In chronicling the Gambill family history, it would be both remiss and amiss if some portion of it was not dedicated to this woman who took care of the Gambill family all of her life -twelve she gave birth to, and one whom she married.

Mandy Gambill was a strong woman and she came from strong, pioneer stock:

Curtis and Mandy Gambill with Ruby Ca 1914

The first Brooks that we know of is a female Irish (probably Scotch-Irish) immigrant named Rebecca Brooks, Mom's ggggrandmother. . She never married. We do not know this, but she must have been an indentured servant, or transported, if she immigrated as a single woman. In the early eighteen hundreds she bore two sons who were probably half brothers, Young Brooks and Stokes Brooks- the line Mom came from.. For a female to survive in the incredibly harsh environment of frontier colonial America without a husband/male protector is a remarkable story. Rebecca not only survived, she lived to be 99 years old..     A more recent example of a pioneer woman is Mandy's mother, Sally Bauguess Brooks. She was a multi-talented mountain woman, married to a Baptist preacher, who grew her own flax and sheep and spun and wove her own fabrics and bed coverlets.. She was a midwife and was known for her generous help to others. She bore twelve children, five of which predeceased her.   Mom had another prominent

female among her ancestors, Clarissa Reynolds, Mom's gggrandmother and the wife of Stokes Brooks. She had Reynolds ancestors who have been traced back to 1505 in England. And on Clarissa's maternal side, the Clevelands, her uncle was Benjamin Cleveland, a man who has a place in the history books for his role as one of the commanding officers at the pivotal battle of King's Mountain in the Revolutionary War.

And there were some male antecedents who led memorable, long lives.

  According to family lore, Mom's grandfather, Dickie Bauguess, during the Civil War, while in his forties and already a grandfather (his first child, Sally, was married and a mother by then), walked out of the mountains to Manassas, Va., joined the Union Army, and was a prisoner of war. All this time, the family had no knowledge of his whereabouts, but after three years when the war ended he walked back to his home in the mountains. He lived to be almost 100.
  The Bauguess family, according to information posted on the genealogy records of the Mormon Church, traces its beginnings back to Robert Boggess, 1627, in St. Stephen's, Northhumberland, Va. Robert must have been one of the earliest settlers in the wilderness of the American Colonies...
  Stokes Brooks, son of Rebecca, was always associated with the Baptist church and was a Baptist preacher, a role that my grandfather William Brooks (Stokes's grandson) filled two generations later. He was a successful land owner/farmer and married well.
   About her Dad, William Brooks, I know very little. He was a Baptist preacher and a very strict one, too,. I know that his sons attended schools, but I can find no evidence the daughters were allowed to, although someone must have taught them because none were illiterate..In searching for his antecedents, I finally found his father, a widower, who was living in William's household on Piney Creek in 1900. His name was L.C. Brooks (I later found out that his first name was Larkin, a pretty family name shared by my Uncle Larkin two generations later)..My ggrandfather, Larkin, or L. C., served as a Sergeant with the Union Army in C0. H. 10th TN Cav. in the Civil War. Both of Mom's grandfathers , L. C. Brooks and Dickie Bauguess, fought as Unionists !

I said earlier that my Mom was a strong woman, and she needed to be to meet the challenges of her life.. Without exaggeration, I have never known of anyone-man or woman, slave or free-who worked as hard as my mother, Mandy Gambill. When needed, she did every imaginable chore on the family farm which ranged from repairing a window or screen door, hoeing the fields, picking tomatoes, milking cows-- then coming in from the fields, chopping wood to build a fire, cook the meal, clean up and if he wanted barbering, shave her husband,. Of course, in between she washed clothes, cooked, cleaned house, sewed, and bore, and breast fed twelve babies, eleven of which survived her. The only work aspect of farm life that she was exempt from was that which involved machinery. That was saved for the male members.

  I am sure her young life was filled with responsibilities, too, because everyone had to work hard on the small mountain holdings. And even while young she was helping to raise a child. Her sister, Caroline, died and left a young orphan boy, Joe Thomas, and Mom helped rear him. From the Census records of 1900 and 1910, there is no evidence that she had any formal schooling, but she was literate, had good penmanship, and could do basic math very well which is a tribute to her native intelligence.

  Of which she had plenty. She could take a newspaper, hold it up to you, cut out a dress pattern, and sew a simple dress with no problem. She could prepare a meal for 12 to 20 people from almost nothing. I have often said " Why shouldn't I believe in miracles? I have seen my mother perform the miracle of the loaves and fishes on a daily basis" Although she was not always a first-rate cook-- not having a great deal to work with-- her baking powder biscuits were the best.. Of course, she had plenty of practice-she made big pans of them everyday, sometimes every meal.. No one could make roast duck like Mom. She grew it, slaughtered it, cleaned it and baked it ever so slowly in the oven of an old wood stove. If she had enjoyed the resources that my generation has, she could have been a consummate cook. As it was she 'did the most with the least' of anyone I know.

  She was blessed with good health and great stamina, both of which she needed. Stoical, by nature, she soldiered on even when ailing. Except for childbirth, I remember only once, maybe twice when Mom took to her bed. One of those occasions was for kidney stones which she painfully passed at home. She had a lump in her breast in 1935, but refused surgery and removed it herself with hot compresses and a heated bottle( a true story!) In consequence she did not suffer malingering easily. So if you had a complaint, it had better be real. You soon learned that the cure available could be more painful than the disease,--." Here, take these epsom salts!"

  Having a work- filled life did not mean Mom had no fun. She enjoyed visiting, or being visited, and sharing a meal. She was a prankster by nature and loved to play a practical joke. One I remember all too well because for me it was traumatic. The earliest Christmas I can remember we were all waiting to see if Santa would put goodies( a single orange, candy, and nuts) in our stockings. My older brother Dean had been creeping down the stairs and peeking. He was telling us younger kids there was no Santa Claus, Mom was doing it.. To reward his bad behavior, Mom put in his stocking an old dried up meat skin.. Well, when morning arrived, Dean ran downstairs to get the stockings. Guess who got the one with the meat skin (either accidentally, or by design). It wasn't Dean!: You cannot imagine the disappointment this four year old felt that dark Christmas morning in that old farmhouse with no orange or candy from Santy Claus!. I knew then Dean was right about Santa, there wasn't any.. That particular joke did not turn out as Mom intended.

  For overriding all else, Mom was kind. She helped raise her orphan nephew, she fed whoever came to our house, she offered the homeless a roof and a bed, she revered and cared for her mother-in-law and father-in-law in their old age. She shared whatever she had. Tramps and beggars (and there were plenty of them in the Great Depression) were never turned away without something, even if it was just a slab of cold cornbread There are many folk, some alive today, who could bear testimony to the good deeds of Mandy Gambill.

   One thing Mom was not good at was housekeeping. How could she be when there was so many other chores of a higher priority and so little to do with? And always so many people to make a mess! But, having said this, I expect this was an area in which she had little talent, or interest. And while I am talking about her shortcomings, in my opinion she catered to her husband and sons to a degree that was subservient. Also, she did not show her emotions, or affection, except to young babies. But these failings (my call) were part of the mountain culture in which she was born and raised. You see as an ethnic group, the Scotch-Irish were not noted for neatness, or open show of familial affection, and they were a patriarchal society so males were treated differently/better..As evidence, only the boys in Mom's family attended school.

  As young children we were sent to Sunday School to the church nearest us, but Mom did not have proper Sunday  clothes or the free time to attend church, with any regularity, until her late years when we were all grown..I do know that she and Dad in the late fifties attended Conowingo Baptist church  Even though she came from a Baptist background, as far as I know Mom did not have a formal church affiliation or make a formal profession of faith. . But she did "the walk" of a Christian. With God's help and grace she lived a life of service to others.

I am writing this tribute so that future generations will know something of the character and life of one who came before them. Of one who lived most of her life in a time and a place without indoor plumbing and electricity. Who worked to maintain a bare subsistence under very austere conditions, yet always shared and helped others, not consciously, but just because that is what you do.   She was a pioneer from pioneer stock. As the world judges, she would not be noticed, having no wealth or social standing. There were not many like her back then and they don't make them like that today. The mold has been thrown away. Her likes will not soon come this way again   Finally, these things should have been said to her in her lifetime. I regret that I only touched on it..I hope that angels have an ISP ( Internet Service Provider) so now she knows!

Written in loving memory

August 31, 2003 by her daughter, Marie (Bobbie) Gambill Smith