Happy Mothers Day; A Nowlin Genealogical Lesson.

Happy Mothers Day!! 

This blog isn't going to be so much about fostering kids as it is about fostering a legacy of motherhood and being the type of mother God wants us to be.  I hope its kind of a neat lesson for Nowlin family members; cousins, Aunts, Uncles and anyone else, I guess.  

I come from a long line of good mothers in my family.  We kinda can’t help it.  There just isn’t any bad Mama’s in our long genealogical line.  Picture wise, I can go as far back as my second great Grandmother, Polly  Sims Kirk, born on March 19, 1854 in Tennessee. My Ma kept a picture of her grandparents hanging above her bed every day of our lives growing up in that old farm house in Indiana. Great Grandma Kirk was a strong woman as well you had to be in those days.  She was only 36 years old when Great Grandpa Kirk died at the age of 45 a tired old man.  She never remarried. She stayed right there on that farm in Navarro County Texas and raised the kids, keeping them in church and raising them in the Lord.  Aunt Mayzell, who was Great Grandma Kirk’s grand-daughter and sister to my Ma, said that she remembered her Mama (the daughter to George and Polly) saying that she often remembered her Mama often said that if George “hadn’t been such a planner” they would have been in a lot of trouble; as it was, he had the “barn full and the crops planted.”  Great Grandpa was a planner and a War veteran, having fought with the CSA in the 9^th Tennessee Calvary. And he was the father of my Great Grandmother, Fannie Kirk Nowlin. 

My Second Great Grandparents, George and Fannie Kirk

Fannie was born and raised in Navarro County, Texas about 1883.  She met and married Walt Nowlin, a young man that had pioneered with his family from Eupora, Mississippi in the 1890’s via an oxen and wagon, along with several hundred other settlers migrating west.  Fannie, also was the disciplinarian and had a strong sense of right and wrong. Where as Walt was more relaxed and more likely to take challenges in stride, Great Grandma Kirk was not.  She had diabetes and lost a leg at an early age and had it buried in the family cemetery at Prairie Point in Bazette, Texas.  Later when she died on August 25, 1951, she was buried along side of it as well as an infant they just called “Buddy.”   Great Grandma Nowlin believed in spankings and hugs, She cooked and gardened and made sure her family  was in church every time the doors were opened.  She once spanked my Mom for spitting at her when she was two years old!  Great Grandma raised 4 kids to adulthood and buried one, Uncle Delmer at the age of 35 when he was hit and killed by a drunk driver in Hobbs, New Mexico.  Served all through WWII and survived and was killed while riding in an automobile. Great grandma would die with a broken heart and diabetes complications, among other health complications. 

My Great Grandmother, Fannie Kirk, before she married Walter  Nowlin

Great Grandma Nowlin was a Godly mother that believed in Biblical teachings and raising of children and that passed onto my Grandmother who us kids called Mamaw, which was shortened early on to just “Ma.” Ma met and married my Pa while he served in WWII.  In fact, they met while Ma worked at a railroad in Corsicana, Texas and she said sometimes the servicemen would throw their names and addresses out the windows hoping for pen pals.  She picked one up and responded and that would eventually be my Grand-dad!  Ma survived the depression and picking cotton to buy shoes and then moved around a little with my Pa before settling in Indiana.   They had six kids and she helped raise me and my sisters after our parents divorced and my Mom moved back home, as well as my older cousin when her parents divorced.  That’s a total of 10 kids!  Ma kept a large vegetable garden as well as a large potato garden.  She worked hard every day of her life.  She kept her family in church and she played “Bible games” with us kids and sang old timey church songs as she worked.  “I’ll Fly Away” was a favorite.  I used to ask her why she wasn’t a country singer and she would say, “Well I am.  I Live in the country and I sing!”  She loved the Grand Ole Opry and she read us children’s stories from the Encyclopedia and Bible stories from the good book.  She taught me to how to be a good Mama.  Her step-granchildren were never “step” anything, they were only her Grandkids and counted among the numbers; 14 in all.  And that lesson taught me love. 

My Mom met and married my Dad and had 3 kids.  She was a battered wife, married to an alcoholic and sometimes drug abuser.  But she was a great Mom and moved back home when we were small.  She protected us and nurtured us and continued working at a factory 40+ hours a week.  She taught me hard work and survival.  She loved her kids and any others that came around.  We once kept two little boys, who, ironically enough were from Arkansas and we suspected their parents were involved in drugs.  They once asked Mom to take care of their boys if they ever had to “get out quick.”  They disappeared the following week.  Mom taught me to take care of others, if they don’t belong to you genetically. 

These woman are strong and resourceful, hard-working and survivors.  Hard times make for hard women, but these women were loving and caring and loved the Lord and believed that He would provide and he did.  All these generations later, He did. 

My kids at Easter along with a former "foster Philpott."  I hope to pass on this legacy of being a Mother to my girls.  And I hope my boys are influenced to choose Godly woman to continue the legacy of being the type of mothers to raise, love and nurture their children. 

As I plant a garden with my kids or bake home-made chocolate chip cookies, I talk about Ma, Mom and the stories I’ve been told about Grandma Kirk and Grandma Nowlin.  I once had an Aunt tell me that I reminded her of Ma in the way I handled my kids; that’s a compliment.  When I get up at 4:30 in the morning and go to work, I think of my Mom and Great Grandma Kirk.  When I talk about Pioneering women and the paths they blazed, I think of my genetic links to my great Grandmothers.  It’s “in” us to be Godly wives and mothers.  We know no other way.  Those are the examples we have before us.  It’s true, kids repeat what they see at home and I hope and pray I can be that Godly example as well.  I make mistakes and I pray on my knees for the Lord to make me more patient and understanding.  I pray for Him to make me more like them.  Let me be the one that breaks the cycle for two of mine and let me lead them in the ways of their ancestors.  Happy Mothers Day, y’all!!  Enjoy your day and thanks for reading! 

Lola Philpott