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lir. and Zero gear]. Marshall,
‘torok C.
Lullno L. Mabry, wr tor
ME MARSHALLS
No names olamogod.
Luiine L. Mabry.
Rost* #2*
Hendersonville, M. C.
Mr, and
Dana, N.
1 Marshall,
Three times a week a neatly dressed, pleasant faced woman
near middle age may be found occupying a prominest place in
the Hendersonville Center Uarkets the table in front of her
piled high with carefully arranged farm products of tempting
appearanoe. Customers stop frequently and are always greeted
with a friendly smile. When she handles the produce offered
for sale, one notices both the smallness of her hands and the
ridden** they give of mueh hard work. The name of this woman
is Krm. larl Marshall of Dana, a prosperous farming district
to the East of nendereomville. When asked to tell the story
of her life* she did so readily and in a manner that did not
betray the scantiness of her sehooling it a time when the pub-
lic, school system had not yet reached its present degree of
efficienOr.
*Before my marr e I we. Mary Xusttut," she started. "I
wee one of nine children and my parents were farmers with far-
mer aneastors beak of them. They were raised on their parental
farms in what is know as Blue aidge, seven or eight miles Last
of Hendersonville, not far from Dana. To them people living
fron two and a half to five miles away vsr,!? taloa* neighbors.,
and there wore few facilities and lees time for visiting unless
some of those neighbors were nick. If word to that effect ?seabed
them, they vent as somas possible and did all they
for the siek familY*
*My husband,* people were always farmers, too, and he was
one of a family of six ehildrea. His mother and father were
Rabl000a and Thome Marshall, and in their early married lifer
they had a farm tvay beak in the mountains. Late", they bought
pleas not far from Jena sad my husband wee born there, But
on their first farm his parents vitOF had to dig a living from
their land by the moat prima,* aotheds sort of followed the
proeessas used by the Indians, They had wooden plows, and their
few other farming tools were equally as ancient and simpla in
design. But they raised wheat, corn, rya, oats, potatoas, and
often a little patah of flax. This eventually found its way
into the making of their table elotha and family towels. They
only reload enough for their omm use because in those days those
was not mush Ghanae to dispose of any surplus. Notting things
to a market was ouch a hard problem for most folks that they
were satisfied to raise just about what they needed for theism
salvos.
*Our grandmothers and grandfathers had to go through many
hardships before they oould *van start raising anything,. First
the land had to be elearad. That meant to deaden large tree*,
later to be out dom. Then the stumps and roots bad to be dog
out and the land cleared of underbrush all this Wore it eould
be broken broken up with the old wooden plow drawn by stout omen.
They used to have log rolling, and house raising,* and all
sorts of 'get together., when the men from all the surround4
trig homes joined elleh other at a given place and plunged into
the job to be done. Things moved fast at sueh times, and lots
of work could be turned off with number of men working all
day together. Often the women folks came along, end there was
a big dinner served picnic style at the edge of the Wearing
Hot coffee, oornbreed, buttermilk, and maybe a big glass* of
homey or jelly was always served. If there was tie to pre.
pare a pot of stewed chicken, that added much to the dinner,
sveryone was always ready to work in return for a favor re.
°sired, and it seems to we there was a more friendly spirit
among people in those days than there is now. I believe
people were happier and more contented with their lives, and
they were healthier and lived longer, too.
'People In those days wasted wood by burning it up just
to got it out or the way. of course, with everybody living
in log houses and knowing nothing eauut any other kind of build
trig, there was no demand for lumbers and if there had been, it
would have been impossible to locate a sawmill where it could
be reached by any number or people because there were so few
good roads in those day*. 4j24 the gr at big trees as well as
the smaller onas were just eut down end piZed up with brush and
set afire as a way of getting the lend cleared for farming,
'Zen1 and I sort of grew up together It seems like Pa
always known hia bemuse our farms were not so very far apart
and we saw saeh other often as growing children* Than I guess
it was just/natural thing that we decided that veld always be
happy together, so when we were old enough we Just got married*
That vas in 1907* At that time the depression going on was even
worse than the ?resent one. There vas no assistance offered to
struggling farmers in those days* People in all walks of life
just had to fight their own battles and manage as best they
could, y husband managed to find a little work hare and there
which enabled us to live somehow, but of course as yet we had
no *rope no start or auy kind, and we Just had to begin at
serateh4 what little work he did 7sanage to find brought htm
only 401 a day, mad very often he was not fully paid when the
work was don**
*Grooviries cost just about what they do today with only a
few exeeptions, but we had our youth and our pride and our in.
heritawee of ambition* We never even thought of charity and
would have been *hooked if anyone had orfered to help us in
getting started in life*
wre soon rented a farm and managed to aka out an existenoe
until my husband got sick* When he was well enough in 1914„ we
vent to live in canton, N. 0*„ because my husband could get work
in the fiber ma 1 there After two years of that we decided to
go to Norfolk. Vs., where he could work in the shipyards and earn
nor, money, and we stayed there two noro years. I also worked
most of that time. You msy be sure we saved out monoy all the
time, and as soon as we felt that we had enough to give us a
Intl* start, we returned to Hendersonville and bought a little
place on time payments, of sours,. Wir managed to get enough
farming tools and a few bead of wattle, and then we began the
serious business of getting a living out of an old fang with
dilapidated build togs.
It haa taken us 30 years of the hardest kind of work and
steady **moor and application, but today we have our property
in good r.pair, all paid for, and a oar, oleo paid for, and we
have the satisfaction of knowing it has all been dons through
our own efforts. No one has ever given um a peony. We have
kept our solf.prospoot, which is very dear to us, an0 we are
oomfortable today, although even now we have to borrow mow
almost every a'ring to maker our crop but we pay it book when
the crop is harvested in the fall.
*We have seen so -assay people we know, situated as well as
we are, grow discouraged and 6ive up trying, and now the men
are working three days a week and keeping their families on
such earnings mostly. But we have ;laver been tempted to give
up our efforts, and gradually we have rceohod our goal. Our
independence i as dear to us as our aelf-respoot e know
that wy are not ineroasing taxes for avow', and t we have
had no char. in bringing about other conditions which we eon-
eider undesirable*
*If we find it necessary to hire help durtn the harvest
time, or even at planting time, it is not only hard to find a
nan that will help us, but we have to paw so nnoh blabs, wages
for this help that in the end we have to borrow a little money
every spring. We think the Government is helping people in all
walks of life more than it is the farmer, even while we hear the
cry that the farmer is the backbone of the nation. Still we both
vote year after year, and believe me, vote to cult myself*
A marry twinkle in her clear blue eyes served to lend se.
phasis to her statement. "I think farmers expect too such these
days. I think that nearly everybody expeat too much. Mere
aught to be some way of instilling into the minds of the people
that they would be happier and better Worelly if toy would all
try to help themselves more and stop &speeding on other sources
for taeir living. It has got too easy to got help from the Gov.
ernmeat ond the people soma to be losing their independent,* and
their pride. Of course, I know that there is need to help a
great any people, those in eiekness and those in other unfor.
tunate conditions, but there are lots of people getting help
today that are able to writ and capable of getting n living by
their own efforts it they would actua ly and honestly make the
right efforts.
"This curb mar t he been a grat help to lots of farmers
100,
and their families. I was me of the organizers and °barter
members and was ,xic the first board of managers. It has given
the fare woman more independenee than they ever had before, and
it has helped them to know more about business affairs, and, no
doubt, hae inoreased their understanding of managersent, They
are better dressed, neater in appearance, have more pride la how
they look, and have a little more money to spend than they used
to.
"We organized this eurb aarket on May 30, 1923, under the
supervision of our county agent and olm home scent, We. took one
woman from about every oommunity in the oounty when we started.
At first we held the market on an Otreet, but after about two
years of tibia tAs Rigby.Morrow Lumber Gompany furnished the lumber
to put up a small building on this lot which we were renting at
tho tine. Then we bought the lot, and about four years ago we
incorporated and built the plcoe we now oocupy.
"We have traded this lot for one on 0hureh !Ares% which is
larger and bettor located, end before LrLng we expeot to greet
a new market building over there, There will be mush more park..
tag spaoe at the new loocktion add we hope to do better in every
way,
We can all look back tr; th- days when the best most of us
could do with our produee was to go from '.ouso to hone* early
ti the -mining* sad peddle it. There were no stabilized priesis
in those days either. Tbe only other way we had of selling what
wo raised wat to tice it to the groeerse They only Jaid us
about one•third of the tArket )rice for our tuff, end even
then we hd to trctfle it out in their stores. There was no
money changing heeds in those days,
"Now at we hwve this well oranized -werket ac.:1, an out.
let for whet we aan produce, we h,ve regular prices for every..
thing, and nuoh !rooter op,portunities for disposing of what
we oan take or producer at home. There always hoe been and
still is some ill feellag among the •,Isrehents about our beet-
nesse but it is only bseause they do not i!Ive the aatter the
proper consideration* 4hen the women of the ourb terket sell
their hame•made produets, it is site to pay that before they
return home almost every one of them go to SOM* Local, store
and buy sole of Vey things they want end need with the money
they hare taken in during the morning at their tables* The
townswomen are really the one* that go and s2end their money
in out•of•torn stores if the t,rehents only v_new it. Then
the !tarket has beoome a greet attraction for the tourists in
Aendersonville, To any of them enjoy Ameting here in the market,
and they approci- e the nice things we make to eat, and they
buy a veat deal of the *rift woz' on display. They also leave
orderr for rul weaving, for aprons, and all sorts of hand•made
articles, and it is surprising how mach money they spend with
tie every summer*
"There to a tevced differeace in the wen who now operate
in the curb market compered to the days when we first started.
Most of the farierst wives thought all they hsd to do was to
pull up their vegetables- aad get them to market whor they
would sell like hot cW.vos. But they soon found that there was
to bs keen competit on here, so they began washing their vest,.
tables, making them into neat appearing bunches, and improving
their displays in every way. we aow have 129 tables in our
market, and very often thlwe are two falilies using one table.
Than the women began to see who could make the prettiest Jellies,
jams, preserves and pickles, end canned fruits. It lead'them
into eittn modern reeeipes for everything they mad*, and the
result is that we h.ve beautiful displays of everything imaginable
in the wey of good things to wit. The sanitary part of the
-latter has not been neglected either, and now all dressed meats
and chickens, all pies. °ekes, and cookies, and all foods that
are displayed an plates or in dishes, are always neatly eovered•
iverything that is sold at our larket must be a produet of Hen,.
derson County. The women here are always trying to invent and
develop new ideas n handwork to sell, Rad it is making people
more resourceful and, at I said before, giving them money to
spend in all the stores in town for the tIlincs they want, They
buy rladyfmodo dresses, g4od cDTAs, more shoes and hate, and
speud a .ret deal or their money with the groeers for the
iaterials that FA into the 3aAing of their products offered for
sale* They all weal nicer furniture in their homes and if
they do well with their tables of home•made things of course
they are able to get themselves more of the thiaga they want."
Customers stopped at Mrs* Mershallts counter, passed pleas..
ant greetings of the season, and went their way bearing their
purchases of fresh yellow butter, rosy apples of enormous else,
a dressed fat hen to bless the Thanksgiving table of someone,
an between each transaction Mrs Marshall resumed her easy-
oin
"We always tithe, and when the Lord giver us an extra bless•
ing we divide thA nleo with our church* I think the churches
should h, ve churot of helping the needy because they should be,
and in mwt oases are, in a position to know more than any other
organization out who is suffering and in need of help in their
oommunity* while I never hove been a very robust person, I have
not had to spend a crest deal with doctors, no we have been able
to cAve more to ow nuroh* course, when we reallY naiad a
doctor, we have one, but we try to keep ourselves in good health
by the use of every kind of vegetable we raise, and we have plenty
of butter, milk and eggs, and a reasonable amount of moat for our
table*
Ono great trouble with the poor people is that they have
too many children* They should consider their eireumstances and
have only as Jelly as they can take care of and raise decently,
Only 1 -at Saturday I visited family where there ie
sick-
ness, and the home seemed Just swarming with ohildren, Such
poor little ragged thins., and all so dirty, The tether Is
working three days a week end tryIng to keep his large familY
on wt he earns, The women out the wood and do most of the
outside work around the plaos. Vayte they are happy this way,
but to ma it was pathetic,
"There in plenty or work to be done a7aand our plass, but
I do -Y Part in the house end my husband attends to all the
outside work. .e have about lixio beartns apple trees, with
perhaps '00 more coming on. 4;e have all the newest varieties,
most of them fall and winter eoplee, altaou.i3h of oourse we have
sole or the better earlY kinds. have a rook house on our
place for storing what we can, but we always have to store the
nein acrt of the crop in -iendereonville, We also have berries
of different kinds, %nd with our regular *rope for our stock,
and our vegetable gardens, you can owe that we do not 4sve =eh
time for visiting or amusements, It is ro hard to find anyone
we can trust to look after our three *owe, our other stook, and
our chickens it wa go away from home, so we have to stay close
by,
"While we have no ohildren of our own, I am always interested
in the problem, of the young
rile and boys I know* and at times
1 try to advise those who have no mothara to help then with their
diffieultise• I very often find groat estisfeetiJn in now
Lug I have helped someone over e hard places The greatest
interest of my life IA in ctoiz y part toward bringing about
the Xingdom of Christ on earth,.
Looking into the camely face of this evenstempered and
iadly woman sv she talked, one somehow realised that she
really is doing her full part in every way toward bringing
sioo her own happiness and peace tato the livv,s of others