After Margie graduated from high school, she went to Jefferson City and worked at the Jefferson City News Tribune. The younger children all went to Oak Grove School except when they went to Honey Creek for confirmation instruction. In addition to farming the Stressnor place, we rented lots of land from John Hale. One time John Hale’s wife was sick and I had to get a doctor back there and spend the night upstairs. She screamed most of the night.
One time I planned to plow corn on the ridge field, but I had other things to do and I didn’t get ready to leave until 11:00 am and I debated if it was worthwhile going up there at 11:00 am, but I went anyway. When I got over the hill, and could see John Hale in the field, he had three horses hitched to a disc. He planned to head home for lunch and he turned the team toward home. He miss-stepped and got his leg under the disc. There was no way he could get out by himself. He called me over and I got a fence post and pried the disc up high enough that he could get leg out.
That summer when I cut his wheat, one of his wife’s nieces who was 14 was helping her and at the table at the noon meal, John’s wife asked me to marry her niece. I suppose that wasn’t too far-fetched, because Franklin Long told me one time while I was hauling wood for him that his mother, wife and daughter all married at age 14.
Lloyd Jr. says
I wonder if Franklin Long’s mother was a Great Grandmother at 45?
Aunt Lolly says
Vernon had so many parents wanting him to marry their daughters! It is amazing! He was telling about some man in Japan who ask him to marry his daughter! They were smart parents, to know a good guy when they seen him.
Naomi Vetter says
I don’t know what to say……….