My Uncle, George Anderson Beard, son of Aubrey David Beard and Jessie Holeman Doss was born in Crittenden County, Kentucky in October of 1927 according to him, but 1928 according to the Kentucky birth index and census records. Uncle George swears that his mother, told him that he was born about 15 or 16 month after his sister, Helen who was born in June of 1926. If Uncle George wants to be 90 years old this year then that is his prerogative and who am I or anyone else to say different. 😉 The following is a picture I took of him outside of his work shop the day I did the recordings.
I had ask Uncle George a number of different questions after we had picked him up that day and gone into town for lunch, so that after we got back out to his place we could start recording. He was so excited to be able to talk and tell his stories and to have them recorded for posterity. We both wished we could have stayed longer and done more, but it just wasn't possible to do so, plus I could tell he was getting a little tired as well.
The following is just a brief little outline of Uncle George and his family. Mama Jessie had ten children all together and Uncle George was number four of these ten children and my Daddy was number nine. These ten children were the following, William Teague, Harold Walls, Helen Beard, George Beard, Dale Beard, Donald Beard, Jack Beard, Violet Beard, Frank Beard and Bobby Corley. Uncle George and Uncle Bobby are the only two we have left now. I also visited with Uncle Bobby but he wasn't to keen on being videoed, though I did get a picture of him and Aunt Charlene at least. The following is a picture of Bobby and Charlene at their home in Franklin, Kentucky.
Uncle George was married twice, the first time to Donna Beair in 1951, they were divorced in the early 1970's. Second to Louise 'Lou' Jones in 1974. Uncle George and Aunt Donna had six children, Janice, David, Nancy, Henry, Helen and Kevin. Aunt Lou had five children when she and Uncle George were married and they are, Shirley, Jim, Larry, Mary and Patty. I don't really know Shirley and Jim, but the other three I have meet quite a few times. Also, Henry passed away the same year that Aunt Lou and my Daddy and Aunt Helen all passed away in 2009. 2009 was a sad year for all of us, Daddy passed in July, Aunt Helen in August, Henry Joe in September and Aunt Lou in October. It was really rough on Uncle George though, his wife, son, brother and sister all within 4 months of each other, he is a strong man though and he has persevered.
The following 13 videos were all done on May 30th, 2017 in the workshop behind the home of George Beard outside of Murray, Kentucky. I have titled them with what he was mainly talking about in each video.
I hope you enjoyed my little video clips of Uncle George, sharing his memories and his stories with all of us. I know I sure enjoyed being with him and listening to him talk about so many who have gone on before.
I would like to dedicate this post to a friend and a distant cousin who I never had the opportunity to meet, but who always made comments on every blog post I made since I first started this journey, her last comments were on June 13th. She encouraged me to continue writing my stories and she always had something to say about every post. This will be the second post I have made since she passed away suddenly just a few weeks ago. She had found out she had cancer and it was so far progressed that the doctors just made her as comfortable as they could for the short time she had. Pat you will be missed greatly by your loving family and friends and by me too. I will write those river stories you told me, as well as others I have found and been told about, but you will just have to read them in heaven now. The following is a poem her niece, Jackie, had written about her and Jackie is the one that let me know that her aunt had passed away. Until we meet, God speed you on your journey, Pat.
