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Title
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Account of life from Elizabeth Mayfield Bruce
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Accession Number
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2026.36.46.5
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Accession Date
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22 September 2026
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Accession Creator
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Sophie Pendergraft
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Depositor
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Agnes Dobson Bruce
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Description
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Account of life and family life from Elizabeth Mayfield Bruce.
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Date
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Written on 4 December 1999
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Storage Location
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Box 80, Folder 4
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Text
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Jennie Eula Alexander came to Greer, possibly in 1898, from Greenwood County, at the age of 20 to teach school out at Pleasant Grove in a small school located on some property at the present Pleasant Grove Baptist Church is today. She lived around in the home of her pupils.
She met Isham Alexander Mayfield, a widower, who was the postmaster in Greer. His first wife was the sister of Gene Gibson’s Grandmother (?). She and their two little boys had died sometime before and they are buried in the old cemetery behind the Episcopal Church here in Greer, and so are both my parents.
I.A. Mayfield and Eula Alexander were married Dec. 12, 1900. He was sixteen years older than she. As far as I know they moved into the home where we always lived, on Miller St. It wasn’t always as large as it ended up being, having two bedrooms, living room, dining room, and kitchen downstairs, and only two bedrooms upstairs across the front. The porch was only across the front, and of course, no indoor plumbing. My being the youngest, we did have plumbing when I was small.
The lot included the property on Church St., directly behind, now owned by Ben Rogers. There were fruit trees where his house is, a barn with a fenced area for the cow in what is his backyard, and a garden. Church and Miller Streets were not as wide as they are now and were not paved. We had two large pear trees on the Church St. side of the house.
Their first son, Thomas Murray Mayfield, was born Dec. 6, 1901. There were two other sons: Isham A. Mayfield, Jr. and Louis A. Mayfield. The three daughters were: Mary Alice, Margaret Evelyn, and Elizabeth Rookh. I, Elizabeth am the youngest and the only one left. Our father died one week before I was born, leaving my mother a widow with six children to raise. Our aunt Alice Dempsey, who was the unmarried half-sister of our father, lived with us. She had worked in the postoffice until civil service exams were required and she did not want to stand the exam as she had not much formal education, so she helped to take care of us, and our mother taught school at Victor Mill. Eventually Aunt Alice was in charge of having teachers room and eat in our home. We did not call it a “Boarding House”.
When our Grandfather Alexander died our mother inherited enough money to enlarge our home, adding three more bedrooms and bath upstairs and the wrap-around porch, enabling us to accommodate more people.
We all went to school in the school located across the street from the Davenport Library, which wasn’t even there then. It was a cow pasture! When Murray graduated, there were only ten grades so he was too young to be admitted to The Citadel, Margaret and I were the first to go and graduate from the high school on Church St. which then had eleven grades. Murray worked somewhere in Greer for one year and then went to The Citadel as did the two other brothers. They all did well.
After graduation, Murray taught a year or two at Staunton Military School in Virginia, but decided he didn’t want to be a teacher. He came back to Greer where he worked with John (?) in the Insurance Co. for a while. Then he started his own business as T.M. Mayfield Insurance Adjusters. This grew to many officers in North and South Carolina. Some still exist.
All three sisters graduated from Winthrop College, later University, and all became teachers.
Our mother was asked, “Why don’t you cry when your children leave for school?” Her reply was, “I would feel more like crying if they couldn’t go!” She always stressed that we do our best.
Murray married Lillian Ballenger on June 25, 1925. From this union there are three sons: Tommy Jr., Billy, and “Ebby”. Murray and Lillian first lived in a small house on Pine St. for probably two years before building their new brick home on Church St. on property he secured from our mother. I don’t know how many years they lived there before moving to Greenville.
Murray and Louis were both active in the National Guard in Greer and their company was called into action in World War II. They were sent to England, on to N. Africa and fought their way all through Italy. Murray ended his service as a two star general and awarded an honorary doctorate from The Citadel. Louis was a Colonel “Ike”, the other brother went into the navy and was stationed in San Diego, but never had to be in a battle.
Murray’s wife Lillian died while he was in service. He later married Edith Langford and they lived in Charlotte, N.C. They had a son, David, who is married and lives in Concord, N.C. After living in Charlotte many years they moved out to Tega Cay on Lake Wylie, where he later died on Dec. 17, 1979. His wife has moved to Concord to be near her son and family.
Written by Elizabeth Bruce
Dec. 4, 1999
