MY EARLY CHILDHOOD - 2
Now we are moving again. My parents bought a farm not far away and close
to a school named Hickory Grove. The school was only a few hundred yards
from out house. Getting us ready for school was a big job every day. Mother
made all of our clothes, even our coats. One day she said she would but coats
for Beula and me. We went to Macon for them, and we chose pretty red ones,
woolly and soft. Then she ordered tams from Sears Roebuck.
The school was so close that we could come home for lunch, and sometimes
we carried water and feed to our stock then. That sure shortened our play
time. During mother’s last illness she said she had always felt bad
about that, that we had to do it when she knew how much we enjoyed the plat
time.
Broyles and I helped with the milking and separating the milk, feeding the
animals, even cleaning the barn. We helped with the chickens and other chores
we could handle. It was fun to take the separated milk to the young calves
and teach them to drink from a bucket.
Papa and his brothers built us a nice hip-roofed barn. Broyles said, “God
made everything in the world but the barn, and Papa and the uncles built
that.” One day when a lot of relatives had visited us and were ready
to leave Lena said, “Well, now they are all outside talking about us.”
Years later she recollected and said she was probably right then.
Papa loved the thick cream so much that he once made the statement that even
chips — wooden chips from the woodpile — would be good with sugar
and cream on them. Lena got some chips and put them on a dish beside his
plate.
There was more building now on our farm. All this activity was exciting to
us children — a large chicken house, a brooder house, a garage and an
outdoor toilet. And as the children grew larger and the house seemed smaller,
we added a new bedroom for the boys and a large screened-in porch. There
was only a large smokehouse and a small barn when we moved there. The yard
was full of trees. We were back a little way from the main road and had a
wide driveway leading to the house. The railroad was in front of our house
just beyond the road and parallel with it. Lots of trains passed our house
during the day. Beula always counted the cars on the long freight trains.
We had two large gardens and lots of flower beds. We also had a pony and
he was beautiful, but he had a mean streak. If he decided he did not want
us to get on him he would run away and kick up his heals. But we loved him,
and would have fun and good times with him. We also had a billy goat. We
let him run free over the yard, but he too had a mean streak. You had to
watch him closely. He sure had a hard head. And we had a big old rooster
that kept you in your place. I was feeding some baby chicks one day and the
fowl didn’t like that. I was sitting there on the ground playing with
a chick when he came up behind me and jumped on my back leaving me with some
scratches and bleeding. We were careful to stay away from him after that.
Our gardens were lots of work. The soil had to be prepared just right, and
the seeds planted in long, straight rows. It took lots of hoeing and weed
pulling. We also had a strawberry patch, rhubarb, gooseberries, currants,
an orchard and sometimes grew peanuts. Popcorn was a must as we all enjoyed
that so much in winter time. We canned fruits, dried fruit, made hominy and
smoked the meat. Of course we had watermelon and cantaloupes.
Mother also raised lots of chickens. She had a large incubator and a brooder
house. This took long hard hours, but she made money for our schooling. She
bought a new sewing machine of which we were all proud. Wash day was a long
hard time with a family of nine plus the live-in hired hands part of the
time. The water was carried in from the pump and heated in a boiler on the
kitchen stove. The clothes were washed on the washboard. The white clothes
were boiled. The pieces to be ironed were starched. You bought lump starch
and made a paste with cold water. Then while stirring you poured in boiling
water. Sometimes it turned out lumpy. Then it had to be strained. We had
lots of clothes lines. The starched pieces had to be sprinkled after you
brought them in from the line. Then they could be ironed the next day. We
ironed with flat irons heated on the wood stove, hot or cold weather.
Then there was additional work to be done by the men on the rented land.
We had to prepare meals for them and take it to them at noon. I did a lot
of this transporting. Housewives had very little leisure time. All the family
members had their jobs, and we all knew how to work.
***
Now I am 13. It is 1916 and on May 9 we got a baby brother; Leslie Herman
made seven. Herman was for a fine young man, Herman Fisher, a neighbor. Needless
to say, we all enjoyed caring for Leslie.
We did not have many serious things happen to us health wise considering
our large family. But we all had measles, and that was not much fun. My eyes
hurt, my throat was sore, and I was just as miserable as the others were.
Emma Lou also has smallpox. The rest of us were vaccinated. Dad had been
vaccinated for smallpox when he was young. That caused him to be very ill,
and he almost lost his arm. Grandma had smallpox when she was pregnant with
twins. She lost the babies and almost her own life too. Her case was written
up in a medical journal at the time. After all that Papa dreaded vaccinations
for the rest of us. However, we made it fine. But we had sore throats, earaches
and headaches.
Broyles fell on a board with a nail sticking up, and I was very frightened.
We hurried to Mama and she pulled away the board with the nail in his side.
Even though she was a very calm person she was crying throughout the ordeal.
Broyles said, “Don’t cry mother, it doesn’t hurt.” Once
Emma Lou choked badly on a piece of chicken. Papa was able to take care of
that. Lena got part of her thumb cut off while she was playing on a machine.
Millard fell from a hay wagon and broke his arm. Beula fainted easily. Leslie
was very ill with ‘summer complaint’ when he was a baby. Mama and
I would walk with him in the yard when it was so hot in the house.
Millard was very close to me when he was small. He liked being with me and
as he grew up he was very special. For one of my birthdays he walked to the
woods and dug up a lovely wild rose and planted it for me in the yard. It
grew to be a beautiful bush and was always in bloom for my birthday.
I liked ducks and had some white ones. Then Millard got me some mallard ducks.
They too were beautiful.
Since Leslie was the baby we all spoiled him. We always wanted to do things
for him. He didn’t talk as early as the rest of us, but he got everything
he ever wanted without having to talk. He liked for us to read to him. Beula
did a lot of that. When he got big enough he and Millard played like a couple
of cub bears. They were always very close, especially when they were wrestling.
I remember once when I was dating and they were wrestling actively and noisily
on the floor right in front of us at our feet.
We had a nice old horse that we named “Old Matt.” He was so gentle
that any of us could manage him. One New Year’s morning we went out
to the barn to feed him and found the old horse dead, lying in the stall.
Papa had a coat and mittens made from his hide. We thought they were
beautiful.
Leslie would stand up on top of the cellar and hold church service. He sang
and did the preaching. Our family attended a rural church named Belleview
in the neighborhood. I enjoyed the church very much, and joined one Sunday
without telling anyone I was going to do it. When I went up to the alter
the other six followed. Leslie was four, I believe, and some felt that he
was too young to know what he was doing. But we knew he was not.
***
We all enjoyed our school days at Hickory Grove. We always had good teachers.
We had lots of programs and pie and box suppers. The box supper was a complete
meal, and the boxes were decorated beautifully and filled with foods from
our favorite recipes. Prizes were given for the ugliest man and the prettiest
girl. I can’t remember ever winning. Also we would have a cake walk.
Someone would bake a beautiful cake and couples would pay to get in line
and walk in a circle which had numbers. Music was played. When it suddenly
stopped the couple on the lucky number won the cake. The more cakes donated
the more money for the school. The bidding on the pies and boxes would get
pretty exciting when the boys and men were determined to get their girl
friend’s or wife’s pie or box.
Recess was always a great time. We played Dare Base, Kick the Can, jumped
rope, played baseball and others, London Bridge, Drop the Handkerchief, Farmer
in the Dell for smaller children. I can’t remember that we ever had
a real baseball. Ours were made of string that the mothers made, and our
bats were narrow boards. I have to wonder if that is the way Babe Ruth learned
to play. One of the big boys made a nice bat, really just a good paddle but
a good size and no splinters. He said I was a good batter and a good runner
too.
It would not be fair to leave Rover, our little pet dog, out of the school
news. He was a little black dog with a few white spots. He went to school
with us every day and sat just outside on the big porch during the school
hours unless it rained. Then he came just inside the door and sat quietly.
He was always out on the playground with us at recess, enjoying it too.
I am sure some of the others can tell of their experiences at Hickory
Grove. All seven of us attended school there. This was about two miles from
Atlanta just north of us, about a mile from Axtel. Macon was eight miles
south.
While I was in grade school I had two boyfriends, Martin Fisher, who lived
in the first house north of us — just a short distance —
and Corlas McCullough, who lived about a mile south of us. The strange thing
was that the boys didn’t know a thing about it. Corlas worked sone for
my parents. The men always laughed about his promptness to quit whatever
he was doing the moment mealtime was announced. For example, if he was scooping
corn into the crib and had a scoopful half way up, he would drop it back
to the wagon and dash for the house.
Martin had a motorcycle which he wrecked and was injured. His mother
would have me help her sometimes. Martin was upstairs in bed, and she asked
me if I would like to see him. Of course I did. We went upstairs, but I was
too bashful to carry on a conversation with him. But I could talk when I
went back to school. I told the kids ALL about it.
Then there was Melvin Burch. He was older than I, but he was a nice looking
boy and he would walk home with me from the school activities. Papa didn’t
like him and finally told me that if he ever came home with me again he would
shoot him. I don’t know to this day what he had against him.
Hollis Bloomberg was a dashing young man who drove a beautiful team of
horses to a surrey. He brought me home a few times, but I soon found out
that he didn’t have good control of his hands and I stayed away from
him. All the other girls said they would be delighted if he would take them
home. I told them he was all theirs.
I can’t leave Lindell Jones out. He went to our church. He was fat,
quiet and not much fun, I thought. I was really not much interested in dating
at that age I suppose.
We had spelling and arithmetic matches at school and with other schools.
In regular classes we spelled for head marks. I was a very poor speller,
but Beula was very good. She got lots of head marks in her class. I finally
won a match and got a beautifully painted plate which I still have, and I
am very proud of it. Beula was not so good in arithmetic and that was one
of my favorite subjects. I won lots of head marks in it.
Beula and I liked to sing, and we sang duets at church and for programs
at church and school. Grandpa McQuary always wanted us to sing on the radio.
The closest I ever came to performing on the radio was after I was married.
It was 1927 and I finished out the term of the high school music teacher,
Joannah Davidson, when she resigned. She had been getting the orchestra and
the chorus ready for the spring contest at Kirksville. This was the first
year the contest had been on the radio, and it was quite a thrill, my first
time to conduct in a contest and my first time to be on the air.
Grandpa McQuary gave me a song book which I still have. It has lovely old
hymns.
When I graduated from the eighth grade we went to Macon for our final
examinations. This was given in the courthouse, and Mr. M. L. Cross, the
county superintendent of schools, was in charge. There graduation exercises
were held there also. Mother had made me a beautiful white dress for graduation.
I didn’t feel very good when I got up that morning, but I was sure not
going to tell anyone. I helped with the milking and other chores. When I
got back to the house I nearly fainted, so I laid on the steps for a while
and no one knew. I did make it through the day, but it was not very enjoyable.
We could take teachers’ exams after graduation from grade school.
Papa wanted me to take the exams, so, of course, I did. Believe it or not
I passed. Papa said I was too young to teach and that I should go on to high
school. He just wanted me to take the exams to see if I had learned anything.
I went to Atlanta High School. It was a great four years. I will put in some
of my experiences in high school later.
I promise that I will get this better organized. But now I want to go
back to some of my grade school experiences.
We did lots of memory work, which I really liked; long poems by Longfellow,
the Children’s Hour, Hiawatha and so many others. Sometimes the teacher
would let two of us go outside behind the school house and say the poems
to each other. One day the teacher was giving out spelling words, and they
were the wrong ones. We were writing them, but I knew they were the wrong
ones. I got out my speller to check. The teacher saw me and called it cheating.
She made me stay in at play time.
I remember that some of the children had head lice, and that we were
told to stay away from them. Maybe the parents didn’t even know how
to get rid of lice or maybe they didn’t care. These same children also
had bad sores.
There were no lunch rooms in the schools, so we took our lunches. Sometimes
we were hungry by recess, and we would eat some of our food then. Mama found
out about that, and she began putting in extra food for a snack. We thought
we were hungry because others were eating at recess. We never ate between
meals at home. Our evening meal — we called it supper — was always
late as Dad worked late. We did the chores when we got home from school after
we had changed into our work clothes. After the meal there were dishes to
wash. There also was the stock to feed, and the chickens’ eggs to get.
We tried to have all this done when Papa and the hands got home. The big
dining room table was cleared, the Coleman lamp lighted and we got busy on
our homework, Mama was the leader and helped with everything. Then we played
cards, Old Maid, Rook, Checkers. Dominoes, etc. We popped corn. We grew our
own popcorn, and we had peanuts.
***
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