Meet Rindia Bruce, my mom’s paternal grandmother and a woman to whom I owe an apology. I mistakenly believed she was the ancestor who killed her last baby by beating its head against the doorstep. My mother recently clarified: You are mixed up with my grandmothers. Gran Rindia was a Pentecostal holy roller!! It was Rebecca Johnston (“Mammy” Johnston), Zone’s . . .
By far the most chilling passage in the old family paraphernalia I’ve been digging through is this one, from a letter sent by Terrell State Hospital — formerly, the North Texas Lunatic Asylum — to inform my grandmother’s mom that her daughter, Louise, died from tuberculosis-related complications: We are sorry this girl could not have been mentally restored. We . . .
I don’t remember seeing pictures of my Great Aunt Louise until recently, but she has haunted me since I turned fourteen. That year my granny pulled me aside to warn me I was old enough now to be vigilant about madness: my own, my sister’s, and my future children’s. She described the descent of her own little sister, Louise, a . . .
This family photo dates to sometime around 1900 and was probably taken in Texas. At the far right, back row, is my maternal great-grandfather, self-described communist Zone Harrison Johnston. (Yep, Zone. Which starts to sound a lot more appealing once you learn that he had a sister named Sarah Clamansy.) On the other end is Zone’s dad, Allen Alexander Johnston, . . .