N. L. Frady's Book

Source references are included as end notes. Click on the note number to view the reference, click on the Return to Text link at the end of the note to resume your place.

I was born William Lawrence Rhodes on 14 June 1937 in Raleigh, Wake County, North Carolina, the son of Max Rufus Rhodes and Margaret Ellen Carter. Max was born 1 April 1908 in Limestone Township, Buncombe County, North Carolina, in a house near the present location of T. E. Roberson High School. His parents were Burton Benjonas Rhodes and Mary Etta Frady. Unlike most of his antecedents who stayed for generations within sight of Bearwallow Mountain in Henderson County, Max had wanderlust. He was living with Clyde and Mable Gasperson in Vance County, North Carolina in 1930.¹ He worked briefly for the Works Progress Administration on a power line construction job in east Tennessee, where he said he learned how to lean on a shovel and what was "close enough for government work." In 1936 he was working at a rock quarry near Wendell, North Carolina, and rooming with a Richardson family on a nearby farm in Johnston County. One week end, Margaret Carter was visiting a neighbor and was sent to the Richardson well for a bucket of water. They met that day and the rest, as they say, is history.

At the time of this writing during the year 2003, I reside in Topeka, Kansas. The Bible is in the possession of my mother, who resides in Arden, North Carolina. That is how I came to be the one to examine this Bible and tell a part of its story. The illustrations of the Bible that accompany this text were captured on a flat bed scanner, a Hewlett-Packard psc 2100 series. The scanned images are generally easier to decipher than the physical pages. It is my hope that the book will eventually be placed in the care of the Old Buncombe County Genealogical Society Library in Asheville, to be available for all to share.

Found folded in half and inserted in a small song book belonging to Max was the document pictured here. It is undated; but from the type and condition of the paper, it must be no earlier than the late 1930s. The paper is lined, five-hole from a spiral notebook, as evidenced by the slightly crenellated edge between the second and third hole from the top. The discoloration of the paper is a stain from an external source, not the result of age. The first sentence, "GRANPA NOAH FRADY HAD 2 BROTHER AND 3 SISTER." is inaccurate. The 1860 Federal Census, North Carolina, Buncombe County, Swannanoa Township, Page 1, Dwelling 5 lists John Frady, 39 M; Mary, 49 F; William, 17 M; Julius, 16 M; Noah, 14 M; Henry, 13 M; Samuel, 12 M; Adda, 9 F; Emma, 7 F; and Fanny, 3 F.² "JUL" is, it seems clear, Julius. "LONIY" is probably short for Alonzo, which, I think is the middle name of Henry, from Alonzo's age on the 1880 census, compared to Henry's age on the 1860 census; and both Henry and Alonzo are one year younger than Noah. Henry is buried next to his parents in the New Salem Baptist Church Cemetery under a Confederate headstone (Company B, 14th North Carolina Troops) with no dates. I have no information about William; and the 1850 census named Randolph, one year older than William.³ Grandpa Noah Frady had at least four, maybe five, brothers. Except that the paper existed in the same house as the Bible, and pertains to some of the same people, the documents are not apparently related in any other way. How the Bible came to be in that house is known and explained. The provenance of this document cannot be proven. My mother thinks that Max did not write the paper. An archivist at the Kansas State Historical Society stated that the document appeared to have been written by an older person who had difficulty gripping a pencil. That could have described my father. The spelling could be his. I think that Max Rhodes did write this paper; and furthermore he left it where another Frady descendant would find it.

Source references are included as end notes. Click on the note number to view the reference, click on the Return to Text link at the end of the note to resume your place.

Noah L. Frady, born on 27 March 1847 in Buncombe County, North Carolina, was the son of John Frady and Mary Lance. Although young, he served in the Confederate Army, Company B, 29th North Carolina Troops, and saw action at the Battle of Petersburg in Virginia. Returning from the war, Noah married Mary Ann Powers. At some point, he acquired a copy of the Bible, originally distributed by the New York Bible Society and published by the American Bible Society. It is a hard-bound book with black, leather-looking covers, about four and one-half inches wide by about seven inches tall by about two and one-half inches thick. The exact date that the Bible came into the family cannot be determined. From its title page, the American Bible Society published it in 1852. The date of printing is not shown. The American Bible Society was founded in 1816 and distributed thousands of Bibles through churches and Sunday schools throughout the country. During the Civil War, Bibles were distributed to both Union and Confederate troops.⁴ It could have entered the family from Sunday school, or Noah could have brought it home from Petersburg. It is probable that much of the information written in the Family Record and elsewhere was done by Julia G. Frady, a daughter who was born in 1872 and died in 1907. The latest date recorded is the death of Noah in 1922. Where the Bible spent the intervening years is anyone's guess; but it was in the possession of another daughter, Elsie Frady, at the time of her death in 1974.

Aunt Elsie was one of the family characters. She liked to celebrate Christmas with fireworks in the form of discharging a shotgun. One year she stepped out on her one-storey high back steps and let go with both barrels. The gun recoiled, the steps were icy, and Aunt Elsie broke some bones. (Some say that there may have been some ingested liquids involved.) She had a little terrier who would sing with her when she played the piano and sang. It was never agreed as to whose voice was more irritating - the dog or Aunt Elsie. It has been theorized that the dog howled to try to get her to stop singing. She was married three times and shares a plot in the New Salem Church cemetery with all three. First was Albert Garren with whom she had a daughter, Jessie (born 10 March 1902 and died 24 February 1907) Albert, son, I think, of William and Alcy Garren, died tragically in a railroad accident. It is told that Aunt Elsie noticed her first cousin, Parris Sumner, at Albert's funeral and fell in love. It would have been a short-lived romance; because Parris, who occupies the outside of the plot and has the smallest, plainest stone, died on 12 March 1908 of a gunshot. The family story is "he managed to get himself shot." It is also told that she fell in love with another first cousin, Ellis Frady, at Parris' funeral. She and Ellis were married for over fifty years when he passed away. She did not fall in love with another cousin at Ellis' funeral -- apparently there were none left.

As a small boy I always looked forward to visits to Aunt Elsie. She had many treasurers to delight, and always wanted to entertain children. I fondly remember the old wind-up cabinet "Victrola" which only played scratchy 78s. I enjoyed the stories she told.

My mother (left) had asked Aunt Elsie for a picture (right) of her made when she was eighteen, in 1901, which Elsie had refused saying she wanted the picture to be buried with her. At the time of Aunt Elsie's funeral two of her nieces, Pauline Rhodes Butler and Mable Rhodes Gasperson were in the house to get the clothing for her burial. On leaving for the funeral home the evening of visitation, they handed Mother a paper bag which contained some embroidered pillow cases that she had given Aunt Elsie that she had never used, the picture that had been requested, and this Bible.

The following screens will consist of an image on the left and my interpretation of what was written on the page on the right.

Inside the front cover, left side
	Handwritten: "N. L. Frady "N. L. Frady"

Right Page Inside Front Cover
	Handwritten, "N. L. Frady's "Book".

Last Page of Old Testament
	Written in the white space at the end of the book of Malachi, in ink that ran and bled into the page obscuring letters and words, "Julia Frady "was bornd "the 2[illegible] day "a[illegible] of Feb [possibly] "1872."

Loose Page Before Family Record Page
	"W G Frady [Illegible] [Illegible] [Illegible] "N. L. Frady "Book "Numbers VIII "Hebre 7 V "10 22"

Reverse of Loose Page
	[Illegible} [Illegible] [very faint] "wife Mary"

Family Record, Page 1

"Elsie Dona Frady was borned "the [scratched out] April 13 day 1883 "William Giddy Frady "was bornd the 6 day "of January 1866 "July Joseyberry Frady "was bornd the 25 day "of [word scratched out, 'Feb' written above it] 1872 "Lily Frady was bornd "the 7 day of February 1874 "Mary Eta Frady "was Bornd March "the 22 1877 "Birthy May Frady was Bornd "the 13 day of Febry 1880 "Elsie Dona Frady was "bornd April 13 day 1883 "Nannie Frady was "bornd the 5 day of June 1886" [Lily Frady, b. 7 Feb 1874, cannot be connected to any member of this family. She may have died in infancy; or she may have been a cousin.]

Family Record, Page 2
	"Wiliam Giddy Frady "was bornd the 6 day of "January 1866 "J July Fr "Emma E. Frady "was bornd the 21 day "of May 1866 "Nannie Frady "died July the 19 1889 "Hazel Pauline Frady "was bornd the 29 day "of August 1900" [Emma E was the wife of Gid Frady; and Hazel Pauline was the daughter of Etta]

Family Record, Page 3
	"William Giddy Frady "was bornd the 6 day "off January 1866 "July J'es's "Mary A. Frady was "borned the 13 - day of "May in the year of "our lord 1856)1855 "Julia Frady [words scratched out] "Jessie Francis Garren "was bornd March 10, 1902" [Jessie Francis Garren was the daughter of Elsie]

Family Record, Page 4
	"Mary A Frady Died "Feb 14 - 1918 "Mary A. Frady "was bornd the 13 of May "in the year of our Lord "1855 "N L Frady was bornd "the 27 of March "in the year of our lord "1847 "Mr N. L. Frady "and "Miss M. A. Powers "were married "- day 18 "N L Frady died "Sept 15 / 1922"

Title Page of New Testament
	"Elsie Dona Frady "was bornd April "13, 1883"

Inside Title Page of New Testament
	[Numbers written over] "N. L. Frady "was born March "the 27, 1847 "Mary A Frady "was born May "13, 1855 "Carlea Rhoads "was bornd "Aug 20, 1906" [Carlee Rhodes was the son of Etta]

Top of First Page of Matthew
	"N. L. Frady died "Sept. 15 - 1922"

Leaf Facing Inside of Back Cover
	Written upside down: "W. G. Frady "was married "May the 22, 1887 "to Emma Murray "Daughter of "Devon Murray "Julia G. Frady "Julia G. Frady" [The text is displayed right side up for readability.]

Inside Back Cover
	Indistinct markings.

Inside of the front cover was this newsprint clipping.	The reverse of the clipping:

Things saved in the Frady Bible, Part I
Found at Genesis Chapter 40	Found at Joshua Chapter 16
	Found at Job Chapter 24
Found at Isaiah Chapter 23		Found at Habakkuk Chapter 1

Things saved in the Frady Bible, Part II
Found at Micah Chapter 1
Found at Matthew Chapter 19
Found at Mark Chapter 12
Found at I Peter Chapter 1

Source references are included as end notes. Click on the note number to view the reference, click on the Return to Text link at the end of the note to resume your place.

I remember many tales about Grandpa Frady by my Dad when I was a boy. They were very close, apparently. It was no accident that, after a life time of wandering from place to place, job to job, Max chose a place in Skyland to finally settle down and retire. He was home, close to where he was born, and able to move about the same ground that he roamed with his Grandpa as a boy. Max Rhodes was never happier than when he was tromping through the woods on a mountainside.

Mary Ann Powers Frady has an enigmatic birth date. The Bible would seem to put it at May 13, 1855. On the 1880 census she is shown as aged 26, which would calculate to 1854 or 1855, depending on the month.⁶ The 1900 census, on which enumerators recorded the month and year of birth, lists hers as October 1854.⁷ The 1910 census shows her as age 55, which would calculate to 1855 birth year.⁸ Her tombstone in Mount Zion Baptist Church Cemetery lists her date of birth as May 31, 1846; and the 1850 census for Buncombe County shows: Dwelling 44, family 44: Jesse Powers, 38 M; Sally, 38 F; Sophronia, 17 F; Riley, 14 M; Sarapta, 13 F; John, 9 M; Mary A., 3 F; and Sally, 1 F!⁹ Now the preponderance of the evidence would assign 1855 as Grandma Frady's year of birth; however, she would have been ten and a half years of age when son Gid was born. This is not physically impossible, but highly unlikely because there are no family stories about such an event. Her groom, Noah, had just returned from war by means of a stolen horse according to legend; and it is unlikely that the girl he left behind in 1862 was only six years old. I believe her tombstone, except that the stone carver may have reversed numbers and put "31" instead of "13", but that's a small matter. Let's go with what's carved in stone.

Gid Frady, who married Devon Murray's daughter Emma, departed for parts unknown and was never heard from again. Emma Murray Frady died 27 Feb 1900, and is buried with other Murrays in the New Salem Baptist Church Cemetery.¹⁰

Julia Frady is buried next to her mother and father in Mount Zion, as are Etta, my grandmother, and Birthy May. Aunt May was retarded and, after Noah passed away, lived out her life with Aunt Elsie and Uncle Ellis.¹¹