Methodist Church Centennial

Miss Nannie (as she was called by those who knew her) was born April 5, 1880, to Elijah Alexander Cleveland and Martha Ann (Snuggs) Freeny She married Olin Freeny on September 20, 1903 and soon afterward, they built their house in Freeny. The timber was cut and sawed by Olin at his sawmill, and, with help, he built the house on the hill that stood for over 80 years before burning to the ground in 1988. Nannie was a charter member of the Freeny United Methodist Church, and attended each Sunday. In the back of her house was a room, she referred to as her "hat room". She made and sold hats to women from around the area. As the word spread they would come from all around to purchase a hat there. She had a Singer treadle sewing machine and did lots of sewing. This was a regular sewing job, at night, after the other work was done. She made many quilts and won blue ribbons on most of them. She had a large garden, from which she canned, each summer, all the vegetables needed for the winter.

She loved to read. They received the paper daily, by mail, and each Saturday was the day to go to town in Carthage, which was a much smaller town in those days. She always made a stop at the library to get books to last until the next Saturday. She took me with her, for my first library visit to the old log cabin, which served as the library for many years and I brought home my first library books, to read.