Hezekiah Henderson looked down at the ground near his shovel and said, in his way, “What that is?”
Hezekiah was a farm laborer on the coastal plains of South Carolina. He was known as “Biggy”, which he was, or “Biggety” which he was not, but that is another story for another time. What he was looking at, and not examining, or putting in his pocket, was a gold wedding band.
It was about 1970 and he was helping to dig the foundation for a new farm building. To prepare the site for the new building, we demolished a wonderful old pine building that had been used as storage for seeds and chemicals, but before that served as the hen house in my childhood, and for many years before. It was about 16 feet square with a raised wooden floor and a shed roof; and it contained laying nests, roost poles, and a feed bin with a hinged top — all made of pine. The building and roofline then stepped down about 2 feet to a cement floor closer to ground level and ran about 48 feet east from the hen house section. This section had been used for storage of grain and cotton.
One day in about 1930, Ma Ma was out in the yard around the hen house feeding the chickens, flinging corn kernels in a scatter on the ground with the hungry hens gathered round, and she flung her wedding band as well. She knew it happened and she was pretty sure she knew which hen had gobbled it down. She didn’t have many keepsakes from her time with Little Joe, due to a house fire in 1926, so the wedding band was very dear to her — and that was bad news for this hen that she knew, and that she was pretty sure was the one that contained the gold wedding band. The hen was disassembled, and added to the menu for supper. No ring was found. So there you go — and that was bad news for the rest of the hens (a dozen or so?). Of course no ring was found, but every family on the place had chicken dinners and suppers.
Ma Ma was a big woman with a large joyous manner. She was a school teacher for a time in Eutawville, and she owned and operated the farm, with an overseer, from 1911 when Little Joe died until about 1930 when Thomas returned to begin taking the helm. We were morning comrades until I started the first grade, and she taught me many things but most memorably to dunk hard toast in cafe au lait as a mid morning snack—the madeleine effect.
Edna Ione (R) as a young woman with her first cousin, and best friend, Annie Wright, on a girl’s trip to Savannah in 1902.
As Ma Ma
The sudden onset of dementia by about 1950 quenched her joy. She died (1875 - 1962) without knowing what had become of her wedding band.
So along came “Honest Biggy” years later.
Libba put the wedding band to good use.
I hope someone did something nice for Biggy.
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If you would like to see my collection of Carolina Lowcountry memories—"Magnolia Elegy: Place In the Edisto Fork," you can view the book trailer here, and see the book page here on the publisher's website. The book is also available from Amazon, B&N, and your independent local bookseller.
