summer-fall 2009 banks newsletter
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Alice Terrell . . . continued P.2 Family News & Announcements Inside this issue: October 15, 1895 – April 12, 1984 Needless to say, even though I was proud of Momma‟s and Daddy‟s standing in the community, her working at the school put my life literally in a fish bowl. by Bobby Terrell In Memoriam—Inez Terrell P.2 Funds needed for fence repairs P.4 Alice Terrell . . . continued P.4 Welcome to our family— Lucy Jane Byrum Alice Terrell . . . continued of the P.3 P.3TRANSCRIPT
Alice Jane Banks Terrell
October 15, 1895 – April 12, 1984
by Bobby Terrell
B orn Alice Jane Banks on October 15, 1895 to
Thomas Marion (Bud) Banks and Georgia De-
lura Acree-Banks, she was the 7th child of 11 chil-dren. On March 20, 1915, nineteen year old Alice
married twenty-nine year old Alex Erwin Terrell.
He would always be known as Alec. My mother
was known as Ma-Alice, Aunt Alice, Miss Alice,
Granny, and of course Momma. My Daddy‟s most often used term for my Momma was, and always
was, at the top of his voice, “Whoa Alice!” Some
folks in Carnesville knew Momma as Miz Turl and in
later years living alone in a small trailer home, she was affectionately known as O‟Miss Turl.
Mother was widely acclaimed as the “Best Sunday
Dinner host for all the Banks/Terrell family clan and
most especially so by Preacher Williams, our big, very fat full time Pastor. Preacher Williams baptized
me when I was saved
at 12 years old.
Preacher Williams
always said
12 was the proper age for boys to be “saved”. To this day I do not remember
when girls need to be saved.
My mother was easy going, solid as a rock, and a kind and courageous Chris-
tian soul who had absolutely no enemies. Everyone who knew her loved Miss
Alice. She was renowned as the best cook of all. Mother worked for many
years as one of about 4 cooks at the Carnesville Elementary School which was
also combined with Franklin County High School‟s cafeteria. She was employed the very first or second year the cafeteria was open. I think I was in the second
grade. She remained there until long after I graduated from high school in
1956. Every student, teacher, the janitors, and the principle, Jack Ratley, dearly
loved my Momma and considered her the very, very best cook ever.
Needless to say, even though I was proud of Momma‟s and Daddy‟s standing in
the community, her working at the school put my life literally in a fish bowl.
In Memoriam—Inez Terrell P.2
Alice Terrell . . . continued P.2
Family News & Announcements
Welcome to our family—
Lucy Jane Byrum
Congratulations to Rebecca Dixon
P.3
Alice Terrell . . . continued
P.3
Funds needed for fence repairs P.4
Alice Terrell . . . continued P.4
Inside this issue:
BANKS Summer—Fall
2009
JUST TWO WEEKS AWAY!
Saturday & Sunday
October 10th and 11th
The 74th Reunion
of the
Thomas Marion Banks
Family
Summer-Fall 2009 Page 2
Every single teeny tiny little event was passed to
Momma by the teachers and Mr. Ratley. By the time
I got home from school “it got started”. The
day‟s events were gone over in detail, “Bob, why did you do this, that and the other?” I remember
getting a lot of whippins‟ at school. I think three in
one day was my personal lifetime record. I‟ve never
understood why my Momma and Daddy never once considered that my teachers were the ones
who were wrong - that THEY were just plain mean!
It was always me - NOT THEM - and when I got
home on whipping days Momma said “go cut me a
hickory off that peach tree, I am going to ware your butt out!” And did she ever!
From reading this you might think that I was resent-
ful or disrespectful towards my Momma and Daddy but that was not the case at all. I loved them dearly
and looked up to them with the greatest respect
and reverence. Still do.
When I was about 14, driver‟s license age was 16, Daddy bought Banks a „40 Ford from D.C. Mitchell
for I think, $350 dollars. Banks drove the car for a
little while, then when he got enough money, he
bought a new Chevrolet pickup. Daddy gave me the
car on condition that I drive Momma to school and back everyday, which I did for about 3 years. No
drivers license for at least the first two years, but
back then all the Real Boys started driving around 14
continued from front page . . .
In Memoriam
Sarah Inez Thomas Terrell, 86, of Lavonia, passed away Thursday morning,
August 6, 2009, at the Cobb Health Care Center in Comer, GA.
Born June 22, 1923, in Franklin County, she was the daughter of the late Dock
Wilhite and Lora Frances Whiting Thomas. She was the widow of the late Banks Russell Terrell. The last survivor of her immediate family, she was the sister of the
late Frank Thomas, Jimmie Cook, Louise Medlin, and Grace Thomas. She was a
homemaker. She was a member of the Fairview Baptist Church.
She is survived by her son and daughter-in-law, Russell Banks and Karen Garrett
Terrell, Lavonia, GA. Two grandchildren, Alicia Nicole Speers, Lavonia, and Chris-
topher Paul Terrell, Morningsport, LA. Four great-grandchildren, Kinsey Elizabeth
Speers, Brianna Regan Speers, Angel Nicole Sutton, and Wyatt Philip Terrell.
We extend our deepest condolences to Rusty, Karen and family.
and Sheriff Tom Watson (Andrews), state patrol,
and local policemen simply ignored us. Life was
good — me and my Momma got along great.
My Momma worked all the time, it seemed.
Momma worked full time at the school lunch
room, helped Daddy with the milking, raised a
few laying hens, bought and raised 100 “mail or-der” baby chicks to fryers every year. Back then it
took about 12 weeks to raise a 3 lb. fryer. Today
it takes six or seven weeks to dress out a 4 or 5
lb. broiler. Today fryers are called broilers.
Daddy seemed to always be hay-baling, syrup-
making or other jobs that kept him away from
hoeing the corn and cotton picking which fell to
my Mother a lot. We also had day labor “hired hands” that pitched in when needed.
I remember the time Momma and I were hoeing
cotton; Momma stopped, leaned on the hoe and
said, “oh, my back is killing me,” and then re-sumed working. She probably hoed all of her row
and 2/3rds of mine. A few feet further down the
roe I stopped, leaned on my hoe and said, “oh,
my back is killing me”. Momma looked at me and
said “Shoot, you‟re too little to have a back, now get back to hoeing”. Momma and hired hands did
most of the hoeing and cotton picking while
Daddy and I did the plowing with a horse named
Maude, and later with a tractor. Momma loved
to remind us that on her 12th birthday she picked 320 pounds of cotton. That was her personal lifetime record, and she was so proud of that feat! Momma made butter, froze, processed and canned countless meats and vegetables. Momma had a huge vegetable garden and
helped Daddy with a few acres of corn and cotton as well. We sold pork chops, sausage, chickens, butter and eggs and fresh roasting ears, as well as other vegetables, to Mr. Clyde‟s Grocery Store. Shortly after Daddy died in 1960, Mr. Clyde called Mother (we got a telephone and television when I was in the 8th or 9th grade) and said, “Miss Alice, the next time Banks or Bob brings you to town (Momma never drove in her life) come by the grocery store and we will settle up Alec‟s account”. Momma said, “Mr. Clyde I‟ll come by, but it will not do any good „cause I don‟t have any money to pay you right now - but I will pay you when I can.” Mr. Clyde‟s response; “Oh no, Miss Alice, that is not the problem. Alec has a credit balance so I owe you money. You can leave it on the books or I will pay you, whichever suits”. My Momma and Daddy never paid cash money for groceries for their entire lives that I know of. At least not until Momma was very old and living by herself.
Mother loved telling about the time she was five years old, riding with Granddaddy Bud and baby brother, Lee on a mule-driven wagon piled high with fodder. (For those of you that don‟t know about fodder, it‟s the partially dried corn leaves that are pulled in the late fall but before the corn “ears” are picked or “pulled”. The fodder is bundled by hand, and tied tightly with a piece of binder twine, hauled to the barn for storage and later fed to cattle during the winter as required roughage, which is added to a little bit of hay, cotton seed meal, and hulls, for a complete wintertime cattle diet. Daddy always said it was the cotton seed meal that made the cows give good and abundant milk.)
Anyway, the mules were pulling the heavily loaded wagon of fodder with Granddaddy Bud, Momma, and baby brother Lee riding on top. This was at the Old Banks Home Place on New Hope Road at the foot of Currahee Mountain near Toccoa.
Around the bend on the mountain road comes flying the very first automobile any of them had ever seen. The automobile driver blasted his horn, the mules bolted, and the wagon tumbled in the ditch throwing Momma and Granddaddy onto the bank clear of the wreck. Lee was buried in the ditch under the fodder and wagon. Facing the possibility of his young son‟s demise, Granddaddy scrambled to his feet, throwing fodder bundles aside to finally get to Lee at the very bottom of the pile. After all that worry, there sat baby Lee playing in the fodder bundles—having the time of his life while Papa and everyone else looked on in disbelief that he was still alive. When I was just a very little tyke, Uncle Marion, Aunt Bessie, their 3 wild, wild sons and their daughter, Little Marion lived in
Birmingham. Uncle John, Aunt Sue and their 3 boys, Johnny, Charles and George lived in Spartanburg., S.C. (Johnny was the
absolute best dresser in the entire Banks clan!) Automobile transportation in the early 40‟s was pretty primitive. Most roads were dirt and terribly muddy with many impassible mud holes in the winter time. Only the major roadways were paved. I remember when the road from Carnesville to Commerce (the way to Uncle Groves‟ house) was first paved. Highway 106 to Toccoa via the Red Hill Community was paved years later when I was a teenager. Trains were the best mode of transporta-
Summer-Fall 2009 Page 3
Family News & Announcements
by Branch
Aunt Viola’s Branch
We have a new grandchild, Lucy Jane Byrum, born 21
July 2009 in San Diego, California.
Proud parents are Dustin & Christine Byrum. Proud grandparents are Bruce & Jane Byrum. Congratulations, and welcome to the family, Lucy!
Aunt Bertie’s Branch
Rebecca Dixon (Becky) received a promotion as of Sep-tember 5th. In addition to the Agency Chaplain for Volun-
teers of America of the Carolinas, she has been named Re-
gional Housing Manager. She will be supervising 12 staff
members and monitoring 11 affordable housing communi-
ties in North and South Carolina. These communities pro-vide permanent housing for 380 low-income elderly persons
and/or persons with severe disabilities. Congratulations, Becky! We‟re proud of you!
Summer-Fall 2009 Page 4
tion if going any distance. Anyway, when school was out and summer rolled around, Tom Watson (Andrews) the sher-
iff, would come over from the jail in Carnesville and tell Momma or Daddy that they had a person-to-person phone call from their son, Marion, and that he would call back at such and such time. The operator would ask when that person would be available, and she would call back to connect the two parties.
After Daddy had agreed to go to the Sheriff‟s office to accept the person-to-person call and after the Sheriff Tom Wat-son (Andrews) left, Momma would invariably say “I guess Marion and Bess want to get rid of them ruffian boys for the summer. So, they‟re going to send them to me for the summer one more time”. “I get so tired of washing and ironing
and breaking up fights, I can‟t see straight”. Daddy would say, “Well Alice, if you don‟t want them just tell Marion they can‟t come this year”. Momma would say “Alec, you know I‟m not going to do that‟”. “Those boys - Pete, Russ, Tom, and my Banks, and Groves and Ethel‟s boys too — they all look forward to visiting with each other every summer and they have a wonderful time. They do fight, holler, kick, and scream at each other, and one day I‟m afraid they‟re gonna kill each other, but just go tell Marion to put „em on the train. You can pick „em up tomarra in Toccoa”. “No sense ask-ing Ethel to take „em, she won‟t put up with „em and I don‟t blame her”. Sure enough, the next day the boys would show up at the rail station and we would have an extended stay of wild ruffians for several weeks each summer. I‟ll never for-get those summers—but that‟ll have to be another article! (More from Bobby Terrell in future newsletters.)
L to R: Russell Banks, Banks Terrell, Peter King, Tom Banks,
Bill Banks, John Banks & Truitt Banks
A fter reading Bobby‟s story, you can no-doubt see that Aunt Alice loved her family greatly and more than anything, she wanted the children to enjoy happy times together. We can personally vouch for Alice Terrell‟s exceptional
commitment to the Banks/Terrell family by the love she showed us after our mother died in 1963. She packed her bags and followed us to Shaw AFB, Sumter, South Carolina to help our Daddy (Bill Banks) take care of us. We were 12 years old, and more than ever, we needed motherly guidance and love. Aunt Alice stepped in to fill that need. We will always
be grateful for this dear, dear lady who carried us through our toughest storm. She was our hero. Donna (Banks) Dodd and Diane (Banks) Leonard
Special Request: The Ralph Banks cemetery needs about 20 ft. of chain-linked fence replaced. If you would like to make a small monetary
donation toward this project, you may send your check to Rusty Terrell at the following address:
Rusty Terrell
1982 North Fairview Rd.
Lavonia, GA 30553
Next Newsletter
Do you have something to share for the next newsletter . . . births, graduations, weddings, engagements, great family recipes,
thoughts, stories, memories. Let me hear from you!!
Email [email protected], or send directly to my home address:
Donna Dodd, 3425 Spinnaker Way, Acworth, GA 30102
Next newsletter is targeted for February, 2010.
W hen I was about 14, I rode my bicycle over to Granny
Terrell's little trailer, which was about 8 miles away.
Along the way, I made a stop at the
bank to deposit the money I‟d been
saving, but forgot to keep something
out for myself. After a little while, I
wanted to go to Sullivan's Drug Store
for an ice cream. Of course, Granny
gave me the money, but laughed about
it since I had put all of my own money
in the bank.
Rusty Terrell, Banks Family Treasurer