The Life and Times of Joe Whitehead

by

William Edward "Billy" Whitehead

There was a man who lived in the Whitehead community of north Alabama near Florence and Rogersville, Alabama. This man was Joshua Whitehead, son of Archibald and Nancy Whitehead. At the age of about 15 Joshua traveled to Winfield Alabama. Whether because of family there or of the rumor of war in Texas perhaps his feet began to itch and walking was the only relief for that itch, and that maybe he had no horse no other transportation so he set off to the west likely headed to Texas. It is said that he hung a note on his sisters door, “Gone to Texas.” When he reached Winston County Mississippi in the Ellison Ridge Community his travel was stopped due to flooded creeks. Joshua decided to stay until water receded. He hired himself out to James Avery for the time he would be there. A problem came up with his travel in that Mr. Avery’s daughter caught his eye. He married her and in time he set up a farm in the Claytown community where he raised his family of which there were children of Sara, his first wife and Mary Kemp, his third wife one of which was Charles Weaver Whitehead.

Charlie Weds

Charlie was to marry Ira Bell Womble. They had three children, Charlie Benford, Lottie Bell and Joe Weaver. Charlie and his brother, Crombie are said to have made a pact to name their son’s after themselves, hence, Charles Benford and Joe Weaver.

These three children were somewhat jokesters as were their parents. There is the story of Ben throwing a rock at Lottie while she was in the hayloft in order to keep her from coming down. As a result she came down from the hayloft with a broken nose.

Charlie was a farm worker. In 1921, while working for Jimmie T. Ingram he became sick. He went to Dr. Klem Kirk. Dr. Kirk told him that he had appendicitis and would have to operate. Now, Charlie remembered that this procedure was a new idea and many people had died from the cure. Charlie decided to chance the illness rather than the operation. He died on January 14, 1921. He was buried in the Whitehead Cemetery in the Claytown Community of Winston County.
The Whitehead Cemetery was started when Joshua’s daughter died. He could not get to the Ellison Ridge Cemetery so he chose the highest ground on his property and buried her there. There is a great number of the Whitehead Family there. Joshua’s grave is there marked with some sandstones and a later headstone. Charlie lies near his mother, Mary Kemp Whitehead, Joshua’s last wife.

In March after Charlie’s death Joe Weaver Whitehead was born.

Ira Bell married Vester Stokes around 1925 when Joe was five years old.

There is the story of how she once dressed up like an old man who wondered the country. Some of her daughters sat on the roadside playing and talking. They saw this image coming toward them. Thinking of the old man they sat there watching. When she was close she screamed at them, scaring them then she started laughing at her joke.

Joe’s Childhood

About Joe’s teen years he took to hunting at night. Of course the game was Raccoon and Opossum as well as some other game, fair game or not as this game was food for the table. His Saturday night hunts were all-nighters; coming in at mid Sunday morning, he usually had dinner ready when the others came home from church. One particular Sunday the preacher came home with them for Sunday Dinner which, was ready and piping hot. As the meal was consumed comments went around praising the delicious roast. Someone finally asked what was it, pork? Now, all the family knew that no hog had been killed recently and this was obviously fresh meat and, “Joe has been coon hunting last night!!” However it was too late into the meal as most of the meat had been eaten.

Joe wondered the hills of the Claytown community and surrounding forest hunting and becoming known as hunter and fisherman to all, although he would readily admit that Ben could out-fish him anytime. He said many times that Ben could fish a well knowing full-well that there was not one fish in it.

Once as a young boy he was sitting at the table with the family with the preacher who had come home for dinner. The preacher kept asking for biscuits. The plate of biscuits happened to be near Joe threw two to the preacher and said, “There, stay at home a while.”

As youngsters in rural Mississippi in the 1930’s work on the farm was the usual day but in the evening one found something to do. One evening Lottie, Ben and Joe went to a movie that someone had set up in a tent. After the movie was over they walked to the closer one of the group’s home then to the next. Vardie Stokes was sweet on Aunt Lottie so he was walking close to her, hand in hand close. Ben told dad that he was going to pull a trick on Vardie at the Middleton Cemetery so he was to hold back a little bit and he headed off ahead of the group. When they were close enough to the cemetery dad ask Vardie if he would walk through that cemetery. Of course Vardie could not say no so he agreed to do it.

There was a four strand wire gate from the road into the cemetery. When right in front of the gate Vardie took three steps and jumped over the gate, ONLY, , , as he was half over the gate, Ben stood up from a gravestone with the white tee shirt pulled over his head! !

Sometime in early 1944 Joe went to see his girlfriend’s father, Ervin Kent. He found him in the field and told Mr. Kent that he wanted to marry Gladys. Gladys spoke up and told her dad that she was going to marry Joe so Mr. Kent agreed to the marriage. They went to the home of Mr. J. D. Fulton and were married on February 24, 1944.

On July 24, 1945 I was born followed by another brother, Willie Hugh named for Willie Vester Stokes and Hugh Ponder, then there was Ethel Marie, named for Mom’s best friend and dad’s sister, Dorrotha Dean named for Wilma Dean, dad’s sister. Then there is Anna Jean, named for Aunt Annie but spelled by a d - - n Yankee from Indianapolis. Then along came Martha Lorie, named for aunt Marion Lorie then Myra Nell named for mom’s sister in law.

Army Life

Joe went into the army at Camp Shelby then to Fort Benning, Georgia where he trained for the Bazooka. Before going to Fort Benning he told his sister, Lottie, of his plan to let them know where

He would be sent from there as he expected to be sent to the European theater of war.

Someone received a strange letter that made no sense. As she told about the letter, which asked about Uncle John’s cow, which no one knew of, Lottie asked to see the letter. She wrote down every fifth letter across the page, which spelled out Germany to which she announced, “Joe is going to Germany”.

He wanted to see the family before shipping out to Germany. A soldier was allowed 150 miles for a three day pass and of course Fort Benning was much more than 150 miles but the leave was granted with the warning, “Be back Monday morning.” On Friday evening he began his travel to Mississippi. He was stopped by a military police somewhere along the way. The MP commented that he was somewhat outside the allowed travel to go to Louisville Mississippi. Joe simply told the MP that he had orders to go to Germany. The sympathetic MP told him to be careful and be back Monday morning. He made it home, spent the night and left Sunday for Fort Benning, arriving just in time for roll call.

Upon arriving by ship off the coast of Normandy they waited some time for their assigned task at what became known as the Battle of the Bulge.” Upon landing the biggest of the fighting was over. An Officer came out one day and asked for someone with a military drivers license. Joe had one! He stepped forward and drove the Captain over the battlefields of Northern France to see that things were cleaned up and in order. Later he was the driver for a Major from Louisville.

There was a picture of Joe as he manned a water-cooled machine gun as he stood watch at a bridge over the Rhine River. At some point he was with a unit that went into a cave to route out a German suspected to be the German officer whose last name was Gobale but as it turned out the man was a German spy who was wanted by the US army. He received a commendation metal for that action.

Once he was in the “chow line” for breakfast. For this meal it was not unusual for the men to wear shower shoes. In a nearby line he saw a man with a split big toe. Once while splitting wood, Ben had missed the wood with the ax and hit his toe splitting it down the middle. He crossed to the line and met his brother who he had not known was there in the same post.

Home from the Army Life

I’m not sure who told this story but Aunt Lottie said that it happened. Joe wanted to go to work on the riverboat. He bought a bicycle from the Western Auto store in Louisville and headed out for Greenville. His instructions were to cross the bridge at the edge of town then stop at the first house with a cow in the yard. He rode into Greenville and stopped at the first house with a cow in the yard. He thought there should be a fence around the yard for a cow but here was the cow in front of a house. No one answered the door so he lay down on the porch and went to sleep. Some time later he was awakened by a policeman and a woman who wanted to know who he was. Aunt Lottie heard a commotion outside and went to the door to see what was going on next door. You see, the cow had gotten out and went next door where there was more grass. Joe spent the night then rode his bike down to the river where he hid the bike under the Washington Bridge then caught the riverboat. He worked on this boat for three months. Upon his return he went to Lottie’s. All there encouraged him to go get his bicycle. He thought that would be a waste of time because someone had likely found it during the three months. Finally he went to see if it was there, and it was. He rode it back too Lottie’s home only to get up the next morning to find that someone had stolen it. He always said that it was crazy for it to lay under that bridge for three months and no one get it then someone steals it from the front of the house.

Farmer Joe

After his discharge there was a payment of $600 or $800 upon discharge. Joe had bought a farm and needed tools. He met a man who had decided to cut his losses. He had loaded his tools in a wagon and headed to Louisville to sell them. When Joe met him and asked where he was headed. The man told him he was going to sell the tools and Joe made an offer. The man made an attempt to get more but Joe asked if he thought he would get more in Louisville as there were others selling too. The man said, “D---n you Joe you know I won’t get more.” He got the tools, which were two plows, a planter, a single row fertilizer distributor and a box of hand tools as well as the wagon and mules.

Joe’s farm was behind Carlos and Mr. Davis Miles on an abandoned road from Highway 490 and the Nanih Waiya mound road.

As I remember the house was a wood frame house with two bedrooms, one that was the entry room with a kitchen to the right back door. At first there were no electric lights but somewhere along the way Dad got lights put in. He always told that mom stood on a chair and tried to blow the light out. Many years later that was cleared up and as it turned out “HE” was the one who tried to blow the light out.

There was a barn to the left side with a well out back and an outdoor toilet to the other.

In the fenced lot around the barn dad kept a horse and sometimes a cow, which he had just bought. The cow was kept for a few days to get use to the new place. One day Willie decided for whatever reason to go into the barn lot. When he was about half way across the lot he saw the cow. It was then that he remembered that mom and dad had told us that this cow was bad. He turned and ran for the fence with the cow at his heels. As he fell under the fence the cow was close enough to push him under the fence. He never had to be told twice to stay away from the barn again.

Once dad had some goats that he raised to sell. When they were fat enough to sell he took them to the sale barn in Louisville. The price was down and he worried about getting enough for them. A friend was there who recognized the goats. When the goats came into the ring this friend stood and shouted, “I know them goats. Joe Whitehead raised them on feed and cotton-seed hulls.” They brought top price.

Going Fishing

One day Ben came visiting. As they say around talking and just killing time Ben said, “Joe, let’s go get Log Lake.” Dad had a sack of cotton poison as well as four croaker sacks. The poison was divided into the four sacks the two waded into the water dipping the poison filled sacks. Very soon the fish floated to the top of the water. The two carried as many fish as possible home but neither forgot the dastardly deed. Both often talked of the waste and how the lake had no fish for many years afterward. In 1989 Ben said that fish were now being caught but he did not say how long they had been back in the lake. Even then he felt bad at having caused the lake to die.

Dad raised cotton and corn as I remember. The cotton was sold and corn was, as I remember, was used to feed the cows, pigs and mules.

Once he looked at the cotton field and projected three bails. Mom said there would be five bails. He said that he would split anything over three bails with her. There were five bails. With her part she bought a Singer treadle type sewing machine, and a foldaway bed. I think one of my sisters still has that sewing machine.

Dad told the story about how I went with him to deliver cotton to the gin. He left me at Mr. Tilton Parks store which sat at the intersection of highway 397 and 490, while he waited for the gin to unload him. Mr. Parks forgot I was there. When dad came back to get me they found me in the back room, breaking eggs together. Mr. Parks refused pay for the eggs because he forgot to watch out for me.

Dad bought me a horse who I called Trigger. Someone had trained the horse to lie down so that I could get in the saddle. I remember bouncing up and down when the horse trotted. I felt like Roy Rogers when I rode Trigger.

Around 1950I started to school at the Calhoun School. My teacher was Mrs. Peterson. There was a long table around which all the class sat on a bench along each side. The teacher was at the head of the table. I faced the window. I remember watching a whirlwind that made a dust cloud like a small tornado. There were about ten or twelve of us kids around this table. We needed no second time instructions to behave because we knew who the boss was in Mrs. Peterson’s class. Later after we returned from Indiana two or three years later, Mrs. Peterson was my third grade teacher.

Gone to Hoosier Country

About 1950, dad sold the farm and went to Indianapolis Indiana to work in the Borden’s Milk Factory where they made vaporized milk with the silver cow on the label. Aunt Annie and Uncle John Cavender were already there where Aunt Annie worked for Western Electric making telephone sets.

The first winter I reached out the window and pulled off an icicle about a foot long which mom did not think was so great. It was here that Anna Jean was born. I walked to school, which was about four blocks. During one winter we played between our apartment and another. Sometimes we would play with a large box by getting inside and roll. I suppose we were like a tractor tracks rolling up and down some steps.

Later we moved to a smaller town called Tittleton, which was near the Indianapolis airport. This was a community of row houses converted from a military barracks. The next winter there was snow piled up on the wall to the eave of the house. That year we used a coal-fired heater. The coal was stored in a bin in front of the house. My job was to keep coal in a box near the heater.

Across the street was a retired couple that had the only TV set around. They would let us sit and watch Howdy Doody. I also liked watching the washing machine. It was a front loader, which I had never seen. It looked a lot like the TV set and I tried to figure what kept the water inside because it was up on the glass front. No matter, I thought that was something else.

I went to grammar school in Indianapolis. On the first day dad and I sat in the principals office to sign up for school. While there some boys were brought in for some reason, which I know not. He opened a drawer, which I remember has some pistols in it. I think they were confiscated from students. There was no summer break up there as we have here in Mississippi. Every Monday we carried newspaper to school for recycling. I think each class got money for their paper collected, which was accounted to that class.

One thing I remember very well was when the teacher ask us to write what we had done the past summer. I wrote that my father had built a fence (in Mississippi). I had helped him by “toting” the post to him. This teacher told me that one does not “tote” a post. I told her that I did too. I never got that teacher to understand that I did tote the post.

Back Home To Dixie

Dad said that one day the foreman, Mr. Parker told Dad that he was transferring to Macon Mississippi. Dad told him that he could not go without him. Mr. Parker said he would see what he could do. In a few weeks the transfer for dad came through. Dad bought an Oldsmobile car from Uncle John Cavender. It had an old tag but he headed out for Mississippi. He said that the motor support broke somewhere along the way, I think Tennessee. He found some fence wire along side the highway and stopped for a piece to tie the motor down so that they could make it home.

We moved to a house in Prairie Point. Later we moved into town to a house on North Street. The house was an apartment owned by Mr. G. E. Fraley. The family of Blue Eaves lived on the other side. We moved several times in the next ten years or so but every time we moved back into that same house on one side or the other and even one time we rented the whole house.

This house was a big house with plenty of rooms. The house was about two feet off the ground on the east side and about six feet off the ground on the west side. During the hot summer days we would play under the house where it was cooler. Sometimes we found volcano-like dirt piles. We would poke small sticks into the dirt pile and say, “doodle bug, doodle bug come on up.” Sometimes there would be a small bug appear in the dirt.

Dad worked for the Kraft Cheese factory until his job opened in the coffee factory. When he worked at the coffee plant, there we always had instant coffee. Sometimes he worked until 11:00 at night. After he got off he and Fred Moore would go coon hunting. Fred was a mechanic at Murray’s Chevrolet. Dad would call from the coffee plant to let Fred know that he was off. Once he called and Fred’s wife answered but dad had hung up. She knew who it was and when she saw him the next day she let him have it.

Dad got laid off and later the plant closed. He moved to Sturgis to work in Grandpa Kent’s saw mill. We lived between Sturgis and the Kent house. We had water from a spring under the hill in the woods behind the house. Once Sam, mom’s brother, came over to play cards. Late that night he headed for home along the road. He would not go through the woods so he went around the road which was about 15 minutes longer.

Dad and Clyde cut through the woods to the main road. They hung a sheet on a limb and lit a lantern just as Sam came near. Dad had made a dumb-bull. A dumb-bull was a wood keg with a deer hide stretched and dried to make it tight which became a drum. A hole was made in the middle and a cotton string placed in the hole. Pine resin was used between the fingers to pull the string, which caused the drum to make a sound like a bull or animal bellowing. When they pulled the bull Sam stopped and tried to sic Pluto, his dog, on whatever that was. The trouble was, Pluto was as scared as Sam was. Sam crossed the fence and walked around a house then back to the road promising to come back with a gun. After he left Clyde and dad took all and hurried back home with a big laugh on Sam the next day. Of course Sam said “I knew it was yall all the time.”

There was a time when Dad was laid off. In order to keep food on the table, dad hunted and fished. When needed he would hunt deer at night, which was illegal but he felt that he had to do what he had to do. I never knew him to throw a kill away.

One Friday evening mom’s sister and family came over for the night. Uncle Delyn HAtcher and dad had planned a “night hunt” to get a deer for Saturday. Two others came over so there would one man per window. Dad had set the right headlight hard right. It would shine the field in front and right of the car. They did not have any luck until they were headed back toward home. As they drove there was much talking so they had not realized where they were. Suddenly there were two or three sets of eyes. Someone shot and the deer fell. Jumping out two ran and grabbed the legs just as lights came on around them. They ran to the road - - - - right into a three stranded barbed wire fence! ! Uncle Delyn went head over heels, over the fence and down a six foot bank hitting the bottom of the road ditch head first.

There was a time when Dad worked for the Mississippi State Highway Department. One day he stopped by Levi Hailey’s house to see what the gathering was about. Levi worked for the Game and Fish Commission and there were several game wardens gathered around a truck. In the truck were three of dad’s fish baskets. He knew these were his because he had started using discarded telephone drop wire to anchor the basket to the bank of the river because it looked like a small root. He spoke of the baskets as being illegal to which Mr. Tate White said “Yes, and we will get yours one day because I know that yours are tarred with highway tar.” He never used tar but he used many other disguises to hide his work.

Once he played a joke on Bobby White. Dad made a life size dummy from old pants, shirt and shoes by sewing them together and stuffing it with odds and ends. He placed the dummy on the toilet at the highway crew shop. Now remember that there was a hobo who traveled north in the spring and south in the fall. Bobby was always coming in a few minutes late and heading for the restroom. Redd Reed was the foreman and knew what was up. When Bobby came in Redd said, “Bobby hurry up you have to go to Newton right away.” Bobby said ok and went in the rest room closing the door but running out immediately and excited. He said, “Red, that d…m hobo in there sitting on the on the toilet!”

As it was, there was a man who hitch-hiked to a VA Center in the north during the summer then headed to one in Biloxi Mississippi during the winter.

Perhaps this happened at the same time and maybe not. Once dad put a rubber snake around the steering wheel of a dump truck. Bobby got in the truck and headed out the gate, in a hurry again. As he was between the gateposts he hit the brakes sliding the wheels, and jumped out yelling “JOE COME HERE!”

Dad always had a garden and sometimes he had more than a garden, in fact at one time he had a field about three miles south of Macon. When the vegetables were ready he hitched a wagon with a mule and went to harvest the peas, beans, Watermelons and corn.
The house we lived in had a hall across the west end. There was a kitchen on one side and another on the other side of that hall. The peas and beans were spread out in the hall to keep from souring until we shelled them, and we shelled for a while after school and on the weekends. As we shelled mom and dad canned in fruit jars with a pressure cooker.

Many times they left for work before we got up from bed. We were expected to turn the stove off before we left for school. When one of them got home from work the vegetable filled jars were stored in a closet. I never remember being in want of good food as a result of all this work.

As I have said, Dad was an avid hunter. Mom kept house and had a tendency to move and re-arrange the furniture. After a long night hunting, dad came in well after midnight. He tiptoed to the bed, removed his clothes and dropped to “the bed” or where it was last night!

Once Luther Williams, Slim Ledbetter and dad went hunting at the Allen Bend. Late into the night the dogs were not doing well so they began calling the dogs in. Dad smoked Prince Albert roll your owns and he would kneel and hold his light under his arms and roll a cigarette. Slim and Luther called a few times then Slim decided to shoot a 22 caliber Ruger automatic pistol to make the dogs come in. He had cotton gloves on. As he raised the pistol it went off hitting dad in the head and knocking him out. Of course there was a lot of blood. Luther and Slim picked him up and headed for the truck. Dad came too and told them that they were headed the wrong way. They told him he was not clear because they would be there in a few minutes. He finally got them to go to the river, which was very near, to see which way it was flowing. They saw that he was correct but he had already headed out by himself. They got Dr. Gill up from bed to go the office to sew him up. The bullet had creased the scull along the top just along the scalp.

When dad got home mom ask where they were so long. He told her that he was shot and had been at the doctor’s office. Of course this excited her and she jumped up because she realized at the same time that she smelled medicine.

Slim sold the pistol and would not even talk about the incident for years.

Home at Last

On February 24, 1975 dad went to feed his dogs, which he kept across the railroad on the road to the old city landfill. He became sick and knew that he was having a heart attack. He drove himself to Dr. Gill’s office. He was in Noxubee General Hospital for several days than transferred to the Doster Hospital, in Columbus. He finally was entered into the Veterans Hospital in Jackson. After several months he returned home. He followed the doctor’s orders for his diet and exercise. Finally he said that he had to do a garden in spite of the doctor’s opinion that he should not. He paced himself and did well.

He continued to hunt and fish and loved to spend time with his grandkids, sometimes teaching them to fish. He would go on his walks and might spend time with a friend, just talking.

On November 2 1982 dad wanted to go to Glen Allen to visit his Robert, his half brother who had cancer. After an enjoyable evening he went to Greenville to stay over night with Iva Nell. Sometime after midnight he died of a possible stroke. Iva Nell called me to tell me of what happened. I rode with E. C. Patterson to bring mom home. He was buried beside his mother in the Vernon Assembly of God Cemetery in Winston County.

Dad loved to gather his family around him to talk, cook and eat. A good laugh always came from him. If there were not one he would crack a joke. Perhaps when playing dominos or rook, he would give himself points then “get” caught, just to have a laugh.

On a personal note; I started a garden the following March. I had the garden tilled and ready to plant. I started walking toward the house to check with dad about something. As I walked out the door it suddenly hit me that he was not there and would not return to that house.