Another Letter from Sallie Bryan Hammett of Bienville Parish, Louisiana to Lizzie Ragan in Terrell County, Georgia - 28 April 1915

Clifford Cook Shelby, sister to Marguerite Cook Clark
Eleanor Mae Hammett Driscoll, youngest daughter of Sallie Bryan Hammett[1]

This is the second of two letters, written by Sallie Bryan Hammett to Lizzie Ragan. Lizzie was looking for genealogical information. At the time Sallie wrote this letter, she was living in Ringgold, Bienville Parish, Louisiana.[2] The first letter can be seen by clicking on this link. 

This letter was not transcribed exactly. Some punctuation and spacing were added to make it easier to read. 

_________________________

April the 28, 1915

Dear cousin Lizzie

Ada E. Hammett [3]

I will try and answer your dear letter which was received several days ago

I should have written sooner but I have been kept so busy I have not had time to write. Ada is down at her Aunt Ida’s [illegible word] this week and everything is mine to do. I washed today and am awful tired

We have been having some rainy weather this week

We were needing rain too but it has cleared off now and looks so pretty

We have a nice garden and I was afraid the fruit was all killed but I see we have plenty of peaches

I am so glad we have for we didn’t have any last year

I will can a plenty if nothing happens to prevent us

Everyone is getting ready for our school commencement. We have a fine school here at this place. Have three teachers. Our little Eleanor Mae will be in the exercises. She is just seven years old but we think she is awful smart for her age. She loves to go to school. We are might proud of her. She will be in several pieces. Wish you could be here. The school closes the 12 of May.

Cousin Lizzie I don’t have Uncle Terrells address but Ada writes to one of his Grand Daughters so she wrote for Uncle Terrells address and as soon as we hear from her we will write you and tell you what it is. He was at Austin Texas at the old soldiers home the last time we heard of him but I don’t know if he is still there or not. Trixie will tell Ada where he is. She told Trixie why she wanted to know his address and I know she will let us hear from her right away and we will write you right away. 

Oh know I do wish we could see each other. I sure would like to see cousin Joes sons we all thought so much of cousin Joe when he was out here. 

I sure did like Uncle John Regan. He was such a good man. Papa loved him as much as he did his own brothers and Uncle Span too your papa. I have heard my papa speak of him so much. 

I waited on Dear Uncle John when he died he had Brights Desease and was sick a long time and suffered so much. I can remember just as well as if it had been a few days ago my dear Papa and mama I do get so anxious to see them sometime in the sweet bye and bye. Never to part any more. Wont that be a grand time when we all meet to part no more. Oh cousin Lizzie if we never meet in this world I believe we will know each other in heaven. We know our parents are gone there and we will all meet there. We can’t afford to not meet them there. Pray for me and mine that we may hold out faithful to the end. 

Well will close with a heart full of love thinking of you.

Write soon to your loving cousin

Sallie Hammett

P. S. I do love to get your letters. 

_________________________

People mentioned in this letter are named below. Click on the links to see more photos and more information about these family members.

Cousin Lizzie was Elizabeth Leurany Ragan and the daughter of Julius Leurany Speight and Dr. Span Regan (later changed to Ragan). Span Regan was the half-brother of Sallie's father, Tillman C. Bryan. [4]

Allie Belle Trott Frye with her
cousin James "Jim" Smylie Hammett [7]

Sallie Manning Bryan Hammett was the daughter of Tilman C. Bryan and Mildred Manning Prothro.  She married Wesley Tilman Hammett, her first cousin, and son of Robert E. Hammett and Dorothy "Dollie" Bryan Hammett. Sallie and Wesley had children Irene, Ada, James Smylie, and Eleanor Mae.[5]

Aunt Ida may have been Sallie's sister who was married to John Henry Sheffield.[6] 

Uncle Terrell was Terrell Bryan, my great-grandfather, who left Louisiana and was in Texas by 1877.  Terrell was a son of Reddick Bryan and Elizabeth S. Bryan, brother to Sallie's father, Tillman, and brother to Wesley's mother, Dorothy. He was half-brother to Lizzie's father, Span.[8]

Terrell Bryan and his wife, Harriet Albritton [9]

Sallie wrote that she last knew of Terrell being in "Austin Texas at the old soldiers home." A copy of a letter Terrell wrote from the Texas Confederate Home can be seen by clicking on this link. At the time of Sallie's letter, Terrell was living in Stephenville, Texas.[10]

Trixie Hammett [13]

Trixie Hammett was the daughter of Alice Amanda Bryan and John Regan Hammett. Alice Amanda was the daughter of Terrell Bryan and John was the brother of Sallie's husband, Wesley Tilman Hammett.[11] Trixie must have sent Terrell's address as I have a copy of a letter Terrell wrote to Lizzie that same year.[12]

Cousin Joe was Joseph Thomas Ragan, son of Span and brother to Lizzie. You can see a photo of him and learn more at Randy's Cousin Web Page.[14] 

Uncle John was John Regan, the son of Elizabeth Regan and her first husband, Joseph Regan, and brother to Span.  John and Span were very young when their mother was widowed and married Reddick Bryan. [15]

If you want to know more about the families I research, click here to like my Facebook page where you will see each post and other genealogical finds. 

.

Diana

© 2021 

Sources 

    1. Clifford Cook Shelby and Eleanor Mae Hammett Driscoll, n.d.; digital images, from the privately held photo collection of Marguerite Cook Clark (1913-1989), Waynesville, North Carolina, 2021. Photos were accessed and scanned at the home of Marguerite Cook Clark's daughter in Alpine, Texas on April 28, 2014, September 14, 2014, and November 9 to 11, 2016.

    2.  Letter from Sallie Hammett, (Bienville Parish, Louisiana) to Lizzie Ragan (Bronwood, GA), 28 April 1915; digital copy held in 2021 by D. Quinn (Virginia Beach, VA). Current location of the original letter is unknown. 

    3. "Ada E. Hammett [obituary]," newspaper clipping, 1974, unidentified newspaper, from the privately-held collection of Marguerite Cook Clark (1913-1989), Waynesville, North Carolina, 2021. Obituaries were accessed and scanned at the home of Marguerite Cook Clark's daughter in Alpine, Texas on April 28, 2014, September 14, 2014, and November 9 to 11, 2016.

    4. Letter from E. Ragan Pruitt, (Georgia) to Cousin Diana (Diana B. Quinn), 14 April 2003; This letter containing Regan/Ragan family information is held by D. Quinn (Virginia Beach, VA) in 2021.

    5. Julia Brittain, "Ahnentafel Chart for Reddick Bryan," 1793 - 1991; supplied by J. Brittain, Cypress, Texas, 1999.

    6. Ibid.

    7. Allie Belle Trott Frye and James Smylie Hammett, photograph, n.d.; scanned image, from the privately held photo collection of the Frye Family, San Francisco, 2019.

    8. Terrell Bryan Family Bible Records, 1836 - 1927, The Illustrated Polyglot Household Bible (Philadelphia: G. Zeigler, McCurdy, & Co., 1870), "Family Record," privately held by Diana Bryan Quinn, Virginia Beach, VA, 2021. Also, Diana Quinn, "Ahnentafel Chart for Reddick Bryan and Elizabeth Regan," 1793 - 1991; created by D. Quinn, Virginia Beach, VA, 2004.

    9. Terrell Bryan and Harriet Albritton, photograph, n.d.; scanned image, from the privately held photo collection of J. McAlister, TX, 2001.

    10. Diana Bryan Quinn "Friday's Photo: Terrell Bryan's Twilight Years," blog entry, 28 July 2017, Moments in Time: A Genealogy Blog (https://momentsintimeagenealogyblog.blogspot.com/2016/07/letter-to-lizzie-ragan-from-bryant.html : accessed 9 October 2021).

    11. Ellington, "Hammett/James Family," public tree, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/account/profile/03132af8-0000-0000-0000-000000000000?compareToTestId=68D2EDDB-2A54-4305-9626-096A711BCFA6 : accessed 21 October 2021). 

    12. Letter from Bryan, Terrell  (Stephenville, Erath County, TX) to Miss Lizzie Ragan (Terrell County, GA), 17 October 1915; copy held and sent to Diana B. Quinn in 2003 by E. Ragan Pruitt. 

    13. Trixie Hammett, photograph, n.d.; scanned image, original from the privately held photo collection of R. Warner, TX, 2001

    14. Letter from E. Ragan Pruitt, (Georgia) to Cousin Diana (Diana B. Quinn), 14 April 2003; This letter containing Regan/Ragan family information is held by D. Quinn (Virginia Beach, VA) in 2021. 

    15. Ibid.