Eliza was the second daughter of William and Minerva Lane Williams of Madison County. Her five sisters were Judah A [1837], Huldah G [1841, Emily C [1843], Permelia A [1845] and Nancy C [1847.] Her daddy was a wagon maker and probably farmed as well. On January 28, 1868 she gave her hand in marriage to John Wesley Massey, beginning home life in the Bushville Community in Banks County, Georgia. Together they had five children, James William [Billy or JW], Rufus Newton, Laura Ethelyn [Mrs. Joe Stapler], Dyar Edwin [Ed] and Joseph Henry [Joe] – all born in the Bushville. Soon after Joe's birth JW moved his family into Jackson County where Eliza lived out her life.
Being a farmer's wife with five children kept Eliza ever on the move. She was a hard worker and a talented weaver and seamstress. When her oldest son James William decided to leave home at 21 to try his luck in the big city of Atlanta, Eliza turned her skills to his advantage. To send him off, his mother carded, spun, wove, and dyed a suit of wool from their sheep, and Billy found it to be as well made and tailored as any he could have found in Atlanta stores.
In the spring of 1895 Eliza's strength began to fail. Her next-to-youngest son Ed nursed her faithfully until her death on September 12. He later said she was a courageous woman and that she probably died of stomach cancer. All the days of her life she walked gently through this world and her presence was a blessing to those it touched.
Being a farmer's wife with five children kept Eliza ever on the move. She was a hard worker and a talented weaver and seamstress. When her oldest son James William decided to leave home at 21 to try his luck in the big city of Atlanta, Eliza turned her skills to his advantage. To send him off, his mother carded, spun, wove, and dyed a suit of wool from their sheep, and Billy found it to be as well made and tailored as any he could have found in Atlanta stores.
In the spring of 1895 Eliza's strength began to fail. Her next-to-youngest son Ed nursed her faithfully until her death on September 12. He later said she was a courageous woman and that she probably died of stomach cancer. All the days of her life she walked gently through this world and her presence was a blessing to those it touched.
Eliza was the second daughter of William and Minerva Lane Williams of Madison County. Her five sisters were Judah A [1837], Huldah G [1841, Emily C [1843], Permelia A [1845] and Nancy C [1847.] Her daddy was a wagon maker and probably farmed as well. On January 28, 1868 she gave her hand in marriage to John Wesley Massey, beginning home life in the Bushville Community in Banks County, Georgia. Together they had five children, James William [Billy or JW], Rufus Newton, Laura Ethelyn [Mrs. Joe Stapler], Dyar Edwin [Ed] and Joseph Henry [Joe] – all born in the Bushville. Soon after Joe's birth JW moved his family into Jackson County where Eliza lived out her life.
Being a farmer's wife with five children kept Eliza ever on the move. She was a hard worker and a talented weaver and seamstress. When her oldest son James William decided to leave home at 21 to try his luck in the big city of Atlanta, Eliza turned her skills to his advantage. To send him off, his mother carded, spun, wove, and dyed a suit of wool from their sheep, and Billy found it to be as well made and tailored as any he could have found in Atlanta stores.
In the spring of 1895 Eliza's strength began to fail. Her next-to-youngest son Ed nursed her faithfully until her death on September 12. He later said she was a courageous woman and that she probably died of stomach cancer. All the days of her life she walked gently through this world and her presence was a blessing to those it touched.
Being a farmer's wife with five children kept Eliza ever on the move. She was a hard worker and a talented weaver and seamstress. When her oldest son James William decided to leave home at 21 to try his luck in the big city of Atlanta, Eliza turned her skills to his advantage. To send him off, his mother carded, spun, wove, and dyed a suit of wool from their sheep, and Billy found it to be as well made and tailored as any he could have found in Atlanta stores.
In the spring of 1895 Eliza's strength began to fail. Her next-to-youngest son Ed nursed her faithfully until her death on September 12. He later said she was a courageous woman and that she probably died of stomach cancer. All the days of her life she walked gently through this world and her presence was a blessing to those it touched.
