Reece Family

Bob Reece, of Marietta, named the people in this family: "My dad TJ is the tallest boy. The other boy is Byron Herbert Reece. Juan and Emma Reece are the parents. Jean is in Emma's lap. Eva and Kate are the 2 older girls." The father is Juan Wellborn Lance and the mother is Hannah Lou Emma Lance. Emma's grandfather is Rev John Henry Lance. You might recall in these blog posts that Rev. John Henry Lance was killed for his stand against moonshine in Union County. Rev, John Henry Lance is the grandson of our ancestor John Hunter who died in Union County about 1848. And the shortest boy, Byron Herbert Reece was the poet and farmer. His family farm which he worked is a museum in Union County now. Here is what I have on him in genealogical notes: Bryon said he was a farmer first and a writer second. However, he was rewarded the Guggenheim Fellowship for his poetry. His poetry is known over the world. He taught at Young Harris College. He spent time in the Battey Hospital in Rome, Georgia, which specialized in tuberculosis. It has been handed down that he went to a funeral home, picked out a casket and paid for it. The proprietor did not know he was picking it out for himself. That same day he took his own life by gun. Books by Bryon Herbert REECE: Ballad of the Bones, Bow Down Jericho, A Song of Joy, The Season of the Flesh, Tents Swords Sodom, The Hawk, and the Sun and A Dinner of Herbs. His biography: "MOUNTAIN SINGER: THE LIFE AND THE LEGACY OF BYRON HERBERT REECE" by Raymond A. COOK.