[RKDinOKC]

Guess I'm just a ba$tard and don't know it.

On my Dad's side of the family my grandad was adopted as was the Davis name.
My great grandmother, Daisy Mae De Bord got pregnant and the fellow died the night of his bachelor party.
It was either in a poker game dispute or he fell off his horse, no one knows for sure.
All I can remember without Mom's records was the guys last name was Bodine.
Don't think his first name was Jethro though.

Anyway, her family kicked her out for being pregnant and his family shunned her as well.
She went to work as a live-in housekeeper for George Alva Davis (whom my father, the oldest was named after).
They got married and he adopted my grandfather, William Patrick Davis.
After she got married the Debord family welcomed her back.

This was in the hillbilly part of North Eastern Tennessee.
That's as far back as my Mom was able to go on my Dad's lineage.

We and my Dad's brother's and sisters have been to several DeBord reunions.
Was also visited and stayed with several relatives in that part of the family.

I was pretty young when we did all this traveling and spending time with relatives, would like to have my Mom's genealogy stuff so I could remember who was related how not just that they are related. Figured would always have that to fall back on so didn't devote it to long term memory as much as I evidentially should have.

I get to laugh at them on one thing...I have a diamond ring my Mom had made. The ring is a rose with a huge diamond in the middle. The diamond ws from her grandmother's engagement ring and great grandmother and Mom both liked roses. Great grandmother willed the diamond to Mom but Grandmother didn't give it to Mom until after my grandfather died. Don't know why.

My brother and sister don't think the diamond is worth anything and don't believe me when I told them where the diamond came from. I specifically remember the jeweler bringing the ring to my Mom when he had finished making the custom ring. It was only me and Mom at home when he brought the ring to her. He spoke very well of the stone and seemed overly interested in Mom being happy with the setting. He also nervously showed us another stone he carried in his pocket all wrapped up in paper that was a little bigger than the one in the ring and thought we might like to see it because it was worth a lot of money "as well." I was very young and him showing us the other diamond probably helped me remember the incident. Though it didn't make sense to me him showing her another diamond AFTER making the ring.

As I think of it now it was a little strange that the jeweler came to the house instead of Mom going to a jewelry store. Remember Mom talking about the diamond and what she wanted to do with it, but don't remember her talking to a jeweler, only him bringing it to her after he had finished it. He may have come by and I just don't remember it. Personally don't care whether it is worth anything enough to go get it appraised, think it is neat just for what it is. I do know that Mom never wore it she treated it more like a valued keepsake.