Hattie Lee Caldwell, who died in 2009 at 112, often shared stories about her grandmother, Ida Caldwell Perryman. Aunt Hattie was born in 1897 in Calhoun, Alabama, to Louisa Cheatham Patterson and James Caldwell Sr. She married Lucius Lafayette at age 18 and had two children together. Hattie relocated to Albion, Michigan, in 1933, where she lived at the time of her death. Aunt Hattie lived in three different centuries, living to see seven generations and eventually serving as the matriarch of 6 living generations. At right, she is pictured with (in this order) her daughter Rogean, granddaughter Gloria Wright Francis, great-granddaughter, and her great-great-granddaughter. Aunt Hattie lived by herself until she turned 100. She then moved in with her granddaughter, Gloria.
In 2009, Aunt Hattie was the 20th-oldest person in the world, 9th in the United States, and 2nd in Michigan, according to the California-based Gerontology Research Group that verifies and documents supercentenarians (people age 110 and older). As a supercentenarian, Aunt Hattie received a Congressional Certificate stating that her life experiences are one of this country’s treasures. Her legacy certainly was a treasure for her Caldwell-Perryman descendants. Below is a short Michigan Live video clip of Aunt Hattie being interviewed by the Jackson Citizen Patriot. Aunt Hattie proudly shares that she is originally from Calhoun, Alabama, credits God for her longevity, and demonstrates her love for singing at the end of the clip. http://videos.mlive.com/citpat/2009/03/hattie_lafayette_age_112.html
Aunt Hattie’s granddaughter, Gloria Wright Francis, shared, “Up until the last week of her life, grandmother loved singing and talking about the old times. She often shared our family history, and there was plenty of history to pass on.” Aunt Hattie was present at the 1st official Family Reunion held in 1946 in Albion, Michigan, and attended numerous Reunions during her lifetime. She may have last attended the 2000 Family Reunion in Albion, Michigan. In the first picture at the bottom of this page, Aunt Hattie is captured at that Family Reunion with her great-grandniece, FeFe Smith.
As a demonstration of our family legacy, Aunt Hattie cared deeply about family and wanted only the best for her descendants. Some of her descendants in yellow T-shirts can be seen in the second picture at the bottom of the page. They are in attendance at the 2017 Reunion in Albion, Michigan, which they hosted.
Hattie's Aunt, Josephine Perryman Means’ descendants (Rev. Robert Means' family), are in the third picture at a 2005 Family Celebration in Mosses, Alabama. Her aunt, Nellie Perryman Bandy’s descendants, are in the fourth picture, wearing orange T-shirts, at the 2018 Reunion in Saginaw, Michigan. In the next picture is Nellie's daughter, Rosa Bell Bandy Nelson, who is credited with organizing the first Perryman Reunions in Alabama.
Aunt Hattie would faithfully visit her Aunt Nellie's children in Saginaw for two weeks every year until she was no longer strong enough to travel. These visits bonded even closer the relationships between the descendants of James Caldwell Sr. and his sister Nellie Perryman Bandy, shown together in the sixth picture, in lime green T-shirts, at the 2003 Reunion in Saginaw, Michigan. This reunion was hosted by Dorothy Robinson Gaines, daughter of Jessie Lou Caldwell Robinson.
During Aunt Hattie's visits to Saginaw, she would also connect with her younger first cousin, David "Bruh" Bandy, pictured below in the following section with his son:
