Glenn A. Gurley: My Sister Edna Ellen

Edna was born on November 14, 1906 in Mecklenburg County, NC, the first child born in our family. I was the youngest of eleven children in our family so she was 22 years old when I came along. This was about the same time she married Seth Odell Sigmon (born May 4, 1904 in Catawba County) on May 17, 1925. and moved to Kannapolis, NC. They had two daughters, Mildred and Ruth during the time they worked in Cannon Mills. This mill, like all mills, was a hard place work. It was a means to putting food on the table and providing for the family.

Their first child, Herman Long (2-23-26) died in childbirth. Mildred Viola (4-7-31) and Ruth Lee (12-8-32) were just a few years younger than me so I was their best uncle. Edna never did seem like a sister, she was more like the mother to of Mildred and Ruth. I always enjoyed going about once a year to Kannapolis to visit then. I remember thinking they were very rich; they bought most of their food from a McNeil Petri Grocery Store and I thought that was great.

The girls would come to Statesville and visit us for a couple weeks in the summer. They would say how lucky we were able to just go out into the garden and get our food. All we ever bought from the grocery store was each year in the fall. Mother would buy a 100 pound sack of pinto beans, sugar, coffee, a little stew beef, and a few other things she needed for baking. One time the girls were at our house visiting, Ruth came down with acute appendicitis. We ended up rushing her to Davis Hospital in Statesville and the doctor took them out as soon as they could. Both family pictures on this page are of the Seth, Edna, Mildred, and Ruth.

One time when I was about six, we were down visiting Edna and mother saw a patch of turnip greens in the yard behind us. She said that she sure would love to have some of them so I went over and pulled some up and brought them to Mother. I got scolded and had to take them back to the lady who owned the garden. The lady was nice to me about what I had done and gave them to me to take back home.

Another thing happened on this visit. Edna had electric lights and they had fuses in a little box on the back porch. The fuses were the same size as light sockets; I took one of the fuses out and screwed it into a light socket. You can imagine what happened! I got a good scare and a good spanking. I think it was about this time Edna did not like to see me coming to her house because she would never know what I would do during my stay.

A little later, Seth and Edna bought a six room house for $900.00 and moved over on Bethpage Road in Kannapolis. This is where they lived happy ever after until Seth died 8-28-54 and later Edna married General Lee Scarborough who was born 8-7-98. I am pictured here with Ruth, Mildred, and Mother.