Claudie Peyton as a young woman
Northern Rhodesia is now the Republic of Zambia, a landlocked country located in southern Africa on the high plateau. Zaire borders it on the north; Tanzania on the northeast; Malawi on the east; Mozambique, Zimbabwe, a tip of Botswana, and Namibia on the south; and Angola on the west. The country was known as Northern Rhodesia from 1911 to 1964. Choma, the city where Claiudie first did her work, is located in the southern region of the country.
Choma is located in the southern region of Zambia
What happened to Candy's Children?
Click Here to read of Claudie's experiences in her own words
My Aunt Candy
Aunt Candy's legacy lives on in
Zambia. Click here.
FOREWORD:
When it comes to tales of the Peyton Family, the star of the
whole show in 20th Century has been Claudie, known to me as my Aunt Candy.
She was my great aunt, actually, the sister of my grandfather,
William Peyton.
Imagine what it must have been like to have grown up in a
rural area of West Virginia in the early part of this century. Imagine what it must have
been like to have been a woman in that culture. And imagine, if you can, a woman growing
up in that era and that culture following a dream of becoming a missionary in Africa.
Then imagine her going alone - unmarried and unsponsored - to one
of the darkest and most backward regions of that continent and spending 51 years there -
only returning to her native America once - and adopting an entire family of African
orphans, most of whom took her last name.
It's a truly remarkable story of courage, daring and danger.
The following article - one of the best overviews written
about Aunt Candy - first appeared in The Sunday Herald-Advertiser in Huntington, W. Va.,
in 1962. It was written by Dorothy Peyton, who had married Claudie Peyton's nephew, Walter
Peyton. It was the very first recognition Claudie had received in the popular press in the
region where she was born.
- Dave Peyton
By Dorothy Peyton
Copyright 1962
The Herald-Advertiser
Huntington W. Va.
On November 21st, 1930, the large ship S. S. Majestic left New
York to sail for Africa via England. Among the passengers was Miss Claudie (Candy) Peyton
of Barboursville, W. Va. Miss Peyton was at long last on her way to realizing her dream of
a lifetime - the dream of being a missionary to Africa.
Claudie was 36 when she set sail for Africa. But hers was not a
case of deciding late that this was a work she yearned to
do. Her decision to dedicate her life to foreign missionary work had been made when she
was 17. That it was 19 years before she embarked for Africa illustrates the kind of
courage and determination this remarkable woman possessed.
Not once in all those years had she doubted that someday she
would realize her dream, although her friends and relatives had always been inclined to
laugh it off. Who could blame them, after all, for calling it "Candy's Castles in
Spain"? Hadn't they heard her talk of going to Africa since she was 17 years old?
None of them was in sympathy with her idea of being a missionary
to Africa. But they never really worried too much
about her ever actually going. Talk was cheap, they thought, but how could a poorly
educated girl from a small hill farm ever get so far from home? They didn't know Claudie -
for Claudie knew she was going.
At the time, she didn't know how or when, but she was convinced
that God wanted her in the missionary field. They had been revealed to her in 1911, and,
as Claudie saw it, if God wanted a person to do a thing, he would certainly help find a
way to carry out His plans.
Claudie was the tenth child of Solomon K Peyton and his wife
Luisa Petit Peyton. She was born Dec. 15, 1894 at the Old Peyton Homestead on Cyrus
Creek Road in rural Cabell County, W. Va..
Claudie grew up in the manner of most of the other young rural
women at that time. She learned to cook, sew and help her mother with the housework, the
gardening and the canning. She attended grade school at Cyrus Creek School House, but
higher education was considered unnecessary, especially for girls. The opinion of almost
everyone that young Claudie knew while growing up was that a girl's aim in life should be
to marry and rear a family.
Social life consisted of neighborly gatherings, quilting bees,
bean stringings, corn huskings, etc. Prayer meetings held
in homes were common in the community and it was at one of these cottage prayer meetings
on June 16th, 1911, that Claudie was converted and consecrated herself to God's
work. A short time later, she relates, it was plainly revealed to her that God wanted her
to go to Africa as a missionary.
Her family was troubled and there were many misunderstandings
when Claudie began to tell them her plans. They thought she was carrying her religion too
far. But, after a time they ceased fretting. The very idea that seventeen-year-old Claudie
would ever get so far away from Cyrus Creek as Africa made them feel safe. Let her talk
and dream if it made her feel better, they thought - but such a thing could never really
come to pass.
Being the tenth child of in a family of twelve children, Claudie was kept very busy
as a young woman in the households of her married brothers and sisters. It was
customary in those days for an unmarried sister to go "help out" when any of her
brothers' or sisters' households were in need of assistance. When a new baby was born or
during canning or apple-butter making season, it was taken for granted that Claudie would
come to help.
She must have worked awfully hard. Since she came from such a
large family, some one of the various households were in need of an extra pair of hands
almost all the time. But she always went with a smile, and every child in the family would
be happy and excited at the thrilling prospect of having a favorite aunt at his house for
awhile.
Claudie told the children stories that held them spellbound;
stories from the Bible, fairy stories and stories of faraway
places. She told them earnestly about Africa where the people lived in ignorance and
superstition and didn't know about God. Someday she was going there to teach these people,
she told the young nieces and nephews. She had a call from God to do so. Once she was
interrupted at this point by a young nephew who was gazing steadfastly at the
old-fashioned wall phone at his grandfather's house.
"Did God call you on the telephone, Aunt Candy?" the
fascinated youngster wanted to know. In his mind's eye, he was seeing the tall thin figure
of his Aunt Candy in her gingham dress, standing at the telephone talking to God who had
just called her to go to Africa to "help out."
Yes, she was answering God, she said. If she was needed, she'd be
glad to go. The way she was always glad to go when some of the relatives needed help with
the canning or the washing or in time of sickness.
It was from one of the numerous nieces and nephews that Claudie
received her nickname "Candy." A nickname which clung. She used to stir up
batches of molasses candy for the children on the old wood-burning stove in her father's
house, or at one of the other children's home when she went to visit.
One day, one of the youngest looked out the door and happily
called out "Aunt Candy's coming!" From that day on, she was known as
"Candy" although later no one seemed to remember which child first called her
that.
Claudie's relatives were greatly concerned over her failure to
marry. To them, the only proper career for a woman was that of wifehood and motherhood.
But Claudie just laughed. It wasn't that she didn't have her chances. She was attractive
with her nice smile and twinkling eyes, and many a young man looked at her with courting
on his mind. But Claudie already had plans - plans which didn't include having a husband.
"That Candy," an exasperated relative once remarked.
"She'll turn up her nose at all the tablecloths and end up picking a dish rag. Just
you wait and see,"
"What does that mean, Mother?" a curious, listening
child wanted to know.
"It means your Aunt Candy is letting all the men who would
make any kind of husband be snatched away from her, and she'll end up marrying some
creature that isn't worth his salt."
"Fiddlesticks!" the adult retorted, conveying what she
and all the other adults in Claudie's life thought of the whole idea of Africa.
Claudie had no concrete idea as to how one made preparations for
missionary work. But one day she read about God's Bible School and Missionary Training
Home in Cincinnati, Ohio, in a little paper called God's Revivalist. She started to make
plans to go there. There was plenty of opposition to her plans from relatives and friends.
But firmly, Claudie, who was older now, made her stand for independence and the right to
follow her own wishes in the matter.
Happily she enrolled in God's Bible School. To the little country
girl who had never been many miles from her Cyrus Creek home, Cincinnati seemed a busy,
fabulous place. But the important thing was that she had made the initial start toward
becoming a missionary.
Her happiness was destined to be short-lived, however, for
shortly afterward, her mother died suddenly. It seemed now that Claudie would be forced to
give up her dreams and plans. There was nothing for her to do but leave school and
"keep house" for her father. As was typical of her, Claudie did this cheerfully,
although at times it seemed the end of her own plans.
At home, she did a lot of reading and studying and helped
establish the Cyrus Creek Mission. Today, this busy, active
church is known as the Cyrus Creek Baptist Church. Nieces, nephews and other relatives of
Claudie make up a fair percentage of the church's current membership. In the years
since its founding, this small country church has sent thousands of dollars to aid
missionary work in regions beyond in tribute to Claudie.
Claudie still talked of going to Africa while working
industriously in her home community. Her listeners smiled to
themselves, wondering when she would decide it was time to give up and start thinking of
marrying, as any sensible young woman should.
"Oh, I'll go someday," Claudie assured them with great
confidence. "When God calls a person to do a thing, you won't
convince me He won't make a way for them to do it - but in His own good time. There's a
reason for the delay. It may be that He has many lessons for me to learn now that will be
of use to me when I finally get to Africa."
Sometime later, Claudie's father remarried and Claudie was free
to return to Cincinnati and God's Bible School. She
graduated in 1926, exactly nine years from the time she had decided to become a
missionary.
Claudie was happy on her graduation day and she didn't begrudge
one of the nine years of planning and struggle. She was ready at the age of 32 to start on
the work she longed to do.
But, alas, she was soon to experience another deep and cutting
disappointment. All the graduates of the Missionary Training School had to undergo stiff
medical checkups before being declared eligible to enter the mission field. After the
examination, Claudie's examining doctors sent this report on her to the Missionary Board:
"We have given Miss Claudie a thorough medical examination
and we find her to be of frail constitution. It is our unanimous and considered opinion
that this woman could not possibly live more than a year in African climate."
That was that - the end of a dream.
After such a medical report on a candidate, the Missionary Board
could not send that candidate into the mission field.
Claudie protested and pleaded, insisting that the risk was hers and she still wanted to go
in spite of it. Her arguments were to no avail. The members of the board were kind,
sympathetic and regretful. But they advised her to go home and forget the whole thing. She
had done her part. She had prepared for the work and was willing to go. If her health
would not permit it - then no one could expect more of her.
Claudie couldn't bring herself to accept it. She determined not
to give up. Without telling anyone what was in the back of
her mind she asked for and got a job in the orphanage in God's Bible School. She worked
hard and faithfully for four more years. At the end of that time, she had enough money to
pay her own way to Africa. She was now 36 years old, but the dream she began to dream as a
girl of 17 was just as bright as it had been then. For 19 long years she had held to the
dream and kept her faith and enthusiasm.
Before leaving for Africa, Claudie was asked to give a farewell
radio address. She closed her talk by quoting the verse
from our state song:
"Oh, the West Virginia hills
I must bid you now adieu
In my home beyond the mountains
I shall ever dream of you
In the evening time of life
If my father only wills
I shall stand once more with loved ones
On those West Virginia hills."
Claudie enjoyed her ocean voyage immensely, but she wrote her
family that every time she fell asleep, she began to struggle terribly, trying to figure
out a plan to get to Africa. Upon waking, she had difficulty at first to convince herself
that she was really on her way at last.
That was 32 years ago. Thirty-two years in which she has learned to
love Africa and its people. She identifies herself with the country. She has become part
of it. She feels that she belongs there. Now that she is nearing the evening time of her
life, her relatives doubt that she will ever stand once more with loved ones here on our
West Virginia hills.
For one reason, Claudie is afraid that she might not be able to
get to Africa a second time. She remembers how difficult it was for her to do so 32
years ago. And she is nearing 70. She wants to spend her last days there doing the work
that she loves. Secondly, she just isn't the kind of person who can walk away from those
who need her. During World War II, the government offered to fly her home but she refused
to accept the offer - saying that she could not desert her post in time of trouble.
Claudie's first work was in the Choma Compound School at
Choma in Northern Rhodesia, where she strove to educate and to spread the gospel.
The need for education was great and, Claudie being a
practical soul, taught a lot of things besides religion. Hygiene and the care of the
physical body was high on her list. She taught the African children that sickness was
brought on by diet and germs, not by witchcraft or other superstitious ideas.
In 1940, she started an orphanage quite by accident. While
visiting the Choma hospital, she noticed a man sitting by a hut trying to feed a tiny baby
with a spoon.
"Muluti, will you take my baby?" he asked Claudie.
"I am from the Siachitema settlement. Try
elsewhere," she replied.
"She wondered if she was doing the right thing and told the
man "I have much work to do. If I should take her, she would
likely die."
"Takwe indaba (No matter)," he replied.
The baby's mother had burned to death trying to save the
lives of her children when her grass hut caught fire. She had
carried the baby to safety and returned for the other child only to lose her life in the
flames.
Claudie didn't have the heart to turn away from the small
motherless baby. She took her home and put her in a big paper box under the wash stand.
She was unable to find anyone who wanted to care for the baby, whom she named Dorothy, so
she tended it herself, getting up nights to give her a bottle.
The child took a lot of her time and she admits wondering at
times if Satan might not have placed it in her keeping to hinder
her in doing the Lord's work. But God assured her that this, too, was His work and when
later other children were brought to her she turned not one away. She cared for them,
cooked for them and worked to help raise the food to feed them in addition to her work ad
the Choma Compound school.
Here's a letter from Claudie which was sent to her sister, Mrs.
Amy Rolfe, in 1942, just two years after the orphanage came into being.
"Greetings from Africa: These lines will let you know that, as
God sent the birds to carry food to Elijah, thus has the airplane sailed over the
blue sea and brought to His band of little ones the gracious offering of $75 from His
children in the USA.
"May God, who is abundantly able, restore it four-fold in
blessings. We receive the offering from His bountiful hand who has never failed one
of His own. Our band here at the mission is made up of 20 besides myself. Recently,
another motherless baby girl came to live with us. We call her Joann. She is about 10
months old now. Bobby was two years old in September. The others are in school except
Joshua who is working on buildings. We will close school Friday for Christmas holidays.
The seasons here are somewhat the same except for the rainy season - and then no
rain. The flowers are blooming and the gardens starting, so we will not expect
snow-covered pines and cedars as at home. Here it gets rather cold in June and July.
"Will you please thank all my good friends who had a
share in the offering as well as yourself? I have pinned the papers of names
together and I have them hanging by my bed so I can study the names when I rest.
"The teacher started clapping his hands upon receipt of
the letter and began to wipe the tears. He stopped, rather excited, and asked what
news the letter contained and why I wasn't rejoicing. I told him there was more than one
way in which to rejoice. Now you have helped to lift a big load. Naturally, it
takes food for my band. I purchased 34 bags of corn and one of beans for the
children. I hope this will tide us across until the food comes again. We plowed and
planted some, but the dry, hot spell burned up almost everything. It is
raining again and we have replanted. Bess, the dog, is the best hunter I think I
ever saw, and the little boys are constantly bringing in something for their food.
"Milk is a bit scarce for the babies at present, but a
baby calf was born Sunday and we hope to soon have a milk supply. The cow belongs to the
father of one of our school boys, but he has let us have her for a long time.
"Thus our God supplies. Now if we were to ask for
anything more, it would be that you pray for us as missionaries. Surely, we need
your prayers as do the people whom we are trying to help..."
I have before me another of Claudie's letters in which she
writes:
"I hear all the folks along Cyrus Creek way have gas and
electricity now. Very convenient and quite a change from the old days. I am glad for them.
I am in the land of wheeling wood on the wheelbarrow, but we have a good wood-burning
stove which cooks well. Right now, I have a big pot of beans on the fire for my African
orphans. They are almost done. I've been telling stories to the children while the beans
cooked. Now they are playing nicely as I write this letter."
My husband, who is a nephew of Claudie's, especially treasures
this last letter. He says it causes his mind to span
the ocean and that, in his imagination, he can see his Aunt Candy telling stories to the
cluster of small black children while the huge pot of beans bubbles away on the stove.
Just as she used to tell stories to him and his brothers and sisters in his family's
kitchen on Tom's Creek, just over the ridge from Cyrus Creek.
He wonders if those kids listen entranced to his Aunt Candy as he
once did. He feels that they must do so, for the hearts of small boys are fundamentally
the same the world over, regardless of the color of their skins.
Now that she is almost 70, a lot of people think that Claudie
should come home and spend her remaining years with relatives and friends. I can
understand why she doesn't. She wrote a few years back about clipping these words from a
paper and pinning them on her wall where she could see them often:
"Pay as little attention to discouragement as possible.
Plough ahead as a steamer does, rough or smooth, rain or shine. To carry your
cargo and make your port is your point."
Postscript:
Claudie Peyton died in Africa in 1984 and was buried there. But so much more happened to her that's not included in this story. For example, before she died, Zambian President Kenneth Kaunda presented Aunt Candy The Order of Distinguished Service on Oct. 26, 1982. She was one of the few white Americans to get this award. She was given it because she adopted her orphans. Few other white missionaries, if any, ever did that.
