I hadn’t heard Kenneth make a reference to the local tribe in the past. I was a little surprised to hear Kenneth make reference to the local tribe and was surprised to hear something different from our usual conversation of "How are you doing, and so on and so on, and how is old so and so doing now-a-days, etc." So instead of our conversation dwelling on family and friends and perhaps a little talk about the church as in the past, Kenneth was asking, "So all the Indians are doing O.K., well... you know I have a little bit of Indian blood in me."

I said, "How is that, Kenneth?" Kenneth responded, "you see, my great grandmother was Betty McNatt."

I knew then that I had that information in my background, but I had let it slip from me through the years. Betty McNatt was a daughter of Macage and Emily McNatt. I began to make the connection, before Kenneth left.

Emily (Aunt Emmer) McNatt was a daughter of William J. Harmon and Grandma Black Eye. I have an old photo of William J. Harmon and Grandma Black Eye dated 1885. William J. Harmon and Grandma Black Eye had a large family of ten children (one of which was the father of my Grandmother, Laura Goin). They were buried in Nocona around 1906.

I have shared the photo of the Looper family at a reunion back in 1929. Nona Pearl (Housden) Mitchell gave me the photo of the group last year when she came to Aubrey for a visit. I will share this photo again, when I have identified more of the family members.

I received an email from Edith Perle (Simpson) Johnson this past weekend. She is getting ready to send us some more information about the old historical Simpson Drug Store.

In reference to the incident about the wreck on the highway and victims seeking treatment at the Simpson Drug Store, the great-granddaughter of Charley Annie Johnson, Patricia Ann (Owens) Creglow and her husband Frederic P. Creglow remembered the Bible verse that her Granny used to stop the bleeding of the accident victim.

Patricia Creglow said that her husband was in the hospital with a bleeding problem and she performed the ritual of reading the Bible verse and it stopped the bleeding. Pat Creglow said that she felt blessed to have a relative like Granny Johnson in her family tree. She said that she is the fifth living child of R.T. and Lillie Bell Owens.

A new resident in Aubrey from Calhoun County Georgia, Grandy Nabers, is also of Cherokee descent. She is proud of her Cherokee lineage. She is knowledgeable about the history of the tribe and is interested in meeting with the Onega Cherokee Towns District. I explained to her that the local group of Cherokees is eager to learn more about the Cherokee people and are a young and progressively minded group who welcomes the elders to the meetings.

On a more serious note, I am sad to tell you of the serious condition of my elder brother, Giles V. Goin who has a liver condition and is being treated with chemo therapy. Many times I have relied on him for historical facts on many occasions. Giles grew up in Aubrey and went to the one story school that is now a part of Chestnut Street. Our church is remembering Giles in his time of need. We all wish him a complete recovery.

The photo for this week is one I am fond of and was made in 1917. I am especially attached to this photo. It was of the Looper and Coffey Grocery Store. The year of 1917 was the year that the thoughts of the people were on World War I.

One of the owners of the business was A. Coffey. He was standing behind the counter. His partner in the firm was Mr. Looper who was standing in the center. The man in the white shirt is Jim Goin, just before he entered the war. The other two were customers in the store.

The building is the building which later became the Madden Grocery Store in the 1920's and 1930's, and has been the location for Jackie’s Hardware for the past 40 years. The inside of the building is almost the same as it was when this photo was made.