Leaving A Legacy To Be Proud Of

     As I drove up McConnell Rd. here in Dacusville it was a cool 77 degrees.  The sun was hidden behind all the rain clouds that we have been experiencing for the past two weeks.  I had my window down and was enjoying the ride because it's such a beautiful, peaceful area.  I looked to the left and there was the sawmill, so I knew that I was at the right place.  As I pulled in, first I was greeted by a large dog and behind that dog was a tall man wearing glasses and a cap, with a big friendly smile.

Tim McConnell

     Tim McConnell is the grandson of the late Drake and Janie Attaway McConnell, and the son of the late Charlie and Ruby McConnell.  The McConnell family is a well-known family in our small Dacusville community.  I was interested in finding out more about this family especially since it makes up a large part of our community.  

     Tim began telling me the history of his family, how they are Scott, Irish, and English descendants.   They lived in Anderson and a couple of brothers moved to Dacusville back in the 1900's.  His grandfather Drake McConnell started the sawmill that is still being used today by Tim and his family here in Dacusville.  Tim shared with me the stories of how the area changed over the years.  Peter's Creek use to be a school that his aunts and uncles attended.  It was a one room school building with several grades on one side and several grades on the other side before it became Peter's Creek Baptist Church.  Jones Hill Church of God came to exist through brush arbor meetings.  You can read about the History of brush arbor meetings by checking out http://www.ehow.com/facts_6067135_history-brush-arbors.html 

     Janie Attaway McConnell, Tim's grandmother, wrote a personal diary to leave for her family to read and I felt privileged when Tim shared it with me, and I want to share some excerpts with you. Janie wrote this diary from 1903-1941. She wrote each year during the celebration of her anniversary to her husband Drake McConnell.  She shared in her diary how hard life was, how she missed her husband because he had to work so much to provide for their family, and how each year seemed to bring a new child. 

*March 30, 1904:  Just one year ago today I was made the wife of J.D. McConnell, the dearest man on earth.  I never tire of looking at him.  He is in all my thoughts.  Poor boy!  He has a hard time.  His dear slender shoulders have a heavy load to carry.

*March 30, 1908:  What is to become of us?  What are we to do with so many babies--four here on our fifth wedding anniversary?

*August 5, 1908:  God gave and God has taken away.  Our family circle is broken--a place made vacant in our home that can never more be filled.  Our little Harvey, our pure, sweet, little baby boy, has been beneath the sod two weeks today.  I didn't know last year what I was to do with so many babies, but it didn't take God long to show me.  He took Little Harvey home to Heaven.  Little did I think when I wrote last year about having so many babies, and not knowing what to do with so many, that God would take one of my darlings away from me.  But he knows best.  Could we but see ahead!  What changes we would make in what we do and say.

*March 30, 1916:  Thirteen years passed, gone.  We are still struggling to live.  I hope to live until I can get a new apron without feeling like I'm stealing.

*March 30, 1927:  We are still living hard--one little old cow, no hogs to kill and nothing much to feed this crowd on, and nothing to wear either.

*March 30, 1932:  It seems that times are worse than ever.  Can't sell lumber or get money any way, but we have bread, milk, butter, meat, lard, syrup, eggs, and canned goods at home.  We are thankful, and as happy as anybody, I guess.

*March 30, 1936:  My children found the Lord last summer at the brush arbor.  They received the baptism of the Holy Ghost, and I did too.  I'm glad that we learned about that wonderful blessing.  The boys have started the new Church of God down at Jack's place.

*April 3, 1941:  I haven't done much good in this world, but I've done the very best I could.  I've lived a clean, pure life that you children and grandchildren need never be ashamed of.  I have loved the Lord and kept his commandments to the very best of my ability.  I have never been lazy. I have worked with my hands to provide for your needs and comfort.  I am praying daily for each child of ours, that God will save you, and that our Big Family of 18 will be unbroken in Heaven, where there will be no pain, where we won't be hungry, or have to wear rags.  We will all be glad someday, we can all sing and shout and praise the Lord for His goodness and mercy.  We have lots to be thankful for now.  The barn is full of fodder, hay, and corn. We have milk and butter, chickens and eggs, pretty good health, and better clothes than we once had.

Janie Attaway McConnell passed away on February 20, 1942.  She was laid to rest beside her son Bill, in the Jones Hill Church of God cemetery. Bill was killed in an auto accident.

Drake and Janie McConnell in the center of the picture with two of their children.

     Life was not easy for the McConnell family, they had to work hard at the sawmill and at farming.  If you had the chance to read the complete diary you would understand more of the struggles that they had. What they did have was a wife/mother that stood strong to her beliefs and she knew that her God would see them through.  Tim shared that they were not left with a heritage of a large sum of money, but of land and of a spiritual heritage. 

     Tim has seven brothers and sisters.  Charlie and Ruby, Tim's parents first child was a girl and then they had a boy and the sequence went like that through the rest of the children.  Tim has a twin sister named Tammy.  Tim said that Tammy is older because she was born on November 24th at midnight and Tim was born on November 25th.   

     The family owned a general store on their land where they sold gas, meat, and candy.  Tim's parents ran the store as a second business.  Now the store has been restored and is being used as the office for their sawmill business.  One day when they were young his brother Jerry took a chocolate bar from the store.  He had chocolate all over him after eating it, and his dad told him he knew better. Jerry responded by saying, "The Lord told me to take it."  His dad said, "No, the Lord didn't, that was the devil."

     Tim said that his family killed hogs in the fall, cured them with spices, wrapped them in toe sacks and hung them in their garage.  His dad would kill, clean, and cut up the hogs and Tim at the age of six would be given the fresh liver to take to his mom to cook for that night.  They also raised cattle, Tammy and Tim bottle fed the calves and at the time didn't know they were being raised to eat.  They just knew the cattle was gone and in the next few weeks they had hamburger meat.  The family had the biggest gardens, they canned food, and they had bees for honey.  Tim's dad would be logging and find a nest of bees and bring them home to get honey from them.

     Tim's parents were ones that lead an example for their children to follow, and they were consistent in doing so.  They taught their children how important hard work and honesty are and they lived this 24/7.  Tim said that his dad got up every morning and cooked breakfast for him until Tim graduated from school.  Tim's dad prayed every morning  and every night, he taught the kids the Lord's Prayer and had devotions with them.  Tim's mom was a very giving person.  She became a beautician and had clients until the last couple of years of her life.  The salon was always busy and Tim always had someone to play with. Tim knew all about the salon business and went into selling beauty supplies for 13 years.  Tim's mom also was a seamstress, she made quilts.  She made quilts for all of her children. 

     Tim said he learned this very valuable lesson when his dad passed away, "Never take for granted the words of your love ones when you depart." Tim didn't know that the day his dad said, "Treat people right, honest and fair, love everyone and you'll always have all the business you need", that these would be the last words he would ever hear his dad say.  Later that day he died of a massive heart attack at the age of 62. Tim said that thirty years later people still come up to him talking to him about his dad.  Tim took over the sawmill business three years after his dad passed.  Living in Dacusville and and being raised by his parents that taught him hard work and honesty, Tim said that when he did spend time selling the beauty supplies he was showed a different side of people, an ugly side.  He saw that outside of Dacusville and his family that people lie, cheat, and they don't pay their bills.  He said that he's been so blessed to be apart of his family.

     After reading Janie Attaway McConnell's personal diary, Tim's grandmother, I felt like I could understand where she was coming from, I felt as though I could feel the struggles that life brought her and her family. With every new entry that she wrote I was in anticipation to read what each year would bring this family.  If I could I would like to meet Janie and tell her thank you for the devotion and love that she had for her family, thank you for the example of hard work and honesty that she passed down to her children, but most importantly thank you for showing them the way to Christ because you see there is no better legacy to leave and be proud of than this, "to hear that my children are walking in the truth." -3 John 1:4  God tells us to, "fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.  Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up." - Deuteronomy 11:18-19  

     Being around the McConnell family I see the honesty and hard work that has been passed down through their generations, but most importantly I see Christ in their lives and the difference that he is making through them. What a legacy that this family is leaving, Janie you would be proud. 

      

     

The McConnell Family Tree