Aug. 8, 2004 etc.

Aunt Jane wrote:
A memory--- Today as I was going from Marilyn's room to the boy's room. and the little room between a thought came to me. Martha and I used to play dolls in that little room. My doll was named Baby Dimple, and am not sure what Martha's doll was named. We used to spend hours sitting in that little room and playing dolls. We had school and church for them and would take turns being the teacher or the preacher.

JM

8/19
Aunt Jane wrote:
I haven't been able to think of a lot of old memories, so I decided I would just send them as I think of them, and not burden myself to think of something every night. I really haven't lived such an exciting and interesting life, so it is probably boring after a while.

8/20
Check out Looking back in the Reveille this week.

It brought back memories to me. I can remember going to Pampa, TX when Oby got his Wings. Mr. and Mrs. Easley took me, and it was just before I went off to College. I tried to think how we managed the hotel room, but my memory leaves me.

Emmett wrote:

Marianne, "Gone With the Wind" played at the Paramount Theater in Jackson long before making its way to Port Gibson's Trace Theater. I stood in line 4 hours with ticket in hand to see that movie. The price of that ticket was $1.50.

I saw it again at the Trace, but I don't remember the price of the tickets there.

The Seale-Lily Ice Cream Parlor was next door to the Paramount. With plate glass windows across the entire front, I could see those ice cream sodas, sundaes, banana splits, cones, etc., being served, but I couldn't give up my place in line to get anything. Torture.

I can't watch the whole movie anymore. It hurts my heart too much.

Emmett

Aunt Jane responded:
Emmett, you sound like you loved "Gone With The Wind" as much as Marianne did. Loved your telling about your first time to see it. I can't remember the first time I saw it, but have seen it many times, and love it each time. It is the Picture Show of the Century.

August 10 plus

Aunt Jane wrote:
An experience: Back in 1946 when we were at Mississippi State, Oby had to write a theme every Wednesday in Freshman English. He wrangled and tangled over that theme and I would help him write them. When the end of the semester came he had to do a term paper, and he chose Air Conditioner as his subject, and really got interested in writing it. It was all "above" me so he did it all by himself. He was so proud of it and handed it in and just knew he was going to get an "A" on his paper. When the teacher handed him his paper he said, " This is so far superior to the work you have been handing in all year, that you must have copied it, and I'm going to give you an "F" on this work." Needless to say he was crushed. There is a moral to this story, do your own work and not rely on anyone else's.

jm

Connie wrote:
I love your looking back memories, Aunt Jane and Emmett and everyone else. I guess what I remember most about our summer visits is sitting outside on the porch under the fan playing Hearts. It also seems like I got stung by a yellow jacket on that same porch every year!!!

Aunt Jane wrote:
Connie, I had forgotten about you children playing Hearts on the front porch. That was before A/C and you had to sit on the front porch to get a little relief from the hot summer weather. Did the same yellow jacket sting you every summer?

8/11
Something I remember: We used to have a Commissary at the foot of our driveway. Daddy kept farm supplies and different kinds of groceries, and would let the blacks that worked on the place have supplies and pay for them when they harvested their crops. We had about 25 tenant farmers, and they were what we called "share croppers" on the 1/4 with us. They got a 1/4 and we got 3/4. Each tenant had some land (am not sure how much) and they farmed it, with Daddy furnishing the land, seed and fertilizer. We can tell where the houses were located by the jonquils that come up every spring. One by one the tenants died or moved to town. They all loved us, and were very loyal to us.

8/12
Aunt Jane wrote:
Another memory: Yesterday I wrote about the Commissary, and today is about Under the Commissary. There was a ditch running under the building, and when it rained the ditch filled with lots of water. One day my brother, David, my sister, and I decided to go wading in the ditch. That wouldn't have been too much of a problem, but David had on a borrowed pair of white duck pants. You can imagine how white duck pants and muddy water mixed. Of course all of us were wet and muddy, and when Mother saw us she had a fit. Daddy wasn't home, so she would not let us in the house, because she wanted Daddy to see us as she saw us. Daddy finally came home, and his reaction was similar to Mothers. They decided we would have to eat our supper out in the yard. We had some little puppies and they came to eat with us, and were trying to eat out of our plates. I can just see us now trying to shoo them off. Am not sure how we got all that mud off of us.

JM
Connie wrote:
I will be happy to cut and paste all these Family Memories onto a blog.

Marilyn Lambert wrote:
Great idea, Connie!! I just love it!

Marilyn L.

8/14
Emmett Roan wrote:
Such a good idea. I love history. Did you know that your Grandfather, Mr. David M. Dowdell, had the first mechanical farm machinery in Claiborne County? I read that in the Looking Back column of the Port Gibson paper some years ago. I wish I had clipped that piece.

Emmett

Aunt Jane wrote:
Connie, the Blog is great. Glad you took the bull by the horns and just did it. I didn't know how, and it took you "know how" to get it done. You will have to tell us how to add things to it. Am a still a little confused as to how to add on to it. Am I supposed to keep on doing what I'm doing, and you will put it on the blog, or how will we do that? Marilyn Easley says that they can't get your blog. Glad that Tommy is visiting you this weekend. Tell him hi for us

It is my bed time. Good night.

Lots of love to each of you,

JaneMalc

A memory: Oby, do you remember when you got a fish hook caught in your head? I was in the middle of making a Chocolate Pie for supper, and you came running in with you fishing pole in your hand and told me what had happened. I turned the oven off and proceeded to take you to Dr. Segrest to get the hook our of your head. I was so upset, and told you to get in the car and then I was trying to get the fishing pole in the car, too. Oby calmly said, "Mama, if you cut the fishing line you can leave the fishing pole at home." I immediately went inside and got something to cut the line. I felt so stupid.
JM

Aunt Jane's Peach Cobbler

I have a real easy Peach Cobbler, and will send you the recipe.
PEACH COBBLER

2 cups sliced fresh peaches
2 cups sugar, divided
1 stick oleo or butter
3/4 cup flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 cup milk

Mix peaches with 1 cup sugar and let stand. Put oleo or butter in a 2 quart casserole; place in a 325 degree oven to melt. Combine remaining sugar, flour, baking powder, salt and milk; pour over melted butter. Do not stir; spoon peaches on top of batter. Do not stir. Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour. Serves 5.

This is real good and the batter rises to the top and is kinda crusty, and so good.

Aug. 6, 2004

Aunt Jane wrote:
An experience I remember: Back in the 1930s, before the "new" Hwy. 61 was built, we had a flood from the Bayou Pierre, and Daddy had to go down on the Bayou and drive the cattle off of a "high" place that they were standing on to get out of the flood, and get them away from the river. I got on Pretty Girl, and went to help. I can just see my Daddy with a little new born calf straddling the neck of his horse and carrying that little one to safety, with the mother of the calf swimming right behind him, and the rest of the cattle right behind them. Pretty Girl was over her head in water, and had to swim, too. We rescued all of the cattle and little calves.

JM


8/7/04
A Memory from childhood;

While we were sitting on the Front Porch this afternoon, I was looking through a cookbook, and came across the recipe for Gingerbread. We used to ride the school bus and we would get off the bus at the bottom of the hill, and walk up to the house. Easter always cooked supper for us and some days she would make Gingerbread. We could smell the bread cooking all the way up the hill, and that's when we started running, so we could get a piece of that hot gingerbread. It was sooooo good.

jm

Martha Harpole wrote:
Mom

Your email brought back my memories of coming home and Easter, Gran, or you always had us a snack when we came in.

8/8/04
memory: When I first started to school we didn't have school busses, but rode in a car. There were too many people in the car and we had to sit on the laps of the big children. (There was no such thing as a seat belt.) Everyone would fight over who would hold me because I was the smallest one in the car, so I was the most popular one in the car.

I would no longer be able to hold that classification.

jm

8/9/04
An Instance: All of you know Easter by now. She was our cook, and she only made a Jelly Cake. She didn't make anything else in the form of a dessert. One day she made a Jelly Cake and it fell. Malcolm teased her about it, and it hurt her feelings and she never made another dessert again.

JM

August 4, 2004

Aunt Jane wrote:
Question: What other way did Jane entertain herself?

Answer: On the eastern side of our house we had a pond for the cattle to get water. That pond had an island in the middle of it, and we would ride our horses through the water to get to the island and play on the island. We would play like we were on some South Sea Island, and have the most fun. When we had company out to play, we would always want to take them to the Island. Pretty Girl wouldn't cross over to the island for anyone but me. If anyone else was on her she would lay down in the water, and cause all kind of excitement. That only added to the excitement. No one ever drowned.

JM

Martha Harpole wrote:
Last night I came home from church and Sonny stayed for a meeting. It was about 7:30 pm. Someone banged on my front door. I went to answer it, and a nervous black man was at my door asking for money. He had a deceased family member and needed to bury him. He wanted money to bury him. Needless to say, I did not give him money. He was from Utica. That made me wonder about his motive. I called the funeral home today, and they did not have anyone there who needed burying. Anyway, that made me think about Easter, our cook, telling me about the beggars who came in the 1930’s. I guess this was during the depression. She would tell me the beggars would leave a sign of some sort signaling good places to beg. I always promised her if she came begging that I would give her some food. (She would tease me and say I would ignore her.) End of story—the man left very sad. I had to be persistent to get him to leave.

Martha

August 3, 2004

Aunt Jane wrote:
Easley7, our two stories don't jibe about the clock. I think the clock came straight from Virginia to Port Gibson. We had a letter from Gran's Uncle telling the history of the clock, and that was what I was looking for. The French Revolution was in 1776, along with our Revolution, and lots of Frenchman came to the United States, and brought with them their valuables. After they got here they had to sell their things to get food to eat, and our family in Virginia bought the clock. It came to Gran from Aunt Mamie, who was Gran's mothers sister. Aunt Mamie was married to Uncle Clarence, and the never did have any children. Aunt Mamie use to send us the most exciting Christmas box when we were children. She would go to the Dime Store and buy all these little gifts, wrap each one, and put them in a large box and send them to us. That was the most exciting part of our Christmas during the Depression. When Aunt Mamie died Gran inherited the clock from her, and Uncle Clarence sent the history of the clock with it. We never were sure if Uncle Clarence made up the story or if it is really true. He said there are only two others like it in the world. One is at the Vatican, and the other is the Smithsonian Institute. (This does make a good story, and am not sure if it is true or not.)

Childhood Memory: Connie, am not sure how old you were, but George had not lost any of his baby teeth, yet. George and Oby were playing with a set of golf clubs, and Oby made a swing and came on around and over his shoulder and hit George in the mouth, who was standing behind him and knocked out either one tooth or two teeth. He ran in the house with blood all on his face, and it scared us to death. We always had one or two disasters each summer when Martha would bring her family for a two week visit.

Aug. 2, 2004

from Aunt Jane:

Easley7, was glad to get your letter today giving us the name of the baby in the picture over the mantle in Gran's room. I believe the name should be Martha Elizabeth Johnston instead of Martha Elizabeth Jett. Gran's Mother's maiden name was Johnston, and she married a Jett. I think I'm right. If that is the case, it would be Gran's mother, my grandmother, your great grandmother, and your children's great, great grandmother, and David Coon's children's great, great, great grandmother. I have searched all the "drawers" in Gran's room and living room to try and find the papers on the clock and the ancestors whose pictures are on the mantle, but could not find them. Do any of you children know where they are? Connie, are they in the desk in your living room?

Martha wrote today and suggested that I write on the clock, the bed room furniture, and the pictures on the mantle. Am not sure where the pretty little desk that Aunt Martha has came from. Martha wanted these things in writing for all of you to keep. Will expect all of you tomorrow night for supper.

Marianne, Perth is several miles south of Union Church. We attempted to find it one day when we went to the Union Church Cemetery. As we left the cemetery, I asked Malcolm where we would go if we turned right instead of left when we were coming out of the cemetery. He said we would go to Perth where his parents were living when he was born. We decided to go, but the road had changed and we got on the wrong road and ended up at Fayette. He said that his parents didn't live there very long, and moved to Fayette, where Mr. Malcolm worked as a salesman for Swift and Company. Also, you asked who "delivered" me. Dr. Clark delivered me. Dr. Clark was lecturing my Daddy preparing him to enter the Masonic Lodge. Gran told the two men, "If my husband and my doctor are off studying to be a Mason, and she needed them both when her baby decided to enter this world, she would kill them both." Dr. Clark was there to take care of her. Thank Goodness. Thanks for bringing back the memory of Easter going to Monroe with our family when I was a little girl and stayed with Aunt Malie's cook. We never did convinced her that Neil Armstrong had landed on the moon.

Emmett, how nice that you have the birth announcements to go back to and be able to tell how much Malcolm and Gerald weighed. Also, the comments on the setting hen, and 15 making a setting. Loved about marking the eggs so there were no alien eggs in the group.

Question: Another thing we did as kids to have fun?

Answer: My Daddy raised cattle, and every year they would get the cattle in the barn and separate the calves from their mothers and sell the calves and turn the mothers back out to pasture. We would get up in the hay barn on top of a huge pile of hay and watch the whole show. Every once in a while they would "miss" a calf and they would get out, and would be in next year's batch, quite a bit larger. One year that happened and the large calf broke out again, and as it passed "Book" my Daddy hollowed to Book, "Stop him", and Book jumped on that big animal and tired to "throw" him, but the animal kept running across the pasture with Book on his back. The animal finally threw Book off, and Daddy said he heard Book's leg break as he hit the ground. Book ended up getting his leg broken 13 times, all at different times.

jm

from Marilyn Easley:

David said he is mad at himself because Gran told him the history of the clock, but he doesn't remember it 100%. He does remember that she said that the clock came from a French family who had moved to the United States. They fled France and their posessions became their wealth. They sold items as they needed money. The clock's first home in the U. S. was in Virginia. This is where our family purchased it. It went next to Kentucky, and then to Tennessee (Memphis, I think). >From there it came to Port Gibson, where it has rested for at least 50 years. Gran said that the glass globe was cracked when it was packed between two things, and when the glass got hot and expanded, it cracked. She said it broke granddaddy's heart.

Aug. 1, 2004

from David Coon:

Marianne, I can't remember all the bills in Japan. When you had to buy something off base if the price tag had 100 yen it was about one dollar in US money. Brian could remember more because he spent more time off base.

I remember Book. He walked with a limp and he often would ask Papa for money.

from Aunt Jane:

Marianne, so glad you are enjoying the e-mails. The "envelope" from your Daddy mailed 9-24-43 is a mystery, and you have probably got the correct answer to the whereabouts of the contents. Coon4, thanks for your contribution as to the value of the Japanese money. Marianne, you also asked how long Easter worked for us, which was around 40 years. She and Book came here with Gran and Granddaddy when they moved from Lorman to Port Gibson in 1928. She had been sick several years before she died in 1971.

Martha, you asked where Malcolm and I were born, and you really need to know that. I remember the day Gran died someone asked me who that baby picture was that hangs over the fireplace in the living room. It had always been there, but I had never thought to ask who the baby was. Now we will never know. Malcolm's Mother and Daddy were living in Perth, MS, at the time of Malcolm's birth, but Mrs. Montgomery came to the house that was "home" to her, the house that Aunt Lena was living in when she died, to give birth to Malcolm, and her Mother took care of her until she was able to go back to Perth. I was born below Lorman, MS. I guess Easter took care of Mother. We didn't have any telephones and no close neighbors, so Daddy rang the farm bell, which is in our yard now, to notify everyone around of my birth.

Question: Who broke her arm riding a horse her Daddy had told her not to ride?

Answer: Jane. It must have been in 1939, give or take a few years. My pony, Pretty Girl, had a colt, named Annie. She had not been "broken" and Daddy told me not to ride her. I can't believe I didn't mind Daddy, because I always did, but this time I didn't. Was at my neighbor's house, about one mile from our house, and had gotten off the horse to close the gate. I didn't have a saddle, and when I jumped on the horse, she started running, and as I threw my leg over her back, she cut and I fell over the other side of her. I heard my arm crack, and was afraid to come home and tell Daddy. He was real sweet and took me to Dr. Hays, our dentist who had the only X-ray machine in town. Dr. Hays confirmed it was my shoulder broken, and recommend that we go to Vicksburg to the hospital. Since it was my shoulder, they had to strap it to my chest and I had to wear it that way for 6 weeks. Thus the penalty for not obeying my Daddy.

from Marianne Granier:

Did Gran and MaMa have a doctor to deliver their babies or did they have midwives? Did Easter assist in your delivery? How much did ya'll weigh? I know Dad was a big baby, around 9 or 10 lbs.

I have never heard of Perth, MS, in my life. Where is it & what were MaMa & PaPa doing there?

from Emmett Roan:

Marianne, we have your Dad's birth announcement that MaMa Myrtie gave to your Uncle Bud and Aunt Lena. It states Malcolm, Jr., born on October 30, 1924, weighed 9 pounds.

Gerald was born on November 22, 1928, and weighed 7 pounds.

John, Jr., says that he remembers hearing that his Mother drove up to Peyton and brought Aunt Beulah Sorrels down to assist when your Dad was born. You know Aunt Beulah and Grandmother Clara were sisters. Dr. Barron was most likely there for the event.

And back to the setting hens, my sister reminded me today that our Mother always marked the eggs with a pencil all the way around. Sometimes another hen would get on the nest with the setting hen and lay an egg so alien egg was easily identified. Grace says she thinks 15 eggs made a "setting".

I am enjoying all the stories. Terrific idea, Martha.

July 31, 2004

from Emmett Roan: Chicken eggs hatch in 3 weeks.

from Marianne Granier:

Greetings, Everyone!

The emails have been so much fun! I have printed several to share with James. This is an excellent way for us to document our memories for future generations.

I have one of Dad's letters that he wrote to MaMa & PaPa 'Gomery during WWII. The letter is postmarked Aug. 24, 1943 and the return address is San Diego, CA. I opened it to share the contents with all of you but to my surprise, all that was in the envelope was Japanese money!! There is one "100" bill, two "50" bills, two "10" bills, two "5" bills, and one bill that has printed "Ten Sen". I wonder if they are still in use today. Would not know how to find that out. Anyway, I thought I had a letter to share with you but MaMa must have safely filed it somewhere else as she never discarded her sons' letters!

My memory thought of the day: Our beloved cook was Easter Green. Easter's husband was Elias (a.k.a."Book"). Easter used to go with Gran & Granddaddy to visit Aunt Malie in Monroe and she would stay with Aunt Malie's cook. Easter never did believe that Neal Armstrong actually walked on the moon in 1969; she thought is was a hoax! Easter died in 1971 or 1972. I have the program from her funeral service somewhere. How long did Easter work for us, Mom?

from Aunt Jane:

Thanks, Emmett, on the information on how long it takes an egg to hatch. We will learn through all of this.

David Coon, I can well remember what I was doing on June 10, 1947. That was a day before your Mother was born, and I was busy going to the Doctor. I was supposed to come to Vicksburg to "have" my baby, but I didn't make it and had Martha in Starkville instead. A happy day for all. The first grandchild in our immediate family.

Question: Who was thought to be the richest person in the world back in the late 1930's?

Answer: My Daddy. We had a black man that worked for us named, Book, and he thought that we had barrels of money in our attic. Nothing we would say would convince him that we didn't have any money in our attic.

from Marilyn Lambert:

I, too, just love all the history facts going back and forth among everyone. I like Connie's idea of starting a blog to store all the comments. Mom, it would be just like the one that Connie has for Aunt Martha. It would be a website that everyone could go to to write history facts.

Jane Montgomery July 30, 2004

So glad that you are enjoying all the little bits of history that we can think up. As we were sitting on the front porch this afternoon, I commented that I didn't know what I would tell tonight when I write. Malcolm said he would come up with something, but he isn't here right now, so will have to wait on him.

Emmett, one of the things we were talking about as we sat on the front porch was the Chicken House, and setting hens. That was the way we got "frying sized" chickens, which were delicious, and so much better than the ones we get now. We don't know how long it took the hen to hatch a batch of chickens, do you? When the chickens would get a certain size, Mother would pen them up and feed them and "clean" them out and they were so good. To get to our "outhouse" we had to go through the chicken yard. We had a fighting rooster and it would jump on the children, so someone would have to go with us to protect us.

Malcolm came in and he said for me to ask Jeri to ask Gerald who gave him a pair of Bantam chickens, and the little rooster would fight the big rooster.

Jeri, to address the part of your letter involving Guam, Malcolm had this to say. They arrived at Guam in December 1944 or January 1945. The island had been secured for about a year, but there were still some Japs hiding in the jungle that they had to deal with. He was in the Fleet Marine Force, 5th Amphibious Corp, and they were fully prepared to invade Kyushu, the southern island of Japan when the war ended. Thank the Lord.

Question: What is a Bantam Chicken?

Answer: A very small breed of chicken. Very tiny and would fight.

July 30 from Shirley Easley

Oby and I are loving all of the history everyone is contributing! Keep it coming. I remember in “the old days” my grandparents, who lived out in the country, did not have a television. After supper in the summer, everyone would go outside and sit on the front porch and talk until bedtime. We children would run around in the yard and play and catch lightning bugs. My Grandaddy taught me the sound of the “Bob White,” and I would try to call to them. I always thought they were answering me, but I’m sure they were just answering another bird! I’m so glad all of this nostalgia has been stirred up. It brings back such happy memories.

July 29, 2004 from Emmett Roan

The Town of Pattison did get electricity in the late 1930s, but I don't remember if it was MS Power & Light or REA, which we all had. I remember Noel Barlow setting up a small portable radio on the stage in the auditorium of the old school in September, 1939, so that we could hear Hitler speak. This was probably when Germany invaded Poland. We heard more static than anything, as there was only shortwave transmission at that time.

Highway 61 was paved to Vicksburg in 1938. Mr. John H. Moon was one of the Civil Engineers. On the old road, you would do well to keep your wheels in the ruts. There was too much loose, washed gravel, which would put you into a skid in a flash.

The Japanese captured Guam on December 13, 1941. Malcolm, were you in the liberation force?

Sorry, Oby. Hit the delete key.

July 29, 2004 from Jane Montgomery

Tommy, your Mother never did like horses. She was always afraid of them.

I'm not going to get involved in the age thing. I'll let you settle that. Oby, you had many experiences with our horses. Remember when I had just gotten home from the hospital after having Marianne, and you and Mott were riding horses, and your horse threw you and it knocked you out. Mott ran up the hill and burst in the house and said, "Oby is laying in the road dead". I ended up taking you to the hospital in Vicksburg, and the Doctor sent me home when he found out I had a 10 day old baby. That was something else.

Question: What did we children do for entertainment?

Answer: We would see who could run around the house the fastest. Daddy would sit on the front steps, and say, "Ready, get set, go" and away we would go. Am sorry to say that I didn't come in first many times. Of course, I was the smallest and couldn't run as fast as the others.

<<{{{<<< jm

July 29, 2004 from Oby Easley

I do not appreciate being told I can not participate in the memories of the family e-mails!!!!!!!!!! If there are "those" out there that want to limit it to before 1947. That would mean that I could not add anything because I was not even "BORN" until 1949. Also if you think about it there are a lot of people reading this e-mail that thinks 1947 is a LONGGGGG time ago. Just think that is over a half century ago. So I say "ANYBODY" can add a memory from any year!!! Somebody needs to start a scrap book of all the memories.

oby



What was my horse's name? Flicka , .(I think that is correct, that was a long time ago and my memory is not very good) he was not mean just slow. Perk and Mott could always out run me. I can remember he was hard to catch and I would get Gran (sometimes) and Easter, our cook, to come help me catch him. Gran did not like doing that. In fact I had several horses. I think one was named Blacky.

July 28, 2004 from Jane Montgomery

Emmett, thanks for your comments on our history of things past. Martha said we couldn't report anything after 1947, the year she was born. She said she is just interested in things before 1947. Since all this was your idea, I guess we will have to honor your request. Emmett, Malcolm must be confused about the date they got electricity, and he must have been thinking of when the new Highway 61 was opened between Port Gibson and Vicksburg. (He says your memory is better than his.) We loved your comments, and Malcolm doesn't remember where he heard about Pearl Harbor, but I do. Every Sunday afternoon Daddy used to let Martha and me have the car to go to town and ride around. Of course, we had to go "up the hill" to Chamberlain Hunt Academy, a boy's military school. One of the boys, John Nicholson, came running out and told us. We didn't know where Pearl Harbor was either, but we came back home immediately and told Mother and Daddy. We didn't even have a battery operated radio, so they went down to a neighbor's house to get all the news. That was a sad day for everyone.

Question: What was my Shetland Pony named?

Answer: Pretty Girl, and she was as mean as a snake. She liked me, but didn't like Martha, and one day when Martha turned around to walk off she bit her in the middle of her back. When she "backed" her ears, you better watch out.

jm

July 28, 2004 from Oby Easley

We will start calling the nightly e-mails - Looking back with Jane.



Oby

July 28, 2004 from Oby Easley

I had electricity when I was born ( not as old as some of you).

Oby

July 28, 2004 from Emmett Roan

Such a good idea, Martha. We will look forward to the history comments. My old home was located between Port Gibson and Pattison, and our electricity was turned on in April, 1941. My sister had given me a table model Philco radio for Christmas, which I still have, so I was ready for non-stop listening. Battery powered radios were turned on only in the evenings after supper and the night work completed so that everyone could listen together.

The Roan family's electricity was turned on Sunday, December 7, 1941. David Cleveland had wired the house, and like everyone else, they could hardly wait for this wonderful convenience. It changed our lives.

We had spent Sunday, December 7, 1941, in Jackson so did not hear about Pearl Harbor until we stopped at Watson's Drug Store in Port Gibson on our way home. The Roan family heard the terrible news on their Atwater Kent radio at home. So many of us had no idea where Pearl Harbor was located and had to look it up on the map. We all knew about Hawaii, but did not connect the two at first. Gasoline and sugar were the first things rationed, and the rationing cards were distributed at the old Pattison School. I don't remember how much sugar we were allowed, but my family was issued 4 gallons of gasoline per week.

The first air conditioned store I remember was Liggette's Drug Store on Canal Street in New Orleans on July 4, 1939. I thought I had died and gone to heaven. Such a shock to walk back out on the street. Happy memories.

Emmett

July 27, 2004 from Jane Montgomery

I feel like my nightly news letter is extremely boring, and tonight at the supper table Martha came up with an idea. We got to reminiscing about olden times, and Martha was surprised to learn when we got electricity. We started talking about how it was as we were children, and Martha said that we needed to added a footnote to our nightly news letter about something we remember as children. Just a sentence or two, and make it like a trivia question sometimes, and sometimes just a statement. Will try it out and see what all of you think of it. If it doesn't interest you, just don't read it.

One thing that got us to talking about old times was the fact that we didn't have the A/C on, but it was nice. We said as children we just threw the house open, and tried to "catch a breeze" somewhere to cool off.

p.s. When did Malcolm and Jane's families get electricity?

Answer: Malcolm in 1938, and Jane in 1942. Jane just did get it when we did. Pearl Harbor was on December 7, 1941, and we got electricity in January 1942. If we hadn't gotten it then, we would have had to wait until after World War II, because supplies became scarce and everything went for the "war effort".

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New Blog

My aunt, Jane Montgomery, writes a wonderful email to family members and friends every day. This keeps everyone updated on the happenings in her life. One evening her daughter, Martha Harpole, asked a question about something that happened when Aunt Jane was growing up. Then she suggested that Aunt Jane add a "memory" to each of her daily updates. Since then several other family and friends have sent memories, too. I decided it would be fun to record these in a blog for posterity--and so I can clean out my email without losing any of the memories. Hope you enjoy them as much as we do.

Jane and Malcolm Montgomery live in Port Gibson, Mississippi in the house that my mother and Aunt Jane grew up. Memories come from the following families: Dowdell (Aunt Jane's and mother's maiden name), Easley, Montgomery, Ratliff (and will add any others that come up--married names, etc.)