The Averett Family Reunion 2006 in Greensboro, Alabama

We finally made it to the reunion!

After stops in Birmingham to eat at Johnny Ray's BBQ (big disappointment this time!), a stop at West Blocton to learn more about the Great Fire of 1927, Tuscaloosa (we almost went by the Bryce Hospital where Jerry's grandfather Benjamin Franklin Clements, Jr. is buried), a stop to buy all the Buffalo Rock Ginger Ale on the shelves at a Winn-Dixie along the way, a trip to the Moundville Indian Mounds, and a visit to Mt. Herman United Methodist Church and the graveyard there, after all that, we are finally here for the Averett family reunion in Greensboro, Alabama!

And what a great time we had, so many friendly, happy people, all of them related to us, more or less, and a wonderful covered dish dinner to boot! The reunion was held at the family home of Murty Averett Lyles, her daughter Annie Mable Lyles Hill, and Mable's daughter Jo Anne Hill. Sadly, both Murty and Mable have passed away in recent years, but they were present in spirit nonetheless.




Here are two photos of Jo Anne Hill (in the blue pantsuit), who graciously opened her home to so many family members. Her grandmother, Murty Averett Lyles, had started these family reunions some years ago, and when she died, her daughter Mable Lyles Hill continued the tradtion. And now that Mable has passed away last year, her daughter Jo Anne is carrying on this time-honored and beloved family reunion.

The reunion is held at the family home on County Road 51 in Greensboro, Alabama. Three generations of the Averett family have lived here, Murty, Mable and Jo Anne. From the gazebo out front and the patio to the side, to Murty's scuppernong vines and her meticulous garden area, where no weed dared to grow, there are wonderful memories of the remarkable Averett family.


Here is a photo of Jerry's cousin, Gurthy Averett, who is a remarkable 94 years old. He is standing with his delicious peanut brittle, the best you have ever tasted in your life. Jerry was delighted to see Gurthy at the reunion, since he had not seen him in many, many years. Jerry says that Gurthy looks just like he remembers Uncle John Averett, Gurthy's father.


This photo shows Gurthy and Jerry, with his mouth full of Gurthy's famous peanut brittle. I think we ate it all before dinner was even served!


Gurthy Averett with his wife Ondean, a lovely and happy couple that we were so glad to be able to meet. Gurthy's first wife Sarvala passed away in 1988, and he and Ondean were married, I think, about ten or eleven years ago. They live in Selma, on the river, and have a wonderful garden each year.


Here are two of Gurthy's four children, Jonnie Lee Averett Webb and Joyce Ann Averett Gordy. Jonnie and Joyce are identical twins! And the nicest people, just like Gurthy, Ondean, Luther, Gracie and Jo Anne and everyone else at the reunion.

Since we have twins in our family, Jerry and Elsie's boys Stephen and Stewart Clements, this was exciting to meet even more twins. And the more we talked to people at the reunion, the more we heard mention of this one or that's sets of twins, so they are not really all that rare in our family.


This is Luther Averett with his wife Gracie Clary Averett. Gracie is, I think, the sister of Mable Clary Clements, who was Jerry's brother Johnnie's wife. Luther is Gurthy's brother, and Willie Dee Averett Woods' brother too.

We had heard stories forever about someone in the family who had been in WWII and who had been saved from an enemy bullet by a Bible he had in his pocket. Well, we learned that day that it was Luther!

Luther told us that when he went off to war, his sister, girlfried, wife, or mother, we can't remember which, gave him a Bible with a metal plate on the back and an inscription that read something like, "May this Testament protect you and bring you back safe to us soon." He carried it with him always, sometimes in his backpack, sometimes in his front pockets, shirt pockets, pants pockets, back pockets, but always with him every day he was in the war.

One day, his group went into battle with the Japanese, and almost everyone was killed or injured, so that left Luther to lead his group in the fierce battle.

Luther felt himself get shot, and figured he was done for, felt the blood dripping down his chest. So he put his hand in his shirt to see how bad it was and how soon he was going to die, and when he pulled his hand out, it was wet ... but not with blood, but with sweat! He was sweating so much in the heat and the stress of battle.

And when he pulled out his Testament, it had a bullet hole in it, all the way through, and that bullet from the Japanese enemy had been stopped by the metal plate in his Testament!

We were just awestruck by this amazing story of faith and good luck, told by one of our family members, and we were also glad to have the details filled in about this legendary family story. We have talked about this so many times among ourselves, and have told everyone we know about it. Everyone is touched upon hearing it, just like we were.


The food everyone brought was just delicious! And there was so much of it! This photo just shows one long table of food, and there was another table the same size and then the back table too! Alabama people know how to cook! I was lucky to get one of the last of Jessie Dean's fried green tomatoes! Everything was so good, and we ate and ate and ate!


In the center of this photo is one of our favorites, Jessie Dean Montz Williams. (I'm sorry I don't remember the names of the other two ladies - somebody help me out if you can.) She is Murvel's daughter and lives on County Road 51 in Greensboro. We met Jessie Dean at the Old Union Baptist Church in the middle of the Talladega National Forest neat Pondville, when we were there a few years ago. Murty, Murvel, Willie Dee, and Jessie Dean met us there and we had a very nice time with them. Mable and Jo Anne weren't able to come because they had a trip planned to Georgia to go the the Whistle Stop Cafe, home of the famous fried green tomatoes.


Here is a photo I took that shows Jerry with Searcy, Willie Dee and Gurthy. This was just before we left for home, and I wanted to get one last photo of the group.


Here is Jerry engaged in an animated conversation with Searcy Averett, who is the son of Jerry's cousin William Murphy Averett, I think. I think Searcy's mother was Ruby Lee Clary, Gracie Clary and Mable Clary's sister. I'm a little shaky on this, so anyone feel free to set me straight.

Searcy runs a hunting lodge in the area around Greensboro, and a grand and comfortable one by all accounts. We did not have time to go by it this trip, but Jerry says that he and Elsie were there for one of the Clements family reunions planned by my cousins Dorothy Anne Clements Taylor, Joyce Mayfield (I forget her last name now) and Elaine Clements Lanier. Everyone had a great time!

And following are some random photos I took of the group at the reunion. I tried not to intrude too much, being a newcomer, but I wanted to be sure and get some photos to show to everyone back home.

Our Visit to Mt. Herman United Methodist Church in Greensboro, Alabama

Since we would be arriving in Greensboro early Sunday morning, a bit too early to go to Jo Anne's for the Averett family reunion, even after stopping to buy four cases of Buffalo Rock Ginger Ale and stopping to look at the Indian Mounds in Moundville, I had the idea of stopping by the Mt. Herman UMC for church that morning, and afterwards we would go on to Jo Anne's and the reunion. Jerry thought this was a fine idea, so, armed with maps and high energy, we were on our way.

The problem was some of the roads didn't correspond to what was on our maps, and many roads were not marked, but finally we found the church at a bend in the road, right where it was supposed to be! It was a small, white frame church set way back from the road with a graveyard out back.

We arrived a little before 11:00am, and we figured church would start at that time, and then we saw some people come out of the trailer and head to the front steps of the church. We thought they were coming from Sunday School and going to the church service.

When that didn't seem to be what they were doing, we walked closer and Jerry asked some of the group when church would start. They explained that there was no church that Sunday, because the preacher had four churches and travelled, circuit rider style, to a different one each Sunday, and this was not his Sunday to be at Mt. Herman. They said church was being held at the Valley church, but we decided to look around the church's graveyard instead, so we headed around to the back.

The Mt. Herman church is where many of our relatives on the Averett side of the family goes to church and where many of them are buried.

Everyone we talked to at the church was so nice, friendly, and welcoming, urging us to come back any time, and apologizing that there was no church that Sunday. Everyone knew everyone, and once they knew who we were and who we were related to, they were even more friendly, if such a thing were possible. When we left, we drove by the group of churchgoers who were still talking to each other, the way they do in all small churches, long after the service is over, and as we went by, everyone waved and called out to us in such a friendly way. We must go back there sometime when there are Sunday services!

Here is the entrance to the church grounds of Mt. Herman United Methodist Church, with a welcoming sign out front.

A few people gathered out front caught our eye because we thought they were going from Sunday School to church services.

This larger group came out after Sunday School and stood around for a long time, just talking, visiting, and having a good time together. They were all friendly and welcoming to us, and we hope to go back to see them sometime.

This is the back of the church, showing a portion of the graveyard.

Another view of the graveyard, looking up the hill.

This is the grave of Jerry's beloved uncle and aunt, John Averett and Annie Stewart Averett. Jerry and some of his brothers spent many happy summers with the Averett family, summers that were filled with hard work, delicious food, family time, and lots of love and adventures. Many happy memories for Jerry!

The grave of Jerry's favorite cousin Murty Averett Lyles, who covered for his slow pace with hoeing corn rows. After finishing her own rows in record time, she went back and finished up Jerry's rows too! Murty died a year or two after we saw her, along with her sisters Murvle and Willie Dee, and Murvle's daughter Jessie Dean, at the Old Union Baptist Church homecoming. Jerry's parents, Jeremiah Clements and Dorothy Arrie Stewart Clements are buried at the Old Union graveyard.

We were saddened to learn that Jerry's dear cousin Murvle had passed away, and we had not known of it until we found her grave here. This was sad because we had been looking forward to seeing Murvle at the reunion.

Annie Mable (Mable) Lyles Hill, who was Jerry's cousin Murty's daughter, died last year after a long struggle with COPD. Mable's daughter is Jo Anne Hill, who is carrying on the family tradition started by Murty of having an Averett family reunion at the family home in Greensboro, Alabama.

A view of some of the Montz and Lyles family graves.

This is a grave marker that we found interesting, since it is shaped like a tree with logs, possibly marking the grave of a logger, woodsman, or just an Alabama pioneer.

The inscription reads, "Charles C. Walker, 1890-1918, You are not dead to us, but as a bright star unseen."