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For 25 years since the death of his second
wife, he had remained unmarried. His [second] wife lived only about a
year, Litia Kelly, 
of
Rutherford County, who died childless and is buried in the Cliffside Cemetery.
Said Mrs. Carpenter, oldest sister of Mr. Haynes: “She was highly
educated, a Christian wife, and a fine stepmother to us all.”
The
first wife of Mr. Haynes was the mother of all his children. She was Amanda
Carpenter, the daughter of Tennessee Carpenter, who was a farmer living
about three miles from Ferry. The great qualities of men most often find
their fountainhead in the total equipment of the mother. The mother of
Mr. Haynes was, according to the recollection of Mr. Moore and other old
friends, business-like and practical, but modest almost to the point of
shyness and given to few words. She was gentle and of even temper, meeting
situations with poise. She was Sally Walker, daughter of Elijah Walker,
a farmer and slaveholder of means and prominence, living not far from
Ellenboro, Rutherford County. Then there was “Uncle Billy” Walker
and “Uncle Morgan,” the bachelor uncle. When Raleigh Haynes
lost his father, Charles H. Haynes, the family had some help from the
mother's folks, as Mrs. Letitia Carpenter, before mentioned, continued
to narrate to me in her home in Rutherfordton. “Uncle Morgan,”
Mrs. Carpenter was saying, “and Uncle Billy would constantly be coming
down with a 
wagon
full of provisions and such things as we needed. Then there used to be
sent over now and then one of the slaves to do about for us. That's why
I tell you we were not in circumstances that could be called destitute
or anywhere near it. We went about and visited, and had visitors, and
there was always spare rooms for folks that would come to see us. They
and their horses would be well taken care of, and they never went away
hungry or without having had a comfortable visit. My mother was a good
Baptist and a Christian woman, and my father, though not a member of the
church, was a man of soberness and integrity and industry. He ran the
farm, paid the taxes, and left only the housework for my mother. That's
the way we got along to marrying age. The old house was built strong of
logs, but it was fine and beautiful as was the home at Ferry, where my
brother, Raleigh, lived, which was, of course, a finer kind of home. When
Raleigh went to Union County to farm, along about 20 years of age, he
made some grain and he and his brother, John, whom he took with him, made
nine bales of cotton the first year. He would stay in Union from March
to July—then come home. He never felt that he had left the old home.
He would stay two months, then go back in November after the crops—then,
come again for the winter. For all that, both he and John caught the malaria
down there and I believe Raleigh never recovered from the effects of it.”
It is true that Mr. Haynes suffered ill
health for the last 30 years of his life principally in the shape of impaired
digestion but would not slack up the pressure except for the occasional
rest. His will power put his sufferings behind him, in the face of the
higher duties.
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