GEH Farms originally began as a tobacco farm in the 1950’s with the sweat and brow of George Ervin and Lillian Williamson.   The farm was purchased on January 6, 1949.  George Ervin was better known as Poppa George and Lillian as Mama.  They raised gardens for food and of course Lillian (Kent’s grandmother) had to have her beautiful flower gardens too.  They were such hard working people.

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Poppa George was a no-nonsense type man but one with a loving heart.  He loved God and worshipped faithfully at Trinity Baptist Church, just up the road from the house.   He loved to hunt himself some quail and him and Raymond Broadnax of Oregon Hill would take off after the tobacco was put up (some country folks say that for sold) and go a quail hunting.  Non-of them fancy hunting trips you fellows do today. 

Now Mama, she could sew and anything she put her hands to looked just like it came off the store shelf.   She used to make suits when Pendleton Wool (a very expensive and name brand wool) was sold in stores by the bolts.  Do they do that anymore?  When she made a Pendleton suit for you, you thought you just walked out of “Belk’s.  Should I remind you again we live in Caswell County and this is back in the early 60’s and 70’s and most were tobacco farmers… Mama also peddled or sold goods from the farm and home-made items.  She would load the car with goods and go into the town, the big city of Reidsville.  Now we live in Caswell County with a Reidsville mailing address.  The city of Reidsville is in Rockingham County about 25 minutes or so away.  She would deliver items she had sewed, fresh home-made butter she had made, vegetables, proteins such as homemade sausage, ham, sows’ meats, other things and fruit such as apples, watermelons, cantaloupes and other things such as muscadines in season.  You eat sow’s meat?   Mama had to be the Proverbs 31 woman but when I add it up the years don’t just work out right from the time Proverbs is written and her birthday.  Mama also loved God and was a faithful worshipper at Browns Chapel Baptist Church in Elon, North Carolina.  But really it is just up the road.   

 

Now Mama could make some good “serves” (another name for preserves) as we call them back then from the pears and other fruit for sale too.   Are you starting to see the picture most all that was bought at the grocery store was sugar, coffee, jars and paper goods.  For the ole timers reading this do you remember Red & White grocery store, or you might go to Ole Dutch in Danville, Va. 

Farming was hard work, but Poppa George and Mama believed in serving God and teaching this to their children, Charlie and Hermon and later on the grandchildren.