Scarlett's Staircase World

While Margaret never luxuriated in a life-style of wealth, her life was rich beyond measure. Her husband never purchased cousin Mattie's mansion on Cleveland Avenue at Graham Street.

The colonial revival home served as fodder for escapes into fantasy, a Scarlett staircase world.

DUCK!

Goss and Margaret Dansby 

His love for her overcame whatever she could throw his way, including a rolling pin and a high-heeled shoe.

"What a gal!"

Horne's Drug Store and The House on Harrison Street

Corner structure became Horne Drug Co.

Mildred Gordon met Claude Horne, I believe, when both were attendants at her sister's wedding: Frances Gordon married James C Usrey. Mr. Usrey, a pharmacist, surely knew Mr. Horne, also a pharmacist. Mib must have caught Claude's eye. "Don't you know? She's the youngest of the most eligible Gordon Girls!" They married April 17, 1917.

Fancy remodel in 1949

Horne Drug Company was established in 1923 and the first store was located at the corner of Adams (once called Main Street) and Jefferson. Later the Company became Horne's Drug Store. Soda Fountain and all, it was remodeled in 1949.

New building in 1953, owned today by Camden UMC

In 1953, Horne's Drug Store moved to the lot behind The House on Harrison Street and the modern full-line drug store was built there. At the same juncture, Thomas Gordon Dansby was born, Janie Gordon, and Frances Gordon Usrey died. Claude had died in 1950.

Goss Dansby managed the business and he and Margaret made the decision to move to her childhood home and help her mother. I'd been born while they lived in the garage apartment, so to me, living in The House on Harrison Street was home. Walk right out the back door and over to the drug store. The decision was monumental.

Thomas Gordon Dansby and Dad, Goss Dansby 

Parts of their stories are told in The House on Harrison Street which will be launched during the Camden Daffodil Festival, March 11-13, 2016.

Head-Strong and Beautiful: Scarlett has nothing on Margaret

Scarlett with the Tarrelton Twins

Margaret H Dansby

She wanted to be Scarlett O'Hara...with modern conveniences.

The classic Gone With the Wind was purchased by her mother and given to her to read when she was a teen, 1939.

After the first "fiddle-de-de," she was never the same.

5 Points and a Confession - Let's Be Clear

                                                        The House on Harrison Street:

1. Stand Alone - Each chapter can stand alone. That makes reading two or three chapters at a time easier. No one should plan to read the whole thing at one sitting (208 pages - 8x11). There is no test! haha You can even read Part III first, if you are more interested in 1901 - 1959.

Red River Campaign

Rev.War Soldier Thomas W Gordon

2. History- I used US History (well-known events) to put family history into perspective. Think of the United States Centennial (1876) and you'll have the year C.T. Gordon wed Ella Jane Ritchie!

3. Conversations - Each of the three parts contains hypothetical conversations and stories that are, indeed, creative. It happened just that way in my imagination. The facts are there, creatively told. You'll read phrases that let you know it's supposition. The conversations are meant to breathe life into stale dates and names on a time line.

4. Three Parts -

Mildred G Horne & Susie G Ritchie

    Part I contains early family history relative to colonial America and the Revolutionary War, early years in South Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama.
    Part II contains references to family life in the mid-1800's, moves into Mississippi and south Arkansas. Arkansas during the Civil War is described and family life is highlighted until 1890 (approx).
    Part III begins at the Turn of the Century and contains stories relative to the Gordon-Ritchie family members on whom I could gather information.

5. Redundancy - As I began this project, I had difficulty keeping these family members correctly identified. Same names, same initials. Same names that skip a generation and use II and III to keep the child separate from the uncle or grandfather. J.C. Ritchie could be several different people.
I reiterated facts and dates within stories to provide clarity for me, hopefully for others. Now that I've lived closely with these folks for 18 months and read Parts I and II several times, I realize I belabored some points.

Jane

Bonus: Confession - I believed my parents had chosen "Jane" as my middle name because it was quick and easy after a long, complicated name like "Margaret." Then, I learned the story behind my name.  Betty Dale Willis and I began to use our middle names in a quiet rebellion in the 4th grade. I also used "Jane" because my mother was "Margaret." No one in the late 1960's was going to use the Camden-Southern-Double Name convention. You'll meet these women when you read The House on Harrison Street: Jane Elizabeth Tooke Gordon, Jane E McBride Campbell Ritchie, Ella Jane Ritchie Gordon, Janie Gordon, and Jane Horne.
                                                                                         

The Church, The Courthouse, and The House on Harrison Street

1931 - The Tornado.
           The Methodist Church.
           The Ouachita County Courthouse.
           Deaths, Massive Destruction, Miracles

           The fear Mother experienced that December midnight when she was 6 years old grips me as I recall the details she shared- the things she saw during that dark, savage night. The rampage left by the first tornado ever to hit Camden brought shock as "the pride of Ouachita County" and the Methodist Church were gutted. On the other corner, The House on Harrison Street remained, providing safety and sanctuary for the family.

The story is shared through Ella Gordon's words.


             The new courthouse that graces the corner in Camden today, built under the leadership of County Judge George R Gordon, was completed in 1933. Upgrades and interior remodels have come, but it's obvious, based on the close quarters and crowded rooms, that the structure is valued more for its history than its functionality.
             Surrounded by the pecan trees planted on the lawn by the Gordon family that lived across the street, the Court House served as a backdrop in many family photos.
              This Gordon family story is woven into the fabric of Camden history.

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

What Lies Beneath

NOT the actual pin - I can dream, though.

      The gift to her mother, a pin of considerable worth and beauty, rested inside its original box, on Jean's desk. Complete with enclosure card and engraving, perhaps a wedding token, an anniversary gift, the gift upon the birth of a child, it had dulled over the decades. "All my love, George."

Sold from the daughter's estate, the gift's extraordinary value reduced to the pittance of cash it brought.

The potential for disaster lurks below the surface. It's rarely seen.We, like those keeping watch in the murky night on an icy Atlantic, see only the tip of the iceberg. We rarely know the whole story.

The back story of the George R Gordon family is one that weaves its tragedy through the facts in The House on Harrison Street. Emotion spills like once dammed tears staining a favorite dress front. Anger, depression, and desperation disguised the characters in this family drama making them unrecognizable as their lives spun in disarray.

Read their tragic story throughout the latter portions of The House on Harrison Street - to be launched March 11-12-13, 2016 - Camden Daffodil Festival