In Memory of Doris Harrell Wheat

One of my childhood memories of my cousin Doris Harrell Wheat was her beautiful smile and her kindness. Cousin Doris was my maternal second cousin, her father Palmer and my grandfather Jasper Harrell, Sr. were brothers. Cousin Doris was always kind to me and my brothers no matter when we visit her home. She always offered us something to eat or candy and cookies. I don't have to tell you which of the two my brothers and I chose. The candy and cookies of course.

Doris Harrell Wheat

Doris Harrell Wheat was born in 1923 to Palmer and Manilla McCoy Harrell in Amite, Louisiana. She had a very loving way with children. She made us feel welcome in her home when we went over to play with  her youngest son Bruce. I stopped by and talked with Bruce last week and he and I went down memory lane. We both talked about the time we busted a lot of watermelons in his father's garden and his father didn't raise his voice or showed any anger toward us. After my mother found out what we did she told cousin Henry to give us a good whipping and he said no, kids will be kids.

I miss cousin Henry and cousin Doris and I often think about them not only as good neighbors but kind and sharing family members. They wasn't the kind of people that bragged about anything, but they were the kind of people that shared what they had with the community and family.

When Bruce told me he had something to show me, he came out of his house with a picture of his mother and I was so happy to see her photograph. She was a beautiful woman that loved children. Bruce was the youngest of the family and he was a little spoiled by his parents. Me and my brothers liked playing with Bruce, he was as gentle as his mother and father. Bruce had older brothers and no sisters, he had nieces and nephews at an early age. Of course they didn't call him uncle Bruce.

The Wheat Family and Uncle Palmer Harrell

As kids we never had a fight and if we did our parents didn't get involved, matter of fact we had better settle whatever it was before they found out. Beside we didn't have many neighbors were we lived,  and the ones that lived closed by was family. We all played together and got along very well. We didn't care anything about being third cousin or fourth cousins, we were cousins and that's the way it was.

Living next door to cousin Henry and Doris was Roy Wheat the brother of cousin Henry. Roy and his wife had several children. The girls were very beautiful to me, we played with them as well. We all loved each other and thats the way it was. We spent long hours playing in the woods, hunting for antiques and animals. Sometimes we would go fishing or bike riding.

Our great grandmothers' Emma's house was right across the road from our house. Little did we know that house could have been full of antiques items from our great grandmother Emma and her children. That house stood until one family member decided to demolished the house, just like they demolished my grandparents house. The house the Wheat's built is still standing and one of their offsprings still live in the house, I was so happy to see that. The Wheat's may be gone but they are not forgotten.

The Wheat's Where Our Neighbors

Antoinette Harrell researching at the
Louisiana State Archives

Growing up in Amite, Louisiana at Rte Box 306, the Wheat's lived at Rte Box 303. Henry Wheat married my great uncle's Palmer Harrell's daughter Doris Harrell. Henry Wheat was a farmer, I remember him mostly in the field planting vegetables or picking and pulling them. He was a very quite man and enjoyed working on his farm. He was very kind and nice to our family. I remember him sharing vegetables from his garden with my family. Sometimes he would let the cows out in the pasture for grazing. I guess you can say we had a live lawn mower.

Henry was one of many children born to Saul and his wife Corrine;  Booker, Rosa, Beatrice, Melisa, Bernice, Mytrle, Bertha, Monore, Hattie, Mattie, Roy and Bertha. Saul was born in 1875 and died on Sept 5, 1954,  his wife Corrine was born in 1880 and died in on Sept 19, 1944. My mother use to say that cousin Henry was a good neighbor to have. He lived next door to his brother Roy Wheat and his son Bobby Ray Wheat and his family.

 My brothers and I spent long hot summer days playing with his youngest son Bruce. One of my childhood memories playing with Bruce is the time he, my brother and I busted watermelons in the field to see which one were the sweeties. When cousin Henry came out to the field and saw what we had done. He never raised his voice nor did we get a good whipping. I can't say my mother didn't want to give us a good whipping. Cousin Henry told her not to whip us because we were just being children. Not only having the Wheat's as neighbors but they were kind relatives as well.

His sister Melissa Wheat married my maternal grandmother's brother Alexander Richardson. My great uncle Theodore Harrell married Carrie Wheat. If you wasn't related directly, "perhaps one of your family members married into the many families in Amite." The Wheat still live in the same community up until this day. One of my cousin Ernest Wheat, Sr., still plant and grow food just like his father Henry Wheat and grandfather Palmer Harrell.

His wife Doris Harrell Wheat passed away before him. Henry was born on June 9, 1919 and died in April of 1992 in Tangipahoa Parish at the age of seventy-three.

Registration Card
Saul Wheat

Note: Saul Wheat couldn't read and he made his mark