I never met my Great Uncle Daniel AKA “Uncle Down,” who was the third child of my Great Grandfather Jesse and his second wife, Great Grandmother Lucy.
Yet, from the colorful stories I’ve heard about Uncle Down, I recognized the vibrant spirit that runs throughout my family.
Fortunately, I interviewed two of my older relatives for the Strange Family Folklore podcast. One of whom, my mother, Velma Mae Roberson nee Strange, reminisced fondly about how Uncle Down’s horse tricks and broom dancing in “Uncle Down, the Horse Trickster” episode.
On the other hand, one of my second cousins, Ted Strange, Jr., who is a year younger than Mom, painted a vivid picture of Uncle Down’s tobacco farming and moonshining in “The Daring Uncle Down” episode.
Two things that both Mom and Cousin Ted drove home was how Uncle Down and his wife, Aunt Carrie, absolutely loved children even though they had none of their own. Secondly, on their fertile property grew a veritable garden of Eden’s worth of fruit. Given Mom’s and Cousin Ted’s descriptions, I can almost taste all that homegrown produce.
The consolation prize of not having videos of Uncle Down’s horse tricking and broom dancing are the firsthand eyewitness accounts recorded for future generations to enjoy.