On this Father's Day Eve, I thought it would be appropriate to begin my series of Blogs on my Family Tree. I have spent the last several months researching and it has been so much fun learning about where I came from!
This is a fan of the Frederick - Mullins sides of the family, or my Dad's Mom's family.
My Grandmother's name is
Lowell Frederick Stevens.
Lowell married
Ray Guice Stevens (1914-1991). This is a picture of them on their wedding day in 1944:
They had two children. The first was my dad,
Frederick Mitchell Stevens, born in 1946 in
Greenville, Alabama. (He was born in
Greenville because that was were the hospital was, but they
actually lived in Evergreen, Alabama.)
This is Dad,
Frederick Mitchell Stevens, at 3 months old in 1946...
Dad at 3 Years old in 1949 (love those dirty knees!)...this picture was taken on the front porch of Papa Guice's store in Pine Level, Alabama.
Dad in his band uniform (he played the trumpet)...
Just 12 years later they had a daughter named
Rachel Ann Stevens...
Rachel a little older...
I love this picture...the whole family!
(Ray Guice Stevens, Frederick Mitchell Stevens, Rachel Ann Stevens and Lowell Frederick Stevens)
My Grandmother, Lowell, was born in Bear Creek Alabama which is in Marion County.
This Lowell as a little thing in Bear Creek...
She was the oldest of 4 children. Here they are in 1936 (
Tommie Frederick, Mary "Sue" Frederick, Paul Frederick and Lowell Frederick)
Here they are at the Frederick Family Reunion in 1989.
This is a picture of the sisters...Lowell, Sue and Tommie.
This is my grandmother Lowell and her brother Paul in 1939...
This is her brother Paul when he was stationed in London England during WW2! He met his wife Peggy when he was there. They had two children, Paula and Paul, both named after Paul.
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I don't know who else is in this picture...but this is a picture of Paul and Peggy in England during the war.
This is the three girls with their mother Alice in 1942. It is striking how much taller they were than their mother! The funny thing is...I know how tall my grandmother is...from this picture you'd think she was an amazon woman. But that is not true! She is maybe 5'7" or 5'8". Their mom was just a little tiny woman!
In this picture of my Great-Grandparents, Floyd and Alice...you can really see where the girls get their height!
I LOVE this picture of my Great-Grandmother, Alice Frederick. She just looks like a kicky little woman just hanging out with the logs and having a great time! This is actually on their property and all that wood is wood they cut for their own use to heat their home and cook! WOW...that is a lot of work! My Grandmother has always told us stories about growing up during The Great Depression. They would use flower sacks as cloth and they would make gorgeous pieces of linen. I am lucky enought have a few of those pieces that she has given me over the years.
This is my Great-Grandfather Floyd with two of his daughters, Tommie and Sue...
This is a great photo of the whole Frederick gang! (
Floyd Monroe Frederick, Sarah "Alice" Mullins, Paul Frederick, Lowell Mae Frederick, Tommie Frederick and Mary "Sue" Frederick)
My Great-Grandparents were
Floyd Monroe Frederick (1893 - Oct 9, 1960)
and
Sarah "Alice" Mullins Frederick (1896 - 1966)
Floyd was a soldier in WWI. This is a great photo of him from the war in 1918.
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This is a copy of his actual WW1 Draft Registration Card!
In my life I was lucky
enough to know many of my Great-Grandparents...but these two died before I was born. Alice died of cancer. My Grandmother tells stories of how she dropped everything to go home to
Hackleburg to be at her mother's side and care for her.
This is an article that was written by my Grandmother's brother Paul about his father. I loved reading this because it really gave me an idea of who my Great-Grandfather was. My Grandmother has shown us a copy of the Sacred Harp Songbook with the songs he wrote in it. It was neat to get to read this article! We should all be so lucky to die doing what we love!
Floyd M. Frederick: A Tribute to My Father
by Paul Frederick
This article is reprinted from the October 1994 issue of Huntsville Sacred Harp Newsletter.I have been around Sacred Harp singings as long as I can remember. My father, Floyd Monroe Frederick, was a lover of Sacred Harp music and faithfully supported the singings in and around his community during his lifetime. My mother, Sarah Alice Mullins Frederick, did not sing but she supported my father by preparing large baskets of food to help feed the visiting singers for all local singings.
God had a place of honor at our home. Our Dad taught us to love ourselves and one another. He valued hard work, urging us to always do our best. He shared his love of music with us. With his beautiful treble voice he sang and taught Sacred Harp music in north Alabama and Mississippi. In the summertime after supper our family often sang together on the porch of our home. And oftentimes we would gather and sing at the homes of friends and neighbors who loved to sing.
My Dad carried me to singings as early as I can remember and when he would be called to direct the singing, I would go with him and hold his leg. When I could remember the tunes, I would try to sing with him. After I was grown he would relate to me some of these times which he said were joyous occasions in his life.
He composed several songs during his singing career, but never had one published in the Sacred Harp songbook until the 1960 revision. One of his songs was published in the 1958 revision of The Christian Harmony. While he was composing these songs he would delight in getting my sisters and I together in order to sing all parts.
The last singing I attended with him was at Mountain Home Church near the little town of Bear Creek in Marion County, Alabama on the second Sunday in September 1960. This was the first time that I had the opportunity to use the new 1960 revision of the Sacred Harp book. Dad asked me to direct, with him, one of the four new songs written by him that was published in this edition.
On the second Sunday in October 1960 I was preparing to leave my home in Birmingham to come to Huntsville when I received a phone call with the news that my father was in the hospital at Hamilton, Alabama suffering from a severe heart attack. He had attended the Sacred Harp singing at the Courthouse in Fulton, Mississippi on that Sunday. During the afternoon session he collapsed while directing the song "Anthem on the Saviour." He led to the place where the key changed to A Major, and the last words he spoke before he fell were, "The next we hear of this blessed Saviour." He never regained consciousness, but he left this life with a song in his heart.
[(Huntsville Sacred Harp Newsletter) Editor's Note: Paul Frederick and his wife, Peggy, have been ardent Sacred Harp supporters in Huntsville (Alabama). Like his parents before them, Paul and Peggy are faithful to support singings, including provision of large baskets of food.]My next "family tree" blog will look into further into the Mullins and Frederick Families. I don't have many more photos...but I did find some interesting family facts to share!
Until next time...
Martha
