JUST A SWINGIN

- February 14, 2016

When my Aunt Didi passed away I inherited the swing that my grandfather made many years ago. We passed many a warm Spring and Summer night in that old swing on McKennie Ave. I sat in this swing and prayed as the ambulance carrying my grandmother sped away to Baptist hospital. This was the night that she died, January 26, 1964 as the result of her 5th heart attack. Her first heart attack occurred almost a year to the day earlier two days after my parents funeral. She had been the one who found my parents bodies after my father shot my mother and then himself. There is no telling how old this swing really is. My grandfather was a blacksmith on the Tennessee Central railroad and he made many things out of iron. The frame of the swing and stand was made out of railroad iron.

I can date the swing by these pictures at least to the early 1930's. The 1st picture is the swing in my backyard. The 2nd is my mother around the age of 10 or 11 with my grandmother in their back yard at 238 Hermitage Avenue. I am guessing that this is on Hermitage Street at the house where my mother was born. If so this picture was taken around 1934 or 35 because my mother was born in 1923 and is the earliest picture so far that I have of the swing. I love this picture of my mother and grandmother. In the 3rd picture my aunt Didi is in her Howard High school band uniform. This picture is probably from the early 1940's since Didi was born in 1927. She looks to be about 15 or 16. By this time my grandparents had moved to North 5th Street in East Nashville. The 4th picture is Didi with her brother Alton (Bud) Brown. This picture is probably around 1944 or 45. The 5th is my grandmother Ella Belle Frogge Brown standing behind my great grandmother Mattie Mayfield Frogge who appears to be very frail in this picture. She died in 1945. The 6th picture is probably the late 1940's or early 1950's because Didi is with her first husband Lee Roy Anderson. The father of my cousins Roy and Alton Anderson. I love this old swing and hopefully it will remain in our family for many years to come.

In the summer of 2018 I asked one of my officers and personal friend Bob McGuire to restore my grandfathers swing. At first he was doubtful that he had the ability to do it but I felt like Bob was talented enough to figure it out. I was right. Bob did a great job. He received the swing in late Spring and he finished up in August. We had to have the frame sand blasted in order to get the rust off of it. Bob said that the swing was built like Fort Knox which is a testament to my grandfathers craftmanship. The last time that my grandfather replaced the wood and painted it was probably in the late 1950's or early 1960's.

My grandfather is the man in the middle of the back row with a hand on his shoulder. My Great Grandfather is the 1st man with the moustache to the left 1st row. He was the shop foreman and his name was John Clayton Breckinridge Frogge.