Daughter of Harvey and Ida (Lane/Lang) Hoskins. Mother with husband John Hurt of T. C. and Ida May, both of whom went by her later partner Will Conley's surname.
______________________________________________________________
Sources for her birth date vary widely. Her Social Security application gives her birth year as 1900, but she appears with her parents in the 1900 census as a two-year-old.
She is the first wife John Hurt. Even though she went by surname of Conley, it is believed that she is buried in the Hurt family graveyard(Old St James).
*****************
Gertrude Conley's story covers more than a century By: Conswella Bennett The Greenwood Commonwealth
The roots of the Hoskins family tree are deep in Mississippi soil.
Gertrude Conley's parents, Harvey and Ida Hoskins, were former slaves who worked the land all their lives. The Hoskins chopped and plowed cotton and other crops. Chopping cotton was the legacy Conley's parents passed on to her. Chopping cotton became her career.
"I didn't know nothing else," said Conley, who was born not in the last century but the one before it. She celebrated her 110th birth day June 25. She lives in Greenwood now, but she used to live in Carroll County.
Conley was a girl in the 1890s, so her parents were no longer slaves but sharecroppers.
"The family sharecropped on a farm in Carrollton," Dorothy Miller, Conley's granddaughter said.
When Conley was not working in the fields she was nursing her younger sister.
"She was the knee baby. One sister was under her," Miller said.
The family of seven lived in a small log cabin house. There was no electricity, running water or indoor bathroom.
Conley likes to tell a story from the good ole days when she was a little girl and her father was her savior.
She closed her eyes and it seemed she was experiencing the events again. "I was making mud cakes and my mind told me to turn around and look behind me. When I did, I saw something raised up on two back legs, looking straight at me.
"'Who is you?' I asked.
"It was still looking at me, and then it made a step toward me. I was a big enough fool to make a step too; then it growled and that's when I took off running."
Conley ran straight to her father, who was at the little wooden house. She thought a man was chasing her, close behind.
Conley's father took her inside the house and grabbed his shot gun. He shot at the man - who turned out to be a bear - but did not kill it.
"That's the story she told me as a little girl. It was one of my favorite stories," Miller said.
Little Gertrude loved school, and when she could get away from the fields, she attended a one-room school. The little school was near the St. James Messianic Baptist Church. "I liked the reading and math," Conley said.
Conley does not remember how far along in school she got.
At age 15, Conley found herself married to a childhood friend, John Hurt.
"He was about 16 when they married," Miller said.
John Hurt was also known as Mississippi John Hurt. Hurt was a local blues folk singer.
"He used to play that box and sing the blues, but I didn't like it. I liked gospel music," Conley said.
Hurt played his guitar in and around Carrollton on different store front porches. Hurt also made a few records and performed in cities like New York and Maryland. His work now has an international following.
Conley did not like when Hurt was away from home performing, "I missed him. I wanted him at home with me," Conley said.
Conley and Hurt had two children. But, not long after Hurt began traveling and performing, he left Conley and the children.
Conley moved on and met Will Conley. "Will Conley helped to raise us," Miller said. "My grandmother raised me every since I was a little baby."
"She ain't never been out my house," Conley said.
Conley worked hard to take care of her family. She sharecropped, worked her own garden and did housework for different families.
"Grandmama liked working with her hands," Miller said.
Conley's hands tell a story. The slender knotted hands tough from years of hard work and life in the past. She tells stories from her life from time to time to great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren.
"It' just a blessing that she's still here with me," Miller said.
Miller has had Conley with her for the past five years. Miller cares for Conley like Conley once cared for her years ago.
The roots to the Hoskins family tree continues to branch out. Conley has lived to see five generations of the family.
Greenwood Commonwealth
Greenwood, MS
July 12, 2000
Daughter of Harvey and Ida (Lane/Lang) Hoskins. Mother with husband John Hurt of T. C. and Ida May, both of whom went by her later partner Will Conley's surname.
______________________________________________________________
Sources for her birth date vary widely. Her Social Security application gives her birth year as 1900, but she appears with her parents in the 1900 census as a two-year-old.
She is the first wife John Hurt. Even though she went by surname of Conley, it is believed that she is buried in the Hurt family graveyard(Old St James).
*****************
Gertrude Conley's story covers more than a century By: Conswella Bennett The Greenwood Commonwealth
The roots of the Hoskins family tree are deep in Mississippi soil.
Gertrude Conley's parents, Harvey and Ida Hoskins, were former slaves who worked the land all their lives. The Hoskins chopped and plowed cotton and other crops. Chopping cotton was the legacy Conley's parents passed on to her. Chopping cotton became her career.
"I didn't know nothing else," said Conley, who was born not in the last century but the one before it. She celebrated her 110th birth day June 25. She lives in Greenwood now, but she used to live in Carroll County.
Conley was a girl in the 1890s, so her parents were no longer slaves but sharecroppers.
"The family sharecropped on a farm in Carrollton," Dorothy Miller, Conley's granddaughter said.
When Conley was not working in the fields she was nursing her younger sister.
"She was the knee baby. One sister was under her," Miller said.
The family of seven lived in a small log cabin house. There was no electricity, running water or indoor bathroom.
Conley likes to tell a story from the good ole days when she was a little girl and her father was her savior.
She closed her eyes and it seemed she was experiencing the events again. "I was making mud cakes and my mind told me to turn around and look behind me. When I did, I saw something raised up on two back legs, looking straight at me.
"'Who is you?' I asked.
"It was still looking at me, and then it made a step toward me. I was a big enough fool to make a step too; then it growled and that's when I took off running."
Conley ran straight to her father, who was at the little wooden house. She thought a man was chasing her, close behind.
Conley's father took her inside the house and grabbed his shot gun. He shot at the man - who turned out to be a bear - but did not kill it.
"That's the story she told me as a little girl. It was one of my favorite stories," Miller said.
Little Gertrude loved school, and when she could get away from the fields, she attended a one-room school. The little school was near the St. James Messianic Baptist Church. "I liked the reading and math," Conley said.
Conley does not remember how far along in school she got.
At age 15, Conley found herself married to a childhood friend, John Hurt.
"He was about 16 when they married," Miller said.
John Hurt was also known as Mississippi John Hurt. Hurt was a local blues folk singer.
"He used to play that box and sing the blues, but I didn't like it. I liked gospel music," Conley said.
Hurt played his guitar in and around Carrollton on different store front porches. Hurt also made a few records and performed in cities like New York and Maryland. His work now has an international following.
Conley did not like when Hurt was away from home performing, "I missed him. I wanted him at home with me," Conley said.
Conley and Hurt had two children. But, not long after Hurt began traveling and performing, he left Conley and the children.
Conley moved on and met Will Conley. "Will Conley helped to raise us," Miller said. "My grandmother raised me every since I was a little baby."
"She ain't never been out my house," Conley said.
Conley worked hard to take care of her family. She sharecropped, worked her own garden and did housework for different families.
"Grandmama liked working with her hands," Miller said.
Conley's hands tell a story. The slender knotted hands tough from years of hard work and life in the past. She tells stories from her life from time to time to great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren.
"It' just a blessing that she's still here with me," Miller said.
Miller has had Conley with her for the past five years. Miller cares for Conley like Conley once cared for her years ago.
The roots to the Hoskins family tree continues to branch out. Conley has lived to see five generations of the family.
Greenwood Commonwealth
Greenwood, MS
July 12, 2000
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