 Albert Taylor
Rymer 1912 |
A history of the
|
| Home Page |
Young Albert |
Young Frances |
Married Life |
Rymer History |
McCamy History |
| To request Information, Additions or Corrections |
Cameos of Rymer Ancestors
There are many stories about "King
David", some of them have him being born in
Linktown, Fife, Scotland and dying in Buncombe
County, NC before 1840. There may have been more
than one "King David". However, what is presented
in this website is what we believe to true
regarding the "King David" who lived his last
years in Polk County, TN, these years are well
documented and a person we want to honor with this
website. Documentation that his parents or
grandparents were from Palatine and who settled in
New Berne, NC was substantiated by oral family
stories of how the Rymer's came to this country to
avoid religious persecution. King David (research indicates a number of Rymers were named David and called King David) Our particular King David was born between 1760 and 1770 in Rowan county, North Carolina. Salisbury is the county seat, we do not know in what part of the county the Rymers lived. Neither do we know who his father was. Records show the following:
In the 1790 Federal Census of Rowan county, heads of huseholds, David Rymer (Rimer) is listed as 1 free white male 16 years and older, 1 free white females amd 3 all other free persons. This is not in agreement with the LDS birth records as they indicate King David had only one child in 1790. LDS records show David Rymer Jr. being born in Buncombe county, North Carolina about 1803. and Adam Rymer being born in Rowan county in 1800, indicating King David moved to Buncombe county between 1800 and 1803. A note attached to the LDS record of King David says he was listed in the census record of Buncombe county in 1820, 1830 and 1840. LDS records of David Jr. show he moved from Buncombe county, North Carolina to Polk county, Tennessee between 1835 and 1837. King David also moved to Polk county, Tennessee, where he died. If the records are correct it was some time after 1840. LDS records have a note added: "King David lived to be nearly 100 years.He died in Polk County, Tennessee. (See Sudie Clemmer (Comp.) Family Histories of Polk Co., Tenn.". At one time I had a newspaper article from the Polk County News about King David being arrested for making illegal whiskey. Unfortunately, I seem to have lost the article. If the reader has additional information on King David and will share it with me, I will be glad to add it. King David Rymer was born in Rowan County, NC.. A William Rymer living in Rowan County was sent on a scouting trip in 1759 and 1760 was probably his father as King David named his first son William. At least one website identifies his father as Nicholas. He lived to be almost 100 years old. He was listed in the census records of Buncombe County, N.C. in 1820, 1830 and 1840. King David later moved to Cookson Creek, near Parksville in Polk County where David Jr. lived. King David made the Polk County News for having been arrested for making a little whiskey for himself. The article called him, "a poor old man, almost 100 years old who needed a little something for his health". According to records, his son, David Jr. and other Rymers moved from Buncombe County, N.C. to Polk County, TN after 1830 and before 1837 as David Jr's. son, John Alexander was born in Buncombe County, N.C. in 1830 and daughter Mary Margaret was born in Polk County, TN. about 1837. Before the Civil War there were a number of Rymer families living in Polk county, TN.. Many of them were living up the valley formed by Greasy Creek and down the Ocoee river valley in the area covered by Lake Ocoee today. To view a transcription of 2 short articles about King David losing his land Click Here. These appear to be a news article in a newspaper and a rebuttal in "Letters to the Editor".
We have used Black John's birth date as shown on his tombstone February 22, 1830. His confederate army enlistment in 1862 lists him as 30, indicating he was born in 1832. LDS records show about 1833. John Alexander Rymer's family moved to Polk Co. TN when he was very young. He lived the rest of his life in Polk County except for the time he served in the confederate army. According to Mary Louise, "Aunt Lou", they were living on the Ocoee river a few hundred yards upstream from the dam at the time Albert and perhaps some of the others were born, we are unsure how long they lived there. The house was at the foot of a small hill which is marked today by the small island appearing in the lake just north and slightly east of the foot of Sugarloaf mountain. What is known as the Rymer farm by his descendents is about a mile or so away again at the foot of Sugarloaf mountain but on the south and slightly west side.
According to Aunt Lou he was wounded in the shin by a "spent bullet" which did not break the skin, apparently it damaged the bone and did not heal properly as, " it gave him considerable trouble in later life". We do not know where he was when wounded. To view a copy of Black John's enlistment and other army papers Click Here Black John died in 1901, leaving Lodaska as a widow with eight children ranging in age from 14 to 41 years. The Parksville dam was destroying the old home. We don't know how Lodaska supported herself the next few years. However, in 1916 Losaska applied for a widows pension as an indigent widow based on Tennessee laws. In her application she states her total assets are personal property valued at $1,800.00 and that the land has been sold. She also states she is living with her oldest son, Thomas. Her application was rejected. To view a copy of this application Click Here
In 1917, Albert registers for the draft.
For more information on Albert Taylor click on "Young Albert" or "Married" at the top of the page
Sue Lodaska Rymer Reed Sue was born about one mile south of the family farm where her parents were married and where Harry and Kathy Rymer live (2009) in October, 1914. She died suddenly while talking to her sister Onie in Onie's front yard on February 20, 1993. Before she started to school the family moved to Murray county, Georgia where Sue attended grammer and high school. Due to the absence of transportation, Sue stayed with a family in Eton, GA during the week while attending high school. She finished high school while the family lived in Georgia. As Sue was the oldest girl in the family and there were new sisters and brothers when she was 4, 7, 12, 14 and 16 she spent a lot of her childhood years helping with the younger children. Along with the other children she also helped with the farm chores as needed and joined in the neighborhood parties and other festive events. Sue along with the rest of the family attended Summerhour Methodist Church in Georgia on a regular basis and participated in the church life it afforded. When the family moved to Tennessee, she had finished high school and wanted to attend college. However, her father was dead, the country was in the middle of the depression, the family had to move from a large productive farm to a much smaller one that was not as productive in terms of yield per acre. There was simply no money to attend college. Her mother's sister, "Aunt George" who's husband was with Lincoln Memorial University (LMU), said she could live with them, helping with the housework in return for room and board and the opportunity to attend college. For more on "Aunt George" and her family Click Here. In later life Sue was always somewhat unsure of her ability to be a gracious hostess and used Aunt George as her role model; "one day the governor of Ohio came by LMU and Aunt George fixed a wonderful lunch without appearing to go to any trouble". Sue stayed for a year with Aunt George, finishing one year of college and returned home. With one year of college she became eligible to teach in Tennessee and got a job teaching at Horns Creek School, about two miles east of the family home if you walked through the fields and about a mile further by road. Horns Creek School, with grades one to eight, was held in the Horns Creek Church building and was a small one room church much like Halls Chapel church where Sue had attended grammar school in Georgia. She was the only teacher, there were probably not 25 students enrolled in the entire school. Walking 4 to 6 miles five days a week through the snow, rain, and always muddy roads and/or through muddy fields, Sue hated every day of the effort required to get to school and back. The Tilly's and the Stratton's who were related lived in Old Fort; their nephew, C. Herbert Reed, came to visit and met Sue. Herbert was also a teacher, who loved math and was working on (or may have already gotten) a degree in math from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. He completed every math course offered at UT and later attended Columbia University in New York during the summers where he received a masters degree in math. Herbert, who was several years older than Sue, began to find reasons to visit his relatives in Old Fort and seeing Sue also. They became engaged and were married. Teaching school and going to college or working summers at any job they could find. Herbert worked at least one summer measuring the corn and cotton fields of each farmer to ensure they did not plant more than allotted number of acres. Herbert became principal of a school in Niota, Tennessee. After the election (1940??) the superintendent of schools called him in and said; "Herbert, I am sorry but I had to promise ??? I would give your job to his daughter and I have to fire you". The future looked bleak, school had started and there were no openings. The war was raging in Europe and the United States was building supplies for the Allies. Jobs were opening up, Alcoa was hiring workers, Herbert applied and got a job working in the plant at Alcoa, Tennessee as a millwright, which he was glad to get but a misuse of his talents, skills and training in math. The plant where Herbert worked had 6 am to 2 pm, the 2 pm to 10 pm and the 10 pm to 6 am shifts. Herbert worked the 2 pm to 10 pm shift. They bought a house in the Evertt Hill section of Maryville. After the US entered the war shortages of skilled personnel, were created by the number of persons in the military and providing the materials and supplies needed for the war effort. The high school at Maryville, Tennessee where Sue and Herbert lived asked Herbert if he would teach some math classes. He said "yes" and for years he would teach from 8 am to noon at the high school, change and lunch then go to work at Alcoa. Meanwhile, Sue attended college courses whenever possible, working toward a degree in teaching. One of their friends and neighbors, Eddie Green, worked the same shift as Herbert and started talking to Herbert about how he invested in the stock market and made money. Herbert became interested and started investing small amounts in stocks. His math skills became apparent in how he analyzed and picked stocks, between money made on stocks and periodic investments from his salary the amount of his stock market portfolio grew. Sue graduated from college and taught school until she retired. After the war was over Herbert was no longer needed to teach high school and the 12 hour workdays he had maintained for years. But then, Maryville College came calling wanting Herbert to teach math at the college level. Herbert said "Yes" and taught math for several years at Maryville College. One of the prouder moments of Herbert's life was when he was presented with a small book on higher math dedicated to "C. Herbert Reed, the one teacher that made a difference". After retirement Herbert sometimes taught classes at Alcoa on the use of math in solving daily problems at the plant. They sold the house they had lived in for many years and bought a new and larger house in a new area of Maryville. Sue, Herbert, Frank and Elizabeth attended a school reunion of members of the Eton school. One of Sue's classmates had been quite successful in business and asked if they wanted to tour one of his nearby plants. During the tour, Herbert suddenly fell down, he died two days later. Sue lived alone, one Sunday in 1990 she had what turned out to be a heart attack but did not go to the doctor until the next day. The time between the attack and treatment damaged her heart to some extent. A few years later Sue traveled to Delray Beach, Florida where Onie lived. Sue and Onie were setting in the front yard talking when Sue dropped dead from a second heart attack. It was February 10th, 1993, she was 78 years old. Sue and Herbert had one child who
should not be mentioned in a family web site. Sue and Herbert's grandchildren
and great-grandchildren
Elizabeth Frances Rymer was born on March 4th, 1919 on the farm in Murray county, Ga. in a house a few hundred yards southwest of the main house located on a dirt road that would later become US Highway 411. Within a year or so the family moved to the main house which was larger and much nicer. Growing up on the farm Elizabeth helped with the chores suitable for her age. She attended grammar school at Hall's Chapel, the one room church that doubled as a school. After graduating from grammar school she, along with Frank and Sue attended high school in Eton staying with a family during the week as there was no transportation furnished to schools. before she had finished high school the family moved to the farm in Polk County and she graduated from Polk County High School in Benton, TN. After finishing high school Elizabeth attended the "Ayre School of Business" in Cleveland, TN. where she learned bookkeeping and Gregg shorthand among other skills. After graduating she found a job in Cleveland, living in a "boarding house". While working in Cleveland, the TVA began to build a small dam, tunnel and powerhouse known as Ocoee #3. The tunnel is several miles long and the powerhouse is located about a mile upstream of the entrance dam to the flume line furnishing the water for Ocoee #2 powerhouse. Dick Blair worked for the US Corp of Engineers as an inspector during construction of the tunnel and lived at the same boarding house as Elizabeth. They began dating and later married. After the tunnel construction was completed Dick worked as a Corp of Engineers as an inspector on the dredging of the Tennessee River. He worked on a barge doing the dredging, his job was to ensure the river was dredged to the specified number of feet in depth and required him to take frequent soundings. He was an outsdoorsman and avid fisherman. He had time to fish between soundings and caught a lot of fish from the back of the barge catching fish feeding on the food stirred up by the dredging. This work required them to live close to the river Dayton, TN was one of the towns they lived in during this period. Dick also liked to garden and rented a lot so he could grow a garden, he had a "green thumb" in growing veggies. One year he heard about this new veggie called an eggplant so, having never seen one, he planted 100 plants and they grew exceedingly well, 5 or 6 feet high and a dozen or more eggplants on each plant. More eggplants than the entire town could eat. After the dredging job was over Dick was out of a job, there was work at a new plant at Oak Ridge, Tennessee. No one knew what they were making but they were hiring a lot of people, Dick got a job at a plant known as K-25. As Oak Ridge was a rural area, no housing was available so housing was built for the workers. The houses were made of plywood and several were built each day. The Blairs were assigned one of the houses and lived in it until Dick retired after reaching retirement age some twenty years later. Meanwhile, Elizabeth worked as a bookkeeper, at the time Dick retired she was keeping the books for a construction company. The company moved from Oak Ridge to near Gadsen, Alabama, Elizabeth and Dick moved with them. There was a new lake in the area and they bought a house on the lake, later they sold it and moved to another house just off the lake. Dick who was several years older than Elizabeth, fished and made gardens in the summers. While living there, Dick had a first heart attack and a few years later, a fatal heart attack. Dick had always been thin but was a heavy smoker. After Dick died, the construction company was not doing well, Elizabeth sold the house. She and her mother Frances bought a house in Cleveland, TN. where they lived together. Elizabeth got a job working for the Volunteer Co-Op, the electric co-op that furnished electricity to the rural areas around Cleveland. She worked for the Volunteer Co-Op until she retired. Elizabeth and her mother lived together until her mother moved to an assisted living home. Elizabeth still lives in the home in
Cleveland (2009) at the age of 90, Billy and his
wife Mary Charles live just across the street. Sue Ann married T. A. Lewis he was a physicist at Oak Ridge, who is deceased. She is a retired professor from the University of Tennessee. They had no children. Billy and Mary Charles have two boys; Richar Charles "Richie" and Joseph Robert "Joe Bob". Billy (retired) was a machinist and worked for a battery company. Mary Charles (retired) was in education, teaching math and assistant principal in Cleveland. Richie is an engineer and in the Army Reserve, he has been in Iraq with the army on four or more deployments starting with "Desert Storm". He and his wife, Michele Morgan Blair, have three girls; Emily Anne,Minarda Grace and Madelyn Elizabeth Blair. Joe Bob married Corrie Barnett
they have two girls (Macie Anne Blair and Hallie
Frances Blair. He is wrestling coach at a high
school in Nashville, Tennessee. Elizabeth and Dick Blair's
grandchildren and great-grandchildren
Onie Louise Rymer was born on June 9th, 1921 in the main house on the farm in Murray County, Georgia. She was the first of the Rymer family to be born in that house. Onie's first years were like the rest of the young children on the farm, she did chores based on ability and age. One of the "cash crops" on the farm was growing sweet potato slips, young sweet potato plants about 6 - 8 inches tall. She has fond memories of picking and counting the slips in bunches of 50 or 100 and putting a rubber band around each bunch. Other farmers would then buy them for 10 cents of so per bunch. She does not have such fond memories of things like hoeing corn and cotton, or picking cotton. Onie attended grammar school at Hall's Chapel, a one room church used during the week as a school, all eight grades together, sitting on the rough wood pews and using knees as a desk. Graduating from Hall's Chapel, Onie along with her older siblings still in school, attended the first years of high school in Eton boarding at a house there during the week and coming home on weekends. At the time Georgia did not provide transportation to school making such arrangements necessary for farm children if they were to attend. After moving to Polk County, Tennessee in 1934, Onie attended and graduated from Polk County High School. Following in her older sister Sue's footsteps Onie went to stay with Aunt George to be able to attend LMU in return for helping Aunt George keep house. She did not like living with Aunt George and doing all the things she was asked to do. As a result, she did not stay long. Onie came back to Old Fort and got a job in Cleveland. First, I believe, was at Kays Ice Cream shop. Later she worked at the soda fountain in a drug store. Here she met W. J. "Buddy" Miller, probably the only non-family member of the management team at Dixie Foundry, one of the largest companies in Cleveland. They began to date, became engaged and later married. Onie and Buddy moved to the old
family farm 2 or 3 miles south of Cleveland. Buddy
left the Dixie Foundry and bought a "Tourist
Court" (What today we might call a motel except it
had little cottages instead of rooms) on the main
road leading north out of Cleveland. After a few
years they sold the Tourist Court and moved to
Florida, living first in Miami and later moving to
Fort Lauderdale where Buddy got a job in charge of
the office and other non-production work at
Clearview Awning Window company. While working
there they had children; first Buddy left Clearview and started a small company that did not "pan out", he then bought an existing moving and storage company in Delray Beach, Florida. Buddy ran the company with Onie helping out when needed. To increase profits; Buddy began to drive the moving van on long trips, leaving Onie to run the business. Buddy was several years older than Onie and he began to have memory problems, the first stages of Alzheimer's, over time this became worse and Onie took over running the moving and storage company. She continued running it until she was retirement age and the company was sold. Over the years Buddy's Alzheimer's problems increased until he did not recognize his family, he was placed in a nursing home where he died after several years. Janice had visited Highlands, North
Carolina and told Onie about Highlands, Onie came
for a visit and in the early 1980's bought a small
house close to town, which she still owns in 2009.
Onie sold the home in Delray Beach and spends her
time with her children. She has seven
grandchildren and in 2009, two
great-grandchildren. Update 2014: In August 2012, Onie who was 91 and
suffering from dermentia, moved to a home for
the elderly in Atlanta Buddy and Onie's Grandchildren and
Great Grandchildren
Mary McCamy Rymer was born on June 12th, 1926 on the farm in Murray County, Georgia in the same house where Onie was born. She was four when her father died so does not have much memory of him. The older sisters helped raise her while the family lived in Georgia and Frances went to Young Harris to renew her teaching license. After moving to Polk County, Tennessee 1934 shortly before she was eight years old she began to help with the chores. Attending Ocoee grammar school starting with the third or fourth grade, after graduation she attended and graduated from Polk County High School in Benton. Mary did not like to do field work with the rest of the children, (actually none of them looked forward to hoeing and picking cotton, or hoeing corn) but she liked it least of all. Covering herself from head to toe with a hat, long sleeves and pants to keep from becoming tan from being in the sun she let one and all know she should not do fieldwork. Be that as it may, in the Rymer family in those days, it was work or not eat, so everybody worked. By the time she had finished high school the economy was better and Mary was able to attend Bob Jones College in Cleveland, Tennessee, I believe for 2 years. Bob Jones College later sold its facilities in Cleveland to the The Church of God who renamed it Lee College and Bob Jones moved to a new campus in South Carolina, where it exists today as arguably the most fundamentalist religious college in America. The summer between her sophomore and junior year of college Onie and her husband, Buddy were moving to Miami, and expecting their first child. Mary was sent to ‘take care of Onie’ and the new baby. While there, she received a letter from her mother telling her that she would not be able to return to college. She stayed in Miami and got a job working in a department store and attended a Presbyterian church. Also attending the same church was a hydraulic engineer working with the South Florida Flood Control District, designing ways to prevent damaging floods in the areas being built up. His name was Gale Dougherty and they began dating even though he was several years older than Mary. They became engaged and were married in Miami on October 2, 1946. They had an extensive honeymoon traveling across the United States to California to meet Gale’s family. Gale and Mary moved to Iowa for him to get a masters degree in hydraulic engineering. Gale took a new job with the TVA, working in the Knoxville, Tennessee headquarters working on some of the problems involved in producing power from water. During this period they lived Fountain City, a suburban of Knoxville. Gale later left TVA and became the engineer in charge of all hydraulics at Southern Company, living in Birmingham, Alabama. Gale remained at this job until he retired. He continued to work as a consultant for several years and was honored by ASME for setting national standards for dams in the US. During the years, Mary and Gale had four children. Mary returned to college and received her degree in Social Work from Samford University in 1982. She was honored by the Mental Health Association as the National Volunteer of the Year in 1987 for the work she did in Birmingham. Joe, Mary Lynn and Paul all lived in Nashville so after retirement, Mary and Gale moved to Nashville with Don where they and all of their children live in 2009. Mary had a stroke about 2004 which limited her somewhat and Gale, who is in his 90's fell in 2009, suffering several fairly serious injuries, such as broken ribs. He has recovered and is doing very well for a person his age. (2015) Mary and Gale's Grandchildren and
great-Grandchildren
John Eugene Rymer, Born May 21st, 1928 on the farm in Murray County, Georgia in the house where Onie and Mary were born. John has written about his life through high school, about 30 single spaced pages, if you are interested in reading this Click Here. John has also written about his Air Force days, if interested Click Here to read. John's father died when he was 2 and 1/2 years old. He has often thought about how he would had "turned out differently" if his father had lived. John lived on the farm in Georgia until he was about 6 years old. He attended the first grade at Hall's Chapel, a one room church that was used as a school. Hall's chapel had two teachers, his mother Frances, was one of them. All students from grade one to eight together and listening to the lessons others were receiving. After the first year of school, the family moved to Polk County, Tennessee and John attended Ocoee Grammar School, after graduation he attended Polk County High School in Benton, Tennessee. He was not a good student and did not enjoy school or his teen age years. As a child and throughout life John was somewhat of a "loner", having few close friends, this is something he would have liked to have changed. John's older brother, Frank and his mother, kept the family together during the worst years of the depression. When John was about 11 years old Frank married, leaving John in many respects to do much of the work needed to run the farm. This involved plowing, planting, growing and gathering the crops in. John remembers with distaste having to pick the corn off the stalks when the ground was frozen because it was too wet and muddy to get into the fields otherwise. As crops were gathered when school was on, Saturdays were spent in the fields. After the crops were in, Saturdays were spent felling trees, sawing the trees into stove length logs and then splitting them so there was enough wood for the next week. For those of you who have not tried it, splitting wood will warm you twice; once when you split it and once when you burn it. John attended the University of Tennessee but dropped out. One of the larger bad decisions in his life. Years later he attended Florida International University where he graduated with a degree in Business Management. John worked low skill jobs available
for some three years. Onie's husband, Buddy
Miller, told him he would give him a job where he
worked in Fort Lauderdale. John traveled to Fort
Lauderdale and began working for Clearview Awning
Window company. He worked there for about a year,
the Korean War was in full swing, John joined the
Air Force in lieu of being drafted.
John attended basic training at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas where he found he was not eligible for pilot training due to being colorblind, the first time he was aware of this. He was given several options for air force career fields and selected gunnery training which was held at Lowery Field at Denver, Colorado. Arriving at Lowery Field he found there were too many people signed up for gunnery training and he would have to sit around waiting to get into classes for 6 - 8 weeks. However, people were needed for finance office work and he could get into finance office training the next week, so he changed and attended finance school. After finance school the entire class was assigned to be sent to England and Europe and were given a two week leave before reporting to go oversees. John spent the first week of his leave with his mother in Tennessee and then traveled to Fort Lauderdale. One of the persons he visited in Fort Lauderdale was his old landlady. She said; "there is a little girl down the street who just graduated from college, she is short and dumpy, but she sure is cute and I want you to meet her". Will he did and she was. It was Beverly Staples who John later married. Arriving in England after traveling by boat from Fort Dix, New Jersey, John was assigned to the the 3918th headquarters squadron at Upper Heyford Air Force Base near Oxford England for 3 years. During this time Beverly, who was teaching school, saved her money for a trip to Europe, John met her at the boat in Ireland and spent the time she was in Ireland and England traveling with her tour. They continued to correspond until John returned to the states. Returning to the USA in October 1954, John was discharged from the Air Force, after visiting his mother he returned to Florida. He continued to see Beverly and they were married on April 11th, 1955. In August 1956, their son John Taylor was born and in August 1957 their son Todd McCamy was born. At this time John was working for Florida Power and Light Company where he worked until he retired in 1988. In 1962 Beverly and John had a daughter, Ann Elizabeth. In 1967, the family moved from Fort Lauderdale to Miami as John had been transferred to Miami.
Prior to retiring Beverly and John
visited Highlands, North Carolina where Onie had a
vacation home. They ended up buying a lot in the
Highlands area. After being retired for about 18
months they sold their home in Miami and moved to
Highlands where they built a home. They have lived
there since 1990. John Taylor graduated from Florida
State University and received a masters degree
from the University of Miami. He has his own
company working for real estate developers and
lives in Tampa, Florida. (2015) Todd graduated from New College in Sarasota, Florida and received a masters degree from Florida International University. He married Micki Steinhocker, they live in Vail, Colorado where Todd is director of the culinary arts department at Colorado Mountain college.They have two daughters; Jessica who received a Masters degree in Economics at Florida Atlantic University and lives in Fort Lauderdale, FL. Valerie Ann who has graduated from the University of Colorado and lives in Denver. (2015)
John and Beverly's grandchildren
and great-grandchildren
Robert Howard Rymer was born on January 31, 1931 at the same home in Murray County Georgia where Onie, Mary and John had been born. His father, Albert was in the hospital and died the next day, so Bob never saw his father. Bob lived in the house with the rest of the family until 1934 when the family moved to Polk County, Tennessee. During the last year the family lived in Georgia, his mother, Frances, taught school. We believe Aunt Mae, who lived with grandmother McCamy about two hundred yards north of the family home took care of Bob while his mother taught. When Bob was small there were a lot of unschooled people in the area and few medical personnel. Home remedies were used for various problems. Children sometimes became sick with what was called "thrush", one cure for "thrush" was to have a person who had never seen their father breathe in the child's mouth. Until Bob was 10 or 12 years old someone would knock on the door occasionally and want Bob to breathe in the child's mouth. When he did he was rewarded with a penny of sometimes a nickel for his medical expertise. As Bob grew older his mother got a job teaching school at Old Fort, as she had no transportation the school boundaries were changed so the school bus came by the house and provided Frances with transportation to school . Before this; Bob, John and Mary went to Ocoee grammar school. John and Mary were in high school and Bob finished out his grammar school years at Old Fort. Bob grew to about 6 feet, 2 inches tall and was thin. He played basketball at Polk County High School during his years there. After graduation, he attended and graduated from Warren-Wilson College near Asheville, North Carolina, a two year college. After Warren-Wilson he attended the University of Tennessee where he received a degree in engineering. Visiting Elizabeth at Oak Ridge he met Ruth Hall, a tall, attractive girl who was studying to be a nurse, they were later married. After graduation he found employment with the Alabama Power Company, with the country at war, Bob was drafted a few months later. He served two years in the army. After being discharged by the army Bob looked for new employment, Martin was in the process of building a large plant near Orlando, Florida to build missiles and he was hired as one of the engineers. He remained with Martin until he retired. Bob and Ruth still live in Orlando. (2009) Bob and Ruth have three children. Lynn, a school teacher who has adopted three girls from India. Steve, who became a Baptist preacher and is married, he and his wife have three children. Barry, is president of a landscaping company and is married, he and his wife have two children. All of Bob and Ruth's children and
grandchildren live in the Orlando area, most of
them within walking distance of their grandparents
home. (2015) Bob and Ruth Rymer's Grandchildren
and Great-Grandchildren
|
Uncle Will, as I remember, lived in a small house sort of back against one of the foothill mountains in Georgia. He and Aunt Mamie later moved to a house on a farm Fred owned about a mile south of the house where Albert and his family lived in Murray Co. GA. One thing I remember about that house was they had the most beautiful "birds eye" maple dining room table I have ever seen. Aunt Mamie played the piano and was a talented musican, with perfect pitch. My sister, Elizabeth, tells about sitting in the yard with Aunt Mamie (and others) talking when one of the girls was playing the piano in the house hit the wrong note Aunt Mamie would yell out that was "b" flat not "c" or whatever. Lee College in Cleveland, TN is named after one of Aunt Mamie's brothers. Uncle Will was 53 when I was born so I only knew him in his older years. His cash crop was owning hives of bees and selling the honey. I remember him as having about 125 hives of bees when the government sprayed everything to kill the pine borer which was killing pine trees. The spray killed most of his bees. Uncle Will loved to hunt and would go back into the mountains for a week or so at a time to hunt. A Mr. Ramsey who bought a farm in the neighborhood lived in Coral Gables, FL and was relatively wealthy. He and Uncle Will became close friends and he took Uncle Will to Florida to hunt on several occassions. The following is a short write up of the family by Uncle Will's daughter Maggie. I want to thank Mary Alice Miles Silvers, Maggie's daughter, for making this available.
Aunt Lou was born in 1870 just east of the Parksville Dam, her birthplace covered by the lake about 1910. She married Ed Miles and they traveled the western part of the states looking for gold or other metals, ending in Washington state before coming back to Polk Co. and living on the farm that was, at one time, the southern part of the I. S. McCash farm. Their farm was about 30 acres and contained a number of varieties of grapes and apple trees. The house was located on the same spot where Mary Alice Miles Silvers lives in 2010. The front porch faced the west and was protected from the afternoon sun by Kudzu vines trained to cover the entire porch. Ed Miles died before I was born. I remember Aunt Lou for many things, she lived alone for a number of years and I would spend the night with her. She made the most wonderful homemade bread. Every Thursday was baking day and she would bake, if I remember correctly, 7 loaves. She kept her supply of yeast in a quart jar and fed it a piece of potato to keep it active. After school I would do my chores at home and walk the half mile to Aunt Lou's where I fed the tame rabbits kept for meat and did other minor chores. The had one child, Virgil who was a talented person, he played violin and other instruments with a group which had a radio show and also played gigs in and around Norwood, Ohio where he lived and worked. Virgil talked about his childhood memories; being in the Rocky Mountains during thunder storms while the lighting hit the rocks containing metal all around them and swimning in the streams made from snowmelt, so cold they kept their clothes on to try and keep some body heat in.Virgil married his cousin, Maggie Rymer (Uncle Will's daughter) Virgil enjoyed life, probaby as much as anyone I have ever known. He was never wealthy, but he and Maggie always made you feel welcome and shared what they had. Virgil tells of "courting" Maggie, they lived about 16 miles apart, before many people had cars, however the "short dog" local train with a passenger car and local freight cars could be flagged down and stopped close to both homes. Virgil would take the "short dog" down in the morning and then try to stay one last minute with Maggie in the evening and miss the "short dog" to get home. That meant he had to walk 16 miles in the dark, he said he got so tired and sleepily it was one step forward and two back to catch himself. About 1950 Virgil and his family moved to the farm where he and Maggie lived the rest of t heir lives. For more on Maggie and their children go to "Rymer History" and click on "Lineage" in the left panel then select "Uncle Will". John Virgil Rymer
|
|
Children:
|
Birth Date:
|
Place:
|
Spouse:
|
Died
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bown Rymer John Rymer |
Helen Keller Rymer Frances Cartwright |
Uncle Virig lived in Knoxville, TN, he sold
insurance and his wife taught music. He was killed when he
stepped off a bus and was hit by a car. His son Bowen and
wife had a daughter (not aware of any more children)
Pamela Ann Rymer. The family moved to CA Where Bowen
started a business. Pamela
Ann Rymer became a lawyer and then a federal judge,
replacing Judge Stephen Breyer when we was named to the US
Supreme Court. For more on Pamela Ann Click
Here and Click
Here
