Aunt Effie's "Dixie"

The arrangement of "Dixie" that plays on our home page was lent to us through the kindness of James Farris Chumbley, Sons of Confederate Veterans Stainless Banner Camp #1440, San Jose, California. Jim first found this delightful arrangement among the musical scores of his Great Aunt Effie, who wrote it around the turn of the century in fulfillment of a childhood piano assignment.

Effie, as she was affectionately known to her family and friends, was born Susan Farris Huggins in the closing years of the 19th century. Often sick as a child and unable to attend school regularly, Effie spent many hours at home indulging her love of music and learning to play the piano. This arrangement of "Dixie," composed when she was 9 or 10, attests to the level of skill she had attained at an early age.

Effie's grandfather, Texan William E. George, and her stepfather had both served in the Confederate Army, and Effie acquired a keen appreciation of her Southern roots early on. When she grew up, Effie married Lit Winter and spent the rest of her life in Abilene, Texas. Lit and Effie had no children of their own, so she showered her nieces, nephews, great-nieces, and great-nephews with love and attention, making certain that they were well aware of their proud Southern heritage. Jim remembers his father speaking with great fondness of the many hours that he and his sister spent at Aunt Effie's eating pecan pie that she made with pecans from her own trees, listening to her tales of the Old South, and singing as she played her beloved piano. And it was from her as well that Jim (who was given the middle name "Farris" in her honor) first learned about his own Confederate ancestry.

To Jim Chumbley's Great Aunt Effie -- and to all the Aunt Effies of the South -- we dedicate this music.


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