Dorothy Ethel McDaniel Reese

She stood in her tiny kitchen bending over her dough bowl mixing buttermilk biscuits with her hands. One of my sweetest memories of my grandmother was her ability to mix buttermilk, lard and flour together with her hands and when she had finished remove all traces of the dough by rolling her fingers over each other. She would hold up her hands and you would never had known that she had just had two hands with fingers covered in dough! She was an amazing woman and I'm so fortunate to have had her as my grandmother.

 Ethel McDaniel was born to Jesse Hamilton McDaniel and Josey Beatrice Storey McDaniel on March 13, 1908 in Talbot County, GA. In 1910 the young family was living in Langdale, Alabama where Jesse worked as a stitcher in one of the Langdale cotton mills. 

By 1920 the young McDaniel family had grown to six. Mittie Lou McDaniel was born in 1912, Rawleigh "Bud" McDaniel in 1913 and Willie Eugenia McDaniel in 1916. Jesse McDaniel was now working in a saw mill in Waverly Hall, GA.

Ethel McDaniel (on right) at age 16 with her friend 

Renada Weldon

                      

Ethel McDaniel Reese, T.C. Reese and Mittie Lou McDaniel

circa 1925

At the age of 17, Ethel McDaniel met Tulian Clements Reese, a widow with four young children. (Clements Reese's first wife Nancy Bedell Smith died following complications from childbirth).  After a whirlwind courtship they married on December 15, 1925 at the home of Judge Almond.

Almond Home Almond Road Columbus, Ga

Janie and Mildred Reese

In 1930 they were living in the Fortson, GA area. Clements  Reese was working for his brother Bowden Reese on his dairy farm. They had three children: Dot, Lorene and John along with Clements' children Tulian (Blackie), Janie, and Mildred. (Clememts's youngest, Arthur was taken by Nancy's brother at her death. They moved to Florida and would not return Arthur. When Arthur was 16, Blackie drove to Florida and brought him home.)   At age 24, Ethel Reese was the mother of six children!  Times were hard and the young Reese family moved a lot, but stayed in the Fortson area. By 1940, two more children had been born, Bill (1931) and Irell (1932). In 1934 their youngest son Bill was critically injured in an automobile accident. Bill survived the accident and is the last surviving Reese sibling.

Dot, Lorene, John

Bill, Irell Reese

1934

Ethel Reese McDaniel and Irell Reese

  

During the depression, money was scarce and the Reese family was large. Clements continued to work for his brother making $6.00 a week (48 hour week) . Bowden Reese owned a small grocery store and T.C. frequently gave him back most of his earnings to pay for the groceries that he bought on credit.  (This recollection came from Blackie Reese in an interview with Nancy Craig Graham in the early 1990's.)  They moved frequently but stayed in the Fortson area. They lived in this house on Smith Road. It had been the home of Cicero and Lucy Cannon Smith, Clements' first wife's parents. Their oldest daughter Janie married Edwin Brown in 1937 and Blackie married Jean Newsome (2nd wife) in 1942  

Old Smith Home

They later moved into this house near the railroad tracks on Smith Road. Mildred married Ed Talbot in 1943, Dot married Farris Austin in 1944 and Lorene married Willie Jordan in 1945. 

Home near the Railroad Tracks on Smith Road

Dot, Bill, Mildred, Lorene and Janie Reese

T.C. built a home for the family on Smith Road and they moved into it in 1947. They only lived in the house for three months. Shortly after moving into their new home, one of Ethel's cousins contacted T.C. and gave him the opportunity to manage Oak Mountain grist mill in Waverly Hall, GA. The mill also came with a house for the family to live in. They moved to Waverly Hall. During the years they lived in Waverly Hall, their youngest daughter (Irell) married and three of their sons (Arthur, John and Bill) enlisted in the army and were stationed in Korea.

 

                                           Oak Mountain Grist Mill                                                            Waverly Hall, GA

Oak Mountain Home (Irell Reese posed in front)

T.C. , Irell, John, Blackie, Bill Reese
Farris Austin, Nancy Reese

Creek at Oak Mountain

John Reese, Bill Reese and Arthur Reese

T.C. ran the grist mill about five years.  Shortly after their youngest daughter married in late 1952, they returned to Columbus. T.C. ran a grocery store on Hamilton Road with living quarters over the store. When her children that lived away from Columbus came home they were always welcomed!  After the store closed it slowly deteriorated, the picture below was taken in 1978, it was located near Williams Road.

Thanksgiving 1953 at store on Hamilton Road

 

Ethel and  T.C. Reese,  Dot Reese Austin

Behind the Grocery store on Hamilton Road

Roger Brown, Donna Gayle Reese, Linda Self, Gary Reese

Ruins of Hamilton Road Store (1978)

Hamilton Road (Veteran's Pkwy)

Columbus, GA 

Ethel and Josie Storey McDaniel

Children and grandchildren were always important to Ethel. She welcomed one and all! On Sunday mornings she would get up very early (she rose at 4:30 for her personal devotional time every morning)and make angel biscuits. She would put them in the warming drawer under her stove and bake them after church. An amazing aroma welcomed everyone walking into the kitchen. She was a wonderful cook, her fruit cobblers were my favorite whether they were blackberry or peach. Sharing meals together with an abundance of food is still a Reese tradition. 

 Ethel and T.C. moved back into their home on Smith Road in 1955. They raised cows, pigs and chickens. T.C. always had a large garden. Ethel was a wonderful seamstress and had several ladies that she made clothes for.  Once a year the family would gather for a hog killing. Huge vats of Brunswick stew was cooked, along with cracklings. 

    

Christmas 1957

Ethel Reese, Dot Reese Austin, Lorene Reese Jordan, Willie Jordan

Floyd Jordan, Irell Reese Self, Marion Self

Linda Self, T.C. Reese, Scott Self, Ken Jordan

July 1958

Irell Reese Self, T.C. Reese (background)

John Reese

Smith Road

   

T.C. and Ethel Reese

Smith Road

T.C. and Ethel Reese

Smith Road

1960

Clements Reese's health began to decline and Ethel took care of him at home until his death on June 14, 1966. Ethel's life changed dramatically after Clements'  death. Dr. Phillip Schley (a Columbus, GA physician) had  made visits to their home during T.C.'s illness and got to know Ethel well. When Clements passed away, Dr. Schley made arrangements for Ethel to work as a nurse's aide at Pine Manor nursing home in Columbus. She had never worked outside the home and couldn't drive. Her children, including son and daughter-in-laws made sure she got to work and back home everyday. It was a very happy time in her life. 

Mrs. Katie Flowers

Ethel Reese

Pine Manor Nursing Home

Ethel and her beloved Pekingese pups Prissy and Ming

Ethel was only able to work for a few years, but they were happy ones. She enjoyed her Pekingese babies and spoiled them! When she passed away on June 6, 1981 she left a legacy that still shines today. Her children and grandchildren only have loving happy memories of her. She taught us that the riches we have in life aren't monetary ones. She showered her family with love and sunshine. She had such a strong influence on my life, I am truly blessed to have had her as my grandmother. 

P.S.Please leave your memories of our sweet grandmother. I started this blog to share family memories and pictures. I'll be sharing pictures and memories of granddaddy and aunts and uncles.