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.
Preacher Warren is only a name to me but Mom told me that when Johnny was born, someone came to tell us. When asked his name, we were told he was named Johnny Warren Kilgore. Being the tot I was, I asked why they just didn't name him "Peacher" Warren.
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