MEMORIES OF MY FIRST 85 YEARS-O. J. MCADAMS

We  are  indebted  to  Mr.  Obert  James McAdams for recording his memoirs and to his
daughter,  Sandra  McAdams Gardner for typing them and binding them into a book. They
donated  a  copy to the museum and have given permission for these edited parts to be
put on the Clay County web page.

He  titled  it  "Memories  of  My  First  85  Years"  and wrote in the prologue: "The
following  pages  record memories and recollections from my childhood and young adult
days.  I  want to share a history of a family and of a time and place where I grew to
adulthood.  I  have  written  about  the many changes that have occurred during my 85
years...there  have  probably been more changes during this period of history than in
any  other  era.  This  is for my children, grandchildren and other family members so
that  they  may  read  and  know  of the past...a past that helped shape all of their
lives.

"Always  remember: 'We have arrived at who we are and what we are because of where we
started  in  the  past.  And  we  shall  grow into the future from these same roots.'
(Author unknown)

"I  began  my  writings  to  try to explain and understand the many changes that have
occurred  during the first 85 years of my life. At the time I was born in 1914 at the
old Secret Springs Community in Clay County, Texas, the area had been free from raids
by  renegade  Indians  for  only about forty years. Clay County had been an organized
county  for  forty  two  years. Cambridge and then Henrietta had been at one time the
judicial  center  for  much  of  west  and northwest Texas only a few years before my
birth.  As  a youth, I knew many of the pioneer ranchers who settled the western half
of  Texas.  Some I knew by reputation only...Colonel Burk Burnett, J. G. Halsell, Tom
Waggoner,  C.  C.  Slaughter,  and  many  others.  These  early  pioneers created the
environment  I  grew  up  in.  Texas,  and  Clay  County  in particular, was agrarian
depending on farming and ranching as its main source of income, and this was true for
most of the United States.

"To  try  to understand why so much has changed in a short time after being about the
same  for  so  many  centuries,  we  should ask ourselves some questions. Could it be
because  of inquiring minds seeking knowledge? Could it be because of greed? Could it
be  because  of  necessity created by the Civil War and two World Wars? Could it be a
combination of all of the above? I will leave the answers to others.

"Since  the  beginning of recorded history, and probably before, inquiring minds have
sought the unknown. Each new bit of knowledge led to another, but it was so very slow
to  spread  because  of  the  lack  of fast communication. This fact is my reason for
devoting  so  much  space  to  changes in communication and transportation. Also much
space  had  been used to describe agriculture changes because it is the first time in
history  so  few  have  fed  and clothed so many so well. "When Columbus accidentally
discovered  the  so-called  'New  World,' was he really trying to prove the world was
round,  or  was  he really trying to find a safer and cheaper way to get the goods of
the east to his native country for a profit? Two hundred fifty to three hundred years
after  Columbus  my ancestors crossed the ocean to get their share of the new World's
'riches'  using  the same small type sailing vessels used from the beginning of time.
Then,  after  three  or more months of travel on the water, they still had to use the
same method of travel that had been used from the beginning of time...walking, riding
an  animal,  or  riding  in  an animal-pulled buggy or wagon, as did my ancestors who
arrived  in  Clay  County riding in covered wagons, riding on horses, and walking. My
early  ancestors  came  to  the New World seeking land and freedom to worship as they
wanted.  They fought for their freedom from England. In time, the same people who had
fought  for  their  freedom,  citing a need for cheap labor to produce the cotton and
other  products  the  New  World  had  to offer, created a slave trade that took away
freedom  and rights from an entire race of people. This led to the Civil War with all
its  suffering.  The  Civil  War  was  fought about fifty years before I was born. My
grandparents  suffered  so  much  during  this  war  that  the  results  affected the
environment that I was born into.

"I  was  about  four and a half years old when World War I ended, and about all I can
remember  about it was the soldiers coming home and their well polished shoes. I grew
to  manhood  in  the  atmosphere  created as a result of that war. Then, World War II
changed our country in its direction and changed a way of life forever.

"Memories of My First 85 Years" Chapter II - 2nd part of his prologue.

"Now that I am an old man, I have seen many, many things considered to be necessities
as  a part of our everyday living come into being and have seen so much change in the
way we live.

"I was here in this world before radio, television, VCR, radar, ball point pens, tape
recorders,  camcorders,  electric  typewriters, word processors, and computers. I was
taught  to write using a pen staff with a replaceable pen point that had to be heated
by a match before the ink would stick to it when dipped into the black ink well which
was a part of all school desks. (Some young girls had their pigtails stuck in the ink
wells  by  the  boys  sitting  behind them even though the boys knew the trouble they
would be in.)

"I  was  here  before  Xerox,  penicillin, polio shots, vitamin pills, and disposable
diapers.  Young  parents  who  have  not  washed  diapers and hung them on an outside
clothes  line  in  freezing  weather just have not experienced life as it was. "I was
here  long  before  frozen  food and decaffeinated coffee. We thought 'fast food' was
what  our  Catholic  neighbors ate during the Lenten season. I was here before pizza,
cheerios, rayon, nylon, Dacron, plastics, and panty hose. I was here when ladies wore
long  flowing  dresses, silk hose with a seam in the back, high top pointed toe black
patent  leather shoes (which were guaranteed to cause corns on their toes), and their
whale bone corsets laced in the back. Married ladies had their husbands lace them up,
and  young ladies had to get their mothers, sisters, or girl friends to lace them up.
I was here when young girls word bloomers, long black cotton stockings, and Peter Pan
collars.  When  I  heard  of  'cleavage,' I thought that was what a butcher used on a
chopping  block. I was here when we talked about 'hardware' and meant hammers, nails,
saws, and plow sweeps.

"  'Chips'  were  small  pieces of wood used to start fires in the wood stoves. I was
here  when  closets  were to store clothes in and not for 'coming out of.' I was here
before 'Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.' We would not have known what 'software' was.

"I  grew  up  in  a time when smoking and chewing tobacco were fashionable and were a
signal  one  'had arrived.' 'Grass' was for cows and horses to eat. 'Coke' was a very
good  drink with a little cherry flavoring added, and 'pot' was what my mother washed
our  clothes  in.  I was here when the work day was from daylight to dark, and in the
winter kerosene lanterns were a necessity. The work week was Monday through Saturday,
often  much  later  on Saturday night. I was probably about 24 years old when I heard
about minimum wages. Sunday was a 'holy day' and was a time to worship our God and to
visit  with  family  and  friends.  "I  was here when doctors made house calls day or
night,  and when he (the doctors were all men at that time) went there, he would swab
your  throat  with  iodine  and  give you some calomel or quinine. To borrow a quote,
'Never did such dedicated men do so much for so many with so little.'

"I was here before natural gas was used to heat homes and cook food. I was probably 6
years  old  when  the first city received natural gas. As a youngster, I would sit in
front  of  my grandmother's gas heating stove and wonder why the asbestos backing did
not  burn  in  those  beautiful  blue,  red,  and  purple  flames. "I was here before
prohibition.  And I was here before the 19th Amendment to the U. S. Constitution gave
women the right to vote in 1920.

"I  was  here  before Wolf Brand chili and Kool-Aid. I was here when General Electric
introduced the first successful electric refrigerator with the motor on top and I was
here when the first sliced bread was introduced in 1928. I was when many doctors used
their  alcohol  prescription  books  to  prescribe a half pint of whiskey per patient
every  ten  days.  Then  I  was  here  when  Clarence  Birdseye introduced his frozen
vegetables in 1930.

"In  thinking  back,  how  did  I  ever  grow  up without so many things that are now
considered necessities of life?

"I was an old man before fax machines and e-mail became a must.

"The  automobile  was  here  before  me,  but  the  American  'love  affair' with the
automobile was just beginning when I was born.

"These  are  just some of the changes in my lifetime. I have written of the past as I
remember it.

( Comment, not by Mr. McAdams: It seems hardly yesterday that we had the privilege of
showing  off the museum to a group of students, this time third graders from Petrolia
the  week before school was out. How time flies! Their teacher is a descendent of the
Westbrooks,  who came to Clay County in the 1870's. It was also exciting for me since
the  parents  of  many  of  these  pupils  had been my pupils in the past. I am again
reminded  how  history  repeats  itself  and  how we are living it each day, how each
generation builds on the past generation and stretches into the next.

In  keeping  with  this  year's parade theme of a salute to the states, we are asking
people  to bring us the stories of their families for the archives. We plan to have a
map  for  you  to locate where your family originated. If yours is like mine, you may
have to settle for one of the places they left behind when they came to Clay Co.

This  is  one thing that makes Mr. O.J. McAdams' story so interesting and also rather
typical  of  many of the families that ended up in Clay County. Many of our ancestors
were  immigrants  from Europe in the 1600's and the 1700's and moved down the eastern
seaboard  and  across  the  southern  states.  They  often  intermarried with the few
neighbors they had, working always for a better life. Then came the Civil War, during
which  they  all fought, many died and they all lost their livelihood. Many saw Texas
as  a land of opportunity where they could start over to build a new life. Some moved
from  "older"  parts of Texas looking for a more healthful climate after epidemics of
typhoid and cholera.)

Chapter III

Mr.  McAdams'  grandmother  on  his  father's side was Helen Palestine Sellers, whose
folks  came  from  England  in  the  1640's  to  Pennsylvania and North Carolina. His
grandfather  was James W.F. McAdams, whose people came from Ireland to South Carolina
in  1768. Mr. Sellers and Mr. McAdams both fought in the American Revolution and both
families  located  in  Alabama  by 1833. Mr. James W.F. McAdams and 5 of his brothers
fought in the Civil War. He and Helen Sellers married in 1866.

Two   other  families  were  neighbors  to  the  Sellers  and  McAdams  families  and
intermarried  also,  the  Jefcoats  and  the  Childs families. It seems they were all
successful  planters but lost everything in the Civil War. They came to Texas by boat
from  Mobile,  Alabama,  and  landed  in  Galveston  in 1866. James Childs settled in
Bluegrove in 1881 and James McAdams arrived in Secret Springs in 1897.

The  Jefcoats stayed in Grayson County and Calvin Sellers came, as a widower, in 1881
and spent time with his daughters, Mary Elizabeth Childs and Helen McAdams.

When  the  McAdams  family  came to Secret Springs, Clay Co., they leased the Metsger
place, on which the spring is located.

Mr.  O.J.  McAdams' grandfather on his mother's side was James Thomas Christian, born
in  Illinois in 1848. His grandmother was Lou Tishia Stapp Christian, born near Rusk,
Texas,  in  1867. Her family also fought in the Civil War and she was raised by older
brothers  in  Indian  Territory  after her mother died when she was small. The family
lived close to the Quanah Parker family and knew them well.

James  Christian and Lou Stapp married in 1892 and settled in Erath County. They went
to Roswell, New Mexico, to file on land but discovered when they arrived that all the
good  land had been taken and returned to Callahan County, near Abilene. They finally
settled  in  Clay  County  and  bought  the  farm joining the Metsger place in Secret
Springs in 1909.

In  1919 they sold the farm to the Dugger family and moved to Henrietta to a house on
the  corner of California and Gilbert Streets. It is said that a big mesquite tree on
the corner is the oldest tree in Henrietta.

Each  time  Mr.  Christian  moved  and bought a place he paid for it in gold which he
always carried, never fearing it would be stolen.

Chapter IV, "Memories of My First 85 Years."

Mr.  McAdams'  father  was  Claude McAdams, born 1889 in Grayson County, who moved to
Clay County with the family in 1897. They settled in Secret Springs in a log house at
the site of the springs on the Metsger place, which they leased.

Mr.  Metsger had settled there in the 1870's and built the house, a grist mill, and a
horse-powered cotton gin from oak logs which he squared and notched with a hatchet or
ax  while they were green and held them together with wooden pegs. He also operated a
post office there from 1878 through its discontinuance in 1884. (Alexander Dawson was
postmaster from 1876 to 1878.) Claude and his brother George bought the Metsger place
later and Claude built a new house on the southwest part of the place.

Mr.  Obert McAdams' mother, Ida Josephine (Josie) Christian, was born in Erath County
in  1894  and moved to Clay County when she was 15 years old; the family settled on a
farm established by a Mr. Lewter west of the Metsger place. The McAdams and Christian
children  attended  the  Secret Springs School. The county road, laid out about 1876,
missed  the  springs  by about a half mile so the school was built on the road at the
entrance  to the Sanzenbacher Ranch. The Secret Springs School was in operation until
the  middle  of  the  20th  century.  Miss Lulu Johnson, daughter of one of the first
families in the community of Cambridge, taught her first school at Secret Springs.

Claude  McAdams  and  Josie  Christian  were married December 25, 1910, by W.W. King,
Justice of the Bluegrove Justice Court. Their witnesses were Harry Brown of Bluegrove
and  Lizzie  Sanzenbacher of Secret Springs, who were in turn married by Justice King
with  the new Mr. and Mrs. Claude McAdams as witnesses. Claude and Josie lived in the
new  house  Claude had built and had three children, Obert, Berniece and Oather. They
boarded at least 2 pioneer teachers, Almeta Houston, who later married George Spivey,
and Louis Shortes. By 1917 Claude paid off his part of the Metsger place by selling a
large  herd of horses which he and Cook Gilbow (a later sheriff of Clay Co.) drove to
Grayson  County.  Obert  remembers seeing them start out their gate and down the road
east.  They  drove them across the Sanzenbacher and Hapgood and other ranches to save
time  and  thus reached St. Jo the first day. Later Claude sold his part of the place
to his brother George and bought land and moved to the Neville Community.

Mr.  Obert praises his parents highly for their religious beliefs and his strict, but
loving  upbringing.  "My  parents were strict but fun loving. They were strict in the
sense  of  expecting  their  children  to follow a few simple rules such as doing our
homework,  doing  our chores without having to be reminded, and washing our hands and
faces before going to the table. No one ever came to eat at my mother's table without
their  hair  combed  and  wearing  a shirt...she thought that cleanliness was next to
godliness.  Yet,  my parents were fun loving and never too tired to play a few simple
games  with  us  before going to bed, or, on a rainy day pitch horse shoes, play ball
with us, or take us fishing. I began to believe I would never learn to beat my father
at  a  game  of checkers. My mother was never too busy to have hot cornbread, popcorn
balls,  or roasted peanuts when we returned from school. My father had the ability to
laugh  regardless  of the adversities he might be experiencing, and never saw a child
that  he  did not like. "By today's standards, I was probably born into what might be
called  poverty.  But, that was not the case at all at that time. I was actually born
into  'riches'  in  that I had loving and caring parents who owned their own home and
farm,  who taught me right from wrong, and taught me to include God in my life. I was
a  happy child with a sister and a brother. We were taught to take responsibility and
to entertain ourselves with what we had. We were taught to share with each other."

Mr.  McAdams'  mother  died  in 1947, his father in 1987, his sister in 1935, and his
brother in 1986.

Chapter V

To  continue  from Mr. O.J. McAdams' memoirs, "Memories from My First 85 Years:" "The
Secret Springs Community got its name from a very large spring on land settled by Mr.
Metsger.  It was in a rock outcropping which could not be seen from three sides until
one  was  within a few feet of it. It opened into a small creek on the north side and
still  flows  to this time. It is located about a half mile north of the Bluegrove to
Sanzenbacher  Ranch  Road.  The  spring  is almost straight north of the old Jake and
Annie Sanzenbacher Lutz home which is now owned by Maurice Lutz. I first remember the
Lutz  home as the Jim Goodner place. "The only person that I have known that had seen
mail  postmarked  at the Secret Springs Post Office was Mr. Frank Brown of Bluegrove,
who  stated  that  he  personally  had  seen a small envelope with a three cent stamp
postmarked Secret Springs, Texas, March 8, 1881

"The only person whom I have ever known that said he had seen cotton ginned at Secret
Springs  was Mr. Frank Hurn, who said when he was a 6-year old boy he would ride with
his father when he hauled cotton from what is now Hurnville Community to the gin.

"There  were  three events that probably led to the demise of the Secret Springs gin,
mill,  and  post  office  and,  eventually, the school although indirectly. The first
event  was  the  founding  of  Bluegrove  some five miles to the west. Second was the
advent  of  barbed wire around 1876, the fencing of what had been the free range, and
the  laying  out  of  the public roads. And third, very large ranches to the east and
south  of  Secret  Springs prevented farmers from settling in much of the surrounding
area.  Another factor could have been that the Secret Springs cotton gin was obsolete
by 1880.

"Bluegrove  was  founded in 1881 and 1882 when several merchants set up shop. Many of
the  families  that  called  Secret  Springs  home lived between there and Bluegrove.
Around  1876, roads were dedicated and barbed wire came into common use by farmers to
protect  their  property from roving herds of cattle. The roads missed Secret Springs
by  about  half  a  mile  so  the school was built on the road to the entrance to the
Sanzenbacher  Ranch.  After these events, no merchants ever set up shop in the Secret
Springs area again. Also, steam powered cotton gin was established at Bluegrove.

"When we lived at Secret Springs, we received our mail on a route from Henrietta. Our
mail carrier was Me. Charlie Arnold, who drove his white horse and buggy by our house
each  day  except  Sunday.  Mr.  Arnold  was a very accommodating man who would bring
supplies  to  his  patrons  and would mail packages for them. He also sold stamps and
stamped envelopes.

"The  Chris  Sanzenbacher  family  was among the very first families to settle in the
Secret  Springs  area  in  1874.  Others  were  John  Sanzenbacher,  Mr. Metsger, Mr.
Hamilton,  the  Means  family, Barney Davis, the Gilvin family, the Skipworth family,
the  Kimbroughs,  the Gilbows. Also families of Sime Graham, June Jones, Lewter, R.S.
Campbell, Charlie Lewis, Lowery and others.

"Cris  Sanzenbacher  was  a very frugal man and acquired extensive land holdings east
and  south  of  Secret  Springs  and  accumulated  large cattle herds. Just as today,
drought  occurred  rather  often  in  Clay  County. Cattlemen depended on springs and
creeks  for  water.  They also dug a few wells and a few small stock ponds. They used
horses and what were called scrapers to dig the ponds. Drought never had an effect on
the  Secret  Spring,  which when taken care of produced large amounts of water. I can
remember  when  it  started  getting  dry in the summer my father would meet with the
Gilbows,  Kimbroughs,  and Sanzenbachers to set a time for each to drive their cattle
to  the  spring  for  water.  There was never a thought of charging the neighbors for
using the water from the spring.

Chapter VI "Memories from My First 85 Years:"

"My  parents  were  married  at  Bluegrove.  I  was  delivered by a Bluegrove doctor.
Bluegrove  was  my  family  church  home as well as supply center. There were so many
relatives  living  there. I cannot remember my first time there... it was just always
there."

The  town  was named for the large oak tree grove northeast of the town site, about 5
miles west of Secret Springs. Around 1880 some large area ranches and some east Texas
counties that had been allocated school lands began to sell tracts of land to pioneer
settlers for farming and small stock farms. School lands included Grayson and Hopkins
Counties  and  St.  Augustine University. The things very necessary to pioneers, wood
and water, were plentiful in the area. There were large post oak groves and water was
shallow, allowing hand-dug wells. "I have been told there is a well about a half mile
west  of the Bluegrove Cemetery on land settled by Johnny Russell that produced large
amounts of water. This well was on a trail from Ft. Sill, Oklahoma Territory, and was
used  by  soldiers  and  Indians  traveling to Graham to Federal Court. The trail can
still be seen and the well still produces water."

Cotton  was  the cash crop for area farmers. A Mr. Morman moved a small steam powered
gin  about  a  mile  and  half southwest of Bluegrove around 1881. He enlarged it and
moved  it  to  a location a short distance from the L. B. Brown home. He built a very
large dam on a small stream to create a pond from which to run the steam engine. This
gin  tank  was  the  area  swimming  hole and the area baptismal fount for many, many
people.  The  gin  continued to operate until after World War II, when cotton acreage
declined,  making  the  gin  no  longer profitable. It had been owned and operated by
Mabry and Cad Powell in its later years. "Some of the pioneer ranchers who had staked
out and patented large acreage in the area were Tarlton f. Bates, Chariston Thompson,
Thomas Morehead, Levi Sparks, William W. Yearly, and John Belcher. They were all dead
or gone from the area by the time I was born except John Belcher."

"In  1881,  my  Great  Grandfather Calvin Sellers, his daughter Elizabeth Childs, her
husband  James Louis Childs, and all of their children left Grayson county in covered
wagons  headed  for the new cotton farming area." Names of some other early Bluegrove
families were Roach, Copp, L.B. Brown, Johnny Russell.

In  1882  or '83, A.W. Flynn moved a small grocery store to become the first merchant
in  Bluegrove.  He also moved in a small post office to make Bluegrove the postal and
trading center for the area.

"It  should  be  remembered  that at that time there were only two general methods of
traveling  around  the  countryside.  One was walking. The other was riding horses or
riding  in  vehicles  pulled by horses or oxen. Thus small schools, post offices, and
stores  were  located  very near each other. Bluegrove was located near the center of
several  of  these small communities, a fact that made it somewhat larger than any of
the  others.  Sixteen  businesses  were  located  in  Bluegrove when a tragic fire on
October 7, 1942, destroyed fourteen of them.

Mr. McAdams remembers many of these businesses. General stores run by A. W. Flynn and
Rupert  Speigel; Bud and Edgar Childs had a grocery store that carried some drygoods;
Ed  Childs  operated  a  drug  store; Harve Rollins, a barber shop; Roy Van Houten, a
hardware store. E. A. Copp was a mechanic and blacksmith and sold gasoline; Ed Childs
had  an  Overland  automobile  dealership. Cars were just beginning to be used in the
first  few years of Mr. McAdams' life. W.W. King had a drygoods store and Floyd South
a  variety store. Mr. Piercily had a blacksmith shop and Mr. Fortenberry was a cotton
buyer.  The  ginned  cotton  was  hauled  by  wagon to the railroad at Bellevue to be
shipped to Galveston.

Chapter VII

To continue Obert McAdams' story, "Memories from My First 85 Years:" "Mr. O. A. Blake
settled  about  eight  miles  west  of Bluegrove, taught a school and operated a post
office  named Shiloh is what later became Halsell." He later had a threshing machine,
a cotton gin and the first telephone system in the Bluegrove area.

Mr.  McAdams remembers 4 doctors from the area: Doctors Moffitt, Teddley, Patton, and
Payne.

There  was  a  Masonic  Lodge  in  a large two-story building in Bluegrove that later
became the home of the JAC Electric Co-op, begun before WWII and finished afterwards.
Mr.  Cad  Powell  of Brown Community and Mr. W. E. Lanham of Joy were instrumental in
this  most  welcome addition to rural Clay County. The family church was in Bluegrove
even  after  the  McAdams  family moved to the Neville Community. There were 4 church
buildings in Bluegrove: Baptist, Methodist, Church of Christ, and Christian. Services
were  not  held  in  each  church  every  Sunday so there was much visiting among the
congregations.  Summer  revivals  were held under a brush arbor and after an electric
generator  came  in  use  the  bugs  proliferated  around  the bare bulbs. Once while
visiting  minister  J. N. Hunt from Henrietta was preaching, a bug got in his ear and
services were suspended long enough for him to go to the drug store for the doctor to
remove  the bug. The names of some of the farmers Mr. McAdams remembers are Reynolds,
Lowry,  Parker,  England,  Callaway,  McConnell, Herd, Crump, Devers, Albins, Maddux,
Corley,  Douglas,  Dean,  Brown,  Williams,  South,  Mann, Plemons, Russell, Rollins,
Akins,  Lyles,  Trout, Tate, Roach, Jameson, Meyers, Van Houten, McMasters, Thompson,
Land,  Pennington,  Phillips, Duberley, Vandiver, Chapman, and others. One family had
two children die the same day from spinal meningitis. "People feared diseases so much
in  that  time that no one would help the family prepare the children for burial. The
neighbors  did  dig the grave and made the coffins but would not come in contact with
any members of the family."

North of Bluegrove Frank Neville and Ben Nutter were partners who owned a large tract
of  land  which they divided and sold to smaller landholders around 1917. Among these
were  Mr.  McAdams' parents, Less Thompson, Will Fields, and Harry Brown. The McAdams
family  continued  to  trade  in Bluegrove and go to church there. Since there was no
public  road,  they  traveled  across  the  Tom  Fields  Ranch to a road known as the
Henrietta Jacksboro Road.

The  post  office at Bluegrove is still in operation as is the JAC Electric Co-op and
the  Baptist  Church.  The  Methodist Church is now the Community Center. Mr. McAdams
said he went to some length to describe the land and people of Bluegrove to show that
its  growth  and  decline  are  typical  of the changes he has seen in this lifetime.
"These changes have turned the United States from an agricultural to an urban nation.
Although  Bluegrove  had been established 35 or 40 years before I can remember, I saw
it grow from seven or eight business firms to at least sixteen businesses including a
large  implement and appliance dealer, and I have lived to see the businesses dwindle
to  one.  At  one  time there were five churches, and now I believe there is only one
that  is  active.  I  have  seen  the  surrounding  fields,  which  grew  most of the
watermelons,  cantaloupes,  corn  and  other  vegetables sold in Wichita Falls in the
1930's,  40's,  and  50's , returned to grass land. Cattle have replaced cotton which
kept the Bluegrove gin and the Brown gin running from early morning to late at night.
And the school is gone."

Chapter VIII

To  continue  Mr.  Obert  McAdams'  thoughts  on the decline of small-towns, from his
"Memories  of  My  First  85  Years:"  "That  which  has taken place in the Bluegrove
Community  is typical of what has taken place in the small towns of the United States
whether  it be the Midwest wheat and corn towns, the Wisconsin dairy towns with their
cheese  plants,  or  the Southern cotton, rice, and sugar towns. Traveling across the
country  and  seeing  the abandoned home sites marked only by a few falling buildings
and  through the small towns with their decaying buildings and abandoned churches and
school  buildings certainly could give one the impression that this is a country that
has  reached  its  peak and is on the way down. I do not believe that to be the case.
"To  me,  it  was  sad to travel the roads around Bluegrove and see all the abandoned
home  sites  where  happy  families  had once lived - feeding, clothing and educating
their  children  by tilling the soil - and where stay-at-home mothers, along with the
fathers,  instilled  in their children the discipline to make them into men and women
of integrity. As I traveled around Bluegrove, the town and community that had been so
much  a  part. of my youth, remembering Mr. And Mrs ___ lived there and now there are
only  a  few  trees  and  Mr.  And  Mrs.  ___ lived there and now only an old well or
falling-down  building  remains, I remembered some things I think have been lost that
were  very, very important in the rise of the United States. I never knew of a single
incident where it was necessary to call the sheriff to handle a family disturbance. I
never  heard  a  young person say, "I'm bored. There is nothing to do around here." I
never  heard  of  a  juvenile being arrested for destroying the property of others. I
never  heard  of  drugs  being used by youngsters, although rarely, one would drink a
home brew. "Just as Bluegrove grew to a prosperous small town and now has dwindled to
just  a  memory,  so  have  thousands  of  other small towns across the nation. In my
opinion,  along with the loss of the small towns we have lost a way of life that will
never  exist again. But we have also lost something else. We have lost initiative and
determination  that  would  cause  men to load their families and all they owned into
covered  wagons and travel for days, or even months, to reach their destination. When
they  arrived  , they cut logs, sawed the timbers for their new homes and cleared the
land  to  plant  their crops, and they depended on the elements to produce their food
and clothing. The hard work, while depending on God to send the rain, built character
and self reliance that are seldom seen in today's work force.

"All of the changes in knowledge, technology and other fields of endeavor that I have
seen  in  my  long  life  fail to compare to the changes brought about by the loss of
small towns in the United States. In my humble opinion, the loss of Bluegrove in Clay
County,  Texas,  along  with  thousands of other towns across the nation, is far more
important  than  the development of a newer and faster airplane or a faster computer.
It  is  a  change  that  one day this nation will regret, but it will probably be too
late.  I  have  used these several pages writing about a small town and families that
most  people  never  knew  existed.  But  I  believe one could name it "Any town, any
county,  any  state,  U.S.A. " Bluegrove is just the one I knew and its people, along
with  my  parents,  forged  my  life.  My  story  is just one of millions who grew to
adulthood  in  Small  Town  America. The sacrifices and hardships those brave men and
women endured will probably never again be duplicated

Chapter IX

To continue Mr. Obert McAdams' "Memories of My First 85 Years:" Frank Neville and Ben
Nutter  came  to  Clay  County soon after the county was organized and formed a large
ranching  partnership,  just  by  a handshake, no written contract, on lands west and
north of what was later Bluegrove. Around 1917, the two men dissolved the partnership
and sold land to smaller farmers and stockmen.

Most of the buyers of the Neville-Nutter land were sons of families who were pioneers
of  other Clay County communities. Some of those from Secret Springs were the McAdams
family, that of Les Thompson, John Bumpas, Bill Wallace, and Mrs. Sanzenbacher.

From  Bluegrove  came  the  families  of Harry Brown, Bill Fields, Sam Russell, Edgar
Childs,  Floyd  McMaster,  and Ed Brown. W.E. Collie was from Shannon, W. A. Chowning
and  Ben  Gill  from  Halsell,  Mack  Reeves  from  Deer Creek and Joe Bullinger from
Fairview.  Others  who  bought  land  there  were  C. B. McDonald, Mr. Claxton, W. W,
Calloway, Mr. Carter, Tom Green, Jim Williams.

A  school  was  built  near the center of the partnership lands and named Neville. It
also served for community functions like picnics and elections. School district lines
did not mean much and transfers were easy to obtain. Since children walked to school,
rode  horses,  or rode in buggies, they attended the school that was easiest for them
to  get to, considering such things as creek crossings, fences, and roads. Sometimes,
like or dislike of a teacher was a determining factor.

Like  most schools at the time, Neville had a baseball team. The Neville District was
consolidated  with  Henrietta  around  1930. The building was later torn down and the
land was fenced into the Collie Ranch, leaving no evidence of a community or school.

"Bluegrove  remained  my family's main trading center at least until 1927 and to some
degree  until  the town was destroyed by fire in the 1940's. My Grandfather Christian
had  moved  to  Henrietta in 1919 and we visited there often. The following is what I
remember  before  or around 1927." "The Courthouse made a great impression on me as a
child.  The  St.  Elmo  Hotel  was  the  next largest to the Courthouse. It had three
stories  with  lobby  being  part of the first floor. Wide sweeping stairs led to the
second  and  third floors where guest rooms were located and also the living quarters
of the owners, Mr. And Mrs. Pete Snearly, on the third floor.

"On  the  first  floor Bob Moore had a tailor shop, Homer Butler a barber shop, and a
café was on the southeast corner.

"The  St.  Elmo  was the meeting place for pioneer cattlemen, bankers, merchants, oil
men, and others. It was 'rumored' that during prohibition days some of those pioneers
stashed  their 'refreshments' at the St. Elmo. Mrs. Snearly would become upset if the
group  became  too  loud,  and  she  would let them know about it in terms they could
understand.  Mr. Snearly had been a gold prospector so he was much more understanding
and was usually involved himself. It was said that Ed Boyd, the black porter, was the
keeper of the 'cough medicine'.

"North  of  the  barber  shop  Charles  and Mamie Sanzenbacher Scheer operated a meat
market.  H. L. Bear had a hardware store and Jess Cunningham a jewelry store, and the
Carter  family  a  drug  store.  On the north end of the block was the Schlosburg Dry
Goods  and  Clothing  store. It had two stories fully stocked with dry goods. Some of
the clerks were Dave Harris, Dub Hines, and a Miss McClure. "Across from the St. Elmo
was  the  two-story  Club  Building  for  businessmen.  North of that was the Bon Ton
Grocery,  operated  by  Rube Gant, George Smith, and John Kosanke. Farther north were
the  drug  store of Carl Green and later the West Variety Store. Across the alley for
the remainder of the block was the Alcorn Dry Goods Store.

"Across  the  street south of the St. Elmo was a large two story building occupied by
Dale  Brothers  Bankers. The building was razed and replaced by the present one which
housed the First National Bank and now the Clay Co. Appraisal District. Farther south
John  Cunningham  operated an Oldsmobile dealership, and south of that was a feed and
seed store.

"Foxworth-Galbraith  Lumber  Company  was  located  east of the Methodist Church with
Barlo Weaver the manager.

"Across  the  street  west  of  Dale  Brothers  Bank,  the lot was known as the K. P.
Building  with  several small stores operating on the lower floor and the K. P. Lodge
on the second floor until Olsen-Stelzer bought the building. South of that Jim Ansley
had a battery and radio store. He was a dealer for Williard batteries for starters on
cars  and  Motorola  radios.  South  of  him was the Gates Brothers Drug Store. Their
father had a cotton buying business.

"The  drug store also had a soda fountain. I remember when I was a very small child I
went  with my father to sell cotton to Mr. Gates. Someone gave me a nickel and I went
to  Gates Drug Store and bought a cherry coke. After that, anytime I went to town and
I  could  get  5  cents, I went to Gates' and had a cherry coke, the best drink I can
remember.

Chapter 10

To  continue  Mr. Obert McAdams' "Memories of My First 85 Years": Last week's article
told  about the businesses that were on the 2 blocks of Bridge St. south of the Court
House in Henrietta.

"On the south side of the Courthouse Square, the building on the east was a large two
story  building  which  still stands. Known as the Eustice Building, the ground floor
was  occupied  by  J.  F.  Alcorn Dry Goods and Thaxton Brothers Hardware. The second
story  was occupied by doctors and lawyers." Also in that block were Slagle Abstract,
W.  B.  Worsham  and  Company  Bank, W.W. King Dry Goods, and Floyd South 5 & 10 Cent
Store  on  the  west  corner.  Also,  an A & P Grocery was built in that block in the
1930's and a Mr. Woods operated a variety store there.

"On  the  east  side  of the Courthouse Square, I remember the Telephone Switch Board
Office  on  the  second  floor  of  the first building on the south corner. Gates and
Dugger  had  a  loan  office  on  the  ground floor in about 1930. This was the first
location  of  the  First  National Bank when it was organized in late 1933. A bed and
breakfast  was  there in the 1990's. The block was completely filled with businesses:
the  Dorothy  Theater  owned  by  H. L. Bear, the Koethe Barber Shop owned by Mug and
Walter Koethe, a domino parlor owned by Henry Scheer, later a dentist's office. I was
told  that  at  one  time  there had also been a saloon in that block, owned by Lewis
Willis.

"On  the  north  side of the square, the building on the northeast was the Oheim John
Deere  Plow Co., operated by Alf and Fred Oheim and their father. Their main products
were John Deere grain binders, breaking plows, disc plows, planters, and cultivators-
all horse drawn. It is also possible that they might have sold a few early iron wheel
two-cylinder  John  Deere  tractors. West of Oheims, Hanagan Brothers owned a poultry
and egg company. They also bought sour cream to be shipped to creameries by railroad.
The  Hanagan  brothers were somewhat of a topic of conversation themselves. One was a
bachelor,  and one was a widower with several children, all of whom lived together in
a  large  two-story house in southwest Henrietta. The brothers walked everywhere they
went in town and were always together-one was never seen without the other.

"West of Hanagan Brothers, Pete Harder ran a bakery. He spoke very little English and
lived  in  the  back of the bakery with his wife and 3 sons. The first bakery bread I
can  remember  was  Mr.  Harder's 'Sho Nuff" bread which sold for 5 cents an unsliced
loaf.  The  bakery also made doughnuts and fried pies which a son, Rudolph, delivered
around  town on foot carrying a large tray held up above his head with one arm. Harry
Harder,  another  son,  turned  the bakery into a grocery store which he operated for
many years.

"Much  of the west side of the Courthouse Square was vacant. The northeast corner was
used  as  the  City  hall  and  Fire Station. When I can remember, there was one paid
fireman,  Pap  Heck,  who lived above the fire house. Near the middle of the block, a
Mr.  Patterson had an abstract office, which he later sold to Volvney Lefevre. At the
south  end  of the block was the Jones Building. Mr. Jones, known as Dad Jones, was a
Justice  of  the  Peace  and  had  his court in the front of the building while Cyrus
Coleman  and  son  Clay  published  the  'Henrietta  Independent'  in the back of the
building. The newspaper was notorious for incorrect spelling. "Across the street west
of  the  South's  5  &  10  Store,  Mr. Carl Olsen had a boot shop. He later formed a
partnership  with  Mr. Stelzer and moved to their location on Bridge and Omega. G. A.
Hembre  operated a dry cleaning business in this block and Mr. Heck ran a meat market
which  he  later sold to Lon Kelly. Mr. & Mrs. Munkres ran a feed store, later bought
by Louis Kerr, founder of Kerr Feed and Seed Co. The business I remember most in this
block  was  the  Merchant and Planters Bank, where Mr. Marberry was the president. It
was the first of three Henrietta banks to fail near or during the 1929 depression.

"The  first  post office I remember was across the alley south of the South's 5 & 10,
now  the  office of the Edwards Estates. South of that was Claude McKinney, Chevrolet
Dealer,  Jim  Hill's  Garage and Lindon Garrison's grocery store. "Another business I
remember  was  the  Denver  Hotel  located just east of the St. Elmo Hotel with Doyle
Thaxton Wells the operator.

"A  Mr.  Scoggins had a Ford Dealership where the First Baptist Church parking lot in
now  located. I remember he always wore leather leggings in the winter. Floyd DeBoise
was a salesman there.

"Frank  Henry  operated a feed store and wagon yard near where the frozen food locker
was recently located. He was a veteran of the Spanish American War, where he lost one
leg below the knee in a battle in Cuba. He wore an artificial leg with a shoe on it.

"My uncles, Ira Thaxton and Hardie McAdams, operated a livery stable where the County
Extension offices were later located. They sold it to Charlie McDonald, who continued
to  use it in his horse trading business after livery stables were no longer used. It
was  known  as  the  Mule Barn until it was torn down and the present Senior Citizens
Building was erected.

"I  also  remember  a  blacksmith  shop  north  of  the Oheim Building and the Graner
Brothers  opera  house at the northeast corner of the next block north. "There were 3
cotton  gins  owned  by Ira Thaxton, Mabry Powell, and Oscar Graves. "Mr. Ebb Worsham
operated  a  garage in a large sheet metal building near where the Waggoner Boot Shop
is now. Bill Sharp ran the White Rose Restaurant near the present Allsups Store. Bill
McAdams also operated a café east of the Clay Co. Appraisal Office."

Chapter XI

To  continue  with  Mr. Obert McAdams' "Memories of My First 85 Years," at this point
describing his memory of downtown Henrietta:

"As  automobiles increased in numbers, several wholesale gasoline and oil dealerships
were  established  in Henrietta. The first ones I remember were Lee Street Texaco, A.
E. Sadler Gulf Oil, Claude Gates Conoco, and Forest Lankford Panhandle Refining Co. A
Magnolia  dealer built a station on the corner north of the First Baptist Church. Tim
Rollins  of  the  Bluegrove  Rollins  family  was  the first operator of the Magnolia
station  that  I  can  remember. The pioneer gasoline and oil dealers all built their
wholesale  buildings  and  holding  tanks  near  the  two  railroads that ran through
Henrietta  because  they  received  their  gasoline  and other products by rail. Even
though I don't remember seeing it, I am told Lee Street used a horse drawn wagon with
a  tank  on  it  to deliver gasoline and oil to the first few stations he served. The
first  filling  station  that I can remember my father trading at was located east of
the  St.  Elmo  Hotel  near  the  present  Chevron  Station. It had one hand operated
gasoline  pump  near the road as there was no driveway. Before that, my father bought
gasoline at E. A. Copps' blacksmith shop in Bluegrove.

"Two  major  railroads  ran  through the south side of town. The Ft. Worth and Denver
City  in  its  present location and the MKT (Missouri, Kansas and Texas) probably 300
yards  north  of the Ft. Worth and Denver. The FWDC Depot was about 100 yards west of
Hwy  148  and  the  MKT about 100 yards east of 148. A flour mill was between the two
railroads.  The  two cotton gins were across the road north of the MKT depot. East of
that  depot  was an ice plant that was there in my earliest memory; it operated until
several years after World War II.

"Near  the  ice plant Mr. Ferguson operated a mill and feed store in a large building
that  at one time had been a cotton oil mill. He would grind wheat into flour for the
wheat  bran.  A bushel of wheat would yield about 48 pounds of flour and 12 pounds of
bran. He also ground corn into meal. I have hauled both wheat and corn to the mill in
a wagon during the depression.

"Mr.  Dawson  had  a  blacksmith  shop  on the east side of downtown. He shod horses,
sharpened  plowshares, and was considered an expert welder. At that time, welding was
done  by  heating  the  iron  and  using  a  hammer and anvil to weld the object. Mr.
Dawson's  son,  H.  L.  (Bud) continued to operate the shop until he died after 1964.
"The Western Union Office was west of the Floyd South 5 and 10 cent store, where Mrs.
Goodnough was the operator.

"Mr.  Royer  had a cigar factory in a small building south of the Methodist Church. I
do  not  remember  the  brand  of  cigars  he made. His widow was my high school math
teacher and his daughter a classmate.

"The Methodist Church was in the same location as the present one, new in the 1950's.
My first recollection of the old building was attending the funeral of my Grandfather
Tom  Christian.  I  remember the pallbearers carrying his casket up the steep stairs,
and I was afraid they would drop him.

"There  were  3 doctors in Henrietta in the 1920's that I remember: Dr. A. Greer, Dr.
Allison,  and  Dr.  Jones. All three made house calls in town and in the country. Dr.
Jones had his office in his home about two blocks east of the St. Elmo. Dr. Greer and
Dr.  Allison had theirs in the second story of the Eustice Building. Also, a dentist,
Dr.  Williamson,  had  his office there. Compared to the present time, doctors really
had very little to work with. Druggists compounded most of the medications prescribed
by  the  doctors.  Most  medicines used then are no longer in common use. Castor oil,
Black  Draught, and Calomel were in common use for stomach problems. Quinine was used
to treat fevers. Cough remedies usually contained creosote, alcohol, and morphine.

"Dr.  Albert  Greer was one of the finest gentlemen I have ever known. He did so much
with  so little. (He was the grandfather of Henrietta's present day Dr. David Greer.)
No one was too poor for him to take care of at any time of the day or night. His wife
was  also  a  dear  lady who suffered sight loss at a young age. I remember Dr. Greer
coming  to  our house to treat my sister, brother and myself when we were very young.
He traveled in his Model T Ford Roadster in all kinds of weather over very bad roads.
I  have known of Dr. Greer accepting chickens, eggs, a pig, or vegetables as his pay.
If  the  patient  could  not  pay Dr. Greer, he treated that patient just as he would
anyone  else.  He  started his practice using a horse and buggy for transportation in
southeast  Clay  Co.  near  Newport.  "Dr.  Williamson,  the  dentist,  was  also  an
exceptional  man  considering  the fact that about the only pain reducing elements he
had  for  use were gas and chloroform. I remember very little pain in his removing my
impacted wisdom tooth when I was about 16

Chapter XII

To  continue  Mr.  Obert  McAdams'  story,  "Memories of My First 85 Years": "Several
attorneys also had offices in the Eustice Building. Mr. Eustice made an impression on
me.  He  was a tall, very erect man, even as a very old man, At one time he owned and
platted  much  of  the  west  side  of Henrietta, as well as the Eustice Building. He
walked around town always well dressed and wearing a derby hat and bow tie.

"Mr.  R. E. Taylor was a large man who was a very religious individual who spoke in a
very loud voice. I remember his attending Baptist revivals in Bluegrove when I was no
more  than 5 or 6 years old. In 1927 when my family started attending church services
in  Henrietta,  Mr. Taylor was always in every service. When special collections were
taken,  he  was  the first to make a pledge, but I was told he would always forget to
leave  his  check.  I  remember  a  rather funny incident concerning his pledges. Mr.
Taylor  stood  up  and  pledged $500 to a church building fund. Mr. Sherwood Gowan, a
wealthy  rancher, stood up and said, 'If Brother Taylor will write his check and give
it to the church treasurer now, I will write my check for $1000 now..' Mr. Taylor did
so  and  I was later told that was probably the only pledge he ever paid. He was also
an early day U. S. District Attorney.

"Another attorney I remember was a Mr. Wantland, who was the father of Lois Wantland,
a  long  time  school  teacher  in henrietta and Clay County schools. I also remember
Judge  Vincent  Stine  mostly  when I was young for his capacity for chewing tobacco.
From  my  high  school  days, three attorneys made an impression on me. One was Judge
Rubbin  Loftin.  I  was  told that he was a farmer in Young County when he decided to
become  a lawyer. He sold his farm, moved his family to Henrietta, and got a job with
R.  E.  Taylor. He read law books and then took the state bar exam. After passing the
test,  he  became  a  partner  in  the Taylor and Loftin law Firm with offices in the
Eustice  Building.  Two younger attorneys were Pierre Stine and Earl Hall. Both loved
to play basketball. The two would be at our high school practice session almost every
day to assist our coach. Then, they and Oscar Graves would get two other persons or a
couple  of  our  team members and scrimmage our team. Pierre Stine was a partner with
his brother Vincent and Frank bunting with offices in the Eustice building. Earl Hall
went  on  to become a District Judge and a judge on the Court of Civil appeals in Ft.
Worth. "W. F. Suddath was a partner with his son Donley in the insurance business but
I  do  not  believe  he was an attorney. Donley was an attorney and was joined in the
practice  of  law by his brother Clyde. The father, W. F., was president and managing
officer  of  W.  B.  Worsham  Company  Bankers  from  my  first memory until the bank
collapsed in the spring of 1933.

"Mr.  Durley  B. Davis operated the first hamburger place that I can remember. It was
located on Main Street around 1927. We called it a 'hamburger joint'

Chapter XIII

"Election  days  were very important days in the lives of Clay County people. A large
blackboard  would  be  erected  on  the  bandstand  at  the  southeast  corner of the
courthouse  lawn.  The names of all the candidates were on the board at the left side
with  a  list  of the voting boxes across the top. Road and travel conditions made it
difficult  for  the ballot boxes to be brought to Henrietta after the polls closed at
night.  So, as the votes were counted, the person in charge would call the vote in to
the  county  clerk's  office  who in turn posted the vote totals on the board for the
very large crowd to see. Sometime during the next week, the boxes would be brought to
the county clerk's office to be canvassed and certified by the Commissioners Court.

"The  way  candidates ran for office was also very different in those days. There was
no television and radio was limited to some state office candidates advertising. Many
rural  people  did  not have radios until after WWII. Candidates tried to contact all
qualified voters personally.

"The  first  candidates  I  can  remember traveled around the county in a buggy or on
horseback.  In  county  campaigns  the candidate would start out in a quadrant of the
county and cover all of the area before returning home. He would spend the night with
a  friend  who  would  put  him up and feed his horse. There would be no problem with
lunch  as  when  I  was  a child no one who was at a home at meal time was allowed to
leave before eating. After roads were improved, Model T Fords were the main source of
transportation  for  candidates  and  the  methods of campaigning changed. They could
cover  more  area and usually returned home at night as there were very few places to
purchase  gasoline  in  the county. The candidate still ate his lunch with the family
where  he  might  be at noon. He usually carried a plug of Brown Mule chewing tobacco
and offered a chew to most men.

"In  county-wide  elections the south half of the county usually determined who would
be  elected  as  that  half  of the county was more densely settled. Buffalo Springs,
Vashti,  Joy,  Bluegrove,  Shannon  and Bellevue were the large rural voter boxes and
Henrietta had its four boxes.

"Even  after  Model  T's  and  other  cars  were  used  by candidates for county-wide
elections, it was not unusual for a candidate to walk long distances across fields to
visit  with  farmers and ask for their votes. Many times the walk was across recently
plowed fields in 90 to 100 degree weather. Flat tires and getting stuck in a sand bed
in the road were just a part of running for office."

Presidential  candidates  often  toured the country by special trains. At stops along
the  route,  the candidate would make his speech from the observation platform on the
last  car.  "The first trains I can remember were powered by large steam engines that
used  coal for fuel. On both freight and passenger trains, the engine was followed by
a tender car that carried the coal. Clay County trains converted to oil around 1930.

"On passenger trains, the tender was usually followed by a mail car and a dining car.
The  sleeping  cars  would be followed by passenger cars. The mail car was locked and
occupied  by  a  U. S. Railway Clerk. He picked up, sorted and left mail at all stops
that  had  a post office on his assigned route. The Postal Service had a mail carrier
to  meet  all  mail trains to receive the local mail and deliver outgoing mail the to
railway  mail  clerk.  The  steam  engine  had to take on water at most stops and the
postal service clerk was not always at the depot to meet the train so a mail post was
erected  near  the depot from which the mail sack of outgoing mail could be picked up
by  the  railway  clerk. He would just throw off any incoming mail onto the carrier's
wagon.

"Freight  trains were made of an engine, tender car and then various types of freight
cars - cattle cars with slatted sides to let air pass through, oil cars much the same
as those used today only about half as big.

"Banana  cars  had  large ice bins on each end and a lid on top. The bins were filled
with  ice,  and  air  passing over the ice into the car did some cooling. The top lid
created  a  draft through the car and let out the hot air. Any perishable produce was
shipped in this type car that was so called because bananas were the most widely used
fresh fruit and one of the few perishable products shipped by rail for many years

Chapter XIV

Since  Clay  Co.  was  originally  organized in 1861 but dissolved in 1863 because of
Indian  raids, then reorganized in 1873, "the settlers I knew and have mentioned were
in  the  second  wave  of settlers, or in some cases, children of the first wave. The
original settlers were, in most cases, owners of large ranches such as J. G. Halsell,
T.  J. Belcher, W. B. Worsham, Sid Webb, a Mr. Scott, the Jolly Brothers, and others,
all  using  public domain for all or part of their ranches. "In order for the sate of
Texas  to assist in establishing public schools, organized counties were deeded large
tracts  of  the public domain to be used to raise money for them either by selling or
leasing the land. Also, some early ranchers bought large tracts of land directly from
the  state,  and then used other public lands as long as they were classified as open
range. Also, there were those who just moved in on the public domain and stayed until
someone ran them off.

"At  the  time Clay County was first settled, there was still open range here because
barbed  wire  was  not  in  use until the late 1870's or early 1880's. I can remember
seeing the ruins of a very few rail and rock fences in the southeast part of Clay Co.
around  Shannon and Post Oak. "Colonel W. S. Ikard was a very tall man who stood very
straight  until  his  death at an advanced age. I never saw him without a bow tie. He
had been credited with being the first rancher to introduce Hereford cattle to Texas.
Colonel  Ikard,  at one time, controlled over 200,000 acres of range land in Clay and
Archer  Counties.  Colonel  Ikard  and his gracious wife attended the Henrietta First
Baptist  Church  until their deaths. Their home was in the western part of Henrietta.
"Colonel  Ikard's son, Lewis, and grandson, Frank Neville Ikard, were responsible for
my having seen Babe Ruth and the New York Yankees play baseball. In 1928 the New York
Yankees scheduled a game with the Wichita Falls Spudders. Frank Neville invited me to
go  to  the game with him and his father. Since it was on a school day, my mother was
not  going  to let me go until Lewis Ikard convinced her it would probably be my only
chance  to see Babe Ruth play baseball. As it turned out, Babe Ruth hit two home runs
which thrilled me very much." Another family Mr. McAdams tells about is that of Frank
Neville. "The Neville family was very involved in the development of the self starter
in the auto industry. Frank had a brother who was a machinist who developed the first
successful  self  starter  for  Ford  cars  and other makes and along with a partner,
launched  a  very  successful  manufacturing  company in Cleveland, Ohio, which still
exists.  I  understand  the  company  held  a patent on the Bendex spring used in all
starters  at that time. One of the sons, Bill, was a director of the company as early
as  I can remember and a grandson, Percy Neville, Jr., my classmate, became president
of  the  company. Even with all of Mr. Frank Neville's business experience, according
to  his  daughter-in-law,  Mae Snearly Neville, he had his problems learning to drive
the  Model  T Ford. She told me that soon after she had married Percy, Sr., Mr. Frank
bought  a  new  Model  T Ford. He wanted to show her his new car so he invited her to
take  a  ride out to one of his ranches. She stated that when he drove up to the gate
he  forgot  to put on the brake and ran through the gate before stopping. She said he
got  out and repaired the gate and then, when he started to drive on, he put his foot
on  the reverse pedal and backed through the gate, tearing it down again. She said he
did not say a word but was very quiet for awhile.

"Several  pioneer  attorneys  were  very much a part of Henrietta's business world. I
have already written about Mr. Eustice and Mr. Wantland. Mr. Wantland's wife talked a
lot and after he passed away, she was very lonely. Donley Suddath said she would call
him and talk for as long as he would listen. He said when she called and after he had
spoken  to her he would just continue with his work, and after a few minutes he would
say,  'Yes, that is right.' When he thought she had talked long enough, he would say,
'I have to go. It was nice talking to you.' and then he would hang up.

"One  of the smartest men that I have ever known was a black man who shined shoes for
many years at the old St. Elmo Barber Shop. He could barely write his name, Doug, but
he  accumulated what was considered to be considerable wealth for the time. His motto
was,  'It doesn't matter what you make. It is what you do with it.' Doug did not have
to  have  laws  to give him respect...he earned respect. I consider it a privilege to
have  known  him  and to have had his friendship. "A gentleman known only as Antelope
was  a  widely known resident of the Huggins Ranch in east central Clay Co. His story
was  one  that fascinated many who knew him. He was a cowboy who showed up asking for
work  and  even  though Mr. Huggins never knew who he really was, Antelope was one of
the  best  bronc  riders  he had ever seen. Sometime just prior to 1920 he was thrown
from  a  horse  on  the  ranch  and  suffered  a severe injury to his spinal cord. He
recovered  physically but not mentally. The ranch owner let him live on the ranch and
paid him his regular wages though he did very little work. He had spells and when one
came  over  him  he would start walking and hitch hiking rides. He did not care which
direction or where he went. He might start out traveling west, and at the end of that
ride  he  might go back east. Finally when the ranch was sold, Antelope was committed
to  the  State Hospital. My brother Oather was employed there and saw Antelope often.
He  said no one could get Antelope to do any work even though working was part of the
treatment.  My  brother  told me that on one occasion he saw Antelope pushing a wheel
barrow turned upside down. He said he asked him why he was doing that. His answer was
that  if  he turned it over those 'fools' would put brick in it and he was just using
his head as he would not haul brick for anyone. "

Chapter  XV As we continue Mr. Obert McAdams' "Memories of My First 85 Years," see if
this doesn't bring back memories to many of you who attended a country school in your
youth.

"I  started  to  school  in  the fall of 1920 in the 2nd grade at the Neville School.
Because  of  the  distance  to  the  school, my parents taught me at home for the 1st
grade.

"The  Neville  School  was a large one room frame building about four miles northeast
from  our  house.  The teacher was expected to teach anyone who wished to attend. The
first  year  we  were in school our teacher had students from 1st through 10th grade.
The  school  board,  called  trustees, was made up of my father, Claude McAdams, Less
Thompson, and Mack Reeves.

"My  first teacher was Miss Lena Ray, who was almost 18 years old when school started
and  she  had  one year of college. At that time, a person could get a certificate to
teach  school  in one of two ways...one year of college or a passing grade on an exam
given  by  any  county school superintendent. The elected county superintendent was a
member  of all the rural school boards. The only independent school districts in 1920
were  Byers, Petrolia, Henrietta, and Bellevue. If there was more than one teacher in
a  school, the lead teacher was the principal. "My teacher boarded at the home of M/M
Less Thompson, whose son Dwight started to school that year. Miss Ray and Dwight rode
to  school  on  a Shetland pony. Since my sister and I also rode to school on a pony,
they  waited for us and we went together. Weather did not stop us although we arrived
at school with very cold feet and sometimes very wet.

"I  do  not remember the number of students in that first year, but there were 3 boys
in  the 10th grade who were older than the teacher. Around Christmas time, two of the
boys  who  were  cousins  had  a  fight  over  the  teacher - each claimed her as his
girlfriend  - in the school yard at morning recess. One of the boys suffered a severe
head  injury that required stitches. The other had a broken collar bone. The trustees
were  going  to  suspend the two boys but were saved the trouble when neither of them
returned to school. The third older boy also dropped out about the same time.

"Some of the families whose children were in school while I was there through the 7th
grade  were  McMasters,  Reeves,  McAdams,  Thompson, Carter, Ray (no relation to the
teacher),  Chappell,  Warren, Brister, Russell and Lockhart. "My second grade teacher
was  Miss  Pearl Cunningham and the third Miss Ora Vaughn. Miss Vaughn boarded at the
Jim  Williams  home  and walked over a mile to school. She later married the Williams
son, Boss, and they lived the rest of their lives in Clay Co.

"During  the  mid  1920's  country schools were spaced probably no more than seven or
eight  miles  apart  because of the scattered farms and lack of transportation. There
were five schools within five miles of our house, Neville, Bluegrove, Halsell, Brown,
and Carmichael.

"Our  school  term  was  seven months from October to early May. The first 3 years we
rode  horses  to  school, and the last three we rode in a one horse buggy with at top
and  side curtains but no wind shield. It was warmer and drier than riding horses but
slower.

"The  Neville School was a large one room building with a stage and blackboard across
the  back  of the room. There was a very large wood and coal stove near the center of
the  room.  The  front  door  was never locked. The first boy to get to school in the
morning  started  the  fire  in  the  stove in cold weather. If it was very bad, Mack
Reeves, who lived about three hundred yards from the school would get up and go start
the  fire  very  early  in  an  attempt  to  warm the building by school time. At the
beginning of each school term, the teacher would appoint a 'monitor' for each week of
school. He (it was always a boy) was responsible for having a daily supply of wood or
coal  brought  in from the storage building. The wood was placed in a wood box at the
back  of  the  room, or if we were burning coal, the coal bucket was to be filled and
sitting  by  the  stove. It was also his responsibility to bring in a bucket of fresh
water  each  morning.  The water bucket was placed on a shelf at the back of the room
and  had a dipper each one used. There was also a wash pan and soap for washing one's
hands. A girl monitor was responsible for sweeping the floor.

"There  was also a privey for boys and one for girls about one hundred yards from the
school  building and about a hundred yards apart. A privey was an outdoor toilet that
was  larger  than  most  and had a wrap around wind breaker around at least two sides
including  the door. The wind breaker was about the same height as the toilet and was
probably  as  much  for  privacy as for breaking the wind. "The teacher would move us
nearer  the stove on really cold days because the building was too large and airy for
the students to stay warm in the rear of the building.

"We  were  fortunate  to  have  one-student  desks  which probably prevented a lot of
whispering. The teacher divided the room according to grade and number of students in
the  grade.  All  classes  were  held at the front near the teacher's desk and at the
blackboard. When the class being taught was called, students in that class would move
to the first row of seats, or to the blackboard if the class was math or spelling.

"Our school day was from 8:00 to 4:00 with two recess periods of fifteen minutes each
and  a  lunch  period of one hour. All of the students brought their lunch except for
the  Mack Reeves family who lived nearby. Most students ate their lunches in the coal
or  wood  shed next to the school unless the weather forced them inside. There was no
playground  equipment  of any kind so the boys spun tops and played marbles while the
girls  played  jacks. When spring came, all the students would sometimes choose sides
and play ball.

Chapter XVI

"In my lifetime of 85 years, I have probably seen more changes in the way the average
American lives and travels than had taken place in the past several hundred years.

"In land transportation, changes have occurred that my grandfathers would not believe
even  if  thy were to return to this earth and see them. Both of my parents' families
came  to  Clay County in covered wagons, on horseback, and walking. My mother told me
that  when  her  father  would decide to move from place to place she and her brother
would  walk along behind the wagons driving the family milk cows and horses. I, also,
have  traveled  many  miles in a horse drawn wagon, and I rode to school on horseback
and  in  a one horse buggy. "Automobiles were around before I was born, but they were
not  practical  for  general use for the necessary daily travel because they were not
dependable and roads were not suitable for cars.

"The  roads  were  little  more than wagon trails. As cars became more plentiful, the
demand for good roads increased. A law was passed requiring each land owner to donate
time  to  working  on  public  roads.  The County Commissioners Court would appoint a
supervisor  and  assign  so  many  days  of road work to each land owner or renter, A
worker furnishing a team of horses or mules worked half as many days as a man who did
not.

"My  father  was  appointed  supervisor  for a section of roads while we lived in the
Neville  Community.  He  and others succeeded in improving the road from Henrietta to
Halsell  and  on  to Scotland so automobiles could travel over it. Around 1919 a mail
route  was  established  from  Henrietta  to  Scotland  and  later  on to Windthorst,
designated Star Route 2.

"The  roads were built by using horse drawn graders and fresnos. They were maintained
by  horse drawn 'drags' after each rainfall. Since very little dirt could be moved by
the graders or drags, all roads were sloped from the middle of the road to the ditch.
All  automobiles  were built high off the ground so drivers would straddle the center
of  the  road  to  be  able to stay out of the ditches. If two cars were to meet, one
usually  tried  to  find a place to stop and let the other move slowly by. The use of
motorized road equipment was a real treat to rural people.

"I  have  seen  statistics  that indicate there were about 500,000 automobiles in the
world in 1910, and by 1920 there were 8,000,000 in the United States alone, with most
being manufactured after 1915. The Model T Ford led the way to the U.S. 'love affair'
with  the  automobile. Some of the names I have heard for automobiles when they would
not  start  or  were  stuck in the mud would probably lead one to think it might have
been  a  'hate  affair.'  As the early day automobiles chugged and backfired down the
roads and trails, they frightened many, many teams of horses and buggy horses causing
them to run away.

"All  of the makes of cars at that time depended on a coil and magneto system for the
electrical  supply,  and  there  was only one type of gasoline that was just a little
above  kerosene. In fact, I have seen many Model T Fords run on a mixture of coal oil
and gasoline.

"The  engines  were most of the time very difficult to start. Both the spark and fuel
were  controlled  by  levers  somewhere  near the steering wheel. Before cranking the
motor,  the  spark  lever  was  always  placed  in the 'off' position to prevent back
firing. The engine was started by turning a crank at the front of the car. Often with
the  spark  'off,'  the engine would backfire anyway causing the crank to turn in the
reverse  direction  at a rapid rate resulting in many broken arms and bruised wrists.
In  cold weather hot water was often poured on a burlap sack placed over the manifold
to  warm  the gas and help start the motor. Sometimes the driver would jack up a rear
wheel  and put the car in gear. The wheel would act as an extra flywheel allowing the
person  turning the crank to get a little faster rotation of the motor, helping it to
start. I have also seen a pulley attached to a back wheel. The person trying to start
the  car would wind a rope around the pulley and spin the wheel in an effort to start
the  car.  Some of the difficulty in starting the early day cars was probably as much
the  driver's fault as it was the motor. One must remember that these were people who
had  absolutely  no  mechanical  experience  other  than  greasing a wagon wheel, and
suddenly they found themselves trying to operate a complicated mechanical monster.

Chapter XVII

To continue Obert McAdams's story of the Model T from his book, "Memories of My First
85 Years":

"The  Model  T had a box under the dashboard that contained four coils...one for each
cylinder.  The  box  had  a  cover  but  it  was  seldom  in place as the points that
controlled  the  spark  were  on  top of the coil. When a cylinder began to miss, the
driver  reached  down  and flipped the stuck point with a finger. The coils were wood
rectangular  boxes  about  five  inches long and two or three inches wide filled with
wires.  There  were  no  wires to and from the coil directly to the magneto and spark
plug.  Contact  was  made  by  electrodes  on  one  side  of  the coil wedged against
corresponding  electrodes  on  the  front of th coil box, making it necessary for the
coil to fit tight in the coil box. If it did not fit tight enough, the operator would
make a wood wedge and push it down behind the coil.

"Plain water was used for cooling the engine. This, along with the starting problems,
did  not  allow  use  in  extra cold weather. The radiator would freeze in the bottom
while  the  motor was running as early day cars did not have water pumps. Some people
used  wood alcohol as anti-freeze but its low boiling point caused it to boil out too
quickly.  Most  people  just heated the water before putting it into the radiator and
always  started  the  engine before pouring it in. This practice continued until good
anti-freeze was developed after WWII.

"Lights  were  another  problem  with  early  model  cars. They would almost fade out
completely  when  the  moor slowed down. I have seen a number of Model T Fords with a
coal  oil lantern hanging on the radiator for night driving from church to home. Only
after  WWII did engineers figure out a regulator that supplied an even electric flow.
Overheating engines were another problem not solved until after WWII and even later.

"Tires  were another problem not solved until then. The first ones were known as high
pressure  clincher tires with inner tubes. They were made of rubber and cotton canvas
and  carried sixty to eighty pounds of pressure. They were very small around and very
easy to puncture or have the fiber broken by rocks in the road. Flat tires were a way
of  life  for the drivers of cars. The first tire with a conditional guarantee that I
can  remember was in 1933. The tire pump, tube patch, jack, boot, and lug wrench were
standard  equipment  until  after  WWII. Boots were made from the same type fiber and
rubber  as  the  tire  and  were used inside the tire to cover the breaks in the tire
itself.  No  one knew what balancing tires meant even after balloon tires began to be
used in the late 1920's. "The first windshield wipers that I can remember were in use
in the late 1920's and were hand operated.

"Most  progress  in  automobile  development  started  in  the  late 1920's when Ford
introduced its Model A in 1928. Chevrolet may have been ahead of Ford at that time as
well  as  several  other  makers.  Ford  had been so successful with the Model T that
statistics  indicate  that  he made 15 million of the 1912 Model T's without a change
being made.

"Driving  early  model cars was complicated. The 'spark' was controlled by one lever,
gas by another, choke by another, and so on. The Model T had three doors as there was
no  front  door on the driver's side because the main lever to put the car in and out
of  gear was on the driver's left side and acted as a gear shift and emergency brake.
There  were three pedals on the floor. One pedal on the left, when pushed down at the
same time the gear lever was released, started the car moving. There were two forward
gears,  low  and  high.  The  driver had to judge the speed in using the high and low
pedal  at  the  same  time he had to operate the gear lever to get moving. The middle
pedal  on the floor was the reverse pedal with the operation the same as the low-high
pedal  except  the  reverse gear was more powerful than the low gear. The third lever
was  the brake and had to be operated with the gear lever. The choke was at the front
of  the  car  by  the crank. With the spark lever pushed to the off position, the car
would  idle very rough and if the spark was not increased, the engine would soon die.
So  it  now seems comical to remember a man cranking his car and then hurrying around
the  side to give it spark. From the time I can remember up to 1928, it was my job to
give  the car spark when my father cranked it. The Model T Ford was probably the most
complicated  of  the  early  day  automobiles  to  operate but it was by far the most
popular make for a number of years.

"By  the  time  I can remember, everyone with a blacksmith shop was trying to make an
automobile:  Essex,  Overland,  Nash, Hupmobile, Studebaker, Mitchell, Hudson Pierce-
Arrow,  Berline,  Packard.  I never saw one but I have pictures of a Duryea (1892), a
Ford  (1893), an Oldsmobile (1896), a Haynes, a White Steamer, and some electric cars
built around 1900."

Chapter XVIII To continue Mr. McAdams' story of transportation in his book, "Memories
of My First 85 Years":

"I  don't know when trucks were first introduced, but none were very successful until
about  1928  when Ford and Chevrolet came out with trucks that could carry commercial
loads  sufficient  enough  to  make  trucking  profitable. Mack made one of the first
really useful ones. Many early models had solid rubber tires made on the wheels. Most
of  the early trucks were chain driven. I remember that Model T trucks could probably
haul  as  much  as  four thousand pounds. "I remember a Mr. Pennington who lived near
Bluegrove  who  hau  led cattle to the Ft. Worth Stockyards using a Model T truck. He
could  haul  4  cows  or  five  or  six calves in each load. The main problem was the
condition  of  the roads, dirt and rough. All the truckers had trouble getting up the
'Decatur Hill.' As late as the mid 1930's, many truckers would unload a part of their
load  at  the bottom of the hill and take the rest to the top, leave them and go back
after  the  first  ones.  This was what is now Highway 287. Both mud and sand created
problems for both cars and trucks on many main roads until after WWII. Ranger Hill in
Eastland  Co.  gave  truckers  problems as late as 1965 on what is now Interstate 20.
Later,  development of road building machinery made it possible to cut down the hills
and eliminate some of those problems.

"As  it  was  with  early  day  automobiles, many small companies were trying to make
trucks.  The  'Wichita'  was  made in Wichita Falls with solid rubber tires and chain
drive.  One  of the first I can remember was used to haul cotton bales from the Brown
Gin  at Bluegrove to the railroad in Henrietta. It was a very strong framed truck and
could  haul  a  little  more than a wagon and was faster. "As long as I can remember,
'good  roads'  have been an issue and how to pay for them just as big an issue. Early
towns  and  cities  used bricks to pave some of the streets. The first concrete I saw
used  to  pave  a  street  was  about  1922.  Main Street in Henrietta was paved with
concrete  along  with  the  other  streets  around  the Courthouse Square. The paving
machine was, in my mind, the largest machine I had ever seen. Some of the cost of the
paving  was  paid  by  property owners. If the owner refused to pay, that section was
left  unpaved.  For  years  the  street  north  of the Court House Square had unpaved
sections, as well as many other streets also.

"Before  1923 a 'good roads' district was formed from the Montague County line to the
Wichita  County line through Bellevue, Henrietta, and Jolly. It extended out from the
road  a  few  miles in each direction and property owners along the road were charged
taxes  to  finance  the  road. They soon realized that a lot of people were using the
road  who  had contributed nothing and other means of financing were found, like cost
sharing, gasoline taxes and others.

"All  of  the  dirt  work  in  the 'good roads' district was done with horse and mule
power.  I  believe the road across Clay County was paved in 1925 through 1927 and was
known  as Highway 5. The second paved road ran from Henrietta east to Montague County
and  is now Highway 81. It was completed in 1936. "With improved roads and trucks the
railroads lost business and many lines were abandoned.

"The  first  airplane that I can remember seeing was an open cockpit bi-wing in 1917.
Although  I was only 3 years old at the time, it made such an impression on me that I
still remember it as if it were just yesterday. I was playing in our back yard when I
heard  a  loud  noise. When I looked up I saw what had to have been an army air corps
plane.  It  had  two  sets  of  wings, was khaki colored, had a U.S. flag on the side
behind  a man sitting in between the wings. He was wearing goggles and a cap that fit
tight  on  his head. It was about 500 feet off the ground, going about 60 to 75 miles
an  hour.  Since  I  saw it first flying behind our barn, I ran in and told my mother
there was something out behind the barn that she should come see.

"I  have  seen  airplanes  develop  from  the  single seat bi-planes to the huge jets
seating  more  than  300 people and traveling 400 to 500 miles per hour. I have flown
from  Amarillo  to Los Angeles, taken care of business and returned home in less time
than  it  took me to travel in a wagon from the home farm in Clay County to Henrietta
(10 miles) and return." Chapter XIX

To  continue Obert McAdams' "Memories of My First 85 Years": "I was probably about 10
years  old  when  I  saw  my first radio, a crystal set homemade by my cousin, Leland
McAdams. There was a broadcasting station in Ft. Worth. Leland had long wires running
around the ceiling of his room for antennas, and we could sometimes hear voices (most
of  the  time,  just  static)  from Ft.Worth, a distance of about 80 miles. The first
manufactured  radio  I can remember was made by Motorola with a large horn sitting on
the  top  for a speaker. Mr. P.C. Lockhart, our neighbor, bought one in about 1923 or
1924  and  invited the whole neighborhood to listen to it the first Saturday night he
owned  it.  I  do not remember the type battery used for power, but his party was not
very  successful.  The radio had several dials that had to be set just right. Most of
the program we heard was static since it was a stormy night.

"I  do  not  remember  the year when I saw my first television set, but it would have
been  after  1937.  The  picture was black and white with a lot of snow interference,
probably caused by the quality of the telecast.

"The  telegraph was in general use long before I was born. Transmission was fast, but
if  a  person did not live near a telegraph station, delivery sometimes took a day or
two,  but  even  so, it was much faster than the U.S. Mail. "Communications have made
unbelievable strides in my lifetime. I cannot remember when my parents did not have a
telephone.  Mr.  E.  A.  Blake  of  Bluegrove  owned  the  telephone  system with the
switchboard  located  in Bluegrove. The telephones were powered by dry cell batteries
placed  inside  a  rather  large  phone box. The batteries could be rejuvenated about
three  times by soaking them overnight in rain water. Well water was not used because
sometimes  the  chemicals  in  it  would  damage the batteries. The line was a single
strand  of  smooth wire fastened to insulators, usually along the tops of fence posts
running  from the switchboard to different areas. To call another person on your line
you  simply  turned the crank in a series of long and short turns since each customer
had  his own ring signal. To call someone off your line you went through the operator
at  the switchboard. Since all lines were party lines, everyone often listened in and
often  joined  in  the conversation. Needless to say, service was very bad and it was
necessary to talk very loudly.

"If an announcement concerning the community was to be made, the switchboard operator
would  make  a rather long ring, then wait for people to get to their phones and then
make  the  announcement. Local patrons could do the same in case of emergencies, like
fire. The operator would often hand deliver messages to people who had no phone. Then
came  single  party  lines  but still needing an operator, then automatic connections
with  an  operator for long distance calls to the cellular phones today which need no
wires or operators.

"I  remember  a  rather amusing event which happened several times on Sunday mornings
before Prohibition became law. This certain rancher would go to Henrietta on Saturday
and  buy  a keg of beer. He would lower it into a well that had especially cold water
in  it  that  was  near a stock tank down in the pasture. Then, on Sunday morning, he
would  get  on the telephone and make the long emergence ring and say, 'We have a cow
in the bog on our place and we need help to get her out.'

Chapter XX

To  continue  Obert  McAdams'  "Memories  of  My  First  85  Years ": "The reason for
describing  the  various  types  of businesses as I knew them as a young person is to
show the differences between the family-owned business and the present-day corporate-
owned giant multi-purpose stores.

"Prior  to  WWII  the  U. S. was a rural agrarian society with a vast majority of the
population  living  on  farms and ranches or in small towns and communities that owed
their existence to farming and ranching. Just as this was the situation in the South,
it also was the case in most of the U.S. The migration from the farms and small towns
began  during  WWII when the giant armaments factories began to draw people away from
farming  and  small  town  life. Young people continue to leave today to find better-
paying jobs. As costs of producing food and fiber have increased, larger farms become
necessary, replacing smaller units and displacing people.

"Prior  to  WWII  the  nearest thing to today's conglomerate stores were the two mail
order  businesses - Sears, Roebuck and Company and Montgomery Ward. There were a very
limited number of companies such as J. C. Penney, S.H. Kress and Woolworth's but they
did  not  locate in the smaller towns. Where they did locate, J.C. Penney stores sold
only  clothing  and  Kress and Woolworth stores sold only small items that they could
sell  for five or ten cents. The owner of a store in smaller places was almost always
present  at  the business and he (most owners at that time were men) stuck to what he
knew  best,  groceries  if  he had a grocery store, for instance. An exception was in
very  small places there might be only one store called a general merchandising store
that  would  stock some groceries, patent medicines, plow parts, and some dry goods -
the basic needs of the community. "In my younger days a grocery store was just that -
they  handled  food  products.  A hardware store sold nails, hammers, and small items
used  in  farming  such  as plow shares, binder twine, hinges, etc. A dry goods store
handled  clothing items. "The grocery store I remember as a child sold wheat flour in
24 or 48 pound cotton cloth sacks, corn meal in 24 pound cotton cloth sacks, sugar in
bulk  from  barrels,  pickles  by the dozen from barrels, bacon, cheese, bananas when
available,  canning supplies, candy and other staple food items such as salt, pepper,
spices,  and  flavorings. Baking powder and soda were packaged much as they are today
with  Calumet and Arm & Hammer the favorite brands. Fleischmans yeast was sold in dry
cake  form  that  did not require refrigeration and was a big selling item since most
housewives  baked  the  family's  bread. Smoked dry salt bacon was sold in slab form,
unsliced.  Cheese  was  shipped to grocery stores in large round 40-pound wheels. The
store  had  special  round boards for the cheese to be placed on and the grocer would
cut  off  what the customer wanted, nearly always in triangular pieces the way we cut
pies  today.  I  was  probably  20  years old before I knew that cheese came in other
shapes and types other than sharp cheddar, when grocers began selling longhorn cheese
which  was  a  long round 20-pound horn. Bananas were shipped to the store on a stalk
and  hung by a rope from the ceiling. They were sold by the dozen and pulled from the
stalk as the customer ordered them.

"Since most families grew and canned their own vegetables, the grocery sold what were
called  fruit jars. Vinegar was shipped in a barrel and sold by the gallon, with most
people  furnishing  their  own  glass  jugs. The only candy I remember as a boy was a
chocolate  covered  round with a very sweet center, sold in bulk form by the pound. A
nickel would buy about ten pieces. The first candy bars I remember were Baby Ruth and
Hershey bars which sold for a nickel.

"In  the  fall  and  early  winter apples would be sold by the peck or bushel. Stores
generally handled delicious apples, oranges, walnuts and Brazil nuts and coconuts for
Christmas. All grocery stores sold lard in tin buckets to be used in baking cakes and
pie  crusts.  Dry  pinto  beans  were another staple sold by the pound. Fresh produce
might  be  found  in  season  or might be available from a peddler. "Larger towns had
farmers'  markets  where  grocers  could buy wholesale from farmers who brought their
produce in very early in the morning. After grocers filled their orders, the peddlers
would  buy at a lower price what was left and peddle it to housewives along a regular
route.  The one in Wichita Falls was still peddling as late as 1940, when I last sold
him watermelons.

"The  cotton  domestic bags in which flour and corn meal were sold found many uses in
the  homes,  such  as dish towels and clothing. During the Great Depression the flour
companies  started  using  a  better grade of material with various prints on it that
became  standard material for making work clothes. "All other items were usually sold
in  brown  paper bags or tin buckets. All grocery stores carried a limited variety of
goods in tin cans. Pork and beans, sardines and salmon were some of these.

"Since  most people used oil lamps for lighting their homes, most grocery stores sold
coal  oil  since gas and oil stations were few and far between." (Dry good stores and
meat markets next time)

Chapter XXI

To  continue  Mr.  O. J. McAdams' "Memories of My First 85 Years": "In describing the
type clothing worn when I was young, one should remember that the home and work place
were  so  very different from those of today. There was no central heating and no air
conditioning  so  a  completely different type of clothing was needed. Insulation for
homes  and  buildings was unknown, and the only warm place in the winter was near the
stove.  There  was  no cool place in the summer. "The dry goods and clothing stores I
remember  in  my  young days were just that. They sold material, patterns, and thread
for  use  in  making  clothes worn by most family members. Overalls, khaki pants, and
blue  denim shirts were the usual work clothes for men. I suspect the shirts were the
reason  for  the term 'blue collar worker.' Men's dress suits were made of wool, very
warm  in  the  summertime. Men's dress shirts, I remember, were always white with the
collars  being  separate.  The  collars  were  always  heavily  starched  or  made of
celluloid.  Separate  collars allowed their being worn with several different shirts.
The  shirts  ha  double  cuffs  so cuff links and collar buttons were necessary. (The
museum has several personalized collar boxes with collars and buttons.) Many men wore
derby  hats or western Stetsons or even caps for winter dress. They wore straw sailor
hats  with  straight  brims  and flat tops for summer dress. Most boys wore bill caps
with  ear  flaps in winter and straw hats in summer. For work, both men and boys wore
large  straw  hats,  or  some men wore the so-called ten-gallon felt hats, which were
rather hot.

"Boys wore suits with short pants that buckled just below the knees, called knickers.
Most  of  the  ties  that were worn were hand-tied bow ties. Most men and women owned
heavy wool overcoats and slickers for bad weather. The slickers were made of a yellow
oil  cloth  with a black hat of the same material. Shoes and boots were staple items.
The  shoes  were  stiff and required a breaking in period. Two items probably not for
sale  today but popular then were sock supporters to hold up men's socks and leggings
made  of  either  wool  or  leather  to keep men's legs warm. As leggings went out of
style,  men began to wear spats to keep their ankles warm. Long flannel underwear was
a  must  for winter wear for most people. Men and boys wore either home-made BVD type
underwear in the summer or store bought BVD's. Many flour sacks ended up as men's and
boy's underwear.

"Women  and  girls  wore bloomers that could be bought or made from material found in
dry  goods  stores  (or  flour sacks). There were silk stockings for women to wear on
Sunday  and  ribbed cotton for everyday wear. Men wore socks made of cotton in summer
and  wool in winter. Whale bone corsets were a big item in women's wear. No lady went
anywhere  without  being laced into her corset. Ladies shoes were also very different
when  I  was  young. To be stylish, ladies wore high top laced or eyelet black patent
leather shoes with a pointed toe.

"The  dry  goods  and  clothing stores I remember would stock about everything people
wore  but  nothing  else. A few stores advertised ladies ready-to-wear but most women
and  girls  wore  home made dresses of cotton, silk, linen, lace, or wool material. A
Singer  sewing machine was one of the necessary items in most homes. "Another special
type of store popular when I was young was the meat market, located only in towns and
cities  that had electric or gas cooled vaults. The conditions under which small town
meat  markets  received  meat  were far removed from today's methods. The meat market
owner  or  his  butcher  would purchase an animal at the farm or ranch paying so many
dollars per animal. The butcher would kill the animal on the farm and field dress the
carcass  and  then  haul  it to the vault for cooling. After the meat was cooled, the
butcher  either  quartered  it  or  halved  it.  The  customer would order so much of
whatever  cut he wanted. The butcher would tear off two sheets of butcher paper and a
sheet of wrapping paper and lay the paper on the scales. Then the butcher would bring
a  quarter  of  beef  or  pork out of the vault and cut off the approximate requested
amount, placing it on the scale on top of the paper. Then the cut was weighed and the
cost  determined.  Meat  was  hung in the vault on a roller attached to a circle rail
that  extended  outside  the vault for ease in handling. A butcher friend of mine was
asked  why  so much paper was used. He said, 'Paper is cheaper than meat, and it does
add to the weight.' "Another source of fresh beef in summer was the peddler who would
dress  the  beef  and cool it with ice. He then traveled around the neighborhood with
his meat in tubs of ice and sell the meat.

"Some people canned their meat for summer use.

"The  large  packing  plants  furnished  the dry salt bacon, bologna, and some canned
meats  to  the  grocers  who had no way of cooling. Their fresh meat went only to the
large  towns and cities that had railroads and sufficient electricity to operate cold
vaults.  The stores would buy the meat by the quarters of the beef or pork. Swift and
Armour  were the main players in the meat business. Armour operated many small cheese
plants  in  the  Southwest,  all  of which closed several years ago. "Boxed meat is a
rather recent way of shipping fresh meat.

"My  mother's  brother,  Leslie  Christian,  operated a meat market in Byers for many
years.  He  bought the animals - cattle, hogs, sheep - at farms in the Byers area and
handled them as stated. (Drug stores and hardware stores next time)

Chapter XXII

To  continue  Mr. Obert McAdams' story, "Memories of My First 85 Years": "Drug stores
were  very  different  from  the modern drug store. Most of them in small towns would
have a doctor who had his office at the store. If his office were elsewhere, he would
write  all  his  prescriptions for a particular store unless the customer requested a
different  one. What we now know as a pharmacist was then called a druggist who might
have  been to school for a six week course or he might have read some books and taken
an exam.

"Several types of patent medications were stocked. Some that I remember were aspirin,
lineaments,  Lydia  Pinkhams,  and  Doan's Little Liver Pills. Several so-called cold
remedies  were  sold  as  well  as  iodine,  turpentine,  and  other  products.  "All
prescriptions  were mixed by the druggist...many in powder form. He would measure out
the  required  amount  of  each  ingredient by weighing it and then mixing all of the
ingredients  together  in  a  bowl  using  a mortar stick. After the ingredients were
mixed,  the druggist would spread the mixture on a sheet of paper and arrange it in a
square  form.  With  a  special  knife  designed  for  such  use, he would divide the
medication into equal doses. Then he would place each dose on a small square of paper
and  fold  it  in  a  way that would keep the medicine from spilling out. To take the
medicine, the patient usually mixed it in water. The taste was usually not too bad as
the  filler  used  in  most  dry  powder  mixes was baking soda with the long name of
bicarbonate of soda. For liquid medication such as cough syrup, the druggist measured
the  ingredients  by  the ounce by pouring from a large bottle into a smaller bottle.
The  filler for cough syrup was alcohol. Later on, the druggist would mix the powders
the  same  way  but  put them in capsules. This made the medications with a bad taste
easier to take as well as being more convenient.

"The  most  frequently  prescribed  medications  were quinine and purgatives, such as
calomel,  black  draught, and castor oil. It was recommended by makers of purgatives,
and  also  by  many doctors, that a person take at least three rounds of purgatives a
year for good health. Considering the fact that most water came from unsealed springs
or  wells,  that outdoor privies were used, and other existing conditions such as the
family  water  dipper  used  by all for drinking, it probably was a good idea to take
three  rounds  of purgatives a year. "A few patent medications in common use then are
still used, such as iodine, turpentine, menthols, and camphor.

"Quinine  was  used  for typhoid and other fevers. Its extremely bitter taste gave us
the  expression  "bitter  as quinine." When I was about seven years old, I personally
heard  a doctor tell a druggist that a good dose of soda never hurt anyone...in other
words,  sometimes  when a patient thought he was getting a medication, he was getting
only  soda.  This  was  not  meant to deceive the patient but was simply all the good
doctor  had  to  prescribe.  "For cuts and scrapes, the average drug store would have
camphor  based  salves  or  liquid.  Paregoric was the only medication I can remember
doctors  prescribing for dysentery, which was common. It was so strong that it had to
be taken by the drop in a glass of water. The taste was very bad, and if too much was
taken, then more purgatives were needed.

"By  the  time  I  remember, drug stores in the larger towns had electricity and most
would  have  a  soda  fountain.  There a person would sit on a tall stool or on small
chairs  at  a  round  marble  top table. Most soda fountains offered coke, root beer,
lemonade,  and ice cream. The coke could have cherry flavoring added. The drinks were
mixed  at the fountain using the syrup and soda water. Thus, the term "soda jerk" was
born.  Many  stores  in  smaller  towns had their own generators, but if there was no
electricity, there was no soda fountain.

"The three hardware stores that I remember from my youth all had very similar shelves
and  show  cases. One wall of each store was covered with shelves, drawers, etc. from
floor  to  ceiling and had a ladder that hooked onto a rail at the top and rollers on
the  bottom so the clerk could move it along to reach the higher drawers and shelves.
The  drawers  would  be  filled  with  bolts, nails - including shoe nails -hinges of
various  sizes,  door locks, door knobs, and other small items. The shelves were used
to store larger items such as buckets, larger tin items, and water well buckets.

"One  of the hardware store's big sellers was all kinds of stoves from the large coal
and  wood  burning furnaces to the small one burner coal oil space heaters. Some were
very  plain and others would have silver trim and enamel on them. The hardware stores
I  knew  also sold guns and ammunition as well as all kinds of knives. They also sold
small  hand  type  garden  plows  and  all  kinds of plow shares, shovels, picks, and
posthole  diggers.  Of  course, there were many other items like binder twine, baling
wire, rope, harnesses for work horses and buggy horses. Stove pipes for wood and coal
stoves were also a big item since it was rare for them to last more than a year

Chapter XXIII

"From  the  time  I  can  remember,  there  were  other types of businesses that were
considered  to  be  necessary.  The  blacksmith shop, the saddle maker, the implement
dealer,  the  ice  plants,  feed stores, and cotton gins. "The blacksmith did welding
which was much different from today's welding. He also sharpened plow shares and shod
horses.  He  was  the  one who kept the farm machinery of that day operating. To weld
iron or steel, the blacksmith would heat it to a point where it was semi liquid, then
join  the  two  pieces  by  hammering  them together on his anvil, using a blacksmith
hammer.  The  different types of iron required different heating, causing him to know
all of the types of iron and steel. The blacksmith was so necessary that almost every
community had one or more.

"The saddle maker did leather work as well as make saddles, which were very necessary
at that time. His shop was operated by skilled leather craftsmen. Young people looked
forward  to  getting  their  first  saddle much as young people today look forward to
getting their first driver's license. A good saddle made by a good saddle maker would
last  a  lifetime  if given the proper care. Good harnesses for both buggy horses and
work  horses  could be bought at most hardware stores but if a person wanted an extra
fancy  leather harness, he would have it custom made at the saddle shop. Also, saddle
shops would customize horse bridles to the customer's liking.

"The  implement  dealer  sold farm tools, buggies, and wagons. They were much as they
are  today  except for one thing. The implements sold long ago were horse powered and
much,  much  smaller.  There  were no motorized implements until the late 1920's. The
types  of  plows, grain binders, grain drills, hay balers, etc. that were sold by the
implement dealers prior to the 1930's are now collectors' items. This is also true of
old tractors.

"I cannot remember when there were no ice plants. Since railroads were heavy users of
bulk ice, all of the plants were located near a railroad with a track up to a loading
dock. The trains would take on large 300 or more pound blocks for cooling bananas and
other perishables that they might be hauling. All of the ice plants that I knew about
froze the ice in 300 pound blocks that were grooved so that they could be broken down
into  25,  50  and  100 pound blocks to be sold at the front dock. Exact weight was a
myth  as  the  plant  employee  would  use an ice pick to break the block of ice, and
sometimes the buyer might get 20 pounds or, then again, it might be 30.

"The  buyer  might be in a wagon and later a car. He would have some type of material
to  wrap  around the ice block to keep it from melting. Some people used wagon sheets
which  are now called tarps while others might have a burlap cotton bale bagging. The
most  common  wrap  was  an  old  quilt  since  the  cotton was good insulation. Some
merchants  in  smaller  communities, such as Bluegrove, would sell ice so that people
could  make  ice cream on weekends. The merchant covered the ice blocks with sawdust.
The  ice was delivered to him in 300 pound blocks by freight wagons and then later by
trucks.  City  and  town  dwellers  were  served by horse drawn ice wagons on regular
routes.  Housewives  had  a  square  card with numbers 25, 50, 75, and 100 written on
them,  usually in large red letters. On the ice delivery day on her route, she placed
the  card  in  a front door or window to let the ice man know how much ice she wanted
that  day.  The  ice  wagon was pulled by one horse who knew the route as well as the
delivery  man.  The horse would know where and when to go as well as when to stop and
when  to  go again. This method of delivering ice in towns and cities continued until
electric  refrigerators  became  popular  in  the late 1930's and in some cases until
after WWII.

"In  Clay  County,  Virgil  Townley  and  a son started ice routes for farm and ranch
people  around  1936.  They  delivered  the ice in Chevrolet trucks and continued the
routes  until  the  US entered WWII. The railroads used so much ice in the war effort
that  ice  rationing was necessary. Following the war, the Rural Electric Cooperative
Associations were able to complete their electric lines so that farm people could get
electric  refrigeration. This, coupled with mechanical refrigeration of railroad cars
and  truck trailers, caused the demise of ice plants as they had been for many years.
We  now have two generations who have missed the opportunity of keeping the drain pan
under the wooden refrigerator empty and two generations who have not had the pleasure
of  lugging  the  old quilt to the ice plant for a chunk of ice make a freezer of ice
cream." (Next: cotton gins and feed stores)

Chapter XXIV

To continue Obert McAdams' "Memories of My First 85 Years": "Most farmers raised most
of  their  livestock  feed and seed but those in the towns needed a place to buy feed
for  their  buggy  and  saddle horses, their chickens and hogs; thus most towns had a
feed  and  seed store. It also sold garden seed, baby chicks, wheat bran, poultry and
livestock  medications and vaccines, and some manufactured feed like cotton seed meal
and  cake.  Strange  as  it  may  seem  the same type of store exists today but for a
different  type customer. Today, many feed store customers are town and city dwellers
buying  for  pleasure  horses  and seed for bird feeders. Many feed stores today sell
protein  supplements  for  livestock  as  well  as  block salt and mineral blocks for
cattle.

"Another  type  of  business  still  flourishing  today but in a completely different
manner  and area is the cotton gin. Cotton was the cash crop of early Clay County and
much  of Texas as well as the southern United States from the earliest settlers until
after  WWII.  After  the  cotton was ginned and baled, it was hauled to a cotton yard
where  it  was weighed by a public weigher and sampled. The cotton gin and the cotton
yard  were  a dreaded disaster for many places without fire fighting equipment except
for the bucket brigades.

"It  was customary for businesses to stay open late during the busy cotton harvesting
season  as farmers often brought their cotton to the gin late in the afternoon. After
getting  their  cotton ginned, they would stop by the stores for supplies. Before the
store  owners  had electricity, they lighted the buildings with oil lamps and Coleman
gasoline  lamps. If and when a store received electricity, there would be an electric
fan over the entry door to keep flies and other flying insects out of the store.

"Wholesale  companies  located in large cities had drummers, now called salesmen, who
called on the store owners for their orders. The drummer sent the order to his office
by  telegraph when he found a telegraph office. Dry goods and hardware drummers would
call  on  their  customers around four times a year. Grocery drummers called monthly.
The drummers I first remember traveled to a central location by train and then leased
a  horse  and  buggy to make their calls. Drummers were very good customers of livery
stables  until  around  1930  when  they  began to use cars. That which they sold was
shipped by railroad to the nearest depot and delivered by horse drawn wagons.

"When  I  was  born  in 1914, a great majority of families in the U.S. lived and made
their living on small farms or in small unincorporated communities and in small towns
and cities that depended on the farms and ranches for their existence. "Even from the
beginning  of  colonization of what was to become the United States, land grants were
made  by  the King of England, the rulers of Spain and the rulers of France to induce
farming  and  ranching. After the War for US independence and the Louisiana Purchase,
homesteading  became  the  tool  used  to  settle  large  areas  of  the  western and
southwestern  US.  Homesteads  ranged  from  160  acres  to  640  acres, depending on
location.  Two of my father's brothers, George and Hardie, got their start in life by
homesteading  640  acres  in Moore Co. in the Texas panhandle. My wife's grandfather,
Jackson  Evans,  received 160 acres as a homestead in Eastland Co. and since he was a
pioneer doctor, he was given a grant of more than 1000 acres by the state.

"Some migration from farms to cities had begun by the time I can remember, especially
among  young  people seeking work in the growing automobile and machinery industries.
But  the  early  movement  was  very slow, and those leaving agriculture were usually
children  from  large  farm  families  who were unable to get work on farms or in the
small  rural communities. Migration continued at a very slow pace until the beginning
of  the  conflict in Europe in 1939, the beginning of WWII. "The Roaring 20's," which
we  still  sometimes use to describe the period from the end of WWI to 1928 were just
that,  a  time of great prosperity in the United States. Farm products were needed in
great quantities to feed and clothe our growing population as well as to help restore
war  torn  Europe.  Farm product prices and land values were at an all time high. The
popularity  of  the  automobile  reached a frenzy as Henry Ford and others turned out
large quantifies of cars at reasonable prices for the time.

"But while all this was going on, the methods of farming and raising food had changed
very little from the beginning of the colonies in the new world. Some improvements in
kinds  of  crops and varieties had been made and some improvements in processing were
evident.  But the raising and harvesting of crops depended on horse or mule power and
manpower  creating  many millions of jobs. This changed very little from the time the
iron plow was invented until after I was born in 1914." (Next: The Great Depression)

Chapter XXV

"The  Great Depression of October 1929 really started on the farms of the U.S. in the
fall  of  1928. It took a year for the depression in agriculture to reach Wall Street
and the streets of large cities and towns across the United States. The 1920's made a
large  impact  on  my memory as my parents and many members of their families were in
agriculture and living in small communities that depended on farming and ranching.

"From  the  time  I  was  born  until  about 1925, my father's main interest had been
raising and training horses and mules with some cattle. Cotton and wheat farming were
returning good profits so he decided to go into farming on a large scale for the area
and  times.  He  bought  and rented additional land as well as some new equipment. By
1927  he was the largest cotton farmer in south Clay County and making good money and
expanding  further  -  his banker told him to buy anything that would make money. The
1928  cotton  crop  was  a very good one. The first few bales sold at what was then a
high  price - the mid $.20 per pound. By mid October, the price dropped to about $.05
per pound or lower.

"Following  WWI,  the market for food and fiber reached new highs because of the need
to  rebuild  war  torn  Europe.  The  world supply of wheat, corn, and cotton was not
sufficient  to  meet  the  needs of Europe. At the same time, the internal combustion
engine  was  being adapted to be used in large iron wheel tractors making it possible
for  millions  of  acres  to  be  plowed and planted in crops in the Great Plains and
western  Texas.  This caused an explosion in grain, corn, and cotton supplies. By the
mid  1920's,  Europe had recovered to the extent that it could again produce food and
fiber  crops, and by 1928, the world found itself with an over supply of agricultural
products  with  the  U.S.  being  the main producer. Farmers, finding themselves with
large  grain supplies, increased their livestock herds. This caused an over supply of
meat as well as wool, mohair, and hides. The age old supply and demand formula kicked
in  with  disastrous  results  for agriculture, and as hard times hit the farmers and
ranchers,  they  stopped  buying.  Since at that time more than eighty percent of the
population was in agriculture, the end result was world wide depression.

"My  father  continued to gather cotton as long as he could clear $5.00 per bale. The
cotton  ginners  began  ginning the cotton for the seed, allowing my father to gather
the  entire 1928 crop. Many farmers plowed under the latter part of that year's crop.
Wheat declined to around $.30 per bushel, oats $.10 and corn $.10. Hog prices dropped
to  as  low  as  $.02 per pound. I remember my Uncle George McAdams shipping his calf
crop  from  Muleshoe,  TX,  to the Ft. Worth Central Market, where the cattle did not
bring  enough  to  pay  the  freight  and commission. He had hoped to have at least a
couple of dollars a head above expenses. Instead,, he received a small bill.

"Many  farmers  and  ranchers  were unable to make their payments. Many banks allowed
them  to  continue  to  operate  if  they could pay interest on their loans and their
taxes. Soon, the collateral for their loans had little or no value. I personally knew
farmers who wrote their banks where the collateral was and they could come get it.

"Mr.  Luke  Williams,  agricultural  agent  for  the  W.  B.  Worsham  Bank,  told an
interesting  story  about  a  farmer customer. He had borrowed money from the bank to
finance the next year's crop but ran out of money before he had finished planting it.
He  went  to the bank to borrow enough to finish. He told Mr. Williams he didn't have
money  enough  to  plant and to buy groceries. Mr. Williams told the farmer to finish
planting  and to catch a jack rabbit for groceries. A few days later Mr. Williams got
a  letter  from the farmer telling him he had taken his advice and was running a jack
rabbit  through  Bowie and the rabbit was still going. He said the farm tools were by
the  barn  and the horses were in the lot and that if Mr. Williams wanted them he had
better  go  get  them.  That rabbit was still running east and he thought it wouldn't
stop until at least Louisiana.

"Many  loans  were long past due before foreclosure took place. This resulted in many
small town and city banks being closed. Herbert Hoover, the Republican president, was
blamed  for  the depression with its long soup lines in the larger cities of the East
and for the foreclosures in the Southwest. As a result, Franklin D. Roosevelt won the
1932  election  by  an  overwhelming  majority.  Soon  after  taking  office in 1933,
President  Roosevelt  took some very drastic action in an attempt to right the United
States'  economy.  He had limited success. "One of his first actions was to declare a
bank  holiday, whereby all banks were required to close for a short period to stop so
called  'runs'  on the banks. People had lost faith in all banks and were withdrawing
their  money.  Only banks that were considered financially sound were to reopen. Many
banks  that  reopened failed in the following months, including the W. B. Worsham and
Company  Bank  in Henrietta. This was the bank that was financing my father. The same
thing  happened  to  the  bank that my wife's father used. I believe the Worsham Bank
paid  unsecured  depositors about $.17 on the dollar after all the bank's assets were
sold.

"The  failure  of  the Worsham Bank changed my life forever. All of my father's funds
were  in that bank; there was no money to pay for my college education, forcing me to
leave  college  never  to  return. My wife Cleo suffered the same fate. That, coupled
with  the  depression, changed my parents' life. My father was forced to sell several
hundred acres of land and a number of cattle. From that time until his death in 1987,
he  never  again  would borrow money to expand his farming operations. I remember one
group of very good cows that he bought just before the price decline that he held for
about  three years. When the cows and two calf crops were sold, my father did not get
his  first  dollars  back  that  he  had  invested  in the cows. It also made a great
impression  on  me  that probably has caused me to be over cautious about investments
and  borrowing  money throughout my life. "The depression influenced the people of my
fathers's  generation who were able to struggle through with at least a home and some
land  or  their  business  intact by making them over cautious about expanding to get
ahead. Others who lost their life savings were broken in spirit and never again tried
to restart a business or own a home.

"For  the generation of children, such as myself, who were old enough to remember the
roaring 20's and watch their parents struggle to keep a home for their family and put
food on the table and clothes on their backs, there was the fear of a repeat of 1929.
Thus,  they were so over cautious about borrowing money to expand that they soon felt
left behind.

"As  farmers  and  ranchers  started losing money, they stopped going to movies. They
quit  buying  ready  made dresses, pants, coats, and shirts. They quit spending money
except  for  basic necessities. When they quit spending money, millions of workers in
manufacturing  plants  found  themselves  out  of work or working for greatly reduced
wages. This also contributed to the Great Depression." (More on the Depression later)

Chapter  XXVI  To continue Obert McAdams' discussion of the Great Depression from his
book, "Memories of My First 85 Years":

"President  Roosevelt  used  the  entire resources of the United States Government in
trying to restore the economy of the country. But in spite of all he tried to do, the
depression  never  really  ended until after World War II. The Reconstruction Finance
Corporation,  with  Texan Jessie Jones as the head, financed businesses. The Civilian
Conservation  Corporation  furnished  jobs  for  young  men  employed in conservation
projects  such  as building roads and school buildings, flood control, planting trees
for  wind  breaks  on the great plains, and other public projects. The Works Progress
Administration  furnished  jobs  on  public  projects  such  as  building roads. Farm
programs  designed  to  reduce surplus commodities were started. Farmers were paid to
reduce the number of hogs raised and acres of corn planted. Farmers were paid to plow
under  a  portion of their cotton crop in either 1933 or 1934 - I do not remember the
exact  year  -  but  I plowed under a lot of good cotton. Cattle, especially cows and
heifers,  were  bought  and  killed  right on the ranches. This program drew a lot of
public  criticism and was used only one time. In fact, of all of the programs started
by  President  Roosevelt  to  relieve  the  depression,  this  was  probably the most
criticized  by the general public. The cattle were slaughtered and left to rot on the
ranches  - the meat was not for consumption; many felt the meat should have been used
to  feed  the  hungry,  and there were millions of hungry people in the cities of the
eastern  United States, as well as the larger cities of the south. But, of course, to
use  the  meat  would have defeated the purpose of the program which was to raise the
price  -  the  old supply and demand formula, again. I personally know people who did
use some of the meat.

"During  the  depression of 1929 with its unemployment, reverse migration from cities
to farms was common. Although there was little money to be made in farming, one could
raise  enough  food  to  feed a family. In early 1933, the federal government began a
program  designed  to encourage people with farm experience to return to farming. The
government  would  buy large tracts of raw land and develop it into small farms of 20
to  40,  and  sometimes  80, acres of land. Then the government sold it to people who
wanted  to  farm.  The  terms  were  nothing down and 30 years to pay for it with the
government loaning the farmer the money to purchase horses, feed, seed, equipment and
living  expenses  for the first year. Also, in Texas, a milk cow was a requirement. I
was  very familiar with this program as I worked as a certifying officer for Clay and
Wichita Counties in 1934 and 1935.

"The Supreme Court ruled that many of the president's programs were unconstitutional.
In  most  cases,  what  the programs were designed for was accomplished. Even so, the
depression,  while somewhat relieved, continued until after World War II. We probably
became  adjusted  to  cheaper  prices  after the effects of the roaring 20's had been
forgotten. "

Chapter XXVII

To  continue  Mr. McAdams' "Memories of My First 85 Years": "All of the foregoing was
written to describe conditions in my early childhood and youth in order to get to the
great  advancements  I  have  witnessed in my lifetime and the changes in our society
since  my birth in 1914." Agriculture saw many changes from small one bottom breaking
plows,  one  row listers, planters and cultivators, usually pulled by two horses with
the farmer walking along guiding them. Small two section drag harrows, ten hole grain
drills,  row  binders and seven foot swath grain binders were also in use. Then about
1925  came  two-row,  horse-drawn equipment. "Preparing the land for planting usually
took  all  winter and early spring. The first riding turning plows I remember are the
one bottom 'sulkey' plows and the two disc turning plow followed by two bottom riding
'gang' plows."

"The first tractor that I can remember seeing pulling a plow was a large iron wheeled
steam  engine  designed  to  power  thrashing machines; it was not successful. In the
early 1920's a two cylinder 'Rumley' replaced steam engines in powering thrashers and
some cotton gins. In this same time period, International Harvester Co. developed the
large  gasoline  burning  'Wheatland,'  used  for large western wheat and other grain
farms  to  prepare and seed grain land. International Harvester, John Deere Plow Co.,
Case  Implement  and other companies developed iron wheel tractors that could be used
for  both  grain  farming  and  row  crop farming. Some were successful, but the real
change  from  horse,  man, and mule power to mechanical power for farmers came in the
late  1930's  and  early  1940's  when  manufacturers  began  putting rubber tires on
tractors and developed implements especially for mounting on or pulled by tractors.

"So,  I  have  seen  farming  advance  from  the horse drawn one row walking plows to
today's  giant  four  wheel  drive diesel powered tractors with air conditioned cabs,
radios,  heaters,  and  computer  controls  capable of pulling fifty foot plows and a
fifty  foot  series of grain drills behind them. Some tractors have computer controls
that adjust the depth of the plows so that all the field is plowed at the same depth.

"The grain thrashers in use by the time I remember consisted of two units, the engine
and  the  separator. They were efficient but very labor intensive. The separator were
powered  by  a  belt  usually  ten or twelve inches wide and about one hundred to one
hundred  fifty  feet  long.  Since  the  front  of the tractor faced the front of the
separator,  the  belt had to be twisted. The engine was supposed to be started with a
crank,  but  often it was necessary for several men to take hold of the belt near the
engine  and  pull it as fast as possible to assist the starting operation. Later more
efficient gasoline powered tractors were developed, some with self starters.

"A  thrashing  crew  usually  consisted  of eight or ten bundle haulers, four or five
pitchers,  clean  up  men,  engineer, and separator operator. The bundle haulers used
wagons  with  hay  frames on them pulled by two horses to haul the grain bundles from
field  to  separator.  The  pitchers  pitched  the bundles with a pitchfork up to the
person  running  the  bundle  wagon. Each was responsible for loading two wagons. The
clean up man kept the loose bundles and straw around the separator cleaned up and ran
it  through  the separator where the operator usually stood on top, being sure it was
properly  oiled  and  operating  as it should. The operator also fed the horses three
times  a day. The engineer operated the tractor, keeping the belt tight and the fuel,
oil  and water at the proper levels. Some crews were hired by the owner of the outfit
and  carried  a  bedroll  and  ate  at the cook shack, a wagon equipped as a portable
kitchen.  Other  crews  were  the farmers and their neighbors trading out work to get
their  own  crops  harvested  and  the women folks cooked for them. Working days were
long,  usually  starting at sunrise and ending at sunset. The work was hard and dirty
with  grain  dust  a  big problem. Nearby stock tanks or creeks were usually busy and
crowded after dark as the hands tried to get the dirt and dust off their bodies.

"From  the  time  I  can  remember, the separator was very efficient in thrashing the
grain  out  of  the  heads  and  separating it from the straw. The wagons hauling the
bundles from the fields drove up on both sides of the separator where the drivers fed
the  bundles  into  the  separator  feeder. A chain devise pulled them in and cut the
strings  as  it  fed  them  into  the  separator.  The grain and straw went through a
cylinder  which  did  a very good job of loosening the grain which then passed over a
series  of shakers which started separating grain from straw. As it passed toward the
back  of the separator a series of small fans blew the chaff and grain dust away from
the  grain  which  then  fell  into a bin at the bottom of the separator where it was
picked  up and carried by a chain auger to the top of the separator and dumped into a
weighing  devise.  As  the  weight  bucket  reached the pre-set weight, the grain was
dumped  into an auger that carried it to the grain wagons where it usually was sacked
and  carried to the owner's's storage bin. The straw was blown by a large fan through
a  pipe called a stacker to the straw pile. Since the stacker would rotate as much as
a half circle, the farmer could set it to make any size straw stack he wanted and his
cattle  could  eat the straw in the winter. "The owner of the grain stored it in bins
and  took  it to a dealer later in the winter when he had more time, since hauling in
wagons was slow.

"Machines  were  developed to take the place of the grain binder and the separator by
combining  parts  and  functions  of  both,  hence  the name 'combine.' Their use was
limited until the late 1930's when better tractors were built and shorter grains were
bred to stand up better and produce less straw. The 'Gleaner' was pulled by a tractor
but  Massey Harris developed a self-propelled combine after World War II. Trucks were
developed  to  carry  grain  directly  to market from the field, greatly reducing the
labor needed to harvest the crops.

"Modern  combines  allow  one man to harvest and thrash in one day the amount of rain
and  acreage that formerly would have taken twenty-five men as much as a week or more
of  hard dirty work plus twenty-eight or more horses and mule teams just to thrah the
grain.  Another  step  in  harvesting  was eliminated: shocking the bundles. This was
picking  up  the  bundles  formed  by  the binder and placing them into small upright
stacks to let the grain dry."

Chapter XXVIII

"Just  as  there  were  tremendous changes in the growing and harvesting of wheat and
other  grains  as related in the last article from Mr. McAdams' "Memories of My First
85  Years," so there were many changes in the growing and harvesting of cotton, which
was one of Clay County's most important cash crops in the early years.

"From  the  beginning  of  cotton farming in this country on a commercial basis, very
little  in  its  cultivation  and  harvesting  changed  until around 1935. Cotton was
generally  planted  with  a  horse  drawn one or two row planter, was cultivated with
horse  drawn  cultivators.  To  produce  taller and larger stalks, the farmer planted
several  seeds  per  nine inches and then thinned the small plants with a hoe, giving
rise  to  the  term 'cotton chopping.' The choppers also cut out the grass and weeds.
"Shortage  of  labor  during World War II brought about changes. Farmers learned that
cotton  plants thicker in the rows produced a smaller stalk with fewer bolls each but
produced  more  cotton per row. They also found ways to remove weeds mechanically and
later chemically.

"From  the  beginning of cotton cultivation in the U.S. to the 1920's, all cotton was
hand  picked by laborers taking the cotton from the burrs and keeping out of the sack
all  leaves,  burrs and other trash. Gin machinery was improved until about 1927 when
it  could  remove  burrs and other trash. This enabled the cotton pickers to pull the
entire  open cotton boll from the stalk, hence the term 'pulling bolls.' This made it
possible  for  the laborer to double the amount of cotton he could harvest in a day -
often  from  400  to  600  pounds.  This  was  still hard, heavy, dirty work with the
laborers crawling along on their knees with a long cotton sack across their shoulders
accumulating weight as they went. Hours were from first light until dark. I have seen
pickers strike a match to be able to read the scale weight for their last sack of the
day.  "Thousands  of  migratory  workers,  as  well as many locals, made their living
picking  cotton.  This  added tremendously to the economy of small and large towns in
the cotton belt.

"Cotton  prices  dropped  in 1928-29 to a point where it did not pay the expenses for
harvesting  and  ginning.  Farmers  began  to  look  for ways to cut costs. Machinery
companies  developed  cotton  strippers  after  World  War  II that did a good job of
harvesting  the  cotton without the waste that was involved in versions that came out
before  the  war.  Now  two or three people could harvest and haul to the gin several
bales  a  day.  About  1800  to 2000 pounds of cotton would yield about 500 pounds of
lint, 750 pounds of seed, and the remainder waste.

"Later improvements resulted in today's self-propelled, eight to twelve row strippers
with  mounted  storage  bins  so  the  cotton  can be dumped directly into a truck or
trailer  to  be  hauled to the gin. Often times, the cotton is dumped into a 'module'
machine that presses about 7 bales into one module which is left in the field until a
later  time  when there is less glut and fire danger at the gin. The mechanization of
cotton  farming  eliminated  many thousands of jobs but allowed what was a very labor
intensive commodity to be produced at a much reduced cost. "Of course, the production
of  other crops was affected by advances in machinery just as much as were the cotton
and wheat industries.

"I  have  written  a great deal about changes in farming practices to attempt to show
the  effects  of  these changes during my lifetime and how these changes affected the
entire United States. As we analyze the changes, we come to the question, 'Did the or
the  chicken come first?' Did the development of machinery cause the rural population
to  move  to  cities  or  did the fact that workers leaving farms was a cause for the
development of the machinery? Also, what part did inflation play? What part did World
War II play in the changes? Keep in mind that there is no usable substance or product
on  this  earth  that  did not come from the earth in some raw form. I think this one
fact will determine the road the United States will follow in the next 200 years."

Chapter XXIX

To  continue  O.  J. McAdams' observations in "Memories of My First 85 Years": " From
the beginning of the United States until about 1940, a farmer and his family could do
well  on  a  farm  of  80  to  160 acres with proper management. Larger farms usually
combined  some  farming with ranching, raising cattle and horses. Some larger farmers
had  'share  croppers'  working part of their land. They rented all or part of a farm
with  the  owner  furnishing the land, farm tools, horses or mules, and seed. Usually
some  type  of house was also furnished. The share cropper furnished all the labor in
planting  and gathering the crop; then they divided the crop half and half. This gave
us  the  term 'share cropper.' This was a way a person could get into the business of
farming  but  most  of  the  time  he  remained a share cropper. This practice almost
totally disappeared after World War II. It was this type of farming that gave rise to
the  memories  of  good  times  down  on  the farm with Grandmother and Grandfather -
memories shared by many town and city dwellers.

"The  size of farms has increased greatly. Although there are always exceptions, most
experts  think  that  a  farmer  in general farming today - raising cotton, corn, soy
beans,  etc., will need at least 1200 acres to be able to own the necessary equipment
and  to  expect  to make a reasonable living. Some exceptions are specialized farming
such  as  fruits,  vegetables and dairy farming. "During my lifetime, this nation has
gone  from  an  agrarian population to an urban population, The United States has the
best  fed,  clothed,  and housed population in the world. The farm labor displacement
described earlier occurred throughout most agriculture related products, leaving only
a small number of food and fiber products that are still labor intensive.

"According  to  government  estimates  at this time in 1999, only two per cent of the
population  is  engaged in producing the food and fiber used by the United States and
also  a large part of that used by many other nations. While only two per cent of the
population  is  engaged  in producing agriculture products, some thirty to thirty-two
per cent have jobs connected to agriculture in processing and distribution.

"During  the  Great  Depression  of  1929  and  the  1930's farm families in the U.S.
probably suffered the least of all. Their cash crops were hit very hard and some lost
their  farms.  But,  for  those  who  showed  that they were trying and managing, the
lenders  and  the taxing authorities were very lenient. Farmers raised their own food
and  fiber  crops.  They had milk cows, hogs, and chickens providing food. They could
get  by  without  many  items the merchants had for sale and they could trade surplus
eggs,  butter,  and  vegetables  for necessities such as sugar, coffee, tea and other
items  they could not produce. Their expenses were generally low - no electric bills,
generally no heating bills. Horse power and man power were cheap.

"Increased hostilities in Europe in late 1938 and 1939 sparked an increase in defense
spending.  Then,  the  build  up  of  the  armed  forces took laborers from farms and
businesses.  The  need  for  farm  products  increased  dramatically. To find ways to
replace lost laborers, the farmer turned to using and developing more machinery. This
period  of  time  was  also  the  beginning of the great exodus from the farms to the
cities.  The coming of electricity, butane, and propane to the farms made county life
more  enjoyable but also more expensive. Farm prices did not keep pace with increased
costs  of  operation. This led to the farmer's need of more land and bigger equipment
and to farms being combined which led to more people moving to the cities.

"Of  all  the  changes I have seen in my lifetime, I believe that the exodus from the
farms to the cities may be the most dramatic single event so far as the future of the
U.S.  is  concerned.  In my humble opinion, all of the changes technology has brought
about  pale  in  comparison  to  the  demise of a lifestyle that sustained the United
States  from  its beginning to rather recent times. In the future, people will travel
by some means. People will still communicate one way or another. But, never again for
as  long as the United States stands and operates under the form of government it now
has,  will  the  rural  lifestyle  that  fed and clothed the masses from the earliest
colonization  until  the  World War II years be seen again. This nation has had, from
its  beginning,  a  cheap  food  policy caused by plentiful land and cheap labor. The
United  States  still  enjoys  a cheap food policy now made possible by technological
developments  never  dreamed  of  in  years  gone  by. "I can remember my Grandfather
Christian  saying  he  would  not  believe  an  airplane  could fly even if he saw it
happening.  I wonder what he would say if it were possible for him to see the changes
made since 1925 in farming, which was his longtime occupation.

"Today's  farmer  is likely to live in a small town and commute to his farm when work
is  to be done. He is likely to have a hired man living on the farm doing much of the
work.  Today's  farmer  is  likely  to be well educated, and, if he is a younger man,
usually  inherited  all  or part of the farm. He probably will be using a computer to
keep  his  records  and  to  determine  which  crops  to  plant and how much seed and
fertilizer to use as well as to map out his operation.

Chapter XXX

To  continue Mr. Obert McAdams' "Memories of My First 85 Years": "When I was a child,
Christmas  was  very  different  from  that  celebrated today. Remember, there was no
electricity any place except in the larger towns and cities until the late 1930's and
in  much  of the rural U.S. until after World War II. The only Christmas trees I ever
saw  prior  to  1930  were  the community trees in the churches. The decorations were
homemade  or  were made at school using homemade paste and different colors of paper,
usually  red,  white, and blue. There were popcorn strings and lighted candles spaced
carefully  on  the  tree. " Gifts for children were dolls for the girls, air guns for
the  boys,  and  iron  wheeled  tricycles, iron wheeled red wagons, cap pistols, fire
crackers,  and fruit and nuts for both boys and girls. Some children who lived in the
larger  towns  might  be lucky enough to get a bicycle. Bicycles could not be used in
the  country  because  the  tires  could  easily be punctured by goat heads and grass
burrs.  If a girl was very fortunate, she might get a doll made from porcelain, or if
not  so lucky, her doll might be either a rag doll or a celluloid dolly. The rag doll
was  usually  made  by the girl's mother... maybe she was the 'lucky' girl after all.
"In  most homes, there would be lots of homemade candy, an extra orange or two, a few
walnuts,  brazil nuts, and almonds. At our home there was always a coconut. "I really
do  not have the words to really describe the difference in the Christmas of my youth
and  that of today. The routine on Christmas was pretty much the same at our house as
that  of  our neighbors. After Santa visited - it was always while we were eating our
evening  meal  -  we  would  hurry into the living room to see what Santa had left. I
never  could figure out how Santa Claus always came to our house while we were eating
our  night meal. There were never gifts wrapped and sitting around before Santa came.
We always received just one gift from Santa. We had been taught to share so if one of
us  received  a very special Christmas gift such as a red wagon or a tricycle we knew
all  three  of us were to get to use it. We took care of our toys because if we broke
them  there  were  not  going to be any others. It was not that our parents could not
afford more presents; there simply were very few toys on the market. The abundance of
toys in stores today did not exist at that time.

"We always had an abundance of peanuts, popcorn, and pecans produced at home. Besides
the  toy we received, there would always be nuts, a large red apple and an orange our
stocking and sometimes clothing. For some reason, Santa always left fire crackers and
sparklers  for my father, which he always shared with us children. With the exception
of my Uncle George McAdams, we never received a Christmas gift from our grandparents,
uncles or aunts.

Late  in  the  afternoon  on Christmas Eve we would see Uncle George riding up on his
horse  to  spend  the night with us. For some unknown reason, he always had met Santa
along  the  way and Santa gave him a present for each one of us children. Needless to
say, we were always looking for him to arrive.

"After  we opened our presents, my father would take some coals from the stove and we
would  go  outside  to shoot the fire crackers. If the night was still, we could hear
all  of  the  neighbors  doing  the  same. After the firecrackers were gone, we would
return to the living room to get warm by the pot-bellied wood stove with one side too
hot  and the other side too cold. Then Father would crack open a coconut, giving each
one  of  us some of the coconut milk and a slice of fresh coconut. "Then, just before
going  to bed, our mother would read the Christmas story from her Bible. We were then
tucked  into  bed  for  a  very  happy night's dreams. If the weather was extra cold,
Mother  would  place  sacks  of salt in the cook stove oven to heat so we could place
them in our bed to keep our feet warm.

"On Christmas Day after lunch, Uncle George would get on his hors, Old Snip, and ride
away,  regardless  of the weather, leaving us children sad to see him go. "As I wrote
before,  by today's standards, we might have been considered to be living in poverty.
I think not - I think we were 'rich' beyond belief."

Chapter XXXI

To  continue  Mr.  McAdams'  "Memories of My First 85 Years": "I have lived at a time
when  the  knowledge  and  technology  gained by mankind since the creation have been
brought  together  and  developed  by  creative  and  knowledgeable  people that have
resulted  in changes in all phases of human endeavor at a more rapid pace than at any
other like span of time in mankind's history. "Prehistoric man seems to have had some
knowledge  about  the sun, the moon and the stars. He had some knowledge of medicine,
engineering,  travel,  and  providing  shelter  and  food  but  he  did  not have the
technology to develop that knowledge. He knew greed and how to make war on his fellow
man but he failed to develop the knowledge of peace and how to control his greed.

"In my lifetime, I have seen two world wars. Each was fought to end all wars and each
brought weapons more destructive than the preceding war. I have never known a time in
my  life  that was free from war or the threat of war someplace on earth. Peace seems
to  be  the  one  accomplishment  that  man  has been unable to achieve. "In place of
striving  for  peace, we have used our energies and our resources to develop tools of
war  capable of destroying entire armies, cities, nations, and maybe, the world as we
know it.

"Methods  of  making  war changed very little until the Chinese developed gun powder.
"From  the  beginning of time until science developed gun powder, warriors engaged in
hand  to hand combat. The invention of gun powder and muzzle loading flint cap rifles
and small cannons allowed armies to stay separated by a few hundred feet and shoot at
each other. The battles for the independence of the United States and the war between
the  States  were  fought with those types of weapons. Then someone discovered that a
shell could be made with cap, powder, and bullet all in a case or shell. This allowed
hundreds  of  shots  to  be  fired  where  only  one  shot  at  a time could be fired
previously.

"By  the  end  of World War I - the first war to end all wars - on November 11, 1918,
machine  guns and long range cannons were in use. The cannons could send a shell that
would  explode on impact for a distance of twenty miles. Armored tanks were in use as
well as a limited use of airplanes and submarines. Then, by the end of World War II -
the  second  war to end all wars - airplanes capable of destroying entire cities were
in  use.  Now,  in  1999, bombs hundreds of times more powerful than those dropped on
Japan  in  1945  are capable of being launched thousands of miles from their targets.
Motorized weapons are capable of moving troops at an amazing speed.

"So  in  my  lifetime I have seen the weapons of war being developed from what we now
would  call  a 'deer hunting rifle' to missiles capable of untold destruction. I have
witnessed  war  planes  develop  from  the  single  seat bi-plane armed with a single
machine  gun  to  the  huge  B-52  bomber to the modern stealth bomber and to fighter
planes capable of speeds above the speed of sound and flying as high as 60,000 feet.

"What  a  wonderful  world  this  could  be if mankind had in some way discovered the
secrets of peace."

Chapter XXXII

To  continue  O.J.  McAdams' "Memories of My First 85 Years": "What a wonderful world
this could be if mankind had in some way discovered the secrets of peace. If only man
could  conquer  greed, if the energy, the resources and the money that have been used
in  my  lifetime to kill, injure, and destroy could have been used in a peaceful way,
perhaps there would be no poverty, hunger or homelessness in all of this world.

"But,  then, we must ask ourselves a question in a prayerful, humble and honest frame
of mind. 'Is the survival of the fittest God's plan for his earth?' "Out of war in my
lifetime  - even with all of its sorrow, heartache and destruction - has come so much
that  we  today consider necessities of life. These things might have been discovered
anyway  but  probably  at  a much slower pace. Necessity is the mother of progress. A
number  of  times  my father told me a story of his father when he was in the army in
the  war  between  the states. The confederate army had run out of cannon balls while
engaged  in  close combat with the northern troops. In their search for cannon balls,
they found a large amount of nails which served the purpose.

"I  believe  that greed is the root of all wars. Someone wants what someone else has.
At  the time of the war between the states, the cost of firing a rifle was only a few
cents,  and  the  rifle  would  not  destroy the land and buildings. Now, the cost of
firing a missile that will not only kill but also destroy large areas is estimated to
be  over  $1,000,000.  Could  it  be that the cost of war will be one thing that will
force  man to find a way to peace? Or will greed continue to control man until he not
only destroys his kind but also the world as we know it. "I will never forget the day
the  first atomic bomb was dropped on Japan. I was in Plainview, Texas, and went into
a  café  where  all  the  people  were gathered around a radio. I, along with all the
others,  had  no  idea  as to what kind of bomb had been dropped. It was difficult to
imagine  the  destruction being described. It was as if we were not believing what we
were hearing.

"The  celebration  of victory and peace following World War II was short lived. Soon,
our  nation  was  involved  with the Korean War, the Vietnam disaster, several small,
very  localized  operations,  and Operation Desert Storm. Now in 1999, our nation has
become involved in the Balkan area - the same area where World War I started.

"Is it any wonder that I am pessimistic about prospects for peace?" (More later)

Chapter XXXIII

To  continue  O.J.  McAdams' "Memories of My First 85 Years": "The two most important
developments,  in  my  opinion, that completely changed the way most of us lived were
the  invention  of  the  internal combustion engine and the discovery of electricity.
Farm  labor became easier, sanitation methods improved, preservation of food products
allowed  a  more  balanced  diet and advances in medical practices made life far more
comfortable.

"It  was  not until 1935 when the Rural Electrification Administration Act was passed
that  electricity  was brought to rural areas and small towns. The building of lines,
etc.,was interrupted by World War II but quickly resumed and resulted in the creation
of  many  jobs  and  the  development  and sale of numerous appliances. "The internal
combustion  engine  combined  with  electricity made so many changes possible. I will
explain  one  very  common  event  -  taking  a  bath  -  that  will show why so many
appreciated  the  two  inventions. In order to take a bath, one had to draw the water
from  the  well, carry it to the house, heat it on a wood stove, and then take a bath
in a wash tub - usually in the same water that other family members had already used.
Electric  water  well pumps that made running water possible and later electric water
heaters  made  a  common  event  much  easier. "Electricity made possible shipment of
perishable  foods  in  refrigerated  trucks  to improve the variety and safety of the
American diet.

"One  thing  that  stands  out in my memory is the first time I saw a hamburger, even
though they had probably been around for some time. At the Texas State Fair in Dallas
around  1922, the man who was cooking them sang out, 'Get them while they are hot. An
onion  on  the bottom and a pickle on top.' It sure tasted good and only cost 5 cents
and  probably  had  more  meat  on  it  than  a  Big  Mac has today. "Improvements in
sanitation  and  medicine  that  I have seen and experienced in my lifetime cannot be
applauded  and  praised  enough.  Long  after I was grown, the 'old oaken bucket' and
family  dipper were a fact of life. Sealed water wells were unknown even though there
was usually some sort of covering.

"The wonders of medication, vaccination and surgery that have occurred in my lifetime
seem to be nothing short of magic. Sulfa drugs, which preceded antibiotics, seemed to
be  the first really new medication developed for hundreds of years and replaced many
home  remedies.  The only vaccine I knew about as a youngster was for smallpox. Polio
was  one  of  the  most  dreaded  diseases  for years until the Salk oral vaccine was
developed.  Advances  in  surgeries  have  taken  us  from  the  time  when  a simple
appendectomy was a major operation to our time of organ transplants.

"There  have  been many drastic social changes in my lifetime, some good and some not
so good. For the most part, this country was settled by God fearing people who wanted
their  children to learn to read, write, and add as well as learn to worship God. The
church  and  school  were often times the center of the community. Prayer was part of
the  regular  school day and most community gatherings. Now prayer has been taken out
of the schools. This concerns me as prayer is one of the foundations of our country.

"I  am  also concerned about the seemingly inability of some educators to lead in our
schools.  Too  many  people think passing more laws and throwing more money at school
problems will solve them. More parents need to get involved and help instill in their
children a desire to learn.

"I am concerned about the use of so-called recreational drugs and abuse of alcohol by
so  many  in our society. I was 19 years old before I even heard of marijuana. I knew
there  were such things as morphine, opium and codeine for medicinal use but I was at
least  40  years  old  before I heard of their use as recreational drugs. Tobacco and
home  brew  were  the drugs of choice when I was growing up, along with corn whiskey,
which was also known as white lightning.

"I  am also concerned about some of the changes in the way that people dress. Fads in
clothing  come  and  go and do not bother me at all. But the casual look that started
around  1965  seems  to me to have gone too far, causing some to lose all respect for
themselves.  A trip to a modern mall will convince one that either a lot of people do
not  own  mirrors or are afraid to look in one. "I have seen some good social changes
that  were  not  even  thought  of  in  my childhood. Integration of the races in the
schools and society in general may have been a highlight for me."

Chapter XXXIV

To  conclude  Mr. O.J. McAdams' "Memories of My First 85 Years:" "At this time in our
history,  many  people  seem  always  to  be  in  a  hurry  and always wanting faster
everything  -  faster computers, faster cars, faster airplanes, faster trains, faster
just  about everything. Why are we in such a hurry? We are only going to pass through
this  world  one  time,  as  far  as we know, so why don't we slow down and enjoy the
journey  just a bit more? "With all of the changes in technology and knowledge that I
have  seen  and experienced in my lifetime, I think we have gone too far with some of
our  endeavors.  I  am  afraid  we leave God out of too much of our lives. Not having
prayer  in  school  is,  to  me,  a tragedy. The lack of reverence for the Sabbath is
shocking  to me. I think we have carried casual dress and living too far. "I fear the
lack  of  authority to lead and discipline in our public schools.. I fear the lack of
morals  shown  by  so  many and I fear the greed that seems to be rampant in everyday
life  and  in  business.  I fear the lack of self-respect as indicated by the lack of
cleanliness  and common decency. I fear the lack of respect for the laws of our great
nation  and  for  those  who  make  and enforce those laws. It seems that many of the
principles on which this great nation was founded have fallen by the wayside.

"I have lived at an exciting period in time. I have lived a good and exciting life. I
was born to a loving mother and father who wanted only the best for their children. I
was lucky to have found a beautiful and loving lady for my wife and lifetime partner.
I     thank  God  each  day  for  my  wonderful  children,  grandchildren  and  great
grandchildren.

"I  have  heard  people  say in recent times, 'I wish we could return to the good old
days'  or  'I  will  be  glad when things return to normal.' Let me tell you what the
'good old days' mean to me. It means sweating in the fields in summer and freezing in
the  winter  while  riding in a wagon or on a horse. It means trying to milk a cow as
she  swats  me  in the face with a tail filled with cockle burrs. It means dragging a
pallet around the house in the summer trying to find a spot with a breeze cool enough
to let me sleep. It means huddling up to the stove in cold weather with my front side
too  hot  and  my  back  side  too cold. To me those are the 'good old days' and even
though  I  have  many  fond  memories  of those days, I do not want them back. As for
'returning  to  normal,'  I  am not sure what normal is. If I were to see it, I would
probably  be  scared  silly.  Air-conditioning,  now an absolute necessity, was first
developed by enterprising business owners who realized that people shopped longer and
bought  more  if  they  were  in  a  cool pleasant place to shop. Also, entertainment
establishments  learned  that  more  people  would come to a cool place and ministers
learned  that people would pay more attention if they were not having to use a fan so
much.  (I  suspect  that  we  have  at  least  two  generations who have never seen a
cardboard  fan  such as was used in churches before air conditioning. These fans were
advertisements  for business establishments and were complimentary.) It was not until
after World War II that air-conditioning was developed for use in southern homes.

"If  a shy country boy born at Secret Springs, Texas, and growing up during the Great
Depression of 1929 could later find himself in the presence of three president of the
United  States discussing problems in his chosen field of work, and being on a first-
name  basis  with  one  of  them, then there is no limit to what my grandchildren and
great  grandchildren  can  accomplish. I pray that they get the chance to be as lucky
and  blessed by God as I. "They may never experience the same type of pleasure that I
did  on  receiving  a  cap pistol or a flash light along with a few nuts, apples, and
oranges  at  Christmas.  They  may  not be as proud of their first car as I was of my
first  horse.  Things change - so many precious things have been lost - but they will
have  their  own  pleasures in a world that has changed so much in my lifetime".
(The end)

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