It all began in 1752, Christmas Eve, in fact, when my fourth great-grandfather, Lawrence Wesley Rains was born in Virginia, along the banks of the Rappahannock River – not far from Fredericksburg. It is unknown who his parents were, it is believed it may have been "John" - but records were burned during the Civil War and with them – any record of Lawrence's birth.
He would marry Ann McManus in North Carolina and they and their families would move to Ohio, settle there and he would die there in 1823.
Some of John and Ann's family decided to move on to Missouri in the 1820s - and they settled in the general area of Morgan and Benton counties.
My father would be born in Eldon, Morgan County, Missouri - on Nov. 8, 1914, the son of William Franklin Rains and Addie Mae "Hutton" Rains - the sixth of eight children.
My father was named Harry James Rains - though on an interesting note, he was first named John Rains and his mother changed it several days after his birth, but never changed the birth certificate – a fact Harry did not even know until he went to file for social security 65 years later.
Addie would use the name John with her youngest child and last son, John Rains who was born in 1924.
Harry's father wasn't a serious fellow and enjoyed fishing more than he liked to work the farm. They raised tobacco as well as strawberries, among other things.
"My mother always washed clothes on Mondays," said my dad. "Without fail – it was washing day and her clothes were always spotless. Women who didn't do their laundry regularly were considered white trash."
Indeed, Addie Mae was touted by her favorite son as a hard-working, devoted mother. She would, most unfortunately, die from diabetes in 1940, at the age of 57.
William Franklin Rains, frequently took his oldest son fishing and would leave Harry to tend to the farming. He lost the farm after the crash of 1929 - having not saved the receipts from paying the mortgage to the bank. The family was forced to leave their farm, Jolly Hill, behind and go live with dad's grandfather - James Rains.
Dad adored his grandfather and his grandmother, Margaret Dutcher Rains. A memory of Margaret told to my dad by his father is when he once stole one of her pies that was cooling on a window sill. She chased him down, threatening to whip him, until he dove out the window and ran to hide until she calmed down.
Born in 1844, James Rains, served in the Civil War and lived to the ripe old age of 92 - dying in 1936.
Harry cultivated a love for God early on - nurtured by his grandmother and grandfather and he attended the Christian Church.
He decided to go college in Kansas - the Christian Church college so he could become a minister, which he did.
By 1937 he was a Christian Church minister - poor as a church mouse. He had spent most of his college years nearly starving and would often eat soup and other small meals infrequently.
Harry was thin and lean, about 5'11 at his tallest. He was dashing looking, with dimples and merry blue eyes - and a seriously mischievous sense of humor. He could howl with laughter and yet pull out the stern voice when preaching.
And preach he did. There were a number of tent revivals led by Harry Rains in those early years. He was evangelical and loved Jesus with all his heart.
Soon, someone would come along who would steal his heart – Dorothy Vera Rains.
After moving around to a number of churches in Missouri and Kansas, Harry was placed in the Christian Church in Sedalia, Missouri.
Dorothy Vera was living with a family, the Trueman's, who had introduced her to the church a few years earlier.
As Harry described meeting Vera, "she had the most winsome smile, she was so lovely."
The shy couple fell in love and soon became engaged.
Harry proposed to Vera through the screen door of the Trueman home and then ran off – too shy to wait and hear Vera's answer.
However, the next day she answered, "Yes!"
The couple married on March 15, 1939 in front of a huge congregation of witnesses – the bride was given away by Mr. Trueman, due to the estrangement from her own father.
Nine months later, their first child – my older brother, Harry James Rains, Jr., - was born: January 28, 1940 in Larned, Kan. Sure enough, by then, Harry had been transferred to a church in Kansas.
Harry Junior - known as Jim, would become a minister himself, 28 years later.
By December of 1941, the family of three were living in St. Louis, Missouri where their first daughter, Priscilla Noel was born on Dec. 11, 1941 - just four days after Pearl Harbor was bombed.
World War II had truly begun and the family of four – young and struggling, were doing the best they could to survive.
From St. Louis, they moved to Plattsburg, Mo., and then to Indiana and finally to Creston, Iowa. They moved a lot. After some rather unpleasant experiences in Iowa, dad took a church in Richmond, Virginia - the family was moving the comfort of the Midwest to try their hand at living on the east coast.
Dad built a brand new church in Richmond and increased the membership – but he was disillusioned with the doctrines of the Christian Church and in a very bold, gregarious move – he switched to the Episcopal religion and entered the seminary in Richmond.
Harry was ordained an Episcopal priest in December 1952 and took as his first church, Trinity Episcopal Church in historic Fredericksburg, Virginia.
Four years later, I – Elizabeth Anne Rains – would be born in Fredericksburg ... along the banks of the Rappahannock River, 204 years after my ancestor, Lawrence Wesley Rains was born there.
The cycle had completed.
It also explained my later fascination with Fredericksburg and King George County - along the Potomac River where we would vacation for many, many years – it was in my blood.
Another day ...
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