Family Lore

Recently I was reminded of a story from my mother’s family that has been a part of our family lore for as long as I can remember. Often we assume that everyone knows the family history but more often than not, important and interesting stories get lost in the passing of generations. For that reason, I though it would good to document the story for family who may not know or remember.

In my mind, mother’s family was a bit strange. There was the usual family drama but there were circumstances which set the Page’s apart. The subject story of this post is about my grandfather, William Columbus Page aka Mr. Billy. To me he was Papa.

Papa was a cotton farmer and had two brothers and one sister, Luke, Jimmy and Ninnie. My recollection is that Luke was the dominant brother, a hard, no nonsense man. Jimmy was a “good ole boy” and fun to be around. I only knew Ninnie in her later years  when she came to live with Papa after being released from the “insane asylum” in Tuscaloosa. She had been confined there for decades and as a result of her shock treatments was a passive and compliant old lady who dipped snuff.

Two characteristics come to mind when i think of Papa. He was a deeply religious Methodist and stubborn to a fault. Hard headed as my mother would say.  There is more that could be said about Papa, but I want to get to the story.

The following is a story in the life of  William Columbus Page.   I am sharing it as it was related to me by my mother, as best I can remember.

Billy Page married Nellie Thornton and there were five children born to them. Two died in infancy and three survived, including my mother Aurelia , sister Izora and brother Bill born in 1923. My grandmother Nellie died in 1926. At age 13 my mother assumed responsibility for mothering her siblings. I do not know the circumstances of my granmother’s death. As the story goes, Papa was deeply affect by her death to the point that her made a vow not to speak again until he heard otherwise from God. For the next three years he kept that vow despite his brothers attempts to goad him into speaking. Their harrassment might have seemed cruel except for the fact that Papa would read his Bible and pray aloud in the evenings.

On the evening of July 28, 1929, returning to his house with a team of mules ahead of a threatening thunderstorm, lighting struck. The mules were killed. Papa was struck unconscious. The metal buttons on his bib overalls were melted and the house was set on fire. As it happened there was a man passing by who came to investigate and finding Papa unconscious and not breathing administered artifical respiration until he began to breathe again. Bystanders extinguished the house fire using milk from near by milk cans. I presume that Papa interpreted that event as the sign he was looking for, as my mother said, he never quit talking after that.

That’s the story and I’m sticking by it.

As is often the case, there is more to the story. Cinflicting accounts have come to light as I researched for this blog post. Beyond my memory of mother’s story, there is a newspaper article that documented the events of July 28. I also had conversation wih my cousin Jerry Page.

Here are some twists to the story as I related it.

• Jerry rembers being told that Papa was struck by lighting twice. The first occasion came several years before 1929 and his team of mules were killed. He was unable to speak following that event. There is no mention in the later newspaper article regarding mules being killed in July 1929.
• The newspaper article reported that Papa had suffered a paralytic stroke in 1922 that rendered him speechless. He was able to speak after he was revived. It was noted that his son Bill was able to hear his father speak for the first time.

What seems to be relatively certain is:

• When Papa was struck by lighting in 1929 he was unable/ unwilling to speak. He began speaking after the event.
• There is no corrobration of his vow not to speak.
• He was stubborn enough and devout enough to make and keep such a vow.
• In any case, his survival was a miracle as was the return of his speech.

Since there are no surving witnesses or anyone who would have second hand information, I am going to hold on to the story that I was told.   That’s how family lore goes.

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