No not the song, the movie, or the magazine! GQ meaning Gypsy Queen which leaves a cloud of mystery. You might be thinking fortune-teller or traveling carnival worker. Stereotypes and imaginations run wild, but this group of people are as American as they come. With a rich European history this group of immigrants have many unique traditions and practices.
The gypsies, who you know are nomads would travel all around rural areas all year long. I have no idea what ethnic group our gypsies were, my grandmother always said they drove wagons and lots of colors, which would lead you to believe they were Eastern European. Most people here were distrustful and scared of them, of course I am sure they would steal vegetables and chickens if they could, times were hard. Adults used them to scare small children to make them behave, me for one, my grandmother loved to tell me they were camped just over the hill and were waiting specifically for me, of course we lived not far from the Knox Place so my grandparents had seen them all their lives.
This story is about Mary Brewer.
Unusual Happenings from Lavonia Gem of the Piedmont, compiled by the late Marie Haley Williams in 1977, reports this incident:
A Gypsy died in a gypsy camp near Knox Bridge on August 17, 1908, and was buried in Burgess Cemetery. She was born in England almost a hundred years ago. . .and had been in USA almost 50 years. For many years thereafter when a number of her clan died, the remains were brought to Lavonia for burial to be near their Gypsy Queen. Many times the clan would take a week in arriving for the burial of one of their members. The last group to gather was in town for almost a week, arriving in limousines with leopard skin upholstery and diamonds galore.
Apparently, the last of the Queen's Clan was laid to rest as there have been no more pilgrimages since the 1930's.