Roxie Jane Caldwell Vance
She Wore in the Pants in the Family
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Roxie Jane Caldwell was born 11 April 1905 in Owensville, Saline County, Arkansas, to James Monroe "Jim" and Rhoda Malinda James Caldwell. She was the third of four children born to Jim and Rhoda: Lillie, Milton "Mike," Roxie, and Lilburn. When Roxie was just a year or so old her parents built this house on their property. This house still stands today.
Granny, as I called her, had a happy childhood as she relayed to me. Her parents raised sheep on the property, shearing the wool. They also raised cattle, pigs, and chickens and, of course, raised a garden. Granny's garden was always very well maintained which, I assume, she learned from her parents. She rode a horse - side saddle. One of the things that she loved to tell me about was the "singings" that were held in the community. It should be noted that Granny was not a particularly good vocalist, but that did not seem to sway her desire to sing. She attended school in the Owensville Community, but I assume (she never told me) she did not attend school very long. Most of her friends were cousins with Orpha and Jewel Tillery being the ones she talked to me about the most. She was a member of Owensville Baptist Church.
Family Life
Roxie married Reyburn Peay Vance 29 January 1922 at the home of her parents in Owensville. Granny used to love telling me about their wedding. She said the wedding lasted about the whole weekend with people coming to sing and get together. I never thought to ask her about whether or not it was cold. From the way they were dressed, it appeared they had a warmer Arkansas Sunday afternoon to celebrate the occasion.
I believe they must have stayed at the home of her parents for awhile after their marriage as their first child, Gerald Lawrence, was born in the same "bedstead" that Roxie was born in several years earlier as was their second (and last) child, Willie Doyle. Soon after the birth of Willie, the family moved to Benton where Grandpa tried his hand at selling cars. That did not last long; and he, once again, went back to teaching.
They moved back to Owensville and bought some property from her cousin, Fred and his wife Martha. Fred and Martha had a two-story house on the property. Granny would not live in a two-story house, and they built a house in which they lived in for the rest of their married lives. The other house was torn down. Granny, with the assistance of Grandpa's twin brother Clay, farmed. They raised cattle, pigs, and chickens, and planted a beautiful garden along with growing pumpkins. I remember one beautiful fall day spending the weekend with Granny and Grandpa when it was time to harvest corn. Granny's dog had puppies, and I hauled all the puppies into the back of the wagon. Every single time someone wanted to throw those ears of corn into the wagon, I would shout, "Watch the puppies." Granny put up with that for awhile and then told me I had to take those puppies back to the barn. It probably took them about three times longer for that harvest than usual. Being a city girl, I really didn't know too much about how vegetables grew. I knew they had a "tater house," which was located on the hill in front of their home. One day, I exclaimed, "Granny, did you know these taters grow in the dirt?" Granny seemed to think that was the funniest thing she had ever heard. (I was astonished as I could not believe I was supposed to eat something that had grown in the dirty dirt.)
Granny could have been found in the kitchen as early as 5:00 a.m. cooking breakfast. She made great biscuits! My favorite ones were "drop" biscuits. They were not rolled out but sort of scrunched up together. I always thought they were much better. She also cooked vegetables from the garden and beef, chicken, and pork from the farm. Everything was fried! The steak was fried and fried and fried. Everything was overcooked, but it seems people used to eat everything well done back then. Many wonderful Sunday dinners (that is what we called the noon-time meal) and holiday dinners were eaten in that kitchen.
My time frame may be incorrect on this story, but you will get the "jist" of it nonetheless. March 1959 a tornado hit western Saline County including Owensville. I think it was around the time of this tornado that one of Granny's cows had twin calves or that is how I remember it. We got to the house a few days after the birth of the calves, and the barnyard was too muddy and dirty for me to go, but I so wanted to see those calves. Granny, the doting grandmother, went to the barn (with the assistance of Uncle Clay) and brought those calves into the living room for me to play with. She had a linoleum rug on the living room floor and it was scrubbed after the calves went back to their momma in the barn. Another cow story is when they had sold cows and were usually paid with 100 dollar bills. Granny found me in the living room, sitting on the floor, throwing those bills into the air.
Momma and Daddy went on a vacation one year, and my brother and I were left with Granny and Grandpa. As luck would have it, I came down with the Measles. Granny cared for me probably better than I would have been had I been in the hospital. She was worried that the measles would cause me to go blind and would not allow me to watch television. I was put in their bedroom off the living room. (I soon figured out I could see the tv through the mirror on her dresser, however.)
I loved to play with paper dolls. Granny saved her McCall's magazine so that I could cut out the Betsy McCall paper dolls. She also bought those movie star magazines which I loved to read. (We never had those at home, so I loved going through those mags.)
Granny was very social and loved to have people visit. She was especially happy when Grandpa's former students came by. She would fix them up something to eat and drink in just a short time. She was the happy educator's wife, but her grammar left a lot to be desired. I remember one day Grandpa correcting her grammar. She let it all out and wish I could write exactly what she said in the accent that she used. It went something like, "You don't come in here and tell me how to talk when I get out and do the work around here and you sit around in that suit all the time." I never heard him ever criticize her in any way again. Grandpa may have worn the suit, but she wore the pants in the family.
Granny allowed me to drive her car. I began driving the car at the farm when I was about 12 years old. I could drive down the road (not very far) and then had to back the car back to the house. Sometimes I did that over and over again. Eventually, she allowed me to drive when she came to town and stayed at our house in Benton. No, I didn't have a license; and she didn't care. She and I drove to Mitchell's Malt Shop and would get chocolate malts. (I blame her, to this day, for my love of chocolate malts!) I also helped to wash the car at the farm which I never understood why we did that as they lived on a dirt road and as soon as you started the car up, it got dirty again! She called the trunk of the car the "turtle hull." I remember going with she and Grandpa to visit cemeteries. I remember having a picnic lunch at Antioch Cemetery where Grandpa's grandparents Roberts were buried. (At the time, I did not understand who they were, however.) I remember Grandpa telling me he taught school there when he was younger.
After I got about 12 or so, I no longer wanted to spend my time at the farm; however, my brother never lost his love for it. He took his friends to the farm, and they also called her "Granny." My brother lives on the farm now carrying on a family tradition as someone from our family has lived on the Caldwell property since about 1850.
Granny did not just love her sons -- she adored them! She was so proud of the fine people they became. If there was one thing that she loved about as much, it was her grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great-grandchildren. She loved displaying photographs throughout her home of family. Here she is holding Brenda, Abby, John (with Patti and Clay in photograph) - more to come as I find the pics
Grandpa became ill about 1964 after a surgery. She began caring for him, sometimes 24 hours a day. When he became too weak to feed himself, she fed him with a spoon. After his death, she moved into a mobile home across the highway from her oldest son, Gerald. The mobile home was next door to a friend of hers, Ruby Grant Carden. The two widows talked for hours and hours, either in the yard or in the house depending on the weather. While living there, she spent a lot of time with her great-granddaughters, Angy and Mandy, who lived across the highway.
After the death of Gerald, her son Willie had retired. Willie and his wife, Jimmie, built a home on the Caldwell property and moved Granny's mobile home next door to their house. About 1999, she became bedridden and moved to a nursing home in Benton. She was never happy there but did make friends with the nursing staff and became more at ease. She passed away 4 March 2000 with many of her family members by her side and was laid to rest next to Grandpa in Owensville Cemetery.
Obituary
Roxie Caldwell Vance
Roxie Caldwell Vance of Owensville died Saturday, March 4, 2000, in Benton. She was 94.
She was born April 11, 1905, in Owensville to James and Rhoda James Caldwell.
She was a homemaker and a member of Owensville Baptist Church.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Rayburn [Reyburn] Vance; a son, Gerald Vance; her parents, two brothers, Milton Caldwell and Lilborn Caldwell; and a sister, Lillie Caldwell.
She is survived by a son, Willie Vance his wife Jimmie of Owensville; a daughter-in-law, Jacqueline Vance of Benton; three grandchildren, Brenda Richardson and her husband Larry, and John Vance and his wife Dorcas, all of Benton, and Patty [Patti] Hays and her husband Dave of Hot Springs.
Survivors also include five great-grandchildren, Angy Rose and her husband, Ashley, Amanda Richardson and Justin Vance, all of Benton, Denise Rosenthal and her husband Peter of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and Lauri McAdory and her husband Scott of Hot Springs; and four great-great-grandchildren, Alexandra and Abigail Rose, Libby Rosenthal and Drew McAdory.
Funeral will be held at 10 a.m. Tuesday at Owensville Baptist Church with the Rev. Gary Gipson and James Wilson officiating. Burial will follow at Owensville Cemetery.
Serving as pallbearers will be Bob Carden, Dave Hays, Scott McAdory, Larry Richardson, Ashley Rose and D. L. Ziegler.
Honorary pallbearers will include Bill Carden, Conley Culpepper, Royce Harris, Hurlon Ray, Peter Rosenthal and Ersel Tillery.
Visitation is scheduled from 6 to 8 p.m. Monday at Ashby Funeral Home.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorials be made to Saline Memorial Hospice, 1 Medical Park Drive, Benton Ar 72015, or to Owensville Cemetery Association, 18410 Highway 5, Lonsdale, Ar 72087.
[from the Benton Courier, March 6, 2000, page 2]
Genealogy
I cannot begin to tell Granny's story without telling one of the biggest things she gave to me: my quest to find out more about my family's history. She, unknowingly, did not do this until after her death. After she became ill, she said to me (in her crackly voice) one day, "Sit down and write down what this old lady tells you." She told me about her ancestors and told me how to draw a family tree. I wrote down what she said and then left that piece of her paper at her home. After her death and going through her papers, I found that and knew what I had to do for Granny: I had to find out who I was!
In Conclusion
Next to my momma, Granny was the strongest female influence in my life. She and I did not have a lot in common (I am definitely a city girl), but I do think I inherited her great love of family...not just the living ones, but the ones who passed on before us.
Roxie Jane Caldwell Rootsweb World Connect Project