Alice Julia Jones’s first name came from one of her grandmothers, and Alice was born in the house of Julia Bailey Jones, her other grandmother, hence the middle name. Alice was my grandparents’ first child. Because of the challenges of a new farm in Cofield, John Pat and Daisy Jones left Alice and her baby brother with Grandma Julia for a few years. Only two miles separated the houses.

By the time she finally came to Cofield from Bluefoot, her parents had paid off the farm. Instead of attending the tiny Walden School, she now was a Waters Training School student. By the time Alice was eleven, a new and large family moved into the Brantley’s Grove area from Halifax County.

Alice Julia Jones was
born in 1908. This hand-colored photograph probably made in the
early 1930's and belongs
to Alice's sister Ruth.

Among the youngest of the Jameses was Collin, and he was the same age as Alice. They probably attended Phillipi Baptist church together as well as the school in Winton. Collin certainly spent plenty of time in Cofield as he did for the rest of his life. My great-uncle Collin was tough and uncompromising yet always had an occasional charm for women. I once advised a visiting girlfriend of mine to compliment him. She exclaimed, “You're a handsome devil!” And Collin instantly warmed up to her.

At some point that warmth we had seen in him resulted in Aunt Alice (my father’s sister) giving a photograph to Uncle Collin (my mother’s uncle). Alice later met a handsome Haliwa-Saponi from Roanoke-Rapids who carried her off to Creskill, New Jersey.

Collin James, holding his ever
present King Edward,
at his sister's funeral in 1974.

The photograph in the wallet.

It was over thirty years later that Collin pulled the photograph out of his wallet and showed it to my brother Douglas. “This is the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.” Collin rarely spoke of beauty. Keeping people and moccasins in line were more frequent topics. Collin later showed the picture to my middle brother, Howard.

I think it was 1994 when Uncle Collin passed. Aunt Alice had died fifteen years earlier. Collin never married, but had loads of fans made up of nieces and nephews. Howard and I won the lottery and were two of his six pall bearers. It was fitting that a seventh cousin horned himself in.