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I Remember

Aunt Naomi’s Story (Part 45)

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There was a swing in the oak tree on the eastside of the house when I was small.  The tree was later cut down and a new one planted.  The peach trees in the yard were always favorites, as well as the fire bush, harvest bells and mom’s beautiful roses.  We ran bare-footed all summer long.  Our feet got real tough.  We stepped on bees a lot, but it never hurt as much as those darn sweat bees!

On the southeast side of the smokehouse was a grove of plum trees.  They were so good.  We played a lot and made play houses there.  It was always cool and shady.  We buried plums in old glass jars pretending it was treasure to find or to eat later, who knows?  They must still be there today.

Uncle Mahlon’s Sory (part 10)

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As children we had several chores but I remembers all work was work and so there was really no chore which was the worst. I does recall how picking tobacco was less than desirable. Picking tobacco was awful because your hands would get so sticky you couldn’t even get your own fist undone. The sap from the tobacco was like glue.

During World War II all young boys went into the service and started smoking. The first year father had a tobacco allotment with no government support. We planted and harvested 12.5 acres which is one thousands hours of labor. The government put a supply price on the tobacco the next year and received five hundred dollar profit off of the tobacco produced. Tobacco was a big portion of our family income. We would dry it in the barn across boards and had to make hot beds. We would go through the forest with a team of horses and make a brush pile. The brush pile would be burned to make heat in order to kill the seeds in early spring. After the brush pile was made and burned off, one tablespoon of seeds were put into a gallon of ashes. This would be mixed up and spread smoothly. We would take the gallon of ashes and line with poles covered in cheesecloth to prevent frost and birds from affecting the tobacco supply.

Uncle Mahlon’s Story (part 9)

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When I was about ten or eleven years old, during World War II,our one family car broke down. We had a 1932 Buick, but because the car had a broken axel we were forced to use a wagon to transport 100 lb sacks of flour, sugar, and smaller bags of oatmeal and cornmeal for five miles. No one was allowed to drive the family car but father, so because of this, mother did not even have a license.

If the cows we raised were not big enough to butcher, they were simply used for milk or to breed and all others went to the feed line. All milking was done by hand and there were never any machines.  Once there were enough cows to butcher this time was called “thrashing.” Twenty to thirty-five people would come together to help butcher.

The family income came from selling milk, five hundred chicks in the early spring and on Friday afternoons meat would be put on ice to take into town and sell. Roasting ears (corn on the cob) or what ever else was in season was also taken into town. I remembers making baskets to sell going house to house by car.

I went to the Oak Grove, Missouri Schoolhouse up until the fifth grade. Then I spent two years in Honey Creek, Missouri, and then one more year in Oak Grove, Missouri.  I graduated salutatorian of my class. There were only two of us.

Aunt Naomi’s Story (Part 42)

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The hill to the south of the house carried the most activity of any.  It was on that side that we would sleigh ride in the winter.  We walked to the spring, crossed the creek and went up the hill a way to pick up hickory nuts for mother’s ice box cookies.  Further to the east on the south hill we had a wondrous junk pile.  All junk (not garbage) was deposited there.  We had fun playing in it. Even further south was a wonderful wild cherry tree.  We picked cherries every summer and this was used to make jelly, juice and even daddy made some wine!

The southeast area was the way we walked to school.  Once we crossed the creek to the south we had a pasture and then woods to walk through.  We had to cross a barb wire fence when we got in the woods, so Mahlon wrapped burlap bags around the barbs so we wouldn’t tear our clothes or scratch ourselves when we crossed.  It was easy to cross if you were with someone.  One person held up the top wire and while you pushed down on the second wire, you had a lot of room to crawl through.  After crossing the “Goetz” creek at the edge of the woods, we had a pasture and then another fence.  This fence was made of 6-inch wire blocks and in order to cross that, Mahlon cut an 18 by 18 inch hole so we could all squeeze through.  There was an incline after that fence and then again pasture.  This was the area where we had to watch for bulls.  When we got through the pasture, it was a short walk through the woods to reach the back yard of the Oak Grove schoolhouse lot.  The entire walk may have been two miles, but I am not sure.

Uncle Mahlon’s Story (part 8)

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At five years old in the Salma’s Place, I can remember our house having linoleum floors and the house needed some renovation. A man came in who was an electrician. He would ask me for help because I was small enough to crawl into small holes. Later we moved to a different house, but the same electrician came back to do more work and I can remember following him around and helping out as needed. This work intrigued me, which led to my interest as an electrician in and out of the service.

One day I was crying and a white, female German Shepard came over and I thought it was stray dog from Jefferson City. So, I went and gathered some food for the dog. The dog stayed around for the next two to three years and I eventually named her Birdie. Birdie was always chasing squirrels, rabbits, and opossums. I often went hunting and was only allocated one bullet per animal and if I ever killed something, I was expected to eat it. I would catch animals in a box trap, bring it home for mother to fix it, and keep the skin. If the animal caught was not optimal for eating such as a opossum (which was very greasy), you would release it. All hamburger ate was a real treat because we had to grind it. One time I had brought home a opossum because I shot it, so in order to make it taste worthwhile mother ground the meat up and I loved it even though it was opossum. I liked to hunt because it put meat on the table.

Things I Remember Fondly… by Aunt Sis (part 7)

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When the depression hit about 1929 the winter was bad and the hens couldn’t lay many egg.  Christmas gifts were only given to the younger members of the family.  Theresa asked what I really wanted.  One thing I said was a ring with a red set.  I got that and a light blue opal necklace also, I felt I was certainly blessed!  Opal my birth stone!  Adolph saw I could make Christmas wreaths out of cedar branches and add red crepe paper bows, he asked me to make more and he took them to market on Saturdays to sell to customers for 25 cents each to buy Christmas gifts for the little ones under 6 years at home.