J. Roscoe Tennant
PARENTS: Mahlon Tennant and Sarah Ellen Lemley
AKA: Ross; His first name is not revealed in his genealogy publications or on FindAGrave.
(Furnished by Richard E. Henthorn)
RESEARCHER: J. Roscoe Tennant, using the name, J. Ross Tennant, published at least three volumes of genealogy which were digitized by Google. Some pages from a fourth volume is on Google books.
The title of the first volume was
Memories of J. Ross Tennant and a Genealogy of the Family Originated by Richard Tennant. Volume One is dated, 1942, Volume Two is dated, 1945, Volume Three is dated, 1946. All three volumes are included in one Google Books file. There is no easy way to move from one volume to the next. You just need to scroll through the pages.
URL: For the
Google Books volumes.
https://books.google.com/books?id=EztWAAAAMAAJ&lpg=RA1-PA48&dq=webb%20k.%20tennant&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q=webb%20k.%20tennant&f=false
or use this
TinyURL
http://tinyurl.com/gtpgul2
(Furnished by Richard E. Henthorn)
COMMENT: See the bottom of Page 27 in Volume One for the ancestry of J. Roscoe Tennant. His name isn't listed. He wrote, "I was born October 16, 1878." Note that some of the dates in this ancestry list do not agree with dates listed elsewhere.
Richard Tennant, Sr., 1744
Richard Tennant, Jr., 1777
Asa Tennant, 1816
Mahlon Tennant, 1845
J. Roscoe Tennant, 1878
(Furnished by Richard E. Henthorn)
RECOLLECTIONS: Boyhood Days
I am now almost sixty-three years of age, and have lived in a period of wonderful changes. I can remember when there was but one wagon on Jakes Run, and it belonged to Uncle Josey Tennant. My father often borrowed it to go to mill. In fact the whole community used it until they wore it out.
I remember the first bicycle on Jake's Run; a man from Mount Morris was riding it. My brothers and myself chased him almost to Mooresville, just to see him ride the thing. We couldn't understand how he kept on top of it. There was one big wheel, with a small one behind it. This was a wonderful sight for us.
I remember my father's first mowing machine, it was a "Woods;" and my mother's first sewing machine; I think it was a "Howe". I can remember watching mother spin wool into yarn. She had a large wheel and a small one, that she run with her foot. There was a reel on which she used to make her yarn into skeins. Many pairs of socks did she knit for us kids. I remember her knitting needles flashing in the light of * candle, or the light of a wood fire in the fireplace. By the fireplace sat an oven in which our bread was baked, and over the fire hung a crane, with iron hooks, on which she places pots and kettles containing meat, beans, potatoes, cabbage or whatever our mother might be preparing for us to eat. With the oven she made flat cakes, corn dodgers and apple cobblers. She often made berry dumplings in an iron pot. I will not say here what we boys used to call this, but you may guess if you want to. I wonder if any of the young people of today ever ate dried apples, or pumpkin dried on a pole and then cooked in winter, seasoned with butter and salt. Our mother was a wonderfully good cook, and anything she prepared for us was good enough for a king. God bless her!
I remember seeing father "walk" back-logs into the house on end, and dumping them in the back of the fire-place, which was about five feet long and three feet across the end. He then placed the andirons in front, and on them a fore-stick, and between the two enough dry wood to make a hot fire. When the back log got to burning good, it was fun to punch the fire with the shovel, and make the sparks fly up the chimney; and we often got burned at this game when embers would fly out of the fire-place. There were many black spots on the floor burned by hot hickory coals. Many fine timber trees were burned in fire places to make heat for the households of the community; but at that time they were good for nothing else but fuel.
We boys got one pair of boots a year, and they were often worn out before Spring came. Many times 1 have gone after the cows in the early Springtime barefoot, and when I would find the cows lying down I would scare them up and stand in the place they had been lying to warm my feet. Then the cows had to hustle into the milk yard, so I could get back to the fire.
I remember when we used to break young steers for oxen. We first broke them to the yoke, then we would hitch them to something, and teach them to work for us. We sometimes broke them to ride. My brother Nelson was riding one of the oxen past where Perry Moore lived, and his dog ran out and scared the ox. Nelson swore he went high enough to see Uncle Josey Tennant sitting in the entry of his house over Perry Moore's corn crib.
I remember my brothers Luther and Lem hauling hay in the bottom below the house. They drove the oxen into a swampy place, and the near ox got in the mud so deep they had to take him out of the yoke. Luther told Lem he would take Buck's place and help Berry pull the sled, and he stuck his head through the bow. Just then Lem felt a devilish streak and he jabbed Berry with the pitchfork; and Luther said he damn near broke his neck.
I remember the time that Arzie and I were throwing corn cobs at anything we could see. A fine large rooster was standing near us with his head up, and Arzie said, "I can come nearer hitting that rooster than you can." I threw one at the rooster, never thinking of hitting him. But so help me St. Pat I did hit him and killed him. My father saw this occur, and what I got was a caution to snakes.
I remember one time when Jasper Ammons came to Uncle Rod's Store with butter and eggs which were traded for groceries, such as sugar, coffee, etc. He said to me, "If you will go a piece with me we will eat some of the sugar." I went and we did eat some of the sugar; so much of it, in fact, that when Jasper got home his mother whaled him like all get out; and that night I had an, awful belly-ache, for the sugar did not agree with me.
I remember Loran Robinson, and I think he was about my age. His father, Frank, worked on a saw-mill close by our house, and Loran would often come with his father and play with us boys. One day we fell out over something and had a fight. Loran got the best of me, and I resolved to get even with him. When it was time for him to go home I was eager to go a short ways with him. I put a string on our pet lamb, and started with Loren, leading the lamb. We had the lamb trained so that if one of us pointed our finger at another person, the lamb would do his best to butt that one over. We didn't go very far until I let the lamb go and climbed the fence, and then pointed at Loran with my finger. The lamb knocked him down the first punch, and every time he would get up the lamb would knock him down again. I repented, and tried to get Loren to lay still, but he was scared and paid no attention to me. Someone came along, I think it was Dug Tennant, and took the lamb off of Loran. My Dad gave me a good old time lambasting, which I very well deserved.
When 1 was twelve years old my brother Arzie was fourteen, and Jud my younger brother was ten. What one didn't think of the other did. Almost every day in summer we were in swimming. We found a place in our swimming hole where there was blue mud, and we would cover ourselves with this and run foot races up and down the road. We didn't care a snap who saw us; in fact those who did see us laughed at us and didn't care either.
I remember when Arzie and I would carry a bushel basket of corn to the hog lot and pile it up. There were usually four hogs in the lot. When they would gather around the corn to eat, we would each grab one by the hair and jump on him, and we got many a hard fall.
Our days were not all sunshine, by any means. As each of us became old enough we were put to work in the corn field, or at what ever other work there was to do. I am glad to say that my brothers
all turned out to be good citizens, and are now grand-parents to children who are as old as we were at the time of which I write.
(Furnished by J. Ross Tennant, Vol. I, p. 54-6)
COMMENT:
Before closing the work of this book of history, genealogy and memories [Vol. I] I wish to make this statement. I have made an effort to get family records and history o families of Tennants and others connected with them, but in many instances I could not get replies to my inquiries.
The death of Thomas Ray Dille, who was making an effort to get a genealogical history of the Tennant family, has caused quite a set back in this work. However, I am now depending largely on W. B. Haught of Blacksville to complete our genealogy, and he has done a very nice job, so far. He has, very probably, the most complete record of our family in existence ; but it is not nearly complete. Every person who sees this statement, and has any family record connected with the Tennant family, should send it to Mr. Haught. His records, which he has offered to make and give to our organization, could be a very valuable asset to our family records.
J. Ross Tennant
(Furnished by J. Ross Tennant, Vol. I, p. 63)
FINDAGRAVE: Memorial# 43998944
