Annie Mae and Brice Whitesell
Picture taken 2000
Mom
grew up in Alamance County, NC. Born to a rural farm family, she
was daughter of the late Berry Richard and Georgia Etta Somers
Somers and the wife of Brice Rankin Whitesell. She along with
her husband, visited the sick and shut-ins every Sunday. She
would stop what she was doing, no matter what the chore, and
give you her undivided attention.
She was a member of Bethlehem
Christian Church in Altamahaw where she faithfully attended for
over 70 years. She was a member of the Ever Ready Sunday School
Class and faithfully attended the Summers-Somers Reunion held
annually.
Mom worked almost continuously for 15
years researching our Family Tree after
her retirement from Glen Raven Mills after 35 years, and from
Lorillard in 1979 to about 1995.
She, along with other ladies, would spend her days researching the countryside, adding missing family members to the family tree. She always had a smiling face for those folks whom she called upon as she went about her work.
Her idea was to be able to share the history of our family with other family members. It all started out to be a simple history of the direct line of her ancestors in the Somers Family, but as time went by it grew into much much more. Not only did she research the Somers and Summers families, but continued on to gather information and to research the Whitesell and related families as well.
She loved looking at pictures of
the “old days” as well as pictures of her family and especially
her grandchildren.
You would always hear from her “Ya’ll come on in!” and “Ya’ll go
back and make out your meal!” which were some of her favorite
sayings. Those homemade biscuits that she always had at mealtime
with a slab of homemade butter delighted everyone that sat at
her table.
Dedication to her husband and the
family farm, the gardens overflowing, and the love of her
flowers, are among some of the things that kept her going all
these years. She always told her family that she wanted lots of
flowers while she was living.
Both the Summers / Somers and the
Whitesell families are related to each other at several branches
of the tree. The amount of family information that she
gathered inspired me to continue her work today. I give
all the credit to her for taking the time to do the foot work
collecting and recording the family genealogy information.
I cannot forget
my Dad either. He was a very patient man when it came to Mom's
work on the family tree.
He always replied with his unique laugh
when Mom told stories of her travels and findings.
The
smiles that Mom had on her face were viewed by so many people
that she met along the way.
Those smiles that I have seen many many times, will remain in my
mind forever.
Thank You Mama for your Time,
Trouble, Dedication, Support and most of all Your Love, :-) Terry
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