OH! How I love your stories. Was this in relation to the Margaret Mitchell that wrote "Gone With The Wind"? Katie ----- Original Message ----- From: "Joel Palmer" <palm@sonet.net> To: <ALMARION-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Thursday, March 22, 2007 11:25 AM Subject: [ALMARION] Fw: Voices Those voices from long ago. Have you ever walked through a cemetery and thought about there is a story under each grave marker that ought to be told, And the person down there would love for us of this generation to know what their life was like back then? One is Margaret Mitchell, 2nd wife of John Mitchell, She was born Margaret Brown, 1839 in Tennessee some where near Columbia, she said I first married Columbus Cooper. In or about the year of 1860 and we had our first son James, 1862.War clouds were very black and heavy in our area. Columbus was starting a chare crop hoping to get it made before he had to go to war but that was not to be for while plowing his mule the trace chain came loose while turning at the end of the roe. so stooping down to hook it back the mule kicked him in the head killing him dead. With the help of the neighbors they put Columbus away. Now with all her people the Browns living in Marion County Alabama, and with no means of support for her and her one year old baby boy she had a problem. My father Jim Palmer, had a saying that went something like this.” God looks after Fools and Widow women” and I am a believer. Margaret,reggs a cotton picking sack and loads it with her best cloths, several pones of corn bread picks up baby boy, (James Cooper), and starts her walk from Tennessee to Marion County Alabama. First day made about 10 miles. stopped at several branches to wash out dirty diaper and feed baby Jim. Night comes and she sleeps at the root of a big tree holding Baby Jim in arms. Daylight day #2 eats corn bread breast feeds baby Jim and on the road again. Makes about 10 more miles and baby is getting sick tempter high. day #3 on the road.showers of rain. bag gets wet and heavy. stops at a house and ask if she could come in and rest. was told No! so she thanks them and moves on in the rain. More days pass, bread has molded but eats it any way, Near Florence Alabama, she was caught in a cross fire between the Yanks and the rebels so she puts the baby in a ditch and gets on top of him untill the shooting is over.Findly reaching the Tenneessee river there is a feary boat carrying people across that had money,With no money Margaret begs the boat operator to let her cross on his boat.his answer is No. "so you have no money but what do you have in the sack"?he checks it out and says I will take this dress (her best dress)get on. So now she was on her way again.Some days later she makes it to her Brown family. She was near dead,feet bleeding,Baby Jim alive but still sick. After a some time John Mitchell, A neighbor to the Brown's comes home from the yankeey army finds he needs Margaret and they get married.For John's first wife had died and left seveal children.Margaret helped John with the children and her baby (James Cooper), A few years later,James (Jim) growed into a fine Man and married Elez.D.Palmer,She was a sister to my grandfather,My Dad always called him Uncle Jim Cooper and added a good man. Like Dad always said, God looks out for fools and widow women.Thank you God for that.Its clear now how I have made it.Joel This is a story a true story, told to me by one of Margaret's grand daughter,s (Elez.Rye). Margaret lived with her son James Cooper, the last seven years of her life.after John died in 1913, She now rests in the Pleasent Ridge Cemetery two miles north of Hamilton ,Alabama.and I hope I got it (the story)the way Margaret would have me tell it. ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to ALMARION-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message