Audrey Mae Spencer

Audrey: Spen tried to put a saddle on our dog, Dixie.  It hung all over the place. He hitched it to the wagon and the dog couldn’t budge.

Another time, Spen was on the roof. He put Dede on a seesaw.  Spen jumped down (on the other end of the seesaw) and Dede landed in the orchard.  It is a wonder she didn’t get hurt.

Audrey: I eat broccoli. I am not crazy about it, but it is good for me. Macaroni and Cheese is my favorite, no matter who cooks it. I like scrambled eggs and bacon. A friend of Crystal is the chef here at Alpine. Well, it is sunny today, but snow is piled all around. There is dirty snow all over the ground. All the big rocks have a roof of Snow! When the snow is wet, it sticks to leaves. When it’s dry, it falls off. I have quite a few friends around here. Many people here I’m friendly with. So many people here, I have a hard time choosing who I like the best. I do not go out too much. It’s too cold. I like to keep warm. I am a great sleeper. I sleep more than I wake. Amber spent the whole day here marking my initials on each piece of clothing. Amber and Crystal are good at that. We were also sorting post cards.

Audrey: She was in the McGregor Relief Corp. The women were always cooking and sewing and selling it to buy something for the soldiers. I was a good little kid. I always stayed out of sight, I guess. Douglas was like that as a child.

Audrey: Dawn loves Florida. Spen drove some of her things down and he is there to be sure everything is in order.  She visited Florida many time before she moved. I’m so glad she is in Florida. I am so glad for her. I’m glad for Dawn. She is happy.

Audrey: Couldn’t be better. I play Bingo and am always busy. I am looking out the window and the snow covered everything. It snowed for two days and it covered all those big rocks. There is plenty of snow. It seemed like it was ten feet of snow with the wind blowing.

John Johnson Spencer

Audrey: I only know that he was at Libby Prison and I am sure he was there. I never talked with my grandfather. He was an old man with a long gray beard. Ed (John Edward Spencer), my brother, would talk with him. I was quiet. I was busy with art, my own privacy. I don’t remember speaking with Aunt Mandy (Esther Amanda Briggs) and she lived with us. Grandma (MaryJane Vaughn Spencer) and aunt Mandy were great at cutting articles out of newspapers. They would cut out articles about kings and queens, etc. I remember a snuffbox —snuff up the nose was a habit. All rich people had a diamond snuffbox, which was just the thing. Aunt Mandy, she had dates in a bag.

(The obituary in the newspaper does not seem to be correct.  Georgia National Park at Andersonville has no record of a John Johnson Spencer at Andersonville confederate prison.   We know he was at Libby Prison and at Belle Isle prison in Richmond, Virginia. He was in the battles that were around Pennsylvania and Virginia.  Spencer family oral history has him going no further south and we find have no other records of him going further south.)

Mary Jane Vaughn Spencer

Audrey: Milton said that my mother (MaryJane [née Vaughn] Spencer) is the best woman in all the world. He came every night. She was glad to see Milton. He played the guitar. She let him in every night. Grandma loved music. She and her sister, Rachel, were two little girls in blue and they sang in church.

Audrey: Milton’s mother (Annie [née Walton] MacDonald) was a big woman and I wasn’t too happy with her heaviness, but she had a sweet face and she was always smiling and very nice. Dad and I would go to his home late at night after the dances, and Grandma Mac (Annie MacDonald), she would get up and make johnny cakes for us. The johnny cakes were about the size of a half dollar and I loved her johnny cakes the best! She worked for the Coward family and Mrs. Coward was rich and flighty but Grandma Mac, she got along fine with Mrs. Coward.

Audrey: No. When Dawn grew up, she wanted me to travel with her. I feared being up in a plane! I feared the railroad tracks! I didn’t think too much of the trolley either. Even Dad liked to travel. I will always remember when Dawn was a little girl and learning about death, she said to me “When we go to heaven, will you hold my hand?”