Nomie’s Boy: The Life of William Jennings Bryan Eason

A short work of fiction by Wade Peebles

GEORGIA FOLK AND FARM LIFE - William Jennings Bryan Eason came quickly into the world on a cold Georgia night in a room filled with women, old and young. A roaring fire in the old fireplace seemed ready to pull them all into it had they hazarded to get too close. In spite of it, the room was freezing cold and Mary Eason was glad her baby had come so fast, a tiny boy, the first boy after seven girls. The baby had red hair, dark red, like his father's father. Mary smiled weakly to herself and fell unconscious. The women looked at the small baby, too small, weak and quiet. For two days Mary kept them wondering if she would come back to them and if the baby would go away.

She returned on the third morning and asked for her "little boy." They showed him to her and spoke quietly, and she saw that he would not be fed, he was too small and too quiet. Besides, she had no milk. She saw from the faces that her first son would soon die. It was a terror to her as quiet as was her baby boy. Alexander Eason had wanted a son for these long many years and now she had given him a son to bury. Mary wished she could go with him and they should bury them together. She knew that her love for this baby boy, even as he lay dying was the greatest she had ever owned...for anyone, and she was full of love for them all. The men had gone soon enough to the work at hand and left it all to the women and girls. At eight o'clock on that January morning, the door to the bedroom opened and Naomi walked in.

She walked over to Mary Eason and said, "I came to get the baby. I will see what I can do, I do not know yet of him, but I will tell you that you will live." No one said a word, and none thought to hinder her mission or ask when she might return with him, even the baby's own grandmother said nothing. Naomi was said to have the "will of God" in her and few or none would stand against her. She was rail thin and old but presented herself as a large woman full of the power of youth. Naomi mixed her goat's milk with her powders and potions and made a formula that the tiny baby loved.

Soon the "will of God" filled her old breasts and in the presence of the Lord alone she made miracles with the child and the tiniest of boy babies became a strapping big boy, filled with health and life. That Naomi had milk was never known but would have surprised few. The Easons never asked for the boy but Naomi brought him often as she lived only a few hundred yards from the big house. He could have played there any day but he was content to be there on "their" place. He knew his Daddy, his Mama and his sisters and loved them but he was a part of his "Nomie's" life in a way that kept him always a part of them but apart from them too. Naomi had worked her farm hard like a man her entire life, never having had or "known" a man. She was respected by all far and wide and was a shrewd businesswoman; she had money put up. She was proud but never haughty and never saw fit to explain herself or ask much before she acted, and surprisingly, few men or women held that against her. Naomi was a puzzle but a kind puzzle and folks felt kindly toward the quiet presence she brought, even as they sensed that she was not to be challenged.

Businessmen enjoyed dealing with her and never got the best of her. They all soon enough included the big ginger-haired boy who was with her always. He was as quiet at times as she was but could come into his own and be as rowdy and loud as any kid around when he was around others. He was a happy boy and his Mama and Daddy saw him as an enigma but deeply loved him from afar. When Bryan was seven years old, Naomi did not send him to the school. She went down to the library at the school and read books on all subjects and bought books where she could and taught him at home and taught him well. She had always been a good reader and she loved this education for herself and her boy. She found that learning was a thing they both loved.

She let him go and play with the other kids but she schooled him in "their" school where they both learned. They both loved to read of the sea and its adventures.  Bryan would say, "Nomie, I am going to be a sailor one day." She would pat his head and smile sadly. Naomi knew too many things, but she never intervened. The only book he preferred over those of the sea, was the Bible. Naomi saw that he knew his Bible by heart. He had been called Brick by her from the start both for his red hair and the toughness he possessed and all others called him that too.

William Jennings Bryan "Brick" Eason was Brick to all. As Brick grew into his teens he grew tall and strong and it was good that he did not go to the school as he would have been so much bigger than any young man there, stronger, more muscular and smarter. Brick worked their small farm and studied. He was a loner. Other boys looked up to him and the girls giggled and thought of him often. His Mama and Daddy watched and wondered at him. His grandmother looked for his visits most of all. Brick was growing into what was known in Vaudeville and the Circus as a "strong man" although he never worked at it except for his work on the farm. In his seventeenth year, Naomi told him that it would be their last year working the place. It satisfied Brick that his "Nomie" had enough to live on and he would not need to follow their mule, Frank, nor hoe, tote guano sacks, see to the picking and hauling and the thousand and one things to be done on the farm. His Daddy was well pleased that Naomi wouldn't need him on her place and sent word to Brick to come see him.

He was surprised anew each time he saw "his" boy. He was so powerful, power-filled and pleasant but like Naomi he was a puzzle too. So big and strong, so pale and white with such beautiful red hair. What a magnificent man he was yet he knew that while he and Mary had conceived him, he knew that God had saved him, literally and figuratively and that Naomi had made him...yet none owned him.

He had hoped to find Brick agreeable to coming to work with him on his place and having a son of his own at last. He laid out his plans to Brick and Brick smiled his crooked smile and told him how great that all might be but he was joining the Navy. Alexander could have cried, but such men as he, did not cry. He would see his boy leave before he ever came to him. His farm would do fine, he had good workers and had been blessed with fine crops for many of the years that he farmed and put up more than enough. He hoped that if he went, his boy would come again someday, and be his son and they would work together, and live as father and son.

The boy's grandmother knew that if he went she would not be there if he returned, her time was near. She cried alone, for women such as she, did not cry in front of others. Though none had told her, Naomi asked him at supper that night if he was going then to the Navy. He stood up, walked across the kitchen to her and knelt before her and said "yes ma’am." His Nomie held his head in her bony hands and snuggled her nose into the back of his neck and in his hair and smelled him as she had done when he was a baby. She cried loud tears, old black ladies like her cried as they wished. Brick felt the warm tears on his scalp and tears dripped from his eyes onto Naomi's knees. He prayed for Nomie as he had never prayed before.

Brick rode the train to Savannah, Atlanta on to Chicago and found his way to the Naval induction center at Naval Station Great Lakes. The Navy was glad to have him, and Brick was at home as if Nomie were "nussing" him. Brick loved it and made fast friends with many. They never held it against him that he wouldn't drink, they saw that Brick was special and held a quick respect for him that was hard won ordinarily. Brick loved the classroom but was eager as a child at Christmas to be aboard ship. Brick had gone Navy at a time in American history when all was well with our Navy and President Teddy Roosevelt was preparing to send The Great White Fleet around the world to demonstrate American might and maybe keep the peace with that "big stick" that he spoke of.

Brick loved Hampton Roads, Virginia, it reeked of ships and naval history. He felt at home as he never had anywhere. When he was assigned a berth on The USS Georgia, he felt it an honor to serve aboard his home state's namesake. It was December of 1907 and they sailed away. Christmas was good but he missed Nomie's Christmas dinner and the things she would make for him. Brick saw the world and it saw him, each was impressed. For two years Brick lived his dream. He saw the west coast of America, Chile, Peru, Mexico, The Philippines, Hawaii, Japan, China, New Zealand, Australia, Egypt, Gibraltar and beyond. He saw marvels at sea and on land but most of all he came to know and love the seas, each of them.

Others watched Brick as he watched everything. He was a good sailor. Brick prayed silently at each port of call, praying for peace and for the people of each nation. In the early part of 1909, they returned. Brick was promoted and was proud to be a Petty Officer aboard the old USS Georgia. Brick watched the water as much as he did the men always in search of whatever it was, not finding it, but at peace with the search. The world over, Brick was swooned over by the ladies. The ladies of the world could have been his but he knew them not, he felt sure and certain that God had withheld them from him even as he lusted for each and every one. The men he served with respected him even as he puzzled them, much as had Naomi back home had puzzled so many in her way.

For six years Brick served, befriended all, was a good servant and master in kind. When the US Navy saw fit to transfer him to a dreadnought battleship, he felt moved by The Lord to resign the Navy and find a place on a tall ship and become a true "sailor." He had come to love the tall ships, the last of the clippers, the three-masted schooners that plied the seas with their iron hulls and acres of canvas. Brick found his home once again, as if truly led by The Lord. He had gone to Chesapeake, Virginia and there met Captain Declan Farmer. It amused him that such an illustrious ship's captain should be named Farmer. Captain Farmer was one-third owner with his brother and brother-in-law of the China Doll, one of the most beautiful and well-kept sailing vessels of her day.

She was a showhorse and a workhorse, carrying cargoes as varied as the ports she called on. It was again what seemed the work of The Lord when Brick stopped in at a small Baptist church abruptly on a warm Sunday morning in June, there in Virginia on the Elizabeth River, and made the acquaintance of Declan Farmer. Captain Farmer was impressed with the young visitor and without reservation invited him to Sunday dinner at his home with his wife and young daughters. The Captain saw. He knew he had to get Brick Eason for his ship. He knew that the boy had no experience with sail but knew also that he would take to it and soon enough. After they had filled themselves at the table laden with the fine food his wife prepared, he led Brick to the closed room with the large windows that looked off onto the river and after they were seated, he offered Brick some brandy, which Brick almost turned down but graciously accepted.

He sipped the warm liquid and his smile made the Captain inquire as to if it were to his liking. Brick grinned his crooked smile and with a red face admitted that it was his first taste of alcohol. Declan Farmer was rarely without words but this news had silenced him for the moment. The idea that this giant of a young man had grown up in rural Georgia, sailed the seven seas and never tasted alcohol was a wonder indeed. He wondered if the boy had a woman, but knew that was too much for belief. He was amazed at Brick's mind, his education and knowledge. He asked him where he had gone to college and was again taken aback to hear that he had not, and further that he had been schooled at home by an old woman he called Nomie.

The Captain was sure that divine providence had led this young man to him and he would have him for his ship. He thought about it in silence as he watched Brick sip the brandy and decided not to offer a cigar as the knowledge that he might never have smoked would have been too much. He asked Brick if he would be interested in coming aboard with his crew as Chaplain. This was a new thing and he needed to pray about this as he had never prayed before. He sat the brandy down so it was not in hand as he approached his Father in Heaven.

Brick was comforted with peace about his decision to take Captain Farmer's offer. The Captain told him that he would have few duties other than Sunday services and whatever needs came but he would like for him to learn "the ropes" as it were. Captain Farmer was willing to have him aboard at his expense just to be able to talk to him and listen to him speak and to watch him grow and learn. He wished this giant of a young man could have been his son. His daughters, from the youngest to the eldest were glad he wasn't and had fallen separately in love with him over dinner. Brick was given his own quarters and it was so much more than could have been dreamt of on a Naval ship.

The crew was fascinated by him. He fell into his job and was soon looking forward to acting as a preacher each Sunday and to the other things he was allowed to do each day including the morning devotion with the crew. A rough bunch in their own way but none were the rogues that populated most ships of the day, as Captain Farmer hand-picked his crew and most had been with him for years. Every man respected The Captain and they now respected Brick Eason, Chaplain of the China Doll. He made it his business to learn every man's job and to know all there was to know of a sailing ship. The pop and snap of the canvas in the wind, the creaking and moaning, the sound of water rushing around the hull, the singing of the ropes in the wind and all of the sounds and sensuality of a tall ship enslaved him.

He had loved staring into the sea ahead and behind a ship since his first day aboard the USS Georgia and his joy at seeing the sea was enhanced many times over here on the Doll. They had sailed to New York and loaded wheat from Canada and taken it down to Havana, thence to Savannah with rum and sugar and down to Darien, Georgia to load lumber for Japan. It was Brick's first time to see Georgia since he left Nomie and he was glad to be able to send many letters home as he had stopped sending them too soon after joining the Navy. He knew himself so well but was at a loss as to why he never wrote for those years, even as he was excited to do so in Savannah and Darien. Brick puzzled himself sometimes as he puzzled others. He supposed he got that from his Nomie.

Brick learned and grew in knowledge and wisdom and Captain Farmer blessed God each day for sending him to him. His daughters each dreamed that the day would come when their Father would retire and Brick would accompany him home to be wed. Brick knew this as the Captain jokingly regaled him with the questions about Brick in all of their letters. The Captain secretly hoped too that perhaps Brick might marry a daughter, any of them as long as he could keep him as part of his sphere even after his sailing days were over. It did not surprise him at how quickly Brick became a part of life and knew it would be that way no matter where Brick was, he would be an integral part of the lives of those who knew him. He loved him as a son and could not imagine sailing the China Doll without him.

Few ships like The Doll had chaplains and those who did could not match Brick or the affection they held for him. For seven years they sailed and returned to Virginia for a short rest where Brick solidified his place in the hearts of the Captain's family. The Captain was careful to never again accept a cargo that required a stop in Georgia, for fear of Brick leaving. Brick knew it but it was well with his soul. He knew that he would go home some day when it was time. He thought also often of marrying the Captain's eldest, Rebecca, and bringing her back to Georgia. Of all his girls, she was the one who caught his eye and made him think of the things Nomie had cautioned him about. He loved the sea, the China Doll, his place as Chaplain and his work for the Lord, but he knew too that he would someday yield to sin. It had to happen, things were ordained and he must yield to temptation as had all men. His Nomie had told him much but not all. He prayed often for knowledge but God seemed to withhold some things for some reason, Brick accepted that as he did everything that his reason could not ken. Then he did that thing that changed it all.

Brick lay in his bunk dejected and alone, apart from all even his God. Brick had not known despair nor aloneness. He had always listened to the sound of the tides as they lapped at the hull of The Doll as she lay in port, any port and loved the waves, but they could not compare to the sound the sea made as she rushed around the bow as she made speed in open water, as she made her way through the seas. It made him think always of the coon dogs back home as they waited penned and fed, for the night when they would be turned loose for the hunt. He was well aware that the thing he had done would see to it that he would never hear the waves against her hull, any hull for the rest of his life. Brick cried quiet dry tears, alone, as men such as he were prone to cry. He was to meet with the Captain in the morning.

The Captain was formal and kind but seemed so very old. He thanked Brick for his years of devotion to him, his ship, his men and haltingly he added, "to God." Both knew he would now have to go. He gave Brick the gold that was due him that he had put away as Brick had asked many years ago. He had money from his Navy days and had never drawn much of his pay. The Captain had it all in gold coin from the richest ports of the world. He shook hands with Brick. The men were mercifully busy elsewhere and Brick walked away. He heard the Captain stifle a cry as he closed the door behind Brick for the last time aboard The China Doll. If only he had not done what he had done, the Captain would be blessing the day and Brick would not be going home. It was time though and he knew it.

Brick was afraid for the first time in his life and feared too that his life was changed unalterably forever. He put his case under his arm and bought a ticket on the railroad for Savannah. He wondered if God knew that thing he had done and felt for a while as he waited at the depot that he might hide from God but knew his sins would find him out. He knew his Bible and His God so well...too well perhaps. Two days and he was across the old Savannah River and the train rolled to a stop. He carried his things and went to the ticket window to get his ticket for home. It was a marvel to him that he who had been to every point in the world could stand again in Georgia and buy a ticket for home. He wondered as the agent prepared his ticket if he could see the thing he had done. He knew he could not but guilt was new to Brick; he was used to helping assuage the guilt of others. He was not accustomed to being ordinary, guilty and having lost his "shine." It did not yet occur to him that this was something ordinary men lived each and every day.

He was glad he knew no one on the train home and that no one knew him at the depot at home. He decided to walk and went the old backpaths and trails of his boyhood rather than the road. He came onto his Father's place and wanted to see them first. It was the opposite of all of his years of coming home fantasies where he saw Nomie first. He was walking through the field toward home when his Father spied him far off and recognizing his son, started to run to him but slowed to a fast walk as befitted a man of his age. He embraced his son and Brick hugged him for the very first time.

They released each other and smiled broad smiles. Brick asked of his Mama and his sisters and his Grandmother. All were well and Grandmother was with The Lord, now for five years. They walked slowly to the house talking about not much at all. He was hugged nigh unto death by his Mama and younger sister as she was the only one yet to be married and still at home. They marveled at his size and his Mama cried with joy and Brick let her. He truly felt as if he were letting his Mama hug a dog but overcame it. He was talked into having supper and staying the night.

In agreeing to it he knew they were glad but wondered that he was in no hurry to get to Naomi. He was in a great hurry but in dread too. In the morning he did not stay for breakfast and was gone before they were up, it was easier. He walked the path to Nomie's as a man to the gallows. He was afraid that she would know what he had done and not love him. He walked through the old cedars and privet and her...their old house came into view and Nomie sat on the old rocking chair that she had made herself many years ago. Her eyes were like a cold fire and she seemed so very old but without age too. He could not see that her arms trembled as she raised them slowly toward him as if to will him to them.

Brick, knelt at the feet of his Nomie and she pressed her nose into his hair and scalp and smelled him as she had done when he was a baby. He felt her know each smell, his baby smell, the sea and finally, as she shuddered for only a moment as he knew she smelled his sin. He cried bitter tears of shame and they fell onto her knees and feet, the dark honey-chocolate skin seemed to be renewed by them even as they burned her ever so slightly. Naomi spoke, "boy, you know I know now, and you know God been knowing, but He forgives and I do too. I am glad you did what you did, it is forgiven and is what brought you back to me, Praise The Lord, Jehovah." Brick cried like a baby as boys like him are prone to do...and his Nomie cried with joy that he returned as God had promised her so long ago. She kissed his head and anointed him with the tears of many years.