Preliminary Inventory of the Jesse Andrews photographs, 1974-2008

Bill learned to braid leather when he was a child. His father did not want him to learn that craft so he would take the strands of leather under the covers of his bed at night and practice braiding simply by feel. He could do any sort of braid from the most simple to making what he called a “rosette”, a round knot woven from 16 strands of leather, seemingly with no beginning or end.

The chair he is sitting in was made by his grandfather, Simeon Benton Davis.

Bill was much older than Nancy. When she turned 18, she wanted to attend the nursing school at the University of Virginia, but their father refused to pay for her to go. Bill eventually saved enough money to send her and she graduated in 1941. She never returned to the farm except to visit and lived in Richmond until her death in 2005. This image was made during her last visit to see Bill.  She always referred to him as her “angel” and thus she was making a halo for him.

Nat had been telling me about one of his first girlfriends. He was sad because he thought no one would ever care for him again.

They knew hundreds of old time tunes as well as hymns and ballads.

This is where Hat and Bill hunted and trapped their entire lives. Bill used to say that the mound in the background was an Indian burial place.

This spring was where they got their water for nearly 100 years. It is now a mosquito breeding ground.

Photographer: “Ed Wemple grew up in Charlottesville and graduated from the University of Virginia. He wandered the country during the depression of the 1930s. He worked as a longshoreman in New York, in lumber camps in Oregon and eventually went to Mexico, where he became a heroin addict. He cured himself by walking from El Paso to the Oklahoma border. He returned to New York, where he lived until 1964, taking in the bohemian and jazz cultures and working at odd jobs. He returned to Charlottesville in 1964 and lived there until his death in 1987. I lived in the same house with him for a year. He had not had a bath in nine years and spent his time reading and sleeping. He went by taxi once a week to the Alderman Library to replenish his book supply. A wonderful man who had endless stories to tell about his life. I regret that I did not record any of our conversations.”

Photographer: “Reid Carter was a mechanic who worked primarily on pulpwood trucks. He lived with his mother in a cabin without running water or electricity. When she died in 1982, at age 100, Reid lost his mind and was committed to a state mental institution in Staunton. He died a few months later.”

Photographer: “This woman operated a tiny bakery with the help of her son in the Italian section of Boston. They made marzipan, cannolis, and other pastries, as well as several kinds of bread, all wonderful.”

Photographer: “Red's was a gathering place for local outlaw bikers, the Scorpions. Red died in 2007.”

Photographer: “Bill would tan fresh deer hides to use in his leather work. He made a device which would split a hide into evenly sized strips for braiding. He made belts, sashes, hat bands, watch fobs, key holders, and guitar straps. He also did harness repairs and remade worn out shoes. But the first step in this process was to pick all the flesh off the hide. If left, the bits of flesh would attract insects to eat the hide and leave uncured spots on the finished hide.”