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