Elvie Bernice Hamrick1,2

b. 7 July 1887, d. 6 January 1949
Pedigree
FatherJames Lawson Hamrick1,3,2 b. 1856, d. 1931
MotherMary Frances Moss2,3,1 b. 1860, d. 1924

Copyright Notice

Facts like names, dates, and places cannot be copyrighted, and you are free to use them however you wish. But a narrative is a creative work product and therefore subject to copyright. Unless written permission has been obtained from the copyright holder, all other usage of this work is licensed under Creative Commons BY-NC 4.0. You may copy, redistribute, remix, transform, and build upon the material in any medium or format, for noncommercial purposes only, under the following conditions: (1) you must credit the compiler; (2) you must provide a link to the license; and (3) you must indicate if any changes were made.

Elvie Bernice Hamrick (1887-1949). Photo courtesy of Murray Garner.
     Elvie Bernice Hamrick was born on 7 July 1887 in Hinton, Pickens Co., Georgia. (Her death certificate lists the year as 1888, but the 1900 census and her cemetery marker both have 1887.)4,5,1 She married Edwin Dennis Bowditch, son of Joseph Bowditch and Martha Elizabeth Anderson, on 1 August 1917 in Jasper, Pickens Co., Georgia.6,2 She died on 6 January 1949 at Mission Hospital in Asheville, Buncombe Co., North Carolina, at age 61, after suffering a stroke two days earlier.1 She was buried on 8 January 1949 at Vians Valley Presbyterian Cemetery in Mitchell Co., North Carolina.1
     She went by her middle name Bernice.7
     She graduated in 1909 from Young Harris College in Young Harris, Towns Co., Georgia.3 After graduation she taught school in Georgia and North Carolina until her marriage in 1917, then continued, at least for a time, as a substitute teacher.3
     After their marriage she and her husband Edwin lived for a time with his parents in Bakersville Twp., Mitchell Co., North Carolina, and are listed with them there in the 1920 census.8 They later built their own home in Toecane, Bakersville Twp., where they are listed in the 1930 and 1940 censuses.9,10
     Her husband's work often took him away from home, and while he was away she would maintain their farm, and followed his written instructions in directing the building of their house in Toecane in 1924-25.7 Her daughter Frances later described the kitchen in their house.

     The kitchen had three windows. The sink was under the window ... it had a long drain-board.
     The pantry was walk-in with wooden, built-in shelves, a bin for flour and another for meal. A built-in dough-board was under the lowest shelf. The right side had space for bags of meal, flour or sugar. On the backside were shelves for dishes, glasses, canned food, etc. Underneath (were the) bins. The flour bin had an elongated wooden bowl to mix biscuit dough in. On the left side underneath the bottom shelf were big containers of lard and, part of the year, sliced cucumbers in brine ... or kraut being made and stored.
     The kitchen stove was a wood stove. It was to the left of the entry. There was a big water tank in the left corner heated by the coal stove. In winter time ... a great big wooden box beside the stove stored sweet potatoes which had been wrapped in pages from Sears-Roebuck or Montgomery Ward catalogs to keep them from rotting (to preserve them). On the right side of the kitchen door and between the pantry was a woodbox with legs - a good-sized box.
     Mother would make yellow butter cakes with chocolate or white icing. We had a lot of egg custard pies with meringue. They were good! Mother was a good cook. She would always bake a coconut cake for Christmas. She would get a fresh coconut, open the eyes and drain the milk with a nail and hammer, break up the coconut into pieces, peel the shell and grate the pieces (the "meat"). On Christmas morning we always made fruit salad with orange sections, nuts from the store (usually pecans), chopped apples, red grapes (halved), raisins and coconut, mixed up, poured into and served in a large cut-glass bowl. Mother had two cut-glass bowls - one round and one boat-shaped with handles.11

     She was viewed as a leader among the women in the community, and shared the produce from her large garden with families throughout the area. Together, she and Edwin led efforts to establish a Lord's Acre community garden, selling the output to raise money for local chuches.12,13
     She and Edwin were also active as leaders and teachers in the Vians Valley Presbyterian Church in Mitchell Co., and led the planning, building, and furnishing of a new church "with a larger sanctuary, classrooms, fellowship hall, and kitchen."3 Bricks for the church were paid for by Belk's Department Store, after Bernice appealed to the founder's wife for help funding its construction.11

Citations

  1. [S3215] Elvie Bernice Bowditch, Death Certificate.
  2. [S393] Frederick T. Bowditch, The Bowditch Family of Salem, Massachusetts - North Carolina Branch, p. 75 (p. 50).
  3. [S835] Lloyd Richard Bailey, The Heritage of the Toe River Valley, Vol. I, Art. 189.
  4. [S7569] Edwin D. Bowditch and Elvie Bernice Hamrick Cemetery Marker, Vians Valley Presbyterian Cemetery, Mitchell Co., North Carolina.
  5. [S7568] 1900 U.S. Census, James Hamrick household, Pickens Co., Georgia.
  6. [S7181] E. D. Bowditch and E. B. Hamrick, Marriage Record.
  7. [S7620] E-mail from Sharon Rowland to Charles Towne, 25 April 2020.
  8. [S7056] 1920 U.S. Census, Joseph Bowditch household, Mitchell Co., North Carolina.
  9. [S7176] 1930 U.S. Census, Edd D. Bodwitch household, Mitchell Co., North Carolina.
  10. [S7177] 1940 U.S. Census, E. D. Bowdich household, Mitchell Co., North Carolina.
  11. [S7628] Murray Garner, "Genealogy Notes for Martha Frances Bowditch and George Webb Garner."
  12. [S7629] E-mail from Murray Garner to Charles Towne, 30 April 2020; information from his cousin Sharon (Runion) Rowland.
  13. [S3346] The Lord's Acre movement started in Bluffton, Georgia, in 1922, and encouraged farmers to set aside an acre of their farms, donating the proceeds to the church. It grew quickly into a national and international success, still exists today, and now includes various charitable church-related projects.