Medley Leona BOWERS-ROBERTS-CRAWFORD.......

.....was born 10/27/1896 in Union Co., GA in the community known as Ivy Log which is just north of Blairsville, GA along the North Carolina state line.  She was the 7th child and dtr/o Elias Berry "E.B." BOWERS and Rutha America "Ruth" AKINS who are both buried at Harmony Baptist Church Cemetery, Blue Ridge, Fannin Co., GA.

Her grandparents were:

• Caleb BOWERS and Hannah BERRY
   of Wolf Creek area, Union Co., GA
• John W. AKINS and Nancy J. DANIEL 
  of Union & Hall Cos., GA

Her great-grandparents were:

• George BOWERS and Lucinda GRIFFITH of SC having removed to Union Co., GA from Franklin Co., GA
• Elias BERRY and Hannah CRUMLEY of Union Co., GA
• Ezekiel AKINS and Melinda Jane CANTRELL of Pickens Co., GA having removed from Macon Co., NC and Union Co., GA
• Josiah Lafayette DANIEL, Sr. and Delithicia Eliza "Dicey" WOOD of Union Co., GA having removed from Habersham Co., GA

Her great-great-grandparents were:

• John Jacob BOWERS & Anna Katherine MAYER of Edgefield Co., SC
• Caleb GRIFFITH and Julia Ann "Julon" LITTLE of Pickens Co., GA
• Little & Sarah BERRY of  SC, Burke Co., NC, Habersham Co., GA & lastly Nimblewill Dist., Lumpkin Co., GA
• John AKINS, Sr. of Union Co., GA and his first wife, Catherine CLARK
• Rev. Jacob CANTRELL and Emily Elizabeth PIRKLE
• William DANIEL of Union Co., GA and his first wife, Elizabeth ??

Not long before her mother, Ruth, died unexpectedly in Atlanta from gall bladder surgery in 1910, her family had removed to Blue Ridge, Fannin Co., GA.  Her sister, Mary Louisa, married Oscar Augustus ROBERTS of Ducktown, Polk Co., TN in 1910.  Mary thought that Medley and Oscar's brother, Arthur Brooks ROBERTS, looked so cute together that they should also get married. So at the young age of 14, Medley married Arthur Brooks ROBERTS in Polk Co., TN.

Arthur and Medley did love each other very much and spent about nine years having the time of their lives as 'young adults' together.  Medley loved to swim, sail and ride horseback.  Medley had several miscarriages and one son, Arthur Roberts, Jr., who lived only one day in April 1912.  Arthur was also away during WW1, serving the Army Medical Corps in Germany.  When Medley became pregnant with my mother, she knew she would probably lose her as well.  It was at the time of the great flu epidemic of 1918.  Thankfully, Jeanette Ruth ROBERTS did live and grew to be a beautiful, well-loved, and admired woman.

Medley's father, Elias Berry "E. B." BOWERS by this time, had re-married to Mrs. Loucinda Francis NICHOLS-CRAWFORD, the widow of Samuel Horton CRAWFORD.  Everyone called her "Miss Lou".  E.B. had also purchased the Old Fannin Hotel [a/k/a Central Hotel] in downtown Blue Ridge.  When Medley became 'obviously' pregnant, she moved to Ducktown to be near her sister Mary.  In those days, ladies were expected to go into hiding when they started to show and her father didn't want her around the scores of railroad men that would stay at the hotel.

Despite the odds, my mother, Jeanette Ruth ROBERTS, was born in the fall of 1918 in a little house in Ducktown, Polk Co., TN - delivered by Dr. L.E. KINSEY.  This little house was the only home in the area that had a tree in the front yard.  This area of Polk Co., TN was the site of the TN Copper Co.'s working mines.  Due to the amount of pollution it put in the air, acid rain fell and deforested the region.  Only in the last 20 years has vegetation returned.  I remember in the early 1960's how barren it all was; yet we could still find this little house because of the tree.

Not long after Jeanette was born, Medley was faced with some unforgiving news about Arthur requiring her to divorce him.   Medley and Mama moved back to Blue Ridge to be near her family.  A few years later, Medley married C.W. DOUGLAS and went to Atlanta, GA leaving Jeanette behind with her father and step-mother, Miss Lou.  Mr. Douglas wasn't a nice man at all to little Jeanette, so Medley again had to face the decision to divorce her husband.  The circumstances for both her divorces I won't elaborate in order to protect the privacy of living persons....but I assure you, Medley had no choice.

Suddenly, on Jan 24, 1925, Medley's father died in Blue Ridge.  He was buried next to his wife Ruth, at Harmony Baptist Church Cemetery in Blue Ridge. Fannin Co., GA.  About this time, Medley ran into Oscar Hankerson CRAWFORD, Sr. also from Blue Ridge.  Oscar and his first wife, Cora Ethel RUSSELL, were divorced a few years before in Atlanta.  Oscar worked for the railroad and was transferred to Jacksonville, Florida where the RR was headquartered.  Oscar was a son of William Drayton CRAWFORD and Emma Elizabeth ADDINGTON.

Oscar made good money all during the Depression; but drank too much, etc.  Medley was an excellent seamstress.  Despite having a pinched nerve in her left elbow that caused her hand to not work so well, she sewed beautiful clothes for others to earn a little extra spending money to help put Jeanette through school even though Jeanette worked part-time.  Oscar wouldn't help pay for any of Jeanette's school books or anything else after she graduated from junior high school.  

In 1951, Medley was diagnosed with cancer of the lymph nodes.  I had just come along, so Mama, was torn between her happiness about me and the sadness of watching her mother die.  The morning of September 3, 1952, Mama went to see Medley as her illness was drawing to a close.  Medley asked Mama all day and evening long,  "Is it 2 in the morning yet?"  and Mama would say "No, not yet.  Why?"  Medley would say, "I'm going home at 2".  Around midnight Mama left to go home for some much needed rest.  Shortly after 2 a.m. on September 4, 1952, Medley passed away...just as she had said she would all day.

Her favorite hymn, Rock of Ages, was played at her funeral held on Sept 5th, at Hardage & Sons Chapel at 517 Park St., Jacksonville, FL at 4 p.m. with the Rev. Ralph TODD officiating.  Other music played by organist, Myrtis R. HARDAGE included:  Soft in the Arms of Jesus, Nearer My God to Thee, God Will Take Care of You, and Abide With Me.  Pall bearers were:  U.L. BRUCE, L.S. SIKES, H.W. HILL, R. L. MEARIS, Jr, F. W. BALLANTINE, R.F. PIERCE.  Those in attendance were:
 
 

She was laid to rest at 5 p.m. into Lot 6, Section D3, Block N-6, at Oaklawn Cemetery in Jacksonville.  In 1990, my father joined Medley at Oaklawn as will my precious Mama probably this year.

Oscar returned to Blue Ridge, GA in 1953 and lived with his widowed sister, Faye CRAWFORD-GREENE.  He died there in 1966 at age 83.  I remember him as a jovial, very tall man.  

Medley Leona BOWERS was a very brave woman.  She endured many hardships...WW1, the Great Depression, WW2, 3 husbands, and the loss of several of her children, yet was always a lady of high moral fiber.  She judged people on their merits...never on their race, creed, or ethnic origin.  By the grace of God, her daughter, Jeanette, grew to adulthood so that I could have such a wonderful mother and be raised with the same strong family values.

I am sorry that Grandmama Medley did not live longer.  I have always missed not knowing my loving grandmother.  Through all the stories that Mama has told me all my life, I feel as though I did know her.  

The photo above is of Medley and Oscar CRAWFORD, taken in the late 1940's in Jacksonville.   There is also a photo of Medley and Arthur ROBERTS on my Roberts web page.  If you have time, stop by and meet my mother, Jeanette Ruth ROBERTS-TINDELL.

Happy Mother's Day, Medley
You have always been missed....and Mama will be with you soon....
Your granddaughter,
Carol Ann