George W Hopper, 1834 to 3 Jul 1863 KIA Gettysburg, Pa Pvt., Co K (Cascade Rifles) 38th Va Infantry

Keith Hall(1955-present), Nannie Hopper Hall(1900-1972), William T Hopper(1859-1930)Danview Cemetery, Hwy 700, Draper, NC,George W Hopper(1834-1863)3 Jul 1863 KIA Gettysburg, Pa Pvt., Co K (Cascade Rifles) 38th Va Infantry. George W Hopper is my great-great grandfather. A few years ago I was working on my genealogy with Ancestry.com and discovered from the census that George W Hopper was there in the 1860 census, but in 1870 only his wife Martha F Goodman was the head of household. When I researched it further I found out he had died at Picket's Charge. I often wondered the emotions of the Civil War soldiers. They must have fought proudly and bravely. Some were concerned about fighting their own brothers. It is hard to imagine if we could do something like that today, for the reasons that they fought for, which is sometimes unclear to me. Their leaders just marched them out there in a straight line and allowed them to be shot down. This was pretty much the way that the British fought for so many years. They were stationed out of Pittsylvania County and Danville, Va. It is interesting to read many of the old letters on the internet written by Civil War soldiers to understand the emotion of all of this. Many wanted to be at home with their families. Many were sick, wounded and cold. Many were arrested as deserters. My other great-great grandfather was in the home guard which is fuel for another blog. Our ancestors led interesting lives. If they could only see us now. Red States and Blue states, republicans and democrats,liberals and conservatives, left wing and right wing, could it ever happen again?

Great Depression 2008-2009

Great Depression of 2008-2009
I'm not sure what this year and next year holds for us, but each day I pick up the newspaper and 1000's are laid off from their jobs. In reading the Book Of Genesis a few months ago I came across a thought, because of the famine that they were having in the land of Canaan, Jacob had to go to Egypt to his son Joseph to get food for his family. We can do without many things in times of hardship but we can't do without food. I live in a rural area here, near Elkin, NC and the land is dotted with old large two story houses built about a hundred years ago. I did my genealogy a few years ago on ancestry.com and I noticed all of the families in my lineage had eight to ten people in their family. I have often wondered, since all had large families and large houses and all of them were farmers, how in the world did they feed all of their children, with no public jobs or money? My grandfather George Robert Hall fished and cooked what he caught. He hunted rabbits and squirrels and made squirrel gravy. With the deer population as large as it is now we should have plenty to eat. I almost hit a deer every day of my life with my car here in Wilkes County, North Carolina. My grandfather set a rabbit gum and caught possum and rabbits and ate all he caught. He would make home brew which to me tasted like a type of beer. He raised a garden and I remember eating fried squash and green beans cooked in a pressure cooker almost every meal. We had cream gravy for breakfast every morning and fat back. On Sunday Nannie Hopper Hall my grandmother always had 2 or 3 meats,and fried chicken fried in Crisco shortening. Now I realize possibly how they did it. With everyone participating from puberty on up they would all pitch in. It may come to living like this one day. I believe looting and house break ins will increase over the next few years because of the great depression and people stealing money and jewelry. It would be good to read a book of survival techniques. I would keep a gallon of bleach to purify water should need arise. We could commune with church members and barter and share food to survive. Hopefully it won't come to this. You have heard the song A Country Boy Can Survive. There is a lot of truth in that just listen to the words. By the way chew each bite 32 times and you will not need to eat quite as much because you will feel full. I don't mean to be a pessimist but it looks bleak the painting the Media is painting for us. It don't seem like much of a depression in Atlantis these days.

Sneakers

Sneakers
Isn’t it surprising how tennis shoes have become a way to make a statement? I don’t think kids think about it, that it is a type of peer pressure. I can remember when I grew up in the 50’s, 60’s, and 70’s we only had three types of sneakers that I can remember. They were a Converse sneaker, PF Flyers, and Keds shoes. The PF Flyers were supposed to make you “run faster and jump higher”. I was discussing this with my son that tennis shoes were comfortable to wear but not a statement of style as it is in this day and time. In this day and time you have to worry about getting your shoes stolen because they are so pricey. Back in my teenage days no one would ever steal a pair of shoes. It is also amazing how people are buying the Converse basketball high tops, like we did back then. It seems what goes around comes around. The only difference is that we never coveted any ones sneakers. That makes a new law come to mind. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s sneakers.