Mary Richardson Briggs Baskin
1893-1986
Briggs Page | Baskin Page | Audio/Video Section
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| Mary, about 16 years old |
We can only imagine how much Edward and Ann prayed that their daughter would survive longer than her brother James. Thankfully their prayers were answered, as their daughter would go on to live a long and eventful life.
Although Mary would indeed survive – and prosper – there would be more tragedy for family to endure; for her brother "Little Ed" would be born in October of the following year (1894) only to die before reaching his second birthday in July of 1896. It's perhaps no wonder then that Mary would develop a very close relationship with her sister, Norvelle "Noddie" Richardson Briggs, who was born four months before Mary's fourth birthday in April of 1897.
In the succeeding years, Mary's family would continue to grow with additional siblings: James "Tourie" Richardson (1898), Lila (1904), Nanny (1906, but who would be dead by the following February of 1907), and Richard Briggs (1908).
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| Prayerbook July 30, 1911 |
We know very little about Mary's childhood, but given the difficult period
through which the country would have to travel during her early years – not
to mention the tragic death of three of her siblings before she became a teenager – we can imagine that things were difficult.
We're not sure of the exact circumstances under which Mary met her future husband, John Sewanee Baskin, Sr., we do know that they did have some degree of courtship before they were married on the 14th of October 1912.
For more details about Mary's married life with John, see the following:
For
most of us to today, who did not live through the Great Depression, it's
hard to imagine just how difficult Mary's life was – trying to raise
her six children without John's help. She had to run a farm (in an
era when it was difficult for women to "run" anything), fight a legal
system, which put up innumerable roadblocks in the way of Mary getting her
hands on some of the funds of her now-dead husband John's estate; raise a
family in the most challenging of circumstances; all the while doing so with
a stoic, persevering, and graceful style. At one point in her later
years, when discussing the increasing difficulty she was having with her
health (especially glaucoma, which, as she approached the twilight of her
years, had nearly blinded her) she explained to her daughter (and my
mother), Norvelle, that she was a "Tough Old Nut." In fact, she would
often sign her letters with that abbreviation: "T.O.N."
Mary's characterization of herself as a "T.O.N." (and much more) was recognized at a statewide level, when Mary was selected as the state mother of the year for South Carolina in 1952.
Mary passed away on the 17th of July, 1986.
Draft Video of Mary's life...
Above is a draft version of a video I made to commemorate the life of my grandmother. I continue to upload updates/revisions to the video on YouTube. Double click on the image to go to the YouTube website, where you'll be able to change the size of the video and/or make comments.
For the moment, I have used only old photos to place her life in context. Several videos also exist--starting in the 1950s; but I have not yet included them in the video above. It's on my list of things to do!
I would love to include more photos and memories from her descendants.
Unedited audio recordings made between 1969 and 1972.
Mary struggled with current deteriorating eyesight for more than a decade. In fact, as it had become very difficult for her to see well enough to write letters, my mother bought her a small tape recorder, and asked her mother to simply dictate messages to the tape recorder instead of trying to write letters. What follows is a digital version of one of those tapes.2
The recording includes the following highlights:
- discussion of Jackie and Phyllis' marriage June 1969
- Church happenings
- birth of Maryann's first child, Rebecca May 1972
- And perhaps the highlight for me – and especially for my sister Lisa (for whom the song was intended) – was my grandmother's rendition of the song "Thompson had an old gray mule." It's at the 26:40 mark. My mother – as I would guess would the rest of her siblings – remembers this being a song that their mother would sing to them as babies. I'm sure they found it comforting, as will you when you hear it.
If there is no audio player above, click here for an alternate way to listen to the recording. It will open a new window in your browser.
If you have other recordings, please share them with me, and I'll add them to this website.
- Silver is a small, unincorporated town located about five miles north of Summerton on the Summerton Highway (State Road 15).
- This audio file is unedited and includes many blank spaces. You can also here Mary "fidget" with the microphone at many points! I eventually hope to edit out some of the noises and blank spaces.