James 'Turkey Jim' May

I come from some pretty amazing people. Here is a story about my great-great-great-great Grandfather (I think that's the right amounts of great, but don't hold me to it!). James May was particularly well-suited to his times and environment. In an era when formal education was not a necessity in the hills of Kentucky, he was a natural man, educated in the ways of nature. His reputation as a hunter earned him the nickname 'Turkey Jim' among men who were themselves skillful hunters of the elusive turkey. The following incident was related by Alfred Davis. Mr. Davis heard some turkeys gobbling in the woods on his farm. He told Turkey Jim, who then scouted the area and said he would return before daylight the next day. Early the next morning a single shot came from the woods. Alf Davis told his family that Jim May had probably killed two turkeys with that shot. In a few minutes Turkey Jim came out of the woods with two gobblers slung from his muzzle-loading rifle. He dropped them at Alf's feed and told him to take his choice. The turkeys appeared to be identical in weight and size. Mr. Davis hefted them, made an arbitrary choice, and handed one back to Jim. Turkey Jim had waited for the gobblers to come down from the tree roost (which he had located the previous day) and patiently watched them strut back and forth beneath the roost. When two of the biggest gobblers strutted past each other Jim shot them both. Since he was using a muzzle loader, one shot was all he could get. Turkey Jim continued to use a cap and ball rifle after most hunters had gone to repeating rifles with encased cartridges. Turkey Jim hunted all his life. When he became too feeble to hunt on foot he hunted on horseback. From the story 'Sketch of James May' by Henry L. May, Volume II of 'The May Families of Eastern Kentucky.

Family First

Been reading my family history books: a group in Kentucky sells them, and I have five. Three are from the May family (my Mom's mom's family) and two are from the Arnett family (her Dad's family).below is some information from my Grandmother's side, the Mays.

• Caleb May, (1781-1827), married to Margareta Patrick (1783-1861). Her parents were Jeremiah and Sarah Partick. Margaret died at the age of 91 after a fall off a horse. Caleb was a Kentucky Baptist preacher and died from breast cancer.

• James May (1911-1890), fifth child of Caleb May, married to Matilda Whitaker (1810-1854). Second wife was Elizabeth 'Betsy' Powers (1818-1889), a widow with 7 children. Matilda died Jan of 1854, and James married Betsy in June of that year.

• Harmon May (1859-1940), son of James and Betsy, married to married Nancy Jane Adams (1864-1928).

• William Ernest May (1886-1955) maried Evalina Gullett (1892-1945).

• Amy Maxine Margaret May (1886-I believe she died in 1995) married John Richmond Arnett (1913-1986)-my grandparents. My sister and I would fight about who would marry Grandpa when we grew up (we adored him) and my Grandmother was one of the sweetest women who ever lived. I'm proud to be their granddaughter.


• Erna Margaret Arnett Wiles (1935-2009) married to Charles Blymiller Wiles Jr. (1933-). Again, wonderful people to be proud of.

• Mary Elaine Wiles Vander Yacht (1955-) married to Mark Steven Vander Yacht (1954-)

• Cari Vander Yacht (1981-) Steven Charles Vander Yacht (1987-) Douglas Jay Vander Yacht (1987-)

Hanging out with the Miss Catester

I am so glad I have wonderful friends who have wonderful, fun children to hang out with.

Miss Cate and I had a blast hanging out at a birthday party. Times like this make life so much fun!!!

Kitty Cats

Our family has some great cats. Here Lire found some food in a coffee cup....okay, so I did it on purpose. Ha!














My mother and father-in-law's kitty Duke was resting peacefully until I barged in and took his picture.
He forgave me.

Wedding Bells are Ringing.

My friend Laura had a lovely wedding. She was beautiful in her dress!!














Funny Kseniya! And you too Larissa!!

Rhonda, Jennifer, Kseniya, Larrisa, and I enjoyed a great meal and a lovely wedding.

Eat more chicken (some cows told me to say that).

Found some pictures, and I just love this picture from years ago when my sister and brother in law had chickens. It's a great picture. I thought Cari would get a kick out of it!

When pumpkins go bad...

Doug carved a rather unusal pumpkin this year: Cari would be so proud.....

Cookies Rock!

Chewy chocolate chip cookies, from Alton Brown's reciepe (so good) and M&M cookies...had fun baking and hanging out this week at the RMH.
















And to celebrate Dr. Seuss' birthday I created som 'green eggs and ham'...well, green eggs and bacon....whatever. Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss.
And I have to confess: I never was a huge fan of that lovely man. Don't know why I didn't read many of his books to the kids. Hop On Pop was a winner. Other than that, not much happening at the Vander Yacht house hold and Dr. Seuss.

For Cari

Here are some pictures for Cari. Look at your Dad and his little buddy sleeping...so darn cute..and Mommy made a new friend.