From Proud Heritage, Volume III by DCPA. This 352 page hardcover book is available online.
Favorite memories of my childhood, when we lived at 4654 McKinney Avenue, were the times my mother, Annie Marion, loaded her five children (John Ray, Faye, Robert, Ida Lea, and Dulcie Anne) and her mother, Allie Cox, into her 1929 Nash and drove us to visit her mother’s sisters. They were the children of John B. and Sarah (Thompson) May, son and daughter-in-law of Andrew Jackson and Mary Ann (White) May.
My favorite place to visit was Aunt Jimmie Smith’s house on Rawlins in Oak Lawn. Not only did Aunt Jimmie have her two grandchildren, Sharon and Russell, III (Buddy) living with her; but also she had a huge two-story house and a maid who tended to the kitchen. Uncle Charles Russell “Charlie” Smith owned and operated a factory called Smith’s Ice Cream Supreme that distributed some of the original Eskimo Pies (ice cream on a stick dipped in chocolate—ummm good).
Unfortunately, we were often corrected for running in and out of the house or going up the stairs too fast; so we learned to play outside where we could also holler as much as we wanted to. Meanwhile, each of the sisters, which included Aunt Minnie (May) Asbury, Aunt Jimmie (May) Smith, Aunt Johnnie (May) Padgett, grandmother Allie (May) Cox, Annie Marion (Cox) Wilroy (my mother) and quite often Rhena Merle Cox (mother’s sister) and Helen (Smith) Daniels (Aunt Jimmie’s daughter), sat working on handwork and chatting away, most often in the upstairs living room.It was a special treat when Aunt Lela (May) Dennis and her daughter, Willie Fay Dennis, came from San Angelo to have dinner with the family. Each of the ladies went about examining the handwork of the others, discussing what they were making and when they expected to finish. My Grandmother Allie often crocheted pieces for bedspreads or tablecloths, while my mother at one time used gimp thread of many colors to crochet handbags with a shell pattern, for which she bought plastic handles from the 5 & 10 Cent Store. Aunt Johnnie was often knitting dresses for her daughter. They really enjoyed getting together, talking and examining each other’s handwork. From time to time they set up a quilting frame and all worked on the same quilt that one of them had pieced. I remember watching my grandmother stitching a woolen thread through the puffs of a satin piecequilt and cutting them and tying the knots in the middle of each patch.
Aunt Minnie lived in the 4400 block of McKinney Avenue. The only time I remember visiting her was once in the summer time, when it was quite hot, but Aunt Minnie’s house had all the blinds drawn and a small one-inch crack of opening at the bottom of each window keeping it quite cool. I never saw the upstairs of her house, but believe that her two sons lived there. I am not sure whether Cousin Sarah, who had three little girls, was Aunt Minnie’s or Aunt Jimmie’s daughter, but she did join us the one time we were at Aunt Minnie’s. I believe that Aunt Minnie was retired, as I never heard of her being employed.
Aunt Minnie lived in the 4400 block of McKinney Avenue. The only time I remember visiting her was once in the summer time, when it was quite hot, but Aunt Minnie’s house had all the blinds drawn and a small one-inch crack of opening at the bottom of each window keeping it quite cool. I never saw the upstairs of her house, but believe that her two sons lived there. I am not sure whether Cousin Sarah, who had three little girls, was Aunt Minnie’s or Aunt Jimmie’s daughter, but she did join us the one time we were at Aunt Minnie’s. I believe that Aunt Minnie was retired, as I never heard of her being employed.
On the other hand when we went to visit Aunt Johnnie in Farmers Branch, she had the local telephone exchange board in her living room, and during our visit with her had to answer calls and connect the customers to their desired numbers. Also, Aunt Johnnie had two little Boston bulldogs, which resisted our efforts to play with them, particularly the mother dog, the baby being more willing to let us pet it.
One summer day the May family had a family reunion in Lee Park. Uncle Charlie had a movie camera and I remember his taking pictures of me doing my cartwheels, spider walk, etc. (I never was invited to see those pictures). I believe that Russell, Jr. was present with his children, Sharon and Buddy, as well as his brother Jake, and Helen Daniels, her husband and daughter. This was probably the only time I met Aunt Lela’s husband and sons, but I don’t recall their names. Also in attendance was Aunt Lula May, who I presume was the sister of John B. May, the father of this group of aunts, as she was greeted with great respect by all. My sister, Dulcie Anne, went around with an autograph book asking everyone to sign in, but I do not have any such record.
Russell, Jr., lost his first wife when his children were small, and my mother often bewailed the fact that Russell had never had a proper burial service for her, but just left her in a mausoleum without the family getting to pay any respects. (When I met him at Oak Lawn United Methodist Church in the late seventies, he had been remarried for several years, and later became widowed again.)
By Ida Lea Downs
