in-law, my wife's cousin, and my wife came outside, to check on the progress that the three of us were making and to offer “insightful tips and suggestions.” At one point, all six of us were at the rear end of the car! Yes, it takes six people to change one license plate on one Kia.
To make a long story a little shorter, eventually, we got the permanent plate on the car. The right side screw holds tightly enough (if it doesn't wiggle loose), but the left side holds firmly. Just don't hit too many potholes on the interstate, sister-in-law! I'd take that Kia back to the dealer and have them fix the right side “intricate fastening device!” The left side device is holding.
Tuesday, 11/24/1908
Let's go back “through the mists of time,” 114 years ago, to Tuesday, November 24th, 1908. Thanksgiving was two days later, on the 26th, that year. (Kia vehicles didn't exist then.)
As the image (below) shows, on 11/24/1908, Papaw Marion Ferrell (4/13/1880 - 11/21/1970), at age 28, obtained the marriage license. Eli Jones, the minister, performed the wedding ceremony the next day, on 11/25/1908.
My paternal grandmother, Molly Gertrude Archer Ferrell (11/30/1892 - 6/11/1971) was five days away from turning age 16, when she married Papaw. My 6/13/2021 article includes the image (below), explains the Ferrell, Lype, Archer, and Carter family connections, and shares three memories of Granny Ferrell.
Source: "Tennessee Marriages, 1796-1950," database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X8Y4-BLV): 27 January 2020), Marion Ferrell, 1908.
Granny and Papaw Ferrell were blessed with eight children. Listed in birth order, their children were: Carrie E. Ferrell Davis (12/5/1909 - 1/28/2000), Lula Mae Ferrell Absher (1/14/1912 - 10/9/1995), James William “Bill” Ferrell (8/20/1914 - 6/21/1999), Roy Palmer Ferrell (6/9/1917 - 9/13/1991), George Charles Ferrell (1/14/1920 - 12/1/1995), Paul Edward Ferrell (3/16/1922 - 12/4/1983), Robert Carson Ferrell (4/30/1925 - 12/1/1999), and my Dad, Earl H. Ferrell (9/17/1927 - 1/25/2008).
I have records on the parents and siblings of both Granny and Papaw Ferrell. I may write an article or two, eventually, on the Ferrell and Archer ancestral lines. Papaw Ferrell's line is more detailed.
Thanksgiving was the day after Granny and Papaw Ferrell were married. Oral tradition has not passed down how Granny and Papaw spent their first Thanksgiving together. I can only imagine the joys that they must have shared.
Thanksgiving, Thursday, 11/24/1932
Going back 90 years ago, my Mom, Betty Lou Wood Ferrell (11/24/1932 - 12/27/2000) was born on Thanksgiving day, in 1932. Her parents were Aby William Wood (9/4/1901 - 3/14/1983) and Lula Frank Amos Wood (6/16/1901 - 8/12/1991). Her younger brother, Robert Allen Wood (5/14/1939 - 1/18/1941), lived to be only a year and eight months old.
Searching this website by “Mom,” “Granny and Papaw Wood,” and “Uncle Bobby” finds several articles that I have published over the years, to honor them. I look forward to meeting Uncle Bobby.
I scanned the photograph (above) on 1/3/2021. The original photograph is still in one of Mom's photograph albums, which I have. The photograph is not dated, but it had to have been taken around the time that Mom graduated high school.
Mom was born in Indiana, but she grew up in Morristown, Tennessee. As a boy, I remember humoring Mom by calling her a Yankee. Her usual reply was that she'd become a “southern transplant.”
Mom and Dad (Earl Ferrell, 9/17/1927 - 1/25/2008) were wed, on 9/3/1959. They were blessed with four sons. (Well, as boys, we aggravated Mom and Dad enough.) I am the oldest of us four brothers. Searching my website by “Mom and Dad,” “Mom,” and “Dad” will open articles that I've written over the years.
Growing up, with Mom's birthday falling on or near Thanksgiving, Dad sometimes happened to not remember Mom's birthday on time. I must admit, as a boy, that I had the same failure a few times. Mom, in her grace, never did let on that we'd forgotten her birthday. Granny and Papaw Wood usually drove up from Bean Station, Tennessee, for Thanksgiving with us. (Sometimes, we'd drive down there.) Granny and Papaw Wood always remembered Mom's birthday! Dad would say, “We let your mother's birthday slip this year, boys!” Dad would find Mom a birthday present (often a box of chocolate covered cherries, which she loved). Mom would always have a birthday celebration, even if it might have been a few days late! Mom's graciousness always forgave us. Thanks, Mom!
Conclusion
I am publishing this article on Granny Ferrell's birthday, in 1892. It is fitting. This is another article on family heritage. Before this article, 111 previous articles have been on or have included the topic of family. Eighty-six articles have been on or have included heritage.
Earlier today, I looked through Granny and Papaw Wood's Bibles, which are kept safely in our home. Granny Wood had written ancestral records for Papaw and her, in Papaw's Bible. I know oral family tradition. The records in Papaw's Bible may inspire future articles, about Granny and Papaw Wood and their ancestors. I pondered a while, about what life was like for all my ancestors.
My eyes of faith see several generations of ancestors gathering together in heaven, where the circle is unbroken. Those of us here, who are ready, will join them, in the blink of an eye, when it's our turn to go Home. Our ancestors will not even know that time passed, awaiting us, once we join them.
I hope that future generations of Ferrells will keep the family heritage going – in the right way. That's how I was raised. I honor the biblically-based heritage of the Ferrell and Wood families. Happy birthday, in heaven, Granny Ferrell!
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