FAMILY REUNIONS

by
Billy Whitehead

I have always loved family reunions. At a family reunion I know will see some cousins, uncles and aunts I haven’t seen in at least one year and sometimes it may have been three or more years. Then there may be someone I have only heard of but never met.

The first reunion I remember is when we lived near Sturgis where lived for a short time while dad worked with Grandpa Kent at his sawmill. This must have been sometime around 1959 or 1960.

About four or five months before the reunion time, letters were mailed out as to whe and where the reunion was to be held. Some would come from Texas and Mobile Alabama as well as from Tuscaloosa Alabama so notice had to be made for those to prepare for travel.
As the time grew closer dad made large tables with boards brought from the sawmill. The grass was cut short and the house got an extra cleaning.

Dad had a goat that he started feeding in the late fall. I think there was a pig also however I remember the goat best. Both of these would be baked on an open fire the night before.

It seems that the reunion was in March and maybe the last Saturday in March. A day or so before time he killed and dressed the goat and pig. Late Friday evening he started cooking on an open fire.

Usually some of the folk from Mobile would come in on Thursday or Friday afternoon. They were ready to start preparations early Saturday morning. Some others came early to help with preparations. It was a little cool in the early morning so a couple fires was started. Wood was piled to keep it going. Large cloths were put on the tables that were built between two trees. There were two or three tables close together, one for food, one for drinks and deserts and a low one for eating.

A large wash pot was cleaned and set up in order to fry up a batch of fish someone had brought. Several gallons odf peanut oul was made ready. Heating the oil would be a matter of dropping a match head into the oil. If it lit the oil was hot enough to fry fish. THis would take place about 11:00.

As more people arrived so it was time to start talking. Food was placed on tables covered with towels to keep leaves or the eyes of others. Large jugs of tea were placed about and ice was brought from the ice house in Sturgis. At this time the ice was 25 or 50 pounds blocks. A large water barrel was brought in and a block of ice dropped into it. Close by was a water dipper for use to get a drink of water. It was placed in a tub with an ice pick nearby.

By ten o’clock there were a number of cars and trucks with about 50 people sitting around. Kids ran through the yard with cousins who they had not seen in a year or more. Necks were hugged, hands shaken. All remembered the last time they were together then it was time to catch up. Some caught up for the last reunion others from the last they talked.

We must remember that it was not uncommon for most not to have a telephone at home. Letters were more common for communicating with family members. Babies were brought out and lay on a quilt on the ground. Pictures were taken and family introduced. “Have you met my sister?” “This is my mama and daddy.” Or you might hear, “Now who is that with him?” “Is that his new wife?” “Now hush, don’t talk so loud!” But none think of the laughing attracting attention.

If there was a new bride dad would wait until many were standing close then he would slip up behind the unsuspecting lady and grab her and kiss her right in front of all to see. He had already tried this on Aunt Nell but she had been forewarned. When he grabbed her to kiss, she simply planted one right on his lips turning the table on him.

About 12:00 the food has been warmed and placed on the table. Coverings were removed and the call to come close was yelled out. Someone was asked to bless the food. Lines were formed to go by the food table to fill the plate. The older folk sat around tables which were placed around under the trees. Some found a place to sit on the ground while others sat on the tailgate of a pickup truck. Dinner may last for an hour or two because eating wasn’t necessarily why we were there. Of course there was food in abundance. Of course there was dad’s barbecued goat but someone had a ham brought from the smoke-house. Some corn prepared in a special way then there were peas canned from last year or maybe early peas just picked. Pickles were always there. Many times fresh killed rabbit was there or maybe squirrel dumplings. I never remember sliced bread but there would be cornbread or rolls. Then there were deserts and cakes of all kind, pies of any imagination.

Then hidden away from little eyes. . . . well you know what it was. Down the hill from the house was a spring. There was a pump in the spring to pump water to the house however it was cool water so somehow cans of beer happened to be left there. Of course this was kept from mom but I think she knew it was there.

After dinner was somewhat over some would start leaving. Generally these were from Tuscaloosa or Louisville. About three o’clock others would leave but usually there were those who would spend the night with plans to leave on Sunday. As kids we looked forward to this time to play. We would head out to the barn loft where we would pile hay bails to make houses or tunnels. Or we would simply sit up there and talk about nothing. The girls would go to the bedroom to sit in the bed and talk. Late

The Kents lived about a mile from our house so those who would spend the night went to either house for the night. Saturday evening at the Kent house, a card table was set up for a round of rummy. They would play rummy until late. There was arguing over who made the points or how they did not make that point. About 9:00 or so the game was declared a winner and all would leave for the night.

Sometime before nightfall grandma would call us boys to bring in stove-wood. For those who do not know what stove-wood is, I will explain the term. Stove wood should not be confused with fire-wood. Firewood is cut for the fireplace while stove-wood is cut for the cook stove. It is generally cut in shorter length of about 12–18 inches and small enough to grip with the hand. We would place it into a wood-box which was close beside the stove. A few pine kindling pieces were placed on top. In the morning whoever was to cook breakfast would start the fire by lighting the kindling then placing some bits of wood on it. When it was burning larger pieces of firewood was placed in the firebox. A container for water is built on the outside of the firebox. The warm water was for washing the dishes afterward. When the stove is hot enough large skillets of bacon (or fatback), ham and sausage are fried up. Then eggs are cooked up and a skillet of gravy was made. A large put of Lousanne coffee is steaming on the back of the stove. At least two large skillets of biscuits are baking.
When breakfast is ready grandmother Kent loved to yell, “Come and get it!”
The table was home-made table of pine from grand-dad’s sawmill. It was about four feet wide and about ten feet long. The first one had benches on the side. Later straight back chairs were there. Grandpa sat at one end and grandma sat at the other end. The table was filled with breakfast food along with several jars of syrup and preserves. We were free to eat all we wanted but never waste what we got. Coffee was there as was milk fresh from the cow. As we ate, we talked too. Mostly the topic was who we saw and what they were doing. We knew grandpa Kent was through with breakfast when he poured a bit of sugar and poured some milk or water into it. He would mix it a bit then sop it with his last piece of bisquit.

As breakfast was over those who had to drive home began packing. Goodbyes were said and plans for the next visit were promised. We woulkd take out opertunity to say our goodbyes looking forward to the next time we could be together. For some it would be Thanksgiving or Christmas. For others there may be a visit during the summer school hollidays.

The family reunion was then over. Some who attended were not seen again because of the inevitability of life. Others would make visits ever so often. Family ties are made more secure. Remembrances’ are pleasant to think of. A great time is had by all.

We are tired but it is a pleasing tiredness.

Summers in Glen Allen

by

Billy Whitehead

My Grandmother, Ira Bell Womble, was married to Charlie Weaver Whitehead. Charlie died January 14, 1921. They had three children; Lottie Bell, Charles Benford and Joe Weaver. Joe was born March 10 1921 after his father’s death. Ira Bell Whitehead married Willie Vester Stokes about five years later.

As a small boy this puzzled me for years. All my friends had grandparents with two names. Their mom’s carried one name and their dad’s parents carried another. But my grandparents were entirely different with a third name. How could this be? Were we different? As a young preteen dad explained it to me that his dad had died before he was born and grandma had remarried.

Joe Whitehead married Gladys Waldine Kent, February 26, 1944. After Joe was discharged from the US Army he bought a farm in the Claytown Community of Winston County. From the time I was about four years old I spent my summer with Grandmother Stokes in Glen Allen Mississippi.

Glen Allen sits on the bank of Lake Washington which is south of Greenville and close to the Mississippi River. To go to the farm you went south from Glen for a about one and one-half miles then to the east two or three miles. At the end of a gravel road was the house. There was no worry of public traffic so we could play almost anywhere around the house. Just before their house was the Gamble house. There were three boys and two girls. Sometimes we would be allowed to spend the night with them. After dark we would tell ghost stories. Somehow Mr. Gamble could tell them so real.

At the Stokes house we had good times following Robert and Willie around as they fed the cows and horses or other chores around the farm. When Jimmy Dale and I were to ourselves we might hide under the cedar bushes in the front of the house. These cedars were low with bushy limbs which we could crawl under.

Along the driveway were chinaberry trees. We would climb up into the limbs to sit and talk. Sometimes Iva Nell or Marion would walk under the tree and we would throw berries into their hair. I think they may have not cared about us hitting them but sometimes the ripened berries would get into their hair or clothes.

One Saturday morning there was excitement around the house. Tubs were carried to a building near the house. A fire was built under a wash pot; I wondered what was going on. It is wash day. Something was put into a tub of water to soften the water. Hot water was put into a washing machine then the dirty clothes were put in it. As they came out they were put into the tub of clean warm water. They were stirred for a few minutes then twisted to ring the water out then tossed into another tub of water. After this rinsing the clothes were hung on a line to dry. This was one area we were not allowed to go until the clothes were dry and carried into the house for ironing. The ironing was a chore that took some time. One or two girls ironed, another folded and another put the clothes away in the proper place. That evening we boys found another chore, “Cleaning perfectly good dirt off the shoes.” Jimmy and I were to clean the dirt from the shoes using a brush and wet cloth. When they were clean we carried them to Willie who polished them. All this because there was a firm rule at the Stokes household, everyone was to be ready for church Sunday morning.

Sunday morning started with a bath then the best clothes. When all were ready we were to get into grandpa’s pickup truck. There was a board across the bed behind the cab then there were three or four ladder-back chairs along the sides of the bed. Usually the girls go the place behind the cab with scarves over their hair. We would then go to the Hampton Assembly of God Church. On the ride back we had the chairs because the girls usually had a ride back with a boyfriend.

Sometimes grandpa let us go to “the section” with him as he checked his cows. He had the lease on a 16^th section where he had some cows and horses. There we picked up pecans or hickory nuts which we ate or put in our pockets to eat later. One Saturday in the fall all went to gather pecans and other nuts. That Christmas grandma made many delicious eats with these nuts. I think they sold some too.

One day grandpa and grandma went to Glen Allen for groceries. They went to TY’s Grocery. Mr. TY Quong owned the store and lived in back with his family. Sometimes grandpa would get a jar of oysters, put salt and hot sauce into it then eat the oysters right out of the jar.

One day mom and dad drove into the yard. It was time for me to go home. I did not want to go but of course I did. However, one time I did go home. They had moved to the north end of Glen Allen to a home across the highway from Lake Washington. He had sold the farm and was going to fish commercially. He would gather his fish all week freeze them then sell them the next weekend. Sometimes he went to Louisville to sell fish and sometimes to Macon. Both were all the way across the state. The following week he repeated the same task.

His goal was catfish but whatever he caught, there was a market. Sometimes he went frog gigging. Once he had several Garr which he could not sell. After selling everything he still had the Garr. He had a choice, throw them away, which was against his thoughts, and give them away, which he would if all else failed or find a way to sell them. He decided to skin them. He skinned the gar then went back to Macon. On his first stop there was interest in the dressed fish. He had a young man helping so when someone ask what kind of fish they were, Sam quickly said, “Those are speckled Trout!” They sold every fish in that one stop!

I went to school there in Glen Allen being in the first grade. On Weekends I still got to go to grandma’s. One Christmas there was real excitement. Uncle James was coming home from Japan or Korea, I do not remember which. There was a girl with him too. Geraldine King was with him. He had a large trunk which he could not open because he could not find the key. Dad had done the same thing and I saw him open it with a coat hanger. I got a hanger and bent the end and opened the foot locker. Inside there were pictures and other gifts he had brought home. Later he and Geraldine were married. I remember that they both played accordions and sang at church.

After a year of fishing dad decided to go to Indianapolis Indiana where Aunt Annie lived and worked at the Western Electric plant. He found work at the Borden’s Milk plant canning milk with a silver cow on the label. We lived close enough to the plant for him to walk to work. After the first winter we moved to a place called Tittletown. The apartments were old military housing. There was a potbelly coal burning heater. That winter my job was to keep coal in a box close to the heater. Television was a somewhat new thing to us. We had a radio but no TV but there was a couple across the street who had on. They allowed all us kids in the place to come over Saturday morning to watch Howdy Doody Time. That winter snow was piled from the ground to the roof peak.

The next summer dad heard that one of the supervisors was being transferred to Mississippi. Dad told him that he wanted to go back too so it was arranged. That summer dad got a transfer back to Mississippi. He was through with snow!

In 1961 dad and mom bought a house on Hale Street in Macon. Soon Grandpa and Grandma Stokes built a house across the street from them. They lived out the rest of their life there. Willie Vester Stokes died January 1, 1978 in the Winston County Hospital in Louisville. He was buried January 3 in the Vernon Assembly of God Cemetery.

Grandma Bell loved to see company come. Oh, sometimes she would fuss about something being rushed up but in the end she loved her kids coming When dad went over to check on her it was not unusual for her to get a domino game going. If Clyde or one of her sons were there it was for sure that the dominos came out. Double nines were favored.

Ira Bell Stokes died March 8, 1991 at home in Macon and is buried in the Vernon Assembly of God Cemetery.

WEEKENDS AT STURGIS

by

Billy Whitehead

During the summers of 1954-1959 I spent many weeks at my grandparents out from Sturgis Mississippi. There I would play with Charles and Cotton. Many times the first things to do were to walk to Uncle Punk’s to see what was going on there. Sometimes Paul Henry would be there so we knew that he would join us sometimes. Then maybe David, Dewayne and Jimmy Dale might be there for part of the summer. Paul and David were younger than us but the more the merrier.

Then we would stop by the barn to go into the hayloft. There we would place hay-bales around to make tunnels. Over the week we would have tunnels all over the hayloft.

One week I got to see how these bales were made. I do not know who the bailer belonged to but all grandpas’ mill workers were there to lend a hand to baling the hay.

The hay was cut earlier in the week. It lay there for a few days then the hay rake was brought to gather the hay in bunch-piles. The baler was pulled to the pile of hay where men were ready to fork the hay into the hopper. A large square ram pushed the loose hay into the baler. Whatever took place inside that baler; I did not know but at the back, square bales of hay came out, falling to the ground. A flatbed truck came along and the bales were loaded onto the truck. When the truck was loaded it was driven to the barn. The hayloft was above the stalls where the mules were kept and fed. I think there was a stall for milk cows on the other side.

At the ends of the loft was an opening with a door. This door was opened. There was a pulley over the opening. Sometimes there was a rope in the roller which was used to pull hay bales up but this time Uncle JW just stood on the hay and threw it to the opening. Someone inside the loft stacked the bails along the walls until that half of the loft was full. After it was full the other door was opened and hay was put in from there. In the end the hayloft was completely full. Maybe some hay was put in one of the stables but I do not remember that.

Then there were trips to the woods. We would go all over the woods visiting the pool for a swim. There was a section of pine saplings which we would climb. Near the top the sapling would lean over. From there we would move to the next sapling. By doing this we moved over the area without getting to the ground. Sometimes we took the wagon to the pool. We would roll it into the pool and dive from it. When JW fussed at us for having the wagon in the water, Cotton told him that all he was doing was swelling the tires. JW told him that it seems he was swelling the tires a lot lately.

One day we made our trip to the hayloft, to the pool to the trees then walked along an old wood road to Uncle Punk’s house. However this one time Charles jumped over something. He yelled, “Watch out, Spreading ‘Outer’.” I now know that this was a spreading Adder! This road was not very wide but to me it looked like this snake spread completely over the road. It scared me to no end! We looked for it so we could kill it but it hidden in the leaves.

When it was raining we would play in the house until we were told to get outside. We played on the porch for a while but then went to the old garage. In there was an old International pickup truck. It would not run but we drove many miles in that old truck. Sometimes we would take turned behind the steering wheel and talk. “We are not going 100 miles per hour!” “This road is really muddy.” “We are now stuck, you get out and push.” I think that old truck had more miles on it parked than it did while running!

There were several boys. Charles was the youngest, and then there was William who we called Cotton, Sam, and Harold who was called Tarp, JW, and Buddy. Tarp JW and Buddy were married and Sam was old enough to have other things to do such as looking for girls. One Saturday Grandpa was gone and told everyone not to go anywhere in his truck. Saturday morning he ask who took his truck out. No-one knew. As it turned out he knew who had because he saw the tracks but more because he had marked the dirt where the tires were. Saturday morning he saw that the tire marks were not where they should be! He was slicker than the boys thought!

I was not there when this happened but Sam said it happened.

Sam wanted a car so he found two Ford Sedans of the same mode. One had a good engine but the body wasn’t much. Sam changed the engine over. While at it he drained the transmission oil, which came out in globs! He changed the oil and drove the car. The transmission made so much noise that he swapped to the other one. Sam decided to sell whatever he could. He sold the old body rather quickly. He put the engine in the paper for $25.00 with no calls. Grandpa told him that his price was too cheap and all figured it was no good. Grandpa finally convinced him to put $200 on it and he got three calls the next week!

One time I was there it was time to clean the cistern. A cistern is a large tank in the ground which holds water. This one was lined with brick. There were metal troughs running from the tin roof of the house into the cistern.

To clean it all the water must be drawn out. Then someone had to go inside and dip the remaining water out. Then with a stiff brush, every inch was scrubbed. After scrubbing, water was lowered into the tank in a five gallon bucket where it was splashed onto the walls. All this water was then dipped out. After a thorough cleaning then a wash-down with bleach, a tanker truck loaded with water brought from Sturgis was piped into the tank until full. After several weeks, one of the boys caught a catfish and put it into the cistern to keep mosquito larva out. Someone checked to make sure the catfish was still there every day because it was tempting for some boys to catch it when the fish had grown bigger!

During winter around Christmas holidays I would spend a few days there, mostly for a week or so. We would make the same routine as in summer except for swimming in the pool and sometimes even that was tempting! Sometimes a truck tire was fun to roll. Then there was times when we would roll the tire to the top of the hill, someone would get inside and someone started rolling the tire with the passenger down the hill. Generally he could see where he was and when close to the house he would lean to make the tire roll off the road to a stop. Once Sam was inside. He started rolling downhill but wanted to see how far he could co. He rolled past the house driveway on toward the bottom which was about ½ mile; except that he did not see the car he was headed toward or maybe he just could not stop or turn. The car stopped and Sam ran right into the car. I do not think there was any damage to the tire or the car but Sam was some skinned up.

In the cold winter the fireplace was going all day. At night the fire would die down or maybe go completely out. One of the boys was assigned to have the fire burning when grandpa got up. If he was knowing, he would build the fire late at night with a big backlog so that the fire would be easier to start the next morning. A bucket of coal oil with some pine kindling in the oil was set by the fireplace. About five in the morning he would get out of bed onto the cold floor and run to the fireplace to throw wood into the fireplace then pour some oil onto the wood and light it. He would then run back to bed. Once Cotton forgot to set his clock to get the fire going the next morning. When grandpa got up and the fire was not burning, needless to say, Cotton did not forget then next time!

On Saturday night it was rummy night. A large table was set up in the front room. About 6:00 people would arrive. Most of the time there was Grandpa and Grandma Ford who were Grandma Kent’s parents, Uncle Punk and Aunt Willie, and sometimes Uncle JW and Aunt Nell. With the Emerson Electric radio set in the window it was tuned to the Louisiana Hayride. After it went off the radio was changed to a Nashville station to listen to the Grand Ole Opera. As the grownups played rummy we kids would listen to Hank Snow, Kitty Wells, Patsy Cline and others sing and play instruments to tunes we knew. Then we would laugh at String Bean’s joking.

Sometimes the card game was more fun to listen to. As they played, grandma would get excited arguing who had won the hand. Or she would try to convince others that it was she who should have won the hand. The card games would wind down around 9:00 or so. All would leave for home and the adults would go to bed. We younger ones would turn the TV on to see what was to watch. Most of the time we just curled up in a big chair and talked about what we had done that day and planned what we would do the next day.

Things were simpler for a kid in 1960’s. We knew our limits and we knew the results of disobedience. If we did wrong, knowing it was wrong, there was a belt as payment. No questions asked. With all us boys I remember not one time that we got other than a scolding not to do that again. If we were told not to go there, we did not go there!

Grandpa Kent died in 1960. The house was sold and grandma moved into a smaller house across from her brother just up the road from the home place. She died in 1870 at the age of 69. Both are buried at Antioch Cemetery in Winston County, Mississippi.

Ben Ervin Kent Timber Man

by

Billy Whitehead

Ben Ervin Kent was born Birdie Ervin Kent. He hated the name Birdie and never used it. Instead he took the name Ben Ervin. He was born January 26, 1903 to John Kent and Mary Dawkins Kent. He married Christine Beatrice Ford born September 23, 1923, daughter of Thomas and Mary Alice Ford.

To my knowledge, Grand paw Ervin Kent was always a logger and sawmill operator. His mill was one which he moved from site to site. There was the Case engine sitting on a stack of crossties. A wide belt ran from the engine to the saw shaft. This saw shaft was about 12 to 14 feet long. On the end was a saw blade of about five or six feet. About midway there was another belt which ran the carriage pulley. The carriage was at the end and ran by the saw. It was set on a set of rails. The log was rolled onto the carriage. A large hook was dropped to pin the log to the carriage. A gauge was on the carriage to set the size lumber to be sawn. A cable system pulled the carriage both ways. One way pulled the log into the saw and also pulled it back for another cut.

Most of the time Grandpa Kent ran the saw and Mr. Albert Perrigen was the carriage operator. If grandpa was not there his older son Ervin who we called Uncle Punk, ran the saw. I never remember Mr. Perrigen not being there to run the carriage.

When the lumber was sawn it fell on to table and was slid over to the edger ran by Mr. Joe Starnes. When the lumber came out of the edger it went to Henry to be slid down a rail to the proper pile. Each pile was for a width or length. The mater trimmed from lumber had bark on one side or it was damaged and unfit for lumber. This material must be hand carried to the burning pile. I worked at the sawmill one summer. I did several jobs one which was to carry cut-off to the burn-pile. That was one hot job! The cut-off had to be piled tight so that it did not burn so hot. At night it would burn down. There was a tin wall all around it to prevent fire spreading into the timber.

The timber crew cut the trees down then rimmed them and cut to length. This was a dangerous job as well as a hot job. They had Poulan or McCulloch chain saws. In the heat of summer it was not unusual for one to fall out of heat.

Uncle Punk was the timber man. His job was to take a wagon and mule into the woods to bring the logs to the mill. He would drive the mule team and wagon into the timber road to the logging site. There he would hitch one mule to pull the logs out of the woods to the wagon. I went with him one time. He took the mule to one pile, hitched the pulling chin to the log and said, git-up. The mule pulled the log to the wagon and stopped in the right place. After pulling a bunch of loge and no more could be pulled into place, he set a wood rail up on the side of the wagon. With chains the mules pulled the logs onto the wagon. When these were loaded, he moved to another log pile. The pulling was repeated then the logs were loaded. When the wagon was loaded he headed out to the mill, however on this road there was a hill which the mules could not hold the wagon back from running away. To prevent runaway, uncle punk made a cripple pole by putting a pole of about 4-5 inches and six or eight feet long under the back axel. The end under the wagon load of logs was chained up to lift the wagon weight putting the weight to the end on the ground. He now headed down the hill. At the bottom the pole was removed and the trip to the mill was on again.
Sometimes the logs were large enough that only one or two logs could be carried at the time. Later grandpa bought a Taylor Big Red Loader. This loader had a set of arms on one side. A set of cables with a break dropped to the ground. Using peavey hooks the log was rolled on to the lifting arms. A peavey hook looks like a baseball bat with a hinged hook on one side. After the log was on the lifts the break was applied. The arm would then be lifted over the side falling onto the truck. When loaded the truck was driven to the mill. At the mill the securing hitch was loosed and the logs would fall off the wagon or truck on to a set of log rails ending at the carriage. Usually Robert, who we called Cotton, and Sam were the ones who kept the logs rolled close to the carriage end. When the carriage was in place for another log the log was rolled onto the carriage. It was turned to the best place for cutting. The small end was set for the least waste. When the first cut was made making a flat place the log was turned so the flat was down. At that time another cut was made. The log was then turned so a flat was on the backside as well as down. Now the log was cut for lumber.

When there was a trailer load of lumber a log trailer was brought to the mill. This was usually early in the morning so everyone could load the truck by hand. As the truck left all others went to their job. He sold his logs to Sturgis Lumber Company or to Fair Lumber Company.
Ben Kent was known to be very good at estimating. Both lumber companies hired him to estimate timber for them. He as also known as an honest man. Once a man made him an offer to sell his timber for $10,000. Grandpa said that he went to look it over. As he drove up to the timber he knew there was more than $10,000 worth of timber there. After cutting it he said that he made much more than he expected so he gave the man another $5,000.

One of his workers, Henry, broke his leg while working. Grandpa took care of Henry until he was able to return to work. I remember one time he stopped at Henry’s house to pay him as if he had worked all week. He asked if he needed any groceries or anything else.

Ben Ervin Kent was a hard working family man. He expected his boys and girls to work hard also. He died on August 2, 1960 and is buried at Antioch Cemetery in Winston County Mississippi.

Peas Beans and Other Goodies

by

Billy Whitehead

Dad always had a garden. He often said that he could not stand to look out and not have something growing. When we moved back from Indianapolis in 1953, we moved into a house on North Street. Just up from the house was plenty room for a garden.
Dad knew Tex Sergeant and knew that Tex had a mule and plow. One Saturday he went to check with Tex about borrowing the mule. Of course he came home with the mule and plow. By Saturday evening he had the ground broken for a garden. By Sunday evening we were planting the garden. He had purchased tomato seed earlier and started young plants in a tub so he then set tomatoes.

Later that summer the young plants were up, as well as grass. We older kids then learned that the grass could be removed. We also learned who was going to remove it with a hoe. As the beans and peas grew dad said that we were going to cut some bean sticks. With an ax and some string we headed off down a country road stopping close to some young saplings. Dad cut every sapling of about 1 inch, trimming all the limbs. It was Willie and my job to get those sticks to the car trunk. After he had cut about 100 sticks he tied them down then tied the trunk lid and headed home.

Somehow dad had some galvanized wire which he tied from several post along the bean rows. To this wire he put a stick from the bean and pea plant then tied the stick to the wire. As the plants grew he would tie the vine. By late summer there were bean and pea plants over six feet high.

The next summer there were to gardens, one up from the house and another down from the house. A couple years later there was another spot behind house.

Across the ditch was Mr. Will McGee who worked for the Mississippi State Highway Department. Mr. Will had a garden much like dad’s except that he grew Cushaws. Mr. Will explained that the cushaw was much like a sweet potato except that it grew on top of the ground rather than under the ground. We learned to love cushaw and know what? It was like sweet potato, which we loved!

When the garden was ready for picking we had peas, beans, corn, eggplants, okra and all other good vegetables to eat. We ate well too!

Then there was canning to do. Much of the garden was canned in quart jars. Mom and dad would put peas and beans in a large hallway then when school was out we had to get out lessons done then shell peas and beans. Mom would wash then fill the jars. The jars were then placed in a large pot which we learned was a pressure cooker. It sat on the stove to cook. When it was heated the steam would start whistling. After a time it the stove was turned off to cool. When the jars were cooled enough they were removed to the table to finish cooling. New jars were placed in the cooker and the process was repeated. This was a lot of work but we learned that come winter when no garden was growing, we had great food to eat and us country chillen loved to eat!

.

When late fall came around dad cleaned out the early garden and made ready for a fall garden. In it there would be turnip greens, collard greens and cabbage as well as late beans and peas. These peas and beans were called bush beans with no sticks.
Dad loved to give the neighbors a mess of vegetables from time to time.

One time we were gone to Sturgis to visit overnight. When we returned Sunday morning there on the kitchen table was two large grocery bags of turnip greens.

Oh, you wonder how they got into the house. They got in through the door! In those days it was not unusual to leave a door closed but not locked. Many times no-one even had a key to unlock the door if it were locked. Later, if we were going to be gone overnight we would lock the door. Once mom closed the door and realized that the key was in the lock, inside the house. How was she going to get the door open? She checked all the other doors, but they were all locked. I had read a comic book where the star got the key. I took a newspaper, slid it under the door then, with a pencil, I pushed the key out of the lock! I was a proud boy now.

For meat dad had a pig growing for the fall but his main resource was fish and other game. Rabbit, squirrel and deer were common fare for the Whitehead table.

For milk he kept a cow behind the house where Mr. Paul Graham and a lot which he allowed dad to use. There was a shed he could use to store milking feed. Later, I learned how to milk the cow. In a bucket we put warmed water and carried it to the milk lot. We would wash the udder with the warmed water. With a process I massaged the teat to get the milk to come. I did not care for milking the cow because she always slapped me in the face with her tail.

When the coffee plant closed in 1958 dad had to sell his cow so that we could move to Sturgis where he worked for Grandpa Kent in the saw mill. We lived in a house off the Sturgis Maben Road. There was running water, outside. Dad made a crude shower by building a small room about 5X5. He then fastened a garden hose over the top. It worked well even though it was cold water, even more cold in winter but we had it to do. The water came from a spring about 200 feet behind he house in which a pump was placed.

We did not have a refrigerator at this house. Instead, there was an icebox. An icebox has no electricity to keep it cool. At the top there was a box in which a 20 or 30 pound block of ice was kept. Once a week the ice man would come by so Mom would buy ice. The man would put it in the icebox. If the ice melted before he came by dad would go to the ice plant and buy more ice.

Dad loved to kid mom’s younger sister. One day he came in from work. Seeing Bay Doll he walked by her, grabbed her and kissed her right in the mouth and ran out the back door. Only she was right behind him, with a mayonnaise jar which she threw. She hit him square in the head. The jar broke cutting him in the scalp. She cried saying that she did not mean to hurt him but she was mad at him for kissing her. I think it took several stitches to sew his scalp.

One week Clyde, dad’s /12 brother was there. Mom’s brother, Sam, was over playing cards. They played cards until 11:00 or so when Sam decided to walk home which was about 1 ½ mile down the gravel road. Clyde and Dad knew that Sam had to walk to the “Y” then turn toward his home. They ran through the woods where they hung a white sheet with a lantern inside on a limb. Dad had a wooden keg with a deer hide stretched over it making a drum he called a “dumb bull.” With a cotton string set in the hide. When he pulled the string it sounded like a bull. As they pulled the string Sam heard the bellowing of the bull. However he was confused with the white thing there shining. He realized that someone was messing with him. He tried to sic his dog, Pluto, but Pluto was afraid too! Soon he walked into the field and around Mr. White’s house. Back on the road, he promised to be back with his shotgun. Later, Sam found who had tricked him. He said “I knew it was yall all the time.”

Dad worked for Grandpa Kent until fall when he found work at B&W Boiler Works in West Point. We then moved back to the same house. He first time we lived there, we lived on the west side of the two apartment house. This time we lived on the east side. Mr. Butler lived in the west side now. Dad still used the garden spot.

Over the years we moved back and forth to that house five times. We finally wound up with the whole house.

Being some older now I would use the yard mower. After mowing our grass I would go to Miss Betty Holman to mow her grass. She had a little grass but had Magnolia trees in front. After mowing the grass I had to rake the magnolia leaves to the street. This mower was not one with a motor. It is a rotary reel type mower. When it was pushed the reel would spin. As one pushed the mower over the grass the rotor would clip the grass.

Later Miss Betty told me that we could pick up pecans on halves. That fall we were there picking up pecans. After the dividing we had a burlap feed sack full of pecans which we would shell the following winter. Many we would eat as we shelled but some were set aside for cooking treats such as a pecan pie!

Come winter when no garden was growing, pecans were all gone from the trees and it was cold outside we would be inside. Sometimes we would watch TV, which was a new thing for us. On Friday nights the TV was off. The old Mallard radio was turned to the Grand Ole Opera. Sometimes one of mom’s brothers would show up to play cards while listening to the Opera. If it was dry weather we might have to pour water on the grounded end of the antenna wire.

At other times we would drive to Sturgis on Saturday morning. I loved to go to Grandma and Grandpa Kent’s. There I would romp about with Charles and Cotton. We would go to the barn where they kept Pall Mall cigarettes and Days Work Chewing tobacco. They seemed to love it so I tried it. I then never saw how they liked its so much. One time they showed me a whirl-a-jig. Someone had sawed a tree of about 8 inches off about three feet high. Into that there was a large bolt or nail. On the bolt they then balanced the rest of the tree without the limbs. Someone got onto the ends of the pole. You rode it round and round like a merry go round. The problem came when the guy on one end jumped off. The remaining one had a rough but short ride to the ground! !

Grandma Kent dipped snuff. She kept two or three bottles of Garrett Sniff in her bedroom. On the table she kept a small can of Tube Rose. When visitors came around she would sit the Tube Rose out. If they wanted a dip, yep, they got Tube Rose. She would let only Granny Ford use her Garrett’s.

Several times dad was laid off at the B&W plant. He went to work in the saw mill until he was called back. Later he found work at the American Bosch plant in Columbus. He and mom worked there for about 12 years being laid off several times. In about 1970 Mr. Will McGee helped get him on with the highway department. This job would likely not lay off as a plant did. Mom kept working for Bosch where she worked for 36 years.

Dad loved working for the highway department. He soon bought a home on Hale Street where we moved in 1961.

This house was across the street from Mrs. Jones store. The yard was rough with a big pecan tree in front. I do not remember that tree having one pecan so it was soon cut down. To make the yard better dad would bring dirt from ditching and dump it to fill in the yard. He spent many an hour leveling the dirt until he had a nice yard.

In about 1962 he built another room bedroom and bath. There was no air conditioner in the house so he found a large fan which he put on the east end of the house. In the late evening he would turn on a sprinkler on the west end. With the fan pulling air from the east and the water sprinkler on the west end the house cooled easily.

At this house on Hale Street dad had room for a small garden so he had to find more ground. He found that ground south of the house near a stream which was also behind the garment factory. He fenced a large place in for a cow. For water he dug a place for a bath tub. This was in a small ditch which drained the steam from the garment plant. This warm water kept the cows water in winter. For summer water he had a large tub which he filled by carrying a bucket full every day as he milked the cow.

Dad gave up the milk cow when Mr. Allen Paterson decided to build more houses. The cost of milk from the grocery store was now more affordable now that he and mom were working without the fear of layoff. He now had time for his garden and hunting dogs.

Dad kept several dogs. Usually there were three or four blue ticks as well as five or six Beagles. The blue ticks were generally for deer but would run a rabbit. The beagles were for rabbit but some would run a deer.

When the girls were old enough they got jobs waiting tables at a Havey’s restaurant. Dad made a deal to remove the food scraps. Every evening he would stop by the restaurant to pick up the scraps. He would then go across the railroad to his pig pin. When the pigs heard the truck they would be waiting by the trough. Many times when he opened the top of the can there was a package wrapped on top. The cooks would have a steak or perhaps shrimp were inside.

He would raise the hogs to kill and freeze when he first cold weather came on. He had a house out back where there was a freezer. There he kept vegetables, fish and other meat he had prepared during the summer. They still canned some vegetables but not as much as before. Some vegetables were simply better when canned. Sometimes he would cook up a large pot of soup with vegetables left over. He would freeze this for later use. When he caught fish there were always some he froze. He loved to use ½ gallon milk cartons. He would pack as many fish in the carton as possible. Then he would fill the carton with water then put in the freezer. To use he set the box out, usually in the kitchen sink to thaw.

In 1967 built my house where the cow had been kept. Dad planted a garden nearby. This garden was about ¼th acre. After his heart attack he did not work his beloved garden for about a year. He finally told his doctor that he was going to work his garden. The doctor grudgingly approved however I think he knew he was going to do the garden anyhow. Dad paced himself and did well. His strength returned and he did well.

Very soon he was back at his earlier routine. Up by 4:30. feed the dogs, work the garden. After the girls were off to school he would head out for his six mile walk. Sometimes he would walk out hwy 14 to Mr. Patterson’s which was about four miles. Or he might go west to Lanky Tensely. At both places he would sit and talk for an hour or so then head back home. Likely he would work in the garden some more then off to catch a mess of fish. One day I stopped in to find dad and his brother in law, Charles Oliver. They were making pepper jelly from jalapeño peppers. They had tears in their eyes from wiping sweat off their foreheads but laughing all the time.
One day dad went to Patterson Grocery for chitterlings. He cooked up a gallon with peas and fixings.

One time, the Masonic Lodge ask him to make his Brunswick Stew, which he pronounced “Bronical Stew.”. He made 15 gallons at the time. He needed two bottles of Bull Hot sauce however Mr Patterson did not have any. He told dad that he had some Tabasco sauce. “Gimmy two bottles.” The Masonic Lodge served the Brunswick that evening but was soon out of tea. The stew was really hot !

One weekend he told neighbors that they were invited to Freddie’s place for stew. Freddie’s place was a place on the river that dad, Fred Rigdon, Buddy Auston and some others had cleared off for a small park. There was a brick barbeque pit and a large table.

Dad had all the ingredients together and was cooking early Saturday morning. All knew that his meat would be whatever he had including wild game. Peggy Patterson said she did not want any of that so dad made a smaller pot for those who did not want the game. As I remember, he had there was a quart of lima beans, peas, corn, potatoes and two or three onions. Then there was five pounds pork, a whole chicken, a couple rabbits. Then there would be five pounds of beef or deer. To that he added enough water to cover by about four inches. That would simmer for four or five hours in an open fire of pecan wood. Near the end he added two bottles of Bull Hot Sauce. To that there was an abundance of stories. Rabbits were hunted, squirrels were treed as were coon hunts talked about.

Dad was about family and friends. He always had time to idle the day away talking to friends, telling stories, talking about how this one is doing or what he was going to plant next year.

The Hunting and Fishing Trip

by

Billy Whitehead

Joe Weaver Whitehead was one who loved hunting small game and fishing. I do not think he would have spent one nickel to go hunting a moose if he had plenty to spend on doing so. His fun was to go into the forest, turn the dogs loose then head out in the general direction of the dogs.

Dad said that as a young man, he would meet with a man and his dogs. The two or three would hunt all over the hills and hollows from Friday evening to Sunday morning.

In most cases a Coon hunt was planned three or four days ahead of the day. Likely he would touch bases Thursday or Friday as to where they would meet. If it was a Saturday night hunt he would feed then early Saturday before noon and no other feeding because they would not run well when full. He would oil his shotgun sometime Friday evening or Saturday morning. When the time was right he would go to his dog-pin and load the dogs. The dogs knew what was up and were ready to go. At the meeting place when all were there the planed direction was decided. The dogs were held on leash for some distance. After going about ½ mile into the woods the dogs were released. Likely the men would hold for a few minutes to see where the dogs were headed. They would then follow. When the dog barking at a tree was recognized they headed to the treed dogs. Most of the time the coon was out on a limb. Sometimes a shotgun shot at the limb would make him jump out and the dogs were off to the races. Sometimes the coon was in the crotch of the tree and could not me made to jump out. When this happened dad would decide to go make him jump. He would pull off his rubber boots then climb the tree. He would break off a limb to prod the coon into the jump.

Once the coon went up the outside of a hollow tree which was broken off about 15 feet high. The Coon then went down the inside of the tree. Dad decided to go get him. He used a carbide headlight. He carried a small container of carbide as well as a whiskey bottle of water. He made it to the top of the hollow tree. He looked into the tree and saw the coon at the bottom. He dropped some carbide into the hollow then pored the water into the tree. With the carbide flame light he looked into the hollowed tree, then WHOOSE! ! ! The tree lit up like a roman candle! ! He came home with singed eyebrows!

Most of the time dad had two sets of dogs. Rabbit dogs and deer dogs. Some would hunt both deer and small game but there was always one or two that was really god at one or the other.

When deer hunting season was in he would set out for deer meat. He would join with a group. One group of dogs were turned loose to run the deer. The hunters were spread out along a woods road, hopefully in front of the deer and dogs. If the deer got through all were to attempt to catch the dogs. Otherwise the hunters would head out to get ahead of the deer along a gravel road.
Sometimes the dogs would head over posted land. If asked, “the dogs don’t know it is posted land.”
Once dad was hunting on the west side of Noxubee County near Prairie Point. After the deer was clearly gone the dogs were all caught except for two. One was caught the next day but another, a blue tick, was still missing. A week later someone called from Dancy Alabama, a distance of about 25 miles. He went to get the dog the next day.

If not hunting dad would find a reason to go fishing. Most of the time he used a cane pole to fish for Chinquapin or Bream. He would use whatever was at hand. Earth worms or red wigglers were good. Crickets were good too as were Catawba worms. Catawba worms were found on Catawba trees in the summer. He would use a gallon wide mouth jar with cornmeal. He layered the meal and worms, until the jar was full. He would then freeze the whole jar until needed.
I have known him to drive to Lake Washington below Greenville Mississippi for a weekend of fishing. On these trips he would take a boat with deep sidewalls. There would be ten to twenty, 100 feet of lines with hooks as well as 100 or 200 shorter set-hooks to tie on branches. Bait was to be minnows, which was seined a few days or so ahead of time. Ice was added to keep them alive. Cold water keeps oxygen better as the minnows do not swim as hard.

Dad always kept set-hooks in the Noxubee River. At times he would run ten or so throw lines. The throw-line was a line of hooks on a line of 50 to 100 feet long. He would tie one end to a root just under the water. He then carried the other end of the line downstream until tight. With a weight tied on the end he would throw the baited hooks and line as far into the water as possible. The next morning he would check for any catch.

Most of the time fishermen along the river respected the other mans lines but from time to time he believed someone was taking his fish. However, if one knew who the set-hooks belonged to, it was permissible to remove a fish then bait it again. It was common to meet the other fisherman and tell that he had removed the fish, offering to give it to him. I never remember the other taking the fish.

My Whitehead Family

by

Billy Whitehead

The Story of a lifetime

Sometime in the early 1620’s in the area of Lancashire England is in somewhat of a social upheaval. Earlier, King James ordered a bible to be translated into the language of the common plowboy as was the thoughts of John Huss. There is much to be said of Martin Luther, the theologian who nailed his objections to some teachings of the Protestant Reform Church on the door of the church some 75 years before but was still the topic of unrest here in England as it is ending the sole authority of the church over many areas of society. There was talk of Henry Hudson, an English explorer who has visited and explored the Artic Ocean lands. Then there is a man named John Smith who has recently sailed for the New World. He is said to be going to a place called James Town, named for the King of England. It sounds so exciting that many young men are talking of going, but many simply talk. As for some it is not talk, instead it is listening and planning.

In 1620, only a few years earlier, the Mayflower had landed at Cape Cod on November 9, 1620 with 101 colonist. There were 41 who had signed a compact which was called the Mayflower Compact which established a form of government for the colonies which provided a majority rule form of government. Basically this agreement begins what has become a call to revolution.
While there are many newcomers who wish to be a part of this governmental movement, many are leaving England for the wealth of the New World and one who is born a young lad named Arthur Whitehead. He is to grow into a man who wishes to explore the new world, which is of interest to many of his acquaintances. That world across the oceans is said to be a land of abundance. When ships return from there in cold weather they are loaded with fruits never seen before. Many times there will be young plants, which are planted to see if they will grow in the English soil. Sometimes they will grow into fruitful plantings.

Most of the time the ship will be loaded with lumber for building homes for the wealthy. Then there is potash made in that land by burning oak trees then loading the ash onto the ship. Ages of building with no eye to the fact that trees will soon be depleted beyond supplying lumber for the building of homes has created great problems for the building crafters. The potash earns a pretty penny as potash is scarce in England as the trees are too valuable to burn for fertilizer.

When Arthur is about thirty years old he secures passage on a ship as a passenger for the English heading there to the place called America. There are ships leaving several times during the year but plans must be made to secure passage as well as a place on the ship. Generally food is promised but spoilage has been a constant problem therefore it seems wise to carry some preserved meat and other items that may be carried aboard a ship.

Arthur wonders how he will earn a living there in the New World. He believes that a wheelwright can find work but he also knows the trade of a cooper who makes the wooden barrels for storing and shipping goods. Both trades are needed industries. He feels comfortable that he can find a good paying work so he tries not to worry.

Arthur arrives in Jamestown but because there are so many new people there he cannot find work so he heads out to the Isle of Wight in the Virginia Colony. Arthur is familiar at various jobs soon finding steady work in a wheelwrights shop. In 1652 Arthur begins to plan for travel to the west. He has listened to others who have been to the western frontier but he does not wish to travel much beyond the mountains of western Carolina or maybe the land just beyond. However his plans make a sudden change in the summer of 1654 when he meets a young lass who is new to the community by the name of Katherine Ruffin. Sometime in the late summer of 1654 he and Katherine are married and they have a son who they named Arthur. They had hoped for another child but Katherine has had two miscarriages. In spite of all efforts they do not have other children to live beyond birth. They live in the same home in Virginia all their life and consider themselves blessed.

Their son carries on his father’s trade as a wheelwright and has his own shop with customers who wish to go into the growing frontier and to the farming region of the Georgia Colony where cotton is being grown, as is tobacco. The tobacco and cotton are great trade items and require a sturdy freight wagon, not so much for a heavy load but for the rigors of rough travel. Arthur has married Mary Goodman and in 1672 William is born. Arthur dies of dropsy fever suddenly in 1675 leaving William as the only child of Mary. They live sparsely but William thrives. As a young man he supports his mother until she marries her new husband. Here he finds work and soon marries his wife also named Mary. They soon have their first child, William, in 1685 while living in Isle of Wight. In all they raise five boys while in Virginia. Later they make their home in Edgecombe County North Carolina. William is followed by Lazarus, Robert, William, and Arthur. They call the second William, Will, in order to keep them separate. They think of the new idea of giving two names but do not wish to seem uppity.

By now it is clear that the New World of America is headed for war with the English Lords. Taxes are being set upon all trade. Tea has been taxed again as is other items of trade. England is attempting to make all work in the New World a money-making resource. Of course the colonist resent this and are rising up against it. Meetings are common within the colonies. Of course all talk must be behind the doors and care is taken as to who one talks to. The Whitehead boys feel that they will take part when the time is right but they must protect their families. They believe that they should move their family closer to the frontier in order that if need be they can move into the wilderness with ease believing that the English will not follow.

The older son of William and Mary marries Rachel Lewis around 1722 Jacob is born in 1723 in the colony of Virginia and is followed by another William, Joseph, Lazarus, Arthur and Tobias. Colony life is comfortable. There are celebrations of life but at the same time there are Indians who are trusted, to a point. There are rumors of attacks by Indians but for the most part these attacks are on what many call the frontier or at the edge of the settled areas.

As the children grow they become wise to the ways of life within the colony. As growing children they develop the skills as children do but then at about 11 they begin to mature. Chores are assigned by knowing parents. Milk the cow, care for the garden, and gather the firewood. All the family most help with the chores of home.

When Jacob is about fourteen he sits among the men to listen to the talk about them. The population is growing he hears, the last count shows that there are 475,000 however, it is pointed out that the count was 1720 and this is some eight years later. They talk of the need to move farther west. He hears of things going on beyond the colony of Virginia. There are settlements beyond the Carolinas and there are small settlements over in the Mississippi Territory. There is much game but more to the point there is land for the taking. Are there Indians? Of course there are those who are hostile but most are peaceful. There is the story of a massacre near one of the settlements near the Blue Ridge Mountain range to the west. Some of dead were children. Then there were stories of Indians who adopted settlers and were learning to live among these new people. They learned to plant and live as farmers who did not have to migrate with the seasons.

Jacob becomes interested as to how he might acquire a piece of farming land in this new territory. He decides to talk to his father about this idea. William explains that there are family members there at the foot of a small mountain range in the Mississippi territory. The community is called Whitehead although it is only a small settlement but one must remember that there is safety in numbers. It also seems that there has been no hostility among the Indians. The land is not far from a river. He said that there is talk of some waterfalls which may lend to the building of a factory for manufacturing. Perhaps one could build a sawmill near the falls. Jacob decided that this is where he will go however it may take him a year to get things in order. He was glad that he had worked with his father as a woodworker. He could make a wagon wheel and if needed he could build a whole wagon which was to be his first job as preparation for the journey. He liked the idea of building a waterwheel at one of the falls. Perhaps a gristmill would be first but maybe there was already one there.

Jacob found that the trip would be better in the spring to go by foot and boat but there may be a way along the high country along the blue mountain ridge. This was his decision. He would build a smaller wagon that he first thought as the cargo wagons do not travel well along the narrow mountain roads.

Jacob joins with a small company of travelers in late March after the grass begins to hint that spring is on the way. His goal is to reach the higher grounds before the spring rains bring the rivers and streams out. They head out in a northwestern direction however Jacob and a cousin decide to strike out for family in Edgecombe County North Carolina a distance of some distance they believe to be 100 miles of travel but he had time as it is yet spring.

As Jacob journeys he finds small jobs along the way at farms where he works for a meal here and there. He had thought of this when he broke with the group. As a group there is less chance of stopping for work or of others taking the group in when bad weather hits.

In early April they reach the settlement of Tarboro in North Carolina where they find some Whiteheads. After talk he decides that these are his folk and he thinks they are cousins but he also finds that some have moved on to the Mississippi Territory. Jacob finds that one of those who has moved on has the same idea as he. He was going to set up a waterwheel to grind corn and maybe a sawmill. The best part was that this town now did not have a blacksmith so he set up a shop in the building where his cousin had been. He had found his dream of having his own business with little invested. Actually he would have to buy out his cousins son but they were not very interested in the business, there was work to be done and they were not interested in work! They struck a deal whereby Jacob would pay $200.00 by this time next year. Jacob unloaded his wagon in the work shed. The living quarters was to one side but handy. It was clear that the house side was made for a family as there was evidence of a woman’s touch. Why shoot, this house has smooth wood floors. He has been in homes with floors of dirt along the way. Back home there were wood floors but they were not this smooth unless one was rich enough to hire a good woodworker. And Jacob was a good worker of wood!

The shop area was small but functional. There the trade of the former owner was evident. The blacksmith forage was not new but there were improvements showing a knowing craftsman. The wood-workmanship showed too as did the working area of the wheel shop.

When one makes a wheel his wood supply is stored in a dry location to allow proper drying. The wood is dressed to the proper size for spokes and rims or hubs. When these are properly shaped the mortises are cut. When all the fittings are properly cut and set the iron tire is shaped. The proper length is found with a rolling rule. The rolling rule is a wheel like tool with ruled measurements along the wheel. It is designed to measure around a round object such as an iron tire. After the tire is heated to a white heat it is set on an anvil and welded by striking the joint. This may require two or three heatings.

When he is satisfied that the weld is secure the tire is laid in a bed of hot coals. After the tire is cherry red, the wood wheel is assembled and laid out near the tire. The cherry red tire is dropped over the rim of the wheel. Amid the smoke and sizzle the tire cools. After a few seconds water is pored over the smoking tire. The cooling of the metal shrinks the iron making the wood wheel tight. Satisfied that the wheel is good Jacob stands it against the wall to await the return of the customer.

One evening after dinner Jacob is repairing a wagon axel when he notices a young lass across the dirt street. As he looks she shies away into a dry good store. Later he sees her and ask who she is. There are many new folk every day passing through on the way west. It turns out that this is no traveler but a family who lives five or six miles outside of town near Conetoe. They have come into town for groceries and some cloth as Susanne Neal’s mother has just had a new son. She needs a new dress so she is shopping for her mother.

Jacob decides to go over and introduce himself. There just might be a job one day from such an introduction. He watches for the lady to come along in the early evening and almost misses her. She has returned to the dry good store to pick up her package. She is in a carriage wagon. There is a seat and a short cargo area. He has seen many in Virginia and a couple here however most are the heavier wagons. This indicated to Jacob that this is a settled family so he is now more interested. He drops his tools, wets his hands and wipes his hair down. He hangs his work apron and heads across the street.

Susanne saw the man who she thought was a blacksmith when she first entered the dry good store. As she was inside the turned slightly to see if he were still looking, and he was. She ask the lady who worked here who he was. “Well, he has been here for two months and works hard.” “He’s going to do well because he does good work.” She then decided to return later in order to make some excuse to meet this young man. She had found that his name was Jacob Whitehead. The last Blacksmith who was here was a Whitehead and she believed that his name was named Lazarus Whitehead, or was that his brother?

As Susanne entered the store she saw Jacob hang his apron on a peg and head across the street. It had rained early that morning so the ground was damp and somewhat slick on the edges. She saw that Jacob had to go down the street to find a good crossing. She waited in the front of the store pretending to look at something. She did not want any tools but she stood until Jacob came inside. They talked some then Jacob ask her to go to the restaurant with him. Big Betty served a good river trout and turnips dinner and it was about time for the crowd.

The courtship lasted for three weeks with Jacob going visiting two times a week. Then on Saturday evening he rode out to visit. He ask her to marry him, she said she would and the next Sunday morning they were married. She eagerly joined him in Tarboro. The house was just right for them.

In a few years they decide to relocate to Robinson County where the family grows. Soon a family was on the way. First there was Benjamin then William, named for Jacob’s grandfather. Then there was Archibald.

As newcomers come into the area Jacob and Susanne decide to relocated again as Arthur’s work has slowed down because the travelers are not as many as once were, and Arthur has decided that his line of work is better when people travel He loads his family and heads with a goal to cross the Blue Ridge Mountains. Some call them the “Far Blue Mountains.“ His travels will stop in Wilkes County Georgia. There is need of Jacob’s craft so they set up shop here and does well. The family is here for the winter but things go well as work is good. It is here that Burrell, and Joseph are born.

As a group of travelers sit in a shop awaiting the replacement of wheels on their cargo wagon late one evening the talk turns to the problem of the English occupation force. There was a shooting in Boston where three citizens were killed as well as numerous injuries. A trial was held for the British Soldiers. They were defended by Adams and Adams, John and Josiah Adams. In time John Adams will be a well known President of America. Two soldiers were found guilty of manslaughter. They were branded and turned loose. They say that likely they will leave the country if they can make it to the docks.

Clearly the Colonies will be at war within a year so the talk is what the people of Carolinas, Virginia and Georgia will do when war is a reality. Will they commit a force to go stand with General Washington? Little do they know that this news is a little more than a year old and has been passed along to them. The basics are correct but what they do not know is that the reality is very near them.

On April 12, 1776 The North Carolina assembly is the first to empower its delegates in the Continental Congress to vote for independence from Britain. On June 28, 1776 South Carolina, American forces at Fort Moultrie successfully defend Charleston against a British naval attack and inflict heavy damage on the fleet.

A short time goes into several years due to the family growth but more because Jacob and Susanne are feeling their age. In time the boys begin to venture. Rebecca is recently married to George Stovall and is now living in Robinson County North Carolina. Joseph is seeing a girl of the Smith Family. He is talking about moving to a place called Tocca Falls where he believes he can get property. Joseph has befriended some Indians who are from this area.

This Smith girl is Anne Smith who was orphaned at a young age and raised by her sister. The sister’s husband was of the Nails family and he was a hard man. Perhaps he was resentful of having to earn a living for his family as well as his wife’s sister. As Anne grew she was required to work alongside the family slaves. In time she was addressed by the Nail name rather than her Smith as was the custom of the day.
Anne was attracted to the young Joseph Whitehead and she made arrangements to coyly make herself seen by the Whitehead man. She knew Joseph by sight as she had ask her friend at the restaurant where she sold eggs from time to time as she could hide a few here and there. She was saving to buy a dress that she had her eye on. Little did Anne know that the shy Joe was checking her out. He now knew that she was the sister rather than the daughter of the Nails woman but he also knew that the man was a hard man who had ran other young suitors off. One with a beating to carry with him. Joseph had done well in riverboat brawls but he did not wish to be seen as a ruffian by this girl.
When the two finally met near the general store one rainy day they stood in the doorway and talked for several minutes. He wanted to go with her to the restaurant for lunch, (he had learned the society ate lunch and not dinner,) so he made arrangements to meet her there tomorrow at “lunch.”

They did meet and spent an enjoyable time departing with plans to meet Sunday after church. The next day Joseph went to the waterfall to bathe early in the morning. He then rode to the church where he saw the Nails wagon was already there. As he went inside the singing had just started. Anne was sitting with two other girls who saw him and nudged Anne’s arm. She slid over slightly and Joseph sat down. After the preacher finished Joseph noticed a angry look from Mr. Nails. They walked out under the shade of the trees to talk. The girls stood by as a group talking all at once while Joseph and Anne talked. Dinner was spread around the lawn and afterward there was some more preaching and singing. Afterward Joseph approached Mr. Nails to ask if he could come over whereby Mr. Nails flatly told him to stay far away. He then ordered Anne into the wagon and headed off to their home.
Later in the week Joseph saw Anne and she told him of a beating Nails gave her. They then decided to elope which they did on Friday night. They were going to a nearby town where Joseph knew the Justice of the Piece who he had planned would married them. Little did he know that when he met Anne, there her sister was to help. She knew a nearby minister who she was going to ask to marry them. However, it was decided that a simple letter from her would be better as she would be missed if she went with them.

Joseph’s Indian friends had told him of high waterfalls deep in the land of the Cherokees. After they were married Joseph and Anne headed westward to their dream home. They followed Indian trails for many days living in the wilderness. Game was plentiful as was other foods for a knowing woodsman. However, Joseph was not a knowing woodsman but he knew enough to get by. After four days travel Joseph felt he was close. After meeting an Indian he spoke, in the Cherokee tongue, asking where the waterfalls called Tocca were. He was pointed to the direction and told to listen and go to the “voice of the water.” As the awaken on the second day after meeting their Indian, Joseph heard a distant rumble. He knew this was the falls. They headed into the sound finding the falls at noon. They found a way to the top of the falls but this was no place for a home due to the wind caused by the rushing of the falling water, however when they found a way over the other side there was a great place where they could see for miles over the top of the wilderness trees.

Joseph followed the suggestion of his Indian friends and found the chief of the Cherokees. He must have impressed the chief with his frankness to ask for land to build a home. Actually, what the chief did not tell Joseph was that his friends had sent a runner ahead of him to tell of the coming of a good strong man who had taken the wife from her harsh father. This told the chief that this white man had principals. Soon the couple had a home two miles above the falls which are called today Toccoa Falls. It is here that a family is raised.

Joseph’s brother, Archibald has heard of kin in the Mississippi Territory where his dad often speaks of. He decides to head out that way. However he decides to make his travel over the mountains. He travels to Lincoln County in a place called Tennessee. In time Archie met a young girl who caught his attention because her name was that of his brother, Joseph’s wife. She was Nancy Smith, daughter of William and Mary Smith. Archie thought that perhaps this just might be Smiths related to Joe’s wife. He knew Anne’s story so he wondered if this might be cousins of hers. He must remember to ask her. The year is 1807 when Archie and Nancy are married. They move into a house which was purchased some years earlier by William Smith for his daughter whom he adores. It is here that Joseph is born.

Due to Archie’s life in the wilderness, he does not see holding to a job as such a big deal. Actually Archie did not wish to be tied to one place. He figured that he and Nancy may find work wherever they were. He has lived well for himself all this time. However William Smith does not see it this way. He feels that Archibald Whitehead has taken on a family now and must settle down. This will be a point of friction in due time.

Archibald locates his kinfolk northwest of a town called Florence. From his dad’s talk of Whitehead, he had expected a town of some size. It was not as expected but there were several stores, a blacksmith shop and a horse stable run by a man named Whitehead. He was an older man and he never heard a first name. The older men simply called him “Whitehead” and the younger called him “Mr. Whitehead.”

The people are not ones who take to strangers and here this one comes with a family of three or four. What will he do for earning a living? He brings no farm tools. They are not too pleased to take on one who they do not know. He talks of kinfolk here but none know him. In due time they accept the family who settle among them. It turned out that he did have a cousin here. This new man was a good hunter who would wonder far from the settlement to take game, saving the game closer in for winter months when going far could be dangerous.

One day as all sat around the winter dinner table someone told of hearing of a lottery held in Georgia. One bit of news was that Archibald Whitehead had drawn a lottery winner. The winner was granted 202 ½ acres of land signed by Governor Troup. They were asking if Archibald knew of this which of course he did not know. Archie said that likely it was another Archibald’s who had fought in the revolutionary war against the British. It is possibly one of his brothers son or possibly another nephew. After all his brother had a son named Archibald who had married Mary Thomas. He believes they live there near Tocca Falls in Hall County Georgia.

Archie and Nancy live there in Lauderdale County Alabama for about 12 years. They move to Fayette County when Nancy’s father died and she inherited his house thou her father set the deed so that Archibald Whitehead has no control of the property and cannot inherit it.. The year was 1839. In time he builds a grist mill on Stud Horse Creek. It is in Fayette County that Archibald runs for sheriff. He serves for some years

It is now the year 1810 that Joshua Alexander Whitehead is born in Lauderdale County. It is also possible that there were twins born, Joshua and Joseph. Joshua is a strapping boy of independence and has his own ideas of life, after all he is his fathers son. He is venturous and prone to wondering the woods in hunt of game. Most is for the family table but some he will willingly sale. In 1815 Joshua walks to Winfield Alabama where he finds his sister, Ally. He stays with Ally for the winter then as the spring grass shows he begins to take overnight jaunts. One time he was gone for a week only to return to tell Ally that he is thinking about going to Texas. She explains that they live on the east side of the state somewhere near the cattle town of Fort Worth.

Sometime around 1820 Joshua decides to head out for Texas. There is talk of war with Mexico over the annexation of Mexican land into Texas but he is going to find family there in east Texas. He wishes he had a horse but the family needs every horse they have for the farm. So that Ally does not worry Josh leaves a note to let her know he is gone saying that as soon as he is settled he will write. Maybe he can join with a group for a distance however Joshua is somewhat like his great grandfather who preferred to travel alone. This allowed him to set his own pace. He can stop and work to earn wages or he may work for food while he rest. He crosses a great river on a ferry at a place called Memphis which is south of a larger town of Possum Town which will later be called Columbus Mississippi. He is not pleased with his distance as rain is becoming more common every week or so. The wagons which are used along these roads create a quagmire making walking difficult. The rising waters make crossing streams a hazard. He follows the better roads which are more or less southerly. He finds a road headed west and takes it, hitching a ride on a cargo wagon. This wagon stops at a town called Macon. There is a small group of stores along the river. Talk is of riverboats coming up occasionally however he has no money for a boat and anyway, the boats are going east, not west. He crosses the river called the Noxubee which he finds that in the language of the Choctaws means Stinking Waters because of a great battle fought there some years earlier. There were so many dead that they were thrown into the river to remove them down stream. However many were tangled in floating debris. On the other side of this river Joshua finds a wagon road headed more or less west. Some twenty miles and two days later having crosses one creek after the other he decides that the advice of the mule skinners is good advice, he is going to hold up for a few months until the creeks go down making travel much better. He has heard that there is a town called Louisville somewhere over this way so he heads for it. As he crosses two hills almost a mile from one top to the other he sees smoke in the near distance. Thinking that this is Louisville he heads for the smoke. When he finds the settlement he finds that this is Ellison Ridge and not Louisville. As he talks he finds that Mr. Avery has a farm and is in need of help so Joshua will work for him for as long as he is here. There is a room above the barn that is made for farm workers. It is warm and has a small heater for warmth. The window catches good air being higher than the other buildings. Two weeks later a young girl comes out to call for dinner. Josh ask who she is. She is Mr. Avery’s daughter who has been going to school in Louisville with and living family. Josh thinks this may be something he likes. Within two weeks Josh and Sara Avery are becoming close. They talk every chance they have and in time declare their plan to marry. In early 1825 Joshua Alexander Whitehead and Sarah Avery are married. They take a home nearby for their family. Nancy is born in late 1825. Having saved his earnings Josh finds property in southeast Winston County and south of Ellison Ridge. The community is called Claytown. In time there are eight children born of Sarah Avery Whitehead and Joshua. They are;

Nancy Avery born 1825 and marries William T. Ashmore

Mary Ellen Whitehead born January 7, 1838 who marries William Smith Whitehead a cousin from Lauderdale County Alabama.

Gracie Whitehead born 1841marries Sam Rosemond after his wife Annie Hatcher dies.

James Alexander Whitehead born 1842.

Samuel Rip Whitehead born September 20, 1873

Lucenda Catherine Whitehead, born 1849

Eta Linda Whitehead, born 1859

The State of Mississippi had raised numerous companies to defend Mississippi because of the Northern aggressors. By November 1860 the Southern states have seceded from the union and created the Confederate States of America with Jefferson Davis as president. War is on the horizon. James has kept up with the talk of joining. In early 1862 James travels to Louisville to look into joining up with one of the units being organized. He would like to join with a Calvary unit but finds that he must provide two horses in order to be considered. On the Whitehead farm there are only mules for farm work and he knows that two cannot be spared. He then joins with a rifle unit called the Winston Rifles Company D. The company travels by Mobile & Ohio Railroad to Macon where they join with the Noxubee Rifles. Eventually they are joined with a larger division as Company D, 35^th Regiment. They are sent to Corinth. The Confederates , under the command of P. G. T. Beuregard, pushed the Union aggressors back until the confederate defense fell in one place allowing the union under the command of General William S. Rosencrans to penetrate the Confederate line. James’ division retreated to Coffeeville where James and others were captured. He is taken to Alton Island Prison where he dies of Pneumonia on March 15, 1863.

On March 9, 1867 Joshua’s daughter Mary dies. He wishes to take her to the Ellison Ridge Cemetery but all is frozen and the cold will prevent travel for some time. Even after thawing there will be a while before the muddy roads are passable for a funeral. There has been talk of building a church with a graveyard but nothing has happened yet so he decides to put a cemetery close to his home. Just south of their home is a hill. He drives to the place with Mary in the back of the wagon in a pine coffin he and her husband William have made.

Sarah Avery Whitehead died on May 9, 1871. She is buried in the Whitehead cemetery. In 1873 Joshua marries widow Sarah Duran. They have no children and she dies two years later. Joshua buried her in the cemetery where some of her family are. Today this is the Robinson Cemetery. There is no marker on her grave and the cemetery is abandoned.
On March 11, 1976 Joshua marries Mary Kemp who is the daughter of Henry and Harriett Kemp. Mary is only 21 years old but they are happy. Soon another child is on the way.

Docia Whitehead is born on January 9, 1877

Charlie W. Whitehead born June 27, 1885

Crumbie born October 7. 1883