A REMEMBERAMBLE Wed., April 15, 26

Dear Lord, send rain.

"Well my lands, it is good to see y'all, won't y'all get down and come in?" That of course was a holdover from the mule and wagon days, and hoss (daddy never said "horse") riding days when you literally had to get down, not out. I heard that often years ago or, we all did, actually. But I doubt anyone ever heard it from a Peebles. Peebles were too "cyurse" (curious) to want company, they only set on the front porch after dark so no one would stop to visit.

Great-great-grandpa Tom Peebles, and great-great-grandma "Dink" with some of their children.

My g-g-grandpa Tom Peebles (In photo above) was a pure-blood Peebles, and wanted no visitors. One Sunday, Tom Tyson and his brother Will came over after church after being invited by great-aunt Thelma and her sister, either g-aunt Pearl or Zellot, I can't recall, and their daddy was having none of it. He was as they said, "fit to be tied." He did not want those boys visiting his daughters, nor eating any of his food. He got ahead of them and hid every fork, spoon, and knife they had. G-g-grandma Dink was mortified. She put the food on the table with trepidation, as ole Tom Peebles was on the warpath about them boys at his table. Tom (Tyson) and Will being smart-*ss teenagers, grabbed food, put it on their plates and pantomimed using forks and knives, and then just picked the food from their plate with their hands, as if they had all of the cutlery and flatware they needed. It is a wonder he did not strangle them both. The Peebles were not poor, nor uneducated, they prospered and were known to be an intelligent bunch. But several killed men with axes and guns, and some were shot down themselves. Uncle Seth, the one to Grandpa Tom's left in the photo, wearing the peacoat, had served in the Navy and was shot and killed just a few days after this gathering, on the courthouse square in Swainsboro. His brother Bird Peebles and uncle Bird's former best friend were feuding over a fishing hole, and met once more on the river at that spot, they raised their guns and shot and killed each other. Uncle Bird's oldest daughter raised the man who killed their daddy's young children as he was a widower. Jim Hillman Peebles killed a man at the old Moxley cemetery at a log-rolling, with his axe, and fled to Florida. My great-grandpa Bob Peebles in Marion County took him in, and hid him. Later they heard that the man had not died but was grievously injured, so when that news reached them, it mattered little, as attempted murder was bad and carried a stiff sentence. Jim Hillman never returned to Georgia, and under great-grandpa Bob's protection, lived, married, and raised a family there along the old Ocklawaha. A note here for clarity, I refrained from referring to Tom and Will Tyson, as Uncle Will, and Uncle Tom to keep the story less confusing for the reader. So, uhm, yeah, uhg, they later became mama's side of the family's uncles. I do believe that this mild attempt at not making the story complicated just backfired like 1962 Ford with a bad carburetor and bad timing. If you walk away from reading this, shaking your head in confusion, just call me sometime and I will 'splain it all. But, don't just come to my house. Huhuhuhuh. I am a Peebles!

Numbers 6: 24-26, KJV

we boyz three, babee conway, lil merle, & me