52 Ancestors 2021: Week 32: In the City

 Now.. I could get really out of hand with this blog topic real quickly, I imagine. When it comes to city living - most of my ancestors didn't hail from large cities. Most of my ancestors were simple farmers and they stayed in their small farming communities. Geneva, Smith Mills, Niagara in Henderson County. Waverly, Morganfield (which I suppose is 'big') for Union County. Paradise, Ennis, Greenville and Central City (the latter two being the biggest) for Muhlenberg County. 

Like my Great-Grandmother, Anna (Thompson) Sandefur. She was born in Smith Mills, lived most of her young life out there and then married. After marriage, they settled down in the heart of the city of Henderson - or rather, the heart of the east side. Then moved their family out to Niagara, which is where Grandma spent most of her young life until she decided to spend a year up in Chicago with her older sister. 

A lot of my Thompson Great-Granduncles moved to Chicago from Henderson County (the Niagara area.) Hell, Nana's youngest brother, Uncle Jake, ended up moving to Henderson, Nevada. Lived in Vegas for quite a while too I believe or at least worked there in the casinos, after having lived in Chicago for decades. 

Most of my Mefford relatives stayed in the Ennis community of Muhlenberg County until they got a bit older - then they'd retire to the Greenville or Central City areas. On the Jones side - a lot of them grew up in Wyatt, which is a tiny, tiny almost village like community and when they got older, they made the move to the bigger town nearby - Charleston, Missouri. 

For my Henderson County ancestors - mostly they stayed in the county until they got on up there in age and they'd move to Henderson into the rest home or moved in with a child for them to be cared for. Henderson isn't even that bustling of a town - but it is our county seat and the biggest town in the county. However, we're tiny compared to Evansville, right across the river or Owensboro, to our East by about 30 minutes. 

I imagine for my Great-Great-Grandparents - Henderson was like a huge town to them. Same with my Mefford ancestors - I imagine Greenville or Central City was huge to them. I believe my Great-Great Mefford Grandparents even ended up in Louisville with family a couple of times. That had to have felt like a humongous city to them. 

I wish I had some actual stories to share. Really the only ones I know about are like when my Nana would take Mom and Jay into town on the weekend and sometimes get them an ice cream or some candy. Both of my parents have made the comment that when you grew up as far out in the county as Niagara, going into town on the weekend was a big deal. Even bigger deal to go over to Evansville and shop somewhere like Sears.

Having been raised in the city of Henderson and living here my entire life - Henderson isn't huge to me whatsoever. I've visited cities like St. Louis, Nashville, and Louisville...now THOSE are large cities. Even Evansville and Owensboro feel tiny in regards to those three. 

I've gained a whole new appreciation for Henderson, though, now that we have the farm house out south of Sebree. Webster County is tiny. Even their county seat - Dixon - is way, way smaller than Henderson is. The area the farm is in... it's remote. Maybe not horse and buggy down a dirt road remote but... compared to being raised in east end Henderson - it's remote. It's desolate. It's B.F.E. 

Given the option between city living or farm living - I'd have to pick the convenience of city living. However - being out at the farm is nice to 'rest' and 'recharge,' if you will. It's nice to be able and go out there and not have to worry about the 'hustle and bustle' of city life in a way. There's a strong sense of 'everyone helps everyone' out there that big towns, even like Henderson, doesn't have. There's a kindness in strangers that is lost in a town as big as Henderson. 

Anyway - I realize this wasn't a super long blog on my behalf. I wish I had some great story about an ancestor travelling far from home and witnessing a big BIG city for the first time... but I just don't have one. I know my Nana got to travel to some bigger cities because her son worked for an airline and he could get her on some pretty cheap flights to certain places... but I just don't know those stories. I was too young to ask her about them. 

For now, this will have to do for the topic of 'in the city.' One day, I might delve more into how different Henderson is between let's say the 1960's and now in the 2020's. Now that subject, I could probably get pretty windy on.