Carter/Arnold reunion 1990

 

Top: Alvis Jackson, Ruth Carter

Bottom: Calvin and Alvis Jackson

Alvis Jackson and Cleffie Hicks Burford 

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Children of John Henry Arnold and Adaline Carter Arnold: George, Annie, John, Marlie, Etta

Alvis and Calvin Jackson are sons of Etta

Cleffie is a daughter of Annie

Ruth Carter is a cousin - her father was Adaline's brother John Martin Carter

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In the background of the picture of Calvin and Alvis Jackson is a man named Elmer Reed. This is significant because it is the story of how my grandmother met her 2nd husband at a family reunion. (That might not strike everyone as funny as it does me, but I just think it's totally hilarious that someone would go to a FAMILY reunion and then marry someone she met there. However, the more I learn about the history of our kinfolk up there in the Ozarks, the less surprising it is, really.) Well, you see, Cleffie (my grandmother) and Elmer knew each other when they were teenagers. As a matter of fact, Elmer's brother Elvin married one of Cleffie's cousins, Wilma Arnold -- and I guess that's how Elmer came to be at the Carter/Arnold reunion.

Photos: Elvin Reed and Wilma Arnold, Elmer Reed and Opie Arnold

Anyway, as I understand it, Cleffie and Elmer met up at the reunion in 1990. She was living in Michigan at the time, and he was still in Ida, Arkansas, the area where they all grew up and where the reunion is held every year. They started corresponding, and ... well ...

Photo: Elmer and Cleffie's wedding, 29 April 1999