Son of David Crockett Click and Emily Virginia Lane

There have been so many changes in my lifetime. Two World Wars as well as Vietnam and Korea; the development of the automobile, the coming of the stream lined train, as well as the demise of the same; the development of the airplane; the change in farming, retailing and wholesaleing are some of the changes. I am 76 years old and I was raised and brought up in the country on a farm.

My father was much older than my mother. In fact, he was 41 years old when I was born. He was born and raised in the hills of East Tennessee which may account for my tendency to be conservative.

My father believed in law and order -that a man’s word should be as good as his bond; in justice and fair play; in treating your neighbor with respect and charity. He trusted everyone until proven wrong.

I guess that the earliest thing I can remember is when my twin brothers were born and I was three years old. They tell me that when Dr. Witherington had finished delivering them that he asked me, “What are you going to give me for these two brothers?” I ran and brought him two kittens. I don’t remember this but I have been told that is what happened. My mother always liked cats and we usually had a mama cat with a litter of kittens.

I remember that we then lived in the Beaver Community in the Western part of Tipton County. We had a shed near the road and our buggy sat in the shed. I used to go out, climb up into the buggy and just sit there.

I remember the peddlers (I didn’t remember how to spell peddler so I just now looked it up). One peddler in particular drove a one horse conveyance, something like a van. I think he was a Watkins Agent, but in addition to Watkins Linemint and other medical items, spices and flavoring, he also carried notions, sundry items, pots and pans. I also remember the pack peddler. It would seem almost unbelievable that a man could carry a stock of merchandise upon his back and make a living by going from farm house to farm house on foot.

Most of these pack peddlers were Syrians or Lebanese and usually after a few years on the road they accumulated enough capital to open a dry goods store. I remember when we moved. I guess that I was about four years old. We moved to Memphis. My mother’s brother was a street car motor man and he got my daddy on as a trainee. I can hardly believe that then many Memphis companies had to recruit employees from the farm. I can only remember a few things about our stay in Memphis. We lived in a house with many steps to the sidewalk. I remember the fruit and produce salesman. They sold off of wagons. I remember my mother going down and buying apples and bringing them up the steps in her apron. In those days every housewife wore an apron. I remember my step brother coming by the house. As he was leaving he asked me to come with him to Forrest Park to get ice cream. I went along. When we returned, my mother was frantic because I hadn’t told her where I was going.

My daddy didn’t like the street car. I guess he was used to being his own boss, so we moved to Mason, Tennessee. Our farm was about two and one-half miles out of town.

I remember when I was six years old. My sister was born and we three boys spent the night with my uncle’s family. When daddy came for us the next day and told us we have a baby sister, I didn’t believe him and wanted to stay. I still didn’t believe him until I got home and saw the baby.

I remember the typhoid fever epidemic. At that time very few houses were screened and outhouses not very sanitary. Our neighbor, Mr. Elcan, died and he was buried at Old Trinity. I went with my dad. We walked across the fields. I remember very little about the funeral except that since they were Episcopalians, the Priest wore a robe. I had never seen anything like that and didn’t understand it. My brother caught the typhoid fever and was very sick. We all had to have vaccinations. I remember the doctor came every day. Sometimes he rode a horse but sometimes came in a buggy. My brother was very sick but eventually recovered. I remember that when he was able to eat a little -all he could have was toast. We had to go to town to get bread for all we had at home was biscuits and cornbread. He had to have the bread toasted almost black on both sides and the burned part scrapped off. I think that toast and a little sweetened water was all he could have. Lots of folks said that the old doctor was not very well educated and didn’t know much; but he was faithful and my brother did get well.

I remember when I was six I started to school. Daddy carried me and the two Elcan boys the first day in the buggy, but we had to walk from then on. Mason had a new brick school. It was built in front of the old Wonder building which was soon torn down. Professor Eugene Younger was principle. Later on he was County Superintendent for many years. Mason had had trouble with tough boys, but Mr. Younger eventually straightened that out. He had to expel some and fight others. There was one high school boy who went to school in Brownsville. He rode the train up in the morning and back after school. My Aunt Maggie Wilson lived just down the street from the school and I used to talk to her as we went by. She was daddy’s oldest sister. She had a daughter, Cousin Alice Rose, who was two years older than father.

In spite of supervision, there was constant trouble between the town boys and the country boys. One big boy jerked off my cap, put his foot on it and tore off the bill. My cousin Erskine stood up to them and gave them all they were looking for. On the last day of school they ganged up on him, so he just had to outrun them. My Grandpa Lane happened to be driving by in his buggy. He took Erskine into the buggy and when the boys came up, he took out his buggy whip and dared them. Grandpa was a very peaceful man but he stood them off.

I remember I liked school. I learned easily. But since I had to walk two and one half miles in bad weather-so many times I just stayed at home. On the way to school there was a bottom and an old church and cemetary. On days when I was alone I always stayed on the far side of the road. I learned fast and soon became an avid reader. We didn’t have much to read. We took the Covington Leader, the weekly Commercial Appeal, and the Progressive Farmer. I think that other than the Bible, we had the Story of Jesse James and Bill Nyes’ “Wit and Wits.”

About this time I became involved in a sales contest. It was selling subscriptions to the Farmers Wife, a home-type magazine. I think the subscription price was 25 or 50 cents for a year. I had little chance to win, but the sales letters kept coming saying how well I was doing. The first prize was a shetland pony. Eventually, when the contest closed I had sent in $1,250.00 in subscriptions. The winner had about $2,500.00 . I did get some good prizes: A boy scout suit, a stereoscope and slides, a barber outfit. Daddy cut our hair at times, but sometimes we went to the barber shop.

I remember we got our mail at the post office. Rural routes did not come our way. When I went to school, I would come by the post office to see if we had any mail. Otherwise, we usually didn’t get our mail but once a week. By the way, you could mail a letter for two cents and a post card for one cent. I remember Grandma Click visiting us. She had broken her hip and it left her an invalid. When they came to get her, she just sat in a chair and two men lifted her into the wagon. She just sat in the chair and rode that way. She was in her nineties when she died. She was buried at Old Charleston Cemetary near Mason.

We raised wheat one year. I remember when the binder came to cut it. The binder was a big cumbersome machine pulled by a steam tractor. It cut the wheat and tied it into bundles or sheaths. Men followed and stacked about five bundles upright so it would get dry before the thrasher came. I went with Daddy to Covington to sell the wheat. The buyers met the wagons and tested the wheat with a little scale. I guess this was to determine the amount of moisture. Then they would bid the amount they would pay.

I remember going to Covington, our County Seat, was quite an experience. We were twelve miles from Covington. The road was excellent for dirt roads. There were two country stores between Mason and Covington. We would usually stop at Frank Taylor’s store and I would take a nickle and buy a box of lemon snaps or ginger snaps.

We sometimes went in a buggy or sometimes the wagon. A nice thing about a rubber tired buggy was when we got to town on the paved streets, it made such a musical sound with the horses shoes clicking against the street.

There were three Blacksmith’s in Covington and there were always a lot of horses and mules to be shod. The sound of the hammers ringing on the anvil could be heard all around the square.

The fire department always seemed interesting. The pumper could be seen as you passed by with the harness suspended from the ceiling so the horses could be hitched in a hurry. I never did see the fire department in operation.

One of the things I liked about going to Covington was the hamburgers. There was a one-armed man who had a hamburger cart. He would put the bun under his stub and slice it open with one swipe of the butcher knife. Those five cent hamburgers were better than any you could get today at any price. I remember in Covington there were two or three bakeries and the bread was really something. Bread was baked in a double loaf. We would usually buy some and eat one loaf up on the way home.

We used to go to Dee Ellis’ for a coke. He ran a pool room and café. A fountain coke or soda water was five cents. We usually used the restroom in the basement of the Courthouse, but sometimes we just went into the livery stable (really, it was cleaner). A livery stable is where you can leave your horse or hire a horse. There were more than one in Covington.

We actually had two farms at Mason. We lived on the East side of the road with about fifty acres and a fairly new house. On the West side there was a one hundred acre farm with two tenant houses. We sold the home place to John Rose. He was the husband of Cousin Alice. We moved across the road into the better of the tenant houses.

I remember John Rose had three daughters and one son at home. All were very nearly grown. John was an unusual character. He was always in some kind of controversy. Our cows got out and they put them in their lot. They charged Daddy a dollar for their efforts. Daddy said okay, but they won’t get out again. He put a chain on the gate with a padlock. They didn’t get out again.

I should say something about automobiles. They were getting quite commonplace. There was a period of prosperity as World War I was going on. My Uncle John Click bought a Ford Model T. Mr. Rose bought a Maxwell. The Maxwell was the forerunner of the Chrysler. Both were touring cars. That is, they were open cars with a fold-down top and side curtain to buckle on in bad weather. I don’t remember if there were any sedans or closed cars on the market. In addition to Fords and Maxwells, there were Buicks, Pierce Arrow, Nash, Hudson, Essex, Dodge, Stanley Steamer, Haynes Apperson, Packard and Stutz. I don’t know if Chevrolet or Cadillac were on the market then.

I remember Uncle John Click was one of the more prosperous farmers. He had two children. Emma, who was ten years older than me and Clarence, who was about five or six years older than me. He bought Emma an organ but she couldn’t learn to play so he traded it in on a player piano. They also had a phonograph, a Victrola cabinet model. You wound it up with a crank and it would play about two records. Aunt Zella was an old fashioned housekeeper and a good cook. I remember when we went to stay all night how high the bed was. It had springs and the mattress was a thick feather bed. I remember we kids had to get up in a chair to get into bed.

About that time they were urging farmers to plant Crimson Clover as a winter cover crop. Uncle John bought a bushel of seed. He had never seen any Crimson Clover seed so he sowed just as you would oats or wheat. When it came up, he had the biggest turnip patch anyone had ever seen!

About that time Daddy began to think about how all the kids would do in a few years in school, and since we were two and one half miles from school he decided to sell and buy nearer to a school. At one time I think he considered going to California but decided against it. He almost bought a farm near Collierville. In fact, he actually contracted for it, but the man’s wife changed her mind and the sale didn’t come off.

I have often thought how much difference a little thing makes. If we had moved to Collierville we would all have had different friends and neighbors, different schools and different churches. Our lives would not have been the same.

Finally, he found the farm at Almyra. The school was less than one quarter mile away; in fact, the school lot had originally been a part of the farm we bought. Before I forget, I had better tell you about an accident that almost got me. My Dad was cleaning out a shed at the barn using a shovel. I was watching. I guess I was four or five years old. Suddenly I decided to go to the house and attempted to run by him just as he was bringing up the shovel. It struck me just over the eye. He grabbed me and ran to the house. Today it would mean a trip to the emergency room but then they depended on soot and coal oil. It healed but left a scar that you can still see today.

I remember the Winter of 1918 was the worst in our generation. It snowed on December 6th and the ground wasn’t clear until up in February. We moved during that time. Daddy made several trips carrying tools, feed, etc., but we really moved the day after Christmas. Wood was scarce and he could hardly find anyone to help him cut some.

We were in an entirely different neighborhood. We had lived on a back road and now we were in the forks of the road. One road ran North to Covington, one South to Arlington, one Southwest to Rosemark and Barrettville, and one quarter mile up, the Idaville-Atoka road branched off. Across the road was the Orphanage and Sharon Church. Right across the road on the other corner was a neighbor. The parsonage joined our place on the South. We were in a thriving community. The house was unique. The house was one large log room with a floored attic and a permanent stairway. The logs on the outside had been covered with yellow poplar siding and painted. Adjoining was a front room (couldn’t read) and on back, a shed room which was divided into kitchen and bedroom. I don’t think we had any porches. We had a cistern instead of a well. This meant we had gutters on the house and had to catch our water.

I remember that after New Years school started. It was still bad weather and the seats had all been rearranged in a circle around the stove to keep warm. I liked the teacher and my classmates and found that the school had a library. Also, Mr. Huey, who had moved into a small house, had left considerable books in the attic. ; This really pleased me for it was the first time that I had any opportunity to really enjoy reading and I really took advantage of it.

As the weather was bad and we had no boots, we had to improvise. We cut the legs off old corduroy pants, sewed up one end, pulled them on over our shoes, and tied it around the leg. This helped keep us dry.

The new place was very interesting. We had a smokehouse, a chicken house, an incubator house which we used for feed, etc., and an old barn. We also had a pond for stock water and a garden fenced in with palings (wood strips). We soon found that most everyone owned his own farm but that there were some tenant farms near and so we found we could hire help occasionally.

N. M. Kelly had a general store. Idaville which had a store and gin was two miles West and Wrights Store was two miles East. It was about six miles to Barrettville and Rosemark and about seven or eight miles to Atoka.

We had the flu epidemic soon after we moved to the new place. Mama was sick and most of the other kids. Daddy and I had to keep house, give the medicine, etc. Daddy did the cooking and we did very well, but he got too much soda in his buscuits! After the others got well, I got sick. At first they thought it was measles, but I had developed pneumonia. I was very sick and almost didn’t make it. They had to send to Covington for ice to cool my fever, and neighbors came in at night to sit up with me but I finally got well.

We thought about getting started to Church. We were of the Methodist background and the Methodist Church was about two miles away at Macedonia. The Sharon Church, across the road, was Associate Reformed Presbyterian. My Daddy said we were a part of the community and all churches were all Christian so we should go there. We found that the ARP'’ were somewhat peculiar. They said Sabbath instead of Sunday. They sang Psalms instead of Hymns but they were fine people so Daddy and Mama joined and we went regularly. We kids went to Sunday School which was a novelty for we had never gone before. I remember we decided to visit Uncle Ed Lane, Mama’s brother. He lived near Grand Junction, Tennessee. They had a large family but they worked hard and made a good living by raising everything they needed.

Papa rigged up a cover for the wagon; he couldn’t get canvas so I think we used oil cloth. Oil cloth was used for table covers, kitchen counters, etc. We hitched up the mules, packed a lunch and was on our way. Went through Somerville, Moscow, LaGrange and then to Grand Junction. We enjoyed our visit very much. They had a big sand ditch or gully right near the house. We kids enjoyed playing there. They had a deep well with a gasoline engine to pump their water. I don’t remember that they had any water in the house. Uncle Ed raised sorghum and he cooked molasses for the public. It was fine sorghum syrup. He used to send Grandpa Lane five gallons of sorghum by express. They had a five gallon glass jug with a wood packing case.