Document text
IN LIEU Oi diASTAING biTTSH
Written by: Miss Miami. Stonestreet
Washington. Georgia
Idited by:
Mrs. Leila A. iiarris
Supervisin diter
Georgia Writers* Projest
Area
Augusta, Georgia
January 9. 1940
Minnie i.Aonestreet
'6ashington, ,;*orgia
December l, i939
IN LISli 31 aOka.,iTiilli4 4417i4Ai
It is so neur Christmas and ,erybody, even depression
victims, are in to gr!tat a rush to give me an interview. So,
as :ieorgia -;iriters' work, liKe tie show must go on, I'll just
tell my awn story for want or a bettor one. I Certainly
belong in the list of hard luck folks, yet 1 asve the best
there ia in life the best mother in the world, aealth, a
oozy little Sit of U liaMO, even if it isn't Ljuite paid for,
a oircle of leyal friends, with always the beat Friend who seems
much nearer at Car'stmas time when all heaven and eurth join
in celebrating Ale birtduay.
To begin at tag) beginning, 1 we born, *alone according
to some inc cam* into tae world boron, the birt4 certirioate
law, is about tue hardest fact of all to prey*. Alt I have my
own mother's word or it, taut I was really born on tne stroke
of aidnignt in tae middle or 4 vary hot aummer. She std I
started out it Lite with an indefinite birtau y and a lusty yell.
My father ws tae eldest of tare* cuildron 4211,-.1 N411 the
only son. iben he was 8 yeara old his father died of tubercu-
losis; i'dur yers later his motto: pussea sway with, tas aasie
disease. la tUuss days it wa.: believed tA t tuberculosis was
inherited, ',11-4 everyone wao was at all intersted in the
"Howard orpnans" srAe it tueir business to vc)rn tat, poor little
tnings th,3t tuey were doomed, that *very cough was a sure
symptom of the terrible white plague. They grew to be of age
somehow, surprised that, they had escaped that far, but with
the deep-rooted conviction that they ifere iiving on borrowed time;
that in u few short years they would succumb to their inherited
lung trouble. Although nut one of them died of the trouble
tueir whale lives were saahowed by its fear.
311 hsr deathbed my grandmother had a lifelong friend called
in. de was a prominent man in tae community, known ior his
kindness ana goodness, 6116 she asked him to tux* her chilhren,
and their property And raise the little ones as though they
were his, aroviding ior them out of their property, and giving
eaon of them a 6a.,d education.
Sverything that coula DO sold was turmoil into money,
oven to my father's pony that his father had given him went
on the block while he cried, beg6ing through his sob*, to be
allowed to icep it. Unly quilts made by their mother, hand-
made coverlets agiltlk spreads., ohe each, to given the daildren
of all the haudsome old furnishings of the home. The estate,
all told, amauht,ed to up in the thousands, big estate in those
days. The guardian took the chlidrea lute his bone, reared
them and mA:kagsh taair p.bperty. It waa so well managed
thut when my father was oir age there was only several hundred
doalars ,nd not ono thin extra had been spent for him, not
even a college e,.uc4tion as his wother had requested. is
refuse is share sa:,ing he wo'la wait until his sisters.
were or age aid thee eaoe would recoil,* the remnant oi tneir
inheritaneo. This taey did, out where tits money went was
never know* tor there was no one to investigate and the standing
of the guardian in the county was so higk ae one would question
his actions. To Ais ayin4 aay my father laud the tenderest feeling
rar orpkans encL gave ail he could afford to tae support of
orpkanages.
Despite, his bitter experience wiien growing up, Fatker was
one of the most trusting persans I nave ever known. Ant I would
be much better off toaay, WIGI maybe not sa great a depression
victim it l dad not inherited that trait. Mat I am tnankful
thut I still a-hve i-itk in my fellowman, and have no fear of
tubereulesis, althougk I have received hard reps ficaciaily
from some, and have been warned alJ. my lire by old friends Of
the nail'', against taking cold, "for you must remember'
they acid, "taut both of your grandparents died pita tuber-
culosis, Iva that is tae way it started with colds."
Atter tri th ot my grandfather aou_rd, VASA I was a
mere baby, we moved to the old home it county. here
I was -the center of attractiok lOr my parents, my grandmother,
two baeheler UUQ1041 and a your lady aunt. The mystery te
me is, how in the world I ever iived torJugh onildhood with
such close attention!
I was my grahamether's shadow atter we moved lute Aer soae.
-4.
She told as all tilt wonLerful stories of her life Caen sue we young,
all about plantation life oefore the war, and daring tde war.
About "Old Abe Lincoln", tee "damn Yankees" an all the hardships
our family endured auring tiiose trying uays. Sarly in my life the family
found they had a little rebel oil their hands, and to on. as yet had
succeeded in onanging me along th4t line. I love tne o d South
with all of its charm and tradition, romanee aat beauty, and if
I could have been consultod aeout living, I would have 041MOR
to livo my whole liie Just prior to the liar Betas** the States
in the very heyday ot Dixie.
Some day I Lope to write sonic, of the thinga my grandmother told
as as we used to sit on the long front perch of tae old home, she
wita her quilt making, nu as sitting in a little caair at her feet
begging for more sLarios. Ste almost lived on the porta, and could
tell time by Lae ina. The house front twit aa4 in the morning
ahe told time by the rows of nails in tao old-tasaionod plank lloor.
When the sun at to one row of nails it was time to go in and dee
about dinnor; in to afternoons the wan was in tat walk, a long
walk it wee to a gate Zast 14s never tastenw:. The ooxwoods on the
walk were t e clock numerals, it was time to feed the chiokeas when
the sun was at a certain boxwood; tile rural mail carrier was due
when it stood at auoth.er one, am, to on. I have never known any
other person that oDiAla tell time so accurately without a clock.
Not that there were no timepieces in our family, there wort plenty
of them, but m7 grandmother was such a busy person *Us 41d
not like to have ta et to from hdr sewing an quilts long
enougn to gs inside the house to see the black, so she studied
the sun's progritss olose anaugn to tell time by it.
We were, I supposo, sat RJS known aa the middle 'lass
of that day, although in our oommunity our iamily 1443 looked
up to by Ina nei6Abors. We lived in a nistbrie Old nous*,
one of the oldest in bilis section of Le state. My grandfather
an iseeentrie, spoiled, youngest oaild or a large adoring and
',saltily family, got cross when tie started an additiea to toe
house never iinisned it, and, strange to tell, that ?ortion
of the hats* remains unfinianet to this aay, although all or its
large family was born and reared there. It is a Aelightful
old plass, sitting bask ih a large grove of magnifietult,' oaks.
played in the bi€, froat yard in the snag. of Lae most beautiful
white oaks I mlve ever aeon, and allowed my imagination full
rein. I had a wuJia town laid out tnere, streets, nausea,
and everytning my over-aotive faney could think el ezeept
beaistary. When I suddlnly realized that every tow* chat was any
town at all had a eemetery, I set about having one in my town
in 4 d.,.rry. hews AA it long ragman a prOblOn; I get a big
basin or water, anh in a moment it was a loyally 1140 with boats
made of large ls, sea, sailing on its mirrored surface. In
the boats were passengers, :went women, and dhilarea created
with straws of various leagtAs al. dressed witn /lower petals.
All wea% well ror a little while, then there was a terrific
eollision, two boats went dews carrying every passenger to
the bottom. Le, when the sad task of fluding the dead and
interring them was ever, there was an up-to-the-minnte cemetery, a
credit to any %swat
My father taught school and When i was seven years old I
his
started to/eel:tool. I was so tiny at six that it was de
aided to lot ma grow a little sore before I started on the long
hard task of getting educated. Among my very awed:test memories
are the early days in ecaoel wash my father was the teacher.
Ws haa to go two miles and rode most of the time, but in nice
weather we walked through a beautiful wood and in the sprias
be would stop an we would tot wild flowers dad heart leaves
on our way. I feel sorry tor the calldrea of today who are pieked
up at tneir doors and whizzed along to school; they miss so muck
by not having to walk a little way taroagh the woods where all
nature is sallied' and restful oath to mind and sody.
Those perfect adys °henget, however, My father's health railed
and he decadel to move to lasningtoa, l) miles away. He accepted
a position as bookkeeper in one of the big mereantile place*
here and ia February we moved so that he could take over his duties
on March let. de was taken with Lagrippe soon after moving,
and was never well agaia. he died early in July. During his
illness an at its ueat* all the family savings had to be used.
My mether's family begged her to aave back. to the old hems
In tne country in which she had an umdivided interest. Ski, would
net do this preferring to make our way and keep me in school here.
ake started sewing the fall after my father's death and her work
pleased tor few customers so much that it vv,a pot laas before
cae had more work than she could do. Jibe kept busy day and night.
Mainy nights I have waked up past midnight and there she was sewing,
unaware that I was awake. I have seen ker dry her eyes, grieving
for my father who died 53 young, JUR% 44. She was 12 years
youner than he was.
148 doing well IL IstboA aftar ay fatlier's death whoa I
was t kah sick following a mild attack of i:;arman measles. For
three years the family phyeiciaa gave Mother no hope it my re-
covery. 3ut finally I won the fight against diaeasa and very
gradually got back to fairly gaod haalth. In the aeaLttas my
school work /lac to
go undone. Thi3 diatreose4 us all, but the
wise old physicias said th,-t my health was worth more than say
eduootion and he was sure 1 bs. ambitian enough to study at
hams and learn for myself. This I did when I was able. My
aother was not able to have a privet* teaoher ter me and much
too busy to teaoh me b,rsolf. I soot. 1,7)und myself aimont living
in our city library whore I had the test of books of every kind,
and I studied nizht an6 day.
When I was lu my late teens a fori.er hashingtoa woman
came hams after Ativiu6 taught Ler years in a business college.
Her family prevailed upon her to teach here. This she raid and
I enrolled at ones. In class one day she said that the course
was a hard one and that it took high sehool graduates to complete
it. After I rinished 1 tela her I was ADZ a high sanooi graduate
and she was amazed. Later I taught shorthand and typing and my
pupils have been most sucesasful in the business world.
After fihishiag my business course on the 31st of,August
1 went to work on the 2nd or Jeptember in the offise or a young
attorney whose practise was not large enough to warraht a
secretary's services, but his father who was very wealthy
had died and the estate haa to be settled. This made it
necessary for someone to be in the office constantly. I worked
for four months here, the attorney paid me 440.00 and a ootten
buyer w o haa desk space with dim paid me 420.00 for writing
cotton cheeks for him. Fifty diLlars a month and ail of it mine!
After the fall was over there was no more work tor ma for sometime,
only odd jobs occasionally. All of taose preoious dollars
saved haa t,1 be used until finally I landed another job.
This time I received 00.00 per month and all sent well tor a
long time. Then the honorable attorney felt he CIOUIQ no longer
afford such a luxury as a stenographer (and he really couldn't
Judging from tt.ie small number Di cases he had anci the way his
wife spent money), so I W43 called in his private office and
was told the story 1 dreaded so to dear: "I have deciaed that
I must do ay own work since business is orf so much. I would
like to keep you in but this will be the last month I
can possibly afford it." So there I was again out of
work. For several months I worried as I saw my second
savings account dwindle lower and lower and no prospect
of a job.
Help finally came through the close friendship of
an elderly woman who almost adoptod me. 3he kept me with
her for a largo portion of the time and took me on many
pleasure ana research trips. In tuis way I learned much
of the history and tradition of our town and county and
to gredtly appreciato our old records. I had a great
desire to work among the old records in the courthouse,
but haw to land a jab there I did not lulu,. But one day
I h&u an inspiration to apply to the Clerk of Court fer
a place in nis office. Not waiting to go downtown to so*
his, I slippsd dawn to the telephone when no one was in
the house and called him up. he was very sorry, but he
dia not have an opening, but would keep me in mind should
a vacancy occur. A little while later, just when I was
beginning to despair, I w%s called to the phone and it was
the Clerk saying that the man who was working for him hat
resigned, so would I call by the nut morning to talk about
the position. I was so happy I could hardly speak bull
some how I told hi.ir I would as there. how long that night
was; I eould not get to the courthouse fast enough mks&
morning finally °aims. I walked into the Clerk's office
OP U11111.
VitA tee 6reatest aiguity arid a uaimaess i have never
unalrsteeo to 'cats 4110. I got terough tile interview
aria walked out vita the Joh. i reportee for wart en
tao lot aay or November 17.
I remember my iirat essi6umant irry vivialy. It
vas to record a ueee and in A 014 uurry Jar the *ner was in
tows, ler only u 3aort ti.. Le 11/1011 so far out in the gauntry
teott he could not it in Let tka paper AAG Watsi not trust
it to the mails, 11W he haA to wait for it. I have al*ays
had a sueakiug suspicion teat it was is first paper ter
record.
ze there Ilida* ike94 by an olci model allietti-Fisher
book mseeine suce aa I never seen iu fact never even
knew that such a cantraption yea mauuiastured. Since, I
have decided it vais the very first one meas. 4• employer
very kinaly brouat the ler6e a':)une ourrent uses record
out ai the vault and put it in tee maceine duu starts* me
off. There I wus p,,traneu U. en a high stool, ay peer little
stumpy &rue reacning taeir fuil 1etA and MO* same over
to tae keys up at tee very tip top ai the page. I was is
excited l caulan't *trite tat, rit,t tey looking at it, but
sameaew I tina.Lly iinisneu teat paper. t tae eua
record I 'MS instruated to *rite "Resordee Novemser let
aver sines, vueuever I feel um about to 6et the "big-eead"
over anytniug, I quietly go over to tee Ulerk's altise and
get out that b.ek, turn to the page and taike en* good laak
at that piece of w rt. I came out, almust on tiptoe greatly
taken c3Mi and ge oa oout my business Awaiting I Aaven't a
thing in the Tarld to ea stuek-up about.
But with the UsAt reeording i w86 uot ma excited and
did a bettor job. My or mes suti3factory for I stayed on as
recoruing alert until li:13 when I resigned to tare a rositien
in u privute office.
Tile ó years of uervice in tiie Clerk's office meant mush
to no. I came in contact witu aiany of tue county people and
made friends tiimong 'both muite au d ulaok. I Ih.ed tue work
and nated to leaYO. Mose yoare at the courthouse covered
tme entirely ciffernt p,arleas Cus iirst of reat proartrity,
the last the haru uays leaLing to financial ruin the
"depression" as it 13 AUJWA now. At One tiMS during trio Gaye
when money was easy, there were 4 banks in Wasuiagtoa and 3
in Tigaall, au4ing 7 in iiilkes County. They all hat a reat
deal of surplus currency. I nuNO huu over aUll par)ere on my
desA at one time tar recurd, mostly bills of sale from teem,
banks. For woes worked tr_ym surly moruing to late of
never c&Loting ur mi6h cue dupers that streqmed in
fuster titan I oould rut then on reoord.
A praetie,-Ily umiu,amn r-raisa with eassost no financial
standing cau.ru get 00.00 irom a bank or an inuivieual, by
putting up a hu„; or two or a bony oid caw, that uied long
oefore taa paper was due, as collateral.
Iveeyone WhS buying autagaubiles on paper. Uny, 1
eVell went so far as to try out a ear and Vieure on ouying it,
but my mare sensible kether said "No" se empuatieally tnut I
knew I n4U better not „io.aL;ainst her, so we were among tns
very few wha walked in litle old 44ashingtandAilkes where almost
every 4Lown make of automobile wasp sale in tasse palmy ways.
The nearest 1 ever came to owning sue was tu buy the kodak that
wus included in the equidment of one or the highest prised ones
as tile buyer alreaay owned a keuak.
Land prices were soaring at this time. Men ono hat here-
tofore aoteu witA won-erful business jusgmeat seemed to tarew
all discretion to the wind and oaugat ordinary Wilkes County
land at enormous prises. Some maae aown payments or cask fer
es muoh aa the land was wortk mortgaging the place for the
balance. Otners mortgaged goad homes and land for money
to buy high priced farms. I recorded all tuose papers.
Later, *hen priees bei42an to drop, suits were tiled tor huge
unpaid amounts then in Uue prosess of law. A. recorded
judgment against these goat: people, :laaU to auerifr's aeeds to
tneir lands. I have seeng an public sale aays, strong men
staua with tears in tueir eyes and 4th uivering lips as they
heard tue sheriff's "All bibs in *lank hunured Luilars,
once; blank nundred aailarso twice; olank hundred dollars throe
timoo, sole tu air. ,.;e-and-sks lor Blank Aunared Limners."
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This price io _ost instances being about 1/10 046 Viet it had
sold for a fort years before.
As 1 saw so any victims of tue crash following the
prosperous years of 1918-19•20 I Coought A. sympatnized
with tiles feeling that we were fortunate indeed. kother
had 100 acres of as good land ea there was in tne county
and a nice bank account. I had two Liberty bonds und a
savings aocoust besides a job with a sure salary. bard
tines were sometning cenind us we h4. gone through all
we would ever have. Then too, all tnese people who were
having such trying tLiles now were poor managers, that was
all poor managers. Better 'believe I coulO manage bettor
than that, I'd never lose wnat 1 had, no sir, nat it Well
let's see.
During these prosperous tilAss I have been talaing about,
my Uncle Ben refused *40.00 sash per sere ior ais 190 sore
farm. And As hkid sold tue timber on aoout P.A4 acres of tee
A,Atie ?lace for 4,b00.00 oast'. tJut or this 4aount Mother
receive4 her ane-fourth
aosepted a position with a premilAmt insuranoe agent,
ha July lot 1924. As had obaerved my work and offered as
the plece.st a consinerable raise over onat 1 was getting,
with trio promise of promotion as 1 earned it. My poor bask
was well-nigh broken with the lifting of heavy books in the_
Clerk's *Mee, ono too, I was conatantly reminded that
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there Was AO rtitUrO %4the jab. I tried for a raise time after
time, but always met with the same story "paying as muck an I
can", whea tem truth is I was by my awn work, making sore tnen
my salary in ta 5 lays ever; month, not counting coots cot suits,
cancellatieas* slAlary curing court and much she that did not
euaa to ay desk* and I was tae only kelp in the erase.
I WAS deliglated with my 2111 work frost tte first and received
raise in a few months. In October arter I okanged ponitions,
my naekelor anal,* failing in health* wanted to °one live with
us. We live in an npartment without a spare nedroam. Se he
fluid himsolf up a niacr:Joa in the gurage that ha u been used a
before
stiort wt.:1*as a ham* by tno ily while tney were tuilding
tas nous,. ke been wita us only a row weeks whoa as was
taken seriously ill.
On the following Thanksgiving eve* my mother went to bed
feeling a little tired, out tia well as usaal. The pox% morning
she wan too cask to get up and tha .iocter said she vas very
ill; no feared pneumonia. This dread malady aid develop and
for days three doctors and two nurses die all tnat was knows
to medical scion's, but at 0114 time It seemed of no avail. One
morning they Lai i;ave up hope and said that the sat was only a few
flours off. dowever, they aid nut stop tneir brave struggle
to win'against the enemy. Attar an hour or two tnere was a
slight cnan6e for the better toe crisis was past dAd then
started the long tedious period or coavalememumn. In 1day of
the next next year she WA, pronounced well easugh to be dismiss,*
by tne (Lester au a leas allowed to grass for the irat time since
her illness.
For two or tnree months 1 title to óe at MAW for MI
ample grew so much worse twit we uid not expect him to live
in fast 1 aka given up hope of ay eotner and unele it deemed
taey were in toeether. aut all tale time ay empleyer
kept my place for me, but of course, I lost the pay for all the
time I was out. inen Metner got better and all expenses were paid,
the family savings lv,(1 aglout reached bottom again timber money
*mu all.
In July of that year my uncle.aied. his will was read
anu to my surprise he had left as nis little 19G sere farm
and ay aotaer a eig portion of Als estate. Tale all aid
not amount to so very aiuolt altar ale last expenses were net
and the inheritance tax, ordinary's an attorney's fees were
paid. Mettler stralgAtened up all affairs and opened a aavings
acoount in the Ascii-tango Bank, tae oldest bank here and tile
Oria we hue always used.
How proud I was over awning a farm a plantation all
my very own. Immediately 1 n areams of a fortune made
farming, uric set ao)ut to make tnosa dreams come true. Right
away, as though to spur Me on, a looal lumberman wanted a
trsct oi timber. I sole it for 4010U.044 that was jut
the pines, not the land. This zioney I toot und invested in
filing up Las nausea' GI, the pluoe, ouyiug larming equipment
and h4ring a ferner. An old Negro men anti hi* wife waon he
called "Pig" were hidhly reconneaded to ass but the man he
lived with wouldn't lat kin go uzitil he finished payiag hia a
debt, the Delano* being 436.00. On, yes, I would pay it
glhdly, so the cheok wsi;VIOD Limn am. all arrangements naue.
Why the first tine my tenant cane driving ny guiles to my
lieges, 1 felt like a millionaire! At last, I was lamming,
and I could hardly wait uLtil fall when I would have many pales
of cotton to malt
Averytning want well all spring for the I4groes and
the mules. The first of every month I wrote cheek for
their ratioas for 30 uaye, besii;As incidentals. Then cane
the summer still everything was going aloha; nicely oa
the farm for all, except ne, including the bell -weevils which
bad sieved in en ny cotton fields.
At last the load looked far fall cane. With sera, bottom,
peas, potatoes all to be gathered in, and I, the newest far-
mer, was to have 1/2 of all that wcas 6resa ea my 190 bread
acres. I could Jardly wait.
One day, Lee Blakey, the negro farmer, cane to the
office with the in cv,rtifioates far all the cotton grows on
ny place that year 2 bales weighing less than b00 sash!
Yrs* then had to cone pay for the fertilizer bill, the year's run,
of
and the price/Cotten almost negligible.
I settled up as beat 1 could, but instead of the dreana
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of a fortune made on a farm, i had nightmares of *ores and
agree ol sotton with all tee people I awed standing in the
middle of them.
The Negroes pleaded with me to let them stay on, t
let them try one more yaar, they would "'deem everything and
make some money "Yeoman, some oig money." Jo disobeying one
me
of those hunohes that an astrologer told/always to heed, I
agreed to let them stay. Winter came -on and I reoeived news
of the death or one of my mules. 1 sae trying to decide whether
to get a one-horse wa„;en and plow, uud do. the pest I oould
with half of what we haci the year before, or to ouy another
mule and try it all over again in a big way. Before I eould
deoide this all important queetion, SJMO011e uama asking that
I send the doctor for Lse, my farmer. I went out with the
physisian who is a klUitgliA of mine. When he came out to go
home he said the man's illness was oritisal and he did net
think he could recover. Ho died in a citty or is. I did have
sense enough to see toot as kept up his insuranse as there
was ehou6a from that to pay the doctor and the burial expenses.
I had bat hogs and chiciteas AUCI they were to be
raised on halves. -khan poor Lee died and Ai3 widow "Pig"
was *swiss away, 1 sent 40Wn lor my half of the pigs an
chickens. Oh, no, there wasn't a one ier me, my pigs died
and the hawks dons +botch. Wry las' one oe your chiokens,
Miss Minnie." or oourse taey expected me to bLtlieve it
and I guess I was se confused over tug sudoen turn of events
I must have :Looked simple enough to make them think I really
All of this seems bad enough, but there is more.
While I was trying to work out some way to get my farmlog
venture out of the red and see about starting over, news oame
that fir. had destroyed the house on my place. For several
years I had carried insurance on it good insurance for it was
a very nice house, old out well built. Joan after I nad sold my
cotton and found now very much I lacked of meeting expenses,
I had lot the insurance expire so t4o house just up and burned
from sparks from a forest lire that went over the plass destroy-
ing muck timber in its path. It went au across to Mother's place
too but spared her -houses.
With this last blow, like tee drinking man who was
several times thrown out of a party he had gime to uninvited,
I picked myself up with the oonclusioa that fate uid not want
me to farm, sal just wasn't going to do it. I gathered up
what wFis left, SOld all equipment and two* had to mortgage
the piss* to help pay the debts n.aie in the grand failure.
At the same time wale I was doles all or this,
Mother *Is d4* tue tvAme tains only on a bigger seals
en her adning plaoe. J. didn't lose any mules, hands
or houses, so it took her several. years ionger to to oonvinoed
that it was a losing proposition.
About this this time, oame sningten's first Mink failure.
And of oourse it had to be the ikohange aank, the one where
our money Wda deposited. After about ten years Mother at
*14.00 from tne over 40.U0 she had there.
During all this time I was working at the Carrington
Insurance kgency at a very nioe salary. however, in 1928
things were very bad financially and my- employer get behind
with my sala.ry. Times w. re so hard there was uot another
opening so i stayed on and kept ap as neat I could, ever
hoping better ties would come. "Prosimirity was around the
corner" in those days, so saiu everybody.
In 1929, the friend who owned the heuse we lived in
had. U aplendid (4portunity to sell it. he gave us the re
fusel out it vas a 1.1.6-ar ous* than we needed and much more
expensive tha we could afford aftor our oig losses. 40 had
always wanted a little home, so we pought tine small lot next to
where we lived and started a alms on the unit plan building
only a small portion of what we hope to have some day.
Before terttr n.. ur house I had a talk with Mr.
Carrin6ton and he assured we that he wouici have.voney in hand
to pay all he owed me ana that my salary would go right on.
He then told me 4loin g stories of his prosj.eots, and I
foolishly believed it all. wont ahead ano built ou*
house and then everything went to iAeoss. The bills were
due anu we paid out as far as we could. There was no money to
go any farther, Mr. Carrington wad failed in ilia contract and 1
could not, collest anythin. Creditors vere ur ing payment and
the plumbing man was uost especially insistent and ugly. One
material man Tc23 hard tip niaselk, and turougn nis attorney made
things very uifilcult. de, however, owned an immense plantation
down near ours, so as he thought tell of my little place,. he
suggested taking a second mortgage on it. I gladly hid this
feelif4; vary safe for thedreither of them could foreclose
witbout paying the other.
gitn a note signed by both Mother
anu myseif, we satified the otner materialt,man.
In the oifica tniugs went from pad to worse. Mr.
Carrington uiLo tailed oompletely. he SW
ested that I take
over his recoruing iire business as prt pitymeat on what ne owed
he
me and that/Would pay me 410.LA) per week to stay on to do his life
insurance of,iee work. This I agreed to do novin.„ no other
place to
His lire insoranoe ousiess ws scattored ovar sevaral
coui,ties and most of it was vary uouesiraole Out I was like a
sinKing person, I ,;raebed At enyttaktii- I thou‘nt 1 could weed
out tile eau risks anu gradually build ip a gaoh business.
SM
l'his I stafted out to do, but I _hit kw:keen/the town's ,keen
fire insurance competition.
Before I could make aLy neadway there were fires one
-21
after anotaer bringing terrific, losses to tae companies I
represented. Then to cup the °limas, r. arringtoa fortood
my name to eame policies, collected tne premiums and spent
them. he collecteu same others ind used the money, leaving me
liable to tne Company. I laud to take legal steps to stop aim,
but it wa3 tao late to OfiVO A4 from financial embarrassment
such as I nac never thaue;at possible.
About this time I was a physical and financial wreck
I could neither eat nor sleep from worry and dread. I had
an indebtedaess of something like 41,700.00 or more with nothing
to meet it and living expenses going on it home for my mother
and me. osides the 4b00.00 that kr. 0arringtoa had collected
in premiums and used, and for which I was rsponsible to the
fire insurance companies, he owed me over 4700.00 in back
salary. I appealed to his orother in Atlanta, u very prominent
merchant there. He promised to aid as in every way saying that
he would 30* tnat his brother paid as and that if he didn't that
he would see that I did not lose a penny if I would just let
him maLage it. dines he was a big churchmaa, an e fieial in the
Presbyterian denominatioa and a great Billy Sunday ivangelistie
Club member and wom.er, I believed him. In fact the first time
I ever saw hill was same years before when me came here with
some members of tae Atlanta dilly Sunday Club to nold services
in this little oaantry town. He spoke in tde morning at our
-22-
Metdodist Church and in tue evening at the Baptist. I
was Lot working for hia orothor at the time but I heard hia
and thought what a Christian gentleman he was. Little did
I think that some day I would hive a perfectly good op-
portunity to find out for myself. What a Iot of difference
there is between saying and doing.
Well one day a friend who had a dental office next to
the Carrington set-up °aim in and offered me room ii his office.
I accepted, borrowed a desk, an old broken down typewriter and
brouitAt a chair fram home. I had nothing to move across the
hall but some insurance blanks and forms. But that slave
proved to be tde most fortunate one I ever made, und now that
I lo.ok back on it, I feel sure that it was a kind Provides's*
who directed it.
In 193 I applied far 'work in the office of our Government
County Administrator here. I is called in every few nays
for several uoura work t Joh helped immensely. Later as the
work expanded I was ,:;iven more work until a family connection
of the Administrator was taicee in, then I was transferred to
the re.s.employment office for part time work. This I had for
sometime, uaing the money to meet our obligations and only
taking a little out for living expenses. Then came notice
that this office would 4e closed so I registered for work
the last tiling I did before leaving. I.registered for general
office work, typist and historical research.
-24
Right away I applied to tae Administrator tor work.
Shil did not eive me anytuing nor even encourage as, although
ay application showed how very much I was in need of work. In
the meantime there was a shakeup in the administration here and
a young man was sent to replace the county administrator. I
went to see him and laid my case efore him. My mother had
never fully recovered from her long illness and was unable to
do anything so the entire tinanoial burden was on me.
After waiting as patiently as prevailing conditions
allowed for a reasonaole lenc,th of time, I borrowed to money
and went to 4tlanta to put my Cd40 before someone in the State
011ie'. Miss Shepperaoa was nat in tae city so I was inter-
viewed by Miss Jane Yen de Vrede, iihen I finianed my story,
I asked: "Is there a place in tike program tor met°
Sbe replied kindly ad emphatically, "There certainly is
you will be put to work at once."
She wrote Lie loJ. ottice to that efieet and very soon
I was indexing tae oldest records in the Clerk's office. That
project expired aoaut the time Feueral 'oriLeral was started mod
greatly to my surprise and deligat I w s giveo a job on that
project, euidia I have retained until tat) present time and I
am still liking it more _Ind more.
In 1946 my former employer pasieu away without paying as.
his brother, when time came to make good is promises failed on
some slight pretext. 4hicil ,4„Jels ta snow, as the old hegre
4
preacher said: "you mho° can't oelieve every thing folks
promises you."
Being so deeply involved, 1 could not pay aut in a very
long tine, it ever, and a uito,r friend stepped in and took
charge of our affairs in 11135. He sold all or our land
at 445.00 per acre, paid up as far as it would go and helped us
get the .angled strands of our financial affairs in better
order. We iv,44 been unable to pay State and county taxes for
5 years they amounted4o nearly 40400.00.
All of this hadiAeneA over a very short period of time
but I reel like I lived a lifetime.. My mother is frail and
I cfaul6 never let her know how bad our condition really was.
She *duid awl me to brin6 „ruceries home when needed and many
a time I would not have tue money se would conveniently "forget"
them. I remember once she told me among other things to bring
some settee LAat day. I hadn't the price so 1"forget" it
thinking surely toe next day I would get the money. I didn't
get it, nor the next and se on for several days. We had to
drink tea, it was in the winter time, and neither of us liked
it. Finally Mother said: "I'll dealer*, your memory is -getting
as bad as mine and if you don't think oi t at coffee today,
I'm going up town and get it myself." I laughed with her
over the "joke" sue thought it was, but my heart sank tearing
she would find toe real reason why I had kept "forgetting"
the needed groceries.
-Bb
Sometimes I was so panicky I almost collapsed when I heard
the sheriff's voles in tho building, I was so afraid sone
of my orediters were foreolosing and would put us out
every week I feared looking over the legal advertisements
lest our land was listed among the tax sales.
My good friend, who took me in his office, and his
wife nave meant everytning to as he was always so jolly
and helped as not to give up. He gave me a desk and helped
me buy a re -built typewriter. In exchange I helped him all
I could. Se was an elderly man partially retired, so that
there was not much office work to do. Se died last Ootober
but even in passing away he thought of me and provided as
for
office for ms/as long as 1 needisu it.
3ometimes when I think of the hard tins and territie
strain I have lied, and still am having for tAat matter, I Ka
reminded of the lines trout an old hymn:
"Through many dangers, toils and snares,
I have already oodasik"
But I do not like to think back toe much, for I an se thankful
that I did not go down completely; that there were kind
friends wao stood by me, and tnat I live in a land under the
administratioa or such a great humanitarian as our noble
President, who feels tor those who wore caught in the terrible
depression and lost almost all they had. Wno in his wonderful
-26
kindness of heart has made it possible for us to hem, the
high and rightful privilego of working out our financial
diffioulties and winning imek-our rightful plums in the
world, and still keep our self respoet and our faith in
god and man. And I can say with all the scrneshaess of my
soul:
Thank God tor Amorieat
Thank God for Franklin D. Roos:melt, ths
president with a heartt