For me, the most memorable thing about Uncle Henry was his mode

of transportation. He always rode his horse or rode in his buggy 

everywhere he went. I guess being deaf doesn't lend oneself to 

driving a car. His mode of transportation cost him dearly as he 

was hit by a car while riding on  "Micanopy-Shiloh Road". See the 

newspaper writeup of the time. Uncle Henry was then wheelchair

bound.



Speaking of deafness, it's amazing to me that so many of James 

Darlington's children were either hard of hearing or downright deaf.

And it was both sets of kids...those with wife Lois Rachel (Smith) 

and those with wife Mary Eugenia (Reeves). 

See him and his kids in 1918. In this picture, notice Aunt Alice (#3).

See the round thing pinned to her blouse? That's the microphone for

her hearing aid. (The whole thing must have been huge!) When I saw 

this in the picture, I was quite shocked. I have that microphone; 

it was in her trunk of memorabilia.  But, I digress.



I'm reminded of Uncle Henry at a revival meeting at the Flemington

Baptist Church "way back when". Uncle Henry was sitting pretty much 

down front. (Don't know why. He couldn't hear anything at all.) Anyhow,

the preacher droned on and on and on. Eventually, I guess Uncle Henry

had to go to the bathroom. So he just gets up and starts walking out.

This brings a momentary halt to the preachers droning. Not knowing of

Uncle Henry's deafness, he proceeded to try to get him to sit back

down, telling him he was almost done. 'Course, Uncle Henry just keeps

walking, oblivious to his surroundings!



Brother Wayne reminds me...when Uncle Henry came to visit...upon 

leaving, Wayne and I would hide behind a tree. When Uncle Henry

told his horse to "giddy up", we would yell "whoa". I guess he

never knew why his horse decided to be ornery at our house!!

(That's so mean...no wonder I blocked it from my memory.)



Another thing about him that I find very curious. To my knowledge, 

all of the male children of James Darlington were provided property

along "Mixson Road", Uncle Maxey getting the home place, Grandpa 

Gilbert property adjacent, Uncle Job around the corner from there

and so on...all strung along one after the other. Not Uncle Henry.

He ended up on property in Shiloh next to where the Gladney's were.

That, I'm told, was the Samuel Preston Geiger farm and property.

Geiger died in March 1921. His wife, Mary Eugenia (Mixson) (Geiger), 

married Uncle Henry in December 1921. James Darlington died in 1928,

but I'm aware of no provision for property for Uncle Henry. Maybe 

he married into "well to do"? I'm also told that Mary Eugenia was 

quite proud to be "Mrs. Samuel Preston Geiger". One wonders if she 

considered herself re-married "below her rank" so to speak. I've heard 

her described as a "snob". Another "issue". Mary Eugenia was born a 

Mixson, the daughter of Miles John Mixson (1835), making her

Uncle Henry's second cousin. Although not terribly uncommon at that 

time, maybe that didn't go over too well? We can guess forever and 

not know for sure.



Uncle Henry and Mary Eugenia are buried together in Flemington

Cemetery. See their headstone. His second wife, Elizabeth Boulware,

is buried with her parents in McIntosh Cemetery. See her headstone.



James Mixson 20 November 2008