Rosa was born on the Bolin Varnell Farm (then owned by Tom Webb) on what is now Webb Lake Rd near the intersection of Hwy 124 West Macclesfield, NC. This small farmhouse was a 2 room house, and was originally owned by Rosa's Grandparents, Bolen and "Puss' Edwards Varnell.
Children of Big Tom and Martha "Puss" Edwards:
Left to Right:
Jesse Webb (wife of Henry), Webster Williams (husband of Nora), Nora Webb Williams, Henry Webb, Rosa Webb Varnell (wife of Oscar Varnell), Mamie 'Splinter" Lewis, (wife of Wiley Bud Webb), and Effie Webb Bridgers (wife of Jodie Bridgers, dec'd).
Effie Webb - md Joseph "Jodie" Bridgers
Rosa Webb - md Oscar Bolden Varnell
Nora Webb - md Webster Williams
Wiley Gray Webb - md "Splinter" Lewis
Henry Webb md Jesse Webb
Children of Oscar and Rosa Annie Webb:
Robert Perry Varnell md Ursula R - they met in Germany during WWII.
Allen Barber "Doc" Varnell - never married.
Joe Clyde Varnell - md Alice "Peajack" Johnson
Nellie Gray "Nell" Varnell - md David Hagans
Clayton Thomas "Mooch" Varnell md Rebell "Skip" Puckett (divorced) and Susan Vick.
Sidney Paul Varnell - md Nellie Faye Wiggins (daughter of Roy and Nettie Adams Wiggins from Pitt County)
Stories of Rosa Annie Webb:
Walks at night:
Grandma would use a flashlight at night when she was walking through the house. I think she did this always. It was easier to walk around a house with lots of others sleeping and not turn on lights. She had a 3 cell flashlight. Since she lived in the country and had outdoor plumbing (Outhouse), Grandma would carry her 'piss pot" and her 'flashlight at night. Allen "Doc", Clayton "Mooch" and Joe Clyde, would joke and call it her piss-light and flash-pot.
Dinnertime:
Order when eating - everyone had their place:
Dinner at Oscar and Rosa's (Kingsboro) Grandma at end of table , Paul on her right, Joe Clyde (middle), and Mooch on end.
On other side of table, Papa (Oscar) sat to the left of Grandma, then Doc in the middle and Nell on the end.
Papa was curious sometimes. If he walked in and anyone was at his place at the table, he would refuse to eat, or even stay in the room. He would go outside and wait for them to leave.
Going to the field:
Grandma would walk down beside the railroad to the back field to get corn. She would be wearing mens boots that were way too big, to protect from snake bites, a straw hat, mens pants under her 'uniform' dress. She'd come back with a huge wheelbarrow full of corn and cook it for dinner. She would process the corn, by shucking it, cleaning out the silks, rinse, then blanching it in hot boiling water for 3 minutes. Then, cooling it off with cold water. Then, she would cut it off the cob, and cook it in a huge pot with some butter and a little flour and some water. She would cook a huge pot of fresh creamed corn. Once cooked, she would place it in the fridge with a lid on the pot. If the pot was stirred, the corn would spoil. I think Aunt Nell opened it up and ate out of it twice; causing the huge pot of corn to spoil, twice.
Visiting:
Grandma Rosa loved to visit. She and Papa both loved living in Kingsboro probably better than anywhere else. In Macclesfield and other areas of Edgecombe County, transportation wasn't as readily available. Papa and Grandma could jump on the train and go to Rocky Mount or Tarboro. They could ride a bus back and forth. Grandma would go visiting at neighboring houses. She'd ride the train to Tarboro and visit her daughter Nell. She'd get a ride and go visit Aunt Nora in Old Sparta. I remember in the 1970s, she would go to visit Nell and live with her for a month or more. While on the Cox farm, Grandma would visit Lina Harrell (Golden Webb's sister). She would also visit with Don Proctor's wife, and Jim Proctor's wife. She would visit Dora Lee Bridgers Hulon - Grandma's niece. She would come to to Macclesfield to visit Uncle Jim Varnell and his sister Sallie "Sack" Varnell - who both lived at the Varnell homeplace that we restored, on NC 124 Highway.
Crafts:
I'm pretty sure I got my love of crafting gene from Grandma. She could sew quilts (by hand), and quilt them, crochet - she made a beautiful red and white bedspread that fit over her huge feather bed out of tobacco twine. I used to give her my left over fabric from sewing projects. I must have purchased all 1970s polyester as she made quilt toppers, bottoms out of that. LOL.
Grandma Rosa could be less than gracious about Christmas Gifts and she was near impossible to buy for. I know my favorites were to buy her linen ladies handkerchiefs, or a container of powder. She would always say "You didn't have to do that, I don't need that". Looking back, I wish I'd gone and picked her up (when I learned to drive) and we'd gone visiting. She would have liked that. She was a country woman with few needs in life.
The first appliance that Grandma ever bought was a 1949 Kenmore Refrigerator. That same refrigerator is located in the shed at the farmhouse. We'll probably never get rid of it. I remember when the compressor would shut off, Grandma would state "There goes that snake falling in the back of the fridge again".
Grandma had a beautiful old antique 4 poster bed. We went to her house one day and she had cut the posters off the bed. Cringe! She was older and it was easier for her to make her feather bed, yes, she had a handmade feather bed. I slept on it once when I spent the night with her. I moved around too much and she stated "I wish I could pull that snake out of your butt, you wiggling all around". Grandma had false teeth, and the always sat in a glass of water on the night table.
Grandma had some lovely things. She had an antique clock in her bedroom that I just loved. It is a metal horse with a horseshoe behind it. Inside the horseshoe is a clock. She had a beautiful vanity with 3 mirrors on the top. She had a wardrobe also. That wardrobe is at the Macclesfield farmhouse, with her dresses still inside.
Grandma had not one, two, but three antique kitchen safes/Hoosier cabinets. One of them she kept her glassware in, with the roll-top up. The glasses sat upside down on a clean kitchen cloth. I inherited all of the dishes when Uncle Doc died. Sheila asked for the glasses with the swirls on them. I gave them to her. Only fair that Grandma's stuff would be shared.
We lived in rental houses until I was 15 years old, when my parents bought their first house at 223 Avent Circle. They bought this over 100 year old farmhouse that the city of Rocky Mount grew around it. It was owned by an elderly brother and sister who lived in Virginia and they basically offloaded it for 2 grand. My parents gobbled that up. The next house they purchased was brand new house in 1977 on West Mount Drive. When they told Grandma they were purchasing the house she stated "The house you had was good enough, You didn't need a new house". Again, country.
Homes she lived at:
1) Born at Webb Lake Rd (Home of Tom and Martha "Weedie" Varnell Webb; previous home of her Grandparents Bolin and "Puss" Edwards Varnell).
2) Stallings Rd Farmhouse Macclesfield NC
3) Berjum Rd Farmhouse, Macclesfield NC
4) Hwy 124 Farmhouse (just down from William Varnell Farmhouse, little house other side of road.)
5) Halifax Rd Farmhouse, Rocky Mount NC near Little Easonburg
6) Candlewood Farmhouse - sat at the now entry of Candlewood (Ritzy neighborhood built in the 1970's 80s. near Little Easonburg.
7) Hwy 64 Little Easonburg Crossroads (Hwy 64 between Rocky Mount and Nashville NC)
8) House off Old Bailey Rd (parallel to Oak Level Rd), Nashville NC. Grandma died while living at this house in 1988.
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