[Granville-Hough] 6 Apr 2009 -

[Trustees for Granville W. Hough]

Date: Mon, 06 Apr 2009 06:52:22 -0700
From: Granville W Hough <gwhough at oakapple.net>
Subject: FaithfulTither - 6 April 2009

Guinea Joe Sullivan - the Blacksmith

    Guinea Joe Sullivan was a grandson in the first family of Sullivans, 
son of Thomas Sullivan, Jr, and Elizabeth (Bishop), and was called 
"Guinea" Joe to separate him from the other Joe Sullivans.  He married 
Nancy Butler, and both are buried in the Steve  Hughes Cemetery of Smith 
County.  Guinea Joe was either Joseph or Josiah, no one now seems sure.  
He was the community blacksmith for Upper Cohay and the  "Old Salem" 
community where the Hough and Richardson families lived.  He remained 
there after others moved south to be near the railroad.  It is likely 
that "Guinea Joe" considered himself to be a member of the "Sillivant" 
families of Beat 1, hardly related to the renegade "Sullivan" families 
living in Beat 3, his half  first cousins.
    Guinea Joe was a faithful member of the "Old Salem" Baptist 
congregation, and he took his tithing duties seriously.  He charged five 
cents to sharpen a plow, so that he contributed to the church in 
nickels.  This gave rise to the expression: "How many plows did you 
sharpen for your Lord today?"  Actually, it is a rhetorical question 
which could be asked of any of us.  If we are doing as well as Guinea 
Joe, we probably are given the right to speak in church and help guide 
the community.
    I do note that Guinea Joe married Nancy Butler, and the Butler name 
reminds me of a British saying: "Little women, big breeders," which I 
ran across in genealogical studies.  The Butlers seemed to be  people of 
relatively small size but very muscular and active.  The women were  
indeed  prone to large families.  They were typically nice-looking and 
industrious homemakers.  In growing up in Smith and Simpson counties of 
MS, I knew several Butler families; and they all seem to have  the same 
characteristics.  The families of that area must have been related.  
Several were my schoolmates in Mize Grade School.  One, Mary Helen 
Butler, was with me from Kindergarten through the 8th grade.  She 
married her neighbor, Orlean Roberts, and they lived in Jackson.  On the 
night of the recent tornado in Magee, about five hours before it 
happened, she called me, as she was about to visit her younger sister in 
northern California.  We had last talked when she was going to Atlanta 
to be present at the birth of a great-grandchild.  She also told me she 
had inherited a step-great, great, grandchild.  In the last class 
picture we had, we were seated, side by side, on the bottom front row.  
My recollection of the event was that if I had to sit next to a girl, I 
wanted her to be a pretty one; so I ran and got the place next to Mary 
Helen.  About that time she dropped the Mary, and became just Helen; now 
she says I am the only one who even remembers her first name is Mary.