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2nd annual Groveville & Yardville Reunion Saturday, September 10 at 1:00pm at Alstarz Sports Pub (alstarzsportspub.com), Bordentown, NJ 08505

Monday, September 29, 2008

Katharine Anna "Kate" Johnson

Kate Johnson
This is a photo of Katharine Anna “Kate” Johnson, my Grandmother. This photo was taken in my back yard, at the time it was her back yard.

She was pretty special, so special that both her Grandchildren named their children after her. My cousin Cindy Johnson Landholt named her oldest daughter Katharine Anna “Katie” Landholt and my daughter is named Katharine Anna “Kati” Lippincott, she was loved by her grandchildren.

Kate was very active in the community, she belonged to the Groveville United Methodist Church and was very active in all of the Women’s groups, both Church and Sunday School and was always there to help with all the dinners. She was also active in the Auxiliary of the Groveville Volunteer Fire Company and its treasurer, her husband; Jack Johnson was an active member of the fire company until his death.

If the women of the church were going on a retreat or a trip or the ladies Auxiliary of the fire company were going to a parade or the Fireman’s Convention in Atlantic City, she was there, first in line.

One of the best days of her life was when I got my driver’s license. Then I could take her to Bingo. It was a different Bingo almost every night, White Horse Fire Company, St Vincent DePaul Church, Carslake Community Center in Bordentown, Yardville First Aid Squad, DeCou Fire Company, or St Raphael’s Church. She passed away in 1973.

The house in the background was my Great Grandmother’s house, Naomi Rollings, the mother of Katharine Anna Rollings Johnson. The house was located directly across from the Groveville School, on the right side of the photo you can see a tree’s branches, which is the tree that is still there, across from the school today.

She lived there with her husband George Rollings, George was one of the originators of the Groveville Volunteer Fire Company and Naomi was one of the originators of the Groveville Volunteer Fire Company Ladies Auxiliary and its first president.

George Rollings owned and operated the Groveville Water Company for Morris & Company and Naomi Operated the Company Store for Morris & Company.

The cars, the first one in line is my Dad’s 1950 Hudson, complete with “Fender Skirts”, Dad loved them, except when he had to change a flat. The next was my Uncle Joe Rollings Pontiac, a 1953, I believe. The thing I remember the most about that Pontiac is that a night the Pontiac Indian emblem on the hood would light up amber colored.

The others belonged to my uncle James Melvin Jones that is him in front of his car, no one ever called him that, it was “Jonesy”, to me it was “Uncle Jonesy”. I believe the cars were a Ford, the black one and the one on the end was a Nash, it was green, like Army Green.

Naomi Rollings, born in 1871, in England, She passed away in 1962 at age 91.

After her death, my aunt Edith Jones and her husband Jonesy, moved to an apartment in Yardville and the house and 16 acres of land, was sold to Chester King of Main Street, in Groveville. Ironically, Chester King lived in the house that was the former Company Store that Naomi ran.

Soon after there was a small fire in the rear shed of the house and the house as demolished, the entire house was bulldozed into the woods and covered with fill, as was the foundation, furnishings and all.