There never was a church of any kind at Herman Junction that I ever heard of. But, in Bay there were four churches and today as far as I know those same four churches are there, plus as Assembly of God church. The First Baptist church met in a rock building on the Northeast side of town, the Broadway Baptist met on Broadway St., and the church of Christ and Methodist church both met on church Street. When the First Baptist church built a new building the Assembly of God bought their old one and today all of those churches still meet in the same locations.
I was raised in the church of Christ, baptized at the age of 12 and made my first 'talk' in church at the age of 12. Aubrey Vanwinkle asked me one Sunday morning after services if I would like to speak to the auditorium class that night. Aubrey liked good, long, advance notices you see! Well, with my Mom helping me work it all up I made my first public appearance that night and it wasn't long until I was doing that quite often. I also began leading singing at about that same age and Jimmy Chester and I did a lot of the song leading until we both grew up and moved away. I loved to sing and still do. I have some wonderful memories of church as I was growing up. We were always the first ones to arrive. We always parked in the same place. I remember going to 'gospel meetings' in the summer time and the house being completely filled and people standing outside and looking in and listening from the windows which were wide open because it was so hot. I recall many, many, baptisms, dinners on the ground, afternoon singings, vacations bible schools that lasted two weeks, gospel meetings that lasted 10 days to two weeks, and the church growing and was strong. The gospel was preached in love and I don't remember any big fusses or the church splitting because of personal differences.
I went with my buddy Jim Isbell to visit the Baptist church one night and I hoped that nobody would see me and tell Mom that I had gone to the Baptist church. But, you can't get away with much in Bay! I had hunkered down as low as I could so Max Taylor couldn't see me but it didn't work. When Max asked all the visitors to stand and I didn't, he said, "Well, I see Hook Knight back there to but he didn't stand up." Now, everyone in four counties knew that I had been to the Baptist church! Well, as you can see, I survived it!
I don't remember any big fights among the churches although there were severe disagreements doctrinally. I think that we all knew that those disagreements existed but we all agreed that there was a way to address those disagreements with a good spirit. That's the kind of people that we had at Bay and they even let us Herman Junctionites come into town and worship with them and I enjoyed it immensely.
Saturday, April 25, 2009
E. D. SMITH'S GROCERY: POST #61
I don't know what our family would have done had it not been for E. D. and Aunt Mollie Smith and their grocery store. This is where all of our groceries were bought for many, many, years. We would go into Bay on Saturday night and Mom would take her grocery list and hand it to E.D. and he would go about the store gathering all of the items and piling them on the counter. Then, he would take a pencil, spit on the end of it, and record every item and price of it on his little book and charge it. It took quite some time to do that too because there was always a long list and especially when Grandma Halfacre would send some money and order bologna, cheese, bread, and other stuff for us all to eat when we got back home. Can you imagine the food that it took to feed all of us? In the winter there was a roaring fire built in the stove in the back of the store and people gathered round that thing while the head of the clan would take care of buying the groceries. It was as crowded as Wal-Mart it seemed to me.!
I guess most of the other shoppers paid for their groceries at the time they bought them, but the Knight's charged theirs. I guess we must have paid once a month or something when Dad would get paid on the railroad and then later when we were farming and he was a carpenter. I don't know how all that worked out but we sure spent a lot of money at the Smith's grocery store. Later, E. D. retired and in 1956 he passed away. Dad bought the 1949 Chevy truck from Aunt Mollie and I loved that truck. He drove it until it was demolished by a train one day on the railroad crossing right in the middle of town. Aunt Mollie ran the store for a little time and then she closed it and sold it to Ben and Hazel Swanner and they ran it for a few years. They tore the old building down and built their home there and the house is still standing. I sure did hate to see that old store building go down. Dad built Aunt Mollie a house right next door and he and Mom lived there until they both passed away.
We did our shopping for clothes from Sears-Roebuck and Speigel's catalogs. What a great day it was when one of those big orders would come in and everyone would sit around and Mom hand out to each one what was meant for them. It all smelled so good and fresh. New jeans, shirts, underwear, socks, and shoes were distributed to everyone in the family. We sure looked spiffed up for some time before they would all begin to fade into looking just like the ones that we had before. We had Sunday clothes and everyday clothes and you didn't dare get those Sunday clothes all torn and messed up. They all had to last at least a year before we would make another order.
Sometimes I long for those days and those times. No credit cards, hot checks, thieves, etc. It was quite nice really and as we made our way back to Herman Junction we were glad that Bay was close by.
I guess most of the other shoppers paid for their groceries at the time they bought them, but the Knight's charged theirs. I guess we must have paid once a month or something when Dad would get paid on the railroad and then later when we were farming and he was a carpenter. I don't know how all that worked out but we sure spent a lot of money at the Smith's grocery store. Later, E. D. retired and in 1956 he passed away. Dad bought the 1949 Chevy truck from Aunt Mollie and I loved that truck. He drove it until it was demolished by a train one day on the railroad crossing right in the middle of town. Aunt Mollie ran the store for a little time and then she closed it and sold it to Ben and Hazel Swanner and they ran it for a few years. They tore the old building down and built their home there and the house is still standing. I sure did hate to see that old store building go down. Dad built Aunt Mollie a house right next door and he and Mom lived there until they both passed away.
We did our shopping for clothes from Sears-Roebuck and Speigel's catalogs. What a great day it was when one of those big orders would come in and everyone would sit around and Mom hand out to each one what was meant for them. It all smelled so good and fresh. New jeans, shirts, underwear, socks, and shoes were distributed to everyone in the family. We sure looked spiffed up for some time before they would all begin to fade into looking just like the ones that we had before. We had Sunday clothes and everyday clothes and you didn't dare get those Sunday clothes all torn and messed up. They all had to last at least a year before we would make another order.
Sometimes I long for those days and those times. No credit cards, hot checks, thieves, etc. It was quite nice really and as we made our way back to Herman Junction we were glad that Bay was close by.
SHOPPING AT BAY, ARK: POST#60
Bay, Arkansas was a suburb of our town of Herman Junction. That is where most of our shopping was done as well as visiting the Doctor, going to church, school, and most other things that we could not take care of at Herman Junction. By the time that we arrived at Herman Junction the school, hotel, sawmill, and the post office were closed. There was the one little grocery store left and that was about all. So, when we wanted to 'go to town' that meant going to Bay or to Truman and we chose to go to Bay most of the time. Truman just seemed a little unclean to Mom because it was in a 'wet' county so we stayed in the one that was dry even though the old highway that ran in front of our house was lined with empty beer cans and whiskey bottles that were thrown out of the car window as the consumer made his way back to the 'dry' county.
Bay was a bustling little metropolis as I was growing up. There were several grocery stores. E.D. Smith and his wife Aunt Mollie had one on what is now called 'Church Street'. Sitting beside the store was a Grist Mill where corn was taken and made into meal. West of the Grist Mill was Dick Davis's barber shop and across the alley was the Herman Hill/Carl Taylor grocery store and then on the corner was a Drug Store. The drug store burned and just left a huge, gaping hole in the place where it had been and there has never been a building built there again on the same spot.
Lining Main Street were several businesses. There was Raymond Collins Barbara Shop, another grocery store that I don't remember who owned it, a Cafe that various ones ran, Sam O'Daniel's grocery store, another building that housed a variety of businesses, the Post Office, and then there was another big grocery store. At one time Willis Holmes owned it and then a man named Roach owned it for several years. Following that the 'Chinaman' owned it and I never did know his name, it was just the Chinaman. Across a small parking lost there stood Fred Friends Gulf service station.
One the other end of Main Street there was the theatre, Howard Hundley's grocery store, later owned by Carl Taylor, W.A. Hall's variety store, the Yellow Jacket Cafe, and a pool hall. Behind Howard Hundley's grocery store was a little shack that Doss Miller lived in. Mr. Miller drank an awful lot and I remember that they would limit his purchase of shaving lotion and other items like that because he would drink them. On past his little house there was another store and on the corner there was Mr. Burris's shoe shop. A big house called the "Hindman House' stood between the pool hall and Vernus Kitterman's grocery store. Barbara and I spent our first night of married life in that house. Out in the alley behind the Post Office was the huge Mule Barn and the jail house. Various families lived in part of the old mule barn building including the Knight family before I made my appearance on the scene. Various changes were made through the years but that is the basic layout of the downtown part of Bay.
When I was in my teens I worked with the Mexican field laborers driving them out to the fields, picking cotton with them, and then driving them home for the night. On weekends we always took them to town and since I had learned to speak Spanish pretty well I would work in Mr. Hall's Variety store translating for them and I really enjoyed that. He sold about everything that one could imagine except groceries. How I wish now that I could remember all the Spanish that I learned and could even expand on it but when you don't use something you usually lose it and I did.
Across the railroad tracks were two gins and several other houses in my day. The gins are still there and still operate during the fall and you can hear and smell them all over town. They sure aren't good for allergy prone people like me. As I mentioned earlier, Bay was a bustling place on Saturday evening and night. It was the place to be. I can go back there in my mind right now and really have a good time, but for right now I will move on back home to Herman Junction.
Bay was a bustling little metropolis as I was growing up. There were several grocery stores. E.D. Smith and his wife Aunt Mollie had one on what is now called 'Church Street'. Sitting beside the store was a Grist Mill where corn was taken and made into meal. West of the Grist Mill was Dick Davis's barber shop and across the alley was the Herman Hill/Carl Taylor grocery store and then on the corner was a Drug Store. The drug store burned and just left a huge, gaping hole in the place where it had been and there has never been a building built there again on the same spot.
Lining Main Street were several businesses. There was Raymond Collins Barbara Shop, another grocery store that I don't remember who owned it, a Cafe that various ones ran, Sam O'Daniel's grocery store, another building that housed a variety of businesses, the Post Office, and then there was another big grocery store. At one time Willis Holmes owned it and then a man named Roach owned it for several years. Following that the 'Chinaman' owned it and I never did know his name, it was just the Chinaman. Across a small parking lost there stood Fred Friends Gulf service station.
One the other end of Main Street there was the theatre, Howard Hundley's grocery store, later owned by Carl Taylor, W.A. Hall's variety store, the Yellow Jacket Cafe, and a pool hall. Behind Howard Hundley's grocery store was a little shack that Doss Miller lived in. Mr. Miller drank an awful lot and I remember that they would limit his purchase of shaving lotion and other items like that because he would drink them. On past his little house there was another store and on the corner there was Mr. Burris's shoe shop. A big house called the "Hindman House' stood between the pool hall and Vernus Kitterman's grocery store. Barbara and I spent our first night of married life in that house. Out in the alley behind the Post Office was the huge Mule Barn and the jail house. Various families lived in part of the old mule barn building including the Knight family before I made my appearance on the scene. Various changes were made through the years but that is the basic layout of the downtown part of Bay.
When I was in my teens I worked with the Mexican field laborers driving them out to the fields, picking cotton with them, and then driving them home for the night. On weekends we always took them to town and since I had learned to speak Spanish pretty well I would work in Mr. Hall's Variety store translating for them and I really enjoyed that. He sold about everything that one could imagine except groceries. How I wish now that I could remember all the Spanish that I learned and could even expand on it but when you don't use something you usually lose it and I did.
Across the railroad tracks were two gins and several other houses in my day. The gins are still there and still operate during the fall and you can hear and smell them all over town. They sure aren't good for allergy prone people like me. As I mentioned earlier, Bay was a bustling place on Saturday evening and night. It was the place to be. I can go back there in my mind right now and really have a good time, but for right now I will move on back home to Herman Junction.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
SHORTEST POST IN BLOG HISTORY: #59
Have you ever cleaned out an outdoor outhouse? That's all I'm saying 'bout that!
OLD SPORT AND OLD BESSIE: POST #58
We lived in a perfect spot at Herman Junction for people to drop off their unwanted animals and invariably they would come to our house for provisions since it was the only house right on the highway. I couldn't begin to count the animals that came to our house and there was no way for us to keep them so I would chunk rocks at them and run them off. I guess that I wasn't any better off than the people that dropped them off in the first place. But, with ten people to feed there wasn't much left for the dogs and cats from all over the country.
But, one dog came and I fell in love with him. I named him Sport. I really loved that dog and I am proud of a picture that I still have of Sport and me. He would wrestle with me just like another youngster would and I taught him a lot of things. The thing that I liked the most about him was that he would go a long way across the field and bring the cow, Old Bessie in for milking. I would just take him out to the edge of the field and tell him to "Go get Old Bessie", and he would take off and in a few minutes they would be back to the house. It sure saved me a lot of walking and I liked that.
I don't remember what happened to Old Sport. I know that he died of course, but I don't remember when. But, I do know one thing---"If dogs have a heaven, there's one thing I know; Old Sport has a wonderful home." Does that remind you of a song that Gene Autry used to sing and even Elvis recorded? It was about "Old Shep" and I have cried a river of tears listening to that song. Don't deny it now, you have too!
Then, there was Old Bessie. She sure supplied milk and butter to a lot of hungry Knight's. I have churned a lot of butter and didn't mind it at all because you could sit and do that. I also loved that milk after it was cold. One hasn't lived until he has a big chunk of corn bread crumbled up in a glass full of good milk.
Have you ever noticed that nearly every old cow in those days had a name and most of the time the name was "Old Bessie"? I have even seen one or two in TV shows that were given that name. I wonder why? I have known several nice ladies named Bessie or Bess. I wonder if they know that there is a big herd of cows scattered all over the place named after them? Or, forgive the thought, but could it be that they were named after the cows? I'll try to see that this doesn't get into the hands of a woman named Bessie.
But, one dog came and I fell in love with him. I named him Sport. I really loved that dog and I am proud of a picture that I still have of Sport and me. He would wrestle with me just like another youngster would and I taught him a lot of things. The thing that I liked the most about him was that he would go a long way across the field and bring the cow, Old Bessie in for milking. I would just take him out to the edge of the field and tell him to "Go get Old Bessie", and he would take off and in a few minutes they would be back to the house. It sure saved me a lot of walking and I liked that.
I don't remember what happened to Old Sport. I know that he died of course, but I don't remember when. But, I do know one thing---"If dogs have a heaven, there's one thing I know; Old Sport has a wonderful home." Does that remind you of a song that Gene Autry used to sing and even Elvis recorded? It was about "Old Shep" and I have cried a river of tears listening to that song. Don't deny it now, you have too!
Then, there was Old Bessie. She sure supplied milk and butter to a lot of hungry Knight's. I have churned a lot of butter and didn't mind it at all because you could sit and do that. I also loved that milk after it was cold. One hasn't lived until he has a big chunk of corn bread crumbled up in a glass full of good milk.
Have you ever noticed that nearly every old cow in those days had a name and most of the time the name was "Old Bessie"? I have even seen one or two in TV shows that were given that name. I wonder why? I have known several nice ladies named Bessie or Bess. I wonder if they know that there is a big herd of cows scattered all over the place named after them? Or, forgive the thought, but could it be that they were named after the cows? I'll try to see that this doesn't get into the hands of a woman named Bessie.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
DREAMS AT HERMAN JUNCTION:POST #57
What in the world does a boy from Herman Junction dream about? I mean, does he just intend to spend the rest of his life at Herman Junction picking cotton? I suppose that when I was very young that was about all that I had in mind for myself. Oh, I would stand in the cotton patch and watch the trains and cars go by and wonder where they were going and wish that I could catch one of them some day and find out the answers to those questions. But, until I got in my teens I never thought much about doing anything except living at Herman Junction. I remember My Lady and I were in Bay one time and wanted to just go out and walk around the streets in town. We met Howell Morrison coming down the street and we stopped and visited with him. Howell said, "You know, Hook, everyone always wanted to hurry and get away from Bay. But, I always wanted to just stay here." And, he did and not long after that he died right there where he had always lived and I suppose he was as happy as could be.
When I was out of school in the summer between my Junior and Senior years in high school I went with brother Rayburn and some guys from Harding to work for the Del Monte Canning Company out in the fields harvesting English Peas. We lived in a bunk house and worked long, long, hours every day. We made $1.00 per hour and that was the most money that I had ever made in my life. Sometimes when I would just give completely out, Ray would do my work for me and let me rest awhile. I remember one night that he and some of the other guys went in to Deklab, Illinois to the White Castle Drive-Inn to get hamburgers. I ordered one but when they got back I was sound asleep and I never knew what happened to my burger.
But, it was during this time that I began to dream a little. I dreamed about cars, dating My Lady in my own car, going to Harding in the fall, and a lot of other things. I had begun to learn that there was life outside of Herman Junction.
Then between my graduation from high school and beginning at Harding in the fall, I went to Michigan City, Indiana and C. W. got me a job with him at the Weil-McClain Company for the summer. I liked that job and I really began to dream about the future.
Dreams are good and they help to motivate us to go on to better things. I think that I have gone on to better things but the memories of Herman Junction still live in my heart and they always will.
When I was out of school in the summer between my Junior and Senior years in high school I went with brother Rayburn and some guys from Harding to work for the Del Monte Canning Company out in the fields harvesting English Peas. We lived in a bunk house and worked long, long, hours every day. We made $1.00 per hour and that was the most money that I had ever made in my life. Sometimes when I would just give completely out, Ray would do my work for me and let me rest awhile. I remember one night that he and some of the other guys went in to Deklab, Illinois to the White Castle Drive-Inn to get hamburgers. I ordered one but when they got back I was sound asleep and I never knew what happened to my burger.
But, it was during this time that I began to dream a little. I dreamed about cars, dating My Lady in my own car, going to Harding in the fall, and a lot of other things. I had begun to learn that there was life outside of Herman Junction.
Then between my graduation from high school and beginning at Harding in the fall, I went to Michigan City, Indiana and C. W. got me a job with him at the Weil-McClain Company for the summer. I liked that job and I really began to dream about the future.
Dreams are good and they help to motivate us to go on to better things. I think that I have gone on to better things but the memories of Herman Junction still live in my heart and they always will.
TRAINS AND STORM HOUSES: POST #56
My Dad loved trains and I did too. Dad worked on the railroad for Sixteen Years and even though he loved it, he often said that if he had continued working on the railroad he would not have lived as long as he did. It was really hard work. I liked trains too but you know, I have never ridden but one little train and it was not a very long trip. Someday, I want to take a good long ride on a train. Barbara's mother heard that they were not going to continue with passenger trains through Bay so she put My Lady and her little brother and sister on a train to Jonesboro and drove along the highway in the car waving at them just to let them ride a train. She was a great Mom.
Dad would be in the cotton field later or out on a job as a carpenter and he would hear a train coming through. He would always look at his watch to see if 'old 96' or whatever the train was, was on time. Our Son Marty still has a smashed nickel that Dad gave him and took him down to the tracks and put it on the rail and let the train mash it flat. He loved trains to the day that he died.
Another thing that Dad got into was building concrete storm houses. I told you earlier about him building one at our house but part of it was already built. But, I suppose that it was after one of the real bad storms came that Dad built a set of forms and began building concrete storm houses. There are many of them still across the country in Craighead County Arkansas and some of the storm houses are still standing even though the house itself is gone.
Building a concrete storm house is WORK! I helped him build some of them and just thinking about it now makes me tired. All of those forms had to be bolted together and tied with wires in some places so that they would be able to hold all that concrete. Then on the top and down the sides there were steel rods put in there so that storm house would be there when the Lord comes again. But, he wanted them to especially last through any kind of storm.
When the forms were all set he would start the concrete mixer and mix the gravel, sand, and water until it was just right. Then, the fun part would start. He had already built a runway about thirty feet out from the storm house up to the top. He would pour the wheel barrow (wheel Barr) full of that concrete and it was my job to push it to the top and empty it down the sides until we had it all filled up and the top poured. The sides and top were EIGHT inches thick. I tell you right now that was some job! But, I did it all day long and into the night several times, up and down that runway with that load of concrete. I got to be a mighty strong man during those times. Today I couldn't go up that runway with a snuff can full of concrete but I did then. I weighed about 250 pounds when I was doing this and I cannot imagine now what I ate when I got home from one of those days. After the concrete would set a few days we had to go and remove the forms and he would be ready to build another one.
"Hard work never hurt anybody" they say. I have heard that all of my life. Well, if you believe that, just go out and build yourself a concrete storm house and see if it hurts. It won't be long until you call one of these companies that makes these new-fangled storm cellars and have them come put one in for you.
I like to go down to Herman Junction and every time that I do, I look out at that first storm house that Herb built and thank the good Lord that I don't have to do that anymore. That one at our house helped to make Herman Junction alright.
Dad would be in the cotton field later or out on a job as a carpenter and he would hear a train coming through. He would always look at his watch to see if 'old 96' or whatever the train was, was on time. Our Son Marty still has a smashed nickel that Dad gave him and took him down to the tracks and put it on the rail and let the train mash it flat. He loved trains to the day that he died.
Another thing that Dad got into was building concrete storm houses. I told you earlier about him building one at our house but part of it was already built. But, I suppose that it was after one of the real bad storms came that Dad built a set of forms and began building concrete storm houses. There are many of them still across the country in Craighead County Arkansas and some of the storm houses are still standing even though the house itself is gone.
Building a concrete storm house is WORK! I helped him build some of them and just thinking about it now makes me tired. All of those forms had to be bolted together and tied with wires in some places so that they would be able to hold all that concrete. Then on the top and down the sides there were steel rods put in there so that storm house would be there when the Lord comes again. But, he wanted them to especially last through any kind of storm.
When the forms were all set he would start the concrete mixer and mix the gravel, sand, and water until it was just right. Then, the fun part would start. He had already built a runway about thirty feet out from the storm house up to the top. He would pour the wheel barrow (wheel Barr) full of that concrete and it was my job to push it to the top and empty it down the sides until we had it all filled up and the top poured. The sides and top were EIGHT inches thick. I tell you right now that was some job! But, I did it all day long and into the night several times, up and down that runway with that load of concrete. I got to be a mighty strong man during those times. Today I couldn't go up that runway with a snuff can full of concrete but I did then. I weighed about 250 pounds when I was doing this and I cannot imagine now what I ate when I got home from one of those days. After the concrete would set a few days we had to go and remove the forms and he would be ready to build another one.
"Hard work never hurt anybody" they say. I have heard that all of my life. Well, if you believe that, just go out and build yourself a concrete storm house and see if it hurts. It won't be long until you call one of these companies that makes these new-fangled storm cellars and have them come put one in for you.
I like to go down to Herman Junction and every time that I do, I look out at that first storm house that Herb built and thank the good Lord that I don't have to do that anymore. That one at our house helped to make Herman Junction alright.
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