Document text
JUL I 7 1937
Mrs" Belle Kilgore
718 waiumw strvIt
Clovis New ilexio0
Ally lb, 19S/
1160 Words
MRS. GEORG7 00ROLL
717 File Street
Olovis, Newliexieo
One day early in the week I Galled on Mrs. 0ornell, She
is a very pleasant woman in her early sixties. I was very fav-
orably in -pressed when she .rIshered me irto her living room.
-Of oourse, I knew thet she vvs an artist but I was not
prepred to fee evoh excellent deoor_tion as were on the wnlls of
her hOMO. The room war firtshsd in harmonious colors of yellows
and brown. l'hese pano16 depioted different soenes in the his-
torical development of the west. There oampfire scenes, covered
wagons, Indiana, on the ahase r4 ttauking the early whits set..
tiers, wooded Boohoo and through it all you oould see the pen of
an artist'
"Tes,there are my designs the answered, to my question if
she had planned the work. "1 took only a few lessons of drawing
and painting in sohool and so people oall me a tnaturoll -born
artist.'"
Aer husb%nd is f:n interior decor ton LnAl she assist him in
tie Apialajw_ They have decorated many privto homes, forthere
they on have a free hand and be el!tboraie or simple as the
case may warrant.
"You miht call us 'pioneer tourists, for we ore out west
with a oousine, trareling for hin hovilth in 1917. We were sev-
enteen days on the road. To went to ,;alifornia on that trip.
In 1918 we roved here nd he peen here ,3:;ost all the time
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since thet date. Our work has beer done throaehout the western
cities of this coOntry end 'es.
"It used to seem very otrege to me. The people spoke dife
ferently then from wh t they do now, but I suppose have just
become used the to the wee they talk in the south. nd west. It
must be that 1 have become accustomed to the eccentric manners
and epeech, for i do not notice now that the people are so very
much different from those in the same circumstenoes in life from
those in Ohio.
"I was born near eoledo, Ohio and was educated in thet state,.
itead there until we c me to New Mexioo.
one
"The sand wasAOf the greatest annoyances thettse hed to put
up with. There were no paved streets or herd rods. When we
strOd to go any '7hee we always took a spade and s ovel and
burlap sacks. %laterally we st'rted out fairly well, but the sand
would become so desp in pieces that our car would stick, then Mr.
Cornell would get out end shovel endedig the sand mer.y from the
wheels, then place the berine seeks in front of them. I would
drive the car and eerha. s would eo a few hundred feet and stall,
then there would be more die.ging nd scratching andeemuch-sweting
and down the burlep seek‘ would be placed. .gain and again we
would have to repot tile process, until we arrived at our desti-
nation.
If'
remember once that my cousin, a minsiter was called to
Lelrose to perform a marriage ceremony. It is about twenty-five
miles west of ‘;lovis. he did not have a car, so I told him th t
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I would take him yp there in our car. We went through the usual
prooess off' digging and padding the road and consequently we were
late. When we arrived the (32704 had come from all over that sec-
tion of the country. The bride's mother took me quite a distance
from the house and told me in hushed tones, "we are not going to
h-ve anything to et." It hnd been customnry for the infair din-
ner to be given by the groom's parents the day before the wed-
ding and a bridal dinner to be given or the day of the ceremony
by thebbilda's parents. e went back to the two -room shack or
house. Eow a shack is a building either of lumber or adobe or of
any riaterial th....t the hometeder could get for the least money
and these shacks made with a roof that has only one side
pitched or elevated.
The bride decided that she wanted some one to play a 'wed-
ding march." They asked me to play but I could not play or could
not think of anything that would be appropriate. They had an up-
right organ* finally a lady in the crowd said that she oould play
church music. They handed me a song book and requested th-t
select a evdtable song for them to march to; Well, the song was
selected, but I hays forgotten what song I chose and the organ-
ist beg 1-1 to play. Mere were only a few steps for the bride and
groom to march so before the first two or three bars of music had
been played, the couple were standing before the preacher. By t
that time the house w's literallyjammed.
Cornell
was given a seat of honor, for I was the 'honor guest.' It
was t, 1:rRo rocking chair, with a high back. There were also two
high-back dining room chairs, rid do not recall whether there
were any other chairs, b t there were many boxes and stools.
The eeremony began with some confusion. It was to be a ring
ceremony, Lnd the groom fumbled around in nis pocket, finally
found the ring,strted to give to the preacher, but dropped it.
It rolled around on the floor among the people. At last it was
found and the minister performed the "'algal ceremony. When he pro-
nounced 'husband an wife' there was a general rush to congratu-
late them and a c:reat derl of kissing and many sug7estive wishes.
When the hubbub had subsided, the minister said that he
needed some witnesses to sign the lioGnse, he sug7ested that the
bride's and grorma's mothers sign the paper. The bride's mother
was a. short plump, smiling woman and signed the license and step-
ped bask for the groom's mother to pt her name. This lady was
a tall angular sober wonall ?1,d dignifiedly vulked tp to the table
and took the on in her hnd, nut the per on the raper. She rais-
ed abtuptly and sid, "Why. IT can't write." There was a hush in
tue room very embarrassed tqe lady turned away and sat down quickly
in one of the high bck oh ire, and zoom, the chair collapsed, and
she fell to the floor.
Her voluminos skirts and feet went straight
up in the air, when she attempted,to rise, she oould not and began
to yell. -h42-e was a great scramble, and the minister with the
help of some of the guests finally lifted her to her feet.
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"Yes, I signed the license as a witness. This may not seem
so queer to the western people as it did to me at that time. But
with the humorous surroundings and awkwardnes, there was love and
kindness and these young people wanted the ceremony according to
(rad= that they hadseen and read about. These youn people who
married twenty yours ago, are now among the foremost families of
the county and have all modern conveniendes that come with hard
roads and paved streets.
The western w ye and southern drawl is not so pronounced be-
cause the citizens of this territory have come from 9.11 parts of
the United States, and have gonf through the melting pot, as it
developed
were and have4into one of the best classes of people, and have
the easiest flow of The western terms, Spanish phrases
influenced by IndiPn idioms makes a rich expressive and purpose-
ful 1f2T.pige.
re have Ir-d many and v,ried.experiences traveling' around in the
diforent parts of the eotry.
rice up in the maintains, we were tr'eling, but my husbAld wanted
to go on a hunt and as we were near a all house, we camped there
that nig:1 _nd asked me if i would afraid to st?4 there until he
°Abe b ok from the hunt. l told that I would not be afraid.
It was a two room en ck and all the windows were out and there was
no door shutter. ,During the day, long horned cows c me and put
their heads or tried to, in the windows. I drove them away.
My husband did not iet badk that night so I lyrred the doorway
.6
Cornell
with some brush and lw sed the nirht by myself. The next morning
soon Yifter sunup, a man stepped up into the door-wy. I had te.ken
the brush wway. I jumped and so did he. "Oh he Wad, "I did
not know th t anyone WnS here. I want to et my saddle and blanket
out of th, t back room." ho was very sorry tht, he startled me.
My husband in f -or his hunt ari hal rot Ifieer successful."
Mrs. Cornell is very entertaining lady and is conneoted
with the Women's lub, !and VIE) Preebytori n church.