[Granville-Hough] 10 Jan 2009, A Cool Baptism

[Tom Richardson]

Hough Family,

I see that all of you have been blessed with a bit of winter in the deep South.  The storm that disrupted your lives went out to sea just South of NH and gave us only two inches of snow, just enough to be a routine nuisance. This morning it was 1’F here in Durham, NH, much colder inland and up in the mountains.

I have read Granville’s 2009 letter several times and broken it into paragraphs for clarity.  I even looked up the term “Letter of Demission” and found an explanation of it’s meaning.  

One point confuses me about Nora, did Granville leave out an important marriage detail ?  Is Nora Miller Keyes (b 1843) the same person as  Lenora Hough (founder of Fellowship Baptist Church, 1874) ?  If so, she would be 30 years old and remarried.  Did Jebetha Keyes disappear, divorce or die ?  This apparent / possible remarriage would seem to explain how Martha Lenora Miller Keyes (Hough?) became the grandmother of Granville Hough and other Hough’s.  

Also, in 1866 when all of the colored members of the Zion Hill Baptist Church received Letters of Dismission would that have most likely indicated that they were forming their own church ?

Just curious, does anyone have an explanations ?

Tom R 3

Tom Richardson
Durham, NH
cell 603-799-7610
tomr3 at comcast.net


(This 2009 email slightly edited for clarity)
Date: Sat, 10 Jan 2009 11:22:37 -0800
From: Granville W Hough <gwhough at oakapple.net <mailto:gwhough at oakapple.net>>
Subject: 10 Jan 2009, A Cool Baptism

Grandma Nora Hough’s Cool Baptism. 

	She was born Martha Lenora (Nora) Miller near old Bunker Hill on 16 Nov 1843, the ninth and last child of Hiram and Susanna Miller. At age 14 or 15 she married Jeptha Keyes, son of Benjamin and Nancy Keyes. Nancy Keyes, the mother-in-law to Nora, then died about 1860. Nora had one child, Benjamin, and was pregnant with the second, Aunt Nannie, on 9 Nov 1861 when Jeptha joined the Zion Hill Baptist Church. He was baptized the next day. The church did not have another conference until 11 Jan 1862, when Grandma Nora Keyes, with her helper, Matilda, came forward with experience to baptism, and her older sister Hannah E. Walker, joined by letter (Letter of Dismission transferring her from another church). Sister Nora Keyes and helper Matilda, sister of color belonging to Benjamin Keyes, were baptized 12 Jan 1862. They were received with the right hand of fellowship into the church.
	Grandma Nora was just 18 and mistress of the Keyes household. She developed firm ways that were remembered by her associates and neighbors for generations. Benjamin Keyes had selected a household helper to help Nora with the chores of motherhood and running the house. For the first time, we know this girl was named Matilda. The minister in the water with them was Elder West, known to us as Uncle Wilson West. Little did Nora Keyes know that she would later become his brother-in-law (probably should read sister-in-law).
	It may come as a surprise to some who grew up in the segregated South that people were that close to their slaves before the Civil War. It was somewhat like Mary and the little lamb. Everywhere Grandma Nora went, Matilda went. Caring for children together, going to church together, joining together, then to baptism into that freezing water together, then together receiving the right hand of fellowship from their neighbors and friends. There is no hint in the church minutes of any seating arrangement in church, but I assume the colored brothers and sisters wanted to socialize and sat together, and the whites did the same.
	It seems that Matilda was the wife of Alford Sullivan when all colored members were given “Letters of Dismission" by Zion Hill on Nov 10, 1866. She and Alford were tenants with the Sullivans for several years and they founded a black Sullivan family.
	I think one would certainly say Grandma Nora and Matilda had a cool baptism. There was another eventful and cool day in January well remembered in the family. Fifty years later, when grandson James Harold Hough was born on 6 Jan, 1912, the water was so cold that, as soon as the baby was safely born, new father Elisha Hough rushed into Cohay  swamp to find his cattle frozen in the reed breaks to such an extent he had to chop each one free of ice and get them out to dry land.
	I have noted that Frank and Nora Hough joined Ivy and Hannah Walker, Loughton Sullivan, and the Miller sons, the Cole family, and the William Spell family in leaving Sullivan’s Hollow and the Zion Hill Church when certain young Sullivans began to flout the law and terrorize their neighbors. The WPA history of Smith County (pp 116-117) indicates where the Walker and Hough family went. I was always told it was to some high ground or hill land between Raleigh and Taylorsville. It was actually near a primitive school called Fellowship.
	In May 1874, the Fellowship Baptist Church was established there with charter members John and Anna Mayfield, Charity Craft, B. P. and Cassandra Duckworth, Hannah E. Walker, J. M. Mayfield, Thomas Hester, Charlotte Hough, Franklin Hough, Lenora Hough, and N. J. Hester. Charlotte (Watts) Hough was the mother of Frank, and she had lived with Frank and Nora after her husband, Zeno, had died. (Charlotte Hough, sister of Frank was already Mrs. Wilson West, and lived in Wayne County.) This Fellowship Baptist Church became the home of Fellowship Cemetery, the largest in Smith County, and the first to have a paid custodian. So, counting Aunt Hannah Walker, Lenora’s older sister, four of the twelve people who founded the Fellowship Church and Cemetery were our folks.

> On Jan 10, 2017, at 9:20 AM, Trustees for Granville W. Hough <gwhough-trust at oakapple.net> wrote:
> 
> Date: Sat, 10 Jan 2009 11:22:37 -0800
> From: Granville W Hough <gwhough at oakapple.net>
> Subject: 10 Jan 2009, A Cool Baptism
> 
> Grandma Nora HoughĈs Cool Baptism. 
> 
> She was born Martha Lenora
> Miller near old Bunker Hill on 16 Nov 1843, the ninth and last child of
> Hiram and Susanna Miller. At age 14 or 15 she married Jeptha Keyes, son
> of Benjamin and Nancy Keyes. Nancy Keyes, the mother-in-law to Nora,
> then died about 1860. Nora had one child, Benjamin, and was pregnant
> with the second, Aunt Nannie, on 9 Nov 1861 when Jeptha joined the Zion
> Hill Baptist Church. He was baptized the next day. The church did not
> have another conference until 11 Jan 1862, when Grandma Nora Keyes, with
> her helper, Matilda, came forward with experience to baptism, and her
> older sister Hannah E. Walker, joined by letter. Sister Nora Keyes and
> helper Matilda, sister of color belonging to Benjamin Keyes, were
> baptized 12 Jan 1862. They were received with the right hand of
> fellowship into the church. Grandma Nora was just 18 and mistress of the
> Keyes household. She developed firm ways that were remembered by her
> associates and neighbors for generations. Benjamin Keyes had selected a
> household helper to help Nora with the chores of motherhood and running
> the house. For the first time, we know this girl was named Matilda. The
> minister in the water with them was Elder West, known to us as Uncle
> Wilson West. Little did Nora Keyes know that she would later become his
> brother-in-law.
> (It may come as a surprise to some who grew up in the segregated South
> that people were that close to their slaves before the Civil War. It was
> somewhat like Mary and the little lamb. Everywhere Grandma Nora went,
> Matilda went. Caring for children together, going to church together,
> joining together, then to baptism into that freezing water together,
> then together receiving the right hand of fellowship from their
> neighbors and friends. There is no hint in the church minutes of any
> seating arrangement in church, but I assume the colored brothers and
> sisters wanted to socialize and sat together, and the whites did the
> same. It seems that Matilda was wife of Alford Sullivan when all colored
> members were given letters of dismission by Zion Hill on Nov 10, 1866.
> She and Alford were tenants with the Sullivans for several years and
> they founded a black Sullivan family.)
> I think one would certainly say Grandma Nora and Matilda had a cool
> baptism. There was another eventful and cool day in January well
> remembered in the family. Fifty years later, when grandson James Harold
> Hough was born on 6 Jan, 1912, the water was so cold that, as soon as
> the baby was safely born, new father Elisha Hough rushed into Cohay 
> swamp to find his cattle
> frozen in the reed breaks to such an extent he had to chop each one free
> of ice and get them out to dry land.
> I have noted that Frank and Nora Hough joined Ivy and Hannah Walker,
> Loughton Sullivan, and the Miller sons, the Cole family, and the William
> Spell family in leaving SullivanĈs Hollow and the Zion Hill Church when
> certain young Sullivans began to flout the law and terrorize their
> neighbors. The WPA history of Smith County (pp 116-117) indicates where
> the Walker and Hough family went. I was always told it was to some high
> ground or hill land between Raleigh and Taylorsville. It was actually
> near a primitive school called Fellowship. In May 1874, the Fellowship
> Baptist Church was established there with charter members John and Anna
> Mayfield, Charity Craft, B. P. and Cassandra Duckworth, Hannah E.
> Walker, J. M. Mayfield, Thomas Hester, Charlotte Hough, Franklin Hough,
> Lenora Hough, and N. J. Hester. Charlotte (Watts) Hough was the mother
> of Frank, and she had lived with Frank and Nora after her husband, Zeno,
> had died. (Charlotte Hough, sister of Frank was already Mrs. Wilson
> West, and lived in Wayne County.) This Fellowship Baptist Church became
> the home of Fellowship Cemetery, the largest in Smith County, and the
> first to have a paid custodian. So, counting Aunt Hannah Walker,
> LenoraĈs older sister, four of the twelve people who founded the
> Fellowship Church and Cemetery were our folks.
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Granville-Hough mailing list
> Granville-Hough at oakapple.net
> http://mailman.oakapple.net/mailman/listinfo/granville-hough

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