Mr. Finlayson

This photo came from an old box of keepsakes from my South Carolina relatives.  This is Mr. Burruss Finlayson who died back in June 4, 1950.  He's my grandfather.  I've heard how Mr. Finlayson like smoking cigars, but this is the first photo I recall ever seeing him smoking one.  Though I never met him, I like this fellow.

This image was taken in front of his home in Cheraw, South Carolina on Market Street.  The Burruss Finlayson place was located directly across the U.S. Post Office on Hwy 1 in old Cheraw.

my grandmother

This is my grandmother Jennie Wait Foster Finlayson.  I found this image among old photos from Columbia.  It wasn't in very good condition so I did some minor restoration in Photo Shop this morning.

Born 3 November 1880 in Spartanburg, South Carolina.  Died 24 October 1969.  Jennie Wait Foster was born into a large family but the children were scattered when her parents James Turner and Rebecca Wofford Foster died.  She and a brother Louie Eugene Foster were raised by her relatives, Rev. Washington Lafayette Wait and Mrs. Jane Wofford Wait who also lived in Spartanburg, SC.

Jennie Wait Finlayson is the grand-niece of Dr. Benjamin Wofford who founded Wofford College.  Jennie was a 1901 graduate of Columbia College.  She married Burruss Finlayson and they started their family in Cheraw, SC.  Burruss ran a dry goods store and Jennie taught music and piano from her home.  She is buried next to Burruss at the Finlayson section of the Old Saint David Episcopal Church in Cheraw South Carolina.

I have only faint recollections of her.  I remember her gentleness and her soft sweet smile.

all gone now

A crew of Finlaysons from Gadsden drove to South Carolina Thursday upon the news of Jennie Llew Guyton's death.  She was the last of my dad's siblings to go home.  Dad left us twenty-one years ago.  He's the one on crutches.  Each of Burruss and Jennie's children were so very unique.  We miss them all.

Mother, Brooky and Cindy and I drove up in one car.  Irene and Carrie in another car.  We arrived Thursday night at Jennie's house in Rock Hill, SC and met up with other family members.

We all caravaned to Cheraw, SC for Jennie Llew's funeral at the old Saint David's Church.  There we laid to rest the last Burruss and Jennie's children.  I know that we were all thinking to ourselves that it was the end of an era.  Before the trip I had been a little melancholy.  I hadn't felt that way when Pat and Murdoch had previously passed on.  I told Gina that I knew it was because Jennie Llew was the last one - they were all gone.

The Finlayson kin spent the rest of the day after the funeral roaming around the cemetary, the old church, the old town, as well as the vacant lot where the Burruss Finlayson home once stood.  The trip wasn't a sad one in the least.

I knew that Jennie Llew was experiencing a grand eternal reunion with her family.  Her husband 'Guytie' had died 50 years ago.  I know that she is one joyful being - reunited with loved-ones.  So my trip to Carolina washed away any sad mood that had briefly shadowed my spirits.  We all had a wonderful day time last week - not a tear - not a frown.  We all enjoyed our time with each other and celebrated some wonderful kinfolk who have gone on.

It might be the last time we all meet in Cheraw, some of my siblings may never go back there.  I know I will.  I'll go back with my immediate family and retrace with them the steps of my grandparents and their children.