I would like for you to meet my grandmother...Mrs. Louise Lightfoot Morriss Swartz. She was born February 22, 1914 in the house she lived in until she passed away on June 11, 2005. The house was on a piece of property in Buckingham, Virginia called Mohawk Farm which is very near the county court house. She married my grandfater, Harold Franklin Swartz after she graduated from William and Mary College. She was a teacher, extension agent and director of the Buckingham County Department of Welfare and a member of Trinity Methodist Church, the Daughters of the American Revolution and many other community organizations. Her parents were Garland Lightfoot Morriss, MD and Louise Rice Morriss. She had three children, six grandchilren and four great grandchildren.
That is your brief factual introduction to my grandmother. The more personal introduction follows.
My grandmother, known to all as Meme, was a strong, forthright woman who loved her family intensly. She was educated, held a very tough job and wrote all the grandchildren often. I don't think any of us could read her handwriting until we were in college. I still have trouble every now and then with some words since my moms usually did the translating. She kept everything...every letter or photograph ever sent to her. We found them all when she passed away. My stack of letters was not so big as some of my other cousins. We always joked about who might be the favorite grand child based on who wrote the most letters.
She lived on 200+ acres called Mohawk Farm in the dab smack center of Virginia. She loved Peter Francisco, "the Giant of the Revoltion", who was raised in Buckingham. All the grandchildren were given a book about him at one point or another and have visited the home where he grew up. I honestly did not know she was a Daughter of the American Revolution until we found the paper work after she died. I did meet someone recently who had known her through the DAR and said she was very much into it and loved the organization.
Well, that's a brief intro. Please post a comment if you would like to give your introduction of Meme, Louise, or Mrs. Swartz as you may have known her.
~Jess
