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James Dunnam home, near Brewton, Escambia Co., AL, circa 1900 (click to enlarge) |
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The Yearling, N. C. Wyeth |
Sunday night I watched the wonderful 1946 film adaptation of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings' The Yearling, the story of a rebel soldier and his wife, who after the Civil War, become pioneer farmers in Florida. Every time I see it, I am reminded of my great-great-great-grandparents, James Alexander Dunnam and his wife Sina Isabelle Morris, who farmed near Brewton, Escambia County, Alabama, near the Florida border, just after the Civil War. They raised nine children in this house, that looks so much like the one in the movie. I often wonder what similar hardships they suffered, and what "Old Slewfoot" stories they might have to tell. My great-grandmother, Ida Belle Lewis, is the little girl sitting on the left of the front steps, with her hand raised to shield her eyes from the sun. Notice the portrait of the Dunnam's deceased son, Enoch, her uncle, placed outside on the porch, as part of the family photo.
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James Alexander Dunnam and Sina Isabelle Morris Dunnam, circa 1900 |