FAMILY RECORD OF RICHARD HENRY PROCTOR
AND WIFE, RUTHA JANE VICKERS PROCTOR
Written by James P. Proctor, the 7th child
in 1923
| Richard H. Proctor, the son of Stialing Proctor of Durham, North Carolina, was born January 2, 1830. About the year 1850-51 he married to Miss Rutha Jane Vickers who became his life companion. Unto this union was born 12 children. The father died January 4, 1895, making his stay on earth 65 years and 2 days. The mother, after a lonely life of 15 years and 11 days, the Lord called her home October 15, 1911. Her age is supposed to be 80 years; as her birth record being lost, we cannot give exact dates. Mary A. Proctor was born January 9, 1852, and on February 15, 1873, was married to Mr. J. W. Riggsbee by Squire Jackson Outlaw of Haywood County, Tennessee. There were born into this union 10 children. The father died March, 1906. The mother is yet living but she suffered the loss of a devoted husband and 3 children. Mildred F. Proctor was born on July 6, 1853, and was married to Mr. George Carter by Squire Jackson Outlaw of Haywood County, Tennessee, on November 30, 1876. To this union was born 6 children. The father and mother yet living, although they have suffered the loss of two children. Andrew J. Proctor was born October 9, 1854, and died in the summer of 1860. The day of death is not on record. Sarah H. Proctor was born March 25, 1856, and was married to Mr. Wiley G. Garrett by Squire Jackson Outlaw of Haywood County, Tennessee, on January 11, 1875, and unto this union was born 8 children. The mother died on September 21, 1915; age: 58 years, 4 months and 9 days. She left a devoted husband and 6 children to mourn her loss. The Lord had previously called 2 of them when small children. The father is now living with the wife of a second marriage. Martin Z. Proctor was born September 16, 1857, and died December 26, 1857. Age: 3 months and 10 days. Thomas Edward Proctor was born August 15, 1859, was married to Mrs. Eliza Eason on July 4, 1887, by Squire William Faulkner of the 12th District of Haywood County, Tennessee. Unto this union was born one child. The mother died on March 21, 1901, leaving a devoted husband and one child, together with several children of a former marriage to morn her loss. The husband, Mr. T. E. Proctor, was married to Miss Sallie Cobb on June 19, 1904. To this union was born three children. One died in infancy. James P. Proctor was born April 5, 1862, and was married to Miss Millie L. Eason on December 23, 1886, by Squire Harry Winburn of Haywood County, Tennessee. No children were born into their marriage to brighten the gloom of their home. They are now living in the 37th year of their married life. Richard A. Proctor was born on December 28, 1864, and was married to Miss Pearl Ketchum on October 7, 1904. To this union was born 3 children. The father died September 21, 1919. Age, 54 years, 9 months and 21 days. He left a wife and 2 children to mourn his loss. The mother was called to meet her reward in January, 1922. She left two children, a husband and one child of a second marriage to mourn her loss. Stialing D. Proctor was born April 19, 1867, and was married to Miss Lela Edwards on February 15, 1891, by Elder H. W. Thomas [Crockett Co. marriage records dates this March 15, 1891 shp]. To this union was born 7 children. The Lord saw fit to call one in infancy, leaving six to cheer them on their rugged road in this life. Lula C. Proctor was born July 18, 1869, and was married to Mr. George W. Faulkner in 1890 (date not known) by Elder H. W. Thomas [Crockett Co. marriage records date this May 9, 1889 shp]. To this union was born 9 children. The father died in September, 1912 leaving a wife and eight children to mourn his loss. The Lord had previously called one in infancy. Eva C. Proctor was born September 18, 1871, and was married to J. E. Edwards* February 18, 1904, by Elder J. M Whittington [Crockett Co. marriage records date this as February 7, 1904 shp]. To this union was born 5 children. The Lord saw fit to call two home, leaving 3 to cheer them on their rugged road in this live. Joseph F. Proctor was born April 16, 1874, and was married to Miss Catie** Ward on August 15, 1899, by Elder H. W. Thomas. To this union was born 6 children. The Lord has wonderfully blessed them in their many joys and sorrows of this life. None of them have been called from this earth. May the Lord still be with them.[*Listed Edgar B Edwards in Robertson Cemetery, 11-9-1875 to 6-24-1960/ J. E. listed as son, 9-26-1914 to 5-26-1979 shp] [** Listed as Katie Ann on tombstone in Robertson Cemetery born May 1881, shp][italic, shp – 2005 notations by Sarah H. Proctor – spouse of Stylon Farris Proctor] FAMILY RECORD OF MILLS H. EASON AND WIFE, LOUISE ROBERTSON EASON Mills H. Eason, the son of Abner Eason of the 12th District of Haywood County, Tennessee, was born on April 15, 1843, and was married to Louise Robertson March 1, 1863, by Esquire Harry Winburn of Haywood County, Tennessee. To this union was born 10 children. The father died May 31, 1886, making his stay on earth 43 years, 1 month and 16 days. The mother married again on July 4, 1887, T. E. Proctor. To this union was born one child. On March 21, 1901, the Lord called the mother to her reward. Age, 54 years. She left a husband and one Proctor child and 8 Eason children to mourn her loss. Two had been called before. Mandy Elizabeth Eason was born April 11, 1865, and was married to Mr. R. G. Fife on December 19, 1982, by Squire Harry Winburn of Haywood County, Tennessee. To this union was born 7 children. The mother was called to her reward on May 1, 1906. Age, 42 years and 19 days. She left a husband and 5 children to mourn her loss. 2 children died in infancy and in a very few months after the death of the mother, another one of her little boys was called home. This was a great shock to the whole family. This only leaves 4 children to cheer father on his way through this rugged world. Shedrick F. Eason was born December 8, 1866, and died on January 12, 1876. Age, 1 month and 4 days. Millie L. Eason was born on April 18, 1868, and was married to Mr. James P. Proctor [the author of this document, shp] on December 23, 1886, by Esquire Harry Winburn of Haywood County, Tennessee. They are now in the 37th year of their union and with no children being born to them. They have lived happily together, yet the burden has been heavy upon the wife, due to the afflictions of her husband. Nevertheless, she remains faithful to her promise. Mary C. Eason was born September 10, 1870, and was married to Mr. J. D. Yearwood on July 13, 1889, by Esquire Jake Lamberth of Crockett County, Tennessee. To this union was born 2 children, twins. The Lord saw fit in a few months to call them home, leaving father and mother to mourn their loss. The mother’s health having failed, she suffered for several months and the Lord called her to her reward in August, 1891. Age, 21 years. She left a husband and several brothers and sisters and a mother to mourn her loss. The husband and father is now living with his third wife and may the Lord be pleased that they may live a long and happy life together. Abner H. Eason was born December 16, 1872, and was married to Miss Minnie Bell Harper by Squire James Hopkins of Haywood County, Tennessee, on December 22, 1897. To this union were born 6 children, but it pleased to the Lord to call one in infancy. Five yet lived to cheer father and mother on their way. Caroline D. Eason was born June 21, 1875, and was married to Mr. B. W. Castallow on February 16, 1898, by Squire Thomas B. Clarke. Unto this union was born 7 children. This union was broken by the death of the father on May 27, 1913. He left a devoted wife and 8 children to mourn his loss. One by a former marriage. Later, the Lord called their baby child which left 6 of her own and one step-son to cheer mother on her way. Martha J. Eason was born August 18, 1877, and was married to Mr. William S. Stephenson February 15, 1900, by Squire Henry Winburn of Johnson’s Grove, Crockett County, Tennessee. To this union was born 4 children. On June 22, 1908, she was called to her reward, 4 children to mourn her loss. The father, on June 22, 1920 was again married to Mrs. Pearl Proctor. Gabriel A. Eason was born January 8, 1880, and was married to Miss Bamma Worrell in August, 1898. To this union was born 12 children, yet it pleased the Lord to call 4 in infancy, leaving 8 children to cheer them on their way through this sinful world. James H. Eason was born June 11, 1882, and was married to Miss Hettie West on December 2, 1900, by Elder J. M Whittington. To this union was born 8 children but the Lord saw fit to call 2 home to Himself when very small. Yet they have 6 to live for. John T. Eason was born October 3, 1884, and was married to Miss Lula May Carson December 28, 1902 by Squire G. W. Edwards of Crockett County, Tennessee. To this union have been born 2 children, yet it pleased the Lord to call the fist born, a little boy, when very small. The still have one son to live for. *Naoma Proctor was born January 28, 1894, and was married to Ardell Ketchum on February 17, 1914, by Squire Jeff Medford of the 12th District, Crockett County, Tennessee. To this union was born 4 children to brighten their way through this gloomy world.[This child* was born to Thomas E. Proctor and Louise Robertson Eason, called Mrs. Eliza Eason under the Richard Henry/Rutha Jane Vickers PROCTOR record. Her daughter Millie L. Eason was married to the author James P. Proctor and her mother married his brother Thomas E. Proctor after the death of her first husband, Mills Eason. Thomas E. Proctor then, after the death of Eliza, married Sallie Cobb on June 19, 1904. To this union was born three children. One died in infancy. One daughter was Dora May Proctor. One son was Samuel Edward “Sam Ed” Proctor married to Elizabeth Climer, Elizabeth died in 2003 or 2004. Their twins, Edward Proctor and Annette Proctor Riddick live in Alamo, Tennessee. shp] A FEW THOUGHTS AND MEDITATIONS OF AN INVALID By Mr. J. M. Proctor, Maury City, Tennessee April 2, 1923 Chapter 1 To all those who may read this work, we hope you will read carefully and weigh every word in an even balance, and from an honest standpoint, my desire is to write some things that have passed through my mind from childhood days until today. I have been an invalid for the last twenty-seven years, suffering more or less all of the time. I have not been able to do a day’s work although I have done very much like “piddling work”, but not a day’s work for a strong man. I verily thought when I was able to work that I could not make a support for wife and myself. It appeared to me that if I lost any time we would be ruined. If anyone had told me we could have live this long and supported ourselves, I could not have believed it. I have not walked a step in nine years. I have set in my rolling chair or in my bed and yet we have not suffered for the want of something to eat. The way has become very dark many times, we could not see our way, but we believed the Lord opened the way; made rough places smooth and crooked places straight. As we write these pages, we want to be honest and write the truth. We have had a desire to be honest, and always spread the truth, but I am willing to leave my friends who have known me all my life, what kind of life I have lived. I do not claim perfection in this life and know that I have made many mistakes and blunders in my time. We have had more to contend with, it seemed to us at times, than the general run of people. Our mind has been called down from every fabrication we ever erected in our mind for the enjoyment of this life. We have planned one thing after another and have tried them out. We have enjoyed work; it was a pleasure to us, but we were forced to quit one business and engage in another because of afflictions. It will be seven years this fall that we had to give up all our business. We could not go any farther. We hope to take these changes and explain them more fully later in this work. We have studied many ways to make a living but will say I have never studied any way but the honest way. I had rather suffer want than to engage in an unlawful business. I would even rather be in the poorhouse and die an honorable death of a humble pauper, than to die in a king’s palace proudly gained. I have thought many times of writing something and have it put in book form and offer it to the people for a small sum, so that we might get something out of it to help us on our way. I have been impressed with thoughts to write but there is always something coming up to shake my self-confidence, therefore, have put it off from time to time. My greatest opposition has been my ignorance. I did not wish to expose myself. I am a very poor speller and perhaps a much worse composer. My education is very limited but upon this line I need not fill space for it will readily be seen. We only ask the reader to cast the mantle of charity over my imperfections and give us the credit due an old man bound in prison walls of afflictions without any hopes of release until death calls us to sleep. But when Jesus comes without sin unto salvation and calls this body from the dust, the prison walls will be thrown down and then it is that we hope to be free and ever be with Jesus throughout Eternity. The writer was born and reared of poor parents. I was born April 5, 1862 in the city of Durham, North Carolina, then a very small village. My parents moved to Brownsville, Tennessee in the fall of 1868, which was my seventh year. Although I was small I well remember some things clearly. I well remember the big bull on a board at the railroad crossing near the factory, representing Bull Durham tobacco. My father moved to a place near Jones Station, Haywood County, where he worked on the shares for seven years. There was a large family to be supported which kept our mother and father at hard work all the time. The children that were old enough were put in to help. Schools in that day were of short terms. People who were able sent their children to subscriptions schools but poor children generally got very little instructions from that source. I was a very delicate child and every term of school I would take the chills and have to stop. Our father had a very tender feeling for his children and would not make us to school when we complained of being sick. When we felt bad we complained and stayed at home, or at least, I did. We think it all right to be kind to children but never let you kindness overcome your better judgment. I think sometimes if my parents had been more strict with me in that way and would have made me to go school it would be a pleasure to me today. I give this instruction to parents who may read this. Make the application to yourself and act according to your best judgment. I feel my unworthiness and incompetence of advising anyone which is best for them. We moved to a farm near Wellwood, which at that time was owned by Clint Trotman. We stayed there two years and then moved to Crockett County in January, 1879. My father contracted for a farm near Johnson’s Grocer where he stayed until death called him to his reward. My mother survived him about ten years. She died at a ripe old age, beyond her threescore and ten. In my thoughts and meditations she was a wonderful woman. At the age of seventy she was very “spry” and could do as much work as many of the younger women. One would have thought she never worked when she was young but she had worked hard all her life. Before, through and after the Civil War, she carded, spun and wove the cloth; cut and made the garments by hand for a family of eight. She even doubled and twisted her sewing and kitting thread and did her knitting. I have handed threads to my mother when she was putting in cloth and had held lots of brackets for her to reel the threads into hanks. Mother was kind to her children but very strict. She kept her promises she made us, especially when she told us we were to get a whipping, but I can see now that we did not get any more than we needed. Mother was always tender with me as I was a puny child and often humored me more than I deserved. She was ready at any time to prepare anything I felt I could eat, and if I was very sick and needed attention, she would sit by my bedside all night and watch over me. I feel I owe her a debt I can never pay, but I can love her with my whole heart until I am called to meet her again. I never had the pleasure of having money to spend like the boys of today. My father, as we have stated before, was poor and did not have money at all times. He had a large family to support; therefore, he could not give us money to spend. In those days, boys and girls could not get jobs to make them money as they do today. The only thing to do was to hoe or pick cotton and we always had that to do at home. I often thought when I got work for myself I could beat “Pap”, as that is what we called our father. When I became of age and worked for myself about three years, I found that “Pap” had done very well. About this time I had fallen in love with one of the best girls the world had ever produced. After a short courtship, we were married, the wedding taking place December 23, 1886. We lived with my wife’s grandfather, Gabe Robertson [Gabriel A. Robertson of Robertson Cemetery. shp]. We worked a small crop on the shares and I put in all of my spare time working in the shop, making coffins, and also cases for them, receiving sixty cents per day. This good girl has been my constant companion until this day, which is thirty-six years, yet the Lord has not blessed us with any children to brighten our home through our rugged journey. Millie, my wife, has been the light of our home. I always feel at home where she is, but oh my soul, how sad I feel to know that I cannot do one thing to help lighten her burden. As I have said before, I was indebted to my mother. Even so I am indebted to Millie, if not more, for her faithfulness towards me. I know her patience wears threadbare sometimes. We need not say that she never complains for that would not be human. Even Job complained in his troubles, yet he held out faithful to the end. We pray and trust in God that He will supply Millie with grace and strength to endure and hold out faithful to the end and when she is called from her toil and labor of this life, the Lord grant she may have a home with Jesus and be permitted to enjoy Heaven with all its means, through the mercy and grace of God and the blood of Jesus which cleanses us from all sin, and land her safely home where she will bask in the light of that beautiful city that needs no light nor sun, for the Lord is the light of it. Chapter 2 I will begin this chapter with our married life, which as stated before, took place December 23, 1886, when Esquire Harry Winburn joined together, James P. Proctor and Miss Millie Luevana Eason in the holy bonds of wedlock. There we made a solemn vow to stand together, love, cheer and comfort through sickness and health until death. We see so many young couples today that look upon this vow as though it was a play or a joke, which is soon broken and forgotten. With us it has been a tie that has bound us together so that we are no longer twain but are one flesh. As for me, I have done my duty as much as possible with the ability I have had. As for Millie, in her duty to me I will say that she has not failed me in any sense of the word. For over 36 years she has done more that was required of her and more than necessary. Knowing that she was not strong enough to stand it, she now has almost broken down having to care for me so much. Now let us go back and take up our life’s work. The first year as we have said, we lived with Grandpa Robertson. We made a small crop on the share and I put in my spare time working in the shop at sixty cents per day and boarded myself. Although he gave me the job of making the cases for the coffins and paid me fifty cents per case, which by hard work I could make $1.00 a day. I had to dress the lumber by hand, rasp and sandpaper the corners. Millie bought a few hens and raised a nice lot of chickens which was a great help to us. Although the price of chickens was very low, compared to present price, twelve and one-half cents to fifteen cents per head for fryers and from eighteen to twenty-five cents per head for hens, when fall came and we had made enough in my spare time to meet all living expenses and paid $20.00 for the drawing and putting in of a new set of teeth for Millie. [Millie would have been nineteen years old at this time. shp] The coming year we rented from Mr. Davis Worrell. I was to pay him for rent, the third and fourth of the crop. I bought me a horse the next fall and we made a good crop and came out very well. By this time we had found it a very small matter to make a living but to gain money to lay up was a slow go, so we began to wonder how in the world “Pap” ever did manage to feed and clothe his large family. We continued renting from Mr. Worrell for three years and got along fine. We never had a “hitch” or dispute in our settlements. I will say that a better friend we have never had nor have we ever had any dealings with a more honest man than Mr. Worrell. During these three years Millie had done all she could to help me in my work. She did her housework, raised many chickens and a nice lot of geese. She picked these geese regularly and made us all the feather beds we needed. We had our cows, yearlings and hogs, thus we had plenty of meat and some to sell. In those days eggs and chickens were cheap but they helped us in paying for the few groceries we needed. A peddler by the name of Blair came around every two weeks and by this means we kept a little change, most of the time. We attended church on Saturday and nearly always on Sunday. The only conveyance we had was our feet, which is the most independent way to travel that we have ever found. Millie and myself. We have often walked two and a half miles to church, listened to a good sermon and walked back feeling good. Those were the happiest days of my life. Oh, if only I had the good use of my feet and legs, it seems to me I would be the happiest man living today. It may be wrong for me to desire to be restored to my normal health, in as much as I have prayed so earnestly, and pleaded and begged with the Lord to heal me, for I have no faith in human skill to heal me. I can only trust myself in the hands of Jesus the only true physician. He can speak and it is done, but it seems to be His will for me to suffer, so our prayer is, Lord, give us grace to overcome and make us submissive to the will of thine. Let us go back and take up our struggles again. In the fall of 1889, the third year of our travels together, and on the morning of November 20th, I awoke before day to find myself with a hard chill. I called Millie and told her I was cold and had an awful pain in my side and that I was taking pneumonia. Having had it twice before, I was very sure that this was my ailment. Millie sent for the doctor as there were no phones in the country at that time. Dr. John Thomas of Johnson Grove, Tennessee, came and pronounced it pneumonia. He left me medicine, giving Millie directions as to how to give it. The doctor came back every day and the night of the change, he stayed all night. I remember I awoke from my first sleep for four or five days. He looked in my face and said, “Jim you are better this morning”. He appeared very much helped up. Millie looked so much better I said to her, “You look so much better this morning, what’s the matter?” She seemed to brighten up seeing me so much improved. Our neighbors were very nice to us during my sickness. They were with us day and night. I remember very distinctly two men who were very kind to us, not saying that the others were not just as good and kind, I mention in respect for their age, which was Mr. Joe Edwards and the other a teacher by the name of Bostick, who lived with Mr. Edwards. “Old Brother Edwards” as we called him, came about every other night. I shall never forget him. Mr. Bostick came every day. He said he was no account to work and would come and help us out in the daytime while others worked. The Lord restored me back to health for which we were very thankful. Thirty-three years ago, if a man had wheat to thrash, logs to roll, house to raise, hogs to kill, all he had to do was to set a day and call his neighbors. He had all the help he needed without paying a penny. The good ladies would have a nice dinner and all would seem to have a good time. Everyone went home feeling good for having done a good deed. We lived at the Worrell Place three years and were forced to move when one of his boys married and wanted the house we were living in. We moved from this place to my brother’s in the fall of 1890. He said I could have the place for a third or fourth of the crop and I could plant my whole crop in corn if I wanted to. Cotton was so cheap I decided it best to plant corn and spend my spare time doing something that would benefit me more. We had made three good cotton crops but we were disheartened because we could not sell the cotton seed unless we hauled it to town. We had no wagon and team of our own and the cotton seed would not sell for enough to pay for the hire of a wagon and team. We had the seed of about five bales of cotton at one time which would sell now for about $75.00 or $80.00. We sold our cotton as high as ten cents and as low as four and one-half cents. It is easy to see that we did not make much money but had a good living and a very nice time. About this time we saw an ad in the newspaper of how to make money selling books; so much for spare time; so much for full time. We thought we would have a day or two spare time a week and not neglect our crop, so we accepted the agency and after planting our crop we had some leisure days. We set in to give our new work a trial. We found it very easy to take orders for future delivery. It was no trouble to take from $10.00 to $15.00 worth of subscriptions per day. This looked like making money to me and on the strength of this; I bought me a vehicle, a kind of a road-wagon to deliver in. When the time for delivery came I, of course, had sent off the money for the goods. When they arrived we loaded them in our road-wagon and drove from place to place without much success. We returned very blue but tried to hold up our heads, hoping for the better. We tried it again with the same results. We went to every house we had taken an order but would find one man away from home, one without any money and another would back down and not take his book. We found about one in seven with the money and willingness to take his book. Some few would say we could leave the book and they would send the money by mail or even say “We will pay you soon”. We left a few with those whom we thought was alright, so we worried with this until we became worn out and quit with only about two-thirds delivered and part of them not paid for, the rest to barter off for what we could get. This learned me a lesson I have never forgotten. I found it would have paid me to have worked for fifty cents a day. I could have made more money in this time and it would have been much more pleasant. To every reader of this let me say, “If you are making a living and gaining something, stick to your job. You had better have a sure thing than to engage in an inexperienced business. Money looks good but it is the easiest thing to slip out of your hands. When gone, it is hard to get back.” Chapter 3 We lived at my brother’s place two years and made a crop each year. In my spare time I worked by the day and at a very low wage. Things were very cheap then and I remember selling a young cow with a yearling calf, together with another yearling calf, three in all for only $18.00. Cotton in the bale five to seven cents per pound; corn forty to fifty cents per bushel. Needless to say, Millie was well pleased with her home here because it was her father and mother’s, where she was born and reared. Her mother was still living on this farm and when Millie’s father died her mother married my brother. Their house was within one hundred yards of ours and it was a pleasure to Millie to be so near her mother. We spent two of the happiest years of our life here, 1891 and 1892. We moved from here back to the Worrell Farm and into the same house we formerly lived in two years before. Many changes had taken place these two years. Mrs. Worrell had been called from this life and Shirly, Mr. Worrell’s son, had moved to another place. Mr. Worrell agreed to rent us 48 acres of land on the third and fourth plan. This sounded good to me. We had only one horse and so I made a deal with Ed, my brother, for another horse, whereupon we began to break this ground to plant wheat. We completed this work in eight or nine days, and would have broken it again but rainfall was too light. Instead, we harrowed it good and drilled the wheat in. The ground was moist and in splendid condition and our wheat was up in a few days. By the first week in October we had one of the best fields of wheat in the neighborhood. This same fall we bought a mule from Mr. Worrell, which was to be paid for out of our first crop. About this time, Mr. Worrell’s health began to fail and he decided to move to his son’s home, Mr. J. R. Worrell, so they could look after him. We decided to have a sale and on the 25th of March, 1893, he sold all of his stock, farming tools, household furniture and many other things too numerous to mention. After Mr. Worrell left his home place he wanted us to move into it, which we did. He had already planted his garden and potato patch and set his price on them. We bought them, although we already had ours planted. In order to make our crops we had to have help, so we hired my brother, Richard, and paid him $12.50 per month for four months. He made us a good hand and lost no time in the four months he worked for us. March was very dry and we planted 18 acres of corn and had a very good stand. We were through planting corn the first few days of April and went ahead and planted our cotton. After finishing this, we were through. I do not remember the day, but it was the first or second week in April, 1893, that Mr. Worrell was called from this world of sorrow to his Eternal Home. It grieved us very much and we felt the loss of a true friend. We finished this year with a very nice crop and sold Mr. J. R. Worrell 100 bushels of wheat, delivered to his barn at 45 cents per bushel. We also took some to Crockett Mills and traded it for flour. In turn, we sold this flour to Mr. J. R. Worrell for $3.35 per barrel. We rented this place for another year, 1894, and decided not to hire anyone, only as we needed help, that is for day work. I planted 22 acres containing corn and cotton besides 12 acres of wheat. We had a good dry spring and I made it alright by getting a boy to help me on planting days. I also hired help to hoe my cotton when the time came and finished the year with a fine crop, not withstanding the low prices for products. We made arrangements to stay on this place another year, bringing it to 1895. Let us relate a rather sad beginning of this year, which happened on the 4th day of January, 1895. About 2 o’clock in the morning we were awakened by my brother Richard, who informed us of the sudden illness of my father, lasting only two hours, and causing his death. It was impossible for me to get to my father before daylight since Millie had been sick for several days and there was no one to stay with her. In the morning I went to see my father and upon my arrival I was informed of his death. It was a terrible shock, although my brother had told me that he would not be surprised if he wasn’t dead when he got back to the house, which was the case. When I looked upon my father’s lifeless body, I knew that his spirit had taken its flight to Jesus to await the resurrection of all. Father was born in North Carolina in 1830, January 2nd, and departed this life January 4, 1895, making his stay on the earth 65 years and 2 days. from all appearances, he seemed to be a very healthy man and had had very few cases of illness. In the summer of 1894, he suffered a light stroke of paralysis on one side and was not able to do much work after that, although he carried his flesh well unto death and even in death he still had the smile on his face that he had in life. At his death we lost of the best fathers and friend that we ever had, and he could not have been replaced. As stated before, Millie was sick a week or more and had the doctor attend her. It seemed as though she could not regain her strength but the Lord was with her and gave her health to her again which we were very thankful for. Yet we feel as though we have fallen short of giving Him the praise and glory that is justly due him. When spring came we pursued our same course as the year before. We did our own plowing and planting but hired our hoeing done. We were blessed with another good crop. In May of this year, Mr. Montague of Bells, Tennessee, bought several car loads of corn, paying 40 cents per bushel delivered. We sold him 200 bushels and this made us feel good. Our wheat sold for 60 cents per bushel and cotton was a little better that fall, selling for eight and nine cents per pound in the lint. Hogs and cattle were still very cheap but we came out at the end of the year fairly well, until I was stricken with this awful disease known as rheumatism which has not released its hold on me for 27 years. I continued my work as a farm-hand until June of the following year, which brings us to June 1896, when I was fully overcome by rheumatism. As has been said heretofore, I was not able to do a day’s work from that day to this. Spring came and I decided it would be better to hire help as I felt I could not work like I had been. I hired an old gentleman by the name of George Thompson and he made a very good worker on the farm. We planted our crop and everything was doing nicely but on the day we had our wheat cut there fell a slow rain most all the afternoon. We did not stop but kept shocking our wheat until we were soaking wet. Getting wet made my rheumatism worse and I could not work, but Mr. Thompson finished the crop for me. We rented this land for another year which brings us to 1897. We hired two young men through crop time, my brother Joe and Millie’s brother, Cabe. My mother moved into a house near us that was unoccupied. My mother and sister Eva and our cousin Alice Davis, a girl mother had reared from a child, did all the hoeing and I divided the crop with mother. We planted a big crop in corn and cotton but had no wheat. Crops looked fine for awhile but a drought struck us in the summer and the rust got our cotton. Our corn did very well but cotton was cut at least one-third, the price remaining low, about 7 cents per pound in the lint. We finished our crop early and rented to farm for another year. We worked hard the year, but come out in the “hole”. We barely had enough to pay for the labor during crop time. Millie’s brother and I talked it over and decided to go some place and establish an undertaking parlor, whereupon we went to Tibbs, Haywood County, Tennessee; bought us two acres of land. We drove down to a sawmill and purchased a pile of refused lumber for $10.00. I had one team so we borrowed another team from our good neighbor, J. L. Edwards, and hauled our lumber. We rented a little house of Mr. Jeff Walls for a few days and loaded our wagon with our house furnishings in the last days of November, 1897, and moved. Mother moved into the house we left. Abner Eason and myself begin work on building a house on our lot. While Cabe Eason and Mr. Will Thompson helped build the house, I run around with my wagon and hauled lumber. Although our lumber was culls, and of no use for shipping purposes, we got enough to build a two room boxed house. Within two weeks we had finished the house and were ready to move into it. We also built a shop house, smoke house and a hen house, all with the lumber we bought for $10.00. Mr. Sam Bacter was kind enough to let us use his barn through the winter and spring, until after crop time. Abner married at Christmas time and we built another house on the other end of ours. By spring time my health begins to get worse and we could plainly see there was not enough business to support both families, whereupon we decided to sell our interest in the shop and also our wagon and team. I mentioned this to Abner and he agreed, with the division of the lot. Each of us made a deed to the other and so we both had a home, Abner taking the west end and us taking the east end. As summer came on we built a front veranda from end to end on our house and also one on the back, extending to the west end. When we finished, we had a nice little home and things sure did look good. We spent three pleasant years here without a business of any kind. We were sometimes gloomy as we thought the day was not far away when we would be bound to suffer for we had nothing coming in and I was not able to do anything scarcely at all Millie worked in the house and kept up the garden and even sold some butter to Mr. Gilbert at the store for twelve and one-half cents per pound. He thought he could dispose of this butter better if it were put in 3/4 pound moulds at 10 cents per mould. We thus disposed of our butter and took our pay in groceries. This helped out a lot. The wheat we had sewn in Crockett County was very good and by the time we paid for the cutting and thrashing and rent on the land, we had enough to make our flour for another year. In the fall we built a crib, 10′ by 12′, and shedded it on three sides, which made us a very nice barn. Abner had saved his hay and put it into a long rick and told me we could let our cow to one end of it for $5.00. By moving the fence up to the hay as she eats it, we saved most all the waste; she could not trample on it. Abner treated us with kindness and as a friend indeed, for which we feel thankful, not only to him, but the giver of all good, cheerful gifts. With the coming of fall, we hired out to pick cotton for the neighbors at 40 cents per hundred pounds. Millie was a very good picker and with my little help, she would make a dollar a day, if we were not too late getting there. Millie then bought her a sewing machine for which she paid $20.00. She begins making bonnets and bought material enough to make a half-dozen. These she placed in different stores at 50 cents each. This helped us out a lot and brings us to that cold winter of 1898 and ‘99. January and February of 1899 was the coldest winter we ever experienced. I remember this very well because my rheumatism was worse than usual and I suffered very much and if it had not been for Abner’s kindness, we would have frozen. We packed many baskets of dry shavings and sawdust from Mr. Baxton’s mill. After this cold spell, I could hardly work at all but in the latter part of the summer my health improved and Millie kept up her bonnet work, worked in the garden, raised us a hog, had her chickens and we made a fairly nice sum with all these little mites. With the kindness of our neighbors and the help of the Lord, we lived through the year of 1899 and into the year 1900. In 1900 we continued here in our home at Tibbs, Tennessee until August of the same year when Millie’s mother’s health gave way and she was not able to see after her house work. We went to see her and while we were there she asked us to come over and stay with her. We talked it over and finally decided to go and moved the 28th of August. We regretted leaving our pleasant home at Tibbs, but after all, we felt as if it were our duty to go since Millie’s mother wanted us to be there and help her with the work. She had a colored girl staying there to do the washing and other drudgery work, and so I took care of her chickens. She promised me one-half of what was made after the table was furnished with eggs and chickens. In this way we got our board and I could make enough out of the chickens and eggs to buy clothes, which we could not do at Tibbs. This chapter brings our travels in the battle of life back to the very home where Millie was born thirty-two years before, back to the place she was reared and had left fourteen years before. According to arrangements, I took the chickens in hand and I set several hens which came off in September with over 100 chickens, and then I went to work repairing houses for them. They grew nicely and in two or three weeks they beginning to feather and I was feeling very good over them. One morning as I was feeding the chickens, I discovered one of them gasping and in a day or two several more were gasping. They kept on this way until I lost about half of them, and half of those that were left had the sniffles and became stunted and did not grow like they did at the start. We went ahead and took care of them the best we could and by spring I begin to see that there was no pay in raising fall hatched chickens. It takes lots of feed and they grow slow through the winter months. They generally are too large for fryers in the spring and sell at hen prices, which does not pay but they are very nice for the family table through the winter months. Millie’s mother’s health begin to decline until about March 20th, 1901, when the Lord called her from this sinful world and received to himself her spirit to await the resurrection morning. Her body was laid to rest in the orchard of her own farm. I must say, devoted to her husband; kind to her neighbors and friends, and she was one of the most industrious women I have ever seen. She set in her chair and done needle work of some sort all of the time; every day up to her death. She was stricken in the latter part of the night and was taken away in a few minutes. Brother Ed, her husband, and her children took her death very hard. There was never a man more devoted to his wife than was Ed Proctor. She never wanted for a thing that was in his power to get, if she let it be known. She was a mother to me as much as a mother-in-law could be. Going back to the trade that Abner and myself made. We traded up his interest in his mother’s farm for our lot in Tibbs and by this we had two shares in the old home which we sold to my brother, Ed. We also loaned him our money on interest as long as we stayed with him. That summer I helped him thin corn several days. I could not work all day, but I kept count of the time I put in and was paid 5 cents per hour for my work, which counted slow, but I made a few dollars which helped quite a bit. My plan has always been to make a little if you can’t make a lot. I have heard men say, “I won’t work for that price, I can’t support my family with it” and at the same time lay around and do nothing. This always puzzled me how a man could support his family and do nothing when he could not work at small prices. Millie had seen after Naoma, her half-sister and the cooking for the family, besides several hired hands, with the help of the colored girl that lived there. We passed through this year into the year 1902. By this time the colored girl left us and we told Ed if he would pay us the money he paying her we would do the work with the exception of the washing, so he got a woman to do the washing and things went this way for some time. I helped her do the housework and little odd jobs that was to be done about the house. This same year, my brother Dot [short for Dotson shp] went into the grocery business in a small way, using one end of the Undertaking Shop. He soon begin to work up a nice trade and told me he would give me fifty cents a day to stay in his store. So Millie and I arranged things so I could work in the store and she could keep her work up at Ed’s. By me working in the store, this gave Dot a chance to get out and do other jobs, which would pay him better than staying in the store. About this time Mr. Harmon Cooper applied for a post office at Dot’s store, which he got. Mr. Cooper was Postmaster with Dot as his assistant and when Mr. Cooper became dissatisfied and resigned, Dot was made Postmaster and the Post Office was called Proctor. I attended the Post Office while Dot was not in and while I was working here, somehow or other, there was something said about him selling a half interest to me. I mentioned it to Ed and it was all right with him, so Dot and I traded, with him to do the buying and paying off, and me to put in my time selling. He built me a box house with a shed and a front porch for half of my work. So this fall, we were to move to this house in time to commence our partnership work. On December 1, 1902, we moved to my brother’s home. Mr. S. D. Proctor. [Spelled in this document Stialing D. Proctor, in death certificate Sterling Dotson Proctor, but is the one who changed his name to Stylon Dotson Proctor, at the time of his death, only his eldest daughter, Edna, knew that his name was Sterling. shp] Things worked along nicely and we had a good business for a country store. Our health had improved somewhat and we could do the work all right, except on some very busy days when Dot or someone else would help me. I liked this work very well. Chapter 5 This chapter begins with January 1, 1903 while I was still at work in the store Dot and I had as partners. It was understood that I was to work five days a week but on Saturdays I reserved this day to attend church. We were always at our post on regular meeting days. We sometimes visited other churches and for this reason we reserved Saturdays, nevertheless, if we stay at home we worked in the store just the same. A little later on in the spring, my brother received word from Durham, North Carolina saying that an aunt of ours had died and had left us some property. When this was sold and the money divided I received about $160.00 and was a great help to me and also unexpected. Our business was pretty good this spring. Some days it was good and other days bad, but I suppose all business is this way. I have set there many days and not sell anything at all while other days I would be runned to death, but we feel thankful for the business we did get. About this time my brother-in-law, W. G. Garrett, offered to sell me a farm which was part of my father’s old farm. He gave me his price and I told Dot that I would like to buy it if I was in position to. There were two or three things that stood in the way. I could not pay for it unless I could sell my interest in the store and he said he would take it and pay me the figures he sold it to me for. I informed Mr. Garrett that I would take the farm, provided Mr. Jones, who rented the land at the time, would give me his note for $60.00 that he had on the farm. I agreed to pay him $450.00 cash for the farm. The place was old and run down and the house and barn needed repairing, also the fences. Many people wanted to know what I wanted with that old place. I knew that I had to live somewhere the rest of my life and I thought it would be cheaper to repair that house than to build a new one. I bought this 60 acre farm because I had no hopes of living any length of time and we would go there and do the best we could for the present and trust in the Lord for the future. Let each day provide for itself. When we took stock of our store, I received $650.00 in cash for my share. I paid for my farm and paid my brother-in-law, Ashley Rigsby, $110.00 for a horse and buggy. We hired our nephew, Frank Garrett, to make a crop for us which was composed of corn and sorghum. We had a nice crop that year. This was the first sorghum we had ever raised and we found it to be good for feed. Chapter 6 This is the summer of 1906. Millie and I made our first trip to Jonesboro and Paragould, Arkansas to visit with her brother, John Eason, and my sister, Mary Rigsby. We had a very enjoyable time and returned feeling refreshed. This ends the year of 1906 and we had made a little money. In the year 1907, we bought 40 rolls of poultry fencing and fenced off one-half acre of ground, which we sowed in the grass the spring before. We built a hen-house and started in the poultry business with two roosters and thirty hens. We decided to plant just a little corn and tend our garden and chickens. We rented out enough land to get our feed and a little money. Out of a watermelon patch and our chickens, we had accumulated enough to build a brick chimney to our log room. We had as comfortable home as we wanted. In June, 1908 Millie’s sister, Martha Stephenson, came to be with us for a few days and it was while she was with us that the Lord called her home. She was survived by her husband, four children, her sisters, several brothers and a host of friends to mourn her loss. At the end of this year, 1908, we had nothing but just our living and was thankful for that as we deserved no more, but we tried to comply with the words of the Savior, “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you”. The most important event in 1909 was our visit to Jonesboro and Paragould, Arkansas, to see my sister and Millie’s brother. Millie’s sister Mrs. Callie Castallow and daughter, “little Callie” went with us. We returned home before we intended to, due to my illness, namely rheumatism. In the fall of 1920 we sold our home to Mr. Clyde Blackburn and moved to the farm of Mr. Ben Castallow. Mr. Castallow married Millie’s sister, Callie Eason. Our total earnings for this year amount to $1,600.00 which we deposited in the Citizens Bank at Maury City, Tennessee. We did not stay on this farm very long and moved on November 10th and made ready to open up a small stock of groceries, amounting to $500.00 or more. Mr. Ben Castallow assisted us in moving, together with our many friends, for which we were very thankful. We opened for business on the 15th of December, 1910. Having had some experience in this business, we had been able to pay off our opening stock at the end of the year. Things moved very slow for a time but gradually picked up and by fall we were having a nice cash trade and also a good egg trade. We kept adding to our stock until we had many varieties of merchandise in our store. Things went along very nicely while we were in this business but our health failed and we became discouraged and decided that if we could just get our money back we would be satisfied. In September, 1911 our mother, Rutha Jane Proctor, became confined to her death-bed, whereupon we were called to her bedside at the home of her youngest daughter, Mrs. Eva Edwards, where she had lived for several years. Within a week my mother was laid to rest in the Robertson Cemetery. At the close of this, our first year in business in Maury Junction, the B. & N. W. Railroad was laid at this place In 1912, my health seemed to give way more and I could hardly walk at all. My store was thirty or forty yards from the house and it was all I could do to there and back. Mr. Ben Castallow, from whom I rented, agreed to move the store for me and did this, moving it to our porch. Our moving cost us about $15.00 but it has been much easier on me. Ben always took great pleasure in seeing after our welfare. He would even haul my freight from Halls, Tennessee, with the exception of a few things which Mr. Hargett would bring in his wagon. On the third Sunday in May 1913, Ben and Callie and their children came over and spent the day with us. In the afternoon, he took me out to look over his fine clover and pasture. He always took pride in showing these to anyone. Little did we realize the calamity that was about to befall us, eight days later. On Monday morning, following their visit with us, Ben was very sick and the doctor was called. He pronounced it pneumonia and made him stay in bed. He improved the latter part of the week and the doctor said the pneumonia was breaking up. On Sunday, following, he was very sick. He died on Tuesday following my visit on Sunday. Needless to say, we were all shocked over his death. He left a wife and eight children, the baby just a few months old. This brought more trouble upon us as this was the last year we had agreed to stay, but Callie was insistent that we stay on and we made a contract to stay three more years. After making our contract we built an addition to the store which cost us $75.00, but it helped the appearance a lot and I was very well satisfied. As winter came on my health began to get worse and on December 19th I ordered a wheel chair from Montgomery Ward and I waited a month for its delivery. I paid $20.03 for this chair and have been using it for over ten years. It certainly has been worth its money as under the circumstances, I was unable to take stock of my goods. With this chair, I was able to do so. It was the year 1914, the outbreak of the World War that was very bad for the farmers in our part of the country. They could not sell their cotton and we had credited people and could not collect our debts. This forced us to sell for cash. Things looked might blue for us but we finished the year all right with the help of Callie Castallow and her two children, Willie and Jimmy. Willie stayed with us and went to school and helped out in the store after school. Jimmy, being the oldest, had to stay home and help his mother but done his part of the work that he had time to spare. They certainly were a big help to us, and we appreciated it very much. We also wish to thank Mr. Jim Castallow, Mr. Walter Perry and all of our neighbors of our community. Their kindness towards us shall never be forgotten. We were looking for the hardest times to come in 1915 but we were very surprised as business seemed to be much better and we collected some of our old accounts. Millie’s health was failing so we decided to get us a partner. We had a home in Maury City which was rented out and when it was vacated we moved there and rented us a store building and signed a contract with Mr. W. S. Stephenson, our brother-in-law, for one year. Our trade was not good and I had the blues. I noticed also that Mr. Stephenson appeared to have them too, so I asked him. He said that he did and he believed he could do better if he was released from the contract. I agreed to it and tore up the contract, thus releasing both of us. I begin to sell out by degrees and bought no more stock. By November 20th, we had practically sold out and I called Mr. Rooks to ask the merchants in Maury City if they would not buy us out. They all agreed to this and in a short while we had sold all of our merchandise, except some few things which we carried home and stored away to live on that winter. Chapter 7 Let us begin this chapter with the value of friendship. I have been an invalid for the past thirteen years and in that length of time I have talked to a great many people. Some of them are kind enough to stop in my house and inquire about my welfare while others are more or less inclined to talk about themselves and tell of their troubles, which leaves us embarrassed and we just keep our own troubles to ourselves. People have forgotten that being a Christian is one of the most important things in a man’s life. It looks to me as though Christianity is going to a low ebb, and that with many churches being built over the entire country. This brings to mind the story of the rich man Jesus tells us of. He had so many goods that he had to build new barns in which to store them. I often wonder if that is not what has happened to the people of the world today. They leave their religion at home, for they certainly do not practice it outside the church. The Lord tells us that there shall be a falling away and then the end shall be. I am inclined to believe that the time has come, for people certainly are falling away from the Lord. The almighty dollar will be the downfall of this world. Remember this passage of scripture: “What does it profiteth a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul”. Chapter 8 It was not my intention to speak of the prohibition question but after thinking about it, I must express my thoughts. I am very well satisfied that prohibition is a failure. I have read my Bible and prayed that God would give me the guiding spirit to settle these questions for myself. The best illustration I can give in from the Bible. Having read my Bible for the past thirty-six years, I have not found where God has given a command concerning prohibition. Neither had I found where God commanded the children of Israel to put evil out of the world. Jesus taught his disciples to pray that God would deliver them from all evil, but in no place does he say to put evil out of the world. While speaking of politics, we wish to talk about this so-called “Suffrage Law”. I am very much opposed to this law, because it, like the rest, tends to take the voting power away from the common people and put it into the hand of a few of the “higher ups”. I am sure if it had been taken to a vote of the people that it would have never passed, but it, like the Prohibition Law, was passed through the aid of the “higher ups”. Another thing I find wrong with the “Suffrage Law” is the fact that it may cause many a happy home to be broken up. We all know that every man and wife do not agree on the same thing when it comes to politics. For example, it may be that the husband wants to vote one way and the wife another. Also vice versa. The husband will go off and leave his wife, saying he is going to the polls to vote, leaving his wife at home. When some of her neighbors come to take her to the polls to vote, she may even have something evil in her mind, thus causing a misunderstanding between the two, and possibly a separation. The Lord commands us to shun the very appearance of evil. Chapter 9 In this chapter we wonder if it would not be the best to speak upon the subject of God’s word to man. Having lived within the prison walls of afflictions as long as I have, I have had the opportunity to study the word of God. It has occurred to me that people have not found the way of the truth for if they had there would not be as many differences in the churches as there is. If we would only read and search the scriptures as God commands us to do, there would be none of these differences. There is but two systems of salvation taught in the world, one is the system work, the other is of Grace. There is but one of these systems that is truth. That one is the system of Grace. The other is a system of work and is a falsehood. God is the sovereign who rules this whole world and we can find no better scripture to bear us out than this: “In the beginning God created Heaven and Earth, and on the seventh day he rested from all his works which he had made.” Genesis 1:1 Again we refer you to Paul’s letter to the Colossians, Col. 1:16, “For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: “And he is before all things, and by him all things consist: “And he is the head of the body, the church; who is the beginning, the first born from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.” Thus, I have given you the thoughts and meditations of an invalid and I now want to state that I hope the remainder of my life will be as small a burden as possible to my friends and relatives. Yet have I found that when we have real love for our fellow men we are always ready and willing to help out in any way possible. Although we have made many mistakes in our life, we are proud of the life we have lived. We have always tried to be kind to our neighbors and friends and tend strictly to our own business. To say that we have succeeded would not be correct. It is left to other people to judge for themselves. We are proud of our religion and feel that it is good enough to die by. We have a hope that through the righteousness of Jesus Christ that we will enter into the pearly gates of heaven and rest in peace with Jesus Christ, where there is no sickness, sorrow, death nor heartache. May the Grace of God and His righteousness be with you all and save you from a “burning hell”. |