FRONT PORCHES
By Louise Heiselman
May 14, 2004
Front porches are almost a thing of the past. Before we had air conditioning many of the homes had front porches where people would set out and relax and visit with neighbors, friends and relatives. I truly believe that the essence of "neighborhood" has suffered with the loss of front porches. Now, so many homeowners spend much time in the backyards with high fences cutting them off from their neighbors. I’ve heard that some people can live in the same house for several years without getting to know anyone who lives nearby.
I have a neighbor Bill, who doesn’t have a real porch but almost every evening he sits out on his front steps for a little while and visits with any neighbor who is outside or friends that walk by.
My parents, in later years, lived in a house in Havelock that had a porch clear across the front and a swing at one end of the porch. While I was growing up I never heard my parents talk about their lives before they were married but when Mother would set out in the swing, she would often reminisce about her childhood and her ancestors and she would talk about issues like we are writing about for the Front Porch Journal. So as you read these articles, just think about what you might have said to a friend or relative if they had stopped by and your conversation got around to some of these subjects. Here’s what I learned on that porch swing:
Mother’s father was very proud of his Christian and Patriotic Heritage and he passed his stories on to his children. He also kept in touch with his relatives back in South Carolina where so many of them still lived.
Mother’s great, great grandfather was Rev. Henry Wood. He married in North Carolina but they soon moved to South Carolina. He along with some other Christians in the community started a Methodist church and Henry Wood was the pastor. He donated the land to build a log church and it was called Woods Chapel. (The church has been rebuilt several times and is still going strong today.)
Henry and his wife, Elizabeth, had a son Isham who had four sons and five daughters. All of his four sons and five son-in-laws served in the Civil War. Isham had given land to all of his children and so they all lived around him. When the men went off to war it was up to Isham and his wife Thurz to look after the women and grandchildren left behind. One son-in-law was killed in the war, several were wounded and two sons were wounded and taken prisoner--one died in prison. Mother told me the history of all these relatives, their loves and their losses, sitting on her front porch swing.
Mother’s two older sisters drove to Greer, South Carolina in 1948 after their father’s death. (He lived to be 98 years old) Mother really felt bad that she couldn’t go also. Both of her sisters wrote her long letters after their trip telling her all about who all they got to visit and that they got to go to the home places where their father and grandparents had lived. I still have those letters.
Mother never got to go to South Carolina but I thank God that there are times that he gives us the desires of our heart even when we never ask him. I never expected to ever get to visit Greer. About 20 years ago, after I had really gotten interested in family history, I wrote to the newspaper in Greer stating who some of my ancestors were and what I knew about them and asked if any of their descendants read my article I would love to hear from them and would like to correspond with them. I received letters from several and I had the joy and privilege of making three trips back to meet some of my relatives. Each time I was able to attend church at Wood’s Chapel, which is still going strong. The cemetery is right next to the church and when I walked on those grounds around my ancestor’s graves, I felt like I was walking on hallowed ground. I’m just sorry all this happened after my Mother’s death. I would have loved to have been able to sit on her front porch swing and share all these memories with her.
Louise