William Riley Smith and Sue Smith

 

Raymond Humphrys passed away April 18, 2009.  These papers were found in his possession and contributed by Jane Humphrys

Source:  Written History by Amy Humphrys for Doris Wilma Humphrys Dunlap

 

Riley and Sue Smith and Family

For Wilma, By Aunt Amy (Humphrys, d/o George Washington Humphrys & Malinda "Louisa" Elmira Locke)

 

When I think over my life-span there is one person that stands out above all others in my Christian life.  Through my teen and young adult years, Mrs. Sue Smith was my leader.  

 

I remember Mr. Riley Smith and family as long as I can remember any neighbors in the Grassy Creek Community.   They had a country store with the Post Office in one corner of the building.   Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday a man with a mule and buggy went to Ducktown and brought mail to people at Grace, Tennessee Post Office.  Jessie Smith put the mail up around 3:00 p.m. and gave out mail from a window as we called for it.  After Homer and Claud, my brothers, were in high school, my brother, Oscar, and I went from Grassy Creek School from our mail.  I can remember saying, “Any mail for me?”  Jessie would say, “Who’s me?”  She wanted us to ask for mail by our family name.  The window was so high I guess she could not see us little folks.  Later in age, I’d go to the store by myself to get something.  Many, many times it was for kerosene oil.  Ten it was my job to fill up the lamps and wash the globes.

 

Mrs. Smith was always in the store at mail time.  That is the reason I got to know her while I was a child.  She always talked so nicely and kindly to us children.  At the same time she was very firm.  She expected us to mind her and our parents expected us to do so, too.

 

Two different summers I went to get material for a Sunday dress.  Mrs. Smith laid out several bolts of cloth for me to choose from.  The first was a white with pink flowers.  The last one was orange.  She went to the house and got some white scraps big enough to make a collar, a pattern, and told me how to make it.  When I saw her that summer with my pretty orange and white dress, she’d tell me how pretty it was and how proud she was that I could sew.  I was in the eighth grade or just before I started to high school.

 

Mr. Smith had a shop at the back of the house.  He made many caskets for people.  Mrs. Smith lined them.  She trimmed the babies’ and ladies’ with lace on the lids and pillows.  I still remember just how they looked.  At this time children were taken to funerals.

 

Before the day of cars, it took the doctors several hours to get from Ducktown or Copperhill to Grassy Creek, so Mrs. Smith was called on to go to the sick ones.  She kept her bag ready with home remedies.  I remember two different times when a baby was so very sick with croup or pneumonia that she made a hot poultice of herbs, onions, lard, etc., and put on their chests, wrapped them in hot blankets, and rocked them all night.  Everyone else expected to bury them the next day, but when the doctor arrived, their fever and croup was over.  She also delivered may babies before the doctor could get there or never did come.

 

I do not remember Jim, only remember the time of his death.  Mama sent me over to the store or post office to find out how Jim was because he was “bad-sick.”  Jessie came at my call and was crying.  She said he could not live through the day (he had flu and pneumonia).  I ran most of the way home with the news.  Mama sent me to find Daddy.  He changed his clothes and went to their home.  He, Mama, Homer and Claud went to the funeral.  I stayed home with Oscar and Floyd.

 

Besides Jessie being in the Post Office, I remember her playing the organ in all the surrounding churches.  Daddy thought a lot of Jessie as he did a lot of singing as she played.  He named his baby girl, Jessie, after her.  He always teased her by saying that he named her after the two biggest women he knew - Jessie Smith and Mae Adderson (they were both heavy young women).

 

I only remember Annie after she and Homer started dating.  She sang alto and Mr. and Mrs. Smith or Daddy lead the singing.  By the time I was eleven or twelve years old, I was singing in the choir at Grassy Creek.  Annie stopped coming to the singing after she married and Jessie was not there regularly.  These were the days that Mrs. Smith made me sing alto or play the organ.  I learned to play the organ at home by sound (ear) from Daddy.  Now Mrs. Smith was pushing me!  She’d show me which cord to play a song on while she and Mr. Smith sang.  Mr. Smith stood by Mrs. Smith behind the organ and held the book in one hand and beat time with the other hand, and at the same time kept his whole body moving.  He let everyone know he enjoyed singing!  Many times we young people would laugh at him, but he’d laugh, too.  One time we were singing “I Am Rocking on the Waves” and I saw Mama trying to keep from laughing.  She said she got tickled at his mustache jumping up and down.  Good Old Days!

 

All these years Mrs. Smith was making me sing alto.  I can still hear her saying, “Come on, Amy.  Sing out!  You can do it.”  She would sing the new song and I’d sing it just like she did.  oday when I play some of these songs, I relive those days.

 

Homer was a school teacher, but worked at Ducktown durng the summer months.  The summer that Wilma was born he asked me to come stay at his house a week or so to do the cooking and house work and keep Raymond and Kenneth.  I stayed just one week.  Mrs. Smith took care of Baby Wilma, Annie, Raymond and Kenneth stayed at her house with Jessie, Iris and Newel until Homer came home at night.He made them come home for supper and a bath and put themto bed by dark.  Just as soon as they got outof bed at morning thy darted over to the Smith’s house.  This was the revival week at Mt. Liberty, their home church.  I went two nights with them.  They were one of the few families who had a car in those days and they went to revivals in all the churches all summer long.  They sang and Jessie played the organ.

 

Now, a note to Wilma --- If you do not like your names, blame your mothr and me.  We looked and looked at a list of names and came up with yours.  I do not remember which one of us gave you Doris and which one gave you Wilma, but we did each one choose a name.  Annie asked her mother if she liked the names.  She said, “Yes, they are both pretty names.  I don’t know anyone with either name, and I’d like to call her Wilma.”  When Homer got home that night he like it also.  He said on his way home he was thinking if Annie didn’t name the baby soon, he was going to do so.  I do not know what he would have come up with.  He gave Lorina her name.  Best I remember you were three days old when we named you.

 

When I was in the second year in high school a teacher from Benton started Sunday School at Grassy Creek.  Mrs. Smith was elected superintendent and she was our leader in everything - teaching, singing, praying, and shouting.

 

Mr. Abner Chastain was Mrs. Smith’s father.  When he was there he would teach the Bible Class of older people and lead prayer.  Otherwise Mrs. Smith did both.  She was the only one in th community that I ever heard lead a prayer except when preachers were there.  No one else could pray as she did.  Several times before this when I went to the store or to get the mail, I’d stand outside the fence and wait for her to finish praying.  She prayed loud and long and came out shouting and praising the Lord.  This was the way she lived day by day.  She ws asked one time whey she didn’t preach.  Her answer was “Because the Lord has not called me to preach, but you may be sure that if He does, I’ll preach.”

 

The night I surrendered my life to the Lord she was kneeling by me praying.  She said, “Amy, why are you smiling?”  I said, “Because I’m saved.”  She said, “Well, get up and tell it.”  With that she came up, picked me up in her arms, and jumped up and down shouting.

 

Now as I remember her and all she did for others I think, surely God had called her to be a Home Missionary.  I’ve never known any other person who better fit that calling.  Whenever I talk with others near my age and the old days are named, someone will alway speak of Mrs. Smith and how much encouragement they received from her.  A few years ago, Jessie, Lorina, Marie and I were remembering and talking about those days.  Marie said, “What would we have done without Mrs. Smith?”  Then they told of the Christmas when she had six or eight young girls in her Sunday School Class (Jessie and Lorina were in this class).  She bought them all a china doll, with black painted hair, feet and hands of china with cloth bodies, and about eighteen inches long.  When she started to chruch on Christmas Eve night she discovered that they were broken.  Iris had dropped the bag and had not told her.  When she started to hand them out she told them what had happened and that it was too late for her to get anymore.  So, with an apology, she gave them out.  Every doll was broken in some way.  They had many laughs about this and never failed to retell it.  Heer last work was with these young girls, after Oscar became Superintendent and Bible Teacher.  Most of these people moved to Mt. Harmony Church where Lorina and Oscar and Claud’s family still attend, along with several families who grew up in the Grassy Creek Sunday School.