[Granville-Hough] 27 Oct 2009 - Ancie Johnson

[Trustees for Granville W. Hough]

Hi Granville,

The Ancie Johnson you mentioned in your notes a few days ago is a name
that  I well remember.  I presume we both refer to the same Ancie.
Actually, he was a personable fellow as I remember who always seemed
to be driving a new car. His rapid laugh was something like a rapid
"Heh Heh Heh!" but didn't stop at three "Hehs."  Ancie was what I
would describe as -- if there ever was any such thing -- the "playboy"
of Mize.  He courted both single and married girls, many of them,  but
he didn't stay long with any of them very long after an initial
conquest.

I never knew that Ancie was married until one time in my teens I was
engaged -- with others -- to work on his farm, his, I suppose, since
his wife, whose maiden name was Ainsworth, fed the workers the noonday
meal and whatever else was necessary.  I cannot now remember her
name.  I suppose what we were doing was chopping cotton, but it could
have been some other farm work. At any rate the hours were from
sunrise to sundown -- or from "can see to can't" as it was called.

I guess that Ancie was an auto mechanic, or somehow involved with
automobiles.  I often wondered if some jealous husband or boyfriend
might put a bullet into him.  I see now -- in the "Smith County
Mississippi Cemeteries"  (c. 1999) --that  Ancie Andrew Johnson,  (b.
1910 and d. 1974) and his wife Vera Ruth (1917-1988) were buried both
in the Mize, MS  cemetery.

Harold H.

GWH: Ancie Johnson was just enough older than my brothers Harold and
Dueward Hough that he had the physical and mental advantage over them.
They always spoke of him with a sort of wariness or aloofness.  I picked
up the idea that he was sly and cunning and that you could not come out
ahead in a deal with him.
	Much later in life, I heard somehow that a "factory" was to be started
in Mize with Ancie Johnson as its manager.  It was to use the excess
labor of the community.  My thought was that this "factory" would go
bust and everybody involved would lose money, except Ancie Johnson, who
would somehow come through smelling roses.
	I cannot verify any of the factory story or any other aspects of
Ancie's life.  In retrospect, one can observe that he did make a living
in Mize, at a time when the pickings were not bountiful.  He had to be
energetic, resourceful, and economical just to survive.  If he had
crooked dealings, I hope he had time to claim the grace of God before he
died.  There have been worse people, particularly in or near Mize.  If
he had children, I hope them well.
	Ancie had a brother named "Dee" Johnson who was my favorite of the
family when it lived with us as tenants.  I think Dee may have been my
baby sitter on some occasions.  Several years later I heard he had
married a Miss Sullivan, my second grade teacher and daughter of Oliver
"The Paddler" Sullivan, our school principal.  Then I found from burial
records that she had at least been buried as wife of someone else.  I
never learned what happened to Dee.  The father of this Johnson family
was Andrew, and I do not remember the mother's name.