BOB AND MINNIE

Inez, Minnie, Bob, Elizabeth, Fred Hooper

Nez, Maude, and Minnie

My grandparents, Pappa and Mamma Hooper, were very hard working farmers. Life was not easy back then. They did not have indoor plumbing nor electricity til very late in their married life. Pappa had some brothers and sisters,but I don't know who they were. He was from Middle Tennessee, perhaps Waverly. Mamma had 2 sisters and some brothers. I remember her sisters. When I was a very little girl they would get together and sew quilts. They all dipped snuff back then and kept their coffee cans handy. Of course, they did not know the dangers of tobacco then. It was one of those "coming of age" things that people did way back. When they joined the "holiness" churches, they gave up their habits. Mamma's sister was Inez Spain [for whom my mother was named]. Her other sister was Maude Moore..
My Mother was the youngest of all the children. Pappa used to get up very early and cook breakfast and get Mother up to eat with him. That was their special time. He was saved just before he past away. Bro. Ball from the Dyersburg Church of God visited him a lot while he and Mamma lived with us. Bro Ball led him to Christ.
The Hooper family used to have a reunion at Reelfoot Lake every year in August. Pappa would kill and bar-b-que a goat for the meal. I missed a few of those because Mother said I would get so excited that I would make myself sick the night before.
There was always a big birthday dinner for Pappa and Mamma.

Pappa died when I was 5 years old. I do remember him well. We had such fun together. I realize now that he was sick most of my lifetime, with what was called back then...hardening of the arteries.

Mamma lived to be 96 years old and she was a joy to be with. I could go to her and tell her all my thoughts knowing that she would not criticize nor rebuke me. She made me feel very special as if I were her only grandchild, or at least her favorite. I can hardly wait til she greets me in Heaven and opens her arms to hold me once again.

WASH AND VENNIE

This is a letter from Wash to Vennie when he was visiting his sisters in Missouri.
They had to take the Ferry across the Mississppi River to get there.


I don't have many stories about my Gibson Grandparents. Papaw died way before I was born and Mamaw died when I was a young girl. Wash was a very light hearted jokster and Vennie a very serious lady. Times were tough back then. To my knowledge, Wash had sisters Fannie, Dorothy and Jenny and a brother Lem. Vennie had a brother Lafayette[Fate]. They may have had more brothers and sisters. I remember Uncle Fate and his wife Aunt Mallie. They lived in Dyersburg.


Wash took his family to visit Uncle Lem once because Uncle Lem had bought a radio. They all sat around and stared at the radio while Uncle Lem worked the dials on it. There was not much to be heard except static, their being so far away from any major stations, so Wash took the family home. On the way home he said "we might could have heard something if Lem would a quite twistin' them ears". Radio was very new then.


Vennie was a very social lady. She enjoyed keeping up with all the "news" of the family. By the way, all the family lived in the same community, Hurricane Hill. [No one stubbed their toe in the night without everyone knowing about it by 7am.] Most of them went to the HH Cumberland Presbyterian Church. It was different from the FIRST PRESBYTERIAN downtown Dyersburg, much less formal. During those times, life centered around family and church..

DATES

These are dates I got from cemetery stones.
George Washington Gibson -Born June 10, 1879..Died May2, 1942
Lavenia Ann Barnett Gibson-born January 4, 1880...died June 18, 1968

Robert Perry Hooper-born 1872...died 1955
Minnie Ann Wallace Hooper-born January 16, 1880...died May 1976

From Mama Hooper's Bible --Robert P.Hooper and Minnie Ann Wallace were united in Holy Matrimony on the 21 day of December in the year of our Lord 1896 at Obion Tennessee

GIBSON GIRL

In this picture Estelle Gibson is on the left with a couple of her friends. She looks a lot like Mamaw[ Vennie]. When Mamaw lived in the little house close to Lewis Creek, the creek overflowed and ruined many of her pictures. These are the only pictures I have been able to find of Hattie and Estelle. Hattie and Estelle were born before John and Gene. I'm not sure how much they remembered of their sisters since their sisters both died so young. It must have been very hard on Papaw and Mamaw losing both their daughters at such a young age. I remember Daddy [Gene] telling about when one of the girls died, that Joe Curry [Curry Funeral Home] extended him credit to bury her and that made Wash and Joe Curry lifetime friends. The one thing that Daddy always said about his daddy [Wash] was that he was honest, paid his debts and had "good credit standing". That was always an important characteristic of the Gibsons........all of them.

HATTIE GIBSON -fifth grade English Essay