I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.  Psalm 37:25

Charles Frederick Seiber and Lydia Adeille Estes Seiber

Charles Frederick Seiber, the first child of Benjamin Franklin Seiber and Mary Ann Lones Seiber, grew up in the late 1800s on his parent’s farm in the Twelfth District of Knoxville, Tennessee. As the eldest of six children, Charles likely had many responsibilities at home and was, no doubt, a tremendous help to his parents, especially to his dad on the farm. By the time Charles was fifteen, the Seiber household was made up of three males and five females. Charles had a younger brother and four younger sisters.

Photo: Mame 8, Nora 15, Charles 17, Mary Ann 48, Katie 3, Benjamin 55, Ed 13, Lizzie 11

Benjamin and Mary Ann were faithful, Christian people who taught their children both by word and by example to be honest, to work hard, and to honor and fear God. As Charles worked side by side with his dad and assisted with the daily chores, he learned and developed skills and attributes which would serve him well all his life and would prepare him to eventually provide and care for his own family. Although much of his time was occupied on the farm, Charles did manage to attend school for a time, and he learned to read and write. All of the children attended school, and everyone in the family could read and write.

As a grown young man, Charles took a job at the Gray Knox marble mill and gradually worked his way up to the position of foreman. When he had time on weekends, he went hunting, not only for the sport of it, but also for the fresh meat it provided. Eventually, in the early 1900s, his search for game took him to a rural area of Concord to the farm of Cas and Cynthia Estes. After becoming acquainted with the younger Estes daughter Lydia, Charles began making the trip more and more often to hunt on the Estes property.  Before long, he was traveling there for the sole purpose of courting the lovely young maiden with the sky-blue eyes.

As the fourth child of Cas and Cynthia Cox Estes, Lydia grew up on the family farm with two older brothers, an older sister, and two younger brothers. All of the children helped on the farm, and Lydia learned at an early age the skills of planting and cultivating flowers and food crops. When she wasn't helping in the garden, she was busy with a variety of other chores--feeding the chickens, gathering eggs, milking the cows, churning butter, cooking, cleaning, or assisting with one of the many  other activities associated with "living off the land." Lydia especially loved horses and delighted in riding them, grooming them, caring for them, and driving buggies drawn by them. (Photo: Lydia, John, Lettie, Cas, Homer, Cynthia, Jim, Kenneth)

Lydia was in her early twenties when the tall, dark, and handsome young Charles began courting her. Years later, she delighted in telling of buggy rides in which Charles would stop the buggy and place his arm on the top of the seat behind her. She would quickly interject the fact that, on such occasions, she always sat up very straight in the seat, properly avoiding his touch. Quite obviously however, Charles did succeed in winning her affections, for the two were married in 1906. He was twenty-five, and she, twenty-six. Based on two existing letters written by Charles in 1920, the couple’s mutual love and attachment obviously continued and grew throughout the years.

In the early years of their marriage, Charles and Lida rented  on farmland in West Knox County in the vicinities of Hickory Creek and Ball Camp. By the time of the 1910 Census, they had two daughters, Bonnie (b 1907) and Thelma (b 1908), and were listed among the nearest neighbors to Lida’s family on Buttermilk Road. At that time, however, a “nearest neighbor” might live several miles away, as was their case. Charles was farming the rented land on his “own account.” From 1907 through 1919, Charles and Lydia were blessed with seven children. The children were all born at home and each was strong and healthy from infancy, with the exception of the last child, Fred. He was born with the “soft spot” in his head noticeably sunken, and he had a serious digestive problem. After many attempts at finding a source of nourishment for her baby boy and fearing that she would lose him, Lida discovered that he could digest buttermilk. Initially, she fed him small amounts at a time by dipping her finger into the milk and then placing her finger in his mouth. Soon, her frail infant  was able to take the buttermilk from a spoon, and within a year, he was strong and well and able to eat normally. (All seven children ultimately lived past eighty.)**

   Left 1920: Inez 3, Ellen 9, Fred 1, Philip 5, Bonnie 12, Avis 7, Thelma 11
                      Below Right 1921: Inez 4, Thelma 12, Ellen 10, Fred 2, Lydia 41, Philip 6, Avis 8

Although the family farmed for their food supply, Charles also worked for wages wherever a job was available—at the sawmill, at one of the marble mills, or for individuals. For a while, he was employed by a wealthy neighbor, Howard Miller, to clear several acres of land using simple hand tools. In 1920, while the family was still living west of Knoxville on Hardin Valley Pike, Charles took two different jobs which required him to live away from home temporarily. The first was at a cotton mill in Knoxville, probably within fifteen miles of his home, but that was too long a distance to commute daily on foot or by horse-drawn wagon. During that time, Charlie probably stayed with his dad Benjamin or his brother Ed, both of whom still lived in town. The second job which took him away from home was at Lynch Mine in Kentucky, perhaps as a night guard—this job seemed to have involved sitting around a campfire all night. Below are transcripts of letters written to Lida during these two absences.  The first letter happens to have been postmarked on her birthday, yet that event is not mentioned. In their era, birthdays were not typically “celebrated” as they are today. Also, Charles may not have had access to a calendar to even be aware of the current date. In his later letter from  Kentucky, he did include the date. 

{From Charles to Lydia, mailed April 9, 1920, from Knoxville, TN, to Concord, TN.  *Charles typically gave people nicknames—his nickname for Lydia was Jackie.}

Hello Jackie
Dear Sweet heart I will write you a few lines to let you I am well    hope you are the same    I am working a notice this week    I may not get all of my money until 11 oclock saturday    if I cant I will not be at home until after dinner Saturday    well Akron is all the talk now    my mind may change but it will not change to another cotton mill    I am no longer a taxtile worker ha.ha.    well I cant think of much to write now    I will close

as ever

Chas

{From Charles to Lydia, mailed June 19, 1920, from Lynch Mine, KY}

Hello Jackie

how are you    I am well    fat and getting fatter every day    the weather has turned cold again up hear    I slept under a heavy quilt all day yesterday    I saw the new moon last night    it all most spoke to me    I could hear you and see you    the stars brought so many sweet kisses and messages    they was so much company to me I did not want nobody about    they was telling me all about my sweet heart    what all you said    say sweet heart  I got the days mixed up    I think I got about 2 ahead dident I pet     I counted and figuered and couldent get the days strait so I counted the nights and got it write     I think if I get off the morning I want to and nothing happens I have 11 more    When you read this letter their will be only one figure    then they will drop down in a hurry wont they honey mine    you dear sweet heart    you pet sweet heart my only girl    say sweet heart wont it be fun to be at home    you will have to wake me up every morning or I will sleep until dinner    say hun get some good strong vinagar so you can fix me a big dish of lettuce    you can make it taste so good    any thing you fix tastes good to me except roub with garlic in it. ha ha    do you remember    that the only thing you ever fixed I could not eat.    you can beat any body cooking in the world    your corn bread is better then any bodys else cake    say sweetie I aim to come home the 30th if things goes like I have got them planed out    have you got a skeam studied out to see me first    I will come on the truck to ball camp    I might catch a ride the rest of the way    you need not tell the kidd just the minute I will be their    it might be as far as the second of July but I dont think so    any body traveling cant tell exactly what connection they can make    one train a few minutes late will throw anyone behind all day    you know how that is    say I havent had a good cup of coffee since I have been hear    what do you think of that    plenty of fresh meats  bread and gravy  jelly  apple butter  cheese and canned vegetables    I dont want to see another tin can    I saw one by the side of the road the other day    it rolled out in the middle of the road and claimed kin with me    it had the picture of a big rostenear on it. ha,ha    salmon cans follows me to work    tomato cans throws rocks at me    they say I am the cause of them being empty. ha.ha.    is that one big enough    now you can guess what I want to eat when I come home    I will help you cook when I come home.    we will live mostly on love wont we hun.    love and sweet kisses is what I am hungry for but I am very very particular from who    I dont want them from any body but my loving sweet Jackie    I know they will be real then    I am saving all of mine for you and I will sure have a lot of them    maby more then you want    but you are as hungry as I am for them are you not sweet pet of mine.    well it is day light now    I will finish my letter    the train is at the depot    in 11 more mornings I will start on my journey    it will be the happiest start I ever made to get started to my sweet heart and I know you will be glad to know I am on the road rolling towards you    well I will quit for this time and try to write again to night    I am as I have been 14 years yours only forever    Chas

{Addition across the top margin of the paper}

dont work to hard    I am not doing any work at all    only sitting around a fire all night    if the c.o. can stand it I can. ha ha.     say hun you was with me in dream land yesterday    we sure did have a good old time    you did not wake me this time----         dearest one take good care of your self    dont do any thing in the hot part of the day    you want to be fat and sacy when I come home.

{Addition inside the envelope on the flap}

more kisses and sweet kisses to my darling sweet heart Jackie    all the sweet girls in the whole world is my only darling little Lida sweet pet of mine

{Partial letter  from Lida to Charles, date unknown, in response to one of the above letters}
Unnumbered page, front and back:

oh i'll be so glad when we can be to our selves     some times i get out of patience   a fellow has to do the best they can   thats all   say my own and all- just 5 ,more dayes   hurry i cant hardly wait    well its getting shorter   the drive i mean   Say hun my sweet one   i cant write  im so glad my own sweet one  i just cant do any thing much   hun ive been brave     now dont you think i havnt darling    ive  have fought a big batle    deed i have darling boy   i'll have to quit    just cant write     from your own true and devoted Lida   My own and only darling forever and ever   to my darling one Chas    Jackie

Page 3 ? (Back of Page 4)
i wont tell you to {not quit?}   i say one more kiss that i've been deprived of while you had to be away dear heart  {half of line illegible} my Charles       what suits one suits us both     well pet i'll wait until you come to finish berries    that wont be long will it dear    your sweet letters all the real company i have   {illegible story about the kids, a sled against the barn door, and old budy}
Page 4
i have read your sweet letters over and over    sometimes i think when i read them out  your talking to me    i can almost see you pret boy and hear your kind loving voice say i love you Jackie or i love you Lida     i'll quit for a while
                                                                                                  from your true one
                                                                                                  to my only sweet one
                                                                                                  my pet Charlie

                                                                                 continued 13 dayes
                                                                         don't that sound {illegible}
                                                                                 good  i should say

These precious, preserved letters express the sentiments of and reveal the relationship between  Charlie and his dear Jackie after sharing fourteen years of marriage and having seven children.

In the mid-1920s, the family moved to Lauran Street in Knoxville for a few years, and the younger children walked to West View Elementary School. The two oldest girls, Bonnie and Thelma were married in 1926, and the next in age, Ellen, was married in 1928.

In 1929, with four children still in school, Charles and Jackie bought several acres of land on Middlebrook Pike (Piney Grove Church Road) in the 8th District of Knox County. There, with the capable assistance of their children, Charlie and Lida built a large two-story house and planted an orchard. Over the years, they cultivated a garden that amply fed the family. The school-aged children daily walked the three miles or so to their schools at Amherst, Cedar Grove, and Karns. On Sundays, Charlie and the children usually walked to Piney Grove Baptist Church, about two-miles away, while Lida walked to the closer Stoney Methodist Church (Middlebrook Pike Methodist) so she could get home sooner and have Sunday dinner ready for the others.

Below: 1934 at the Recently-built House
E C Sexton 7, Carol Armstrong 4, Bobbie Armstrong 3, Charles 53, Elizabeth Collins 4, Evelyn Sexton 4, Lida 54

Below 1937:
Fred 18, Avis 24, Bonnie 28, Inez 20, Ellen 26, Thelma 27, Philip 22, Lydia 57, Charles 56   (Bottom right corner-Evelyn Sexton 7)

As the children grew up and married, the family number increased, at least temporarily, as some of the newlyweds would move into “The Big House" for a while. Eventually, the new couple would build a smaller house on the family land and become neighbors to Charles and Lydia—and to one another.  By the mid-1950s, Piney Grove Church Road was lined with six of these smaller houses in addition to the original two-story "big house."  It was a blessed time of togetherness and family fellowship. By 1939, all seven children were married and there were twelve grandchildren.

Below: A Gathering at the Big House in the Spring of 1940

Back: Ellen (Seiber) Armstrong 29, Leora (Johnson) Seiber 16 holding infant Eleanor, Avis (Seiber) Hayes 27 holding baby Marilyn, Bonnie (Seiber) Sexton 33, Aunt Nora (Seiber) Compton 57, Vernon Thwaites 19, Inez (Seiber) Thwaites 23, Irene (Johnson) Compton 18, Estel Sexton 38
Middle: Elizabeth Collins (Carter) 10, Charles 59, Lydia 60, Tommy Sexton 6
Front: Evelyn Sexton (Hayes) 10, Bobbie Armstrong (Nicely) 9

Later in life, Charles again took a job at the marble mill in Knoxville and was employed there at the time of his death on July 27, 1940. He had always prayed for “a peaceful hour in which to die," and that prayer was granted. After leaving work at a very late hour, he quietly slipped into an attached garage at the home of his daughter Thelma (who lived near the mill) and went to sleep on a cot—his customary practice for late shifts. The next morning, Thelma found her dad peacefully sleeping, or so she thought; but when she attempted to rouse him, she realized that he had died in his sleep. He had also always prayed that he would live to see all of  his children grown, married, and with children of their own—and that prayer, too, was granted. The last two of his children to have children were Fred and Inez. Fred and Leora had their first child, Eleanor (whom Charlie nicknamed Dime), on April 5, 1940. Three months later, on July 3rd, Inez gave birth to her first child, Freddy. Charles died on July 27th. (The above photo was taken some time between April 5th and July 3rd—when Eleanor was an infant  and Freddy was yet unborn.)

Lydia was only sixty when Charles died, but she never remarried. Around 1947, when her elder son Phillip moved to Arkansas, she sold the family home and bought his small house a few doors over. She lived there alone, except for her cats and sometimes a dog. She filled her yard with flowers, and delighted to give seeds or cuttings to any neighbor or passer-by who asked for them, and she continued to make a vegetable garden every year, canning and preserving her crops and sharing them with anyone who would take them. Her grandchildren, Freddy, Delores, and Eleanor, who lived on either side, often played at her house, sometimes attempted to help her in the garden, and always enjoyed her treats of  homemade jelly on bread, or vanilla wafers sandwiched with peanut butter. She loved all of her grandchildren and delighted in their visits to her house.
                                  (Right 1947: Freddy 7, Delores 4, Lydia 67, Eleanor 7)

(1946 Left First Row: Irma 4, Eleanor 6, Marilyn 5 
Second Row: Delores 3, Mamaw Lydia Seiber 66, Joe Hayes 2, Jack Hayes 10, Freddy Thwaites 6)
                                                                                             
When Lydia was eighty-seven, she fell one night in her own living room and broke her hip.  She managed to reach her “emergency cow bell” and rang it off and on all the next day, but no one heard it. She lay there on her living-room floor until late  afternoon when her daughter Ellen came by, discovered the situation, and called an ambulance. Following surgery, Lydia moved in with her eldest daughter Bonnie, a licensed practical nurse who lived two doors over. After a while, Mamaw was finally placed in a nursing home where she died January 31 of 1968. She would have been eighty-nine that April 9th.                                                          (Right: Mamaw Lydia Seiber, Late 1967)
 

 Personal Note: I regret that I never had the opportunity to meet and share time with my papaw, Charles Seiber, who died three years before I was born; but I feel as if I know him from the accounts of those who did. Without exception, every family member, friend, and neighbor who ever spoke to me of him, cherished his memory and praised him as a kind, honest, neighborly, Christian man. I was told, for instance, of the many times he volunteered to sit up all night with a sick or dying neighbor, of his willingness to pitch in and help anyone wherever he saw a need, of his reputation for being a man of his word, and of his pleasant and happy disposition. I was told that he prayed not only for his children and their children who were living, but also for all those who were yet to come. Obviously, his fifty-nine years, though seemingly short, were nonetheless full and rich and blessed—full of the joy he found in everyday things; rich in the love he shared with his Jackie and with all of his family, friends, and neighbors; and blessed with Godly contentment, which is always great gain. Although I never met him, I am a part of him, and I feel that I know him--and I love him.
Thankfully, I did have the opportunity to be acquainted with my mamaw, Lydia Seiber; and from my childhood, I was very close to her, both in proximity and in spirit. I recall spending much time with Mamaw, following her around as she worked in her garden or watered her flowers, and sitting with her to hear her recollections of younger days and years. I liked spending the night at her house and sleeping on her incredibly high bed with its thick “tick” mattress and its fluffy soft pillows stuffed with feathers. Occasionally, she would bring out her treasure box of old letters and pictures and newspaper clippings and share them with me. (Sadly to say, most of them were later ruined when the roof leaked in her back storage room.) When I was in second grade at Cedar Grove Elementary School, she once spent the entire day at school with me—rode the school bus there and back with me and sat in my class all day—just because she loved me and was interested in what I was doing. She was unwaveringly firm and strict, but I always knew that she loved me and wanted me to learn to do right.

When Mamaw was not otherwise occupied, she loved to sit on her front porch and read her Bible, sing through a hymnal, or listen to a Christian radio station. She also loved going to church, whenever she had the opportunity, and singing in the choir. I remember a kind and loving couple, Gip and Elsie Ritter, who for years drove out of their way to pick up Mamaw and take her to the Sunday morning services at Piney Grove Baptist Church. Although Mamaw had loved riding a horse and driving a horse-drawn buggy since childhood, she had never learned to drive a car, and therefore, spent almost all of her time at home or within a short walking distance of it. For many years, her radio was her one modern appliance. She had no telephone and no indoor plumbing. She had a coal stove in the living room for heat, and another in the kitchen for cooking. She also had a flatiron which had to be heated on top of the coal stove before it could be used to iron clothes. She did, finally in her latest years, get an electric range for cooking, and she got running water in the kitchen sink. Although she was decades behind all of her neighbors in acquiring modern conveniences, she never seemed to notice. She was content. After all, she had given birth to seven children, at home, and had brought them up in far less convenient circumstances. When Mamaw died in 1968, all seven of her children were living and well—three of them still lived within walking distance. She had twenty-six grandchildren, and even more great-grandchildren. She, her mother Cynthia Cox Estes, and grandmother Harriet Rule Cox had all lived to participate in five-generation photographs along with her daughters, Thelma Seiber Collins and Bonnie Seiber Sexton, and her granddaughters, Elizabeth Collins (Carter) and Evelyn Sexton (Hayes). Although she had suffered the early loss of her beloved Charles, I have no doubt that Mamaw Seiber considered her life to be full and rich and blessed. I am thankful for her, and I love her; and I am thankful for my Papaw  Seiber who, though he died before I was born, had prayed for me.        Delores Seiber Baxter

                                                                                                                   1930 Knoxville, Tennessee - Five Generations - Rule, Cox, Estes, Seiber, Collins
                                                                                                                                                         Standing: Cynthia Elizabeth Cox 1856-1936,  Lydia Adelile Estes Seiber 1880-1968  
Chronology of                                                                                                                                Seated: Harriet Ann Rule Cox 1840-1931, Thelma Crystell Seiber Collins 1908-1989
Charles (1881-1940) and  Lydia (1880-1968)                                                                              Held: Ona Elizabeth Collins (Carter) 1930-

***Married 1906

1910 Knox TN, 9th Dist Buttermilk Road,  R1508, B3, P170a
SEIBER Chas 34, Lida 34, Bonnie 3, Thelma 2
(Cynthia, James, Kenneth Estes next dwelling - RB & Sarah Estes
2nd dwelling - Other neighbors: Yarnell, Raby, Callaway, Walker,
Llewellyn, Whitaker, Jones, Harman, Newcomb)  Back to Article

1920 Knox TN, 9th Dist Hardin Valley Pike,  R1750, B2, 185b
SEIBER Charlie, Sawmill laborer 39; Lida 39; Vonnie 12;
Thelma 11; Hellen 9; Avis 6; Phillip 5; Inez 2 6/12; Fred 9/12
Renting  (Cynthia & Kenneth Estes next dwelling)  
(Richard & Sarah Estes second dwelling over))   Back to Article

***1926 Bonnie married Estel Sexton;
Thelma married Gene Collins

***1927 Grandchild: E.C. Sexton

***1928 Ellen married Bob Armstrong

1930 Knox TN 8th Dist South Middlebrook Pike, R2260, B1, P40b
SEIBER Charlie rub bed at marble mill 48, Lida D 49, Avis K 16,
C Phillip 15, Lida Inez 12, Fred 10
Own home $1800 value, No radio, Everyone can read & write

***1930 Grandchildren: Carol Armstrong, Elizabeth Collins, Evelyn Sexton

***1931 Grandchild: Bobbie Armstrong

***1933 Avis married Horace Hayes

***1934 Grandchildren: Kenneth Hayes, Tommy Sexton

***1935 Philip married Mamie Raby

***1936 Grandchildren: Jack Hayes,  Fred & Philip Seiber

***1939 Fred married Leora Johnson; Inez married Vernon Thwaites
***1939 Grandchildren: Marilyn Hayes, Wilma Jean Seiber
                                                                                                                                                                                            1930 Five Generations - Two Daughters
***1940 Grandchildren Eleanor Seiber, Freddy Thwaites                                                                                                 Standing: Lydia, Bonnie/Evelyn, Thelma/Elizabeth
***1940 Charles died July 27                                                                                                                                         Seated: Cynthia Cox Estes, Harriet Rule Cox
                                                                                                                                                                                            Rule - Cox - Estes - Seiber - Sexton/Collins
  Other Grandchildren:
1941-Fay Seiber; 1942-Irma Hayes, Johnnie Seiber; 1943-Delores Seiber;
1944-Joe Hayes, Billie Jean Seiber; 1945-Benny Seiber;  1946-Ray Seiber;
1948-Tony Seiber; 1949-Charles Seiber; 1951-Gina Seiber;
1952-Terena Seiber; 1954 Gale Seiber

***1968 Lydia died January 31

 Scroll Down  (Back to Past Eighty) 
1986 Seven Siblings: Fred 67, Inez 69, Philip 71, Avis 73, Ellen 75,
                                   Thelma 78, Bonnie 79


Bonnie Seiber Sexton     (87yrs 8mo) 1907-1994
Thelma Seiber Collins    ( 81yrs 2mo) 1908-1989
Helen Seiber Armstrong                       1911-
Avis Seiber Hayes         (89yrs 1mo)   1913-2002
Philip Seiber                    (81yrs 11mo) 1915-1995

__________________________________        
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