Why Ms. Hessie's -- The Journey of 313 Church

My previous post dealt with the topic of how we came about being the proud owners of Ms. Hessie's House, located at 313 Church Street in Madison, AL.  Some may be wondering who/why Ms. Hessie while others may be asking the question of where is Madison, AL.  I have to admit, when we lived in Huntsville in 1987/8, we never really even knew that the sleepy little berg of Madison lay only a little piece to the west of the apartment we lived in for the year.  I wish we had driven through Madison then, although we probably wouldn't have remembered much about it.  When we returned to Madison county in 2007, we were shocked at how expansive Madison City had become, especially considering we missed it entirely 20 years before!  Madison is a growing, vibrant community that we have really grown to love in the several months now that we have lived there.  You can learn more about Madison by visiting their city website here.  

Being a huge fan of history, I embarked on learning who Ms. Hessie was to add to my knowledge of the home. To me, understanding the personal side of the history of the home just adds so much character to the features of the home.  That is what distinguishes in my mind between a house and home.  Knowing the previous generations that have called this house a home helps us preserve the unique legacy of this house as a home.

The house at 313 Church Street was originally constructed for Nancy Hesseltine (Hessie) Gillespie Farley in 1911.  Miss Hessie (as she would be known) was the daughter of Campbell Milton Gillespie and Narcissa Lorinda Clark.  She was born on July 22, 1866 in Maryville, Tennessee.  The family moved first to Morgan County, Alabama in 1870 then relocated to Madison, Alabama in 1879.  Miss Hessie would graduate from honors from the Huntsville Female Seminary on May 30 1888 and became a teacher.  

Miss Hessie married Joseph Bruce Farley in 1892.  The couple had one daughter, Frances Lorinda Farley who was born in 1893.  Mr Farley unfortunately passed away from malaria in 1894 at the age of 28 and Miss Hessie would never remarry.  For a few years she went into partnership with her brother, William Gillespie to run Farley and Gillespie Drug Store in Madison.  After the store was sold, Miss Hessie accepted a teaching position in Tuscumbia.  She would return to Madison after the passing of her father in 1910 (her mother passed in 1907). Her sister, Miss Nora (Narcissa Elizabeth or "Sister") could not live alone, so Miss Hessie had the home at 313 Church Street constructed. 

Miss Hessie started teaching first grade in Madison, and Lorinda studied music at Agnes Scott College in Decatur, Georgia until 1914. Lorinda would marry Herbert Lafayette Thorton on January 21, 1920, shortly after he returned home from serving in France during World War I.  Their first daughter, Frances Farley, was born February 12, 1921 at Miss Hessie's home in Madison.  Two other daughters were also born in Madison: Nancy Kate on March 16, 1923 and Lorinda Clark on October 24, 1924. In 1935 Herbert became a charter member of Alabama's new Highway Patrol.

Although a life-long Presbyterian, Miss Hessie taught Sunday School in the Baptist Church. She was active in school, church and many civic organizations.  She taught her forty-two consecutive years.   She had a deep love for teaching and dreaded the day she would have to retire. That would never happen as she would suffer a stroke during the Christmas holidays and died on January 1, 1939.  She is buried beside her husband Bruce in the Farley Family Cemetery.  As a side note, following Miss Hessie, Mrs. Howard Hughes was appointed to replace her as the first grade teacher.  She would hold that position for thirty-seven years.  Combined, Miss Hessie and Mrs. Hughes taught first grade at Madison Elementary for 65 years!

Nancy married J.B. Womack from Lynchburg, Tennessee.  Herbert died on August 7, 1961. He was buried in Madison the Madison Cemetery.  Nancy and J.B lived with Lorinda until she died on January 1, 1966. She is buried beside Herbert.  After J.B. passed, Nancy married Orval Cooper. Nancy would pass on December 13, 2004, and Orval would pass on July 31, 2016.  Nancy had two daughters, Pat Womack Edwards and Kathy Womack Williams Lee.  A rich heritage laid within the walls and boards of the home at 313 Church Street.  

It is our sincere hope that the home on Church Street will continue through the ages to be a home where family is loved and cherished.  May the walls of this home soak up more generations of love and may the feet that cross the threshold always find joy within the walls.  We so deeply appreciate the rich heritage of this home and strive to honor it.  May it always be Miss Hessie's, who laid a deep foundation in service and love to her family and community.

  

The Journey Begins

Not all journeys begin with a step...  Ours began with an invitation to listen to a Bell Choir and to attend a Tour of Homes.  This was in 2014 when Judith invited Susan and I to Madison United Methodist Church during the Christmas season to listen to the Bell Choir perform.  Travis Wilson, the pastor of the church gave a telling of the church's history, which dated back to the original congregation that built the main sanctuary in 1838.  The sanctuary was later moved via log rolling to its current location on Church Street in downtown Madison (what we would later learn is referred to as Madison Station).

Following the Bell Choir, church history and a tour of many of the homes in the historic district, we were able to meet with Pastor Wilson at the home of George and Judith and had a great conversation about churches, communities, and theology.  We decided to maybe attend the church on the following day which was a Sunday.

We continued to attend for several weeks, then one night Judith messaged Susan that a home was for sale on Church Street!  Soon, we were able to take a tour of the home with the listing agent, Bill Stewart with Century 21.  Bill gave us a great tour of the home and was able to share with us a little of the history.

It was during this time when we met Loree and Donnie Spencer at church.  Donnie grew up on Church Street and his father still lives in the family home built in the early 1900's.  We talked with them and after seeing the home on Church Street decided to talk with them more about the potential of selling our home and purchasing the home on Church Street.

I will fast forward through a long period of time where it seems we rode an emotional roller coaster of hope and frustration.  We listed our Bridge Arbor home in May of 2015, it would take until August of 2016 to get an offer that would eventually be negotiated to a contract and final sale.

The Church Street home had similarly sat on the market for a lengthy time.  At one point, it had even been removed from the market, but was placed back on the market again after a few months.  It was a comment.  In early August we had even walked into church one Sunday after discussing during the drive to church what we should do given the lack of movement.  We made a decision that we would just take our home off the market, do some renovations we had considered and be content.

By the time we left the church that day, we had planned another open house and resolved to give it one more push to sale.  This wasn't because of some change in our minds, but a well timed discussion with Ms. Pat, an heir to Nancy Thornton, the owner of the Church Street property.  I am not sure it was ordained by God, but I will say that the timing of Ms. Pat's comments could not have been more impeccable in encouraging us.  A quick discussion with Loree, it is an advantage when you see your realtor every Sunday and consider her a friend, and we planned an open house for a few weeks off and moved forward.

On they day of the open house, Susan and I attended Church and then spent the afternoon going through a home & garden show downtown.  We spoke with several contractors there about new countertops as that was one area that had drawn some comments and was a also something we had resolved that even if we did not sale the home, we would change.  We came home armed with some ball park numbers and leads for getting the work done.

That would prove to be unnecessary.  Talking with Loree, a couple had stopped in for the open house and were very interested.  We arrived home and discussed briefly with Loree the results of our effort and she talked about the couple.  She left and we went to pick up our pups that were being boarded during the open house.  Just when we returned home from picking up the hounds, we got a call that a realtor wanted to show the house.  Sure, no problem...what else were we to say.  So, at the appointed time, we loaded the hounds and I drove around while Susan did some shopping.

Showings typically didn't last too long.  This one would prove to be different.  We would all drive around then arrive back in the neighborhood and park down in a common area and wait for the agent and her clients to leave.  That would prove to be much longer than we anticipated.  Finally, they left. We were free to return to our home at last.  Little did we know that the couple was the same that had spoken with Loree and were writing an offer on our home while they were looking!  We got the great news that night.

Back and forth we would go to settle the details on the Bridge Arbor offer until finally having a final contract!  Then to putting together our offer on the Church Street house.  Finally, the offer was in Loree's hands and she would present to Bill.  Stressful?  Not really.  It seems it should have been, but this just didn't hit us that way, or at least not me.  Some more negotiation on details, and we had a final contract!!

There would next be a period that every home buyer just can't control their enthusiasm during -- the loan/underwriting process.  While this process is always somewhat painful, we discovered a true gem in Huntsville when we first moved back here in 2008.  Scott Pride with CB&S bank has become our go-to-guy for home mortgages.  We financed and refinanced our Bridge Arbor home with Scott and now the Church Street home.  Through all three transactions with Scott, he has never provided us with information that was not accurate and when he gives us a timeline, it has invariably been an accurate assessment.  There have been a number of times when I have emailed Scott about a topic and the replies are always quick.  One thing with CB&S, all of our mortgages have been sold which is something we were clearly told would happen.  Ultimately, it is a non-issue.  Most if not all mortgages today go through different hands.  I would prefer that we have a personal relationship with the guy taking us through the purchase rather than being concerned about who we will be mailing payments to later.

A few more adventures during the closing of both homes, but maybe more on that later.  We closed on our Bridge Arbor sale in late September and then just a week later we were able to close on Church Street -- what I will refer to in the future as Ms. Hessie's (more on that in the future too).

Let the adventure begin

Thanks to:

Loree Spencer

Scott Pride

Bill Stewart