We arrived in Swifton on June 10, 1963, tired, hot, hungry, and about as ragged as three people can be. When we got there the folks from church had unloaded our meager amount of household belongings and put them in the place that they thought we might want them. Loyd Hulett and Henry Webb had brought a big truck to Manila to get our things. We had a small 5,000 BTU air conditioner and they had put it in our bedroom and that was just great. We could make it alright in the rest of the house but at night we really needed that AC in our room so we could sleep better. Every time someone would come to visit when it was really hot, we took off to the bedroom and just piled up to visit because that was the only cool place. Later, we were able to buy an 18,000 BTU unit and installed it in the living room and we thought that we had really moved up town.
The wonderful people of the whole town of Swifton could not have been better to us. I am going to mention some names and I will miss someone for sure, but I certainly do not mean to slight anyone. From the very beginning, the elders of the church were so supportive and encouraging. Ira Hulen, Henry Webb. W.O. Hulett, Sr., Homer Smith, and C.G. Holt were the elders and we loved them and their wives so very much. I just cannot adequately describe how they shepherded us and were so patient and kind. I could write a book about each one of those couples.
There were a lot of people that I admired who did not attend the services of the church of Christ in Swifton. I am not just 'name dropping' when I say that we loved and admired George and Charlene Kell. George was a great professional baseball player who had just retired and began his career as broadcaster for the Detroit Tigers. We watched him play one time in an Old-Timers game at Yankee stadium in New York on a Saturday and on Monday morning he woke us up to sell us a new car. When My Lady was expecting our baby girl, Charlene Kell hosted a baby shower for her and every person in Swifton was invited. What a shower that was! We bought two new cars from George and just paid him each month whatever amount we could afford. He was a STAR in many, many, other areas than baseball and only the people from Swifton knew it.
I hung out a lot at Buck Hulen's grocery store and Ray McNutt's Gulf service station. I made more contacts with the people of Swifton at those two places than probably anywhere else. I met characters like Burrhead Russell, Claude Mitts, Junior Templeton, Alfred Moon, and many others and listened as they told stories of the past in the Swifton area. I don't know if half of them were true or not, but they sounded good.
Stan and Oneida Chapman became two of our dearest friends and they owned the theater in Swifton. That was quite a popular place in those days. We could go to the show any time we wanted to by just walking in and taking our seats. We didn't go much but a few times we enjoyed seeing a good movie. It was a real treat to eat at Lola Thompson's Cafe over on Highway 67. Lola fed us so well when we would go in, especially on Sundays after Bible study and worship.
I often went to O'Bannion's grocery store and just sit and visit with Walter and Beulah O'Bannion who owned the store and attended services at the church there. It was there that I met a candy salesman named J.B. Milligan. J.B. sold candy and also was a gospel preacher. We would sit and visit and eat Baby Ruth candy bars so long that sometimes he didn't have time to finish his route and he would just go home and finish it later. Baby Ruth candy bars then were what they call 'Family size' now but J.B. and I could eat one each without any problem at all. It was from those visits that J.B. decided to devote his life to preaching the gospel full time and at the age of 88 he is still preaching near Batesville, Ark.
Places and events like these reminded me so much of being at Herman Junction and Bay, Ark. They were the same kind of people and maybe that is why we loved them so much. Ah, Herman Junction and Swifton, how we loved you.
Friday, January 15, 2010
SWIFTON, HERE WE COME: POST#68, JAN.15, 2010
When we decided to leave Manila, Arkansas after two years, I first decided that I would quit preaching. I just thought that there must be a better way of life. I went to Jonesboro to talk to my brother, Ray and he would not help me find another job. He wanted me to preach. I went to my old friend, Floyd Winningham and talked to him about a job in his business or about him helping me find a job. Floyd said, "I would never help a preacher quit preaching!" He gave me some really good advice and we decided to continue our life in preaching the gospel. So, I began looking around and setting up times to "TRY-OUT" (I sure didn't like that term and still don't.")
Someone told me about the church at Swifton, Arkansas looking for a preacher. I didn't know one thing about the church there, but I made an appointment to go there to preach on a Wednesday night in May 1963. We rolled into town with a flat tire and three of the poorest looking characters in the country. I went to Lewis Hudgeons Texaco station to get the tire fixed and then we went on to church services. I don't remember much about that night except the sermon that I preached and it was probably about as flat as the tire was. However, they greeted us like we were really something and the next day they called and invited us to move there. I accepted the offer and began making plans to move in about 30 days.
Then, a preacher that lived close by told me that the Swifton church just fought all the time. That was one thing that we didn't need. I drove over to Swifton and met with the elders and told them what I had heard. Ira (Buck) Hulen said, "We don't have enough energy to fight" and they assured me that they had no desire to have anything but peace and unity. The first Sunday that I preached there I told the entire church about what I had heard, and that if they wanted to fight they would have to give us time to get into fighting shape because we had been through some hard times the previous two years. I will say right now that the 3 1/2 years that we lived at Swifton were some of the greatest years of our life, even until right now.
We had been in the house for about two days and a man knocked on the door. When I answered, he pushed me aside and walked through every room of that house and came back through and walked out and never said one word! I was in shock. What had I moved My Lady and Son into? I thought that the elders had lied and had sent a guy to whip us before I had even preached my first sermon as the local preacher. But, in a few minutes to same man came back, carrying a cold watermelon, introduced himself and we sat down and ate watermelon and had a great visit. The man's name was Bill Wheeler, Sr. He and Vesta his wife and thier family became very, very, dear to us. He was one of the most outstanding Christian men that I have ever known and taught me lesson after lesson about living for the Lord. I could write a book about Bill Wheeler. How we loved them! I could not possibly write in one blog post all the people at Swifton and what they meant to our lives.
It was at Swifton that our KATHY DEANN KNIGHT was born on February 16, 1966. When she was born at 2:30 in the morning I was so excited that I ran down the hall and woke up Oneida Chapman who was a patient there and told her about our baby girl. Then, I went to Tuckerman and stopped and called Ewell and Eloise Webb and told them that our Kathy had just arrived. Ewell could have shot me for waking him up that early but he was gracious. Our Kathy was named after their daughter, Kathy. So now we had a Son and a Daughter and Barbara thought that we were the only couple in the world with a child of each sex.
Life sure was good and we were still only about 40 miles from Herman Junction and could go there often and visit.
Someone told me about the church at Swifton, Arkansas looking for a preacher. I didn't know one thing about the church there, but I made an appointment to go there to preach on a Wednesday night in May 1963. We rolled into town with a flat tire and three of the poorest looking characters in the country. I went to Lewis Hudgeons Texaco station to get the tire fixed and then we went on to church services. I don't remember much about that night except the sermon that I preached and it was probably about as flat as the tire was. However, they greeted us like we were really something and the next day they called and invited us to move there. I accepted the offer and began making plans to move in about 30 days.
Then, a preacher that lived close by told me that the Swifton church just fought all the time. That was one thing that we didn't need. I drove over to Swifton and met with the elders and told them what I had heard. Ira (Buck) Hulen said, "We don't have enough energy to fight" and they assured me that they had no desire to have anything but peace and unity. The first Sunday that I preached there I told the entire church about what I had heard, and that if they wanted to fight they would have to give us time to get into fighting shape because we had been through some hard times the previous two years. I will say right now that the 3 1/2 years that we lived at Swifton were some of the greatest years of our life, even until right now.
We had been in the house for about two days and a man knocked on the door. When I answered, he pushed me aside and walked through every room of that house and came back through and walked out and never said one word! I was in shock. What had I moved My Lady and Son into? I thought that the elders had lied and had sent a guy to whip us before I had even preached my first sermon as the local preacher. But, in a few minutes to same man came back, carrying a cold watermelon, introduced himself and we sat down and ate watermelon and had a great visit. The man's name was Bill Wheeler, Sr. He and Vesta his wife and thier family became very, very, dear to us. He was one of the most outstanding Christian men that I have ever known and taught me lesson after lesson about living for the Lord. I could write a book about Bill Wheeler. How we loved them! I could not possibly write in one blog post all the people at Swifton and what they meant to our lives.
It was at Swifton that our KATHY DEANN KNIGHT was born on February 16, 1966. When she was born at 2:30 in the morning I was so excited that I ran down the hall and woke up Oneida Chapman who was a patient there and told her about our baby girl. Then, I went to Tuckerman and stopped and called Ewell and Eloise Webb and told them that our Kathy had just arrived. Ewell could have shot me for waking him up that early but he was gracious. Our Kathy was named after their daughter, Kathy. So now we had a Son and a Daughter and Barbara thought that we were the only couple in the world with a child of each sex.
Life sure was good and we were still only about 40 miles from Herman Junction and could go there often and visit.
Friday, January 8, 2010
BACK AGAIN: POST #67
It has been some months since I wrote and I have been quite neglectful. I could also say that I have been very busy and that would be true. However, I have found that we can make time to do what we really want to do.
I stopped the journey from Herman Junction with POST #65 and inserted one concerning a trip that My Lady and I made in July 2009 to Hot Springs. I was just so 'inspired' when I got home from there that I could not restrain myself from writing about that trip. Now, I will go back to the time when were on our journey in the early days of our married life.
On February 1, 1960 we left the church at Michigan City, Indiana and moved a few miles away to work with the church of Christ at Laporte, Indiana. The church there had elders to oversee the work and I really needed the guidance and leadership of a good Eldership. There were three elders in the beginning....Leo Bailey, Ernie Bush, and Collie Owens. Brother Owens resigned shortly after our arrival there and began worshipping in Michigan City where he and his family lived. I worked the entire time that we lived there under the oversight of Brothers Bush and Bailey and I will always be thankful for the great work that they did and the wonderful influence that they had on our lives.
The entire congregation at Laporte was was wonderful to us. When we moved into a small house at 707 Division Street, there was one house between us and Bryan and June Butts. They were from Arkansas and they were as happy to meet us as we were to meet them. We developed a friendship that lasted as long as they lived and we loved them dearly. I spoke at both of their funeral services. We also became dear friends to their children and grandchildren. It is sad for us that today all of their children have also passed away but we cherish the memories of the great life that we had with them. We still go back to Laporte from time to time to visit those who are still living from years ago and to enjoy a wonderful relationship with the church.
In July 1961 we moved from Laporte to Holland, Missouri. We had such a hard time there that I do not even like to think about it. Yes, there were some good people that we learned to love but it was while we lived at Holland that Johnny (Pete) Earls, the youngest brother of My Lady got sick and passed away. It was such a sad and difficult time for us.
Do you know how that sometimes we jump out of the frying pan into the fire? We did that when we moved from Holland, Mo. to Manila, Ark. We wanted so much to leave Missouri and when we were offered the opportunity to move to Manila we accepted it and moved there. But, it was a sad mistake. The best thing that happened while we lived there was the birth of our son, Martin Andrew Knight on My Lady's 21st birthday, September 17, 1962. What a great joy and one that made a lot of bad things kind of disappear.
Marty got his name from my mother's maiden name and a dear friend, Andrew Simpson of Buchanan, Michigan. We had met and fallen in love with Andrew and Mary Simpson while we lived in Indiana. It was about one week before Marty was born that Andrew died and I was afraid to leave My Lady and go to the funeral at Dover, Arkansas. Marty has blessed our lives more than he will ever know.
In June, 1963 we moved on again and life began to be better than the last two years had been. I will tell you about that next.
I stopped the journey from Herman Junction with POST #65 and inserted one concerning a trip that My Lady and I made in July 2009 to Hot Springs. I was just so 'inspired' when I got home from there that I could not restrain myself from writing about that trip. Now, I will go back to the time when were on our journey in the early days of our married life.
On February 1, 1960 we left the church at Michigan City, Indiana and moved a few miles away to work with the church of Christ at Laporte, Indiana. The church there had elders to oversee the work and I really needed the guidance and leadership of a good Eldership. There were three elders in the beginning....Leo Bailey, Ernie Bush, and Collie Owens. Brother Owens resigned shortly after our arrival there and began worshipping in Michigan City where he and his family lived. I worked the entire time that we lived there under the oversight of Brothers Bush and Bailey and I will always be thankful for the great work that they did and the wonderful influence that they had on our lives.
The entire congregation at Laporte was was wonderful to us. When we moved into a small house at 707 Division Street, there was one house between us and Bryan and June Butts. They were from Arkansas and they were as happy to meet us as we were to meet them. We developed a friendship that lasted as long as they lived and we loved them dearly. I spoke at both of their funeral services. We also became dear friends to their children and grandchildren. It is sad for us that today all of their children have also passed away but we cherish the memories of the great life that we had with them. We still go back to Laporte from time to time to visit those who are still living from years ago and to enjoy a wonderful relationship with the church.
In July 1961 we moved from Laporte to Holland, Missouri. We had such a hard time there that I do not even like to think about it. Yes, there were some good people that we learned to love but it was while we lived at Holland that Johnny (Pete) Earls, the youngest brother of My Lady got sick and passed away. It was such a sad and difficult time for us.
Do you know how that sometimes we jump out of the frying pan into the fire? We did that when we moved from Holland, Mo. to Manila, Ark. We wanted so much to leave Missouri and when we were offered the opportunity to move to Manila we accepted it and moved there. But, it was a sad mistake. The best thing that happened while we lived there was the birth of our son, Martin Andrew Knight on My Lady's 21st birthday, September 17, 1962. What a great joy and one that made a lot of bad things kind of disappear.
Marty got his name from my mother's maiden name and a dear friend, Andrew Simpson of Buchanan, Michigan. We had met and fallen in love with Andrew and Mary Simpson while we lived in Indiana. It was about one week before Marty was born that Andrew died and I was afraid to leave My Lady and go to the funeral at Dover, Arkansas. Marty has blessed our lives more than he will ever know.
In June, 1963 we moved on again and life began to be better than the last two years had been. I will tell you about that next.
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