I am Mary Mattie Francis Napier

I was born on April 13^th, 1888, in Madison County, Alabama. It would be 77 years before the Lord would call me home. I suffered with high blood pressure. It was a stroke of the brain that took me on July 12^th, 1965, at I:55 A.M. Alice tended to me as well as the colored folks doctor, Dr. James Ashmore. They laid me to rest at Mr. Pleasant in Leighton, Alabama. They picked a good spot right next to my husband, Tom, who had left me back in ’39.

They wrote on my death certificate that I was a female “Negro” though I suppose on my birth certificate I was just “colored”. Doesn’t matter. Wasn’t much color to me then and not much color to me now. I don’t think my own ever really knew what I was. Don’t suppose I ever told’em.

Oh, I have started to ramble and be distracted from why we are here. You want to know about who I am and how I connect to him. And, when I say him I do mean Tom. I suppose this is legitimate because it seems that my life began with Tom. Tom Hawkins, Thomas Walton, Tom Walton Hawkins, or whatever he was calling himself. But, REMEMBER. This story is more about my people and me. This is about the Napier family.

As I said I was born in ’88 and by 1900 census records show that I was living in Russelville, Alabama. Now, we didn’t have fancy cars like you do now. We had the horse and the buggy. I was just a girl and I can’t recall how we, Tom and I, got to Russelville. Could have been by train, could have been by horse and buggy, could have been by hook or crook. You see; I was just a little girl….

By nineteen and ten records show that Tom and I had jumped counties to Colbert, the Brick precinct. We had been married for 11 years. Records will document that this is where we remained up to and beyond 1930. Now, I realize that you all wonder exactly how many children did I have. The legend of Tom is that he had over 40 children, mostly outside children. This is not for a wife to speak of and I will only tell you what you can prove: I gave birth to 12 children. The rest is up to you.

It is not for me to tell you about me in my later years. My grand babies can do that far better than I. Let’s pause and see me, Grandma Mary, through their eyes…..

The story of Mary must include how she lived as well as how she died. We are fortunate to have those who spent time with Grandma Mary. On February 12th and 13th of this year Trey interviewed four of her grandchildren: Robert C. Hawkins, Anna Williams, Horace Hawkins, Sr., and Parker Lee Hawkins. The first person interviewed was my father, Robert. Robert knew Mary as an old woman and he as a teenager. Grandpa Tom had long since passed on. "Grandma stayed with Aunt Alice in a two room house," states Robert. Sometimes he would stay with her and "she would work with us in the field". She would occasionally visit friends such as Nellie Graham or one called "M". Grandma Mary would occasionally drink and she dipped snuff. "She had a good mind" and would sometimes talk about Grandpa Tom. However, mostly she would talk about her children. Mary's hobbies included making patchwork quilts.

Anna also remembers that Grandma Mary dipped snuff and drank a little beer every now and then. "Grandma was very outspoken ...and she talked very, very southern." Anna recalls a statement, which Grandma Mary made about her own parents. "I remember my daddy; he was tall and light-skinned....my mother could sit on her hair." Grandma Mary would visit in Cincinnati during the summer months. She would primarily stay with her daughter Annie Mae and spend time in the home of her daughter Bulah, Anna's mother. As for a description of Grandma Mary Anna states she looked younger than her years, her skin appearing like that of an Indian. Grandma Mary had "light skin...(straight) hair...blue eyes...high cheek bones...bow legs...and large hips." "She was very nice."

In contrast to Anna 's description, Horace remembers that Grandma Mary was a "quiet lady" Horace notes that back then grandparents didn't sit and talk with kids the way they do today. He states there was "no scolding." Horace also remembered that Grandma Mary raised one of her grandchildren, Frank Hawkins. Frank is the son of Willie Lee Hawkins; Horace's brother, Parker Lee, would share this memory as well.

Parker Lee states that Grandma Mary was nice and in good health as he recalls. He was aged 25. "She worked with us all the time." Parker Lee also remembered that Aunt Alice would stay with her. Grandma Mary belonged to Cumberland Presbyterian Church. Physically, Parker Lee describes Mary as a "white Indian" which coincides with Anna's description. Robert and Horace would state that Mary looked like an older "white woman." Both descriptions suggest a mixed heritage.

My grandbabies have told you all you need to know about me. I could tell you about my children but most of that you already know. But, do you know about my people? What Alice remembered in my death was that my father’s name was John – John Napier. Poppa lived in Cluttsville in Madison County or what some people call Huntsville. By nineteen and ten Poppa would be alone, a widower at age 68. My mother, Martha, had died and left him behind.

In 1870, before I was born, the census records show a household with my father, aged 28, and my mother, aged 23, living in Huntsville, Alabama. Poppa was a farmer, momma kept house. Three of my sisters were there: Hester at age 9. Tennessee at age 2, and Angeline at age 8. A farm laborer, Mr. John Townsend, lived with them as well. The 1880 census would show some variation in the ages of my sisters. It also showed that I had two brothers: James aged 3 and Ernest aged 5 months. A marriage certificate shows that my sister, Angeline, married Nathaniel Langford in Madison County on January 3, 1887. Mariah, documented as Maria, married Charlie Betts on May 6, 1894 in Madison County.

Memories of my family would soon begin to fade with my death and the deaths of my children. My daughter-in-law Barbara, Robert Lee would call her Bobbie, eventually remembered my sister, Hester. Her son, Robert Carson, would have a vague recollection of an “Aunt Add” or an Aunt Ang for Angeline. Other memories would be of incidents with no names. They only know that my family, the Napiers, came from Madison County and that we connect, somehow, to Chattanooga.

My hopes are that as you read this you will not forget. I want you to know my family as you know your own. For some, you will look to the past. Explore the mystery of my grandfather, my father’s father. Was he John S. Napier or John W.S. Napier? Does John Hawkins Napier hold the key?

For others, you will look to the future. Locate the descendants of John and Martha Napier. Find their children; find their grandchildren. Leave no stone unturned. These people, my people, are closer than you think. And REMEMBER, as much as I was Mrs. Thomas Hawkins, I am Mary Mattie Francis Napier.