Back to Lucky Hill

I thought I had closed this chapter but new information keeps drawing me back here. A recent encounter (Harry’s 50th. Birthday Party) brought new information and a whole new perspective to Aunt and Grand Mumaa, my paternal grand mother and great grand mother respectively. Thanks Jacqui, I can now fill in most of my mother’s family tree. Above is a look at it so far.

First, I found out Grand Mumaa’s real name. She was Sarah Dalling. Secondly, Aunt was not an only child but had at least three siblings. And third, while it cannot be documented as yet, some says that Grand Mumaa's maiden name was Taylor. If that turns out to be true it would be something, she being a Taylor and her daughter Aunt, also marrying a Taylor. But even more intriguing is the fact that she must have married or had relationship with a Davis for Aunt, her first child, was named Davis. This suggests very strongly that my mother and father were related, they were probably cousins!

This was all happening in the small community of Lucky Hill, where the total population was probably less than a thousand people. It was mentioned that Lucky Hill was originally settled by three families two of which were Davis and Taylor. Given the information I have today it does not seem that far fetched.

There was also a lot more information on Aunt, my grand mother. I found out that she had three siblings. There was Aunt Jane whom I vaguely remembered as living very close to Aunt (I think just down the road where the road bends as it leaves Retirement and heads towards Jeffery Town). Then there were Arnold and Lucille. These two I don’t recall.

But what is more intriguing than the siblings is the new perspective I get of Aunt. I always had this picture of her as a strict disciplinarian, not mean, but a tough, dictatorial, no-nonsense type of a woman. But hearing from other who lived with her much longer than I, there was a softer side. It turns out that Aunt was actually a midwife for the district and that is where much of the respect and high esteem she was given in the district comes from. It was also one reason why she always taking care of so many other people’s children. It was because the attachment from having helped to bring them into the world. This information is interesting and gives me a whole new perspective of her. But it’s still a tough one for me to picture, probably because of the many heavy licks that I remembered those hands delivering to my rear end. I just can’t imagine them as tender enough to deliver babies. She was one great woman! I wish I could get back time to get to know her allover again.

There was new information on Daddy too. It turns out that he had children before he married Aunt, giving my mother two siblings. His first child was Aunt Zill. I do not think I ever met her as she lived in Kingston but she was always talked about and I grew up with Winston who was her son. Daddy’s second child was Uncle Sonney. I have heard the name and I think he lived close by or at least in Lucky Hill but he must not have remained close to the rest of the family for I cannot recall him. My mother was his third child. Having lived with Daddy for a year or so and witness first hand his calming influence I can see how much he contributed to my mother's childhood. While he did not intervene when Aunt was threatening you with fire and brimstone he also did not escalate it. He was that quiet person, soft spoken, caring and thoughtful. He was always in the background, but without him Aunt would never have the presence nor commanded the respect that she had. I can see now where she was the initiator but he was her support and together they were a strong team.

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