Uncle Dewey

Uncle Dewey demonstrating a weather instrument 

Welcome back to this week's "Weaver Wednesday" as we celebrate the sixth child of Nettie and Sisson Weaver. 

Charles Dewey Weaver was born on May 9, 1898. He was the last of the Weaver children to be born in the 19th century. He attended Alabama Polytechnic Institute, now Auburn University. 

Uncle Dewey and my grandmother, Bo, were very close throughout their lives, being just 2 years apart in age. One of my fondest memories of Uncle Dewey was that he was a bee-keeper. My grandfather, Walter Lee Harper, was also a bee-keeper, and from what I remember, these two men helped each other out with bee-keeping duties. The only day that I can remember being told we MUST play indoors was the day that Uncle Dewey came over to help Papa "rob the bees" of their honey. Our grandmother, Bo, did not want us to get stung by the bees, so we were allowed to sit inside by the screen door and watch….Uncle Dewey and my grandfather in their bee-keeping outfits. They looked like astronauts,  smoking out the bees and pouring the honey out of the hives into big buckets. I wish I had a picture of this to post.

Uncle Dewey had many talents and interests. He was very interested in the study of weather. He had many weather instruments in his yard and was consulted regularly on his weather predictions.   

Uncle Dewey in the Weaver-Ragsdale store 1976

Uncle Dewey had shop-keeping in his blood, like many in the Weaver family. He and his brother, Tenison, owned and operated "Weaver-Ragsdale"store on the Square in Talladega for many years. This is a precious picture taken in their store. 

Dewey at 1 1/2 or 2 years of age

Aren't these pictures great?  If I did not already know that these three pictures were family photos, I would have thought they were illustrations from a children's book. 

Lallie, Bo, and Dewey

Dewey and Jep

Having so many siblings must have insured that a playmate was always around. Our Weaver family lore is full of tales of these 10 children getting into lots of mischief- and with ten children, I guess there was always someone younger who could take the blame! That's the way it is with brothers and sisters-lots of fun and mischief-making!

Love,

Mariellan