~~~ Tonight, Sunday June 4th, 1893, -Gives me 64 years, 5 mos. & 25 days old, if no mistakes, as it was the 9th of October 1828 that I made my debut upon this stage, I suppose as I was the first one that counted an increase in the family all of the usual ceremonies of a 1/2 century ago was gone through with by those present, as I have a poor memory of the event was not photographed on my mind as were facts and deeds a few years after wards. This grand occurance was not noted by any sign given when it should occur only among the few, who had been watching the events as were their custom. As we remember the occurance happened in the state of Georgia, Wilkes County, and in 3 miles od Crawfordsville a village of some repute because of the residence of the Great Little man Alexander H. Stephens who, one of leading spirits in Political matters during the war of secession - as our proffessions were different, I did not aspire to Fame in the Politics of {________________} now to administer the antidotes of the evils of the Pandora Box.

~~~ As year by year we went on without any noted change until boyhood was well established when from causes not known, I was taken from the school room of Woodstock Academy of Oglethorpe County, Georgia, where I had climb the long ladder, as high as the 4th book in Caesar in Latin and was fairly running the curriculum of the school as fast as 13 years old boy did but the change from the school room to the {_driving_____} of a 2 horse waggon to the state of Louisiana, the state of my adoption came to an end during the month of February 18{42}. That month and that year I became a tiller of the soil for seven years, I toiled with others who have all saved one have passed away. To itemize the working of those days would {__certainly afford____} a passing interest to some members of the family.

~~~ But as some friend would like to know some of the past years that I spent as a boy, I can only state facts as they are, in the month of February our gaded team of 3 horses came to a halt for 2 years on Bayou Bartholomew some 6 miles from its mouth: The family then composed of Father Moses Simon Guice - Sarah Ann Guice my mother whose maiden name was Johnson, and her mother Mary Ann Johnson nee Griffin. My parents came from North and South Carolina. My father from Buncombe County, my mother from Edgefield District, South Carolina. My Grandfather on my Father 's side was named Phillip Guise, he had several sons, Moses, Newton, William, Soloman, Starn, I think one by the name of Enoch. Mary and Ruth I think were the only sisters that my Father had. only my uncles William & Newton did I ever see the{_____________hear} my Father speak of. The letter S was changed to C only because sons of the younger members of the family desired, at this time my uncle William's family still spell their names with the S and now lives in or around Hamberg, Arkansas. My uncle William was a Methodist Minister, My uncle Newton was a Presbyterian but owing to no churches of that order the Methodist, My Father was first a Presbyterian and was a Catholic when he died. My father and uncle William and Newton came west and were together more after they began to work for themselves. The other members of his fathers family went to the middle states - I have been told that when the Guise family came from Europe there were only{__3__} brothers and they divided, one went{______}to the North and married a Pennsylvania German girl by the name of Stumph - one came to Mississippi Valley, and the other one to Tennessee and the Carolinas {_____} and this the 3 great branches of the Guise Tree, now growing larger. Some members were well off while there were many only good livers, and many were in the habit of using liquor while many became good ministers of the gospel others lawyers of considerable credit to the name. To take a retrospective view of the early days of my boyhood when small commence to think that would soon be ranked in a big boy, a circumstance occurred during the year of 1842, sometime the fall previous, our family left Oglethorpe County, Georgia, few miles from a village called Woodstock. Ther I and my brother Newton and sister Mary went to school, the village was new and growing the school was taught by one Mr. Evans, a young man of fine education and \I think was a Methodist Minister, a school of 70 scholars or more. I was at the time very fast as to my studies, was thought by the aged ones of the village that young Guise was a smart boy. Reading 4 books of Caesar in Latin, and well up in the Greek and Rhetoric. In fact I was so well up & ahead of my class that I was looked upon, with an eye single to my downfall by those who were much older in the class, as it was customary to have sweethearts, I of course had one then and ever since. My chum one Lumpkins in the same class had a sweetheart a price, and the older girls to carry out a program, that would have better much better to put off for many years, but no onward was the word. It was conceived by some of the eldest girls that a double wedding should come off upon short notice and a wedding of great magnitude to suit the parties and all hands were ordered to bring biscuits and chicken and as many as could would bring cakes of a great variety. Well the day came at playtime the girls some 25 or 30, had their playhouses decked with roses and a table set that groaned under its weight of 1/2 and pieces of biscuit bits of cake fully set for the occasion. When the time came the minister ( Bill Porter by name) called the time and parties, out came Bill Guise and Joe Lumpkins, Guise with Miss Mary Jane Daniel to his - Lumpkins with miss Lucretia Grisham to his arm all in due form & pomp. The marriage ceremony was repeated by all hands and couples pronounced man & wife, we were seated at the table and was doing Justice to state Dinner, while engaged in that party of the exercise the bell sung out Tong, Tong - and we seperated from our brides and went around so that we would not appear as comimg from the girls playground. Well we succeeded in gettin into the house, without apparent suspicion, but alas, the next day, we were called to explain our conduct and for breaking the rules of the scuool. Well we had expected as much and we got to talk to the teacher, and with a lecture of making sport on so solemn occasion as the marriage vow we were dismissed. Lumpkins & I thought our teacher was sorry it was not him and some of the elder girls. (End of page one ~~~ go to[Page Two|