Today several branches of my family tree were grafted back onto the main trunk. As my sister Becky & I walked across the Wilson Chapel Cemetery (she donated the new flags in the photo), she recounted little known, almost lost details from family members I vaguely remember ever knowing anything about: my great-grandmother Cynthia Ann Pipes (b. July 3, 1891; d. January 18, 1945) who raised two children alone after her husband deserted her; my great-uncle Everett D. Pipes (b. March 22, 1910; d. November 18, 1935) who fell out a two-storey window and was placed in a mental institution until he undoubtedly died of brain damage. I also learned of my grandfather’s secret family in Dallas where he lived and worked for several years after the cotton fields were abandoned while my grandmother continued living on the farm in Peeltown with her own horde of children.

Then we moved on to Mount Olive Cemetery (which was in horrible shape) to visit our grandparents’ graves as well as our Uncle Frank’s, who was killed in Vietnam. We finished our trek through this cemetery by visiting the graves of our great-grandparents Joe & Thirza Garrett.

Ah! more names and more information to run through my searches in hopes of finding more about my family.