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Geneva was born on November 8, 1914 to Connie Ryals and Nellia Gray McCown.
They lived in Neshoba County, MS on what is now road 1354 on land across the road from Paul Ryals' current home.
This house was build after the fire destroyed the original family home.
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As seen in this blow up,
from left to right is Pete, Charlie, Nellie, Bridget, Geneva, and Connie Ryals.
Geneva is about 2 years old.
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A Father's gift to his Daughter
This is a vase that Geneva's Father, Connie Ryals,
gave her when she was a little girl. She kept this vase all her life. It was always around the house, kept in a safe place.
But only in later years did she tell me where she got it.
Geneva received this before 1919 when Connie died.
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Poetry
Geneva worte this poem about Connie.
Most likely during High School Days.
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In Memory
My dear old Dady, Who has gone Above,
I can-not remember of his love.
But they tell me he loved me, Yet I was small,
I can't see why? God taken him at'all.
Why didn't God let us keep him awhile?
I can'not remember of his dear smiles,
But when I am told of he and his truth,
I can't hold back the tears, for I have often tried to.
Oh! God, Why didn't you take me instead of him?
I am sure much happier the family would have been.
For I was little, weezly, and small,
And I am sure few would have missed me, if any at-all.
Geneva E. Ryals
©1935
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Geneva and Uncle Dan Ryals in 1928.
Uncle Dan lived in Louisiana and would visit. Daniel Ryals is a step-brother to Connie. Geneva is 13-14 years old.
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Rocky Hill 1885 - Beat 5
The Union Ridge building was built in the early 1900's. The school used water from a big spring north of the building near where Jim Ryals'
Cotton Gin stood. Union Ridge was an eight grade school, later considated with other small schools into Providence in Beat 5. Union Ridge existed as late as 1925.
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Notes found in Geneva's papers. This is most likely taken from the Neshoba Muesum papers
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Geneva attended Providence School in 1932-33 and 1933-34.
She participated in Girl Reserve club, Home Economics club, Glee Club and 4-H Club. In 1934 she was in the Senior Play "An Arizona Cowboy".
She also played the Guitar and French Harp.
The Class Motto was: "Tonight We Launch Where Shall We Anchor"
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1933-34 Class Pictures |
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Class Officers
President: Weldon Breazeale
Secretary: Marjorie Breazeale
Giftorian: Zell Wood
Project: Carnett Adcock
Grumbler: Claudie Pope
Joker: Edgar Breazeale
Valvictorian: Ethel Pope
Sulitotirian: Farris Smith
Poet: J. T. Hill
Historian: Geneva Ryals
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Other Class Members
Eddie Smith
Vernice Woods
Herbert Fergerson
James Adcock
Lucille Able
Pruitt Coghlan
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Geneva's Favorites
Teacher: Lorila McEwen
Friends: Mavis, Auell, Adam
Studys: Literature and Home Economics
Music: Guitar and Harp
Flowers: Roses and Lilic
Sports: Hiking and Swimming
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Geneva Ryals's Class Picture |
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Poetry
Geneva keep a book of poems that she wrote in High school and the following year.
Sad to say, Geneva didn't keep writing through the years, even thou there are several
poems and stories written by her during periods of sadness. These will be shown in other sections about her life as a Wife and Mother.
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Poems
In this book is written
Memories of lonely days.
As I once gathered thoughts together,
I find it sometimes pays.
These poems are not so famous,
For they are individually mine.
Prehaps someday I can do better,
And will make a better kind.
Geneva E. Ryals
©1933
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Poetry
Geneva wrote this poem during her Serior Year at Providence High School.
Senior Year of '33
What shall I do since time has come,
When all my school days at Providence are done.
When I sit from day to day, wondering
What shall come my way.
When my thoughts shall linger back
Upon my English teacher Miss Mc__
When I think of the education I need
I always wonder about Mr. Reed.
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When I sew or bake a cake,
I think of Miss Nueghs corecting my mistakes.
When I think of that hump he carried,
As on his way he went.
Then When I feel so blue,
Is when I think of my classmates I love so true
Then the tears begin to fall,
My last school days they were the happiest of all.
Geneva E. Ryals
©1934
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Poetry
Geneva wrote this poem about School Days at Providence High School
School Days
My School days have ended
It makes me sad at heart,
Those good old times I had at Providence
But now we have to part.
Down deep in my memory a history,
Of my classmates so bright and gay.
Will always be a feeling of sadness,
Unless we are together again someday.
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As we journey down lifes pathway,
Each traveling his or her won way.
Seeking in life some kind of treasure,
Wondering if we will all meet together again someday.
I give my best wishes to all,
When in need of a friend just call,
I'll give my life if it takes it all,
Before I will let my classmates fall.
Geneva E. Ryals
Senior Year '33-34
©1934
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Poetry
An Old Fashion Mother
Down in a lonesome valley,
Lived the best friend I'll ever know.
It was my dear old Mother,
That's where I have longed to go.
At once I thought I was not satisfied,
I desided i'de take the road to roam.
But now when I think of Mother,
I realized the best place for me was home.
I thought She was old fashion and silly,
She would not be like no one in style.
Until I had roamed of and left her,
and had traveled a million of miles.
She pleaded for me to stay with her,
As I was compeled to go away.
The tears fell from her eyes as she kissed me,
And said Son, you'll be sorry someday.
I desided I would write to Mother,
One night as I lay on a rented bed.
Then a thought came to me of shame,
And I bowed my aching head.
"God, if you will for-give me,
I'll journey on my way back to Mother dear.
I wonder if she still loves me,
I wonder if she will still care."
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Then I wondered oe'r the city,
And told my friends good by.
I told them I was on my way back home,
To live faithful to Mother till I die.
As I reached home, and entered the gate,
I discovered something was wrong.
The place had grown up with weeds,
And my dear Mother was gone.
The old house was vakent,
No one could be heard or seen.
I raised my head toward heaven,
And said "Oh! God", it seems just like a dream.
I walked down the old rockey road,
To the closest neighbor I knew.
I inguared, and they said your Mother is dead,
She is dead, She died for you.
Many a time I had thought I was brokenhearted,
And at times I had though I was blue.
But never before had I parted,
From the best friend I ever knew.
Geneva E. Ryals
November 1933
©1933
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Poetry
Geneva worte this poem about the Girls Reserve, a club she belonged to in school.
The Girl Reserve
We The Girl Reserve of Providence,
Will do our best today.
To try to intertain you Mothers,
In some kind of way.
This is an organization of Christian
Work in many a school,
To face life squarly, to find and give,
The best in our golden rule.
Mrs. Reed, as our sponsor has
Worked and done her part.
She has taught us better coroporation,
And how to be true at heart.
The boys has also a christian
Organization, H-I-Y boys they are.
We always try to compliment them,
Because their good names has reached so far.
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We try to pull together, and do
Our very best.
And at last we find true life,
is not such a test.
To those we leave behind us,
As we Seniors go away.
Make some ones heart glad,
Though your own be filled with tears.
Think of all this over girls,
You know right from wrong.
Are you going to be active members,
Or are you going to just belong.
Geneva E. Ryals
Senior Year '34
©1934
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Poetry
Not Alone
We can't play the game of life alone,
We have a fellowman wheather he tret us right or wrong,
Whether we vission what ever we dream,
In our idea we have some great scheme.
We may make plans for this or that,
But we'll have to work careful or thet will fall-flat.
What-ever we do, or what-ever we plan,
Be trueful and stick by our fellowman.
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We can't stand alone, there is someone to love.
We want to be happy, we may pray to God above.
If the past we can't forget
We may wonder if life has any vow yet.
When things seem to go in the air,
every though, every vow, every plan, may crumble in dispair.
We no not the hearts we may cause to be acking,
By just a vow or promise, we have been breaking.
Geneva E. Ryals
September 1934
©1934
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Poetry
Geneva wrote this poem after Providence High School burned down on January 28, 1935.
Memory of Providence
The first consolidated School in Neshoba
County was built in 1922.
It isn't much to think of now, but then
it was a mation to me and you.
The dear old building was built so square
It looked like a box just setting there.
It was painted white, and very tall,
That is the first of my School days I can re-call.
I learned to read and write each day
To solve out problems every way.
To gain friends old and new,
Now to think of those days I'm blue.
I growed up there day by day,
And then I finished school there that way.
The tears then begain to fall,
Of all my school days were happist of all.
When I finished school my happist days were gone,
Back to Providence I could no more roam.
I went on visits day by day,
But it could never seem the same old way.
I loved the dear old building and even the spot.
There have things happened there that won't be forgot.
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At twilight on January the twenty-eight
A bright light shone to every home and gate.
I looked and saw it shining gay,
Every-thing seemed bright as day.
I knew Providence was gone.
I felt just like it was my home.
It's into ashes this very day.
All it's memories though will stay.
On the old piano I seem to hear a tone.
All our units now are gone.
They may build a mation back where it use to stand.
But there will never be a Providence again.
Our community is falling fast
Those who begrudged us are happy at last.
God has helped them win their way.
Don't you worry it will come home to them some day.
Try again is my prayer,
Let us build it somewhere.
Though my school days are through
I have sympathy for others too.
It will be Arlington by name,
Although it will never be the same.
Geneva E. Ryals
February 1935
©1935
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Poetry
Capital Punishment
If I had as much power as a King,
I would not believe in capital punishment of men.
If I were happy as the happiest Queen,
I'de say don't hang that man till you know what it will mean.
There sits his wife at home today,
Just she and her little baby to stay.
Who cares for love no more that She?
Oh! how troubled her heart must be.
She had rather know he was dead,
Than to be in prison She once said.
But when he was gone she was troubled more,
Not knowing where his soul might go.
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As his wife was sitting with the baby on her knee,
She begin crying and said dear we
don't know where he may be.
But we will follow the steps of our guide,
Someday we will be taken to his side.
The woman prayed to God, and this is what she said.
I hope it won't be long before I am dead.
Down here to the mercy of the the world
No one to love but our little girl.
Geneva E. Ryals
September 30, 1935
©1935
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Poetry
Life
Did you ever stop to think,
What ones life doeth mean to him.
Some people take things easy,
I guess there isn't nothing to worry them
You may compare it with many things,
But I had rather say.
It is like a little pebel,
Drifting down a lonely stream.
Some go hard and other easy,
Some may go just like a dream.
Did you ever compare life with a flower,
That bloometh from day to day.
Of its color and its beauty,
That tells more than I can say.
It stands there with its face uplifted,
To the glory of the sun.
And we all look at it smiling,
Because of it's love we have won.
One day we looked back,
And its beauty was gone.
The petals were faded, and fallen,
We discovered something was wrong.
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Did you ever think of life in youth,
Materity and old age.
And as we read one life through,
We turn it page by page.
When in youth all is bright happiness comes
Just like a flower in its glow.
Or youth is like a pebel in its stream,
It may drift easy or slow.
Materity is what one makes it,
Surely in our lives, some deed, some task,
is left undone.
Did you ever wonder, what place in life,
You were left to till?
And as we think things over,
Is there something for us to do still?
If it's nothing but a kind deed,
Lightened by a loving smile.
We can at last help someone,
Make them happy for a while.
Let me now hear you express your opinion
Of life in some way.
Maybe one of us will hit it,
And that hit will always stay.
Geneva E. Ryals
November 13, 1935
©1935
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Poetry
I Have Paid
Just a few days before Christmas,
And I'm setting all alone.
All my thoughts are of tomorrow,
Whether or not my hopes be gone.
Just don't forget Oh! how I miss you
And remember "I have Paid".
All the past can't be forgotten,
Through we may roam the world thru.
As I meet many different faces,
None are to resemble you.
Just don't forget me little darling,
And remember "I have Paid".
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If the sunshine of tomorrow,
Be as the darkness of these days.
May I meet a misfortune,
And be buried beneath the clay.
Just don't forget that I still love you
And remember "I have Paid".
When we meet up in Heaven,
And we gather around God's Throne.
Won't you say then Oh! My darling,
You did miss me when I was gone?
Just don't forget how we faught the battle
And remember "We Both Paid".
Geneva E. Ryals
December 14, 1935
©1935
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Poetry
You'll Reap What You Sew
We may meet many disappointments,
As up and downs the hills of life we climb.
We may be a self depender,
Or we may never never pine.
We may at first meet a fortune,
Having things going our way.
But we had better be careful,
For you'll reap what you sew they say.
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When our friends we have chosen,
Turning the others all away.
When only one we care far,
What if they should go astray.
Take them all as your friends,
Help them and stand hand in hand.
For if one you should loose,
There wil another stand.
We had better treat all right,
For you'll reap just what you sew.
Geneva E. Ryals
December 1935
©1935
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Poetry
Future Regrets
Sometimes I'm so blue that life seems to say
everything is dark along the way.
Greater trouble facing me,
Are the only things I see.
All I find is doubt and dread,
In the mist that lies ahead.
All the past is yet behind,
Why can't I take it from my mind.
What the future holds in store,
Seems no worth waiting for.
but I'll take it as it comes
Maybe all is yet not done.
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Little hopes have I today
Of the doubt that I betray.
For a heart was gained andthen lost
And was never yet be to sed.
It will never betosed
Just as life's faith was won,
But now it's setting time of Sun.
Maybe there will come a day,
When my lonely heart can say.
All the past is far behind,
I have taken it from my mind.
And then it will be morning time,
And the Sun will brightly shine.
Geneva E. Ryals
©1936
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School Day Pals
Mavis Ingram
Avell McCown
Cecile Breazeale
Zell Wood
Farris Smith
Claudie and Ethyle pope
Vernice Woods
Vercia Garden
Zala Parks
Margia Breazeale
Odell Myers
Geneva E. Ryals
January 1936
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Poetry
Searching Brown Eyes
She looked this Country over
I've searched from place to place
But none to me are
To resemble your dear face.
I ask for information
They said it could be found
I told them I was hunting
Someone with eyes of brown.
Someone to make me happy,
Someone that would be true,
Someone tall and slinder
With brown eyes to resemble you.
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I found a couple of brown eyes,
They looked at me so bright,
But not the ones I'd so long far,
So they were not my delight.
Each one whom could be interesting;
Had blues eyes just like mine,
I looked at them in pity;
and pushed them all behind
At the end of my journey;
though the hardest I had tried,
Searching for the couple of brown eyes
Yet still I was not satified.
Geneva E. Ryals
©
Feb 11, 1936
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Poetry
When I'm Blue
When I'm blue as blue can be
and it seems no one cares for me,
When dark clouds come gatherin' o'er
and darkens life's peaceful shore.
When the trials of life fall past
and the burdens on me are cast,
When I think I can stand no more
and my heart aches sad and sore.
It is then I look up to the one who did
In whose blood I can hied
until the storms of life are past
and heavens goal I've reached at last.
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I call upon him he who cares
He helps each burden to bare
He hears and answers me
making me feel so free.
He lifts up my drooping heart,
helps me to do my part.
He cheers me when I am sad,
Helps me to feel glad.
And if to him I stay true,
I can trust him when I'm blue
and my troubles he will share
helping me my Cross to bare.
Geneva E. Ryals
©
1936
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Poetry
Roy
He didn't love me much, but still,
He did what weak men sometimes will.
He wooed and won my love so fair,
For him I really didn't care.
Although no love far me he had
He sympathized knowing I had no dad.
At first he seemed to not be the kind
that really I was inclinde.
He seemed to do what E'r I asked,
And never take things as a task.
On one had I chosen for life,
but I really didn't want to be his wife.
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He came to see me ofter enought
and for me life seemed to be mighty tuff.
Down deep in my heart I really knew,
No more the kindly man should do.
So I asked him to come no more
For our courting days were Oe'r.
I went with him because he was lonely
and just to pass the time only.
I couldn't help but pity the man,
for him I'de do the best I can.
As far love I couldn't say,
And he drifted quite away.
Geneva E. Ryals
©
January 15, 1936
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Letter to Etta
Wednesday
Dearest Etta,
I didn't know anything to write, since we've been together so much lately,
only that it rained last night.
How's you fat, mine is pretty poely this morning.
Say, I'm sending you my latest poems don't want you to let anyone read
"Roy" except Mavis. Tell her she can copy them all and it will save me
writing them all over here. And tell her to send me some more of her's
that I'll write her the last of the week. You can tell her about all
I know and that wouldn't interest her.
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Well, I'll be going dous when ever. I'll see you unless you come.
Wish I could go to school one day, but they don't want visitors on the trucks.
Write me and come cause I'm pretty lonesome.
Geneva
Geneva E. Ryals
©January 1936
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Poetry
Etta As I See Her
Etta is only a girl, but she
Is the girl I'd like to be
She has her ups and downs
Yet she is good all around
She has her troubles quite a few
The same as you and I do
Still she manages to smile
Which helps to make life worthwhile
She's a friend who will stand
Will help you and do all she can
When you are glad she'll laugh with you
When you are sad she is blue
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If I should ever be in need
I'd count her as a friend indeed
Her ways is gentle as a Dove
She a girl with eyes of Love
The boy who was her love so fair
Won't be made a mistake there
She's due the very best of men
One on whom she can depend
One who'll treat he like a queen
Make her life a perfect dream
And give her the best in life
For I know she'll make a perfect wife
Geneva E. Ryals
©1936
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Poetry
A Friend : "Etta"
I had a friend who ask me,
To write a peom of her past.
I studied and I said,
I'll think of something at last.
She kept reminding me,
So I started out.
This is what I thought suited
Without very much doubt.
She was a girl of honor
just in the age of teens.
She was a good house keeper,
she kept everything nice and clean.
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Her friends were not so scattering,
as some of ours might be.
She was a gracefull girl,
we all learned to see.
She courting days were pleasant
for this bright girl.
At first she thought she loved,
a neighboring boy named Earl.
He came to see her regular,
She was such a lonely kid.
And the first thing he knew
in another had slid.
He taken it with honor,
He never did scoll or snare,
For he must have thought
that was only her affair.
Geneva E. Ryals
©
1936
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Poetry
Just Trying To Pass Away The Time
On a Loney Sunday we walked the streets
and of all kind of faces we often did meet,
We saw some faces gay and wearing a smile
It made us happy for a while.
We finally got tired downhearted and blue
Of town Etta and I went through.
We walked over to the grave yard,
And when we reached there we were tired.
We walked from tomb to tomb,
And it carried our minds to the days of doom.
I plucked a flower of panzy blue.
I also gave Etta one too.
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Then we started back up to town,
I noticed a loving tomb and I sat down.
Oh! how it stired my heart to see,
An angel looking straight at me.
I thought of Dady in Heaven so high,
and then I begin to cry.
Etta noticed something was wrong,
She pleaded for us to go, but I sat on.
I prayed to God in a silent prayer,
That I someday might enter there.
How can we live on earth in a way?
that we will not meet up in Heaven someday.
We walked back all over town,
but my lonely heart was grave yard bound.
I thought of all the versus that would rime
just trying to pass away the time.
Geneva E. Ryals
©
January 14, 1936
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1930 - Age 16
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1931 - Age 17
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1931 - Age 17 in White
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1935x
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Mother's Closest Friends
Cleo and Pauline Harbow
Myrtis Miller
Elenor Harrison
Margrett Lee
Maxine Darby
Iva Ricardson
Grace Duke
Grace Glidwell
Connie Ball
Christean Holmes
Mable Milling
Iver Blount
Knute King
Elva Strum
Milton Adams
Beatrice Molphus
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