Buford & Ida

"Buford & Ida"

   Buford Ray Blair, son of Solomon David and Rhody Pugh Blair, married Ida Lee Register on April 24th, 1923 in Columbus, Georgia. Ida was the daughter of Joseph Lee and Susan Taylor Register. She was eighteen years old at the time of their marriage and was working at one of the textile mills in the Columbus, Georgia area. Buford, being a true Southern Gentleman, went to Joe Register and ask for permission to marry Ida. Permission was given. Photo is of Buford & Ida Register Blair at their 50th Wedding Anniversary at he home of Bruner & Gladys Blair Wilson.

   Joseph Lee Register is the son of James Ashley and Rachael Allen Register. Susan Taylor is the daughter of James Madison and Salina McLeod Taylor.

James Ashley Register, second son of James and Nancy Register was born in 1834, married Rachael Allen on March 23rd, 1859. Rachael Allen's ancestry is not yet clear however she may be the daughter of a Stephen and Anna Allen and was born in Montgomery County, Alabama. The children of James and Rachael are: William Henry, born November 1st, 1859; James Allen Register, born September 19th, 1861; Joseph Lee Register, born February 5th, 1865 and Thomas Marion, born October 1st, 1860. James Ashley was a boot and shoemaker as was his brother William Jackson. He owned land in the Orion area of Pike County. At the beginning of the Civil War, he enlisted in the Confederate Army but was discharged at Pensacola, Florida shortly after enlisting as being physically unfit for duty. He returned to farming in Pike County and died there in 1889 apparently from a heart attack while planting some apple trees on the farm. Photos is James Ashley Register.

   Buford was working for the railroad with his brother, Joe Blair at the time of his marriage. Prior to June of 1924, Buford and Ida moved to Andalusia, Covington County, Alabama (probably because the hunting and fishing were better in Covington County and farming gave him more time for those two activities).

Their first child, Buford Lee Blair was born on June 27, 1924 in Covington County. Lee, although not born pre-mature, was only three pounds at birth. She was not expected to live. Her parents used her father’s first name and her mother’s middle name for her given names. She not only lived but as of this writing she is 77 years old. She has never forgiven Buford for naming her as he did.

   Prior to April 1926 (most likely in the winter 1925/26) Buford moved his fledgling family to a farm in Macon County, Alabama. The farm was located between Tuskegee and Notasulga, Alabama on what is now called Wire Road. Christian’s Store was located just south of the farm (the farm belonged to Mr. Christian). Buford’s sister, Sallie Blair Copeland lived about a quarter of a mile north of the farm on the opposite side of the road. Across the road and down a long driveway lived the Culpepper family. Photo is of Lee, age 2/3 years old (taken 1926/27).

   Ernest Blair, born April 14, 1926 in Macon County, was their second child. On August 25, 1929 their third child, another son, Joe Max Blair was born followed by two more daughters, Sara Frances and Gladys. Sara Frances was born on April 2, 1932 and Gladys was born on December 2, 1934. Lee, as she prefers to be called, and Ernest began their school years in a small wooden schoolhouse just south of Notasulga, Alabama. The school was within walking distance from the farm (it had to be as there were no school buses)

   We have already established that Buford loved to hunt and fish. In Macon County one of the sporting events was fox hunting. The hunt would often last from early in the evening until near daylight the next morning. Buford loved to hear the dogs chase fox. While returning from one of these hunts, Buford was sitting in the passenger seat holding one of the dogs in his lap. A drunk driver hit the car head-on. When help arrived at the scene they tended to the ones that were moving and had injuries. Buford did not appear to be breathing and was considered dead at the scene. He finally showed some signs of life and was taken to the doctor’s office where his injuries were sewed up without cleaning the wounds. They still didn’t think he would live. He was unconscious for more than a week. But he survived. The top of his left ear was cut off in the accident. The dog he was holding in his lap was killed.

   As the Great Depression grew deeper, Buford went to work for Swift and Company, meat packers in Montgomery, Alabama. He worked as a butcher. Fred Copeland arranged for him to be hired by Swift. The two of them would drive to Montgomery, a distance of about 35 or so miles. Fred was the son of Sallie Blair Copeland and a nephew of Buford.

   The Culpepper children (at least two of them, Tommy and Mildred) were about the same age as Ernest and Joe (herein after called “the author”). When there was time to play, we would walk to the Culpepper farm. The author remembers the first radio he heard. The Culpepper family had a crystal set radio. Although the radio was not anywhere near the high-tech of today’s sets, it was amazing to hear voices and music coming from the “air”!

   Years later, Tommy Culpepper married Frances Copeland, daughter of Frank and Sallie Copeland.

   The call of hunting and fishing in Covington County finally was too much for Buford. In early January of 1935 (Gladys was about five or six weeks old) he moved the family to Andalusia, Alabama on his father’s farm. There were three houses on the property at that time. Solomon and Rhody lived in one, Leonard Frank and his family lived in another one and the third one was where James (Jim) Solomon and his wife and daughter lived until the death of Vera. This is the house Buford moved into. Jim and his young daughter were living with Solomon and Rhody.

   Fred Copeland moved Buford's family to Andalusia. There was a one night stopover in Ansley, Alabama at the home of Thomas William Blair and his family. Tom is Buford's brother. The following day the family arrived in Andalusia. Heavy rains had hit the area during the day and the red clay hills were too slick to drive to Solomon's farm. Major Lee Blair's widow, Helen (pronounced Heelen) lived a block or so from Court House Square. The family spent that night with "Cousin Helen" and went to the farm the next day.

Lee and Ernest were enrolled in East Three Notch Elementary School. The next child, the author, began his school year at the same school a year later. The farm was about three miles from the school. There were no school buses in Andalusia either so we had to walk to school no matter what the weather was. The photo is of Ernest Blair taken during the school year of 1935/36. Sara Frances also began her schooling in Andalusia but the baby, Gladys, spent all her school years at W. S. Neal School in East Brewton. This was the first school where the Blair kids were able to ride a bus to school.

   For the next four years, the family lived on Solomon's farm. Audrey, Jim's daughter, was motherless and had a stern Rhody for a nanny. She loved to slip away from Rhody and visit with the Buford family. She loved her Aunt Ida and considered her to be her surrogate mother. She would crawl in the ditches to a point where Rhody couldn't see her and then run for Buford's house. There she had someone to play with. Ida called her "Puss", a name that Ida remembered until she became severely afflicted with Alzhiemers.

   In addition to the usual kid games, we would sometimes play “smoking”. Not regular tobacco but a wild plant called “rabbit tobacco”. Only the older cousins, Lee, Ernest, Audrey and the author, could do this. Gladys and Frances were “too young to smoke”. Undaunted by their rejection, they would go into the barn and smoke corn silks. On one such occasion, a spark must have been dropped and the barn burned. Cause of the fire was unknown to Buford but the kids and Audrey knew. The local farmers, as poor as they were, brought part of their supplies of corn and hay to tide Buford’s family until harvest. Gladys finally admitted to Buford about the 1970’s that they had burned the barn.

   Another game we had was sledding. Yep, that’s right. Snow was unknown to the Blair kids. But we still could go sledding. Part of Solomon’s pasture was on a hillside and covered with pine trees. Pine straw would pile up several inches deep under the trees. We took barrel staves, slicked the bottom by rubbing them on a pine tree. We could then speed down the hillside just like it was snow sledding. It’s a wonder we didn’t run into any of the trees but I don’t recall ever doing so.

   Jim, as did Buford, smoked either Bull Durham or Prince Albert tobacco. Thelma continually tried to get Jim to quit. One afternoon he stopped by Buford’s house and gave him his sack of Bull Durham and papers. He wasn’t going to smoke anymore. Next morning before the Buford family arose; Jim was pounding on the door wanting to borrow some tobacco until he could get to a store to buy some. Buford returned his sack of Bull Durham and papers. Jim continued to smoke the rest of his life and Thelma continued to fuss.

   There was a small creek that ran along the South boundary of the property. Most of the time the creek was only about three to four feet wide with only a few inches of water flowing in it. When a big thunderstorm hit the area, the banks of the creek would be full to overflowing and several feet deep. That’s when you could catch mud catfish (bullheads). We would tie a fishing line to a tree, bait the hook and almost every time we would catch fish. Never did, as a kid, figure out where the fish were when the water was low.

   Of course living on a farm meant the kids had to do farm work. One of those chores was picking cotton in August, the hottest month of the year. As the cotton began to open all hands on the farm including the cook were enlisted in the cotton-picking chore. The only break from the beginning of the season to end was rain. From atop the hills on the farm one could see the sky for miles. If ever any kids prayed for rain, Buford’s did when they could see a big thundercloud on the horizon. Yet, we survived.

   Grandma Rhody passed away in 1938. Buford and family remained on the farm for another two years after her death. Thelma Crawford Blair, Jim’s wife, had a brother named Fred Crawford that lived in Escambia County, Alabama in the May Creek Community about seven or so miles East of Brewton. Fred lived on and farmed land owned by his father, Will Crawford. The farm was large and too much for one family to work. Buford moved his family to that farm.

   The Crawford farm was situated in some of the best deer, coon, squirrel and quail hunting in Escambia County. Jack Byrd Flats, a favorite deer area, began on the backside of the property and extended to what is now US Highway 29. Buford could walk just a short distance and hunt for most anything he wanted to. And he did. A major part of our fresh meat diet was fish and game that Buford caught or killed.

   There were fish in May Creek that the kids and Ida could catch whenever they had the time to do so. All of Ida’s kids except Gladys learned to swim in May Creek. Gladys still cannot swim. Ida couldn’t swim either but she could lie on her back and float all over the swimming hole.

   Wild rabbits could be found in the area near the creek. Ernest and the author taught Buford’s dogs to chase rabbits into holes in tree trunks. We would then take a gall-berry bush, split the end and twist the rabbit out of the hole. Ida had a method of checking to see whether the rabbit was young and could be fried or was a candidate for the dumpling pot.

   The family spent two years on this farm. The house we lived in was a square four-room house located about a hundred yards from May Creek. Across the creek was May Creek Methodist Church and Cemetery. The house was built on high blocks to avoid the occasional flooding of the creek. It was high enough off the ground in front (several feet) so that Ernie and the author could crawl under; build play roads with tractors made from Ida’s thread spools. To build one, you had to cut notches in the edges of the spool, put an axle (rubber band that you could wind up) thru the center, and attach runners on the sides reaching out to the back a few inches. Toys were simple in those days. Many hours were whiled away under the house.

   There was a man that lived in the community of Dixie, about 25 miles or so East of Brewton that ran a rolling store (same kind of store as the one run by Thomas Marion Register). He carried a variety of goods in his truck, items for the everyday life in the country such as thread for sewing, canned goods, flour, meal, sugar, etc. When he would stop by the Buford house, Ida would get the things she needed, often using eggs and butter as trade. She always would get a pack or two of grape cool aid. That was considered a treat for the family.

   There was no electricity in the country areas of the South during those days. Therefore, there was no refrigeration keeping fresh meat. Ice for use in tea or the occasional cool aid was purchased in blocks at the ice plant. These blocks were kept in a washtub covered with sawdust or in the fireplace covered with a quilt.

   With the first freezing spell of the year came “hog killing” time. The chosen ones were usually shot in the head then scalded in a barrel of boiling water for scraping and cleaning. Buford’s job was to dress out the hog, grind and mix sausage, prepare ham and bacon for curing and get the smokehouse ready. The two boys were assigned the chore of keeping the smoke going until the meats were cured. One of Ida’s jobs was to clean the small intestines to be filled with sausage. All hands joined in when the sausage was stuffed. Some of the sausage was kept in bulk for making patty sausage. Ida would fry the patties, place them in an urn or large can, cover them with grease (lard from the hog) and store them for future use. They would keep just fine for period of time. At breakfast time, she could take out what she needed, and warm it in the frying pan.

   Excess fat from the hog was kept for rendering into lard for cooking and for making lye soap. (You haven’t lived until you have taken a bath with lye soap! Talk about “squeaky clean”.) The cracklings from the lard rendering were used for making crackling bread to go with the turnips, mustard and other vegetables she cooked. As one can see, no part of the hog was wasted.

   During the late 1930’s there was a couple that lived on a farm “next door” to the Blair family. Wiley and Miss Nora Daniels. Now that doesn’t mean close, just next door. Their house sat several hundred yards off the main road, about a half-mile distant and completely surrounded by woods. The Daniels had a battery-operated radio, the only one in that neck of the woods.

Come Saturday night, Buford would round up the family and head over to “Miss Nora’s” to listen to the Grand Ole Opry on WSM from Nashville, Tennessee. Ida didn’t like listening to the Opry. She referred to it as the “damned Ole Opry”. But she went anyway.

   On December 7 1941, the United States entered World War II. This was the beginning of many changes in American life. Although the country was pulling out of the depression years, the need for armaments such as ships, guns and planes and mobilization of armed forces gave the economy the boost it needed to surge ahead. The simple country lifestyle was ending forever.

   Some of the farmers gave up farming and took jobs in the war effort working at the shipyards in Mobile. Others sons went off to the army and left no help for farming as they had in the past. There was a need for food production to supply the markets and grocery stores in the Brewton area.

   A month or so after the beginning of WWII, the Buford family moved to a farm South of Brewton on the banks of Conecuh River. One of the fields abutted the river. This location was, of course handy for fishing as well as hunting in the many woods surrounding the farm. What is now State Highway 41 ran thru the center of the farm. Here he began to raise vegetables (called truck farming) that had to be delivered daily to the stores in town.

   About this time, Buford bought the first car this author knows of him owning, a Model A Ford with a “rumble seat”. The rumble seat was removed so that bundles of “greens” and hampers of peas, beans and other vegetables could be taken to market. The only time the seat was replaced was on the occasional trip he would make to the Andalusia area to visit his or Ida’s relatives. Those trips were an adventure in their own right.

   Gasoline was rationed during the war years. Buford had an extra ration gas for his car as it was used for transporting produce to market. Even with the extra gas allowance the car was not used on Sunday. Of course, it would be cantankerous come Monday morning delivery time. It often wouldn’t start. It had to be pushed to get it to kick over.

   Now get this picture. Buford was the only one that could drive so he had to be in the car to “pop it into gear” when the proper speed was attained. The kids and Ida were the pushing team. The driveway was several hundred feet long with a downhill where it entered Jay Road. Most often it would start when it went down the hill. Ida would push and all the while was mumbling something under her breath that I never understood.

   In addition to raising vegetables, Buford also had a large sugar cane patch for making syrup in the fall. Most farmers that raised cane and made syrup would grind the stalks in a mill powered by the farm mule. The mule was hooked to a long pole and walked in a circle to turn the mill. Not Buford. He had a gas-powered mill. It was a “one lunger” (piston) that had no governor and unless you kept it choked down with cane stalks it would go faster and faster. It was Ernest’s job to feed the mill and the author’s job to hand him the stalks.

   Buford "cooked" the syrup. For those who have never seen it done, the juice would come into one end of a pan that was about 12 feet long. A roaring fire was kept under the pan and the juice would boil its way to the other end. Buford’s job was to skim off the impurities and to know when the syrup was done. It was drawn off at the other end of the pan and placed into buckets for sale or family use. He not only made his syrup but also made it for several farmers in the area.

   The skimming from the syrup was placed in a barrel kept at the edge of the pan. After a period of time, the skimming would begin to ferment. The two boys would sneak, we thought, a sip or two when we had the chance. Buford admitted many years later that he knew what we were doing but let us get away with it.

   Lee graduated from W. S. Neal High School in East Brewton in 1942 and went into nurse training in Anniston, Alabama. A few years later she met and married Edward M. Ellington, Jr. from that area.

   Young men living and working on farms during the war were exempt from the draft. Ernest   reached the draft age in 1944 and was called for examination. He would have been classified as farm exempt upon return from the exam. He was tired of following the south end of a north bound mule and joined the army that day. He was sent directly to boot camp without returning home.

   Ernie’s joining the army decreased the amount of labor for the farm. Buford kept the author out of school that year to take up the slack. But that didn’t stop him from hunting and fishing.

   Although the war appeared to be nearing an end, the Navy felt it needed an airport for training pilots. The City of Brewton and the Navy worked together and purchased land South of the farm. A large part of the pasture was also taken. The farm was then sold to Roy Whitten and Joel Hullett. Buford and the author both worked as laborers while the airport was being built. Roy and Joel began selling land for homes, the beginning of the Town of Riverview.

   Following the completion of the airport, the contractor, Ford Construction Company, moved to another job in North Alabama. Buford and family followed them to Rainsville, Alabama. The contract was to pave the road between Fyffe and Henagar located atop of Sand Mountain. Rainsville was midway between the two communities. The family lived in the Rainsville community, which at that time was a crossroads with a couple of small stores and a few houses. Both Buford and the author worked for Ford Construction Company.

Prior to the beginning of the school year (and hunting season), Buford brought the family back to Brewton. Back in Escambia County, Buford resumed farming on a smaller scale than in previous years. About 1948 Buford gave up farming. By this time the author had graduated from school and had taken a job as a reporter for the Brewton Standard, the local weekly newspaper. All that was left at home was Frances and Gladys. Photo is of the Author as a reporter for the Brewton Standard ca. 1948/49.

   Over the ensuing years Buford worked as a bookkeeper for a milk and ice cream plant in Brewton, operated a Shell service station and grocery store and as a carpenter. He retired in about 1965 so that he and Ida could spend time fishing on Conecuh River. He had to give up hunting when he had cataracts removed from his eyes and lost one eye entirely. Ida became afflicted with Alzheimer’s and by 1974/75 she had to be placed in a nursing home in Brewton where she remained until her death in 1984.

   In 1978 Buford moved onto five acres on Highway 29, seven miles from downtown Brewton. There was a house on the property but most of the land had become overgrown with small to medium pine trees. He spent the next several years clearing the land and planting an orchard. Each year he planted a garden large enough to feed several families. But he was happy. The land was his.

   He lived on this property until April 1985 at which time he had what appeared to be a stroke. He was placed in the hospital for several days and then, at the doctor’s suggestion, was taken to the same nursing home that Ida had been in prior to her death. His mental condition was such by then that he did not know he wasn’t at home on Hwy 29. He passed away from a stroke on January 31, 1986. He and Ida are buried at Green Acres Cemetery west of Brewton in the McCall community.

   Buford was a unique individual. Most people believe they were born too soon and would like to be able to live and see what happens in the future. I don’t think this is true in Buford’s case. He was born several generations too late. He loved being in the woods hunting or on a river bank fishing. If there is such a thing as reincarnation, Buford was Daniel Boone or some other frontiersman in a former life. Don’t get me wrong, he was a very intelligent individual, he just simply liked to hunt and fish. He worked at several occupations in his lifetime. But when hunting season arrived, Katie bar the door, he was in the woods, all else was put on hold. As a testament to his intelligence, when he was in his late 70’s, my cousin Audrey’s granddaughter was in high school and was having problems with algebra. Buford would sit down with her and show her how to work the complex algebra problems!

   Lee Blair, first daughter of Buford and Ida Register Blair, married Edward M. Ellington, Jr. in Anniston, Alabama about 1946. They had two children, Edward M. Ellington III and Marye Elizabeth Ellington. Ed joined the Air Force and served as a medical technician. Lee continued to work as a nurse in various hospitals near where Ed was stationed. On retirement, they built a home north of Pace, Florida, about 35 miles of so from where Buford lived. Ed died in 1987 from bone cancer. Lee is still living and will be 78 years old this year (2002)

Ernest married four time over the years. First to Sara Lee and had two children, David Ray and Latricia. This marriage ended in a divorce in the mid 1950’s. He next married Opal Payton from Emporia, Kansas. He and Opal had four children; Larry, Danny Eugene, Alan and Deanna (Dee Dee). Shortly after the birth of Deanna, Opal died from kidney failure. His third marriage was to Jo Malone from Bakersfield, California. There were no children from this marriage, which ended in divorce in the late 1970’s. His fourth marriage appears to be a “keeper”. About 1982 he married Rhonda (Ronnie) Shelly. He and Ronnie currently live in Bakersfield, California. Two of his children, Danny and Deanna also live in Bakersfield. David lives in Robertsdale, Alabama, Alan lives in Pensacola, Florida and Latricia lives in Alamo, Tennessee. Photo is the Buford Kids as they were in 1997. Standing: Lee, Joe Max and Gladys. Seated: Ernest and Sara Frances.)

   Following graduation from W. S. Neal High School in 1948, the author went to work for the Brewton Standard, the local newspaper. A year later, trouble was brewing in the Far East. North Korea was invading South Korea. The military draft was resumed to bolster the armed forces of the U.S. for possible intervention in the conflict. In order to avoid the draft, the author volunteered for service in the army (by volunteering one could select the job he wanted in the army). Basic training was taken at Fort Jackson, South Carolina and upon completion of training; the author was assigned to Fort Jackson Headquarters in the Personnel Section. Several months later he was transferred to Third Army Headquarters in Atlanta for work in the Personnel Actions Branch.

    By 1950, the United States became involved in the “Korean Conflict” The author was then placed on orders for shipment to Korea. In August 1950 he arrived at Camp Stoneman, a replacement depot, near Pittsburgh, California. Assignment was to General Headquarters, Far East Command (GHQ) in Tokyo and placed on temporary duty at Camp Stoneman with the Far East Command Assignment Team. Finally, I had to go overseas and was shipped to Camp Cavite on Manila Bay, the Philippines to serve my last year and a half of service time.

   Following discharge from the service, I settled in Bellevue, Washington for the next thirty- one years and worked for the Postal Service there. Retirement came in 1984 and I returned to Brewton to spend some time with my father, Buford and still live in Brewton today.

   Sara Frances married twice, first to Robert Thompson and had one child, Patricia Ann. Frances and Robert divorced and she next married Earl King from the Roberts Community and had seven more children; Edward Earl, Marlin, Donald Ray, Glenn, Donna, Elizabeth and Carla. Frances and Earl live in the Gonzales area north of Pensacola, Florida.

Gladys, the baby, married Bruner Eli Wilson and had three children; James Michael, George Mitchell and Lisa O'Lee. Bruner worked at Container Corporation in Brewton until he became disabled. Gladys worked at the W. S. Neal School lunchroom for several years and then began driving school bus until she retired. Photo is (l to r) Deena Thomas Wilson, Mitchell Wilson, Kellie Wilson, Jennifer Wilson with Gladys Blair Wilson standing in front. Photo was taken Christmas 2000.

And the saga continues.............

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