Haneyinformation

My grandfather Acey was born March 24, 1864 Jefferson Co., Illinois. He died May 6,1941

at Walnut Hill, Illinois. At the time of his death I was living in the same house and I was 2 years old, May 5th, He called me into the bedroom, where he was lying and gave me two pennies,for my birthday. I don't know if I remember that or if it was planted in my mind, but I remember nothing else about him.

My grandmother Anna, was born February 11, 1888 in Seymour, Indiana, but I can find no records for that. She died April 6, 1965 Marion County, Illinois. I remember a lot about her. She was a very small woman, about 4 feet tall, and had the prettiest long black hair, that she wore in a braided bun. I remember watching her dip her comb in water and combing it back to braid it, as I was amazed that it was so long. She always wore her cotton dresses with her aprons over them and a cotton bonnet over her hair. This little lady had ten daughters and no sons and she was a very hard worker. I watched her do the laundry, with tubs and a washboard, she carried buckets of water to fil the tubs, and I watched her make her lye soap to wash the clothes with. This was not a chore for her as she enjoyed doing it. I rmember back in the fifties, she would iron the towels, wash cloths, and underwear to make them softer, as there was no fabric softner back then.

I had watched my grandmother do the laundry so much, that when my mother was in the hospital, I was about 12 years old, I put the tubs and washboard in the back yard and I did all my mother's laundry. I remember wringing the big sheets out by hand, Boy, that was an all day affair. I had also watched my grandmother do the baking, as I had to cook for my stepfather, while she was away, I was going to make biscuits to go with his supper. I made them ok, they were about 1/2 inch thick and very hard. I forgot to put in the baking powder. I remember watching him trying to eat them, as he was griming and saying they were ok.

I learned so much about the struggles of life from my grandmother. My grandfather was about twenty four years older than her and when he passed away, she was about the age of

53 and she had four daughters living at home with her. A few years later she moved out of the old house at Walnut Hill and moved to Central City, Illinois. It was there that she had electric lights & running water. She tried to save on the electric and was still doing her laundry in the summer in the back yard with her wash board.

What an amazing little lady she was. I am very thankful that she was added to my life.