Now it is my turn. My mother remembers clearly her grandfather George Cornelius Vandiver. She was 17 when "Neal"passed. She said that he would never speak of the combat in which he was involved, but did tell some stores about the conditions in which he was involved. He said that one winter that he spent in West Virginia that it was so cold that when he was mounted and threw water from a container that the water froze before it hit the ground.
Mother also related that when "grandpa spent the night at our home (My grandfather Vandiver was the 5th son of six by his first wife) that when he got up in the morning and washed his hands and face for for breakfast, he poured a water glass full of "white lightening" out of a gallon jug and downed the entire glass before eating." "After downing the "licker" he would cough and sputter for about five minutes then come to the table." "He would then say "licker" is good for anything that ails you" He must have been correct because he was 82 when he died. This man was married four times and fathered a total of 12 children and out lived all except the last. As a matter of information, my wife refuses to allow me to test my Great-Great Grandfather's theory.
I have hours of oral family history that has been related by mother, who is now 100+ and still lives in her home of over 60 years, but a lady does spend each night at her home and prepares supper, breakfast the next morning and leaves to be microwaved lunch.
Mother has a 1st cousin that is the youngest daughter of "Neal" third son, who is 94+ and she has sent me three tapes with a total of 5 hours of recordings.
There is a Vandiver reunion being held near my home this August and I imagine I will be plied with questions which I hope I can intelligently answer. I have been researching the Vandiver/Jarrett families (My mother's family) for about 15 years and have approximately 3600 names in my data base. I am endeavoring to find as many supported details as possible.
Amazing as to what is available. I know that one of my distance relatives killed an individual in a dual. After the 1st shots were fired no hits were made. My relative then got the seconds together and tried to settle the issue, but the other party refused and was shot dead in the second round. In another instance this same individual killed a man over a land deal and was tried and convicted of manslaughter. The Governor of Georgia gave him a pardon with the condition that he leave the state. This he did and settled in Mississippi.
I could relate stories for hours but I have bored everyone too long already.