The Northcutt Family

When I was in the 8th grade, in a biology class, Charlie Wild, a classmate, turned around to me and said, out of the blue, "The Northcutts and Kudzu are going to take over Conecuh County". I just laughed.

This is my story for today.

I've mentioned that I lived in Evergreen, Alabama, growing up. My grandparents were Ella and Elbert Northcutt. Ella and Elbert lived all of their lives in Evergreen. They had four girls, Lucille, Edith, Florence, and Mary. The first 3 were three years apart, but Mary was born 10 years after Florence. So, you can see that Lucille was 16, Mom was 13, and Florence was 10 when Mary was born. So, before any of them grew up and married, and before any of us (their offspring) were born they had this big life going on there, with many relatives living nearby and visiting quite a bit. We always heard those stories. Elbert was in business and eventually became the owner of Northcutt's, a Clothing Store for Men. But always he was in that kind of business; first working for someone, and eventually having his own business.

They all lived in a rather large, yet unadorned house on McMillan Street. 111 McMillan Street. I think they had it built. It sat on a slope of ground so that the front porch was close to the street and closer to the ground than the back of the house. The back of the house sat high off the ground, and I'm telling this for a reason. It was a wood frame house built on brick columns. There wasn't a solid wall around all the area "under the house". There were just brick columns throughout for support. So, in Mother's day and on into my day we called that area "Under The House". We'd say, "let's play under the house". They said it, too. It was a great "underworld". It was hard smooth ground under there and it was dark and cool. Naturally there was more light, closer to "Out from under the house". An adult could stand up under there, toward the back of the house, but of course even a child had to kneel down as he got closer to the front of the house.

So, we have Ella, Elbert and their four girls; and living with them was Granny. That was Ella's Mother. Ella was the youngest of many siblings. (I always forget how many.) Granny's name was Ada Chapman Henderson. I never knew her, but it's as if I did. If I had a perfect memory and could write all the stories I've heard about her I would do it. She died right before my sister was born - so I just missed her. I was born 2 years later. I'm getting sidetracked.

In that house on 111 McMillan Street lived the Northcutt family, Ella, Elbert, Lucille, Edith, Florence, Mary and Granny(Ada Henderson). Next door to them, in a smaller house which looked like a "Low Country Cottage", lived Grandma Chapman, Granny's Mother. It's been told to me that Granny lived with Ella and Elbert and would take care of Ma Chapman during the day and spend the night with her, so she wouldn't be alone. She had to have been quite old, because that was 4 generations living side by side. Ella's many siblings also had children, which created a large extended family for Lucille, Edith, Florence and Mary. The three cousins whom the girls seemed to be the closest to were Virginia Holt, Elizabeth, and "Brother". These were the 3 children of Ella's sister, Elizabeth, whom we called "Sister". Virginia Holt, Elizabeth, and Brother were "out-of-town" cousins, but visited often.

In this Blog Post I am going to share a letter written by Louis, the son of "Brother". He would be a second cousin - He's at my level of the Fam Tree. He wrote it to the surviving sisters, Edith, Flo and Mary, after Lucille died in October 2004. He mentions Joanne and Chuck in the letter. They are the two children of Cousin Elizabeth.

Dear Florence, Edith, Mary and all y'all,

Hearing about Lucille brought back some of the grief I felt at losing my parents. It especially made me recall my father, because he always did think the Northcutt women were wonders of the world. It also brought back some fond memories of how kind Lucille and all of you were to a shy, pimply-headed younger cousin from Virginia. Dad's affection for you was never hard to understand and you have a special place in my heart as well.

I've imagined that if Mack and Lucille have met up again somewhere, he probably said, "Oh, no," and Ella probably said, "What's wrong, brother, it's just Lucille?" And he said, "Well, I know, but it looks like I'm gonna have to die again - at least this time it'll be from laughing." If he's been talking with Elbert, he's probably already considerably weakened. I do believe that the laughter you all shared in your lives will survive your generation and has already been passed on. Joanne, Chuck, and I have known it and share it with each other - and we all owe you a debt of gratitude for just being who you are in that very special place that's Evergreen, Alabama.

It's been a very long time, but y'all are still my people, and I love you.

Sincerely yours,
Louis

And now I'll share a poem written by Carolyn Leslie, daughter to Cousin Virginia Holt. This poem was written for her brother after Virginia Holt died. It expresses the emotions and feelings and realities that are threaded throughout this Southern Family.

I Love this Poem. It Speaks My Heart.

Generations Recalled

Mist and memory

Veil my childhood trees

Of autumn scarlet and gold

Bound with the green of pines.

A place so real my heart

Can visit still and hear

Our calls and laughter

Echo in the woodland hills.

Dreams spiraled upward

Like the smoke of burning leaves

and left us breathless

In October's blue forever.

So swift the passage of the years

Through a blur of seasons

Spun with laughter, music, tears.

Dreams and promise beyond reason

Fed our souls a heady brew

Of tomorrows and sunrise and forever.

I hold the feelings close.

The boundaries of time cannot sever

My fragile tie to that magic place

Where whispers are a child's command.

My father's smile is in your eyes

My mother's blessing in your hand.

-Carolyn Lesie

So that is today's post.

Oh, and I'm behind on my 1962 Diary Entries. Let me catch up. Which I think I'll go through the whole week to give a better flow of things.

Thursday June 28, 1962 - Dear Diary, Plain old hot day today.

Friday, June 29, 1962 - Dear Diary, I played with Jane today. I also got a shot today. D.T.

Saturday, June 30, 1962 - Dear Diary, Mary Ann and I made a tent today. Daddy helped.

Sunday, July 1, 1962 - Dear Diary, Mary Ann, Ann Millsap and I kept Mary Claire and Melissa in the nursery.

Monday, July 2, 1962 - Dear Diary, I'm spending the night with Rachel tonight.

Tuesday, July 3, 1962 - Dear Diary, Today I went swimming. Ann Millsap ate dinner with us.

Wednesday, July 4, 1962 - Dear Diary, I went to Prayer Meeting tonight.

Thursday, July 5, 1962 - Dear Diary, Tonight Ella and Elbert came out to our house.

Friday, July 6, 1962 - Dear Diary, I got a shot today. Also we cooked outside tonight.

Saturday, July 7, 1962 - No Entry.

Sunday, July 8, 1962 - Dear Diary, We ate dinner with Elbert and Ella today.

Have a great day!