52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks (Week 27): Solo

Amy Johnson Crow from Generations Cafe is hosting a blog writing prompt this year called 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks.  Since I need a swift kick in the you-know-what to get me blogging more regularly again, I thought I'd jump in.  I like that she gives us "permission" to interpret the prompt however we wish and share it however we wish.  It doesn't have to be a blog post; it could be a family video, a letter to a child or grandchild, an e-mail, etc.  I'm probably going to be always behind on this exercise so don't go by the date and week I'm writing about and take it as accurate.  

When I heard the theme "Solo," my father's aunt immediately came to mind. 

Vianna Bell Tapley was born on October 4, 1886 in Johnson County, Georgia, the 11th child and youngest daughter of James Madison "Jim" Tapley and Elizabeth Rebecca "Becky" Page Tapley. 

For whatever reason, Aunt Vianna never married.  She was extremely close to her mother and lived with her until Becky's death in 1924.  Since she had no source of income (to my knowledge) and was unwed, she had to find a place to live, so by 1930, she was living with her sister, Elizabeth "Lizzie" Tapley Powell and her family down the road from the home place.  In 1940, she was living with her brother, Bennett Olin "Ol" Tapley and his family, also right down the road.  She died on March 24, 1965, in Uncle Ol's house, which by then belonged to his son, Wesley.  I remember my cousin, Wesley Jr., telling me about them finding Aunt Vianna passed away in her bed that morning.  He would have been 15. 

From the stories I have heard, Aunt Vianna spent the intervening years moving around from one sibling's home to another.  She lived with her sister, Tabitha "Bosh" Tapley Lampp for awhile.  I believe she stayed with my grandmother, who was her sister-in-law, the widow of Aunt Vianna's brother and my grandfather, Lusion "Lush" Tapley, and her children some. 

Now let me stop here to add that from all accounts, Aunt Vianna was not the easiest person to get along with.  She was a shrew, dramatic and prone to temper at times.  (This could explain why she never married and some of her siblings never let her stay with them!)  She physically attacked her sister, Bosh, once.  That's when she had to leave there and move in with her brother.  Her sister's son, Sid, wanted to go after her and punish her for attacking his mother, but Aunt Bosh begged him to leave it alone, adding plainly and simply, "She's my sister." 

My father used to tell the story (And he was not proud of this...) of how, as children, he and his sister, Irene, would play act Aunt Vianna's funeral, complete with Daddy preaching the eulogy, standing on a stump.  Terrible, but a solid view into how her niece and nephew perceived her. 

Aunt Vianna never left the Powell area of Johnson County, Georgia.  She always lived within a mile or two of where she was born.  She lived with large groups of family, but she was solo.