Calvin Callcayah Smith
 |
| A Photograph Shared Digitally by Alan Yarborough from his grandmother, Elizabeth Purcell Hammer's collection. His grandmother and my mother, Bernyce Smith Gates, were cousins. The photo was labeled "Calvin in his WWI Uniform." |
128 years ago today, on March 13, 1894, my maternal
grandpa was born in the Hickory Grove community in Delaware District in the
Cherokee Nation. The state of Oklahoma did not exist. Instead, the land that
would become Oklahoma was divided into Oklahoma Territory and Indian
Territory. The Cherokee Nation was in Indian Territory.
His
father, Walter Smith gave his second son, my grandpa, the name Cul-lah-ca*
after his father, a Cherokee Trail of Tears survivor. Cul-lah-ca was his
name listed on the Drennan Roll of 1851, a record of those of Cherokee Descent
living in the Cherokee Nation. In 1851, Cul-lah-ca, my great-great grandfather,
was 18 years old. When he was around the age of five to six years old, he
walked the Trail of Tears with his widowed mother and younger brother from
their home in Georgia. Cul-lah-ca would have been 61 years old at the
time of Grandpa’s birth but had died in the Civil War in 1862 before reaching
the age of 30, according to family records.
My
grandfather valued education and loved learning. Of the four adults in our
home, he persisted in stressing the need for me to go to a teachers’ college.
Ironically, he only attended formal schooling to the fourth grade, saying he dropped
out because he was needed to work. Yet so many times he and my grandmother were
friends of the schoolteachers of the Bend. He valued intelligent people and
enjoyed conversation about ideas and philosophy with them.
Grandpa
married my grandma, a creative workaholic. Grandpa was heard once to tell her,
when in his 70s, that sometimes he just liked to sit. Grandma, a visionary,
frequently had a “project” on her “drawing board.” The Depression didn’t
squelch her creativity. My mother heard him say, with a bit of exasperation in
his voice, “You want me to make something from nothing!” Not only did they do
projects together but farmed and gardened together.
My mother, the only child of my maternal grandparents, attested her “daddy” was a doting father. However, she recently recalled that as an adolescent she wanted to do something, and Grandma had denied her request. Mother and Grandpa spoke very little to each other, but she gathered courage and approached him with her desire. Grandpa asked her what her mother said. When she replied, her responded, “You better do what she tells you to do.” Despite his laidback, permissive manner, Mother learned her parents were in solidarity for her good.
 |
One of my favorite photos of my mother** and her father. It shows her in her terrible twos and his determination to restrain her from getting down (even though he was considered permissive). L-R: Leo Rainey, Grandpa holding Mother, Johnie Rainey, and Lewis Rainey. Lewis was Grandpa's brother-in-law and the boys were his nephews. This photo from Grandma's album first appeared in: |
Finally,
Grandpa set a stellar example for the best practice for preparing to teach,
especially to teach God’s word. The man, with only a fourth-grade education,
following Sunday lunch, retired to his chair in the living room with his
trusted red pencil in hand with his Bible and Sunday School teacher’s
commentary and begin preparing for the next Sunday’s lesson. He spent time
daily preparing to teach his men’s Sunday School class.
In my
memory, I hear the faithful prayers that he prayed for “the girls” and know God is
continuing to answer those prayers for my sister, and me. The Bible
indicates in heaven are golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers
of the saints (Revelation 5:8).
Only when I reached adulthood did I
realize that Grandpa was in his mid-30s before he embraced the forgiveness
Jesus offers to those who come to Him. What a difference his commitment to
Jesus made in my life!
May each of us strive to make an impact
on the lives who are in our sphere of influence. We can start as Grandpa did
with prayer for them and then model a life worth emulating when we obey Jesus daily.
*Grandpa’s legal name was spelled Callcayah since that was how it appeared on the Dawes Roll of Original Cherokee Allottees. When I visited with Ruben Hopper who grew up with Grandpa in Eastern Oklahoma, he often referred to Grandpa as Cul-lah-ca or Cul.
**This is the earliest photograph we have of my mother.
Other Blog Postings about Grandpa, Calvin Callcayah SmithThe Legacy - https://bernadeanjgates.blogspot.com/2014/03/the-legacy.html
No comments :
Post a Comment