Coahoma
County sprouts members of the Flowers family almost as numerous as the
yellow-tops that flourish in the Delta's spring fields. This well-known
and highly respected farming family planted itself in Mississippi early
in the century and has successfully farmed traditional row crops since
that time, returning much to the community that they love through professional
and civic labors.
The three brothers, (Graydon, Dick, and Harry), who make up the second generation of Coahoma County Flowers are now patriarchs of their own individual families and operations, but that wasn't always the case. "When Graydon graduated from college (MSU), my father and uncles arranged for credit for the three of us to buy land. I'm five years old at the time and we're partners," chuckles Harry, the youngest of the brothers.
"We stayed partners until Graydon's children started coming back. We split up then, but Dick and I remained partners until his children started coming back. Then we divided again. We did all of this without lawyers," Harry continues. "Well, of course we had lawyers to handle the paperwork, but that was all. We've had a lot of trading, swapping and dividing over the years and never a harsh word. The gin is the only thing we still have in common."
This remarkable closeness among the brothers is obviously a family tradition which began with their father and uncles and is continuing into the third generation of Delta Flowers. The family tradition of farming, however, goes back to 1635, when the first Flowers ancestor, John Flowers, gave up his life as a ship's captain to farm in Virginia. "We traveled to England and saw where they came from," says Graydon, the acknowledged keeper of the family history. "There's a door dedicated to them on the church where they went. John Flowers had three ships and we found where they put in on the Thames."
Succeeding generations of Flowers farmed in Virginia, North Carolina and Tennessee before coming to Mississippi. "Henry Flowers came with his wife's folks, the Ingrams, from North Carolina to Tennessee and finally to Mississippi," Graydon explains. "His youngest son, Zachary Taylor Flowers, was born in north Mississippi and farmed there. That's where my father and uncles were raised before they came to Coahoma County."
Dick tells a story that both he and Graydon say is apocryphal but traditional. "My great grandfather told this story and my father told me what his father told him, he relates. "When they were coming from North Carolina to Tennessee in a wagon train, they stopped near Memphis and the men went into town to party. The wagon master and some of the others were talking about going on to Texas. My great grandfather said he had too many children to safely cross the Mississippi River on a raft, so he thought he'd just go to Mississippi and find some land. The wagon master was Davy Crockett," Dick laughs. "Since he was killed at the Alamo, I guess we're all glad Henry made that decision."
The brothers admit that they've been able to find no proof of the validity of the story, but it remains in a litany of more accurate family lore. One of these stories that Dick likes to tell is that British General Cornwallis and his troops camped on the Flowers' farm on their way to the fateful Battle of Yorktown. This was when ancestor Jacob Flowers was farming right outside of Jamestown, Virginia.
Graydon tells one story that illustrates how hard times were in north Mississippi when his father and uncles were growing up there. "Daddy didn't even know where his father was buried. He died when Daddy was only 15 or 16 years old. We found the place after I was grown and took Daddy there. Times were hard.
"My uncles got off a train in Coahoma County in 1910 and did anything they could to earn a little money, peddling, whatever. One of them ran a country store in Olive Branch. They were always trying to get another piece of land."
Dick continues the story: "My father came later. He was fifteen years younger, and when he graduated from Ole Miss in 1923, he came and farmed with his brothers. There was Roy, Harry, John and my father, Graydon. John was killed in the war.
"Our mother was born right where she died. She was an Eggleston. Her father was a bookkeeper and worked for some people doing malaria research, so he knew about mosquitoes. He bought a farm and they were the first people in Coahoma County to have screens on their windows."
According to the three brothers, their lives would have been much harder had it not been for the partnerships that are traditional in the family. "My uncle Roy and Daddy bought six or seven tracts of land together," says Harry. "They were never divided up until after they died. Uncle Roy helped us along tremendously. He had no children. My uncle and father never had cross words. Of course there were differences that had to be worked out, but it was done in a cordial and friendly way.
"Dutch Parker was also a great influence on us. We became partners with him in Tunica County - Dick is still partners with him - and we learned a lot. Our father and uncles were very labor intensive farmers. Dutch was progressive. He was very successful and we were too along with him," Harry points out.
The partnership ideal has remained although the players have changed. Both Graydon and Dick now have farming partnerships with their grown children. Harry, whose children are still in school, has a partnership with his brother-in-law, Steve Cook.
Graydon has three adult children in partnership with him: Taylor Allen, John Roy, and Elizabeth Suzanne Weis. His other daughter, Mary Graydon Pierce teaches at MSU where her husband coaches.
Dick's three kids, daughter, Campbell, and sons, Bowen and Mattson, are also in partnership with him. "My life is a lot easier now," Dick laughs. ÒI just sort of ride around and tell 'em what they're doing wrong."
Harry's four, Charles, Amelia, Scott and Graydon, are not yet partners. "My oldest is involved on a limited basis, but he's working on his masters degree. The other boys are still in college, but have indicated that they want to be involved. Amelia just got her masters and is working in social services in Memphis," Harry says.
Harry adds that, at last count, there were some 36 nieces and nephews among the three brothers. "Dick said he would give me a hundred dollars if I could name them all. I didn't even try! Three new ones had just been born when he made that offer," he laughs. "When my father was alive, there were five generations of Flowers males living. My father was remarkable. He was still sleeping upstairs, driving, had all of his teeth, and was of sound mind and working every day until a month before his death. He was 96. The same was true of my uncle, and my aunt and grandmother lived into their mid-nineties. We have some good genes back over there."
Most of the Flowers" fourth generation are too young to make life decisions, but two of Graydon's grandchildren already help, so it is a good bet that the partnerships will continue.
Dick and his wife, the former Janet Gregory, are enjoying the freedom to travel that they've earned. She says, "We play tennis. We play in a sort of good will program started by Eisenhower. He started with golf, but then tennis got popular too. We travel all over to these tournaments. We've made sixteen trips and have visited 75 foreign countries doing this. This year we're going to Viet Nam, Thailand, Cambodia and Hong Kong. It's really fun. We make lasting friendships and people come to see us."
Harry and his wife, Lassie, say they still have a way to go before they gain that much freedom. "As the children get older, we hope to do a little more traveling," Harry says, "but we'll never catch up with Dick. He and Janet have been everywhere!"
"I'm the one that stays at home," chuckles Graydon. He says that his wife, Judith, puts on a regular flea market at the new expo building in Clarksdale, and they have obviously done some travel related to genealogy. But for a man who grew up hauling hand-picked cotton one bale at a time behind a pair of mules, just "chilling out" is probably the epitome of recreation.
The list of accomplishments in professional and civic organizations is too lengthy for enumeration, but from Boy Scouts to water management to health care, church, and farming, the Delta is a better place for the efforts of this remarkable and close-knit family.