I.  I spoke with Peggy Brande, younger daughter of Eva & Lem Mattox. I tracked her from Uncle Lem's obit. Our cousin, Paul, had gone through some of his mother's safekeepings (Aunt Dot, who is now in a nursing home) and gave a few heritage photos/records to my mother, Muriel, who in turn shared them with me. Peggy lives in Wausau, Fla., outside of Panama City. She does not have any photos of her father and did not maintain a relationship with him due to him being an alcoholic. She does remember my mother, Muriel Wilcox (her cousin) and that she and Nadine 'Dina' played together when she was around 5. I asked her to please have Dina (Scarlett is her last name) to call me, Peggy's older sister who lives in Warner Robins, Ga. She said Dina had more contact with her father and had a couple of old photos. She also said her mother, Eva, and father were divorced when they were small children and that Lem did not remarry.

II.  Dina (Nadine Scarlett) contacted me a couple of days after my phone call with her sister, Peggy; it was a wonderful conversation. She is outgoing, animated, and was so excited to talk about her daddy and meet our side of the family. She said her daddy, our great Uncle Lem, was a robust man, heavy drinker, good cook, and fished for a living. Uncle Lem met his wife, Eva, at a square dance where he played the fiddle and she played the piano. They were only married around five years due to his drinking but he never remarried. Uncle Lem was Aunt Eva's second husband (she was divorced and owned real estate--rental properties). After his divorce, Uncle Lem did live with his sister, our great Aunt Lora, for a time, in back of her house in her guest quarters. Dina also remembers grandma. She said she was around 11 when Nellie Patrick passed. She said she and Peggy would visit their aunts (my grandmother, Lillian; Aunt Evie; and Aunt Lora during the summers)--each family for a week or so. Uncle Lem's middle daughter, Madge, who was red-headed and blue-eyed like our great Aunt Evie, died around 18 months old. She sustained a head injury from a fall from her highchair.

Dina, Mother, and I are planning to get together soon since she lives in the Macon area and we are in Augusta. Right now, her husband is quite ill and in the hospital (Thomas Winters Scarlett). He has suffered some strokes. Scarlett is her 2nd husband. Peggy also married twice but is now widowed. She had two children, Jimmy and Peggy Ann, from her first marriage. Dina and her husband had no children of their own; they adopted three children. 

I mailed Dina (Dec-09) several Mattox pictures and records, including the photos of her father, Lem. Hopefully, she will have a couple of photos/records to reciprocate and our visit can come to fruition. 

 Phone Conversation - Susan Hallford Crowe (11/20/09)