Person:Eliza Tucker (2)

Eliza Ann Johnston (nee:Tucker) - September 7, 1942

My Great-Granddaddy Adams was a full-blooded Irishman. He liked to drink. I don't think he ever got down dog-drunk but at times he drank too much for his own good. So he went to town one day and got on a drunk. he bought him one of those high-topped hats which was called Beegums hats in those days. He came home and decided to make him some coffee so he put some coffee in his new hat and poured some water in it and sets it down on some live fire coals.

He and Grandmother raised three daughters to my knowing. I think they had some boys but I don't know about them. One girl was named Ibb. She married a man by the name of Hopper. She was Aunt Ibb Hopper. One was named Tamer and she married a man by the name of Baker. She was Aunt Tamer Baker. The other one was my own Grandmother. Her name was Polly, or Pop, as she was called.

Grandmother Adams had cancer on her breast and it finally killed her. Ma said Granddad almost went crazy after Granny died. She said night after night he would go to the graveyard and lay down and sleep on the side of Granny's grave.

I don't know what Granddaddy Bivens' given name was, but he had a brother whose name was Jack. He was my Uncle Jack. He lived at Nashville, Tennessee. It was about thirty miles from where we lived to Nashville. It was east of the Tennessee River. We lived on the west side of the river. Uncle Jack's children visited Grandma and us once that I remember of. They came on horseback. We lived in Harden County, Tennessee. Our home town was named Saltillow. Pa took me to town once and took me down the river and showed us that fine river. That was the only time I ever saw the Tennessee River.

Grandpa and Grandma Bivens raised quite a bunch of children. They had four boys and six girls. The boys' names were Frank, Poke, Dall, and Perry.

Pa and Uncle Frank were captured in the Civil War and both put in the same prison and kept two years. Pa said they just fed them enough to keep them from starving. One night the keeper went out to get some wood for the fire supposing they were all asleep. He left the door open and Pa and Uncle Frank slipped out. He heard them and they had to run for their lives. Uncle Frank had the sore eyes so he could not see very well. Pa said the last time he saw him he ran up against a house and the bullets was whizzing at them. Pa managed to get away but that was the last we ever heard from Uncle Frank.

Uncle Frank was married and had two children --a girl and a boy. The boy's name was Jimmy and the girl's name was Arra Bivens. Our Arra was named for her (or the Arra part was). Later years, she married a man by the name of Clark.

Grandmother had six daughters. Harriet married a man by the name of Roy. She was Aunt Harriet Roy. Nancy, or Aunt Nan, as she was called, married a man by the name of Steel. She was Aunt Nan Steel. Ann married a man by the name of Stevens. He was a Methodist preacher. She was Aunt Ann Stevens. Adaline married a man by the name of Spede. Aunt Jane had not married the last I heard from her.

Ma's name was Susan Anvil Bivens. Pa's name was James Russell Tucker. They were the parents of eleven children. Two of them died in their infancy. Nine of us lived to be grown and married. There were four boys and five girls. The boys' names were John, Albert, Joe, and Willie. The girls' names were Eliza, Leander, Clemmie, Minnie, and Lula.

My brother Joe was a real musician. He loved to sing as well as my Daddy did. He could sing and play the organ, sing and pick the banjo. He would go to bed singing and you would not ever know he was awake until he would go to singing. He could sing anything that had the notes to it. He got to where he could harmonize music.

To you all who think we are mixed with Indian, I must say I think this is a sad mistake for I don't think there is a drop of Indian Blood in us. We were Irish on Ma's side of the house and Pa was English descent. So please just forget the Indian part.

I think I can safely say that there was never a one of us ever put in the pen or behind bars. I feel sure I would have heard about it if they had been put in.

My Daddy was a Republican and he was a just man.

Rhemus was named for a preacher's boy. His name was Reverend John L. Baton. He was our preacher at Johnston Chapel, Missouri. He brought his family down there and held a meeting there. They were at our house at different times. Their baby's name was Rhemus Baton. So if you ever meet up with him, that was who our Rhemus was named for.

So this is a little of our background on my side of the house.

Your Mom, E. A. Johnston

A few lines in regard to my side of the house as you don't know much about my people.

My Great-Grandfather's name was Daniel Adams. My mother's name was Bivens. They were Irish and were what is called the Little Black-eyed Irish. They were little in stature and Ethel's and Joe's children run back to that trend of people. My mother was a very small woman. They had a peculiar black eye.

I have heard my mother tell how the Indians chased Grandaddy Adams across the Tennessee River time after time before they ever let him settle down to stay there. One old Indian was a friend to Granddad. He would come and tell Granddad when the Indians were on the warpath and Granddad would get in his boat and skip out across the river and stay 'til he thought it was safe to come back home again.

My Granddaddy on Pa's side of the family was Thomas Tucker. Pa's mother's maiden name was Russell, so the name Russell was in honor of Grandmother's maiden name.

Grandpa Tucker owned a bunch of negroes when the war ended and the negro was set free, so Grandpa's negroes stayed on with him after they were freed. He must have been a pretty good master or they would not have stayed on with him after they were freed.

Rhemus is more like my Daddy than any of you children. He reminds me of Pa in so many different ways. Pa was of English descent. He was a good Christian man. He was a school teacher and he was a singing school teacher. He was a good singer and he understood music. He taught us to sing the round notes. I once could sing the round notes but I can't now. We children and Pa could really sing together. Pa was a good penman. He taught writing schools. He could give each letter its proper shade.

So this is our nationality and our background to the best of my knowledge on my side of the house. As you children don't know much about my people, I thought this might help you all a little. I would like for each of you children to read this.

Your Mama,

E. A. Johnston