Happy Birthday, Grandpa Robert Rector Speas!
One hundred and twenty years ago today, on October 13, 1895,
the Speas home in Cana, Carroll County Virginia, was doubly blessed with twin
sons. Although they look quite similar in the picture below, the babies were
not identical – the rugged and fair-skinned larger baby would be named Robert
Rector, while his smaller, more delicate twin was given the name of Herbert
Parr. The boys joined a family with two older sisters, Mary Belle and Dora
Alice, and two older brothers, Frederick Ireland and Rufus Harry.
Dora, on the left is holding Herbert Parr, Rufus is front and
center, Mary Belle is holding Robert Rector on the right side of the photo and Frederick is standing in the back.
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| Old Speas Mill in Cana, Virginia |
The twins' busy and hard-working father owned a mill which housed
a grinder to convert corn into cornmeal and a roller mill to produce wheat
flour for the residents of Carroll County.
When the boys grew to be men they had no memories of their mother
who passed away before their third birthday. Though not the ideal circumstance,
they were blessed to be watched over by their widowed grandmother in the daytime,
and Mary Belle and Dora rushed home from school to take over each evening.
Later, when their father Wiley remarried, Robert and Herbert lived full-time at
grandma’s house.
Robert is on the left and Herbert on the right in this
photo:
Grandpa loved Grandma, gardening, his dog named Pooch, the Ed Sullivan Show, home-made ice cream, watching boxing matches on television, oyster stew, all of Grandma's cooking, and most of all, his family. I never doubted that he loved me.
One devastating day, when I was in the fourth grade, I came home to learn that Grandpa had suffered a debilitating stroke. He was unable to speak clearly as a result and there was a confusion of his emotions, causing him to cry when he was happy. His last few years were spent in a care facility and he cried every time we walked in the door to visit.
I miss you, Grandpa! Happy birthday!
