Brewer Family Mini-Reunion, October 23, 2010

The mini-reunion could not have been better.  We met at the Golden Corral Restaurant in Statesville.  We were thrilled to meet members from the Ila Etta Elizabeth Brewer Parker family and the Willet family.  We had 38 or more folks attend.  Everyone was so friendly.  Our ancestors were good folks.

Our Most Senior Brewer and Willet Descendants

These members are the grandchildren of Jerry Lee Brewer and Mary Elizabeth Willet Brewer or the grandchildren of Daniel Henry Willet and Margaret Elizabeth Kerley Willet.  Mary Elizabeth and Daniel Henry were siblings.

Standing: Grace Willet Roberts, Freddie Arnold Brewer, Valle Mae Brewer Rogers, Margaret Louise Brewer Smithey, Bobby Lee Brewer, Louise Parker McMannen, Marjorie Brewer Feimster
Seated: Varina Eloise Willet Rhyne, Edna Smith Stafford, Bristol Irene Brewer Huffman, Gentry Lee Brewer

Descendants of Dewey Samuel Brewer, Sr. (1898-1977) and Mary Emma Lambert (1900-1939) and Evia Margaret Harris Mitchell Brewer (1911-1991)

Standing:  Ronald Calvin Hill, Glenda Marie James Whitehurst, Freddie Arnold Brewer, Vallie Mae Brewer, Margaret Louise Brewer Smithey, Bobby Lee Brewer, James Arthur Burnette, Jr (husband of Brandy), Brandy Elaine Holman Burnette
Seated: Willa Dean Brewer Sigmon, Kaylen Skye Simpson, Judith Irene Brewer Lance, Willa Dean Williams Brewer, Gentry Lee Brewer, Kathryn Brewer Harrell
 

Descendants of Daniel Henry Willet (1866-1944) and Margaret Elizabeth Kerley Willet (1860-1939)

 Standing:  Marilyn "Boots" Rhyne Kerley, Kay Willet Core, Judy Smith Jordan, Phyllis Willet Newcomb
Seated:  Grace Willet Roberts, Varina Willet Rhyne, Edna Smith Stafford

Desendants of Jesse Cicero Parker (1890-1955) and Ila Etta Elizabeth Brewer Parker (1890-1955)

Standing: Shirley Austin Tuttle, Loretta Jarrell Martin, Louise Parker McMannen
Seated: Kristen Pruett and Alice Owens Thomas

Descendants of Joe Sephus Brewer, Sr. (1897-1964)

Michael Kent Brewer and Marjorie Lee Brewer Feimster

Descendant of Thomas Benjamin Wiley Brewer (1882-1952) and Noney Lee Shoemaker Brewer (1885-1942); Descendant of James Robert Brewer (1886-1956) and Bessie Dean Shoemaker Brewer(1888-1964)

Nancy Dianne Brewer Sloop (Thomas Benjamin) and Bristol Irene Brewer Huffman (James Robert)

Family of Ila Etta Elizabeth Brewer Parker and Jesse Cicero Parker

Back Row:  Jesse Cicero Parker (1890-1940), Ila Etta Elizabeth Brewer Parker (1890-1955). Middle Row: Argol Annie Bell Parker, Lois Esther Clementine Parker, Opal Lee Parker.  Front Row:  Jesse Cicero Parker Jr., Jessie Louise Parker.  Picture taken about 1934.

Children of Ila Etta Elizabeth Brewer Parker and Jesse Cicero Parker, left to right:  

Jessie Louise Parker (b. 1929); Lois Esther Clementine Parker (1916-2001); Jesse Cicero Parker, Jr. (1925-1994); Opal Lee Parker (1921-2004); and Argol Annie Bell Parker (1919-1992).  Photo taken in 1959.

Family of  Lois Esther Clementine Parker (1916-2001):  Earlie Columbus Jarrell (1917-1987), wife, Lois, and children: Roger Earl Jarrell (b. 1947), Brenda Faye Jarrell (b. 1943), and Loretta Sue Jarrell (b. 1940).

Herbert Hodges James and Jenny Marie Brewer James

Herbert Hodges James (1913-2008) and Jenny Marie Brewer James (1928-2007), daughter of Dewey Samuel Brewer, Sr.  This photo was taken at the Brewer Family reunion in 1972.

Obituary of Ina E. Brewer (1890-1921)

The following was copied from the Statesville Landmark, April 14, 1921:

"Miss Ina Brewer, Dwarf, is Dead.  Miss Ina Brewer died Tuesday afternoon at the home of her step-parents,  Mr. and Mrs. J. P. Brewer, on Fourth Street, death following an illness of some years.  Funeral services were conducted at the home this morning at 9 o'clock by Rev. T.A. Groce and Rev. Turner Brown.  Interment this afternoon at Pilgrim church, Alexander county.

Miss Brewer was a dwarf.  36 inches in height and her weight was said to have never exceeded 40 pounds.  She was nearly 31 years old and was a native of Alexander county.  She was an attraction exhibited by the Smith Shows and Jones' carnival througout the country.

She is survived by two brothers--S.P. Brewer and M.O. Brewer of Statesville--and one sister, Mrs. Annie Mayberry, of Hiddenite."

Two notes:  John Preston Brewer, was Ina's natural father.  Ina's natural mother, Sarah Catherine Potts Brewer, died two years after Ina's birth.  John Preston Brewer then married Margaret Amelia Carson, and Ina become her step-daughter.  Ina's death certificate indicates she died of "pellagra," which is a deficiency of vitamin B3 (niacin).  The photo below is of Ina:

The next photo shows Ina with her niece,  Anna Brewer (1902-1919), daughter of Shubert Pharis Brewer and Nannie E. Milsaps Brewer.   We have indications that Anna also was a small person.   In this photo, Ina appears to be later in life when she may have been suffering from the effects of pellegra.