A Father's Legacy

The answer depended on what age I happened to be at the time. I can remember that I always wanted to make something or create something, but it was usually done in the form of drawing, making objects or figures with modeling clay and as I grew older, I built crystal set Radios, Telephones, Telegraph Sets or experimented with my Microscope and Chemistry Set.

Since by now, I was the only kid at home, I learned to do most things by myself. Due to my serious illnesses as a young child I became over protected by my Mother and my time was rationed when permitted to visit other young ones in the area. After awhile, I became bored from digging the rich red clay from the ground and pounding it into flat slabs, from which I carved and shaped little buildings, often times they were fashioned into little jail houses for horny toads, I then began looking around for other things to do.

As you realize, young boys will soon find a way to connive & find something to do, even if it may call for a bit of imagination and maybe a little white lie now and then. Well, Hebe (Breezee) Bishop, the son of the Nazarene Preacher, lived over on Burch Street N.W. and this was only a short distant from 409 12^th. N.W. and not really terribly far from half way between the two houses on out to Bells Tank.

Bells Tank was a small, shallow pond located about where the grocery store once was located at the Broadlawn Shopping Center. Actually at that time the area was completely rural and not a house any where near what is now known as the Broadlawn Addition and for that matter the area where the Charles Evans School is located there was a large cotton patch.

The pond was only about 3 ft. deep -- There were no people anywhere near, and it was really OK to skinny dip under those conditions. Neither of us could swim, but the pond was not over our heads and we could not pass up this wonderful window of opportunity to go swimming. My folks always told me to not go near the water until I learned how to swim.

Anyway, Hebe would arrange with his Mother to go over to my house, and at the same time I would arrange with my mother to go over to his house. Hebe and I would meet at a vacant lot which was about half-way between the two houses and then run like crazy out to Bells Tank. This went on for some time and was never uncovered by our parents. I learned to swim in that pond, in fact Hebe and I both learned to swim in that pond, we were probably 12 years old at the time.

In all fairness, I want to say a word about the most wonderful Man I have ever known , and that was my Dad. Pop worked very hard to make a living for our family (and relatives) and as I have mentioned before, if he had any spare time it was used in the garden or providing for us in some way, and then there was his genuine devotion to the Church and his dedication to the Lord. Daddy always did the ironing at home because he had once been a Taylor in his early days and also my mother could not hold an iron - before my sister was married and was still home she did much of the ironing and other housework.

Pop cut our hair but he did a terrible job of that and he never did learn how to use the hand clippers without pulling our hair out by the roots (OUCH! Even now). Here is the point I want to make... My Daddy did not own a gun, so he never took me hunting. My Daddy could not swim, and he never took me swimming. My Daddy did not own even a fishhook and knew nothing about fishing, and he never took me fishing. Until I was grown, my Daddy never asked me to go anywhere just the two of us.

Hey, when there was work going on around the house I got to learn how to do that by helping him & he taught me how to fix something with whatever you had on hand, and since he hardly ever threw anything away there was usually something stuck somewhere. We had a *metal box filled with all kinds of odds and ends of "junk" and that is where you went if you needed a part to rig something up. There was usually something there that could be forced to workout in a tight.

*[We dubbed it the Ketchall box.]

Pop would support you in every way he could, he would encourage you in saying there is no such word as "Can’t" and although his formal education as he grew up was very limited, he went ahead and educated himself to a level that anyone would be proud of and he insisted that education was the very key to success. Also it should be noted that Pop was not a dour, unpleasant or boring individual. He had a great personality and a wonderful sense of humor, his customers at the Drug Store respected and loved him because he was a true humanitarian and a genuine people person. Actually, there just was never a dull moment when you were in his presence. I think everyone that knew him respected and loved that man they knew As J.E.Martin and we knew as Daddy --- I thank God for the fact that he was my Dad.

What Mischievous Prank Did I Pull On Someone?

I don’t remember ever pulling a prank on anyone.If later, I am reminded of some incident that I performed I will back track and add it to this text.

Did I have a Television When I Was Growing Up?
What Was My Favorite Program & Why?

Television did not exist unless of course it was being developed in some research laboratory. In the early part of my childhood it was quite uncommon to even find a radio in the home. In answer to the question I can only say that if your family owned a radio it was a source of amazement and entertainment in much the same manner that television was later to become. I remember one day that our elementary teacher asked for a show of hands of those that had a radio at home. Perhaps 15% of the students indicated that they had a radio in their home. Some of the very early radios in the home were actually only crystal sets that usually were limited to receiving one station and only then if the station was not too far away.

There would not be such a thing as Network Radio for some time later. Actually, Radio-AM signals travel in waves much like ocean waves and the range is much greater than the now available FM signals which travels in a horizontal line. TV signals travel in FM signals and explains why Television Transmission and Receiving towers need to be above obstructions.

The early Radios, which had vacuum tubes and you had to wait for the tubes to warm up before a signal could be received. It was essential to have a ground wire that ran from the radio to a rod that was driven into the ground. Also, it was essential to have a very high aerial (now called antenna) in order to receive incoming radio signals. Many years later the Transistor was developed and you no longer had to wait for the tubes to warm up before the sound would come on. You witness this effect today when you turn your radio on, it snaps to full signal immediately. Radio in the home soon became common place in a few years and the Soap Opera came into existence which brought a form of entertainment to the home-bound that still prevails even today, by way of television programming.

Radio brought Theatre, Musicals, Opera, Sports, News, programs tooled to entertain any member of a family. Programs such as 'Lum & Abner' and their Jot-um-down store; 'Amos & Andy', and their Fresh Air Taxi cab; 'Little Orphan Annie' and her dog Sandy; 'The Lone Ranger and Tonto' his Indian side kick; 'The Shadow'; 'Mr. District Attorney'; 'FibberMcGee & Molly'; 'Easy Aces'; 'Ma Perkins'; 'One Man’s Family' and many many more.

Radio does not provide that type of entertainment now because television has taken over that form of programming. Now with television, we don’t have to create the picture in our mind, because it has robbed us of that experience, much like movies made it unnecessary for us to read a book. J. Hamilton Green, my Junior High School English Teacher often observed that going to the Picture Show was a lazy mans way of reading. No, we did not have TV when I grew up, we had better form of entertainment - Conversation, Reading, and Radio. (amen)

What Were Some of the Fads From My School Days?
Did I Participate in Them?

We may have had fads but if we did, I have no idea what they may have been called. Maybe getting a haircut every two weeks or wearing clean clothes every day were fads. Doing your business during the week because everything was closed on Sunday may have been a fad, but it was not the result of a law. Moving Picture Theatres did not open on Sunday and you would not even think of going fishing or doing anything "worldly" on the Sabbath. Ballroom dancing was not common in our area even though the Big Band Era came into prominence at that time. Its very likely that some of the kids would learn Ballroom dancing when they went to a city where the Popular Dance Bands were performing.

It seemed that everyone liked the Popular Music of the day and that included the Country & Western Music also. But you know, even the adults liked the Music of that time and it must have been because the songs had words and tunes that you could understand. Anyone could hum a tune, some could whistle the tune and there were those among us that could even do a fair job of singing the tunes.

Later there was a weekly radio show entitled ‘Your Hit Parade’ and they played and sang the 10 most popular songs of the week and would save the number one song for the last one on the program. That show was very popular and later when Television came along the Program adapted very well.

I must state this fact -- When Rock & Roll came along, music as we had know it faded out and the Popular Hit Parade died out completely. (phooey!)

Well. as fads go I suppose the Bobbie Socks and Penny Loafers could be regarded as a fad, for girls. Girls were never seen wearing boys clothes to school. On the farm some of the girls wore overalls but never blue jeans. The usual dress for a boy in school was regular pants and shirt, but at home or on the farm it was the overalls that prevailed, not blue jeans (Levi’s they were know as, back then).

Now ,let me clear the air on some of the impressions the above comments may have made. The time frame I have reiterated only addresses my Junior and Senior High School years, and would hardly go beyond 1940 because it was not long before 'The Nation' was about to make a dramatic change in its social & economical way of life.

Boys were soon to be in military service and were sent to places on this earth they had never heard of or known to be mentioned in Social Studies Classes. Girls went to work in defense plants and other areas of employment that customarily would be filled by men.

The mode of dress changed dramatically, and the World, as we had known it, was gone forever. Zoot suits with long gold key chains hanging from the enormous lapels of the ungainly, baggy, balloon legged pants were common sights to be seen on the streets of large cities on the west coast. Large floppy rimmed hats and huge sun glasses were just part of the style that seemed to generate among the mod crowd out where many large defense plants had provided them with wealth they had never known before. That style of dress, was usually adopted by the physically unfit (4F) young man that would not be suited for military duty.

Fortunately that fad did not take in our part of the Country and soon died out even where it had originated. For the girls, silk hose were not available at any price and since it was before Nylon was invented the women either painted their legs with some kind of cosmetic concoction, to create the illusion that hose were indeed being worn, or they simply wore socks and loafers. Girls still dressed in traditional dresses, skirts & blouses, and the usual lingerie which included a petty coat or slip. As time went on it became common to see women dressed in work clothes in the same manner as the men they worked with, especially in areas where war time industry was running, day and night, seven days a week.

Who Was My Favorite Teacher?
How Did That Teacher Influence My Life?

It needs to be noted that I was not a good scholastic student and I think most of what I learned was through the process of osmosis. I did have teachers that I greatly admired and I know that if it had not been for their perseverance and dedication to their charge, I would not have made it to graduation from High School.

I remember always having great respect for them all but that was about as far as it went, until I found out that they really expected me to learn something & what a lick that was. I remember the year that I was in the 7^th grade, the schools in the State ran out of money. Most of the teachers continued to teach without being paid until it became evident that our school year would only go for 7 months.

Although the Teachers had taught without being paid, they were issued Warrants which were honored and held by some merchants but the value was discounted a certain percent. I really don’t know the details and what I have stated here is a reflection of the way I understood it as a child. I always seemed to have a difficult time understanding Math and it was in the 10^th grade, while taking a course commonly referred to as High School Math that I would most certainly have failed had it not been for a most dedicated young teacher by the name of Ruth Frazier.

Miss Frazier was a tough teacher to have as a math instructor but she seemed to be dedicated to the proposition that she just absolutely would not give a student an "F" if they would give her a reason not to. With an understanding that you would apply yourself, if you were failing, toward ultimately passing the course she would issue an "Inc". (Incomplete) on your report card. In order to get the Inc. raised to a passing grade, she would spend many hours past the usual scheduled school day to provide special attention to the troubled student. Not only did she stay after school every week day she would also be there all day Saturday.

Miss Frazier usually had one of her exceptionally bright students to assist her in tutoring some of the students. I doubt if Miss Frazier or her Tutors were ever given any extra compensation for those efforts. I am ashamed to say that I don’t remember ever telling her how much I appreciated what she did for me. I must say however, I was not the only student that stayed after school and came back on Saturdays to study. It seemed to me that over half the class would be there in the after hours to make up their deficit.

Sometime later she became Mrs. Evans but she continued to teach the same math subject. Perhaps she taught for too long a time because in later years her seemingly dedicated stance took on an air of domination and the parents of her students resented the after hours sessions, which had become somewhat of a requirement in order to pass the course.

Mrs. Madden was my High School English teacher. She was already in her later years as a teacher when I came under her tutorage but she was probably the most gracious person I had ever had the privilege to know. I was not a very wonderful student in grammar either but for some reason I liked the Literature part of the subject and I excelled in poetry and appreciation of the classics.

Mrs. Madden had someone to paint the following quotation on the black board just behind and above her desk, to wit "Language is the dress of thought, every time you speak your mind is on parade". I don’t know who the author of that verse was, maybe she wrote it, but I will be willing to say that no one ever finished that class without at least absorbing that quotation into their mind, or left the class without a good feeling toward Mrs Madden. She was a real Lady.

What Was the Nicest Thing I Ever Did For My Mother & Father.

I Loved them and respected them and honored them at all times.

Did I Admire A Famous Person?
What Made That Person Admirable?

In school we were taught to admire certain famous persons and they taught us why we should admire them. I found that I could respect them for what they stood for and had accomplished but somehow I simply was not impressed enough to admire them. I have told about people that I loved and respected throughout my young life but even to this day I do not know of any person that I actually admired.

I have known people in high places and in all walks of life but I find it difficult to ever be especially impressed by them. To say that I admired them would not be a proper statement for me to make.

When Did I Have My First Date?

I was in the 5^th.Grade and probably around 11 years of age. I had delivered circulars for my dad’s Drug Store and had earned 25 cents, which was enough to buy two theatre tickets and a 5 cent bag of Popcorn. There was a very pretty little blond by the name of Ruby Underwood in my class at Franklin School and I had "liked" her for a long time but I had no idea whether she liked me or not. I went over to her house, which was on 3^rd. Ave. NW, and when she came to the door I asked her to go to the show with me. Ruby accepted my invitation and after I went home and cleaned up I stopped by her house and we walked to the Palace Theatre [years later it was renamed the Tivoli Theatre] together and we watched a Western movie while we shared the popcorn.

I never initiated another date with her since I didn’t have the money but one day she called and said that her mother agreed to come pick me up to go riding around in their car with her and her sister if I wanted to. Although that affair never went any further, I suppose I had accomplished more than I expected and as the growing up years flew by we were always friends. Her Daddy owned the Ardmore Milling Company and years later when I would pick up stock feed for the Heartsill Grade A Dairy Farm, Ruby would make out the purchase order for me and she still had that pretty smile. Ruby was a very nice girl.

What Do I Remember About My First Kiss?

I suppose I had gone through the routine of the good night kiss many times before I experienced what I would call my first Kiss. I will only say that I will never forget that particular incident and it got my attention. [However, that was not the ultimate kiss].

Did I Enjoy Reading As A Boy?
What Were Some of the Most Memorable Books I Read?

Yes! I enjoyed reading as a boy. I don’t remember having any trouble learning to read - probably a little ahead of schedule for my age, and I read everything I came in contact with, including the labels on everything I encountered.

The books I read ranged from the pulp paper Western theme stories, like the Smith & Wesson western stories, all the way to the Classics and subjects of scientific nature. I read a Zane Gray book now and then, but my teacher would not give credit for a book report on his writings.

In our elementary classes the Weekly Reader was provided by our school and was a must on our reading list. I went far beyond the required reading format and always had my book reports ready to make verbally, when it came my time to be called upon. My Mother subscribed to many magazines and I read them all and when she subscribed to the‘Boys Life’ magazine for me I was very pleased.

Also, during those days I went from door to door selling various popular magazines to people that did not subscribe regularly to any particular magazine. I made a commission on those sales and I also got to read them, which was a bonus for me. I would go to the Carnegie Library (located on Stanley Ave. where the Ardmore Garden Center is now housed) regularly to check out books to read and sometimes study. I suppose it never occurred to me that I was indeed educating myself, I just wasn’t wise enough to realize it I suppose.

Through the years I continue to read many books and articles regularly and I pick them carefully because I try to avoid fiction when I can, without locking myself out on certain popular books of the day. When I spent the summer(s) at Uncle Purlee’s I was delighted to find that my ‘school teacher’ cousin, Carl Wilson, had brought home some very interesting books and had put them on shelves he had assembled in the out-building that was used for storage and a place to take a shower. When I discovered the books I must have read most of them in what little spare time I had, which was usually on rainy days.

One book that I especially enjoyed was entitled "The Harvester" and it dealt with a man that gathered plants and herbs in the woods, to be sold to the Drug Companies that used them to make Extracts & Tinctures. Of course the story actually involved characters that interacted with the harvester in his personal life. I Liked the book very much and it must have been recently published because not long afterwards a movie was released by that name and it appeared at the theatre in Ardmore. It was truly a shock to me when I saw the movie and discovered the producers had rewritten the story entirely and although the theme dealt with a person that was a Harvester of herbs and some of the names of the principle characters remained the same that was about all that remotely followed the story line as it was written by the author.

It was then that I discovered that most movies do not follow the book as it is written and I also learned that you canot copyright a book title. An example -- I once read a book entitled "The Flaming Sword" and since the subject matter of the book dealt with matters of a timely nature I thought I would like to read it again. It had probably been 45 or 50 years since I originally read the book. I could not find the book listed at the Ardmore Library and when I requested assistance from the Librarian she wanted to know who the author of the book was. I had no idea who the author was because it had been so long ago when I read the book. Then the nice lady wanted to know the subject matter of the book because in her research to find the book I wanted, she found several books by that same title and none of them were even remotely similar.

She did find the book was available at the Fort Worth Library and she managed to borrow it from them just for me, which I appreciated very much. The whole experience caused me to remember a lesson I learned back when I carried a paper route in a poor paying neighborhood, you can’t put someone in jail for not paying their paper bill and that’s a fact of life in some other matters also, even out in the real world. Maybe some day there will be a few more books named 'Gone With the Wind'.

Remember above when I mentioned this out building that was used for storage and a place to take a shower? The shower part was actually an appendage to the main structure and it had large frosted plate glass walls that had come from a building that Granddaddy Estes had once owned over in the town of Soaper, Oklahoma. The building had been dismantled and much of the material was sold to the public. In order to make the shower a working fixture we had placed a barrel on top of the shower part & each morning we carried water up the ladder to fill it with water, taken from the well that had the softest water. It wasn’t really a new idea because it was a fairly common practice around the country but it was new to me. Anyway, by attaching a rubber hose with shower head thereon and a metal cut-off clamp on the hose, It worked very well.

Just remember to put the soap in a metal box with lid, so the rats wouldn’t eat the soap. In the evening after the sun had warmed the water to the perfect temperature it was a real delight to take a shower that way – It beat bathing in the creek or the stock tank.

What Were My Family Finances Like When I Was Growing Up?
How Did That Affect Me?

This subject has been covered in some of the ramblings I have previously spoken of in previous answers to other questions. My Daddy was the sole bread winner in our family and I never knew of him to be unemployed. However, even if any member of the family had any income, on occasion, my Daddy never suggested that their funds be commingled with the family income to help defray expenses. If we, as individuals, happened to accumulate any money, we bought our own clothes or used it for items that were regarded as necessary.

Incidental expenses, like entertainment or gifts for others was bought from our own earnings. In my very young years, before I could earn any money, I may get a nickel or a dime by asking for it. Each Sunday we were given our Sunday School Offering, which had been placed in an envelope for us but I never really knew the amount therein until one day my envelope came unsealed and 15 cents fell out into my pocket. It may be possible that sometimes there would only be a penny or two but you could be sure the envelope was never empty.

This financial status never offended me in the least. Years later when I got a job while going to Art School in Chicago, I realized that I was making enough extra money that I sent it home to Mama & Daddy to maybe help cover the added expense of sending me to Art School. They kept it alright but they simply opened a savings account in my name at the Exchange National Bank. This account remained active for several years, because even when I was in the Army during WWII I continued to send money home and they promptly added it to my account. God truly blessed me with my parents.

Was There A Special Person That Helped Me In My Christian Walk?

My Mother was the special person that explained many things about being a Christian but I think my Dad was also a special person by being the roll model to follow and to try & emulate. Actually, I think I have answered this question in previous replies.

List Three Things I Wish I Had Done During
My Junior High & High School Years, But Didn’t.

• Concentrate on being a better student academically.
• Express my appreciation to many of my teachers for the effort they had put forth, to teach me.
• To try and prepare myself for the future.

During Childhood, Who Was My Best Friend.

I had many friends and each one had a different type of friendship to offer. Usually I would get together with the friend that specialized in whatever I wanted to do at a given time. For example, if I wanted to climb the Ardmore City Water Tower at the north edge of town, I would solicit Joe Curtis because he would do anything just for the heck of it.

The wind was blowing hard out of the south the summer day we climbed the tower and when we got to the top and threw our hats off they sailed north almost out of sight, I told about Hebe (pronounced HeBeB) earlier and how we learned to swim in Bells Tank.

Lint Matthews was another friend whose daddy owned the Live & Let Live Shoe repair shop down on Caddo Street. Lint lived just a few blocks from me and he specialized in girls & telling lies. He also was notorious for trading things much like a horse trader. It was from Lent that I got a hand cranked 35mm movie projector, a one tube radio set, and it was from him that my friend Dan Heartsill got the little Stevens single shot 22 rifle that I later got from Dan.

I had first dibs on the rifle and I had the money to swap for it, but my Daddy would not permit the acquisition of a gun under any circumstances. It was an old gun even then and I truly wanted it ‘big time’ but I lost out on the deal - Years later Dan came to me and said "Teague, if you want that little rifle, I have been saving it for you until some day when you could own a gun of your own. Now if you still want it, you can have it for a dime". I appreciated that even more so because it exhibited a true friendship.

This incident happened many years later because by that time I had bought a Little Scout single shot 22 Rifle at the Newstate Hardware Store. That gun was new and costs $4.24 and I paid it out at the rate of 25 cents a week from my earning on the paper route. A box of 22shorts (shells) cost 15 cents across the street at Montgomery Wards Store.

Dan’s Dad had bought the ‘Pay & Takeit’ grocery store up on the NW corner of 12^th. Ave. and E St. NW & the family lived in the house that was located next door west of the store. The store building had been moved to that location from Wilson, Oklahoma and previously a little one pump filling station had occupied that lot.

Dan and I were in the 4^th. Grade and even before we realized that we were neighbors we became friends. Dan was a very husky kid which contrasted to my skinny frame and therefore he somehow assumed the roll of my protector. I remember very well a time when Walter Valley (a kid that was always starting fights) decided it was time to ‘whup’ me out on the school grounds, and when Dan saw what was happening he told Walter that he would have to fight him first.

By the time I reached Junior High School, I again encountered The Walter Valley of old and he decided that he was still going to whup me. However, by this time I had matured and felt that I needed no protector to save me from this kid but before long, Walter challenged me to meet him out behind the sign boards across the street from the school. At that time the Katy railroad still existed and the track ran parallel to 3^rd. Ave.NW- Both West & East. You probably know that the street we call Grand Ave., is in fact, the old right of way for the track as it went West. The Depot and shipping docks are now used by the American Legion but part of that complex now has buildings that have been used by the school system. The sign boards occupied the area just West of the fore mentioned Depot.

I met Walter at the designated place and at the agreed time, and the usual crowd of boys also showed up to see the big fight. There was no fight because when Walter discovered that I was not going to back down from him, he turned and walked slowly away. Even to this day, Dan & I still wonder if Walter managed to stay out of jail during his life. I don’t remember seeing Walter again after that year and I presume the family moved away from Ardmore because few people of our generation even remember him. Dan Heartsill and I are still close friends and today (Feb.14, 1998) is his 77^th. Birthday.

Did I Ever Keep A Scrapbook or Photos, Autographs, or Memories of Special Occasions? Yes.

List One Special Memory About Each of My Brothers and Sister.

My brother, Edgar was nine years older than me, he graduated from High school when he was 17 years old and immediately enrolled at Drury College at Springfield, Mo. He graduated from that college with a BS degree at the age of 21.

I am not sure what subject he earned his degree in but I was told that he was working on his pre-med and planned to pursue a degree in medicine. Edgar had a reputation as an exceptional student and exhibited a very proficient capability in utilizing the BS he was full of. He told me that he picked subjects that were not especially difficult in order to increase his grade point average. He was a handsome young man and had a natural ability to succeed at about anything he pursued.

I was only 12 years of age when we traveled to Springfield to attend his graduation and as the years went by, I remained impressed and was always proud to know that he was my big brother. Edgar never got his degree in medicine but soon entered the oil business, by way of becoming a ‘rough neck’ and as years went by he held top executive positions with major Oil Companies around the World. He became somewhat of an international traveler in all parts of the World.

As a child I was not in the company of my brother, Edgar to an appreciable degree and therefore did not know him very well. The years difference in our ages very likely played a part in that fact but I believe it was more because we had so very little contact with each other. Years later, as adults we discovered we had much in common concerning our values and we had many one-on-one talks together.

Although our routes to success were varied and dramatically different, we were enough alike in our common heritage to establish the bond of brotherhood that we each were graced with. I always looked up to him as a role model but I didn’t try to follow in his foot steps. I loved my brother, Edgar, and I shall always appreciate how he expressed love and affection for me, my dear Nita and our children.

By Brother, Calvin, whom I have spoken of affectionately in this writing, was a very important part of my young life.Calvin was three years my senior but he was years ahead of me in just about any activity. He was a good looking fellow and about everyone liked him, especially the Girls and he was the worlds champion Con-artist when dealing with others (except Pop). Since we were close in age and he was such a charmer I soon fell under his spell and could be convinced to do just about anything he wanted me to do. Although this is a little off track from the question I am attempting to answer, I can think of no better place in insert this material.

It was summer time and Calvin & I had gone down to our beloved Aunt Lucy & Uncle Purlee’s farm with Edgar & his friend, John Lawrence. Calvin & I were all set to run & play in the woods and just have a great time playing Cars with Aunt Lucy’s snuff bottles in the deep soft sand out in the yard. (when you see one of those old brown snuff jars you will note that their shape can be imagined to look exactly like a car of that day).

That was when the Devil popped up by bringing on a problem we had not expected. It seems that Edgar & John Lawrence had decided they would go fishing over on Muddy Boggy River and as they were making their plans to go the next day, Calvin suggested that he would ‘admire’ to go along with them. At that time Calvin was about 14 years of age but Edgar would not agree to let him go without first consulting with Mama & Daddy by phone. Well Calvin knew that would amount to an automatic NO! from the powers that be and sure enough, he was right - the answer was NO.

Bright and early the next day Edgar & John left on their fishing trip and in order to keep our minds off of the situation Aunt Lucy decided that we should be kept busy working in the field picking dried black-eyed peas off the vines in about a 2 acre patch. Now, we are not running in the woods or playing in the sand, with her snuff bottles but here we are actually being put to work……. Calvin was already mad and this was too much to accept so he decided that we would just run off the next morning and head back home. He advised me that the next morning after breakfast while it was still dark and Aunt Lucy & Uncle Purlee were at the barn doing the milking, that we would grab pockets full of biscuits & pear tomatoes and take off down the road east of the house, because the barn was west of the house and located right next to the road where they were likely to see us when we went by.

It was two miles to Boswell going the route we went and another 12 miles from Boswell to the next town, Bennington. We figured we would very likely catch a ride before we walked as far as Bennington but we walked every bit of the way on that old HW 70 rough gravel road and no ride came. We realized right off that we probably had been found missing by now because by the time we walked to Boswell we remembered that Uncle Ol Gill owned a produce house in the main part of town, so we skirted around that area in order to get to the highway without him seeing us.

We suspected, correctly so, that Aunt Lucy had already called him and alerted him to be on the look out for us. I think the old bugger may have seen us anyway and let us go and maybe head us off by the time we got as far west at Doc. Taliaferro’s Store. As we approached Taliaferro’s Store Calvin said "We will cross the road and keep our heads turned away from that direction so Mrs Taliaferro may not see us or recognize us".

We heard Mrs Taliaferro, who was of Siamese blood, in her high-pitched voice exclaim "Ain't that Maud’s boys!"

But we just kept on walking, like we didn’t hear anything, and knowing all the time that Aunt Lucy must have called her too, which she had, we found out later. We saw a Model-T Ford coupe pull out of the drive way and sure enough it was Doctor Taliaferro offering us a ride. He said he was making a house call just off the road a ways and told us to get in and we could ride up to the corner where he had to turn off. We knew he was just getting close to us to be sure we were the culprits at large.

We continued on walking, and by now it was probably 9 o’clock in the morning and we were already getting hungry, so we ate all the biscuits and tomatoes. Hours later we were getting tired and it was getting hot so we went down under a bridge at a creek called ‘Rabbit Creek’ to wash our feet and cool off. While we were down there I just knew I saw Uncle Ol go by in his Model-T truck with the chicken coups in the back but Calvin said it wasn’t. While I had my brand new tennis shoes off to wash my feet, I notice the gravel on the road had completely worn the design off the soles.

We were only a mile ot wo from Bennington by now and just as we reached town, guess what, Uncle Ol pulled up by us and said "Where you boys goin - don’t you know your stomach will be stuck to your back bone before you get to Ardmore?".

Ironically, we were right in front of the house that my Daddy had built, and my Sister Ruthelle was born in back in 1914. When we got back to Aunt Lucy’s She was standing on the front porch with a switch in her hand and tears in her eyes - We cried too.

Uncle Purlee came in and we had a most welcome meal. Later, Uncle Purlee took us down in the woods to a place he called his park, and he talked to us in a most gentle way. He had chosen a large Oak tree to lean against and as we sat there, literally at his feet, he told us how much we were loved by everyone and he hoped we had learned a lesson of life from the experience. Uncle Purlee was a great and wonderful man whom we loved dearly, and I always felt indebted to him. I thank God that we had an Aunt Lucy and UnclePurlee and I am sorry that every one could not have them as their Aunt & Uncle.

My Siste,r Susan Ruthelle (Martin) Heartsill is 7 years my senior and has always been most dear to me. All my life, even before our Mother had a devastating, debilitating stroke my sister had looked after me. She will tell you that she changed my diapers and baby sat me throughout most of my young life. Although it would be simple to say that she was like a second Mother to me I never thought of her in that way - To me she was just my big sister. I never disputed her word of authority nor do I remember ever giving her any sass. Ruthelle married Dewitt Heartsill, Dan Heartsill’s big brother, at Davis, Okla., On Aug. 22, 1932 when she was around 18 years of age. Their daughter and only child, Mary Janelle, was born Feb. 21, 1934. They never lived very far away and when Janelle was born she was delivered at our house by Dr. J.M.Gordon. Times were rough during those dustbowl and depression days and jobs were hard to come by and steady jobs were especially hard to come by.

Dewitt worked at anything he could find in order to try and eke out a living. He managed to get an old dump truck and worked on WPA jobs so he worked at the site where Lake Murray was being constructed. He worked on various highway construction jobs and through the years he worked at everything from setting up punch boards to working as a butcher. Frankly, I can’t think of any job Dewitt did not do, or could not do, and he did them all and he did them well. Although the Heartsill family had moved to Ardmore they still owned the Heartsill farm, out near Lone Grove (Section 6, Township 5 south, 1 east).

Sometime around 1938, Ruthelle & Dewitt moved out to the farm and began to build a herd of milchcows (Milk Cows) in order to start a small Grade A dairy. It was an opportunity for me to offer a helping hand and since I already knew how to milk a cow I soon found that I had virtually moved in with them. End

[End of Martin Vol. 3 (Cont. to Martin Vol. 4]