Rattling Old Bones

Mary Ann Waggoner and Clint Troutman, my grandparents

The title of my blog, Rattling Old Bones, came to me from the mouth of my mother's brother, Woodrow Wilson McIntyre, affectionately known as Uncle Woody. When I told him I was researching my great-great-grandfather's Civil War record, Uncle Woody said, "Oh, you're just rattling old bones!"

"I suppose so," I said. Over the years I have rattled a lot of old bones, and those bones have become real people to me. The two pictured at the left are my grandparents, Mary Ann Waggoner and Clint Troutman. I'm pretty sure this picture was taken in Virginia before they were married. They were sweet on each other, but their parents objected to their romance. I'm not sure why. They wrote a stack of love letters to each other, which Mary saved until she caught one of her daughters, years later, reading them. Mary pitched them all, but one, into a fire. I don't know how that one letter escaped, but somehow it did. Thanks to Mary's daughter Virginia, the letter and many other family artifacts have been preserved in a family album.

More on the romance of Mary and Clint later.


(c) 2013 Zola Troutman Noble