West Family Tree

Grandpa George W. Lowrey owned a store in Victorville, California. Grandpa George ran the store and Grandma Celia was in bed. Rebecca remembers her Grandmother was always in bed from arthritis. She had a bar she could pull herself up with to sit up in bed.

Rebecca remembers when she would visit, she & her parents would live in the back of the store. She said she wasn't very old at the time. She remembers Grandpa George had no sight in his left eye. Evidently, he was shot by a gun in a gun accident when he was a young boy and lost his sight. Grandma Celia was alright and worked in the store at first until she could no longer because of the arthritis when she became bedridden. Rebecca always remembered that Uncle Howard would say, " Watch your weight, or you'll be like Grandma. So, Rebecca thinks Grandma Celia was heavy weight.

Uncle Howard & Rebecca were just about the same age, but Howard was just alittle bit older, so as kids, they would go up onto the hills and slid down the hill in garbage can lids from the store. The store was on the corner on the last street in the town. Later, after they moved from Victorville to Mentone, San Bernardino Co., the story goes that Grandma Celia was sitting in her rocking chair when lighting struck through the door and scooted her across the room in her rocking chair. Rebecca remembers that Grandpa & Grandma Lowrey were both gone by the 1940's. - Memories of Rebecca Lowrey Wooliscroft, from Arlene Teller Duncan

Goldia Inez Lowrey Chrisman Remembers

George W. Lowrey was born in Murray County, Georgia on November 10, 1869 or 1870. Celia Bethena Watts Lowrey was born December 15, 1870 or 1871 in Walker County, Georgia. They had nine children of which five lived. Four of them died before they were two years old. They were married when Grandma Lowrey was 16 years old and Grandpa Lowrey was 17 years old. Marriage was on May 1st.

A very interesting story I was told when I was a little girl then many times after. George W. Lowrey lived in what was called the Gap which was not the best part of the country. They had been seeing each other on the sly for quite a while and decided to get married. They knew Grandpa Watts would never approve so they made it up that after Sunday School before church they would slip off and go over into the next County and get married. Several of the young people in the area went with them. They went in a buggy. Grandpa Watts came out of church and asked where Bethena was. Someone said she and Wesley had gone over to the next County to get married. He started out on his horse running it as hard as he could. He met the group of young people coming back. He asked if Wesley and Bethena were married. They said yes. He stopped and turned around. He had run the horse so hard that it died. (When we were in Georgia I saw one of my aunts. She was a very small child when this happed but she told me the same story. So apparently there was some truth in it. She also remembered that the horse died.)