Violet McQuerry became Cutters in her grandmother years. She had a knack for keeping up with birthdays. Like me, cousins would receive a sweet, greeting card each year with a handwritten note in which she would wish happy birthday and provide a slice of life couple of paragraphs from her world. Friends coming to call, the weather and the like.
I remember many years she enclosed a check, never more than $5 or $10. At some point, I stopped cashing them because I liked having the check, itself. This was well before mobile deposits and the thought of forfeiting the money never outweighed wanting to keep her gift – just as it was. Invariably, she ended her notes with a signature. Not just her signed name, I mean. Her signature appears below:
She gave me her first birthday book. A pocket-sized “Tennyson Birthday Book” made in England and sprinkled with quotes throughout the daily, lined sections for recording details. She received it from her maternal Aunt Pearl upon graduating high school in 1930. I believe this was the foundation of Cutters’ lifelong practice of recording and commemorating important family dates.
I found this book helpful in clarifying some answers to questions that were eluding me. And, numerous opportunities to read between the lines of love. Cutters’ love.
Here’s what I learned: These photos are all related and appear to be around the 1920s-1930s. Firstly, my grandmother Fanny Dean is in each one and she is approximately the same age in each. Also, three different members of the Bogie family are featured.
A quick check in ancestry.com & Google search located Betty Dean Bogie, mother of Rella, who lived in Nicholasville, KY the same time as my grandmother and who is buried in Maple Grove cemetery, as are many of my family members, including my grandmother.
My 28yo grandmother was a school teacher early in her career when in November 1930, she married a 36yo widower with a 5yo son. I do not know how they met or reconnected when she returned to Jessamine County from Missouri. Historically, rural one-room schoolhouses served concurrently varying ages of students from the adjacent communities. In those years teaching, Fanny Dean would board with families in a particular area where she taught. This period aligns with the timeline of her life as I understand it. Maybe she resided with the Bogie family during one of those stints. That is one theory.
Another is that Fanny “Dean” and Betty “Dean” may have been relations of some kind. Whether family or patrons, this family was significant to my grandmother. I did not find any references to Hughie in Fanny Dean’s writings but he is also the child of Betty according to some quick ancestry.com searching for connections.
Rella Bogie with Fanny Dean Corman (Jessamine County, KY)Fanny Dean Corman with Mrs. Betty Bogie (Jessamine County, KY)Fanny Dean Corman with Hughie Bogie (Jessamine County, KY)
that.Kentucky.girl
A 6th-generation Kentuckian on a journey to find out – follow along
Love of animals can be inherited, right? I did not have the experience of farm living as most of my extended family did. I did not get to know reliance on other creatures for living as on a farm. I speak from a place of recognition and honor of my own ignorance. I have enjoyed, though, many pets in my life.
My own first pet was a turtle. We got Toby, a Cock-a-Poo (cocker spaniel+poodle) for our family dog in the mid-1970s and numerous pets came and went thereafter. Often, my parents “hosted” – a somewhat reluctant state, if memory serves. An iconic black cat named Puddy Tat lived with me – and a few other kind souls – from new born kitten when I was in college until the birth of my second baby – a good long life of sixteen years. Then, I have a series of stories about the puppy tales from my years mothering my own young ones, but that is a different blog.
Looking at these old photos of family, some featuring the animals of the farm, I wonder about their natures – what manner of beasts. Of course they had personalities, and they had relationships with their humans. Dad has told us stories, like the one about his younger self (not more than 10yo) milking cows at 4am, running into a bull in the dark one morning, and the reaction they both had being startled. Some stories are poignant lessons of surviving on the farm, most are funny as to hear a Mathews tell it. Some are heartbreaking.
From the family photo album circa 1930
Take Ring, for example, featured in images from when Mr. and Mrs. John S. Mathews lived in the “big” house, as my Dad recalls first knowing it. Mr. & Mrs. Mathews – they were my Dad’s grandparents, who both died within a month of each other in 1940 when Dad was barely five. They lived to 76yo and 71yo, respectively. Ring served their farm and according to other photos in the family archive, there were possibly two other collie-type dogs well-loved on the farm after Ring.
I doubt Ring was an inside dog. I gather from my father that was NOT a thing back then and ESPECIALLY no where near any kitchen. So, likely Ring slept in the barn or some other cover when it was cold. Ring looks most like a border collie and herding IS a farm job. I imagine I would feel very affectionate for the dogs guarding the homeplace and alerting to visitors, dangers and otherwise. In my memory, there was a long drive from Harrodsburg Road back to the house and included more than one fence gate and crossing a bridge at the creek. In other words, some ground to cover as a runner, whether four or two feet.
Here’s my question: Why is Ring posed solo in a portrait? It suggests to me Ring wasn’t considered just an old farm dog to whomever took the photo. It looks like Ring is smart, eager to please, has something in the mouth and is wearing a collar with a tag. Maybe Ring knew a few tricks, too. “Sit” being a good bet.
Cut to modern days. Now we dress our pets for special occasions, the stores are filled with varying gourmet feed, toy and treat options. I do not leave my pup outside in the cold. He’s always been an inside dog and I have the traveling tumbleweeds of hair and dander to prove no matter how often I run the vacuum. He, too, is a smart dog and I have pictures and video on my phone as evidence. I am certain he would love to run himself out in farm living, as would I.
that.Kentucky.girl
A 6th-generation Kentuckian on a journey to find out – follow along
Clyde McQuerry (22 years old) married Violet Fayne (17 years old) on December 24, 1930 in Jessamine County, KY.
A Christmas Eve wedding
A courtin’ scene – Clyde Herbert McQuerry and Violet Sunbeam Fayne, my maternal grandparents circa 1928-30, Sugar Creek Pike, Little Hickman, Jessamine County, Kentucky
The phrase “don’t make ’em like they used to” comes to mind. I look at these young faces and see the beginning of a love story that spanned nearly a century. Look at their arms, hands. Entwined and naturally fitted together. A metaphor for their lives. Even after Clyde died from cancer in 1977, Cutters kept their connection a daily practice. She wrote to him in her diaries, everyday for 35 years until she could no longer see well enough to write. She reached 100 years before that happened.
Both families were members of Wesley Chapel on Sugar Creek Pike, Cutters was born next door to their church, which is where they met, although they did attend different schools. The McQuerrys lived on a large, likely multi-generational farm south on the banks of the Kentucky River. Up the hill from there on Sugar Creek Pike was (and is) Wesley Chapel and neighboring Fayne family. Her utter goodness must have shot through him like a lightning bolt. Or, what if it was a slow burn, like they played together as kids? Both born and raised in a rural church community, it is within the realm of possibility. (I will ask Daddy Mac & ‘Tuh.)
She carried a quiet wholeness and holiness, fingers ever in motion creating something for sharing like legendary bread and crocheted afghans. Cutters, as I knew Violet much later in her life, had this look at times of a far away thought. Her pause was nearly always just to the point you felt the need to pick up a dropped thread. You’d even inhale to speak, then suddenly, she released, nailing the reply. She reflected before speaking her wisdom and I suppose it was by the lessons along the way. She knew EXACTLY what was going on but she had to reflect and, in doing so, to compel you the same. In her presence you’d welcome the pause. She also delivered zingers with impeccable timing. Very clever. It was fun to giggle with Cutters.
The Cutters I knew also carried a sadness reminiscent of long-suffering as in The Bible. She carried it selflessly, though. She could experience joy and you can be sure if you were in her presence the light of that joy was always bright and it shone on you. Always, even in pain and brokenness, she spread light. And, she knew brokenness.
The proximity of Wesley Chapel to the house where Cutters (Violet Sunbeam Fayne McQuerry) was born on Sugar Creek Pike, Jessamine County, KY. Photo: C. Mathews taken on a Ya-Ya’s trip in 2020, 107 years after.
But, in this moment, Clyde, my grandfather at 22 years-old, and Violet, my grandmother at 17 years-old, were in love and embarking together on the future. Christmas Eve. It was a Wednesday. It was 1930. Was it magical? How I hope there may have been a photo I might discover. When did Clyde know she was an angel walking among us? Did he whisper to her “I want to marry you on Christmas?”
The McQuerry-Fayne marriage ceremony was conducted at the parsonage of Rhodes Thompson, minister of the Nicholasville Christian church. [NOTE: I would like to locate this minister’s home address in future research.] You might wonder why the wedding ceremony did not take place at their own church, nor with their own minister. I wonder about that, also. Maybe these “crazy kids” had a reason.
Shirley (unk), Mary C (unk), Clyde & Violet date unrecorded, circa 1928
She had graduated from high school in the summer. She was a teenager, they were young’ns. So, you graduate high school and you plan to be married at Christmas? Don’t you wonder what the “kids” talked about then? Their connection to the outside world was through radio, newspapers, telegrams and word of mouth. The Wall Street Crash had occurred in October 1929 and now, one year later, people were IN the Great Depression. Also, prohibition was in effect, but I don’t think either of them drank alcohol ever.
In the photograph of four friends, you can see what looks like a buckboard in the corner, a fence and a large wooden gate. It reminds me of watching Little House on the Prairie growing up. Cutters liked to watch the TV show, also. I have a litany of “LHotP” stories. That Pa, though. More for another time.
Certificate of Person Performing Marriage Ceremony
TO BE DELIVERED TO PARTIES MARRIED
I, Rhodes Thompson, minister of the Nicholasville Christian Church or religious order of that name do certify that on the 24th day of December 1930 at Nicholasville Kentucky, under authority of a license issued by E. H. Fuller, Clerk of County Court of Fayette County (or city), State of Kentucky, dated the 23rd day of December 1930, I united Clyde McQuerry and Violet Fayne Husband and Wife in the presence of Arab Madilla Herrin(sp?), Henry Lester McQuerry Given under my hand this 24th day of December 1930.
Person Performing Ceremony, Sign Here – Rhodes Thompson
Title of Office – minister
Witnessed by two people: A. M. H. (need help deciphering what is both hard to read and completely unfamiliar) and Henry Lester McQuerry. Should I expect to see a vouchsafe for the bride (because I do)? Where is the implication for her parents’ permission in this process? Or, was that not a thing? Their minister and her family are not represented on the certificate. I mean, where were HER people? Where was Big Mother and Ol’Daddy?
Celebrating Christmas for me was never complete until going with family to “Cutters’ Christmas.” I would venture to guess any of the cousins would say the same. The annual tradition remained a deeply special occasion for decades and maybe that was how Violet chose to honor their special day and her love Clyde each year.
Merry Christmas Eve and Happy Anniversary to you, Clyde and Violet. May you be entwined around each other celebrating for eternity.
![[ARTIFACT] Violet’s first book for birthdays](https://thatkentuckygirl.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/836b5d56-1139-42fb-8ff0-941a491c8697-edited.jpeg?w=1200)
that Kentucky girl 