Forever Grateful for My Great-Grandparents

 I was truly blessed with a grounded foundation. Both of my great grandparents, Charles Franklin McNair and Ella Vermell King McNair, walked the walk and talked the talk. I was fortunate enough to live near them, and I knew them personally. Mama passed away when I was 7 years old so my memories of her are vaguer. However, Papa lived 4 more years after Mama passed. I was 10 years old at the time and I have wonderful memories of him. Their daughter, Ava Ella McNair Jones, was a faithful caregiver. Ava would bring Papa with her to Vernon every Wednesday to do grocery shopping, so almost every Wednesday I was able to visit with Papa and even got to go shopping with them. 

This picture was taken in our home in Vernon, Texas, when we lived on Texas Street. I was probably about 4 years old.

Pictured here from left to right: Nancy Claire Quillin, Truman Bryan Quillin, Jr., Charles Franklin McNair, Paula Fae Quillin

Ella Vermell King McNair Obituary

 Papa was so distressed when the doctor's suggested that they take her legs. She had suffered a stroke and was surviving as a vegetable in the Vernon Convalescent Home on Texas Street. He declared that she would go to Heaven with her whole body and soul.

Ada Benona McNair Parnell Obituary

 Charles Franklin McNair and Ella Vermell King McNair suffered the loss of their daughter, Benona.

            

Mama & Papa Receive a Visit

 Charles Franklin McNair (Papa) & Ella Vermell King McNair (Mama)

Receive A Visit From Their Children

This is an article titled "Lockett Briefs" from the Vernon Daily Record on 15 Jue 1961. Of interest to me is the family of Rev and Mrs. Frank McNair, my great-grandparents. Lockett Briefs details who was in town visiting family...or who was out of town visiting relatives...or who was attending a funeral, etc. 

6th paragraph

Martin Frank Jones Remembers Mama and Papa McNair

 My grandparents on my mother’s side were Joe Carroll Jones and Ava Ella McNair. They had 5 children, including my mother, Carolita Jones Quillin. Mother was most interested in helping me gather family information. Her brother, Martin Franklin Jones, was also interested in helping me throughout the years. There will be several Jones Family posts of the information gathered from them.

Recollections from Martin Frank Jones 2013

Papa = Charles Franklin McNair

Mama = Ella Vermell King

Martin Frank said that Papa McNair was called to minister.  He was asked to preach at a revival, and he told himself that if one person came down, he would use that as a sign that he was called to preach.  That night, a person came down to dedicate his life. So, Papa decided to preach a second night and told himself if two people came down, he would know for sure that he had been called to preach. About 10 people dedicated their lives to Christ, and Papa became a minister."

"Papa got involved in the school board elections, and if you were a preacher back in that day, you didn’t do politics or choose sides. I believe this was in Electra. It caused problems, so he moved just across the river to Delhi, Oklahoma."

 Mama McNair -- She had a stroke and was moved to a convalescence home in Vernon. She got bed sores that were very bad, and the family was told that they were going to have to take her legs. Martin remembers going with Hadley and Joe Carroll to Lockett to tell Papa the news and these were Papa’s words: “Ella and I have talked about this, and I know that Ella would want to go to heaven with both legs.”

My Recollections of Mama & Papa (part 2)

 

The Garden Plow like Papa would use for his massive garden.

My Daddy- Truman Quillen Sr.   Mama-Ella Vermell King   Papa-Charles Franklin McNair

 In 1990, I returned home (Vernon) so that Daddy could drive me around the county to revisit all of the old homesteads. On our visit to Lockett, the Baptist Church was still standing strong, but the little green brick house was abandoned and mostly in a dilapidated state.  It was actually open and we were able to peak in. There was an old wooden chair that I picked up and brought home, but there is no certainty that it belonged to Mama and Papa. It is identical to another chair that I have that I am certain belonged to Papa.  Daddy explained to me that somewhere in the time frame of 1923, he and Papa built two homes, one on the farmland east of town (that mother and daddy moved into) and the other was the little green house in Lockett where Mama and Papa lived. This makes sense because Papa listed his profession in 1910 as a carpenter. Daddy explained how they even made the bricks (and sun dried them) that were used on the exterior walls. Papa did the framing.

 Stories that I heard about them that I remember most:

 When my grandmother (Ava) gave birth to her first child, Jo, it was a difficult labor. Jo was stuck in the birth canal. It was a home birth, and when Jo finally made her way into the world, all hope was given up that she would live through the night. Ella stayed up all night extracting mucus/debris from Jo’s airways. Jo survived, though she was deformed from being in the birth canal too long. I was blessed to grow up knowing Jo as I learned how to see her as a person, rather than seeing her as a deformed person.

 Papa was always dedicated to preaching the gospel. He was a ‘hell, fire and brimstone’ preacher. I was able to secure some of his thoughts in letters that he wrote to his son and grandson. I have pictures of him baptizing people in the river.

 Mama and Papa were the ones that took in Mother’s (Carolita Jones Quillin) family,  (J.C. Jones and Ava and FIVE children) when their home was destroyed by fire. They had nothing but the shirts on their backs, and Mama and Papa took them and bought clothes and shoes.  They provided shelter for the Jones family until J.C. could secure another dwelling.

 Possession from Mama and Papa that I have – bible, Hull vase, iron skillet

My Recollections of Mama & Papa McNair

Recollections from a Great-Great Granddaughter

They were Mama and Papa to me.

By Nancy Quillin Long

I recorded these memories in February 2020

As I grew up in Vernon, Texas, I was fortunate to live near extended family. This allowed me the opportunity to know personally the parents (Ella Vermell King and Charles Franklin McNair) of my grandmother (Ava Ella King Jones, Mimi to me).

 

Though my recollections of them are from the perspective of an 8-12 year old child, I can still see them clearly in my mind’s eye. These recollections are limited but valuable to me. I am thankful that on occasion my mother would take me to see her elderly grandparents in their home in the small community of Lockett, Texas.

 

Of course, I didn’t know them very well, but my impression was that they were serious minded, straight forward, children of God, educated and kind. I hold them in great esteem from hearing the stories of their lives as spoken by my mother and my grandmother. (see those interviews)

Mama McNair had very long hair that she wore in a bun just above the collar line. Papa McNair had a round belly. They both wore spectacles.  They used home remedies, and as a child, I often had sore throats. Papa always said that grape juice would cure a sore throat. After I learned that, many times I could ward off illness by drinking grape juice made from concentrate.

 

The fact that today I can sit at my computer and use Google Earth to see Lockett, Texas, is nothing less that amazing. As I pull up that map, there is a pin designated as the Lockett Baptist Church which my great-great grandfather established in 1924, along with 11 other members. Charles Franklin McNair pastored there for 12 years. I’m pleased to see that the building is still standing in 2022 in good shape, with an additional wing added. Lockett, as of today, has all but dried up.

 

I remember my visits to their home in the early 1960s. I don’t remember much about their home, except that it was always painted green and it was small and humble. There was a piano in the living room. What I remember most is the property out back. It seemed so large to me, as if I was looking out on a small pasture. Mama and Papa had a very large garden. Papa would plow the land with a hand plow.  It was well tended, and they devoted much time to growing vegetables which they would can and preserve. I was most fascinated with their vegetable cellar. It was partially underground with lattice work around the top to ventilate and to offer some light. This was a wonderful place to preserve their food.

 

They were not overly affectionate people, but their love for each other and God was evident. When Mama (Ella Vermell) suffered a stroke, the news was dire. It was a severe stroke, and she would never be the same. She was placed in a nursing home on Texas Street in Vernon, Texas. I remember visiting her. At first, she recognized us, but as time wore on, she was no longer cognizant of those around her. At that point, I was no longer allowed to go with Mimi (Ava) on her visits to Mama (Ella).

My Sources for Ella Vermell (King) McNair

 I knew her personally. I grew up not far from where Mama and Papa lived. 

Year: 1900; Census Place: Moody, McLennan, Texas; Roll: T623_1658; Page: 2A; Enumeration District: 89.
 
Year: 1910; Census Place: Abilene Ward 4, Taylor, Texas; Roll: ; Page: ; Enumeration District: ; Image: .
 
Year: 1920; Census Place: Justice Precinct 6, Wilbarger, Texas; Roll: T625_1855; Page: 5A; Enumeration District: 141; Image: .
 
Year: 1930; Census Place: Precinct 2, Wilbarger, Texas; Roll: ; Page: ; Enumeration District: ; Image: .
 
Year: 1940; Census Place: Electra, Wichita, Texas; Roll: T627_4164; Page: 1A; Enumeration District: 243-53.
 
Texas, Death Certificates, 1903–1982, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., Provo, UT, USA, 2013.
 
Texas, U.S., Select County Marriage Index, 1837-1965. FHL Film Number 988614. McLennan, Texas.
 
Newspapers.com Obituary Index, 1800s-current. The Vernon Daily Record.

Mama McNair's Hull Vase

 
This a vase very close to the one that I have in my possession. It is a Hull vase and is vintage from the 1940s-1950s. My aunt Faye gifted it to me in the early 2020s. Faye had several of Mama's Hull pieces. When Mother and I met her one Saturday for the Wimberly Saturday market days, I kept looking at pieces like these. Fay told me that she would love to give me one of Mama's Hull vases. She made good on her word, and she also went on a hunt for the other pieces which to her dismay had disappeared, probably in the midst of a son's divorce. 

I treasure this item and it sits proudly on my shelf with an arrangement in it. I also have Pap's old Bible. It is priceless. I also have Papa and Mama's old Iron skillet. Those items came from Mother's home when she passed away in 2007. 

Letter from Lessie Irena "Trena" McNair

 I love this letter on many levels. It is written from someone who connects me to 4 generations back in family history. It is HAND written, and it is about my great-grandfather. 

Ova sent me a copy of this letter that was written by Lessie Trena. Lessie Trena was one of Papa's younger sisters. She was born in 1888. In this letter, Lessie Trena tells Ova a story about when Papa (Charles Franklin McNair) was a baby and how he was saved by eating bacon. It seems that after the doctor gave up on Papa, an old traveling man came and spent the night with their mom and dad (Mack McNair and Sarah (Henderson) McNair). 

Lessie Trena mentions that fact that Sarah has asthma which confirms what Mother told me about her. Lessie also mentions her brother Alfred Minlus McNair and her sister Thelma Iowa McNair. 

Mama and Papa were the masters at using natural remedies. This letter reveals that it was passed down to them. It was just what people had to do back then. I remember a home remedy that Papa swore by. Papa said that if you have a sore throat to drink grape juice. When I was little, of course I had sore throats. I would always drink grape juice and it would take the soreness away. 

Correspondence with Mother and Ova

 MAY 1991

Tribute to Ova McNair Kerr

 As I began my search for my McNair ancestors, my grandmother's sister, Ova, was a great help. It was interesting to visit with her. She was so kind and pleasant. The women of the McNair family all had gentle spirits. I loved her from afar. Ova passed away in 2006, and I am grateful to have known her.

Ova McNair Kerr

Christmas 2003 & 2004

After Ova died, I received a letter from her daughter, Cindy.

Pictured above: Martin Frank Jones, Ova Kerr, Ron & Cindy Vick (Ova's daughter).

Ova had moved to South Carolina to live near her daughter, Cindy. They buried Ova in Stillwater, Oklahoma next to her husband Paul Kerr.

Ella McNair's Possessions

 These are in the possession of my cousin, Pamela Jackson Torbet. 

Ella McNair's Personal Items

 

Ella McNair's Treasures

 These are in the possession of my cousin, Pamela Jackson Torbet.

Hull pottery

Limoges China

Ella McNair's Iron

 In possession of Pamela Jackson Torbet

Ella Vermell (King) McNair

 The following was written in 1990 and sent to me by Ella's daughter, Ova. Ova was my grandmother's sister. I remember the first time I talked to her on the phone, I cried because her voice sounded like Mimi (Ava Ella McNair Jones).

 RECOLLECTIONS FROM A DAUGHTER

                   by Ova Orene (McNair) Kerr

  
     Mama first saw Papa when he came to their house to apply
for a teacher's job.  Mama's father, W. L. King, was on the
school board.  Mama and Aunt Rilla were together in the
field, each saying, "He's mine."  They threw cotton balls at
him.
 
     Mama and Rilla eventually went to school under Papa.
Mama said that when she could she would slip out for school
with her Sunday dress on.
 
     Papa could have made a Red Skelton type of comic.  He
would put on skits at B.Y.P.W. socials and have everyone
convulsed with laughter, me included.  He did "Mary Had a
Little Lamb" laughing and then crying, I remember.
 
     Papa was a good preacher.  I've never had a pastor that
comes up to him.  He was well-read and studied a lot.  The
librarian at Vernon said he read more than anyone, and I read
most of the books he checked out.
 
     I attended Lockett School from the 5th grade to the 10th
grade.  We walked nearly 2 miles to and from school.  The car
was îÑïÑôÑ used to take us.  Early in the 1930's during January,
there was a family of seven that Papa was taking care of.
Ice covered the ground for nearly the whole month, but every
morning, Papa would take a kettle of hot water, start the
Model A and take fresh butter, milk, oranges, etc., to this
large family.  They lived miles in the country.
 
     He never aspired to be more than a country preacher.
That's what he wanted to be.  He took care of his flock.
 
     One member was having trouble with alcohol.  Papa
learned that the problem stemmed from this man's visits to
town on Saturday nights.  Papa went to town with him for six
weeks.  The man told him, "I think I'm okay."  But Papa
insisted on several more weeks.  The man overcame his
problem.
 
     In his later years, Papa ran into a man in Vernon who
introduced Papa to his friend as the man who saved his life.
The man had been very ill and was dying from an infected
tooth.  The Dr. had told this man that he should call his
minister.  When Papa arrived, he asked for lots of chewing
tobacco and used this with hot water and spent the night
placing hot packs on the man.  The man recovered.
 
     I never saw Papa or Mama sick until they were on their
death beds.  Papa was 90.  Mama was 81.
 
     I still use some of the remedies they used.
 
     Mama was an "angel" as my sister Lillian said to me
before her death.  Mama was the oldest child in a family of
10 girls and 4 boys.  she helped raise at least 10 of them.
No one could claim a better family than hers.
 
     Mama was very strong - physically, emotionally and
spiritually.  I cannot remember a single quarrel between Mama
and Papa.  With us, she was the kindest and most genteel
person one could imagine.  She never exhibited anger towards
me.  She loved everyone and never gossiped or maligned
anyone.
 
     While at Lockett where Papa was Pastor 10 years, she
served as a midwife with the doctor for many church members.
This was true of other pastorates as well.
 
     Mama canned and put up jelly and preserves.  She quilted
and sewed.  She shared with neighbors and us.  I've known her
to take many lovely trays of meals to the sick or shut-ins.
 
     Proverbs 31:10-31 was read at her funeral and described
her perfectly.  I still miss her.

Ella Vermell (King) McNair

In 1991, I put together my first booklet for the McNair family. I was a fledgling genealogist and I had the help of my mother and my grandmother's sister, Ova McNair Kerr. This post is what Mother (Carolita Quillin) wrote for that booklet.

RECOLLECTIONS FROM A GRANDDAUGHTER
 
          by Carolita Jones Quillin - September 1990
 
 
I REMEMBER MAMA.  Her name was Ella.  I called her Mama.....
 
     Ella Vermell King McNair was born November 6, 1883 in
Dalton, Georgia, Murray County.  She was the first of 14
children born to William Lazarus and Emily Melissa Hulsey
King.  When Ella was 7 years old in the year 1890, the family
moved from Georgia to Texas in covered wagons.  There were 6
children at that time.  They settled in Erath County at Bluff
Dale.  One sister was born there.  The family then moved to
Moody, Texas, in McLennan County (Waco area).  There, 4 more
sisters and 1 brother was born.
 
     One of Ella's school teachers was Frank McNair.  She
married him on June 6, 1903, in Bethel Baptist Chapel,
Bethany, Texas, McLennan County.  After their marriage,
Ella's parents moved to Tye, Texas, in Taylor County in 1903.
Ella's first child, Ava, was born 21 April 1904, in Eddy,
Texas, McLennan County.  When Ava was 19 days old, Ella and
Frank moved to Abilene, Texas, Taylor County, in 1904.
 
     After their move to Abilene sometime between 1905-06, a
son, Bernie, was born.  Frank took Bernie fishing with him
and they sat on the damp ground.  Bernie took acute Brights
Disease and lived only 5 days.  He is buried in Jones County,
somewhere near Leuders and Avoca.  There is a place there
called Bunkers Hill (Fort Phantom Hill?) where at one time a
battle was fought.  Ella and Frank were crushed by his death
and Frank never wanted anyone to mention him.  Ella had saved
one of his little suits and a pair of his button-up high top
shoes.  When Frank found out she had them stored along with
the love letters he had written her, he was very unhappy.
When Ella was stricken with  a stroke and was in the
convalescent home, Frank burned the clothes and all the
letters and tore up the trunk they were stored in.  They said
Bernie looked like Ella.  He had dark skin and eyes.
     A brother of Ella's, Perry King who was an ordained
Baptist minister, baptized Frank.  Ella had another brother,
Boyd King, who was in full time ministry.  Boyd was a singer,
and he would lead the singing and Perry would preach in
revivals.  Frank said he received a call to be a preacher in
1902, but he didn't surrender to the ministry until 1909.
Another daughter, Ova, was born in 1913.  Lillian, the fourth
child, was born in 1914.  Ella went with Frank a lot as he
traveled throughout surrounding counties as an Associational
Missionary. They traveled by horse and buggy.
 
     Ella was a slender, gaunt person.  Her skin was olive,
and her hair and eyes were dark.  Her eyes were piercing.
She always claimed that her people were Black Dutch from
Wales.  She wore her hair combed back from her face and in a
bun held in place by big, brown hair pins at the nape of her
neck.  I never remember her wearing but one style of shoe,
black ones that laced in front with a clunky heel, and she
always wore them with heavy, cotton stockings.  She was a
dutiful and devoted wife and mother.
 
     Ella was a very reserved person, and there was never
very much nonsense about her.  The family was loving, but not
at all demonstrative with their affection.  She had a sense
of humor and I can still hear her "guffaw" and say, "oh,
pshaw" when she was amused.
 
     Ella and Frank raised very large gardens, and they spent
their time during the growing season tending it.  They canned
and preserved almost everything they ate.  They had a cellar
with many shelves filled with jars of beautiful fruits and
vegetables of every kind.  She was a good cook and made the
best biscuits I ever ate.
 
     We went to visit them, but not very often.  We would
always have to spend the night.  I always loved going to
their house.  They had a piano and I thought all their stuff
and their house was really neat and different from what I was
used to.  They came to visit us, too, every once in awhile.
 
     She was healthy and never went to the doctor much.  They
would use old home remedies and methods in treating aches,
hurts, and pains.  I remember they would drink sassafras tea.
Ella was a coffee lover and drank lots of it.  She dipped
snuff but was clean and discreet about it.  There were always
spit cans sitting around.  Frank dipped snuff too, and they
kept us in drinking glasses that they bought their snuff in.
 
     In 1953 Ella and Frank celebrated their Golden Wedding
Anniversary at their home in Lockett.  Thirty members of the
family gathered for lunch and throughout the afternoon
approximately 150 guest attended the celebration.  When Ella
died, they had been married 61 years.
 
     Ella suffered a stroke, and she was in the Vernon Clinic
Hospital in Vernon, Texas, for a short time.  Then she was
moved to a nursing home on Texas Street in Vernon.  Her
condition deteriorated progressively, and she didn't know
anyone.  The doctors wanted to amputate a leg, but Frank
wouldn't consent to it.  Ava and Lillian stayed with her
around the clock for the last month of her life.  After 6-8
months, she died on October 15, 1963.  Ella was buried in
Wilbarger Memorial Park in Vernon, Texas, Wilbarger County.
 

Mama & Papa McNair in Real Life

 The following notes may or may not have been added so I will post them here. These memories are sidenotes from my mother. As I add information about Frank and Ella's adult children, there will be more memories and recollections of this family. It seems as if they were always there for Mimi and Pappy (Ava & J.C. Jones).

Mama and Papa

Papa never did bless Ava’s marriage to Joe Carroll.  Ava was acquainted with an ambitious upcoming young man who Papa knew she would marry.  When she fell in love with Carroll, Papa was adamantly against it.  Papa knew the night that they were going to ask him if they could get married, and he went on to bed before they got home.  They went in to his bedside anyway to ask for his permission.  He said she could if she wanted to, but that he would not bless the marriage.  Papa was a minister and did not even attend the marriage.

When Jo was born, Ella saved her life.  Others, including the doctor, didn’t expect Jo to live to the morning.  Ella worked through the night clearing Jo’s passageways of mucus, etc. and literally breathed life back into Jo.  Jo lived to be 63 years old.  When Carolita was born, Ella and Charles took Jo in order to help Ava, who had 3 infants in diapers.  They taught her to walk, and potty trained her, and when life returned to normal for Ava and Joe, Jo returned home.

Aunt Jo greets them on Sunday morning. There must have been a tremendous bond between the two. 

Papa and Mama didn’t enjoy being around all the kids.  They thought they had no table manners and Mama would tell Ava that if she didn’t know what would become of the kids if she didn’t get a handle on them.

When Ava and Carroll’s house burned down, they traveled that night to the McNair’s in Electra.  The next morning Papa cleaned the children up and combed their hair and took them to get shoes and socks.

They raised EVERYTHING they ate, except for flour, sugar, coffee, corn meal, etc.  They were excellent gardeners and canned most of their food to store for the winter.

            

I love these pictures of Mama McNair. She and Papa lived life earnestly, honestly and with the highest integrity. I'm proud to be their great-granddaughter.

Papa is in God's Hands