Born in 1853 in Pilot Mountain, Surry County, North Carolina, Joseph Adams, my great-great-grandfather, led a wonderful life and is a shining example to his posterity.
A few fun facts about his childhood:
As a young boy he used to play in the forest. Sometimes he would climb trees 30 to 40 feet high, shake down the chestnuts, peel off the burrs, and store the nuts for winter. He often made whistles two or three feet longs out of chestnuts saplings. He also gathered grapes and service berry in the woods. There were fox, turkeys, rabbits and other animals in the forest to hunts.
He had to walk to school through the forest and along the country road. School was attended when there was no work to do on the farm. In his first school there was only one book for the whole class and that was the old “Blue Back Speller.” The parents paid the teacher for each child that they had in the school. His formal schooling did not go much farther than the fourth grade, but his mother helped him some at home. During his life time, he became a self-educated man. He loved to read and was well informed on almost every subject.
As an adult, he was a musician, a farmer, and a family man. He loved God and was a faithful member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
In honor of my great-great-grandfather, I plan to one day paint a large canvas of Pilot Mountain surrounded by all the things he loved: chestnuts, whistles from chestnut saplings, grapes and service berries, forest animals, a banjo and violin, watermelon and cantalope, and a stack of books.
Joseph Adams Stone left a legacy for his posterity, a legacy that will endure for generations to come.
Learn more about your family history at http://www.familysearch.org.
Salt Leaven and Light 
Leave a comment