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.