When this project was started, my intention was to pay tribute to and honor my great aunt, Margaret Rosette Wikle, for her unselfish dedication of her life and resources to bringing up my mother, Rose Mary Dillard Hutchins, and her sister, Almeda Dillard Hood, from infancy. She also provided a shelter in a time of storm for Barham and Joe Dillard in their pre-teen years. While not uncommon for the Dillards to generously take orphaned family members into their homes, I am sure that very few situations resulted in such caring and loving lifetime relationships.
With the encouragement and assistance of John M. Dillard, I started to gather bits and
My bits and pieces do not always fit together well. My sketch has become, like a patchwork quilt, more a collection of scraps of this and that which I hope will be of interest.
Margaret Rosette Dillard Wikle, my great aunt, was the second child of John Barnard and Rachel McKinney Dillard. She was born April 18, 1854. We know very little about her as a young girl growing up in Rabun County during the Civil War years, but we can be certain that she and her older sister, Sallie, were kept busy helping with household tasks, and caring for eight more brothers and sisters who arrived regularly every two years afterwards.
Zette, as she was affectionately called, must have grown up to be a very attractive young lady. She caught the eye of George W.C. Wikle, a bachelor 24 years older than she, who returned to North Georgia around 1870 after seeking his fortune in the California gold rush. Their wedding picture shows a very tall older man and a petite girl in a fancy hat who looks young enough to be his daughter.
There are many tantalizing clues about the life of G.W.C. Wikle that will be fun to explore at a later date. Among them are a deed to a California gold mine bought for $50.00 in 1865; an autographed copy of the memoirs of George W. Williams of Nacoochee Valley and Charleston published in 1871, a handwritten summons to appear in court in Atlanta to answer federal charges that the taxes of $428.40 had not been paid on products in a distillery owned by William Alley, George Wikle and Leander Beavert in 1875 and a deed to a farm near Sautee. Life with G.W.C Wikle would definitely not have been dull for Zette, no matter how old he was. They were married.
Evidence that the couple lived in Rabun County in 1890 is provided in the obituary of Albert Dillard, son of James. Uncle Albert had attended a Farmers Alliance meeting at the Baptist Church in Rabun County on Sunday morning, went to dinner at the home of G.W.C Wikle, returned to the meeting where in the afternoon, he died. If this makes us wonder about Zette's cooking. We don't have to look far to learn that she was noted for her culinary ability as well as her sewing skills.
Sometime after 1890, the Wikles had moved to a remote farm community near Monroe Church in Nacoochee Valley where they were living in l895.
It was in March of that year that Zette's younger brother, George, wrote a happy letter to the Wikles, which was saved for posterity.
"Rosette, the first thing I have to tell you is this A.M. we had a fine little daughter. She is two weeks old this morning and is just as fat as she can be and has dark eyes and hair," he wrote. "I don't think any of your bros. or sisters have ever honored you with a namesake and now I have decided to give you one".
When the baby, my mother, was six months old George proudly took his wife, Elizabeth Hyberger, called Mollie, and their daughters, to visit his family here in-North Georgia. They traveled in early winter from their home in Timber Ridge, Tennessee. Accounts of travel in those days lead us to believe that the trip was difficult in the best of weather and must have been unbelievably hard when the weather was bad and with two babies.
George found his mother ill, and after they had been there a short time, his father also became ill. Mollie and George pitched in to help with the nursing and Zette also came to assist, as did other family members. John Barnard died Oct. 24, 1895. During this time Mollie became ill with rheumatic fever so it was impossible to go back to Tennessee that winter.
Zette's next letter from George is dated March 1, 1896. His Mollie had just died the day before. "What can I do with my darling children?", he wrote. "Dear sister can't you come to see me at once?" In a P. S. he urgently asks, "Please come to see me, I will go home with you and spend a few days".
G.W.C. Wikle was 66 years old, Rosette was 42. They had no children of their own. Of course they went to the rescue. Meda was 3 years old and Rose just 11 months. Temporary arrangements were made which soon became permanent. George departed for Oklahoma and Rose and Meda were soon called "the little Wikle girls".
It is not hard to imagine the challenges Rosette faced with her new and unplanned family. She and her elderly husband devoted themselves to the task of rearing and educating the children.
Rose Mary Dillard Hutchins, my mother, was the niece named for her Aunt Rosette. In her memoirs, "The Story Of My Life" she tells us of happy times growing up with Aunt Zette and Uncle Wikle on their farm. She remembers Uncle Wikle as an old man with wonderful stories of gold mining, Indian fighting and traveling in the west.
"This period of our lives at the farm home holds many happy memories .... also some sad ones. We lived in a thinly settled, isolated community. But there were beautiful laurel covered hills, brooks to wade in, a fish pond to gaze into, purple mountains to wonder about, trees to climb, and animals to love. The pets we loved most were Dinah, the gentle mule we could ride, the herd of goats that played in the lane in the evenings; the pet kids that chewed on our hair ribbons; Crackus, the Maltese cat; Ring, the hound dog that guarded us; and Him-Fine - Fellow, the chicken that didn't have any feathers for which we made clothes. Our uninterrupted play hour during Aunt Zette's nap after the noon-day meal
"An important chore was the care of the milk and butter which was always plentiful on the farm. The fresh milk was carried to the spring-house where the containers were placed in a trough of cold running water. Part of the sweet milk was for drinking, and part was allowed to sour and clabber for churning After about 30 minutes of patient dashing, the butter came to the top my aunt salted and molded it into round cakes, ready for use.
"Pills, and most medical supplies were very scarce, as well as doctors. About all I can recall, was Aunt Zette making me take a dose of caster oil every Saturday night-whether I needed it or not. As a gesture of hospitality my uncle kept a bottle of Mountain Dew on the mantle in the kitchen. This locally made whiskey was served to all visitors-preachers included!
"The only church in the vicinity was Munroe Methodist Church, several miles distant, where my Uncle and Aunt were members, and where I was baptized. I have a faint recollection of the preacher holding me in his arms. When I was older I enjoyed riding mule-back on a saddle blanket behind Uncle Wikle. Aunt Zette, mounted atop her side-saddle, followed with Meda seated behind her Sometimes we drove to church in the buggy which had a huge umbrella on top, and on important occasions we used the surrey, driving two mules.
"Not all of life was drudgery in those days. There was fun, too. Corn-shucks were important community events. It was customary for any one who found a red ear of corn to kiss the lady or gent of his or her choice. At noon a delicious dinner, which had been prepared by the women was served. When the shucking was completed, there was dancing, solo, and square- no waltzing!
"The women assembled in their homes for quilting parties where they made beautiful quilts. When a member of a family married, a quilt was given as a wedding present. I was the heir to several of these lovely pieces of art which I value highly and still use. Our Aunt and Uncle were determined that we should have all the education they could afford to give us.
"When Meda was seven they took the school teacher to board (his name was Mr. Black) so we didn't have to walk the two and one-half miles to the school house alone. It was a one room then log building with wooden shutters. The school year was five months duration. In winter regular attendance was impossible because of the snow, mud, and cold. We attended this school about two years. There was a better school, at Providence, only three miles distant if one followed a foot path across the mountain. On these long treks my imagination
About this time Presbyterians were establishing a school in Nacoochee Valley, six miles away. Rev. J. T. Wade, a Presbyterian minister, and a Mrs. Blake, wife of a gold mine executive, came to their home looking for prospective students. As a result of their visit, it was decided the girls would be enrolled at Nacoochee Institute. They entered fifth grade the following fall.
Again I quote from my mother's story: "Aunt Zette was an excellent seamstress and dressed us alike and becomingly. She cut up as many of Mama's clothes as were suitable and made them into dresses for us. We wore them proudly, and didn't suffer by comparison with other children. The teachers noticed our clothes and soon inquired if our Aunt would sew for them. This she gladly did, and her earnings as a seamstress were a great help to supplement the farm income which was getting less and less as Uncle Wikle now had to depend on tenants to operate the farm. Her sewing was the means of our having lessons in art and music."
"When Uncle Wikle was no longer physically able to operate the farm, he and Aunt Zette moved to the Valley, too. For several years we lived in cottages near the school. During this time Meda developed into a lovely young lady. On the other hand, I was self-conscious about my appearance and shy, but I made friends easily.
"There followed dark days. Disaster, sickness and death came thick and fast. Meda's marriage to Leonard Hood, her sickness and death when she was only sixteen, Uncle Wikle's failing health, and his death four months later, and the final breakup of our home seemed the end of the world."
Although Rosette was terribly shaken by these sad experiences she accepted the challenge of starting a new life for herself. At about this time the wife of her brother, Dock, also died. Again Zette to the rescue! Barham and Joe Dillard came to live with Zette and Rose The boys were 14 and 11. Rose was 14 and Aunt Zette was 56. There was a small income from the farm, Uncle Dock paid a reasonable amount for the boys board so they had the necessities of life. Close friendships formed between cousins which lasted all their lives. In 1933 just before Aunt Zette's death, my mother wrote a letter about her failing health to Barham. She reminisced "we must have been a handfull for her in those days."
Nacoochee Institute was changing hands with Rev. John Knox Colt as the new President. He persuaded Rosette to go to the new dormitory to live where she would be employed as one of the matrons of the girls. Rosette once again had a house full of young people to love and care for. She lived and worked there until my mother finished tenth grade which was the highest grade taught.
With the assistance of Mr. Colt, my mother entered Georgia Normal and Industrial College in the fall of 1912 to prepare for a teaching career.
Aunt Zette sold her farm and some mountain land, bought a ten room boarding house in Robertstown and launched a new career at 60. She was happy to be in her own home again. She lived there the rest of her life.
Aunt Zette would be uncomfortable if a big fuss were made over her virtues or if she was praised for doing the things that she considered as necessary normal actions. Telling you a few aspects of her life is simply my way of saying - I am very proud to be your great niece. "Thank you for always being there when your family needed you."