General Notes

OBJE: C:\WINDOWS\Desktop\Genealogy pic\mama and papa bailey.jpg
My aunt Ramona (Ramona Gray Bailey Rose), wrote the followi
ng about our Bailey side of the family:
"Our folks were born and reared near Bethel, N.C.  Mama wa
s the daughter of Sally and Edward Cherry, and Daddy was th
e son of Annie and Cyrus Bailey.  Mama and Daddy united i
n a solid marriage on December 19, 1906 as a result of bein
g classmate sweethearts.  He was nineteen and she was eight
een.  Daddy was affiliated with the Atlantic Coastline Rail
road as a telegraph agent in Conetoe, NC.  On October 23, 1
907 Big Brother (Linwood Jr.), their first child, was bor
n in Conetoe.  Some time later the railroad transferred hi
m to Port Norfolk, which is now called Portsmouth.  While l
iving in Virginia, Mama became very ill with typhoid fever
.  She was one of the fortunate ones to survive because s
o many others did not during that wicked epidemic.  Mama wa
s always a courageous lady and fought a good fight to overc
ome this problem  Sister (Mabel Cherry) was born while the
y were residing in Portsmouth.
A few years later the railroad transferred Daddy to Hobgood
, NC.  He continued to work as a telegraph agent for some t
ime, but Daddy was on the night shift and he could not slee
p well in the day time so he resigned and went into busines
s for himself.  He did some speculating--purchased some sma
ll farms, bought and sold logs and I've heard him say he ev
en shipped some of thje finer logs to Europe.  Daddy bough
t some dry goods stores in Hobgood and also the Hobgood Hot
el.
The Lord blessed him financially.  Our father was a humbl
e man and always grateful for his blessings and he use to s
ay oftern that Mama spent the money wisely and each additio
nal child motivated him to provide more.  He was a very mod
est man about his success and did not take any credit for h
imself.  Such a fine provider and Mama was always supportiv
e.
Well, by now you know there are other Bailey children in th
e picture other than Big Brother and Sister.  Along came He
rbert, and there was Milton, then Ruby, plus Charlie, nex
t "E", baby Ronald, and there's Clayton, and also Romona
.  They had purchased a two story house and as the family g
rew I understand they moved the home place bak some  to enl
arge the front yard and the house.  A parlor, sun parlor, c
arport, screened-in back porch and two additional rooms adj
oining the back porch were added.  There was an apple tre
e and a cherry tree on the south side of the house.  Have y
ou ever tasted an apple from a Hogbood tree?  Was delectibl
e!  A playhouse was built on the north side including elect
ric lights.  When we sat down to eat a meal after the bless
ing was asked we were exposed to different meats--like Hobg
ood frog legs, bird, squirrel, rabbit, venison, oysters, ra
inbow trout, and home grown chickes--of course, Hobgood sty
le.  With this many children dining together, sometimes w
e had several meats to please everyone.  Kinda special to e
njoy good food with that many relatives on a regular basis
.  The Waltons just thought they had it made!