Wayne County, NC - Couple Married for 66 Years ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ News-Argus, 1969 By Elga Nichols News-Argus Woman's Editor ROSEWOOD - Between them they can tell you about two depressions, the great earthquake and the day the sun went into total eclipse and chickens went to roost and folks thought the end of the world had come. They can also tell you about 66 years of married life, 13 children, 41 grandchildren and 44 great grandchildren. Their life together began on February 4, 1903, when Minnie Viola McClenny, 15, and Bernice Love Sutton, 24, were married by the late Rev. John Wright Rose. Mama and Papa Sutton, as they are known throughout the county, were honored last Tuesday night at Wilber's on the occasion of their 66th anniversary by their children, grandchildren and great children. Their children are: W.R. Sutton of Kinston; Mrs. Mittie Brock of Goldsboro; Mrs. H.M. Hollowell, Mrs. Marvin Smith, Mrs. Claude Braswell, Claxton Sutton and Mrs. Julia Fail, all of Rt. 5 Goldsboro; Mrs. Ralph Carraway of Rt. 1, Pikeville; Mrs. Kenneth Langley of Princeton; David A. Sutton of Raleigh; Mrs. John W. Guill of Danville, Va; J.A. Sutton of Thomasville, and the late Bernice E. Sutton. Papa Sutton is 90 years young and his wife is 81. They live alone and take care of themselves very well. Although, he no longer owns a car, Papa Sutton still gets around on his tractor. Children living nearby take them into town for groceries and on other errands. The couple has a garden although they have been renting out their farmland for about 10 years. They don't hire any help either. Papa Sutton explains that he plants enough extra to have some to plow up. Mrs. Sutton freezes and cans vegatables gathered from the garden and their children and neighbors always find a plentiful supply when they stop by for a visit. Right now, Papa Sutton is real busy building a trailer. He needs it for hauling produce from the garden this spring. There is always a pot of coffee and cake at Mama and Papa Suttons. And nothing upsets them more than not having anyone drop by, especially on a Sunday afternoon, to share it with. Although neither one attended school very long their desire for their children to have an education prompted the couple to move from the Suttontown community to Rosewood. Four of their children had already completed the seventh grade, which was as high as the grades went there, and Mama and Papa wanted a high school education for their offspring. They made the move and all but two of the 13 are graduates of Rosewood High School. Five went on to college and several others took business courses. Another thing the couple provided for their children, even when it meant doing without a lot of other things, was musical instruments. "We had a regular Grand Ole Opry every week," one member of the family remembers. Other memories for the children include peachtree switches...waiting your turn at Sunday dinner when all the relatives came...family devotions ...and sneaking Papa's chewing tobacco. The Suttons are still very alert. Both voted in the November election and Papa just can't abide the "waste" which he feels the government is allowing these days. They are also concerned about violence and crime in the United States. Nothing suits Papa better than a heated discussion on the topic of politics. The couple are Quakers and are members of the Goldsboro Meeting. __________________________________________________________________ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Guy Potts ___________________________________________________________________