The House That Built Whitney - New Hope Baptist Church and The Drinkard Singers

New Hope Baptist Church, Newark, NJ from Chron.com

On the site of New Hope Baptist Church, Newark is this scripture:

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD,

 thoughts of peace, and not of evil,
to give you an expected end

Jeremiah 29:11

As you know Whitney Houston began her musical career at the New Hope Baptist Church in Newark and this Saturday her family and friends will say goodbye to her in the same church.

New Hope began as a mission in the home of Addie and Maggie Vine and elected its first pastor, Rev. Jesse Williams in 1903.  

Sometime between 1920 and 1930, John Drinkard, Jr. and his wife Susan moved their family from Georgia to New Jersey.  John was Native American and Susan was part Dutch and part African American.  The name "Drinkard" means the running of water.  One of their children was Nitcholas A. Drinkard, "Nitch" and he married Delia McCaskill and together they had eight children.  Nitch wanted his children to be gospel singers and in the late 1930's four of the children began singing at New Hope as the Drinkard Four.  The group consisted of Emily Drinkard (later known as Cissy Houston), brothers, Nick and Larry and sister, Anne.   Older sister Lee, managed the group.  Lee, later became the mother of singers, Dee Dee and Dionne Warwick.  As the group expanded to include sister, Marie and Judy Clay (Lee's adopted daughter) they became known as the Drinkard Singers.

They became the first gospel group to sing with Mahelia Jackson when they performed together at the National Baptist Convention in the early 1950's. In 1957 they became the first gospel group to sign with RCA.  Over the next few years the group made changes and became known as the Sweet Inspirations.  They sang with the Warwick sisters, Elvis and Aretha Franklin and it all started at New Hope. There should be a movie about them.

You can listen to the group on youtube.com or go here.  I promise you will be lifted up.

Now when I was searching videos about New Hope I found one that included our own Oklahoma child, Gwen Guthrie.  I first wrote about Ms. Guthrie, here.  She was born in Okemah and shares a birthday with Woody Guthrie, July 14th.  I have to send you to youtube again at this link so you can listen to Ms. Guthrie singing "How Great Thou Art" at New Hope.  She is the one at the podium with the choir being led by Whitney's aunt, Anne Drinkard Moss (red robe).  This video is before 1999 because Ms. Guthrie died in 1999 at the tender age of 48.

Wouldn't you just love to go to New Hope and listen to all the beautiful music? 

During news reports I've seen New Hope's pastor and I thought to myself, "what a compassionate man" and so I had to learn more about him.

The current pastor, Rev. Joe A. Carter is only the sixth pastor in the church's history.  In 1980, Pastor Carter told his father, Rev. Henry B. Carter, Sr. that he had the desire to preach the gospel and so on March 16, 1980 at the tender age of nine, Joe A. Carter gave his first sermon in Oklahoma City, OK.  It was from Gensis 1:1; entitled "The Magic of God".

You can find out more about Pastor Carter from New Hope's website.

As Christians we know Whitney is in a better place and you know she'll get to sing all the solos in her new Angel Choir.

Goodbye, Whitney,

 . . . you have finished all the work for the service of the house of the Lord.

1 Chronicles 28:20

Love,

Territory Mom

The Drinkard Singers 

Allmusic.com-Drinkard Singers

Anne Drinkard Moss

Happy Birthway Margaret Evelyn

I found this photo in my great grandma's old cigar box and I asked my grandma, "who is this little girl"?  That's Margaret Evelyn.  So, I ask, "who is Margaret Evelyn"?  I wish you could hear my grandma's scratchy voice when she yells, "she's Roscoe's DAUGHter".  Like I was supposed to know this already.

Anyway, she is my grandma's cousin, the daughter of my grandma's uncle Roscoe Blaine Dunn and Esther Jackson Dunn.  She was born in 1931 and over the weekend Margaret Evelyn turned 80 years old.

Isn't she lovely?

She is named after her two grandmas, Susan Margaret "Maggie" Brashear Dunn and Minnie Evelyn Jackson.  Her mother died when she was very young and she and her brothers were sent to live with Roscoe's sister, Ruth Evelyn Dunn Paddock and her husband Herman in Oklahoma.

Margaret, Lawrence, Aunt Ruth and Harold traveling from Comanche, OK to New Mexico so Ruth could preach the gospel.

(Not pictured: CH and David Dunn)

Margaret's family gave her a surprise birthday party on Sunday.  Her son read this article from an old Ann Landers column to her:

What a legacy: Aging without Complaint

Dear Ann Landers: Here is an old clipping of a prayer from your column. It has yellowed with age, but has enduring wisdom that can help another generation of readers.

 Please run it again. ----F.W. in Worcester, Mass.

Dear Worcester: That piece is at least 25 years old, but it is still filled with insight. Thank you sending it on. Here it is, for "another generation."

Please God

My Children are grown now, and I have wonderful grandchildren. I love them all, but please, God, let me remember that I have lived, loved and enjoyed this life. Do not let me take away from their enjoyment by complaining about every ache and pain. I have earned them all.
Please keep me from mentioning my swollen joints, stiff knees, poor eyesight and anything else that isn't as good as it once was. Let me remember that I have enjoyed a full and wonderful life, and have been blessed in so many ways. Now is not the time for me to begin complaining.

Please let my mouth be closed while my ears are open to hear the fun they are having. Let me remember that I am still setting an example for them, and that if I keep quiet, they will forever think that I never had a single ache or pain in my life, and that I miraculously escaped the ills of old age.

They will, in later years, remember me with pleasure and say, "I wish I had her genes. She never had anything wrong with her!"
That, dear Lord, will be the best legacy I can leave them.

A beautiful legacy began when Margaret Evelyn was born in 1931.  Other historical events from 1931 can be found here.

The Empire State Building was completed in 1931.

Born in 1931:  James Earl Jones, Hope Lange, Larry Hagman, Regis Philbin, Oklahomans, Mickey Mantle and Billy Vessels.

 Also born in 1931:  Angie Dickinson, William Shatner, James Dean, Olympia Dukakis, Leonard Nimoy, and Robert Duvall.

For other famous birthdays from 1931 go here.

If I hadn't started this blog I would have never known Margaret Evelyn.  Her son contacted me after reading this post.  Now we are all friends on Facebook and I can wish Margaret Evelyn a happy birthday.
Happy grandma's day.
Love,
Territory Mom

Oklahoma To Me - 18th Verse

Oklahoma to me . . .

is the smell of homemade biscuits and sizzling bacon

especially after you've been huntin' with your dad.

Love,

Territory Mom

P.S.  Don't worry my kids aren't big enough to go hunting with dad yet, but out here in the sticks it is sometimes necessary to carry a gun.  Only Big Daddy carries it because there are alot of varments out here.  Is that how you spell "vaaaarments"?

Go here for the best recipe for buttermilk biscuits.  Email me first before you try it. It takes skill or just pioneer spirit.

I found a photo of one of my buttermilk biscuits, yummy

I Curse The Poke Salad

 Since I did my post on poke salad I have made it 3 times.  That is 2 too many.   Big daddy was working on the lock & dam last week which gave him a perfect view of the Arkansas River bank.  He spotted that pokeweed and brought home a big sack full.

I think pokeweed season is over.  Maybe not, I'll probably make it one more time. My son inherited his love of poke salad from his daddy.  What are you going to do, just embrace the redneck and go on.

Love,

Territory Mom

Take A Picture - My Country Girl

She always has to have a photo taken of her and the eggs she gathers.  It cracks me up how she poses with them.  She is such a country girl.  Last night she told her daddy, "that rooster thinks that chicken is purdy".  Oh the things they see while living in the country.

Love,

Territory Mom

For more great photos go to Wordless Wednesdays

Not My Hands

My daughter gathers eggs every day, if possible.  We are working on a chicken coop so right now the eggs could be anywhere, but she always finds them.  She brought some to me and told me to make a cake with her eggs.  So I did.

As I was cracking the eggs in the bowl I noticed my hands.  They were not my hands.  I know what you are thinking, but they were not my mother's hands either.  It was almost surreal looking at my hands as they cracked fresh eggs.  Did they belong to my great grandmother?  Maybe.  She moved her husband and child to Oklahoma to be a farmer.  From what I understand it was her decision.  As you know they spent most of their lives in Comanche where my great grandma had a garden, cattle, chickens and always wore a white lace collar.  She gathered fresh eggs every morning and fed her chickens in the evenings.

Maybe Pearl was helping me make a cake for my family.  Thanks Pearl.

Happy Grandma's Day.

Love,

Territory Mom

Oklahoma To Me . . . 12th Verse

Oklahoma to me . . .

is waking up to horses on your porch

and cows in the backyard

Love,

Territory Mom

P.S. This really is my porch!!!

For more great Okie adventures check out The Prairie Maid

Congrats!! Prague Red Devils!!!!

Last night my beautiful blonde, long legged niece, Kitty Kate, played in a basketball tournament in faraway Hominy, OK.  I didn't hear from anyone so I thought the worst (I know I shouldn't have). I got up this morning and checked the paper, Shawnee News-Star

Yeah, yeah, they won, both the girls and the boys!!  How exciting!!!!

Have a great day.

Love,

Territory Mom

Here is more info about my hometown, Prague, OK. As you might have guessed it was settled by Czech immigrants.

Voices of My Family

Can you still remember the voices of your relatives that have gone on to heaven? I can remember voices of my family very clearly. I can hear my great grandma calling my grandpa's name. I can hear my grandpa's prayers.

Each voice of my siblings is distinct:

The free spirit - Every time I hear her voice my mind begins to imagine the places she has seen, the stories she has told of her adventures. We are with her on her journeys.

The teacher - She is following God's will. She is a lioness when it comes to her children and her students. I wish I had had a teacher like her when I was child.

The humorist - He always find the humor in every situation. He keeps it real.

The father figure - He is the voice of reason. He calms you and tells you, "this is what you need to do."

I hope you stay calm today and listen to the greatest voice of all, God's.

Love,

Territory Mom

They Lived In a Tent Down By The River

The John Henry Teem family, l to r: Ellis, Peter, John Henry, Minnie, Rosa Bell and Jewell. Three Two more children later, Steve, Anna and Calvin.  (Oldest daughter, Becky is not pictured)

These are my husband's people (my husband refers to his family as "his people", this is a common Okie phrase). My husband's grandma was Minnie, that pretty little girl with a frown. Of course she was living in a tent down by the river. Minnie always told my husband that he looked like her people and he does.

They crossed the Winding Stairs Mountains to Oklahoma. They lived in an area in Oklahoma which is now Eufaula Lake.

John Henry Teem was from Georgia. The original name was Diehm or Thieme. This family emigrated from Germany to Pennsylvania before 1750.

Rosa Bell was from Arkansas. She kept a secret her entire life. Her true identity was revealed after her death. I'll tell you the story tomorrow.

Happy Grandma's Day,

Territory Mom

When you Talk to an Okie Your Talkin' to History

My husband has a friend that we'll call "Dawg". He's a big guy with a gruff voice, he has a long beard, long hair, a real biker dude.

Dawg's a good guy, raised by his grandparents and still works grandpa's farm, the most beautiful bottom land in the tri-country area.

My son always loves to see him, he can't take his eyes off him. When my son was just a baby Dawg would pick him up, hold him close to face and talk to him eyeball to eyeball. My son was never afraid of this big man with the big voice. Was this a family trait Dawg inherited talking to children the way he does?

It was only a few years later when I read an article about Dawg's grandma that I found out that Dawg is Jesse Chisholm's great grandson. His grandma was going to the opening of the Chisholm Trail Heritage Center in Duncan.

So when you talk to an Okie it doesn't matter what they look like or what there wearing, most likely you'll be talkin' to history. A rich and wonderful history!!!!!

Have a great day,

Territory Mom

http://www.onthechisholmtrail.com/index.php

Family Traits

Have you ever where you got one of your traits? My grandpa, aka, the preacher, had very large hands. They were dark, wrinkled, thick and sometimes, firm. They looked liked an old leather baseball glove. This is a photo of his hands.

No one in our family has the same hands. I always wondered where he got his hands from until I found the man pictured below,

This is my great, great, great grandfather, that's 3 greats. His name was David Crockett Ramsey, Jr. His oldest daughter Malissa Ann Ramsey was my great great grandmother and her son was my grandfather's father. Got that? This photo was provided by another Ramsey descendant who graciously sent me a copy. More about the Ramsey clan later, its a long story. The hands on his shoulders belong to his daughters, which also belong to my mom and my sisters, long, lean and strong.

Happy Sunday,
Territory Mom

Family Legacy

What is your family legacy? Are you working the same farm your grandparents did, do you run a business that has been in your family for 100 years, do you have a secret recipe from your great aunt or a quilt your grandma made? What is my family's legacy? I've been doing this family research thing off and on for about 10 years. One of the things I discovered about my ancestors is that at one time they owned a lot of land. This land did not stay in our family. It was either squandered away, auctioned off to pay old debts, left in the middle of the night because they couldn't pay the bank for their cow or they just had to go to California like everyone else. What happened to my family legacy? Then I realized that my family's legacy was faith. They kept the faith. It was taught to their children and their children's children. Knowing joy comes in the morning. When a family member doesn't have enough faith to get through they can use a someone else's faith for awhile. Giving your faith away keeps it growing from generation to generation. Hold on, joy comes in the morning.

Territory Mom