According to a letter from Hester Bingham McSwain Eaker to her grandson, Ridge Cullum, on April 09, 1984, she was born on January 5, 1897 in the home of her parents in Cleveland County, North Carolina. She was raised on a farm. She was also married in the home of her parents.

Hester grew up in Fallston, North Carolina. The obituaries of her older brother Elphus Abednego Bingham and her younger brother Ptylla Ethan Bingham both mention that they graduated from Fallston High School, so it is assumed that Hester graduated from Fallston High School as well. The records of the Cleveland County School Board do not go back that far to be able to verify when she graduated.

Ridge Cullum asked Grandmother Hester one time how she met Granddaddy. She replied that It was at a party when she was a teenager. There were several boys at this party, and then she met this dashing young man who came driving up in a nice new car and she was attracted to him. At the party he took her for a ride. He was William Lawrence McSwain. Hester Bingham is listed as a Freshman at Elon College for the 1918-1919 academic year. She married William Lawrence McSwain right after he graduated from Wake Forest College on June 27, 1924. She and her husband W.L. lived in the married housing Seminary Village while he was a student at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. She taught school some during her life and ministry in the church and raising of her children.

Ridge Cullum recalls some special memories of Grandmother McSwain. She was a very loving, sweet affectionate Grandmother. She was soft spoken. She was a tremendous good cook. She would lay out a great big delicious Fried Chicken or Pot Roast dinner or Turkey & Dressing, various casseroles, Corn Bread, Rolls, and many vegetables from the garden such as Green Beans, Mashed Potatoes & Gravy, Red & Yellow sliced Tomatoes, Green Peas, Squash, Cucumbers, Cantaloupe, etc. She was famous for her Cream Corn, and Silver Queen Corn on the Cob, She had little yello plastic Corn on the Cob pins to stick into the ends of the Corn of the Cob to pick up the ears because they were too hot to handle by hand. Baked Apples, and for her Pound Cake or Strawberry Short Cake with the Pound Cake for the cake, or Apple Pie & Vanilla Ice Cream. Grandmother had Antique Shawnee Corn King Serving Platters, Bowls, Salt & Pepper Shakers, Butter Dish, and Sugar and Cream Containers. Whenever family members came to visit, Grandmother would bake a Pound Cake and have it ready to eat upon arrival. When Ridge graduated from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky in May 1981 Grandmother gave him a $50 Savings Bond. To this day over 37 years later Ridge has not cashed it in yet. Grandmother helped Ridge quite a bit on the Bingham and McSwain genealogy. She would write Ridge from time to time.

Ridge remembers sitting in the Garage with Grandmother helping to shuck corn and snap Green Beans. Ridge remembers in Grandmother's Garage along the Brick Wall would be caked on dried Mud Dauper Wasp Nests. Ridge would get a Hoe and scrape them off the wall. Also, in the Garage would be a case of Bottled Sun Drop Soft Drinks which all the Grandchildren helped themselves to.

Ridge remembers his mother Jeanne and Grandmother freezing Plastic Bags of snapped Green Beans and ears of Silver Queen Corn on the Cob. He remembers seeing his mother and Grandmother holding ears of corn on the Cob and them getting a sharp knive and cutting off sections of grains of corn into a plastic bag to be frozen. Ridge remembers his grandmother making Strawberry Freezer Jam. Ridge remembers eating Watermelon at Grandmother's and spitting the seeds into the yard. Grandmother usually had large Brown Paper Sacks of Fresh Apples and Peaches to choose from to eat brought fresh picked from a grove. A big delight for the whole family at Grandmother's would be getting out the Ice Cream Churn and making homemade Ice Cream! Grandmother had a big Freezer which she would keep in stock with vegetables she froze for family dinners. Ridge remembers a couple of times Grandmother would take the family shopping in Shelby at a Cotton Mill Manufacturing Company where Ridge's mom would buy him a shirt or two. Grandmother had a Concrete Bird Bath in the Front Yard with beautiful flowers around it, and they would keep water in it and the grandchildren would look out the window at the birds as they took baths in it. Grandmother had a Carrom Table Game which she kept stored in the Attic and she would get it down for the grandchildren to play. The Attic was above the Hallway outside the Bathroom. It had a Pull Down Ladder from the Ceiling which was next to a large Electric Fan with Vents that would open up and would Hum and blow cool air. Ridge remembers how Grandmother taught he and the other grandchildren how to flip a Red or Green Wooden Carrom Ring with your pointer or middle finger against your thumb to knock the other wooden rings of the same color into a corner pocket net on the table. The table also had sticks with erasers on the end of it to hit the wooden Carrom rings. There was a Silver Carrom ring in which players would hit against the other rings like in a game of Pool. Ridge remembers Grandmother had an assortment of Green Potted Plants on the Window Ledges around the house. Grandmother was great at listening and giving Godly wise advice from the Bible. Sitting on the end table by her Rocking Chair in her Den would be her Bible, Sunday School Lesson Book, a Daily Devotion Book, and Billy Graham's Decision Magazine. She would watch the Evening News and the game shows Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy on TV. To get exerise Grandmother would walk in a big circle several times through her house from the Den into the Kitchen into the Dining & Living Room into the Hallway and back into the Den.

When familiy members would come visit and spend the night, she had a Roll Away Bed in store for them to sleep on in addition to her Double Bed in the Guest Room, and the Sofa in the Living Room would pull out as a bed as well. Grandmother was up before everyone else in the morning cooking breakfast which would be scrambled eggs, Bacon, Sausage, Toast and butter and homemade Jam & Jelly. Ridge Cullum remembers mowing the Front Lawn for Grandmother one time, and he accidentally spilled gasoline on the Lawn Mower when he was refueling it with gas. Grandmother sternly spoke to him about not spilling the gasoline on the mower, but then afterwards she felt bad about that and apologized to Ridge. Ridge remembers that Grandmother had trouble with her eyesight, she had Macular Degeneration.

Ridge remembers that whenever his family would come and visit Grandmother, that his dad Gene Cullum would take the children on a long walk in the countryside past the Cotton Fields to the Country Store in Earl, North Carolina to buy some Nabs or a Candy Bar and a Soft Drink. Sometimes they would walk down a country dirt road near Grandmother's house and look at the cows grazing by the road or at a couple of old run down Shanty's.

Ridge has some wonderful memories of family get togethers at Grandmother's house with Uncle Thaburn & Aunt Bettye Ann and his cousins Lawson, Steve & Doug, and Uncle Wade & Aunt Mickey with his cousins Susan & Jeff, Aunt Joan & Uncle Harold and cousins Paul, John & Ann, as well as Ridge's own parents Hilma Jean & E.V. Cullum and his sisters- Tanya, Candice & Mary. He remembers one time seeing Uncle Lawrence and his cousin Janene at Grandmother's. The kids would take turns shooting the B.B. Gun at Targets, playing Tag, playing Croquet, shooting a variety of Fire Works at night, and playing Scrabble & Carrom. Gene Cullum would get up a game of two-hand touch Football. One time Ridge Cullum and his cousin Steve McSwain were setting off Fire Crackers with Sparklers on the Gravel Driveway, and Ridge accidentally lit and blew up a Fire Cracker he was holding with his fingers on his Right Hand while he was looking at his cousin and talking to him. Fortunately, no permanent damage was done. It burned the ends of his fingers a little bit and they were numb for awhile and smelled like Gun Powder. But it scared Ridge to death! One time Candice Cullum saw an open Sun Drop Bottle in the Garage with some liquid in it and she thought it was Sun Drop Drink so she drank it, and she made the awful discovery that it was gasoline! Uncle Thaburn was always telling jokes and leading the children in games to play such as Steal the Bacon. There was much laughter, good food, and children playing at Grandmother's house.

Ridge remembers one time Uncle Thaburn McSwain took Ridge along with his sons hunting for Squirrels or Rabbits while at Grandmother's. Ridge carried a 4-10 Shot Gun that was Uncle Thaburn's. Uncle Thaburn did shoot and kill a couple of Squirrels which were eaten for supper that night. When Ridge was in the 5th Grade he was kicking a Football in the Front Yard at Grandmother's with his dad. Ridge punted the Football as hard as he could and fell backwards onto his left arm on a Round Rock at the end of the Side Walk by the Driveway leading to the Front Door. And Ridge's left forearm broke when he fell upon it.

On the evening of March 26, 1983, Grandmother sat down in her Den after Supper to watch the Local Evening News on TV. On the news she heard the report about an automobile accident on the Interstate in Spartanburg County, South Carolina that claimed the lives of her daughter Joanne and her husband Harold Sorrells as they were returning from a Christian Life Seminar in Louisville, Kentucky. Joanne was driving with Harold in the Front Passenger Seat. A drunk driver drove up the wrong Exit Ramp and drove head on into a collision with Joanne & Harold Sorrells at the crest of a hill on the Interstate. That was the first time Grandmother heard about the death of her daughter and Son-in-Law.

Grandmother Hester had a sister named Laura Druzilla Bingham who was married to John Eaker who had a large Apple and Peach Orchard nearby. After Granddaddy McSwain died in January 1967, Grandmother's sister Laura Bingham Eaker died in May 1968. John Eaker began dropping by to visit Grandmother Hester and he would always bring her a large brown paper bag full of apples. One day while he and Grandmother were sitting outside her Garage Door talking, he looked at her with a smile on his face and a gleam in his eye and said, "Hester, would you like for us to get together?" And that was his proposal. He was 77 years old and Grandmother was 72. She agreed. They came to Knoxville, Tennessee to Hilma Jean McSwain Cullum and Gene Cullum's home. Gene was the pastor of Grace Baptist Church in Knoxville, Tennessee and he performed their marriage ceremony. They cut their wedding cake in the parsonage Formal Dining Room. One time Ridge asked Grandmother if she loved John Eaker as much as she loved Granddaddy McSwain. She replied that it was a different kind of love. Her love for Granddaddy McSwain was more of a Romantic Love and with John Eaker it was more like a companionship love. John Eaker moved into the home with Grandmother in Earl, North Carolina. When he came he brought with him several Honey Bee Hives which he set next to the Garden. He had a white Bee Suit he would wear and he would smoke the Hives when he retrieved honey combs from them. He would give us jars full of fresh home grown honey. Ridge remembers him occasionally saying "Aw Pershaw" in his conversations. Family members called him "Uncle John.' One time Ridge remembers Uncle John driving Grandmother and the family through the Apple and Peach Orchards on his farm in their car and Grandmother was scared of him driving their car through the bumpy terrain between the trees. They stopped at the farm and Ridge remembers seeing the Apple Sorting Conveyor Belt and wooden boxes full of apples to be shipped.

Ridge remembers that when his family would leave Grandmother's house to return home, the family would stand in a circle holding hands and they would pray and sing "Bless Be The Tie That Binds, Our Hearts in Christian Love, the Fellowship of Kindred Minds, Is Like To That Above." Whereupon they would then hug and kiss each other farewell until we meet again. Ridge remembers as his family would drive away, his mom Jeanne would start crying because she would not know if that was the last time she would see her mom again.

Ridge's mother Jeanne actually died before Grandmother. She died of Colon Cancer at the age of 49. She was in an Apartment in Morristown, Tennessee receiving Laitril Treatment from Aprocot Seeds which was an extreme measure of seeking help against cancer when all other medical treatments had failed. Grandmother Hester came up to stay with mom and care for her in her last few days. She was with mom when she passed on to Heaven. Grandmother said that just before her daughter Jeanne McSwain passed away while lying in her bed that she saw her open her eyes and look toward Heaven and raise her arms and hands and smile, and then she was gone.

Tanya Cullum Dickerson's daughter, Serena White has some fond memories of Great Grandmother Hester McSwain Eaker. She said, "I used to love to go to North Carolina to see great grandmother anyway I believe Josh was too young. Candice used to always do most of the driving and of course us being kids me and Angela would ask every 15 minutes are we there yet are we there yet hahaha which got on their nerves tremendously. When we got there she was up every single morning before anybody cooking breakfast and we had Pancake food galore and I would always ask her what I could do to help out and she would tell me nothing and then of course a few minutes later she would find me something to do to make me feel like I was being a helper which always put a smile on my face. And oh how I love to play croquet I didn't even know what croquet was until the first time I saw it there and played it and that was my favorite thing to do besides walk around and look at the bees, the bees amazed me! Especially when he would put on his white suit and go out there and smoke them out or did whatever he had to do and reach in and get the honeycomb and honey and I could eat some honey off the comb it was wonderful! And then sitting in the den with her watching The Evening News which as a child I thought the news was boring but I just wanted to be near her. And I love to go in there and play on her piano and I couldn't play I still really can't but I would just go in there and sit at it and pretend that I was Bach or Beethoven and knew what I was doing and it was probably just a bunch of Rowdy noise but I would turn sometimes and I would just see her sitting there so silently and watching me and never saying a word but smiling. I remember a dirt road that we used to walk down that eventually we came to a little I wouldn't even call it a market but it was a stand and they sold sodas and peaches and fruit and I would always get me a soda and a peach and I would always drink the soda and eat that juicy Peach on the walk back down the dirt road to her house and I thought that was one of the most special things ever. Candace me and Angela would always do that. But just so many memories that like I said I don't even know where to begin from but I can still hear her soft voice in my head I can still feel those loving arms around me I loved our talks even though I was a child we would read the Bible some together and if I ever had questions about the Bible she would answer them to the best of her ability. Great-grandmother was a special woman and I wish that I had more time with them like you did. But I surely am truly blessed for what time I had! But oh yeah her sweet and kindness her food her love for everyone those are some of my best memories."

Grandmother Hester lived to the ripe old age of 96 years of age before January 11, 1993 when she went to the Land that is Fairer Than Day, to the Sweet Bye & Bye, where we shall meet on that Beautiful Shore. Her influence is still felt by her grandchildren to this day.

According to The Courier-Journal, Louisville, Kentucky, 13 January 1993, Wednesday, Page 17 -

Hester McSwain Eaker, 96, formerly of Louisville, died Monday in Jackson. She was the former Hester Bingham, a native of Cleveland County, N.C., and a member of the North Carolina Retired Teachers Association and the American Association of Retired Persons. Survivors: three sons, Lawrence McSwain of Modesto, Calif., Wade McSwain of Jackson and Dr. T. L. McSwain; 13 grandchildren; and 17 great-grandchildren.

Funeral: 2 p.m. Friday, New Hope Baptist Church, Earl, N.C. Burial: Cleveland Memorial Park, Shelby, N. C. Visitation: Arch L. Heady Hikes Point Funeral Home, 4109 Taylorsville Road, 2-9 p.m. Wednesday and thye church after 11 a.m. Friday.