Honoring My Cincinnati Matriarch: Getting to Know Granny, My Great-Grandmother Anna Lue Barrow-Heath Part II

I have always wondered what life was life for Granny, her parents, and the many relatives she often spoke of and shared with us all. This post about Granny is Part II and just another piece of her beautiful legacy. If you have not read Part I, then check it out here. I will follow-up more on how she grew up and the life of her parents in another post. My Granny was like no other. She enjoyed any and everything that had to do with her family. Granny was our matriarch and she possessed the patience of Job and the caring spirit a mother has for her children from birth till her last breath. I have always said Granny is the beginning of my genealogy experience as she shared so much with me and I listened.



Anna Lue Barrow-Heath, Cir 1940s Cincinnati, Ohio

Granny was the fourth child born to her parents, the third daughter, and devoted to family. Granny was well known by everyone or at least in my eyes she was as she was the glue that held the Cincinnati families together. Granny was the mother of my maternal grandmother, Jessie Mae Heath, and Jessie Mae was the only child. But only having one child did not stop Granny from loving on all her nieces and nephews. She had that much love for us all. And Granny showed her love to family in many ways, but one way always holds close to everyone's heart and I believe it was Granny's favorite thing to do.


I would have to say Granny's favorite things were her love of God, family, and cooking! Yes, Granny could cook like no other and no other could cook like Granny!!! Oh my, I can smell the fried chicken, ox tails and spaghetti, her famous oven baked barbeque ribs, and did I mention the fried corn!!!! YES INDEED, Granny could make meals that looked to pretty to eat, but you guessed right- we ate everything and savored each and every bite till the plate was clean. Granny put love in her cooking, and that is what made the difference. So you may ask, what is so unique about her cooking? And I will answer and say Granny put her heart and soul in everything she did, and cooking was just another way she shared her love with family.


Granny loved cooking so much that she cooked three meals a day, breakfast, lunch, and dinner. You see, Granny took care of her man! Granny loved her some Mitchell Heath, and Granddaddy, as we called him, loved him some Anna Lue. The two of them were two peas in a pod and created a home filled with love which spread across generations. And in loving her Mitchell, Granny saw to him being well fed each and every day. It was breakfast with my great-grandparents when I first remembered drinking coffee, and I thought it was the best thing. I even had my own cup, and Granny made sure everyone knew it was indeed my cup. Breakfast consisted of meat, usually sausage or bacon, scrambled eggs, grits, and toast. And Granny's breakfast, well there just wasn't any other like it! Lunch was always some good soup and possibly a good sandwich, but then dinner was like eating at a five star restaurant simply because it was Granny's cooking!


There is one traditional holiday gathering in Granny's lineage that never has changed over the years and has consistently took place through five generations and that is Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving was always held in Granny and Granddaddy's home. Granny would begin cooking early in the week, but bet your last dollar the meal was all done, table set, and tea made by early afternoon. There was so much food with enough to feed an army. Yes, I know such a cliché, but it's true! Granny cooked enough for everybody and if someone stopped by just for a quick visit, they left with a plate. That is how much love Granny had and how much she put it in her cooking. Granny showered us all in love, comfort, and with her wisdom. Cooking is not all she mastered, but to me it is the one thing filled with her love and exemplified her love for her family!


Granny's love of cooking and sharing with the family passed onto to her daughter, my grandmother, and in turn to the granddaughters, my mother and her two sisters who continue the Thanksgiving tradition to this day. I'm thinking of the song sang by Tina Turner, 'What's Love Got to Do with It?' and I can honestly say, EVERYTHING!!


Granny, thank you for loving us all and for allowing me to share your amazing journey!


Dante

Honoring My Cincinnati Matriarch: Getting to Know Granny, My Great-Grandmother Anna Lue Barrow-Heath Part I

I was pondering on the thought of why I love genealogy. What is my passion you might ask? What sparked my curiosity? What drives me to research hours upon hours? Well it all began as a simple school assignment and through time has evolved into a hobby and ultimately my purpose. Many family members from across the states call me the "walking family tree" given my wide range of knowledge of our ancestral ties to the south as well as my ability to run down the family tree backwards and forwards without looking at a single piece of paper. I call it “my purpose” in life to help bridge the gaps between our Ancestors and present generations. My journey to the online world of blogging began with my membership in the African American Genealogy & Slave Ancestry Research Facebook group and the support of the Tribe. Granny, this one's for you.

My Great-Grandmother, who I affectionately called Granny, on my maternal Grandmother's side is Anna Lue Barrow-Heath. She was the fourth of eight children born on March 8, 1913 to the union of Irvin Barrow and Annie Elizabeth Hunter Nelloms (Grand Annie). For Grand Annie See The Hunter-Nelloms Connection. Granny is my Cincinnati family matriarch, and the first family member I interviewed about our family's southern roots.


In 1988 on one of many visits to my Grandmother’s house, the family was all together which included my Mom, Joyce, her sisters Aunt Darlene and Aunt Sherry, my Great-Grandparents, Mitchell Heath and Anne Lue Barrow, and of course my Grandmother, Jessie Mae who I loved dearly and spent every weekend with listening to old Sunday worship services while sitting on the porch. To some, one may ask what teenager did that. And I would respond by saying, well I did. We were all gathered on the first floor of the house. You see, Granny and Granddaddy lived on the first floor and Grandmamma lived on the second floor. But anytime we were all together, the gathering place was on the first floor. The conversation somehow migrated from what was on television to Granny and Granddaddy’s childhood years in Georgia. Granny always talked about her Papa and Grand Annie. Granddaddy on the other hand did not like to talk much about his parents (more on the Georgia Heath lineage later). It was this conversation Granny talked about where she was born.


Granny used to say she was born in Atlanta, Ga. In fact, on her obituary my Grandmamma had written her was born in Atlanta, Georgia to Irvin and Annie Barrow. After years of searching through the soundex indexes and the census records, I learned that Granny was born in Chambers County, Alabama along with her older siblings Jennie, Amos, and Leola. I first found Papa and Grand Annie in the 1910 Census married and living on Five Points Road #1 in Fredonia, Chambers County, Alabama (Enumeration District 0022, Precinct 6) with two of their children, Jennie Lou (born 1907) and Amos (born 1909).

1910 Census of Granny's parents, Irvin "Pete" Barrow & Annie E. Hunter Nelloms-Barrow

In the 1920 Census for Fulton County, Georgia, Granny is a little girl at age 7 living with her parents in East Point, Fulton County, Georgia (Enumeration District 161, East Point District) along with her siblings Jennie, Amos, Leola, Sarah, and Ruth. In 1920, Granny's birth place is listed as Alabama along with her older siblings. But as you notice in the 1910 Census, her older siblings are listed as being born in Georgia. This has been a mystery for the family for years.


Granny lived in Georgia and grew up East Point which is a surburb of until the family relocated to Cincinnati, Ohio in 1922 when her father received employment. Moving up north as the family down south called it. There were many migrations from the south to the north all based on better jobs and increased opportunities for the family to prosper. Upon moving to Cincinnati, Granny always stated the family was very close. She said there were many gatherings with family members who had also migrated north. But one gathering Granny always enjoyed and carried forward with her own family was Sunday dinners Granny enjoyed spending time with family and she enjoyed cooking too. Granny was famous for her fried corn, oxtails, pound cakes, and her holiday meals especially those on Thanksgiving and Christmas.


Granny met the love of her life, Mitchell, and on September 16, 1928 the two were married. They only had once child, my Grandmother Jessie Mae. More to come later on Mitchell and Anna's love story and their beautiful daughter. It was my Granny who taught me about her mother, affectionately known as Grand Annie, and her father, Papa Irvin, her aunts, uncles, and cousins. She often talked about two of her favorite uncles, her Uncle Bossie and Uncle Tom, as if they lived right there in the house with her. Family meant everything to her, and I guess in a sense that has passed down through the generations to me. There are so many fond memories of Granny and I intend to pass down her legacy to family and friends alike. I learned a lot from Granny and I swear I was her favorite great-grandson. Stay tuned!

 

The Hunter-Nelloms Connection: Discovering My 2nd Great-Grandmother Annie Elizabeth Nelloms-Barrow

I never imagined I would create a blog about the ancestors, but I am excited about sharing their story. Thanks to kindred spirit, Luckie Daniels, and her sincere desire to see all new bloggers get online and honor our ancestors, she has inspired many to dig deep and listen to the ancestors in order for their voice to be heard. Thank you Luckie and thank you African American Genealogy and Slave Ancestor Research (AAGSAR) family for all the support. Ancestors, this blog is for you.

It was the spring of 1987 when my English Teacher tasked our class with our research project which was to develop a family tree. At the time I knew my maternal great-grandparents on my grandmother, Jessie Mae Heath-Eubanks' side and so I began the task of asking questions. I knew the assignment would be easy as I spent every summer and weekends at my great-grandparents house, so I knew the family history or at least I thought I did. My grandmother's parents were Mitchell Heath and Anna Lue Barrow, and there story will be told in another post.

My Great-Grandmother, Anna Lue Barrow-Heath, often talked about her family and our southern roots. Granny, as I called her, was born in Chambers County, Alabama near the state line and near West Point, Troup County, Georgia. Granny went down south every year to visit family and sometimes her sister, Sarah Barrow-Thompson, traveled with her. Each trip south consisted of visiting the Nelloms families in Atlanta as well as Troup County in the areas of LaGrange and West Point and some visits even back to Chambers County in Alabama. I knew Granny's maiden name was Barrow, but she always talked about the Nelloms. So my first question to Granny was "Who are the Nelloms?"

Granny always talked about Uncle Mans, Uncle Bossie, Uncle Clem, Uncle Tom, and Uncle Henry. But many stories were told about Uncle Bossie and Uncle Tom which were two of her favorite uncles, and they were Nelloms. They were the brothers of Granny's mother, Annie Elizabeth Nelloms-Barrow. Granny died in 1989 and I felt like my ancestral journey was closing in as Granny possessed generations of knowledge until I turned to her sisters, Sarah and Clara Mae. Through Aunt Sarah and Aunt Clara Mae I learned that Grand Annie's mother's name was Minerva and that she was married to a Hunter. Granny always said her mother was a Hunter before marrying Granny's father, and later becoming Annie Barrow. So who are the Hunters I asked and wondered as Granny always said her mother's maiden name was Hunter and yet the family name was Nelloms. As you see, my journey started off with confusion.

 

Annie Elizabeth Nelloms-Barrow

Sitting in front of her house on Richmond Street in Cincinnati, Ohio

 



For years, Granny and her surviving sisters always said Grand Annie was a Hunter, but Grand Annie's brothers went by Nelloms. I searched and searched for the family in Alabama and Georgia for years only finding Grand Annie married in the 1920 Census living in East Point, Georgia. My big discovery of Grand Annie did not come until 2010, when I found her as a girl in the 1900 Census living with her parents in Lee County, AL. Grand Annie, as she was called, was born in June 1891 in Opelika, Lee County, Alabama and was the daughter of Edward Hunter and Minerva Hunter. She was listed along with her sisters and brothers, whose names were slightly different than what I had been told for years (more on that story later), but it was indeed the family I had been searching for years. Then I found the family again in 1910 Census living in Troup County, GA but this time under the surname Nelms ( an original form of the Nelloms surname).

 

 

Edward Hunter and Minerva Nelms Family,

1900 Census Image for Lee County, Alabama

My Nelloms mystery continued until I noticed Minerva, now listed as NervyAnne Nelms, was listed as a widow living with her son Henry Nelms in 1910. I continued searching till I finally discovered the marriage certificate of Edward & Minerva which provided proof of the Nelms family connection as Minerva's maiden name was Nelms. I finally understood the Hunter and Nelloms connection, but wondered why Edward and Minerva's children went by the surname Nelloms. Grand Annie and her siblings were listed with the Hunter surname in the 1900 Census, Nelms in the 1910 Census and thereafter. After further research and discoveries, I learned the Hunter children of Edward and Minerva all went under the Nelms surname after the death of their father. The Nelloms spelling came later.

Discovering Grand Annie among the records was a joy and bridged the gaps in our family's history after many years of searching and speculating over the Hunter and Nelloms connection. Grand Annie is the matriarch of our Alabama and Georgia connection, and her story is being discovered more and more each day.