NEWS

I was in Aiken, SC from September 10th through the 20th, visiting my mother and helping her with odd jobs around the house. She's doing well, and I really appreciated being able to spend the time with her. Mother has made a complete recovery from her recent hip replacement surgery, and has returned to her normal activities just as if nothing had happened. She's driving again, and is as active as ever in church and civic affairs. She was recently appointed to Aiken's Historical Board, and in that capacity assists in determining which sites in town deserve special historical protection. Between that and her duties as Mother of the Church at Friendship Baptist and volunteering at Martha Schofield Middle School, she manages to keep herself quite busy.

As for my activities during my brief stay in Aiken, I painted, cut hedges and washed outside shutters. And I had a chance to talk with a number of people I hadn't seen in many years, more old friends and former classmates than ever before.

This trip was made even more special by having Bruce Ingram and his neice Tiffany King come up from Atlanta to spend the day with us in Aiken. These cousins on the Harper side brought with them material to add to the family tree, and Mother and I enjoyed their company immensely, as always. Tiffany, whom I met for the first time, has agreed to work with me on the Harper side of the family tree, and I can see that in time she will be every bit as effective and thorough as Mary Harper Ingram, her grandmother, who has been THE Harper family historian for many years. Thank you, Tiffany, for showing such interest in our heritage. Bruce, Tiffany and Mother appear in the photo at left.

Lastly, I drove my mother and my Aunt Cecelia Johnson McGhee to Columbia, SC to visit my Uncle, Dr. Reed Poindexter Johnson, at the rest home where he was placed after his recent stroke. He was confined to a wheelchair and paralyzed on his left side, but his mind was alert, he knew who we were, and he was able to join us in conversation. I didn't know it at the time, but that was to be the last time I would see him. He passed within a week of my returning home. I have been encouraging family members to help with a tribute page I want to put up here on my site, and so far it seems we will get enough material to do that. He was a fine man, and one who deserves to be well remembered. A fairly recent picture of him appears at right.

On the way home, we stopped by Randolph Cemetery in Columbia, where my grandfather, Dr. C. C. Johnson, is buried. This was the first time I had seen his grave. My aunt gave us a quick tour of the cemetery grounds, pointing out the gravesites of many friends of the family who claim that as a final resting place. A number of those people I knew--or at least knew of from family discussions.

Workwise, I have just returned from my second trip to Hawaii this year. I still find it hard to believe that I could be fortunate enough to have a job that would send me to Hawaii, not once, but twice during one year. The first time was in February, and this latest "working vacation" was the last week of October (2003), during the time the recent California wildfires blazed all around our area, as it turned out. We were fortunate to have the fires brought under control before we had to evacuate, but my wife Betty had the car packed with what it would hold, just in case. I haven't had a chance to update this site with recent pictures, but if you'll take a look at The Photographers Corner on my Angelfire mirror site, you'll find some Hawaii pictures there. Those are from the first trip; I haven't posted photos from the most recent Hawaii visit yet.

As concerns this site, if you haven't visited Dr. C. C. Johnson's Pharmacy, my history of the drugstore my grandfather started, and my father and uncles operated in Aiken for 80 years, now is as good a time as any to take a look. I've rewritten some parts and divided it into two pages, a move I hope will make it more readable. Also, I've added photographs of my Uncle Ladeveze Wilson Johnson to the Personal Memories of the Drugstore page that many family members may not have seen. They were taken during WWII, most likely in North Africa. Again, I'm asking family members to give me feedback on this venture (history of the drugstore). I am sincere in wanting to leave the best, the most thorough history of the business I can write.

And speaking of family history, I have been revising the family history page to include a few more of my personal memories of my grandmother,Cecelia Ladeveze Johnson, my "Mama Cele," so that her portion does not read like so much "history." I was very close to her and she was most important to me growing up, so I feel I can (and should) give her a more human face. I knew her well, as opposed to the ancestors who died before I was born, so in this I think I am justified.

I'm still waiting on input for the family tree. As of now, it seems interest in seeing that we have a complete, comprehensive and correct posting is low. I'm still requesting all family members to review your immediate family so that you can help me fill in information gaps. Here again, what you see online is the extent of my knowledge of names, dates, places, etc., and if you don't see it here, that means I don't have it. If you're siting on information that deserves to be shared with all of us, please send it to me so I can post it.

Having the tree online has me excited, because for the first time we are able to make this information available to everyone in an updatable format. I promise to keep it updated, and to continue to add more names, dates and relationships as they become available. One word of explanation, however: when you first pull up the "InterneTree," as the Family Tree Maker site calls it, it will begin with my name and the names of my immediate family. I don't know why that is, but I imagine that's just to have a point of reference. Fear not; all the names I have are there (more than 400 of them!).

To use the tree, there are onsite directions. Typing an "F" on your keyboard will bring up the entire list of names, or you can right click and choose "Find." If you are seeing the Tree in a frame window, please don't forget to click on the window first, before typing "F". This lets your browser know which window you are viewing and where you want the activity (the display of names) to take place. Highlight the one you're interested in and double click it (or click "OK"), and voila! Try it. It's not as involved as I make it sound.

But we need feedback. This family tree should be the concern of all family members, because it is your history as well as ours. My cousin, Judge Cecelia Ellen Connally, and I will greatly appreciate any help you can give us. Besides, this is an undertaking that every family member should have a hand in, if only to act as reviewer. I, especially, need to know what you think. How can I improve this page and the Family Tree Maker page as well to make them more valuable to the family as a whole? I would like to use this "News" page, particularly, to announce anything and everything that's family news. Email me with your comments.

If you haven't already, you may still check out my transcription of what survives of my grandfather's notes made on his 1924 trip to Glasgow, Scotland for the World's Ninth Annual Sunday School Convention. I'm hoping you'll take a virtual tour to parallel his actual one, and if you find his trip as fascinating as I did, it will be well worth your time.

And finally, I've changed The Writer's Corner again. This time I've added a little piece about some of the historical sites I found interesting in the Beaufort, SC Lowcountry while I served a tour of duty there.

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History Of Dr. C. C. Johnson's Pharmacy