Ladies Celebrate 100 Years

The Retreat had a special birthday party in May, celebrating two residents who turn 100 this month. Mrs. Odessa Bryant turned 100 years old on May 5, and Mrs. Allice Wade will be 100 years old on May 31. Both ladies sat down and chatted with me briefly this week.

Mrs. Bryant was born in Jasper County on May 5, 1918 to the late Jeanette Cobb and Charlie Griggs. She attended Jasper County Training School.

Her parents were mostly field workers, and when she was real young, she wasn’t allowed to help because children would mess up. Mrs. Bryant remembers traveling on the hay wagon, and she remembers shopping at Benton Supply Store. She remembers when they first got television the picture would “jump.”

She slept on many different types of beds, feather beds, hay beds, and even pine beds she said. She said she likes nowadays better.

One of Mrs. Bryant’s first jobs was working on a “capping machine” at a mill. The machine put caps on jars. She stayed busy, whether it was peaches, apples, strawberries or whatever. She remembers lighting the house with oil lamps and certainly remembers going to the outhouse when nature called.

She went on to become very active in church, St. James A.M.E. Church, and was missionary president for many years. Although she spent most of her life in Jasper County, her mission work took her on many travels. She loved gardening, and her flowers were the envy of all.

Mrs. Bryant has one son, Hilliard Jordan, who lives in Monticello. Mrs. Bryant is remembered as a patient who escaped. She was in the hospital waiting for someone to pick her up. She decided to go outside for some reason, and ended up lost. A search party ensued, and she was found the following morning not far from the hospital. After that, she came to live at The Retreat. Everyone still remembers the scare, and Mrs. Bryant said that a pack of dogs kept her warm during the night.

Her advice to young people, is “You should see where we came from.”

Mrs. Wade says she is not turning 100, that she was born in 1922, but her grandmother put on the birth certificate 1918. She was born at home, and was raised by her grandmother. She did not elucidate on why Grandma raised her. Like Mrs. Bryant, Mrs. Wade only had one brother.

Mrs. Wade remembers walking to school, some seven miles she said, and she attended Bethel Grove school. She grew up on on a farm, and remembers riding a mule. One of her favorite childhood pastimes was playing with paper dolls. She also tried to play ball with the boys. She remembers lighting the house with kerosene lamps.

She said they always had plenty to eat, but clothes were sometimes an issue. She remembers cooking on a wood stove, but said she’s not a cook. She loved to clean. She said her dishes were always washed, and the house kept up.

Mrs. Wade, also, lived most of her life in Jasper County except for a brief stint in Florida for a few years.

Mrs. Wade worked with Dr. Pittard, taking care of his family. She also worked in the fields, chopping cotton, and worked in a peach orchard, until she had enough and walked out one day. She remembers one-room classrooms, and going to get water from the well, which then had to be heated for baths and dishes and such.

She remembers when she saw her first airplane, and she went running to her grandmother, not knowing what to think about that contraption in the air. She was born at home, and got married in the Jasper County Courthouse.

She advises young people to stay out of trouble. She said she never got in trouble, that her grandmother raised her and she never argued with her.