Part 9: The Story of Calob Kindle and Evelina Young

What I did not know until my father died was that my Grandmother was on her second marriage when she married my Grandfather William J. Williams. She had the man that I called "Uncle" by her first marriage. 

My second shock: I did not know that the woman that I called Nanny was not married to "Uncle" until recently in their relationship. They lived a hard and dangerous life. I do not know if the Great Depression and World War II had anything to do with it or not.   



Lucinda and David Young had Evelina Young in January 1910 in Stillmore, Mississippi. David Young was a White man. That is why Evelina (Born January 1910 and died in the 1980's) was high Yellow. I asked my aunt how can your father be white when Mississippi had laws against interracial marriage? She told me that they could do whatever they wanted back in the woods.   

 Caleb Kendell (Uncle, born in Sept. 1895, died December 1972) worked in the Homestead Brick Yard for a short time. My father got him that job. He quit. 

 

My family likes to hide things. I hate it. 

What my parents did not know is that Evelina Young and Caleb Kendell did for a living was professional gambling.  They specialized in card games, Bid Whist, 5 card and 7 card poker. They held card parties late at night. What if the people they cleaned out got hostile? Then they would go for their guns. 

Bid Whist is a partnership trick-taking game that is very popular among African Americans. It is played with a standard 52 card deck plus 2 jokers, for a total of 54 cards. The two jokers must be distinct: one is called the big joker and the other is the little joker. There are 4 players consisting of two teams of two; each player sits opposite their partner. The game starts with each team at zero, and the object of the game is to reach a score 7 or more points, or force the other team to go negative 7 or more points. Points are scored by bidding for and winning tricks, which in this game are called books.

http://www.pokernews.com/poker-rules/

In this link above, you can learn how to play Poker. 



Three Years Old Darnell Williams


Me, the baby card shark! 

I, Darnell L Williams (Born 1951 in Glen Hazel, Pittsburgh, pa)  was about 4 years old when Nanny taught me how to play cards. I went home and showed my mother what I have learned. My mother blew up. She told my father and my father told my Uncle. That was the end of my card playing for some time. Nanny took care of me while my parents built our house in West Mifflin, Pa. Well that was the end of that!  

Just remember, your child like me will pick up habits from your baby sitters without you knowing about!