Lois Edna Verner Brackett Ramsay~A Feminist Ahead of Her Time

Edna with Episcopal Bishop John Bruno at the CSW parade in West Hollywood

A tribute to our mother Lois Edna Verner Brackett-Ramsay-Garren.

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Mrs. Garren was born on the east bank of the Tugalo river in Occonee county South Carolina on November 5, 1912. Her mother was Nancy Garner-Brackett of Stephen’s county Georgia, a local mid-wife. Her father was Edward Ramsay, who owned a sawmill in Oconee county South Caolina (across the Tugalo river).

She was almost named Woodrow because she was born on the day Woodrow Wilson was elected president.

She grew up in a small farming community of Deercourt in Stephens county, on the west bank of the Tugalo River in north east Georgia. Her mother sharecropped to raise six children in an abandoned train station. At the age of ten, Edna realized that no one would ever take care of her, particularly a man. Inspired by her oldest sister Laura Louise, she became determined to escape the grinding poverty of her surroundings.

Story of Laura Louise Brackett-Beasley

Edna at 14

At 15, she applied for and received a full scholarship and left home to complete a high school education at Tallulah Falls High School.  TFHS was established by the Georgia Federation of Women's Clubs in the early 1920's.  After women got the right ot vote, The "suffrage" movement became "Women's Clubs" with the specific mission of creating and enhancing educational and career opportunities for girls and young women in the United States.  

Her mother's response was to declare her "No longer my daughter" because Edna would not commit to staying home and taking care of her mother.

A geneologist friend compiled the history of Edna's mother's family.  There were significant family secrets and (shame filled) history.  Basically, Edna's mother was a "bastard" (born out of marriage).  Her mother had six children by 5 different men, wasn't married to the last 4, including Edna's father, Edwin Ramsay.  
A History of the Brackett Family of Stephens County Georgia

At TFHS she made the first reed basket at the school craft shop, was a loom threader in the weave shop, and was the first girl to take woodworking shop. The boarding students such as Edna made quilts, sweaters, and other crafts to be sold to help pay for their expenses. Mrs. Garren retained many of these skills, and over her lifetime made many quilts, knitting, needlepoint displays and other crafts. She made her last quilt in her early 90s, a photo of her with it is below.

She was Salutatorian of her graduating class. At the time of her passing, she was the oldest living graduate of the school.  She was named one of four outstanding former students of Tallulah Falls by the homecoming committee of the class of 1988.

Edna graduated in 1931 and lived briefly in Norfolk Virginia (with Louise) before moving to Tampa Florida in 1932.  Her older sister, Grace Kemp lived in Tampa with her husband, Alger Kemp (who was a gifted "ink" artist).  Her quick wit and charm brought her into favorable attention of local civic and business community leaders in Tampa and she enjoyed a lively career as a legal secretary and office manager.

Edna on Franklin Street in Tampa, mid 1930's.

She is in the suit and hat to the left of the street light pole, she made the suit and hat.  During the Depression, she made most of her clothes.

In 1939 she met Edward Voltaire Garren on an arranged blind date and the two courted for approximately 15 months and married at the home of “Sweet Pea” and Dora Mahoney in the Forest Hills section of Tampa on a Wednesday night in August of 1940.  A delightful recording of my parents telling how they met, married and the outbreak of WWII is at this link:
"Ed & Edna Garren remember 1940 & WWII" 

At the beach on an early date with Edward Voltaire Garren

In 1948, out on the town in Tampa, Florida

She had 4 pregnancies.  The first mis-carried at 5 months, the second was my brother Francis Edward "Gene" Garren.  The third was a daughter, Martha Edna who was born with Spina Bifida and lived 45 days.  I was the fourth pregnancy, born in 1949.  In typical "Southern humor" I occasionally joked that they should have quit while they were ahead, we all laugh.

After my baptism (at St. Mary's Dade City)  I was a year old.

In 1950 the Garren family moved to Dade City Florida where they lived for 35 years. In Dade City Edna opened the Credit Bureau of Dade City which she owned for ten years and then sold to continue a career managing the State Attorney and Clerk of the Circuit Court’s offices until her retirement in 1977 on the day she turned 65.

At the 75th Anniversary celebration of St. Mary's in Dade City,

with Kate Cowen & Beth Marie Sperry

During her time in Dade City, she was president of the Dade City Women’s Club, a Democratic Executive Committee Member and founder of the Eleanor Roosevelt Democratic Club for Women. She was very active in the life of St. Mary’s Episcopal church as well, serving on the Altar Guild, Choir, Daughter’s of the King, and the Episcopal Church Women.

She was always adamant that her name not be published as “Mrs. Edward V. Garren", stating that she was not Mrs. to anyone except herself.

With Frances & Cliff Freeman at the Western Auto Store in Dade City

In 1985 the Garren’s moved to Asheville North Carolina and soon became active in the life of All Soul’s Episcopal Church in Biltmore Village. 

In 1992 her husband Edward died at the age of 82 of congestive heart failure. In 1994 she moved to West Hollywood California where she became active in St. Thomas Episcopal church, volunteering in the HIV patient lunch program and performed in a production of “The Matchmaker” (the non-musical of “Hello Dolly”).

Photos of the West Hollywood years are below:

With good friend Hank Weinstein (2001)

 At the Grand Canyon

 Touring Monument Valley (1991)

 Going to the Monday Farmer's Market at Vista & Fountain

 Edna loved hats, and was loved by the woman who sold them at the Farmer's Market.

Edna in "Dillard House Heaven" at the Dillard House in Dillard, Georgia (2002)

 Edna with grandson Michael Lee Garren, his mother Wonhui (in red) and his aunt Lee Bass

 My God Daughter, Ruthenia Nicole Glenn-Ramirez, her husband Jorge and their two kids, Genevive and Gilbert (circa 2004)

 Edna at a Pumpkin stand in Santa Paula, CA (circa 1995)

Edna loved living in West Hollywood.  In additon to the weather, she enjoyed the rich diversity of the people she met and spent time with.  Years before, when I lived in Miami, she expressed her pleasure that I was learning Spanish.  "No one is really educated if they only speak one language.  A person should know at least two" was her beliefs on the issue of "Multi-lingualism."  She explained that she had never had an opportunity to learn and use a second language, and was glad that both of her sons, and grandson Michael, spoke multiple languages.

In addition, Mrs. Garren participated in many Christopher Street West (Gay & Lesbian pride) parades in support of the Democratic Party. Mrs. Garren received two “Outstanding Citizen” awards from the City of West Hollywood, and November 5, 1992 was declared “Edna Garren Day” in recognition of her 90th birthday.

 Luis & Edna at one of the many CSW (LGBTQ Pride) parades we were in

 With Julie Summers at CSW

 Councilmember John Jude Duran presenging her award for her 90th Birthday

 With U.S. Senator Bob Graham whom we supported for President

We were honored to attend the wedding of Angelique & Cleophus Rawls

In 2005 Edna went to live with my brother Gene Garren in western North Carolina.  She enjoyed her "Mountain Years" which were very close to the Northeast Georgia hills she had left in her youth.  

 Edna's room in Asheville NC. One of her many quilts.

 One of her early quilts, which I still have and cherish

Edna at her 95th Birthday Party in Asheville, NC (2007)

Edna Garren (Lois Edna Verner Ramsay-Garren) passed away on Tuesday August 24th, 2010, from (to use her words) “Old Age and Aggrevation”. She was 97 years old. She had been in declining health for about 12 months. She passed away peacefully around 8:40 AM (EDT) in Burnsville North Carolina, her oldest son Gene was with her when she passed.

This quote in many ways, embodied how our mother Edna lived her life.

"Faith is not believing that certain claims or statements about God are true. Genuine faith presumes a relationship with God...and a way of seeing the world as life-giving and nourishing rather than as hostile and threatening.”  

Brother David Vryhof, Society of St. John the Evangelist

The video of her 90th birthday party is here.  There are two parts, enjoy them both.  Edna's 90th birthday in West Hollywood, CA (2002).

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"I have the nerve to walk my own way, however hard, in my search for reality, 

rather than climb upon the rattling wagon of wishful illusions."

      Letter from (fellow Floridian) Zora Neale Hurston

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zora_Neale_Hurston

 to Countee Cullen

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Countee_Cullen

“There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique and if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and will be lost… the world will not have it.

It is not your business to determine how good it is, nor how valuable, nor how it compares with other expressions. 

It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open …” 

- Martha Graham, in a letter to Agnes De Mille; published in “The Life and Work of Martha Graham”

The History of the Brackett Family Of Stephens County, Georgia

The History of the Brackett Family Of Stephens County, Georgia Rediscovered

By Robert C. Dodd Jr. 2013

A collection of family photos are below the report

The rediscovery of the family heritage of Edna Verner Brackett (1912-2010) has been made possible by advances in the availability of governmental and public documents that were difficult to access in former years. US Census records that were available only in the form of microfilm a decade ago are now available online with far more advanced search features. Interpretation of Edna’s heritage is based upon hard documentation as follows, and must begin with the early life of her mother, Nancy (Brackett) Garner (1878-1953).

The Life and Times of Nancy (Brackett) Garner
Without the privilege of an interview with Nancy Garner, one may deduce that she was a secretive woman, hardened by disappointments in life and love, and burdened with the duty to raise her children without the benefit of a breadwinning husband. The public record gives ample substance to her story, which began in the household of her parents, Felix Benton Brackett and Margret W. Thacker in Stephens County, Georgia in 1900. Other historical records indicate that Felix Brackett and his brother William Mansfield Brackett were prominent members of the Baptist Church of Stephens County, Georgia. (Wm. Mansfield Brackett was a Confederate Veteran and Baptist minister).
From Nancy’s death certificate, recorded in Stephens County, we learn that she died at the age of74 on 18 Feb 1953. Thus armed with the implication that she was born in or about 1879, we turn to the 1900 U.S. Census of Stephens County, Georgia and discover the following information:

• F.(elix) B. Brackett (50) and Margret (Thacker) (45) appear as head of household with the following additional family members:
• Two adult sons appear in the household: John A. Brackett (21) and Doctor B. Brackett (26)
• One daughter, Nancy (Brackett) Prather* (17) appears in the household with her two young children, Will M. Prather* and Louisa L. Prather*.
• *The Census transcript is clear and easy to read, but the orthography could also be read as (PaUther or PaNther). The orthography of the third letter of the surname appears to be “U” because it is identical to the third letter of the child named “LoUise”. A rendering of the third letter as “N” seems highly unlikely although automated indices of the US Census have rendered the name PaNther. Standard histories of Stephens County do not

attest the occurrence of “Pauther” or “Panther” in the district, although those names do occur elsewhere in Georgia. Prather is a common surname in Stephens County, and seems the most likely rendering of the name. We will proceed with the working premise that Prather is correct, and amend that later if new evidence comes to light.

• In the US Census, variation in the spelling of surnames is common, exacerbated by the fact that many census takers were compelled to guess a proper spelling, based upon the speech or dialect of district. The informant of the Brackett household may have said Prather, and the census taker only heard Pauther and transcribed what he heard.
• According to the 1900 US Census, Nancy Prather was a recent widow, which implies that Will(iam) M(ansfield) Prather and his sister Louisa were the children of a recently deceased husband and father.
• Further confirmation of the family lineage may be found in the namesake tradition of the Brackett family. Nancy’s son, William Mansfield Prather Brackett was named in honor of her paternal uncle, William Mansfield Brackett (1845-1925), the Confederate Veteran and Baptist minister. Such a complex and distinctive name could not occur by accident, and gives positive identification to the members of the Brackett family in the U.S. Census of Stephens County, Georgia in 1900.
• The Census records that Nancy Prather was born in July 1878, which is a nearly perfect match for the implication of her death certificate, ca. 1879.
• Living memory and oral tradition of Edna Verner Brackett attest that her mother Nancy Garner had two elder children named William Mansfield, and Louisa. Thus, there is no question that we have discovered the correct family and household, and a new key to the heritage of the Brackett Family.
  The rediscovery of the 1900 Census of Stephens County, Georgia lays to rest the question of the true surname of Nancy (Brackett) Garner at birth. The following evidence shows that Nancy never used the Garner surname before 1930, although it is possible that she may have used it as early as 1920, but as yet it has not been possible to locate Nancy in the 1920 U.S. Census. The discovery of such a record would be helpful but unlikely at the present time.

• In 1900, Nancy uses the surname Prather (Pauther) with implication of recent widowhood.
• In 1910, Nancy uses the surname BrOckett (doubtlessly a scribal error), having reverted to her maiden name.
• In 1918, Nancy’s son William Mansfield “Brackett” gave information to the World War I draft board that his closest of kin was: Mrs. Nancy Brackett, Route 3, Toccoa, Stephens County.
• In 1920, we have no US Census record.
• In 1930, Nancy uses the surname Garner with no male head of household. Her children
  Edna, Frances and Velma are listed as “Garner”.
• In 1940, Nancy B.(rackett) Garner shares the household with daughter, Velma G.(arner)
  Standridge. It also states that Nancy Garner had achieved no more than a 5th grade education.

Public records suggest that Nancy Garner bore her eldest children by a husband named Prather, and became a widow at the age of 17. In 1910, Nancy and her eldest children (Willliam, Louise, Mary Grace and Velma) reverted to her birth surname of Brackett until at least 1920. In 1930, the use of Garner as a surname implies a relationship with a man of that surname, but no credible document has appeared to support it at this time.

The Mystery of Edwin Alexander Ramsay

Oral tradition and living memory of Edna Verner Brackett attest that she was the daughter of one “Edward Ramsay” (Surviving records indicate that his true name was “Edwin”. The problem was to discover if such a named person ever existed in the vicinity of Stephens County, Georgia. The answer to this question lies in the Stephens County Census of 1893:

• In the 1893 enumeration we find the household of Andrew Hamilton Ramsay and his wife, Sara Azalea Jarrett.
• 15-year old Eddie Ramsay appears in the Census with an implication of birth in about 1878. His actual birth date was 25 February 1878, a few months before Nancy Brackett Garner’s birth in July 1878. Thus, they are a perfect match in age, location and generation.
• Edna Verner Brackett was born in November 1912 when Edwin and Nancy were 34 years of age.
• Edwin Ramsay was single at the time of the 1910 Census and also single at the time of his World War I draft registration in 1918, which implies he was probably still single at the time of Edna’s birth. This gives credence to the report that Nancy Garner hoped that Ed Ramsay would marry her, but it is clear that he did not make that commitment.
  Records of Stephens County indicate that Edwin’s father, Andrew Hamilton Ramsay, was a Confederate Veteran and that he was also a prominent merchant in Toccoa, Stephens, Georgia. His family had a fair amount of social standing in the local Presbyterian Church and the community at large. The heritage of the Ramsay family is easy to trace in the annals of Stephens, Georgia and Oconee County, South Carolina. This is another confirmation of oral history in Edna Brackett’s family, that her father (Ramsay) had ties to Oconee County, South Carolina. The case for identification of Edwin Ramsay as the putative father of Edna Verner Brackett seems to be relatively secure based upon chronology, location and long-standing oral tradition.
  
  
  Note on photos, only family members who are deceased are shown.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Lois Edna verner Brackett Ramsay Garren at 14
  
  
  
  Lois Edna verner Brackett Ramsay Garren mid 50's
  
  
  
  "Miss Edna" at the Dillard House (Dillard, GA) in 2002 at age 90
  
  
  
  Lois Edna verner Brackett Ramsay Garren at her 95th birthday party in 2007
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Velma Georgia Yearwood's daughter Ann (Standridge)
  
  
  
  Alan "Jimbo" Murray & Ann (Standridge) wedding
  
  
  
  Velma Georgia, Alan "Jimbo" Murray's father, Nancy Brackett Garner, Frances Brackett at wedding of Alan Murray & Ann Murray
  
  
  
  Edward George Garren, Walter Murray, Carl Yearwood, Velma Brackett Yearwood 
  circa 1965
  
  
  
  Velma Georgia Yearwood circa 1972, Mt. Airy, GA
  
  
  
  Lorrie Dean Iverson, Annie Dean (Lorrie's mother), Velma Georgia Yearwood circa 1972
  
  
  
  Laura Louise Brackett Beasley, circa 1965
  
  
  
  
  
  Ralph Ingersol (2nd husband of) Grace Brackett Kemp
  Grace's first husband Alger Kemp remains well known in "Ink" culture having created designs that are still being done today.
  
  
  
  
  Carol Carter Carreker, youngest daughter of Frances Brackett Carter Whiten.
  circa 1981, Cape Coral, FL
  
  
  
  "23 & Me" genetics testing printout for maternal side of immediate family
  specific to Lois Edna Verner Brackett Garren