My paternal Grandmother Myrtle Cora Henderson Reese is the origin of my Henderson Line for me. But I never gleaned as much info from her as I did from my Great-Aunt Alma Henderson Keener. But some of that could be because I was so young and never thought to question my grandmother much about our family history until it was too late and she was gone. My grandmother was a voracious reader and was a genius when it came to gardening and growing flowers, vegetables and more. Her root cellar was like a grocery store. She and Alma shared that passion for cooking, growing and canning. Unfortunately she died before I could learn more from her. But thru Alma I learned much about my grandmother that I never thought to ask about while my grandmother was alive.
My grandmother Myrtle died when I was only 14 years old in December 1978. The week of the funeral I stayed with my Great-Aunt Alma Henderson Keener. Boy could she cook. I ate better that week than I did at home in a month. But in retrospect my mother worked outside the home and barely had time to cook because of her work responsibilities. But for my Great-Aunt Alma cooking was a way of life. She cherished the simple, yet daily grinding tasks of "housekeeping" as she called it. And that housekeeping included cooking, canning, preserving, and making and meeting all sorts of daily needs. And I loved that about her. She took great pride in the simple things that many of us take for granted. And she warned me when I married in 1997 that housekeeping was a full time job. She was so right. Fortunately for me my wife has been a superhero and covered most all of that for over 20 years while I constantly worked and traveled for work.
After that week of my grandmother's funeral in December 1978 passed I charged ahead into the high speed pace of high school and college and didn't see my Great- Aunt Alma for another decade and several years. After college I started making my way back to Highlands periodically and then after 1990 I picked up the amount of trips I made there every year. I often went with my dad. In the early '90s when I visited Alma again for the first time in a decade and a half she reminded me that age 14 I was wearing headphones & listening to music all the time and never talked to her much. Alma's memory was really keen. I told her I pretty much lived, breathed and slept music during that period of my life. But as I grew older I broadened my palate and developed a thirst for learning about history and our family and wanted her to talk to me about it.
When I first visited Alma again in the summers after college I remember thinking how much Alma & my Grandmother Myrtle sounded so much like each other. Alma's vocal tone, inflections and timbre were almost identical to my Grandmothers. I guess I notice those things more because I have worked in radio for multiple decades and talked to thousands of people on the phone and when I meet them in person I'm able to tell who they are because of their vocal tone and inflections. Every since I started working in the broadcast industry I have always been acutely aware of voices and their idiosyncrasies and tones and inflections.More to the point, my Great Aunt Alma has been a huge help in collecting info on our Henderson, Moss & Stewart families. And she gained a bit of fame in her own right in her homeland in the North Carolina mountains. Asheville-Citizen Times columnist John Parris, who for years chronicled the lives and stories of the people and places of the Western North Carolina mountains wrote about Alma in June 1981--the article is below.
Alma Henderson Keener and husband Claude Keener about to rev it up!
Claude was a great banjo player!
Reese & Keener Families-circa 1940 -Left to right, Claude Keener, Myrtle Cora Henderson Reese holding Lucy Reese, Alma Henderson Keener--front row-Bernice Keener Talley, Alice Faye Reese Sewell, Ben Keener, Furman Reese, Dallas Ray Reese Sr.
HENDERSON KIDS- CIRCA 1922
Pine Creek, Jackson County North Carolina left to right-back row-Florence, Myrtle, front row-Alma and Bill(William Conrad) Henderson
Back in the early 1990s when my dad and I started doing family research we decided to visit as many relatives as we could to try and glean additional information on our family's history. And my dad's first thought was , 'let's go see Aunt Alma".
My Great-Aunt Alma had always been close to my dad, and during visits to Alma's house on the hill on Hicks road in Highlands North Carolina, I realized how much she and my dad both cared about the history of our families. And on those visits we'd make a stop down the hill to see my dad's cousin Bernice and her husband Ed Talley. They were far and away the kindest people on earth.
As much as Alma loved our family history she was shy in front of a camera and would never consent to allowing me to video any of our interviews. So I did what any good reporter would do, I snuck a recorder into my pocket to record some of our family history talks. I valued the information and knowledge Alma had, even though she was a bit reticent to be recorded. She had a wealth of knowledge and even in advanced age she could remember with crystal clear vision things that had happened 75 years earlier. I marveled at her quick wit, common sense, and wisdom about life and her time growing up in the mountains. She was resourceful, smart, thrifty and very astute in observing the psychological ways of others. And she also was careful. Every time we talked she would warn me, "Dallas there are things you might not want to hear. We have skeletons in our closet and sometimes they are best left there" Well that intrigued me more than anything in the world. Who doesn't love drama? Especially when it's your own family. Down the road I'll share more of these fascinating stories, some which shocked me.
One of the most tragic stories Alma told me was about the death of her son Benjamin Claude Keener.
Alma told me the pain was unbearable. On the day we discussed this episode in her life, it had been just over 40 years since the tragedy occurred. She broke down crying as she relayed how she felt so helpless when Ben was burned to death back in 1952. On that fateful day, A Thursday morning July 17, 1952, her son Benjamin Claude Keener(named after his dad) was at their house in Highlands, burning out yellow jacket nests to remove them from their yard. His clothing caught fire and Alma came running when she heard his screams. Alma received severe burns herself on her hands and arms trying to save him. She got him to the hospital on that Thursday about 12:30pm. But as strong as Ben was he could not survive the severe burns to most of his body. He held on for another day, then quietly passed away, Friday evening July 18th 1952 at about 9pm. That Sunday July 20, 1952 funeral services for Ben were held at Shortoff Baptist Church in Highlands. My dad, Ray Reese served as one of the pallbearers. My dad told me that was one of the rougher days of his life, having to carry his cousin to his grave. Benjamin Claude Keener was born on March 9, 1937 and died on Friday July 18, 1952. Only 15 years old. He was just finishing up middle school, and ready to start high school. Alma told me she cried for weeks. It was the saddest day of her life, losing her precious 15 year old son. I can't imagine the pain, but I know when Alma and I talked we discussed that her strong faith in God held her together and she had the promise of being reunited with her son in heaven. As I listened to Alma recount this story I cried for her, for Ben, for her husband Claude and for her daughter Bernice. Because even though I wasn't there, when Alma relayed this story it was like stepping back in time 40 years to that very day of tragedy. It is hard to fathom that level of grief and sadness, the sense of loss and depression that surely follows when a parent loses a child. But Alma was strong and would carry on, like so many of her strong willed Scottish ancestors.
ALMA HENDERSON KEENER
with kids, Bernice Keener Talley & Benjamin Claude Keener
Listening back in 2020 to these interviews I did with Alma decades ago, I realize now that she laid all the history bare. She told me: the good, the bad, pretty, ugly, happy stories, sad stories, tales of drink and debauchery, tales of mountain feuds and murders among family members, love, caring, neighbor helping neighbor. She shared the fierce love and orneriness in our family and yet not converse but coinciding in harmony the strong belief in God and his paternal divine providence. Alma shared the daily fight against the weather in growing crops, the terrain and the joys and perils of survival. Alma did not hold back or pull any punches. And I appreciate that she shared our history honestly and with candor. I've always been the same way. Tell the truth, be candid with people and realize sometimes honesty will be painful but always realize the truth is the truth and that's what should be shared and that's the way it is.
Alma Henderson Keener and Dallas Reese in the mid 1990s Highlands, NC
The accomplished artist Hubert Shuptrine focused some of his work about the south on my Aunt Alma. He painted a picture called "Alma's Apples"
Alma once told me how she bleached apples and said she had learned the technique from her Grandmother Octavia Norton Henderson. Hubert recorded her method in his description of his painting.
Shuptrine related that Highland’s own famous cook Alma Keener had invited himself and his wife Phyllis to her cellar to watch her bleach apples, a preserving method that was a carry-over from pioneer days. Firm apples were peeled, thickly sliced and put in a basket. Then Alma placed a pan of live coals in the bottom of an old-fashioned barrel and sprinkled a couple of spoonfuls of sulfur on the coals. Next, the basket was suspended over the acrid fumes. A quilt was draped over the barrel, intensifying the smoke. We breathed through wet bandannas. Alma explained that a thorough smoking with sulfur kills germs that might otherwise cause the sliced apples to spoil. And she said that at the same time, the sulfur bleaches the slices so that they remain white for months. Hours later, after the sulfuring, Alma put up the apple slices in jars or pottery crocks with white cloths loosely tied over the tops, then set the containers away for winter.
ALMA'S APPLES
Alma died in 2001, and I was so sad when I could not attend the funeral. My dad, ever close to her, officiated the rites and for that I am grateful. He loved her so much.
The picture below is my Grandmother Myrtle Henderson Reese's family---taken circa early 1960s in Jackson County, North Carolina----Great Aunt Alma Henderson Keener, Bill,(William Conrad Henderson, Myrtle(my grandmother) and down front their parents(and my Great Grandparents) Deck and Dessie Moss Henderson.
Reese, Henderson, Keener families-1939 on the road to Gatlinburg, Tennessee
left to right-down front my uncle Pete Reese, and My Great Grandfather Deck Henderson. In the car standing left-Bernice Keener Talley, seated, Claude Keener, Furman Reese & my dad Ray Reese, My Grandmother Myrtle Henderson Reese, Faye Reese(my dad's twin sister) and My Great Aunt Alma Henderson Keener seated on the far right. My dad told me this was a really fun trip. My Grandfather Robert Lee Reese snapped this picture.
Family of My Great-Great-Grandparents
WILLIAM AND OCTAVIA NORTON HENDERSON Pine Creek, Jackson County, North Carolina 1913
Left to right back row: My Great- Grandmother Dessie Moss Henderson, Burnie Henderson, My Great Grandfather Deck Henderson, Mandi Stewart Evit holding Bertha Evit, Garfield Evit, Tish Watson, Eugene Henderson, Julius Moss, Ruthie Jane Stewart Moss,(2nd row front left to right) My grandmother Myrtle Henderson, Florence Henderson, William Conrad Henderson(seated), My Great-Aunt Alma Henderson, Shirley Moss, My Great-Great Grandfather William Henderson, and my Great-Great Grandmother Octavia Norton Henderson and boys seated in front, Lawton Evitt and Fred Evitt!