Lillian Anna "Lillie" Baer was born Oct 19, 1874, in Washington, D.C. She was the second child of Isaac Lefevre Baer and Josephine Margarite Anters (Anders?).
        When Lillie was only 4 or 5 years old, the family picked up stake and moved to Fernandina, FL. Shortly afterwards they moved to Punta Gorda, where the family had a farm and orchard on Alligator Creek near the edge of the Everglades.
        Lillie seems to have enjoyed the years in Punta Gorda. Sitting on the front porch in the quiet of the evenings, after all the day's chores were done, she would tell tales of her growing up years in Florida.
        One tale she liked to tell was about the time she and her siblings were down by the creek punching sticks down alligator holes. All of a sudden a big alligator rushed out and chased them all up a fallen tree trunk. The alligator kept them on the log for an hour, or so it seemed. Needless to say, that was the end of their messing with alligator holes!
        Lillie and her brother, Gus, liked to go hunting. One time they stayed out too long and it grew too dark for them to tell which way was home. Lillie wanted to go one way. Gus wanted to go the other. They wound up walking in circles. After a long, long time, they started yelling at the top of their lungs. Fortunately, a neighboring farmer heard them and came to their rescue.
        Another time they were out towards dusk and Gus insisted he saw a coon up in a tree. He blasted away several times, but the coon never fell. Next morning they went out to check on why that coon wouldn't come out of the tree only to discover that Gus had been shooting at a big knot on the tree limb!
        Lillie had a pet racoon that followed her around. But one day the racoon got into the pantry and tore up the place. That was the end of the racoon; Mama Josephine would not stand for those shenanigans!
        Lillie had a fine clear singing voice even into her 80s. She said when she was young, her father would come in from the fields and say he had heard her singing way out in the field. He had wanted to give her voice lessons but couldn't afford it. Her singing ability led to the demise of her granddaughter Lola's dreams of taking piano lessons. She used to say that Lola, ". . . couldn't carry a tune in a bucket!" (And she was right!) She convinced Lola's parents that because of this, it would be a waste of money to give her piano lessons. So, her old player piano was given to another granddaughter, Patsy, who learned to play beautifully. In later years, Lola bought an electronic organ and taught herself to play with one-finger chords reasonably well enough for her own enjoyment and pleasure - Moral: Just because you "can't carry a tune in a bucket" doesn't mean you can't learn to play a musical instrument!
        The family eventually moved to St. Helena Island in South Carolina when Lillie was around 17 years of age. Not much is known of her life over the next 7 or 8 years. But when she was about 25 she met and fell in love with a young seaman, John Tilden Pigott, who was stationed at the Navy Base at Port Royal. They were married on January 23, 1900 in Port Royal by the Rev. Turnipseed, and set up housekeeping on St. Helena Island.
        The couple had three sons: Lester Anthony (1901), John Elwood (1904), and Calvin Aubrey (1910). There was also a little girl, who lived only about an hour. Another son, Carl, born in 1907 died in 1910 from diptheria. Calvin died in an automobile accident in 1962. Lester died from kidney failure in 1992. At this time, Elwood is still living.
        Being in the service, John traveled quite a bit. He was very much involved in the movement of the Navy Yard from Port Royal to Charleston during the years 1902-1906. Sometime around 1905/6, the family moved to the area known as Chicora near the new Navy Yard. In 1910, John was going to be out to sea for a number of years, so the Pigott family moved to John's home in Gloucester, NC. They lived there for a number of years while John traveled to the Far East among other places.
        Lillie settled in to making a home for herself and John and raising their children. She loved to do needle work and was a master craftsman with a needle, doing crochet and embroidery that was the envy of all who saw her work or received her pillowcases, table scarfs, etc. as gifts. She took great pride in her embroidery, taking great pains to keep the stitches on the back of the piece neat and even so that when you turned it over the design was almost as pretty as the front side. She always said that "If a thing is worth doing at all, it is worth doing right." Click here to view some of Lillie's needlework.
        She was full of these adages and often quoted them to her grandchildren. How many times were heard these words: "A stitch in time saves nine", "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush", "Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise", "A penny saved is a penny earned", "Waste not, want not", "Penny wise, pound foolish", "Little apples have big ears", "From little acorns, mighty oaks grow", etc, etc.
        She disliked bubble gum and warbling singers. Back in the '30s, little girls wore very short dresses. She always complained that her granddaughters' dresses were too short. She would have a canniption fit if she could see what grown women wear these days!! Granddaughter Lola must have had the first pair of pedal pushers in the country back in the '40s. She was visiting her grandmother who made her a pair of shorts that came down to the tops of her knees. The shorts were made from feed bags. Back in those days, feed bags were made from pretty printed material and were used for making lots of things: curtains, dresses, shirts, etc. You always checked the design on the bag before buying your feed!
        Lillie was a firm disciplinarian, with her own children and with her grandchildren. Her son, Elwood, remembers a time as a young boy when he and Lester got into a fight. Lillie heard them and called them in, for she would brook no fighting. The boys knew they were in big trouble. Lester went in and took his spanking. Elwood decided he would go hide in the woods until things cooled off some - silly boy! When he finally decided it was safe to return, he learned a valuable lesson. Lillie gave him a spanking and said, "That's for fighting." Then she turned around and gave him another spanking and said, "That's for running away!" Her grandchildren learned at an early age that when Grandmother said "jump", you jumped first and then asked, "How high?"!! She was a believer in those old adages "Spare the rod and spoil the child" and "Little children should be seen and not heard". But all loved her dearly anyway and feel that we are better people for having had her as mother and grandmother.
        By 1915, John was again stationed at the Charleston Navy Yard and the family moved back to the Chicora area near the Navy Yard. John built a fine two-story home on the corner of 7th (Ovid) Street and Carolina Avenue. The couple would make this their home until around 1940/1, when they moved to a smaller home they owned which they had been renting out. They lived there until John passed away in 1945. Click here to view some of the homes Lillie lived in.
        John had two large lots next to the "big" house. On part of one of these lots, Lillie raised chickens. Every year, many of the old hens were culled to make room for the younger ones. The chickens were done away with by chopping their heads off. Then they would flop around spewing blood all over the place. It was not a pretty scene, but was necessary and was not considered cruel in those days as the only other way to kill them was to literally wring their necks. Then they would be dipped into boiling water and the feather plucking would begin. Feathers flew everywhere! Oh, that stewed chicken and dumplin's was mighty good!
        Lillie was among the first members of Cherokee Place Methodist Church on Cosgrove Ave. in what is now part of North Charleston. She remained a member there until she moved to North Carolina.
        For some reason, Lillie filed an Affidavit of United States Citizenship in 1930. Her mother, uncle, aunt, and sister signed this affidavit as witnesses to the fact that Lillie had been born in the United States. To view this affidavit, click here
        In 1910, Lillie's son Carl had developed diptheria and due to the remoteness of where they lived, she was unable to get him to a doctor in time. She had to listen to him lying beside her gasping for breath. When, at the age of 1-l/2, her granddaughter Lola exhibited these same symptoms, she was able to convince Lola's parents to get her to the emergency room right away. A tracheotomy was performed immediately, thus saving Lola's life.
        In 1939, Lillie and John traveled out to California to visit Lillie's brother, Gus. They pulled a small travel trailer. This was in the days before motels and camp sites and self-contained travel trailers. Lillie kept an interesting account of their travel which can be read by clicking here.
        John owned a 32' yacht named "The We Two". He and Lillie and their two grandsons, John Howard and Carl, would often spend the weekend on the boat. They would anchor in a creek behind Kiahwa Island. Back in those days, this was a deserted island which could only be reached by boat. Then they would load their fish net into a "punt" and drag it across the mud flat and sand dunes to get to the ocean side of the island. There they would "haul seine" and load up with mullett and other fish which would be cleaned and salted away (this was before the days of freezers). They would catch enough to keep relatives and friends supplied. John often gave many pounds of fish to Jenkins Orphanage in Charleston. There was always a big wooden barrel of salted fish on the front porch. When she was old enough, granddaughter Lola was allowed to go on these trips also. Lillie always wore a wide-brimmed straw hat out in the sun on these trips and she insisted that the grandchildren wear them also. These hats had to have a chin-strap to pass her inspection. If they did not, she would make one. This was to keep the hats from blowing away. Granddaughter Patsy was along on one of these trips. She waded out too far into a pond on the beach and suddenly the only thing visible was the straw hat floating on the surface. Fortunately, Grandfather was able to rescue her before she swallowed too much water.
        Lillie had a beautiful hand-carved ivory manicure set that had been given to her by her son Lester. Granddaughter Lola always admired this set and Lillie promised to give it to her if she ever stopped biting her fingernails. This Lola finally managed to do when she was a teenager. True to her word, Lillie gave the manicure set to Lola. To see this set, click here. To view some other memorabilia, click here here.
        Lillie loved figs and had several fig trees in the yard. She would can figs every year and would "put up" fig preserve. "Canning" was actually putting the fruit up in Mason jars. It first had to be cooked in big old pressure cookers and then be sealed in the sterilized glass jars (for those of you who never saw a Mason jar!).
        For a short period of time, before moving into the smaller home, Lillie and John lived in their old trailer which they had pulled cross-country back in the '30s. While living here, Lillie became very ill. The doctors could not determine what was wrong. They were treating her for heart problems, but she was not getting any better. She was wasting away and getting weaker all the time. Finally, one doctor decided she must have thyroid problems and began treating her for this. She began to respond almost immediately and was soon cured.
        During World War II, Lillie and John operated a trailer park for Navy Yard workers and their families. The park accommodated approximately 6-7 trailers on a lot perhaps 100' x 150'. A small building housing a laundry room and a bath was also on the lot. Trailers were a lot different in those days. One barely had room to turn around inside. The dining table usually folded down along the wall when not in use and the bathroom was hardly big enough to turn around in. It was unheard of to have a washing machine in a trailer. In fact, washing machines with electric wringers were just coming in vogue. It was upon returning from a trip with daughter-in-law Pat to look at a used washing machine that Lillie discovered her husband had suffered a heart attack and died while they were out.
        Lillie suffered from varicose veins in her legs. During WWII a new treatment came out. Lillie and daughter-in-law Ethel took the treatment which consisted of shots of some medication. Ethel suffered no ills effects, but Lillie became deathly ill. Fortunately, she responded to treatment. The varicose veins however, did not improve. Neither did Ethel's!
        In 1946, Lillie moved back to Gloucester, NC, where the couple had always talked about settling. Lillie built a nice little bungalow across the road from her sister-in-law, Maggie. These two had always been as close as sisters and Maggie was delighted to finally have Lillie settle nearby. Maggie would spend the days at her own home but would spend the nights with Lillie.
        Lillie settled into life in the small rural community mostly comprised of John's family and relatives. She became an active member of Straits Methodist Church where services were held every other Sunday (the minister also served another church and so services were alternated between the two). Her sweet potato pies were famous. She always baked these for church socials and fund raisers. They were gobbled up in a hurry. Her favorite hymns were Whispering Hope and The Old Rugged Cross.
        Lillie filed a claim for, and eventually received, a Spanish American War Veteran Widow's Pension for John's Naval service during this period.
        Lillie bought a Guernesy cow, named Beula, which she kept on her son Lester's place. She would go down to Lester's every day to milk the cow. In those days it was required that milk be pasteurized before being sold. But being in the country and everybody related to each other, she had a few customers for her milk. There were still people around who appreciated the taste of good ole milk straight from the cow! They also churned butter from Beula's milk and made clabber (Lillie loved her clabber - ugh!). Every year, the cow had a calf which would be butchered. This helped to keep Lillie and Lester supplied with beef. The cow also helped to keep the grass mowed and provided lots of fertilizer for Twyla's (Lester's wife) flowers. It also meant you had to be very careful where you walked in the yard!
        Around 1947, Lillie convinced her grandson John Howard to accompany her on a sentimental trip back to Florida. They visited Fernandina and Punta Gorda. By this time, brother Gus had moved from California to Daytona Beach, so Lillie and John Howard stopped off for a short visit with them. We are trying to convince John Howard to write an account of this trip so we can post it here.
        Shortly after the wonder drug penicillin came out, Lillie was visiting with sons in Charleston when she came down with a really bad cold. The doctor gave her a shot of penicillin. She had a terrible reaction and almost passed away. But the doctor was able to treat her successfully and she recovered but never again had a shot of penicillin.
        She suffered from arthritis in her hands. All sorts of "cures" were being touted around this time. One such was alfalfa tea. Lillie tried this for a while but it didn't do her much good. Nothing seemed to help. Fortunately, it was not the crippling type of arthritis and she learned to live with it.
        Lillie took her first plane trip when she was in her 70s. She flew to Washington, DC, several times to visit her sister Katie and family. They would also go over to the Eastern Shore of Maryland to visit other relatives living there.
        When the house became too much for Lillie to take care of in her advancing years, she sold it and purchased a mobile home in the '50s. At first she placed the mobile home in Maggie's side yard so they could continue their living arrangement. But she later moved it down on her son Lester's property on the water-front. They would have to fetch Maggie in the evenings and then take her back to her place in the mornings.
        Lillie was known far and wide as a lady with a mind of her own. And she did not mind speaking that mind. This did not sit well with some folks, but one always knew where they stood with Lillie. Having to raise a family pretty much on her own since John was away at sea so much, can not have been an easy task back in the early part of the 1900s, and she had to learn to be a decisive person.
        In late 1956 it was decided that Lillie was getting too old to live alone. She and her sons decided that she should move in with Elwood and his family in Charleston, SC. She sold her mobile home and one day in January 1957, she and Maggie made a tour around to all their friends and relatives so Lillie could tell them goodbye, for Elwood was to come get her soon. The next day she suffered a devastating stroke. The stroke left her paralyzed on the right side and unable to communicate. Back then, therapy for stroke victims was unheard of. The only treatment was to make her as comfortable as possible. After it became obvious the family could not care for her at home, she was placed in a nursing home near New Bern, NC. On June 18, 1957, at the age of 83, she quietly passed away from hardening of the arteries. She was buried in the Straits Methodist Churchyard next to her husband. At their feet is their son Carl. On her tombstone is the verse "Gone on to other duties".