Happy Birthday, Nana

March 26, 1890. Mildred Gordon born to Charles Thomas and Ella Jane Gordon in Camden, Arkansas in the original 1854 colonial home on Harrison Street.

March 26, 1975. Nana's 85th birthday celebration at the home of her daughter Margaret Dansby on Truman Rd in Camden.

"They weren't secrets, except from me."

"Even though people have passed away, some subjects can be painful to revisit decades later. Think hard before you share old secrets."

The quote surfaced from Family Tree Magazine on Facebook.

Stories I struggled to tell weren't secrets, except from me.
I learned so much, especially about George R. Gordon, my great uncle. So many pieces of the puzzle lay scattered across the floor, some showing his honorable service to others, his business dealings, his intelligence, his public service as Mayor. The tragedy of his home life didn't surface. In fact, his trouble was ignored except for a comment here and there about Emma Sue, his wife. I didn't know his house was the old Methodist Parsonage. So much I didn't know. 

C. Thomas Gordon

Mother told me his son, Thomas, died of an ear infection. I could not grasp that. I learned that to be true, but that he was away at Military School in Memphis when he died. He was seventeen. His parents never recovered. Thomas' sister Jean never recovered either. Oh, how I wish I'd known the truth long ago. Would I have been kinder? Would I have visited more often? I would have understood so much more.

Janie - The more I learned, the more I wish I had been taught how to appreciate knowing her.

I also struggled with Aunt Alice's story. I was fearful of her and her big, black car. Why? Her house was dark and gloomy. Was I right? I was a very young child. 

Charlotte, Thomas with Jean, Elinor, Frances with John Ritchie - Where was Janie? Where was Alice?

Big Tattee (Frances) was a polar opposite to Aunt Alice, in my estimation. She'd welcome me into her house, call me to her chaise lounge, draw funny pictures for me and laugh. I enjoyed her, even as a child. Every time we visited, she was reclined upon the chaise lounge; she was so different from my grandmother and Sookie. I wondered what could keep her lying down all the time. I found out what caused her depression.

My grandmother suffered from depression also, but was not treated as kindly as Frances. Nana was sent to Shreveport for weeks, taking "shock treatments." Sometimes, mother would be gone with her for weeks at a time. The phrase, "For Heaven's Sake, Don't Sigh," came to be a warning. 

There were so many pieces of our story that faded or were missing. After conducting the research, I was finally able to understand and see the puzzle completed. I believe it important to preserve these stories. The creative hand I used made the stories memorable, I hope. 

Baby Shoes, Well-worn

Our parents have passed away also. They had their stories, too, and many of their behaviors caused the younger set of cousins to separate. Addictive behaviors became culprits throughout our family: alcohol, tobacco, all complicating heart disease. Regardless of hardships, the Gordons and the Ritchies were honorable movers and shakers in Camden and Ouachita County and in Ruston, LA.

L to R: James Cooper, Martha Ellen, Margaret Jane, and Thomas Gordon

Any time a writer puts pen to paper and publishes, the work is open to criticism and I'm my toughest critic. 

Easter, 1926. Claude Horne with Margaret Horne. Court House provides backdrop.

When the blog post from Family Tree Magazine popped up, I read it. Then Mother's words returned, "Well, Margaret Jane, you don't have to tell everything you know."

Mr. Postman to deliver The House on Harrison Street

Tasks for this afternoon -  sign and put The House on Harrison Street into envelopes - CHECK.
                                           - follow up with those who said they wanted a copy - CHECK
                                           -address the envelopes, add return address sticker - CHECK

Task for tomorrow - go to the post office and send the book with great appreciation.

Women's History Month: "the women wrote the book"

Alice

Susie

March is Women's History Month. Celebrate the achievements, accomplishments, perseverance of the women in your family tree.

It was the women in my family whose stories ignited the quest and thus my journey to publish a family history. So, here's to Jane Elizabeth Tooke Gordon, Jane McBride Campbell Ritchie, Ella Jane Ritchie Gordon.

The daughters of Ella Jane Gordon are Alice Gordon Lide, Susie Gordon Ritchie, Janie Louise Gordon, Frances Gordon Usrey, and Mildred Gordon Horne.
The daughter of Jane Elizabeth Tooke Gordon was Mary Sue Gordon, unmarried. To her came the homeplace in Union County- "Auntie's Place" or The Sue Gordon Estate.
The daughters of Jane McBride Campbell Ritchie were Frances Alabama, Julia Sonora, Martha Virginia, and Ella Jane.

The more research I conducted, the more honor and respect I have for them, for their courage, and for their stamina. In the face of great loss and trying circumstances that came to each, they triumphed.
Read their stories in The House on Harrison Street: The Gordon-Ritchie Saga.

Janie

Frances

Mildred

Gordon-Ritchie Cousins - March 13, 2016

Alice Gordon, Mildred Gordon, Frances Gordon, and Susie Gordon's grandchildren

Alicia Horton Mosley (Alice Gordon Lide, Alice Lide Horton); Pam Horne (Mildred Gordon Horne, Claude Gordon Horne); James Cooper Usrey (Frances Gordon Usrey, John Ritchie Usrey); Martha Ellen Usrey (Frances Gordon Usrey, John Ritchie Usrey); Frances Usrey Raley (Frances Gordon Usrey, John Ritchie Usrey); Margaret Jane Dansby Gatewood (Mildred Gordon Horne, Margaret Horne Dansby); Susan Ritchie Shirley (Susie Gordon Ritchie, John Campbell Ritchie II -"Jack"); Edwin Horton (Alice Gordon Lide, Alice Lide Horton).

Not pictured because they were unable to attend the lunch in Camden:  Orlando Lide Lockett (Alice Gordon Lide, Charlotte Lide Lockett) and Thomas Gordon Dansby (Mildred Gordon Horne, Margaret Horne Dansby).

Cousins Gather Today for Lunch

Frances, Susie, Mildred in Shreveport shopping

     When Cousin Alicia said, "Your mother would be so proud," it stopped me mid-sentence. I know she would be pleased and oh, how I wish she were here. Swallowing tears, I took a moment, and said, "I do ok until she sits right beside me."
     At the Great Hall, I saw some of Mother's friends and some of Daddy's golfing buddies and Kiwanis Club friends. High School classmates, college friends from Henderson surfaced, too: Sarah O'Kelly Silliman and Jeanie Ballentine, and of all people, Tom Dillard. How connected our lives remain. You just never know who will surface and surprise you with a warm memory.
    The House on Harrison Street sold out this weekend. People who bought the book bought it for many different reasons, all of which were eye-opening for me. Many bought the accompanying CD of 115 photos and 12 recipes.
    Today our little shrunken family will meet for lunch together. Several of this group I have not seen since the 1983 get-together: Martha Ellen, Frances White, Susan and her husband Henry.
    We'll take lots of pictures and enjoy our time together with fond memories and a salute to our grandmothers who were sisters: The Gordon Girls - Alice, Susie, Janie, Frances, and Mildred.  Their brother George will be included in stories when our cousin Jean is remembered.

"Just as I have told these."

After combining the research from Mother and Nana, after sorting photographs and digging deep into memory banks, I spent several days in Camden conducting research on different trips.

I've been the grateful recipient of treasured memories from cousins - archives carefully packed and mailed to me for insight. I returned the goodies after scanning and photographing the contents. What a journey! At least 18 months in the making, The House on Harrison Street is launching at the Camden Daffodil Festival.

I am retired after over forty years in public education as an English and journalism teacher and school administrator. My passion for education traces to my great-great grandfather, Thomas Bullock Gordon, and to his son, my great grandfather Charles Thomas Gordon.

The strength to navigate life reaches back to all the women named Jane: Jane Elizabeth Tooke Gordon, Jane E McBride Campbell Ritchie, Ella Jane Ritchie Gordon, and even to a little-known aunt Janie Gordon. Infant Jane Horne, too.

In Sunrise in a Lemon Sky which I self-published in 2014, I hoped for partial anonymity by choosing the pen name E. J. (Ella Jane) Gordon.That degree of privacy never materialized, so I embraced the events, summoned strength, and told my story with candor.

So also did I research the shaded details of the Ritchies and the Gordons. I finally learned the truth and it cemented my admiration for the families included in the family history The House on Harrison Street.

As I told my own story, I have also told this one.

The House on Harrison Street will be available at the Camden Daffodil Festival on Friday and Saturday, March 11-12, 2016. The cost of the 8 x 10 size paperback is $20. The 208 page saga contains a full bibliography, end notes by chapter, and an index. A CD to accompany the book will be available. It contains more pictures and documents. Cost of the CD is $10.

Historic Houses on Tour during Daffodil Festival

The HOUSE ON HARRISON STREET was razed in 1959. The connection with the so-called "Maud Crawford House" on Greening is through Walter P Ritchie who built the house. The Ramsey House is connected through the Martha Virginia Ritchie. The Gordon house was built by George R Gordon.

Hope to see y'all at the Great Hall at UMC on Friday and Saturday. I'm NOT hosting the drop-by on Friday evening - too much going on for everyone!

Ramsey-McClellan-Pryor House

The Ramsey House  - Also known as Ramsey-McClellan-Pryor House - Many lovely, elaborate parties were held during Margaret Ramsey's youth. A popular socialite, Margaret was close in age to her cousin Mildred Gordon. Martha Virginia Ritchie (Stanley) Ramsey was Ella Jane Ritchie Gordon's sister and Margaret Ramsey's mother. The family called Mrs. Ramsey Cousin Mattie or Aunt Mattie.
Margaret Ramsey's half-sister was Marian Ramsey Brown (married W.W. Brown).Margaret Ramsey's tragic death is explained in the chapter about oil in South Arkansas and it involves Mr. and Mrs. W.W. Brown, Josephine Gaughan, and Anne Brown who were taking a lovely Sunday afternoon drive.

Gordon-Zoerner House

The Gordon House  -  Also known as Zoerner House or former Methodist Parsonage - Built by Geo. R. Gordon, brother of the Gordon Girls, son of Charles T. Gordon and Ella Jane Ritchie Gordon. He worked with his uncle George L Ritchie in Ritchie Supply. Geo. R. Gordon served as Mayor of Camden and as Ouachita County Judge.
The house was built in early 1920's and stands today after several remodels. After Geo. R. Gordon died, Emma Sue Gordon rented out rooms and created apartments to supplement her income. One of the roomers was Miss Eppie Gardner, one of Camden's well-known teachers.
The Methodist Church later owned this house as its parsonage and my classmate David Ivey had the pleasure of living there in the mid-1960's.

Both the Ramsey and the Gordon houses are open during the Camden Daffodil Festival.

Ritchie-Crawford House - Built by Walter P Ritchie at the height of the oil boom,it was mortgaged heavily during the Great Depression. When the bank took the house, Clyde Crawford bought it and he and his wife Maud lived there. Maud Crawford, the first and only female lawyer in Camden, mysteriously disappeared in March of 1957, from that house. My grandmother used Mrs. Crawford as her attorney as did several of Mildred's "ice cream and coke float," Lawrence Welk watcher friends. Many Camden families were connected to this mystery.

Telling Everything You Know

Mother, Thomas Gordon, and me

So when I told her I was embarrassed at school, Mother said, "You did not have to raise your hand at all, Margaret Jane. Just because someone asked did not mean you had to tell. Keep your hand down. Don't tell everything you know!"

In the case of the family history, I've told nothing that did not fill in the gaps between already known truths. The answers I found while talking to my cousins, the tidbits I've unearthed through research have added clarity to a cloudy story.

I'd always wondered about nuances surrounding the Gordons and the Ritchies. What I discovered brought it all into perspective for me. Sharing these stories is meant to preserve a heritage in Camden, a town I've always called "home."

While Mother may be saying once again, "Margaret Jane, you did not have to tell everything you know...," I'm trying to convince her that by sharing these stories, I'm keeping our family heritage alive, making sure our history is recorded for future generations. We are just like every other family with hidden, rarely mentioned truths; our skeletons now have been set free to dance.

The House on Harrison Street will be available at the Camden Daffodil Festival on Friday and Saturday, March 11- 12, 2016. The cost of the 8 x 10 size paperback is $20. The 208 page saga contains a full bibliography, end notes by chapter, and an index. A CD to accompany the book will be available. It contains more pictures and documents. Cost of the CD is $10.

I'll be at The Great Hall (UMC) - staying dry! See you there.
TOO MUCH GOING ON - no drop-by on Friday evening.

Money and Mayhem

Here's the truth. Where a man's treasure is, there his heart resides, also. So said somebody, at sometime. T. B. Gordon found peace in serving one Master and never sought wealth at the expense of honor, truth, integrity. T. B. Gordon and his son C. T. Gordon provided honorable role models for the family but with little practical or financial savvy.

The catch-phrase "Follow the Money" was popularized in 1976 with the movie All the President's Men, about the Watergate scandal. To find the truth, Woodward and Bernstein followed the money.

The phrase "Show me the money" came into American pop-lingo after Cuba Gooding, Jr. said it to Tom Cruise in Jerry McGuire.

Money.It's all about mayhem. Ouachita Valley Bank, Annuities with loans against them.The Great Depression, Bank failures, losses beyond calculation. At long last, I learned what happened.

Daffodils Weather the Flood

Margaret in 1927 (approx) - Ouachita River

The forecast for the Daffodil Festival Weekend looks wet.

Wet may be an understatement.

To quote one of the river watchers, "The Ouachita goes where it wants to go. The people who live in the flood-prone areas know this. They've lived with it for their entire lives and know what to do."

 Forecasts suggest that Sandy Beach will be "inundated" as will the River Walk area at the foot of Washington Street. Those of us who have lived in Camden, high above the winding river, have watched this river flood time and time again.

Whatever the case, the weekend will be interesting. The organizers always have plans B and C for the Festival.

Hwy 7 north of the Ouachita River bridge, I think.

Children gather upstairs in Ramsey Hall

                The Camden High School Class of 1966 celebrates its 50th year in 2016 - 50 years since one lovely evening in May we walked across the stage set up on the football field at Coleman Stadium.

Included in the book The House on Harrison Street 

is this photo: FRONT ROW: starting three from the left - Donald Robert Davis, Margaret Jane Dansby, Jeanette Fooks, skip, Frances Ellen Purifoy, Bill Morrison, Jimmy Stinson, and C. R. Magness. Other children from earlier classes are seated behind us: Linda Dawson, and Susan Burnham to name a few. 

                      When we were mere babes, this Sunday School photo was taken. It was discovered in Frances Usrey Hamel's collection and shared with me by cousin J. Cooper Usrey. Little Tattee is pictured in the back of the large meeting room where we heard Bible stories that came to life on felt story boards with cut-out characters and landscapes.

                        There we learned hymns of the faith that my Little Tattee played on the upright piano. It was probably all she could do to keep from making them "honky-tonk!"

                        After the general gathering in Ramsey Hall, we divided into small groups based on age, sometimes also separated Boys and Girls. One of my teachers was Mrs. Howard East and I'm sure I disappointed her when I struggled to memorize the Ten Commandments.

Ramsey Hall is the education building to the left.

The House on Harrison Street launches this weekend at the Camden Daffodil Festival, March 11-12-13, 2016.

She could spit watermelon seeds like a champ.

      Sunday dinners: grandmother at the head of the table, taking such a long time to eat that no one thought dessert would ever be served. A generous-sized monogrammed linen napkin spread across her lap, Mrs. Horne "patted her food," never took too much into her mouth, chewed with her mouth closed, and covered her plate with her hand as she shook a liberal amount of salt onto everything. Never did she make a clinking sound with her spoon against the glass as she stirred plenty of sugar into her iced tea. She sipped soup from the side of the spoon's bowl without slurping.


This same lady ate squirrel brains with scrambled eggs for breakfast and could spit watermelon seeds like a champ.

The House on Harrison Street will be available at the Camden Daffodil Festival on Friday and Saturday, March 11-12, 2016. The cost of the 8 x 10 size paperback of is $20. The 208 page saga contains a full bibliography, end notes by chapter, and an index. A CD to accompany the book will be available. It contains more pictures and a few documents. Cost of the CD is $10.

I'll be at the Great Hall Friday and Saturday afternoons and at the Ramsey House and the Gordon House in the mornings; that's the plan, anyway.
Friday evening 6-8PM, I'm hosting a drop-by at the Holiday Inn.

Meet the Gordon Sisters: Alice, Susie, Janie, Frances, and Mildred

Susie Gordon Ritchie

Alice Gordon Lide

Janie Gordon (upper left). Mildred with Margaret, Charlotte and Elinor

Frances Gordon Usrey

Mildred Gordon Horne

Mamie's Eyes

"What you see stays with you...and, well, with me. You know too much."

"I know alcohol, Frank.  I know trouble when I see it."

"Well, then, Mamie, close your eyes."

The eyes of Dr. T. J. Eckleburg, a billboard advertisement for an optometrist, served as a symbol and recurring motif in Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby.

In our household, Mamie did not have need of an optometrist. Trouble was being painted with a bold stroke. Mamie saw it all.

The Spider, The Fly, and Ritchie Grocer

Ritchie Grocer opened in 1886, according the OCHS Quarterly, Dec.2015. It was incorporated in 1903, per Morrison/Eppinette book (OCHS Quarterly) - Thank you to Teresa Harris.

This business was founded by John C. Ritchie and his business partner Abe Lazarus. It became a wide-spread grocery empire and headquarters eventually relocated to El Dorado and had operations in Texarkana and north Louisiana.

Ritchie Grocer in El Dorado.

Thomas Goss Dansby, Sr. was a wholesale grocery salesman who found employment with this enterprise after the Depression and moved his family to El Dorado from Ft. Smith. The family lived there until Betty graduated and moved to Little Rock for nursing school. The rest of the family moved to Camden and Goss, Sr. continued in his employment with this firm. Goss, Jr. (Buddy) enrolled as a junior in Camden High School.

Goss, Jr. and his mom and dad had an apartment in the Elliott House on Washington Street. He quickly became one of the most popular boys in the school. His good looks and charm were not lost on Margaret Horne, though she was a year older.

As fortune played out with the 1941 Camden Lumber Company fire, Margaret and family were displaced, living with Aunt Alice Gordon Lide on Washington Street. Their home was being refurbished, repaired, remodeled after it and others were damaged when sparks fell all over the Jackson Street houses and on those in close proximity. Luckily, the Court House was spared.

The story goes like this: Goss walked home from working at Patrick's Drug Store one day; the Spider lured the Fly onto the front porch.
As they say, the rest is history.

The House on Harrison Street is the family saga and launches during the Camden Daffodil Festival, March 11-12-13, 2016.

Historic Homes of Camden, No. 4

           The year is 1854. Col. James Brooks built the original House on Harrison Street. It was occupied by various members of his extended family and ultimately purchased by George Louis Ritchie in 1882.

            George Louis Ritchie gave this house to "Sister Ella." She and her family, including Professor Charles Thomas Gordon and Alice Gordon, Susie Gordon, George Gordon, Janie Gordon, and Frances Gordon moved into Camden from the Gordon Plantation (I use the word historically and loosely) between 1888 and 1890. My grandmother Mildred Gordon was the only child born in Camden, in the colonial home on Harrison Street.

                        The house is noted as Historic Homes of Camden,No. 4.                           

In 1912, the house was demolished and a modern "stacked shoe box" two story structure was built, finished in 1913. The House at 103 Harrison, later 134 Harrison, the one across the street from the court house, diagonal from the Methodist Church.
From the upstairs bedroom, I watched the Hotel Camden at Harrison and Jackson being built.
Mother and I walked down to the Ingham Library to check out books before the new Public Library was built across the street from The House on Harrison Street and across from the Methodist Church.
We experienced so much history from that corner.

The house was built 1912-1913 at the corner of Harrison and Jefferson.

It is this larger house whose secrets are revealed. Well, some of them.

The House on Harrison Street will be launched during the Camden Daffodil Festival March 11-12-13, 2016.

The Pen is Mightier: Family Connections

The connection in the mid-1800's was through sisters, land, and a place of presumed safety. Life was shared through letters; connections maintained through lengthy correspondence. These letters became living history.

Autauga, Alabama - street scene

The year 1843 must have been some type of watershed year because many pioneers from Dallas County and Autauga County, Alabama, headed for Arkansas.The first tombstone in Oakland Cemetery is for a man from Autauga County. Thomas Stone  who"had relocated to Camden in 1843 and died two years later. The obelisk that surmounts his grave was shipped from New Orleans by steamboat." (encyclopediaofarkansas.net) (Ouachita County Historical Society Quarterly, December 2015.)

Born in Tennessee - not Alabama

Sisters, Seeds, and Cedars by the late Sarah Moseley Fountain contains letters that offer "an intimate view of family life from antebellum worlds to the twentieth century." Her book became a tremendous resource for The House on Harrison Street. Mother had given me her copy of the book that contains references to Charlie Gordon, Ella Ritchie Gordon, Mahala Campbell Moseley, and Jane Campbell Ritchie.

Ouachita County/Camden/Harmony Grove families included in Sarah's annotated volume: Boddie, Brodnax, Campbell/Ritchie, Dickson, Dunlap, Gaughan, Lide, Love, Martin, Morgan, Moseley, Patterson/Proctor, Rumph, Stone/Newton.

Born in Tennessee - not Alabama

The area north of the Ouachita River, now called Harmony Grove, was the primary settlement area after Moro Bay and Bradley County area. Only Jane Campbell Ritchie and family lived "in town." Her sister Mahala and family lived in Harmony Grove.

I love the descriptions of Camden contained in those letters: the proliferation of saloons, the fashion-forward ladies, and the grim reality of illness, the need for religious revival. S, S, and C shares some insight into daily life and contains letters that sisters wrote to each other over an extended period of time. One sister had moved to south Arkansas-the other remained in Alabama.

Don't you miss a good hand-written letter?

The House on Harrison Street utilizes some of the portraits from S,S,and C to provide depth for the  new stories. The book will be launched March 11-12-13, 2016 during the Camden Daffodil Festival.

Some Scary Stuff

Ritchie-Crawford House in Camden

Fear set up shop in Camden one particular spring. Mrs. Maud Crawford, prominent attorney and friend of my grandmother, disappeared and was later presumed dead in March of 1957.

The adults whispered and  I checked under my bed and inside my closet for years. My grandmother kept looking for Mrs. Maud in the audience of the Lawrence Welk Show.

How could Mrs. Maud be in the audience listening to champagne music when she was cut into pieces and buried in the Safeway parking lot, or thrown down a dirty, abandoned well. All speculation, of course. To a child, it was the stuff of nightmares. Though everyone associated with the crime is long dead, legends and lore linger. My age group was at a vulnerable age and most of us acknowledge that the disappearance and stories of what happened to Mrs. Maud scared us "spitless."

Some scary stuff was going on in Camden and it was my first real-life encounter with a world where bad things could and did happen to good people.

The House on Harrison Street acknowledges the time frame and the fear the disappearance held for a child. It notes the Ritchie connection to the house on Greening Street, the one from which Mrs.Maud disappeared, the one that was built by and long occupied by Walter P Ritchie. His family enjoyed the grandeur of that house until the fallout from the Great Depression landed on this branch of the family, also.
The House on Harrison Street does not dig up old bones, though it does rattle a few skeletons.

The House on Harrison Street will be available at the Camden Daffodil Festival on Friday and Saturday, March 11- 12, 2016.
I'll be at the Great Hall at UMC (Harrison/Jefferson Streets) and will be at the Ramsey House and the Gordon House some, also.
Friday evening 6-8 PM, I'm hosting a drop-by at the Holiday Inn.
The cost of the 8 x 10 size paperback of is $20. The 208 page saga contains a full bibliography, end notes by chapter, and an index.
A CD to accompany the book is available. It contains more pictures. Cost of the CD is $10.