Mother

Evelyn, my mother, was the first born and only child of George Meredith Warfield and Minne Sara Smith. Her materal grandfather was a respected and well known silversmith in Providence, RI. Her fraternal grandfather, with his brothers, inherited what was one of the largest original land holdings in Maryland. George and Minnie married in 1905. When Evelyn was seven years old her mother, Sara, died of kidney failure. Evelyn went to live with her great Aunt Polly Smith for a year while her father 're-established himself'. George moved to West Virginia and married Ada Bell Cole and had two boys, George Meredith Warfield Jr. and William Lewis Warfield. By the time Evelyn was twenty, she was living in Columbus, Ohio where she met Charles Edward Davies. She married him in 1926. Together, they had four children. Richard. -1927-1936, Marijayne, living, Dawn, living, and Brian, living. When Ed and Evelyn first found they were going to have a baby, they made a vow. "No matter what happens, we are going to stay together and always be there for our children."

About Evelyn

STRENGTH, PURPOSE, HONOR, and a deep and private concern for others are the words that come to mind when I think of my Mother. In photos from her childhood, I can see the look of determination and presence of mind that kept her true to herself for 84 tears. .

In the 7th grade English class there was an assignment. "If you had to choose only one person to help you survive while shipwrecked on an island, who would you choose and why." I immediately knew who that one person should be. No matter what obsticles lay in my mother's path, she always found a way to suceed. The only problem was, I was too insecure as a thirteen year old to admit to friends and family that my mother was the person I would want to be with me. The person I wrote about, (whoever that was) famous or not, could not have been as able.

In 1927, Evelyn's first child was born, Richard Warfield Davies. Thirteen months later a baby girl, Marijayne. was born. Times were good and the family was a happy one. Yet the 30's depression was only a few short years away. Later, Mother would tell me of their difficult times. "One day we would have oatmeal for breakfast with milk, but no sugar. Then we would have oatmeal for breakfast with a spoon full of sugar, but no milk. Other days, no milk or sugar." "Your father would walk into work, and walk back home. We would sometimes meet him halfway. The money he saved in car fare would buy a loaf of bread or a quart of milk." "We lived in a double. Your cousin Richard and wife Helen lived in the other half. We finally decided to move into the same half. That was a great help."

The Smith Family

of Providence, RI

Mother: Minnie Sara Smith

b. March 4, 1882 Providence, RI

d. Dec. 13, 1913, Providence, RI

Grandfather: William R. Smith

b. 1846, England

d. 1896 Providence, RI

Married: Ann Elizabeth

b. England

d. ?

Warfield Family

Father: George Meredith Warfield

b. 1882, Border of PA/MD d. 1950 San Diego, CA

Grandfather: Randolph Ridgely Warfield

b. 1848 Howard Co. Maryland

d. Aft. 1906, Baltimore City, MD

married: Evalyn Miller

b. ? Maryland

d. ?

......... As a child of four ot five, Christmas shopping with my Mother, we were going up to the toy floor in the elevator, at Lazarus Department Store in Columbus Ohio. (it was the 1940s). I looked up, right into the face of a man, who was staring intently at me. He had no expression but his eyes were dark and intent. Suddenly, I felt some unknown fear rising in me. At the same time, I my Mother took hold of my hand firmly. As we walked around the toy floor, she kept my hand tightly in hers. There was nothing said, except comments on toys and Christmas. She talked in her normal tone. Even now at the age of sixty-six, I remember the total sense of security and well being I felt as we shopped. And I remember, she held my hand firmly, all the way to the car.

Moments From My Childhood

............ When I was very young, about three. my mother would stand by me, at the dinning room windows, during thunder storms. She would say, " Look at that lightning, isn't it beautiful? See how it lights up the trees? You can see all the way to the corner. We would count the seconds from the lightning to the thunder. I learned to love summer storms! ...Then one day, many years later, a sudden storm came up while my mother was visiting. She was in her seventies. She quickly put her hand into mine and squeezed. "I have alway been scared to death of thunder and lightening," she said. "Mother " I returned, "you are the one who taught me to love the storms and the thunder and lightening. "Well, I couldn't bear to think of my children feeling nearly scared to death, the way I did, she answered.

.......... It was during the 1948 recession. I was eleven. A lot of people were out of work. My Dad's business was very slow. He had let his only full time worker go. My mother decided to go work with him. It was my job to; "pick up what was needed at the corner store, get home from school before my younger brother arrived, and assemble the things we needed for dinner, so my Mother could cook as soon as she got home. That included peeling the potatoes and putting them in water. makinng a salad, and setting the table for dinner. At the end of the first month, my mother came to me and placed a five dollar bill in my hand. I was amazed, pleased and feeling quilty. No, I told her, I don't want it. She folded it into quarters, put it firmly into my hand and said, "Take it, you earned it, in a firm, kind voice. This was not a common occurance in our family and I was bewildered. Looking back, she must have made a personal sacrifice to pay me. Since then, I have tried to estimate how much money that must have been in today's dollars. It would have been around $45.00, if not more. That was in a time when moderate income for a family of four was $50.00 a week.