Chambers County AlArchives Photo Tombstone.....McGinty, Basil Beasley ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/al/alfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Gerald K. McGinty, Sr. http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00021.html#0005198 May 9, 2005, 7:03 pm Cemetery: Fairview Cemetery, McGinty Plot, Valley, AL Name: Basil Beasley McGinty Date Of Photograph: April 12, 2000 Photo can be seen at: http://www.usgwarchives.net/al/chambers/photos/tombstones/fairview/mcginty540ph.jpg Image file size: 26.6 Kb Basil McGinty was born June 19, 1890. There is disagreement as to where he was born. Some records say that he was born in McGinty, Chambers Co., AL but, as shown above, other records show that his father and family were living in Dudleyville, Tallapoosa Co., AL until 1900, and then relocated to the farm owned by his grandfather, William Pitts McGinty in Chambers Co. Economic conditions at this time were such that Basil started working as a floor sweeper in the Riverdale cotton mill at age ten. He continued to work at the mill for fifty-six years, retiring in late 1955. At the time of his retirement, he was office manager, personnel director and paymaster. He studied in his spare time and earned his high school diploma, later in life, after he was already a father. Despite his lack of formal education, he was known as one of the most learned men in the area and was also a fine speaker. He was twice married, the first time to Etta B. Suggs of Thomaston, GA in 1910. They produced two children, Elmo Leon and Mildred Shanks. Elmo, born in 1911, joined the Navy in WW II and died in Seattle of a heart disease in 1944 (Elmo left two baby girls, Laura Jeannette and Mary Maxine. Later in life they both became PhD's). Mildred was born in 1915 and recently died in Mississippi. Wife, Etta died in 1922 and is buried in the First Christian Church cemetery in River View. In 1924, Basil married Mary Melissa Hand of Gold Hill, Clay Co., AL (photo). They produced two daughters, Mary Sue, born in 1927 and Jane Berry, born in 1933. Sue Newberry lives in Columbus, GA and Jane Alford lives in North Carolina. I am very fortunate to have acquired some of his original notes and research from his daughter, Sue Newberry. Basil studied the Bible from a very young age. He used to tear out a page out and take it to work with him so that he could study it when the boss wasn't looking. In 1914 he became an ordained minister at the Bethlehem Missionary Baptist Church. He began to serve rural churches as their pastor in addition to his full time position at the mill. These churches included Cussetta, Farmville, Rock Springs, Antioch and Waverly. He also served as moderator of the East Liberty Baptist association for seventeen years. Few men have been more successful as a pastor. He wrote a wonderful book, History of the East Liberty Baptist Association, and was a long time column writer in the Valley newspaper. In late 1935, Basil purchased part of the old McGinty land from the heirs of the late H. W. Scales. The Scales family had purchased this land about twenty- five years earlier. This included the home site where his grandfather, William Pitts McGinty had lived. During 1936, he replaced the old house with a new, modern brick home on this same site. The supervisor of the new construction was Wiley P. McGinty, Sr., who was in his seventies by then. Several interesting things were noted when the old house was torn down. There were three large sills, cut from solid logs with a broadax, and they were fourteen inches square. Two of them were twenty-six feet long and the other twenty-eight feet. The latter is interesting because it is solid resin pine or lightwood, solid from one end to the other. All of these sills were used in the construction of the new house. The house still stands today and Basil’s daughter, Jane, now owns the property. The house has been unoccupied since Mary's death in 1994. Basil's notes show that he and Mary had to borrow $4,000 to finance the construction of the new house. He got a loan at 4% interest from Fred Finch. There was no formal mortgage, only a gentleman's agreement. To pay off the loan, Miss Mary bought some more milk cows and milked from five to seven of them everyday for seven and one half years. Basil would deliver the milk on his way to work every morning. They paid off every dollar right on schedule. While Basil was frequently found in the house reading and studying, Miss Mary would be out in the field on her tractor, both doing what they enjoyed the most. I visited this house in June 2003. It has been unoccupied since Mary’s death. I was particularly impressed by the row of huge and very old cedar trees in front of the house (photo). Because of their size and age, they would have been planted by William Pitts or perhaps were there even earlier. This site is steeped in McGinty history. Basil felt a deep responsibility to his ancestors and in 1973, had the grave marker of Levin Moore, his maternal great grandfather, moved from what had become a junkyard behind the property owners house, to the McGinty plot at the Fairview cemetery. After his death in 1975, and as one of his final wishes, wife Mary also placed a grave marker placed by the old cedar tree where Basil's paternal great grandfather, George Washington McGinty was said to be buried. This grave had never had a marker. Basil died June 29, 1975 and wife, Mary passed away August 21, 1994. They are buried, together with son Elmo, in the McGinty plot at Fairview cemetery, just down the road from their home. Recognition from one of his churches in 1953 reads, "When God called B. B. McGinty to his gospel ministry, he seemed to have endowed him with a heart big enough and a love broad enough to include a greater field and a larger constituency than that afforded most ministers. No association of churches, or brotherhood of preachers, ever had a more faithful friend, leader, counselor and pastor than this brother-beloved." Basil McGinty was a loved and respected man. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/al/chambers/photos/tombstones/fairview/mcginty540ph.txt ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Photo has been resized/compressed for use in the USGenWeb Archives Project ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This file has been created by a form at http://www.poppet.org/alfiles/ File size: 6.5 Kb