UNDER THE TREE CANOPY--2014 KILGORE COUSINS' REUNION

Sight of our 2014 Kilgore Cousins Reunion, May 24, 2014

Fallen oak tree in 2009

As I was driving by my neighbor’s home here in Parkway Estates this morning (March 28, 2014 in the Birmingham, AL metro area),  I noticed in my neighbor’s backyard, a very large tree somewhat uprooted,  leaning for support against another tree.  That scene reminded me  of a time a few years back (I think in 2009)  when a huge oak tree fell down on the roof of Granny Kilgore’s  house.   The largest portion of the top of that “ over-a-hundred-year-old oak” was supported by the roof line of the house, while the lower portion lay sprawling out on the ground. The branches on top of the house were as large in circumference as most tree bases you see in the woods. 

 It wasn’t a happy scene to behold.  The tree provided an enormous amount of shade in the summer time.  It was stately in its appearance.  It added a special feel and  beauty to the property. All that was lost with the tree falling. The reason for the fallen tree was very evident when looking at the remainder of the trunk that remained standing in the ground.

Top of the oak covered the back of the house

 

It wasn’t a well tree. The tree trunk was hollow inside.  Also, there was a large carpenter ants’ nest  at the base of the tree resulting in an additional weakened state.  The ants had an ideal home,  unobserved, and eating away at the tree. When a strong wind came through, the oak broke off about 8 feet up from the base landing on back portion of Granny’s house.

The situation was traumatic at the time, not just because of house damage and  the tree’s demise, but because my father and I were at odds concerning what to do about it. Daddy wanted to know what I thought because he had set it up for me to own the house and its immediate property.  I knew the house meant a lot to all us cousins in the family and its loss would have been a sad time for the Kilgore family.  

Daddy’s initial response was to burn the tree down, and the house with it.  He saw that I wasn’t in favor of such a drastic response because of my love for the old place.  Daddy was very gracious.  He found someone to get the tree off the house for use as firewood.  It must have been a lot of firewood, too.  Then he found someone to repair the damage caused by the tree which was mainly repairing a section of the tin roof.  It could have been worse.  We were fortunate because the rafters supporting the tin were not affected. Daddy forked out the money needed for the tree removal and house repairs all by himself, and he did it willingly.  He never brought up to me again. Thankfully, the old farm house had been spared.

Remaining truck of the fallen oak tree (present day) 

the decaying trunk base of the fallen oak tree

Looking inside the top of the  decaying trunk base of the old oak

   

All that is history now. There are two remaining huge oak trees still standing beyond the fallen tree toward the old barn.  Those trees are still providing shade, and will  be the canopy for the Kilgore Cousins Reunion to be held on Saturday, May 24, 2014. One of those sprawling trees was hit by lightening last year, but it seems to be doing okay.  

The old house is looking older and older by the day.  It is amazing that we still have the structure with us.  I plan to open up the house for the reunion.  It has been sometime now since the house has been opened for the relatives to work through.  There is very little inside the house, but it still holds the memories of the lives that lived within those wall.  

I do hope that all our extended relatives will taken advantage of this opportunity to return to the place of our roots under the canopy of the old oak trees.  Very few people can do this these days, and we can!  See you there!

Johnny Kilgore
Kilgore Cousins Reunion Coordinator

A TEENAGER'S MEMORY OF LOU ETTA (SIS) KILGORE ROMANS by Ronald J McKeever

Lou Etta Kilgore Romans was one fine lady.  All the grandkids knew her as Sis.  I first remembered her when as children, we would go to the Kilgore farm, and she took over to see that we toed the line.  Sis was married a short time, but the marriage was annulled.  I never knew why.  She came back home and was like a second-mama since she had no children of her own.

Somewhere along the way, a little romance was lit with the preacher at Oak Grove church.  His name was N. L. Warren.  When it came time for him to eat with the Kilgore's, Sis had us scrubbing the yard.  We swept it with a brush broom.  Then, to finish it off, we had to use a store-bought broom.  I vaguely remember Preacher Warren and Sis sitting in the courting room as we would peek in to see what, if anything, was happening.  I was told that Preacher Warren felt that he could not marry Sis because the previous marriage might be held against his ministry. 

About the time we moved to West Virginia, Sis married the widower, Silas Jerdy Romans, who lived on the farm at the Walker County line.  When we moved back to the farm in 1951, they furnished us milk and eggs. If you were the "unlucky" one who had to go and get the milk and eggs, Sis would have you sweeping the yard.  We would sweep until she went into the house, or got busy doing something else.  This freed us to get our goods and hightailed it home.  

No one in Walker or Winston County could make Sis' chewing gum talk as loud as she could.  She always had gum, and occasionally would share it....if you swept the yards.  After Jerdy got too old to farm they moved into the Tri-Cities area, where some of his children lived.  

Jerdy is buried at Old Bethel Cemetery at Nauvoo and Sis awaits the resurrection at Lamon's Chapel, near Grandpa, Grandma and her brother, Johnie.  I was privileged to officiate at her funeral.  A very fine lady,loved by all.