What was your mom like when you were a child?

 Mother was the smartest and wisest mother anyone could have had as a child. I was raised in a Christian home. My parents always went to church and Billy and I were carried with them. As a small child maybe two, we attended Hamilton First Baptist Church every time the church doors were open. Daddy was a deacon and Mother helped start Sunbeams, GAs and RAs. Of course men of the church taught RAs. Mother had not taken a lead in things to that point. She, was at that time, very shy. She said she was not capable of leading but was a good follower. She WAS a wonderful leader once she began leading. Maybe the thought that she was ‘worthy’ through Christ helped in that, I don’t know. Her work experience later on certainly didn’t leave her room of being incompetent. Plus, Vacation Bible School and Women’s Missionary Union at church with God’s help surely inspired her to work in leadership as she grew in the Lord. Every move we made, our first Sunday, we were in church. Bigby Baptist out from Amory, Mississippi, then Hatley Baptist on another side of Amory. Daddy was a true spiritual leader as was his Daddy. I don’t recall in my 13th year back in Alabama whether my parents attended when I went to First Baptist in Tuscaloosa. But they sure went to Gordo First Baptist and when they moved back to Tuscaloosa, were members and workers in Temple Baptist as long as Daddy lived and until Mother had remarried. She went with my step-dad Dock West to Forest Lake Methodist. They moved to Birmingham and went to a Methodist church with my step-sister and her husband, Norma and Don Echols. When she moved to Center Point, she joined First Baptist Center Point with Thomas and me. Thomas and I moved to Cullman in 2005 and she of course, moved with us. He died one month later and she and I moved our church membership to Bethlehem East in Hanceville where Thomas is buried. About 18 months later, we moved our membership to Good Hope Baptist where mine remains today (2022).

She was so talented with sewing and kept me dressed in beautiful clothes; mostly made with feed sacks but so pretty. She took guaner sacks when I was about eight and made chenille out of them. She made both me and my best friend house coats out of these and we thought we were really in style. Our sheets were also made of four guaner sacks and we used ‘bath clothes’ made from the material. We had dishtowels that were made from flour sacks. She had a treadle sewing machine and I would sometimes sit behind it and make it sew.

Mother taught me to sew when I was seven years old. My first garment was a skirt to wear over my sun suits when I was going to my Pa and Ma’s house.

When I was in first grade, I was a bridesmaid in a Tom Thumb Wedding at school. I had to have my very first formal gown. Mother made mine from curtain ‘screen’ which was a shear fabric and inexpensive. She made a pink floral under dress to wear under it and trimmed the dress in pink ribbon. It may have been the cheapest gown in the wedding, but it out shown some of the others. I still have that gown. When I joined FHA (Future Homemakers of America), there was an ‘initiation’ and we had to dress for school in whatever attire we were assigned by the officers of FHA. I was to wear a dress made of burlap which is very rough. Mother made me an adorable pinafore of burlap which was, of course, brown and a green and brown print to go under it. The officers did not like that I had come to school cute instead of tacky. Just another of Mother’s wonderful designer originals from a happy memory. For my senior pictures, she made me three of the most beautiful dress I have ever had. I won’t ever forget her efforts to make sure I fit in where ever we lived. I’ve told about the doll Mother redressed each Christmas so, if you recall, her unselfishness and talent were both exampled in that story; how she would take her wedding night neglege and made the doll an outfit for my Christmas one year. She made all my clothes which I also told in an earlier story. I am so thankful to Mother passing along the desire and knowledge of sewing to me. My daughters both sew and maybe one day a great grandchild will have the same passion.

Mother was strict. When I misbehaved, she would tell me to get a switch. I would run to town to my Daddy’s store. About halfway to town was the city graveyard where she sat on tombstone to wait for Daddy to get there with him holding his pants up while hitting me with his belt (now that was really hard licks when he might lose his pants!). She would follow me home and after two or three years of this, she decided to use psychology (not that we had ever heard the word much less knew what it meant). She stood me in a corner where the front door and the bedroom door would meet, making a triangle – dark – for me to stand for two hours. Now, if that sounds bad, let me finish. I had my nose in a circle on the wall and my feet spread as far apart as possible with each foot on a brick. Great Grandma Crow was there and after an hour of pleading, she persuaded Mother to let me sit the other hour. BUT Mother made me sit with my back against the wall and my feet still spread as far apart as possible in my dark corner. I NEVER ran from my Mother again!!

Mother worked all my life. When Billy and I were young, we were ‘kept’ by my favorite Aunt. Uncle Victor and Aunt Exar were younger than my parents but they had lived with Ma Sanderson after they married and their Daughter Jean was my very best friend. They were more my grandparents than Uncle and Aunt. After he was drafted, she and Jean moved to town and looked after Jimmy Wayne (another first cousin), Billy Joe and me. Mother worked in the Yellow Front with Daddy until he was drafted and someone else was manager. She was staying home with us when we weren’t in school. One day, she got a message asking if she could come help in a dry good store, Shotts and Summerford. She thought it was just for that day and went to town to their store. She worked that day and at quitting time, she expected to be paid. They said payday was Friday and she said, “Oh, do you want me to come for it on Friday”, to which they replied, “We thought you understood we wanted you to come work all the time”. She worked everywhere we lived after that. We moved to Mississippi and she worked in a general store. We moved to Tuscaloosa, Alabama and she worked at Belk Hudson’s which is now just Belk’s. Soon, one of the leading store in town, approached her to work for them at higher wages. Billy and I were in high and junior by that time and she stayed with Raymon’s after we moved to Gordo, riding the train to work and back each day. Not long after I married, she went to work at Bryce Hospital, Alabama’s home for the mentally ill. She worked in the marking room and bought clothes for the patients who were wards of the State. She would measure the patients and go to the stores and shop. Her experience in working retail in Tuscaloosa came in handy because she knew the ‘bargain basements’ in town and saved the State money.

When I was 16 and needed a formal for the Junior/Senior Prom at Gordo High, she took me to Brown’s Bargain Basement and we found the perfect gown, a beautiful royal blue gown. That was some months before the prom and we hung it in the wardrobe until needed. When we got it out just before the prom, it had faded in to horrible blobs of purple and lavender. We drive (by that time, we had a good car) to Tuscaloosa back to Brown’s. The manager was so wonderful. I found a white gown and he let us have it very inexpensively. So, I had a lovely white gown for the prom my junior year and .... my horrible gown from junior year had turned to a lovely purple and lavender for the senior prom. I still have both those gowns.

Since we did not always live where we could have pigs, etc. we mostly had vegetables for our meals. Of course when we had guests, we might have fried chicken at breakfast or pork chops if we could afford them for either meal. She made Kool Aid for us and Billy and I drank a LOT of milk growing us. Our milk came from the grocery store unless we had a neighbor with a cow who sold milk to us. We bought eggs from neighbors or in town. We left a good garden for Clora and G. when we sold out at Hamilton and again when we left Mississippi. Daddy grew what he could after we moved to Gordo and they had a really big garden after I married and they lived in Mr. George Zeanah’s house. He grew hogs and sold those he did not have butchered for their use. They did not have a freezer at that time so the meat was stored at a local rental freezer. After he and Mother moved back to Tuscaloosa, they had a garden at both houses they bought. He had to have a raised bed garden at the last house he lived in.

Mother was alone for five years and on what would have been Daddy’s 71st birthday, I went to Tuscaloosa to spend the day with her. As I entered the house, she said, “You can’t stay late. I have a date this afternoon.” A friend of my parents for years back with whom she had lost contact had called and asked her to go out with him that afternoon. Dock was older than mother and he had to be home before dark. That was in January and they married the first of May. She sold her house and Billy and Valeria came to help us go through Mother’s things and discard whatever we could. She moved into Dock’s home and later they moved into a new house. Eventually, they moved to Birmingham and she continued in the condo after he died until she moved closer to me in Center Point.

I know the question for my answer was what was mother like as a child BUT after Thomas died, she was with me nearly four more years. What a time we had! She helped with the chores and at night we watched television together for a while. The best thing ever was our visiting time when we talked like two teenagers. Nobody listening to us would have known she was 90 until 94. Every day she had her time with God when she studied her Bible and prayed. She was an avid reader and read books by the dozen.

Her eyesight was good but she had decreased hearing with hearing aids. Her health was excellent after she came to live with us and remained so until she fell and broke her hip. She had been on oxygen for a good while but quit using it and quit taking nebulizer treatments for asthma. Her strongest medication was a regular strength Tylenol. When she had surgery to replace her hip, she was given morphine and it apparently affected her heart. It quit beating on Sunday night

What were my favorite toys as a child?

 First let me say we did not have many toys as children. We played games outside in the woods or yards. We played board games inside in bad weather or in the evening until bedtime.

Santa brought us one toy at Christmas. I got the same doll for several Christmases. Mother would re-paint her head (no hair) and face, make new clothes for her and sometimes a bassinet and I was as happy as could be. Her eyes opened and closed and she said “Mama” when she was turned over. She is still in the family. One Christmas, Mother took her wedding night negligée and made my doll an outfit. WOW. That was a beautiful doll that year!

I got a doll that ’wet’ another time. It was rubber and the next summer, it melted.

Daddy managed a store in town and at Christmas, he had a window dressing that included a dancing doll. She got broken during that time and after Christmas, the company did not want to keep her and Daddy got it for me. That was my “Mama” doll since she was missing an arm.

We got cap guns (I had an older brother) and cowboy hats, etc. too. I was a tomboy when I was young. We played cowboy and Indian, Jane and Tarzan (in the woods) where we had vines we would swing on. There were small trees (saplings) that we would bend over and ride the tree until it was permanently that way. When I see a bent tree in the woods now, I think the kids of long ago rode that tree when it was young.

BUT, back to your question, “What were my favorite toys as a kid?” Would a board game be considered a toy? We played Monopoly a great deal of the time. The Walker and Jeffers neighbor children were good friends and we were allowed on non-school nights to play at one of the homes until past bed time. It was a good way to spend a while with friends.

Or, we played checkers, or dominoes. Back then, just having a game of Jacks or Ante Over, Red Rover, drop the handkerchief was fun. We learned to make take a long piece of string and make a cross in the length and ‘saw’ the string. One of our parents would take an empty thread spool, pull a rubber band through with a broken crayon to hold one end and put stick in the other end. We would wind up the stick and it would propel the spool across the floor.

I’m uncertain if I have answered your question or not. Life in the 1940s and ‘50s was good. We were about as poor or rich as everyone else and we did not consider ourselves different. We had chores and did small jobs for neighbors earning a little money. My mother and Billy picked a lot of cotton but I was not good at that. I did do enough to know it will tear your hands up. Billy got a job at 12 and I went to work at 14. I worked 12 hours every Saturday until I was 16. Then, I worked 15 hours for $5.00. It was a very different time.

Children today have too much “Stuff”. They don’t know what fun it is to use your imagination. It’s sad. I am so thankful that my grandchildren were involved in extracurricular activities at school. They were involved in worship of Jesus Christ. They are raising their children to know what chores are and how to take responsibility for their actions. It is good that other parents take responsibility for the proper raising of their children. So many now have no idea how to raise a child. Sad.

What was your first Big Trip?

Every trip I ever as a child was big to me. Getting from one place to another was either on foot, by bus or in someone else’s vehicle. We didn’t have a car until I was ten.

When we went to Pa & Ma Davis’, we caught a Greyhound Bus after Daddy closed the store he managed on Saturday night (Yellow Front Store in Hamilton, Alabama). We would get off the bus at Ergap which is now Guwin, Alabama. We walked from there to their house which was some distance. Daddy would carry Billy Joe and Mother would carry me when we were small and tired. When we arrived, Pa and Ma were always waiting up for us and Ma had left cornbread in the warming oven of the wood stove so it would still be warm. She knew about what time we would get there so Pa would have brought in sweet milk for Mother, Billy, and me and butter milk for Daddy to have bread and milk before going to bed. The following morning, we were up and off to church at Zion Missionary Baptist church out from Winfield. Pa had two mares that pulled the farm wagon and we all rode in the wagon to church where we were met warmly and enjoyed singing and preaching. Mrs. Berryhill played the pump organ and Brother Bobo would preach. It was a long service but nobody was in a hurry to leave afterward. If Brother and Mrs. Bobo were going home with us for dinner, we would ride back in the wagon to get the dinner (prepared before we left for church) on the table before the preacher, and whoever else was coming, arrived. It was customary that certain deacons and their families would go where the preacher went.

Now, dinner was served differently then than now. Now, children each first, back then men, then ladies, then children. That meant that unless Ma had stuck back a chicken leg or pullybone, there might not be a lot for the children to eat. At any rate, we had a wonderful time.

We would go back home Sunday afternoon on the Greyhound Bus. The trips to my grandparents’ home was not a frequent event.

When I was seven and my brother Billy Joe was nine, Daddy took us to Memphis, Tennessee from Hamilton, Alabama to buy Animal Feed for his general store, Pollard and Davis. He went in their big truck and it seemed to take a long time to get there. When we finally arrived at the Feed Supply, the truck ‘broke down’. I’ve no clue what was wrong, just knew we could not go home. We had no money to find a hotel. Daddy met a man at the supply place who only knew Daddy from the supply company but he invited us to spend the night at his home while the truck was being repaired.

So, with an afternoon to ‘waste’, Daddy was able to take us to the zoo! Wow, what a treat. I’m not sure how we got to the zoo, maybe the man loaned us his car? At any rate, we had a good time. That night when the man got off work, he took us to his home to spend the night. His wife had cooked supper and we used an indoor bathroom. Another WOW. We didn’t have that at home. We walked down a path to ‘use’ the toilet and took a bath in a wash pan. I had a bath in a real bathtub. And, the lady had a small house dress that wasn’t too big after she pinned it up in the back for me to sleep in. That night, there was a really BIG explosion nearby. The next morning at breakfast, it was discovered that a gas station had blown up that night when we heard the big bang. It had shaken the house so even I knew it was something big.

We went back home as soon as the repaired truck was loaded and I had acquired a pet; I was going to take a pet pigeon to Hamilton. That was not a normal thing to have in Hamilton. I’m certain that folks in Hamilton were thankful the pigeon pooped on me and I threw it out the window. (I’ve noticed in visiting Hamilton in more recent years that someone else apparently had the same idea that I had and got all the way home with their ‘pet’, the pigeon population exploded. It WASN’T me Folks.)

Are you still friends with any of your friends from high school? How have they changed since then?

 Gordo High School Class of 1956

Quite a long time, you say? Well, now “back in THE day”, we had a whole lot of WHOLESOME fun. As the song goes, we respected and honored GOD, we said the pledge of allegiance to the flag, we had PRAYER in school and we respected teachers, and each other. Our parents were our guides, they were our life. We (or I) thought they could do no wrong. Mother and Daddy were good parents, always providing a home, clothing, food and discipline. They went to church and took us each time there was any service. They supported my brother and me in all our school endeavors.

SO, that gets me down to my school friends. Let me first say that I attended five schools over a 12 year period. Four years at one, two years at the next, one year and one year at the next two and four years at Gordo High School in Gordo, Pickens County, Alabama. And, the first day we moved into Gordo, it was during summer so no school. Oh, my new next door neighbor, Patsy Johnson invited to join the band and immediately was carrying a tenor sax. Oh, what fun the next four years with that group of young folks!

And now getting to the question am I still in touch with any of those friends of long ago? Yes, many of them.

In 1966, Fern Mullinex (Fleming-Cork) organized a class reunion. What fun! So much so that we had one every year for a while, then 5 years and back to every year. I don’t remember who all helped her with that one, but in some future ones, Max Wiginton, Loretta Colvin then Sanders Colvin Fuller, Peggy Hall Junkin, Ravenell Springer Boswell, Gladys Miller Posey helped. In answer to the question, how many more than those mentioned do I stay in touch with?

Class Mates who have died:

Fern Mullinex, Geraldine Porter Griffin, Louis Price, Max Winginton, Earline Griffin, Sam Parker, Ralph Beard, Billy Joe Gay, Ruby Nell Junkin, Joe Lee Goodman, Gerald Homan, Dwight Housel, Fannie McCool Taylor, Albert (Junior) McGee, Joe Pritchett, Rayford Moss.

I talk with Annie Lou Burkhalter Bankston at least one time a week and often more often. How has my friend changed? She and I attended the same church for about 40 years and our children went to the same schools. She is the one who has become my wonderful friend from the early 1950s. She and her husband moved not too long after Thomas and I relocated. (We moved to Cullman from Center Point. Annie Lou (Ann) and James moved to Decatur from Center Point. Thomas went back into the hospital 12 days after we moved into our brand new home and he never came home.) James and Ann moved also into a brand new home and he was diagnosed with dementia. He was recently moved to a Nursing Home due to his health. We share much of our lives and keep in touch when we hear from Gordo.

Others I still see at class reunions:

Loretta Sanders Colvin Fuller lost her first husband and later met a professor at one of the local colleges. She became Mrs. Fuller. She now takes a leading role in keeping the class together and getting us together. What a trooper! She is still a talented musician, playing piano for her church. She is still as beautiful as when she was a girl.

Ola Marie Burkhalter Gibson I still consider as a dear friend and we see each other when we have a reunion. She is no longer married at last meeting. She lives in Ohio and is retired. (Who isn’t at 83?) She had two sons and one died.

Troy Barron and wife, Brenda, attend most of our meetings and still lives in Gordo. He has served in the military, been Gordo’s Police Chief, mayor and served our city and country well.

Holly Dyer still lives in Gordo. His wife was also a dear friend of mine. She died and he is still alone.

Ola Agnes Elmore Barton remains in Gordo. She is also retired.

Peggy Hall Junkin is now helping organize our meetings. She retired from Gordo First National Bank where Fern, Max and my Elmore-Moss cousin worked. Peggy is a good friend.

Faye Hendon McGee and I talked yesterday (1-10-2022). We are researching whether she is really my cousin. My great grandmother Crow was a Hendon and was born in Gordo. Faye Hendon lives in Gordo and we are friends since 1952. Her husband is dead and she lives alone but doesn’t drive. Her children are great helpers to her.

Ravenell Springer Boswell still lives alone. Her sons check in on her often. She is involved in planning our reunions. She remains a beautiful person, physically and her demeanor.

Jerome Hickman and his wife Peggy have invited us to the family venue where receptions, parties, and other events are held. We have met there a few times and been graciously treated by both. Jerome takes pictures and provides the food for those times. Other times, we meet at “Cattle on a Flame” a local restaurant on Gordo. Jerome and Peggy are a sweet couple.

Gladys Miller Posey meets with Ravenell, Loretta & Peggy for lunch when they can. She helps Loretta, Peggy and Ravenell plan our get-to-gathers. She retired from the State having worked at Bryce Hospital.

Mary Dean Goodman Watkins is our entertainer when we gather. She keeps us in stitches with every breath. She lives alone but has children who are in and out ‘all the time’. A grandson brought her to the last meeting so her extended family also see about Grandma.

Frances White Pritchett was married to class mate Joe Pritchett. They spent many years in the military, touring Europe. Frances is a registered nurse and retired from Hospice of West Alabama. When Joe died, he was pastor of a church in or around Tuscaloosa. Following Joe’s death, Frances became pastor of either that church or another in the area. There was a man at the church who was widowed. He and Frances caught each other’s eye and the rest is history. They have been happily married for a few years.

Joe Donald Wood married my former next door neighbor. Kay Johnson. He sold farm equipment. They live in Aliceville. The worship at First Baptist in Aliceville where he is in the choir and serves as a deacon.

Those are the class mates with whom I stay in touch and most, if not all, are retired, grandparents, great-grandparents. Their situations have changed as have mine. Considering that is has been almost 66 years since we thought we were grown, I assume the main changes in that time include finding out we weren’t as “grown-up” as we first thought after our further education, marriage, children, deaths, remarriages, grandchildren and great grandchildren. Life has a way of teaching lessons that aren’t taught in any higher learning facility. The most important lessons anyone can be taught is that Jesus is ALWAYS with us. HE died for us, HE rose again on the 3rd day as was told by profits, HE walked again on earth and then went to Heaven to live until HIS return. BUT HE did not leave us alone. We have the Holy Spirit with us always and Jesus intercedes to God for us. We don’t walk alone through troubles, HE walks with us through troubles.

Some of the lower class friends are those I either babysat with or who have married relatives. It is wonderful to reach out to these and stay in touch.

What were your Grandparents like?

DAVIS:

Hezekiah Davis

Van Davis

Hezekiah Davis

Van Davis married Mary Ann Carson

Robert M. Davis married Letitia Manley

Lilburn Jasper Davis married Sarah Scott. He was born in Toccoa, Georgia. Died about 1919. She was born April 24, 1846 and died January 8, 1900 in Marion County Alabama. Jasper later married Margaret Filippo. I have record of 8 children, my great grandpa was John Jeptha.

John Jeptha Davis was born on September 20, 1867 in Franklin County Georgia. He died on February 27, 1940 in Marion County Alabama. Sarah Catherine Gay was born February 27, 1867 and died November 12, 1949 in Marion County Alabama. They had 12 children, 2 were either stillborn or died shortly after birth, one died at 14 (Rhetta) of pneumonia and John was bit by a cottonmouth snake on his toe and fell on it. They were in a swamp where he and Dave had been fishing. He died before Dave could get Jeptha and his older brother Gus to help. Oh, yes, Dave did kill the snake.

William Abraham Crow was born July 13, 1864 and died July 11, 1944 in Marion County Alabama. He married Julia Rebeka Hendon was born in Gordo, Pickens County Alabama August 13, 1866. She died on May 20, 1953 in Marion County Alabama. They married February 2, 1885.

Mary Jane Savannah Crow was born on April 22, 1886 in Marion County Alabama to William Abraham Crow and Julia Rebeka Hendon Crow. She died on June 9, 1984 in Guin, Marion County Alabama

Dave Anderson Davis was born on May 17, 1889 in Cartersville, Georgia to John Jeptha Davis and Sarah Catherine Gay. He died on March 3, 1975 in Winfield, Marion County Alabama.

From what my daddy, William Jeptha Cornelius (Bill) Davis told me, my grandparents were hard workers as far back as he could remember. He recalled (being their oldest) of going to the ‘mining store’ as a very young boy to get whatever item his Ma needed each day. Pa Davis (Dave) was a miner who had become ill. I don’t know how long they lived in the mining ‘camp’. From there, Pa became (at some point) a share cropper. For those who don’t know the term, he lived on a farm owned by someone else. They furnished a house, barn, etc. along with acreage. Pa farmed the place and whatever he made was split between him and the owner. When I was a child that was his profession. My memories begin at different farms where they lived and where I would spend time with them in the summer.

My time was ALWAYS during summer revival and Pa would hitch up the mares to the wagon and we would go in the morning for preaching and usually go home with whoever was having the visiting preacher to lunch that day. When it was their turn to host the visiting preacher, they all came home with Pa and Ma. The lady of the house always got up early and while the man did chores, she would cook dinner on a wood burning stove and leave it on the table covered with a table cloth. When services were over at the church, everyone who wanted to, came to the host’s home. Men ate first, ladies second and children last. Dishes were washed and put away and the visiting preacher sometimes took a nap on the guest bed while everyone visited. Then, the ones who farmed would go home to do chores (Pa and ma had chores to do, also) and church started again in the evening. Wagons were lined up at the church, horses tied to trees or rails. It was a wonderful week and I recall many friends I made at their church, some I still stay in touch with her after 70 years.

When Pa retired from farming, he and Ma got an apartment in Winfield and Pa got a job as janitor at the Winfield school. What a wonderful mission field for my bold Grandpa. He never saw folks he felt called to witness of our savior that he told them the plan of salvation. He was a wonderful witness for Jesus and God.

After retirement from the school, Pa & Ma Davis were given a house that belonged to them. My Dad’s youngest brother bought them a two bedroom house with an indoor bathroom. Of course when they lived in an apartment while he worked as janitor, they had indoor facilities. But... this was theirs. We enjoyed so many good times there as a family. We had always felt at home wherever they lived. One day while he was mowing one of the doctor’s yards, he was stung by a bee and had a heart attack from the incident and was rushed across the road to the hospital. Not long after he had recovered, he was mowing a nurse’s yard close by the doctor’s home and Pa was stung by a bee. This also resulted in him having his second heart attack. So... he retired again and stayed home. Staying at home was boring. One day we went to their house for a visit and all their shade trees that had lined the drive way were cut down. When Daddy ask what happened, Pa said, I just cannot sit and do nothing’. He was 71 at the time and I thought he was ancient. I’m 83 and I’m young so I guess Pa was young, too.

Ma Davis was also a hard worker. She was the oldest of five children, born about two years before her daddy’s accident that rendered him blind. She was the only one of his children he ever saw. Great grandmother was expecting the second baby when he became blind. He was felling trees and was hit on the head and upon awakening, he never saw again.

Ma (Vanna) took care of her daddy and was his eyes as he worked in the house while Grandma did outside chores. He hitched the horse to the plow and would have plowed could he have seen. When she was 5, Grandpa had a very small plow made for her and she started plowing at that very young age. She stayed with her parents until the other four were married and/or gone from home. At 29, she met Pa and the rest of that is history. She worked like a man and was a wonderful helpmate to Pa. Her life after marriage was hard but the five children who lived were a blessing at least after I was aware of what went on. She had my dad, then Uncle Spurgeon Leonidas, Aunt Julia, Aunt Lavolia, and Uncle Gaston. There was another baby that was stillborn.

Her life is intertwined with Pa’s but she did many things that were not mentioned. She did laundry in a wash pot and wash tubs in water either from a creek or well. She milked cows and canned vegetables that they had grown. Milk was kept in the well bucket lowered into the cold water. Sometimes, she would have a block of ice and put it in the storm cellar by the back door. The cellar was also under the chicken run. The chicken run doubled as a ‘bathroom’ for all females. Men went to the barn across the road. Life was hard, but it was good.

When I was a child, I was not allowed to wear shorts to Ma & Pa’s house without a skirt over the shorts. This was from age five to teenage. I was so proud of my grandparents when my cousin who is 12 years younger than me was majorette at school and Pa & Ma had a large picture of Deb in her Majorette costume hanging on the living room wall. They grew as their grandchildren did and became a supporter of whatever their grandchildren were involved in.

Ma was a good cook, taking whatever they grew or bought and making delicious meals. The very best was when we had ridden the bus to ErGap (later Guwin) and walked to their house which was about a mile. Ma would have left the cornbread from their supper in the warming oven of the wood burning stove and we had bread and milk for supper. Sometimes she would take sausage she had canned and heat it for breakfast. She canned and preserved everything she could. Visiting with them will always bring warm memories.

SANDERSON GRANDPARENTS:

Benjamin Sanderson died in 1757 in Chester County, NC. I don’t have his wife’s name but they had a son named Joseph Sanderson who was born in 1735.

Joseph married Mary and had James Sanderson who was born October 30, 1764. He married Elizabeth Granade, daughter of John and Anna Granade, She was born in 1806 Limestone County, Alabama.

James and Anna Sanderson’s son, John G. Sanderson, was born February 15, 1806 and died October 11, 1830 in Limestone County, Alabama.

John G. Sanderson married Sarah Bell on July 23, 1817. Sarah Bell who was born in Limestone County, Alabama. They had the following children:

James Mattison Sanderson born June 29, 1821. Married Jane K. Harris on October 12, 1842. He died *January 11, 1900.

Daniel C. Sanderson born 1819 in Limestone County, Alabama.

Eliza Sanderson born 1819.

Elizabeth Sanderson was born March 10, 1827. She married Reuben Stephens Belk February 16, 1843.

William K. Sanderson

Jasper Sanderson born October 10, 1830, died September 10, 1898.

Mary Sanderson

James Mattison Sanderson and Jane K. Harris had the following children:

George Luther Sanderson

Mary Ann (Polly) Sanderson

Joseph B. Sanderson 10-17-1844, died February 1, 1865 in Ohio as POW in U. S. Civil War.

Sarah Elizabeth Sanderson 9-29-1849 to 1928 in Lamar County, Alabama

Daniel S. Sanderson 1-1-1846 died February 1, 1865 in Ohio as POW in US Civil War

William Washington Sanderson (Uncle Wash) born 11-11-1847. Died Marion County Alabama.

Nancy Jane Sanderson Born 2-28-1854 died 1934 in Marion County Alabama.

Jasper Newton Sanderson born 5-22-1856, died 3-22-1933 in Marion County Alabama.

Calvin Calhoun Sanderson Born 2-22-1862, died 9-12-1943 Marion County, Alabama.

Ellar Florence Sanderson born 11-13-1865, died 3-10-1907 Marion County, Alabama.

Laura P. Sanderson, 7-30-1858

George Luther Sanderson died when my mother was 16 so he was not in my life at all except by stories told by Mother. He was an excellent mathematician. He had no formal schooling, “cyphered” in his head. He built the home Mother was raised in. It had a ‘dogtrot’ down the middle of the house. There was a large

Bed sitting room on one side with a dining room and kitchen behind that. Earlier, the kitchen was detached from the main house. All bathroom needs were seen to down the path.

Before Pa married Ma, he was married to Talithia Purser who died shortly after giving birth to their ninth baby. Sometime before her death, Ms. Sanderson saw my future grandma at the spring house getting water for the Sanderson School atop the hill from said spring. She mentioned to pa that ‘Tera Gann would make some man a good wife’. Following her death, he courted and married Tera Gann. He had several children still at home. He had a new baby that was sickly. He and Ma --were happy together and there were six more babies. Mother was the thirteenth for Pa and the fourth for Ma.

With so many children, Pa got Marion County to pay for a teacher and he provided a school building for his and the neighboring children. It was Sanderson School and went through what we would call Junior High.

in particular. I was grown before I knew she was my first cousin.

One day, Pa Sanderson went with his brother to buy a car. After Uncle Cal had made his transaction, the salesman ask ‘Mr. George Sanderson’ if he could help him. Pa said well he had picked out the car he wanted. The salesman asked what terms he wanted it on and Pa said “Cash”.

Returning to the spring house, it was still in great condition when I was a small child. He had a cement floor and was sided with wooden slates with a door and it was roofed. The floor had a trench through the center that butter could be kept cool in. At the end of the trench was a fair sized cement box that held milk (sweet and butter) and any other tall jar that needed to be kept cool. There was a dipper on a hook inside the ‘house’ that served whoever came by for a cool drink of water at Pa’s spring. From that box, the water flowed through a cement half-tube to where washing of clothes took place. Ma washed in a black iron wash pot and #3 washtubs. Clothes were spread on bushes unless she had a clothes line. Lastly, the trough went to two large cement boxes where the horses and cows drank.

There was a large barn across the road from the house and close to the barn. There was a smoke house for smoking mean when they killed a hog, beef or deer. The meat was salted and hung on a hook over a slow burning smoke.

We cousins played in the barn and old school building as small children. Since Pa died of congestive heart failure in 1931 and Ma died in 1943 with pancreatic cancer, I was just five when my Uncle Victor and his family lived in the house with Ma until she died and they moved to Hamilton. Uncle Victor had been drafted into the Army.

She and Pa had six children together:

Joseph Martin Sanderson 11-23-1907, died 11-23-1999. Married Anita Powell 9-19-1942.

Elmer Carroll Sanderson 8-1-1911

GANN

William Carrol Gann married Nancy Harbor. They had several children and I only know of Aunt Belle, Aunt Berma and Aunt Etta Myrtle (Ette) and grandma Tera. Aunt Ette was married to Russell Cooper. I don’t remember their other girls spouses; they had families and Uncle Russ and Aunt Ette had nieces and nephews. Two of those great nieces were Jean Sanderson and Janette Davis. On Jean’s 12th and my 11th birthdays, four days apart, Aunt Ette gave each of us a 6” cast iron skillet. I still have mine and have cooked cornbread in it until I was 80 years old. I moved in with my daughter and no longer use all of my cookware. But Aunt Ette was maybe more attentive to Jean and me that made the best memories.

    Tera Gann was born in 1880 in Marion County, Alabama. She died in 1945 in the same area. Her life is intertwined with George Luther Sanderson’s above.