This is a picure of my Great-Grandmother on my Daddys side. Her name was Levena Moore. She lived in McNairy County, Tenn. Born 1856. Worked in a cotton gin raised, two children, Joseph Anderson Moore and Allie Moore. Allie married Jim Cooksey and J.A.Moore became an attorney, married Zelma Carter, and came to Texas. They were married and had 8 children. Levena was a hard working woman, very dedicated to her children and raised them by herself. Both children went on to become productive and honorable citizens. She died at the age of 79, and never married. My grandfather helped her finacially throughout his lifetime. He loved and cherished her very much. When she died, he made sure that she was buried with the family, in Gravel Hill Tennessee with a very simple headstone that read..... Levena Moore 1856--1935 We loved her My grandfather was born on the Shiloah battlefield (back then it was spelled like that now it is spelled Shiloh). He was three years older than his sister Allie. They both had nice large families with plenty of grand children. I am sure that Lavena would have been very proud of both of the families. They belonged to the Primative Baptist Church and were very dedicated. My grandfather was a well known fiddle player and loved to dance the jig. He chewed tobacco and smoked cigars. As a young boy, he would help his mother with the chores, go to school, and work in the fields. Work was not a burden to him, it was a part of life. He graduated from the college, known then as George Roberson C. College in Nashville, Tenn. He received his law degree in 1909, and practiced law in Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas. Later he became a district and county judge. His friends and family would call him Judge Moore. He had his own law firm in Odessa, Texas and practiced until his death in 1954. He passed away on Septemeber 18th, 1955. I was 5 years old. We favor a lot...I guess it is our hair (thick) and our eyes and nose. This past two months have really been productive. You see this is the first time I ever knew anything about my Great-Grandmother. No one ever talked about her. She was treated like a slave and was used as one also, on a white farm in Tenn. She had two children out of wedlock....back then that was taboo...and that is why no one ever talked about her. I have been doing a lot of research on her. I have just started my journey but will persue it. I have spent hours and hundreds of dollars on the phone talking to the few that knew her. Tommy and I are planning to go back to Tennessee within the next couple of months. Doing geneology, sometimes there are secrets kept thru generations....some are hard to face, others sad, some are happy moments, some we can be proud of...but we all come from families that have had to work, grow, endure, prosper, some are paupers, some are millionaires....no matter where we come from, no matter what our ancestors have done or not done, we are all products of the past - good bad or indifferant - we can not change whathas happened. Here is a picture of my precious Mother. Her name was Charolette Moore. She and my Dad moved to the DFW area in 1968. My mom lived her later years in Hereford...a small farming town in the panhandle of Texas. She was a very acomplished woman. She loved to play the piano. As a younger woman, she wanted to be a concert pianist. She loved the classical music. I think that is where i learned to love music. As a little girl I would sit on the piano bench by her and listen to her play. It was lovely. As I got older, she wanted me to take lessons and I didn't like taking lessons because i didnt like to practice, so I played by ear..LOL...I still do...but as the years go, my fingers are a bit more stiff and it is not as easy to reach the keys. I remember the first time I played a tune, she was shocked that it sounded like what she had been playing...well sorda...but there was no music in front of me and i was just plunkin away. I guess then is when she decided that I needed to take lessons. My sister Beverly, and my brother, Reynnie, both took lessons...they were much better at it. Stormy Weather was one of my brothers favorite pieces. He could still play it when he would come to my home. Funny how things like that never really leave you.