MEMORIES OF
ERNEST FLOYD KING
These are some of the memories of my father's childhood that he recorded
for his children and grandchildren. --Nancy Hargis
1975--
This is not a diary. I am trying to write down some things that stand out clearly in my mind over my past life; some of which are pleasant memories, some sad, some comical, some ridiculous, some I cherish and some I would like to forget.
My memory goes back to before I was 3 years old. We moved almost every year and for some reason I remember what year it was when we lived at any one particular place. I was born the year 1910 in the Bonicord Community, Dyer County, Tennessee.
The year Hurley was born, 1911, there is a thing or two that I can recall, one was that Eloise King came to visit Urah, my oldest sister. They were about 7 years old and were playing in the wagon shed where Urah's playhouse was and they didn't want me to be in there and I couldn't understand why. Another thing was Uncle Freeland kept a big billygoat in our barnlot and he would fight kids, so Pappy fixed Roy a long stick with a sharp nail in the end to fight the goat. It didn't take the goat long to learn.
My first Christmas to remember was at Grandpa Rose's. There was a snow on the ground. Santy Claus brought Carl a little fire engine with horses hitched to it. It was made of metal and I really liked it. It was red and he enjoyed it alot. But Santy brought me a little black sheep that was on wheels with a long stick fastened to it to push it. I was afraid of the sheep! I wouldn't get close to it and wanted Carl to have the sheep and me the fire engine but he wouldn't trade. Everytime I would look around someone would have the sheep right against me. I couldn't have been more afraid of the booger man!
In 1913 Uncle Jim rose lived near us. It seemed a mile or two away but it was only about 200 yards across the woods lot. One day I decided to go to their house. As I was goin along the path a snake was in the path with his head raised. I ran back to the house and told Mammy the snake was "gossling" at me.
That same year we lived on Cal Walker's place. He had adopted a boy whose name was Jimmy. He was "sort of silly" and Roy and the other boys would play tricks on him. They had an old buggy that was stripped down, nothing but the frame and wheels on it. It was real light and they would push it uphill and ride down the hill. There was a big pond at the foot of the hill. They would let Jimmy guide the buggy and when it would get going real fast they would jump off and let Jimmy go into the pond.
There was a boy named Elvis Pool who was about 15 years old who lived near us. Pappy and Uncle Jim would pick at him all the time. He had a big black dog that could whip any dog in the country. Grandpa Rose had a spotted bird dog,and Pappy drew a picture of the bird dog jumping the fence with the big black dog in his mouth, and showed it to Elvis. He would get so mad he would want to figh.
Hurley was the baby and still nursing the breast but he was big enough to go out to play. Mammy would put lampblack on her breast (so Hurley would not want to nurse). But that didn't matter. He would get hungry and come in to nurse. If we had company he would want Mammy to go in the other room for him to nurse.
In 1914 we moved from the Cal Walker farm to the Parker farm. Pappy's oldest brother (Uncle Charlie) had the Parker farm and we worked for him. He had 10 or 15 families working for him. It seems that he gave Pappy several brakes but he was never able to capitalize on them. But maybe it was better that he didn't. That year, Hubert was born. That made 6 children and there was still 2 more to go. That seems so long ago. It has been 61 years (as of 1975).
Everyone worked so hard but got nothing for his work. One day Pappy, Roy, Urah and Carl were in the field working late in the evening and Mammy was at the barn milking. Hurley and me were playing in the fireplace. His clothes caught on fire and by the time I could get Mammy from the barn, Hurley was almost burned to death. He was at the point of death for several weeks, but he came through it. Although the scars were with him into his adult years.
It's 1915 and time is marching on. I am almost 6 years old when I start to school. We are living on the Parker farm but in a different house. Carl tells me that this happened to me on the first day of school. I suppose I had been eating green apples, my stomach was hurting and griping and I needed to be excused, but I didn't know the rules. At home when this happened (we had no bathroom) I would tell Mammy and she would fix my clothes and I would go behind the hen house. The teacher found out I was sick and she asked me where I hurt. I told her I wanted to DO SOMETHING. She asked if my head hurt, I told her I wanted to DO SOMETHING, as it was getting pretty serious with me. and finally I did DO SOMETHING all over myself. I can almost smell myself now 60 years later. The teacher had Roy take me home. He was so ashamed of me that he fussed all the way. I thought he was going to whip me.
We lived near Uncle Charlie's big barn where all the hands had to take the mules that they were working. I was always on the lot gate when they brought all the mules to the barn. The mules would always waller in the dust when their harnesses was taken off. That was a show for me. One day one of the men came to the lot gate and asked me what time it was. I ran in the house to look at the clock and went back and told him it was "a hunert o'clock"; he told me to go to hell.
In 1916 we lived at Fowlkes, about one block from the railroad. There were lots of trains running then. The local freight would stop to put cars on the switch track or pick up cars to carry some place else. When I could, I would slip off and go watch the engine cut loose from the train, then go down the track to come back on the side track. It was fascinating to watch the train take off into another world that I knew nothing about, for my world was not more than four or five miles wide. The passenger trains would stop at Fowlkes 3 or 4 times a day. On two or three occasions when the train would start moving, I would climb on the step and ride a little ways. It makes me shudder now to think of it. I guess I am fortunate to be alive now.
I was in the primer at school. Then you started in the primer. If you passed you would be in the first grade the next year. There was a law that all kids had to go to school until they were 16 years old. There was a boy about 15 or 16 that had never gone to school. He had to go too. He was as big as a man and he was ashamed to be in the room with the little kids. The teacher called us to the front to let us mark on the black board. I noticed that he was not getting up so I said, "Come on Roy" as I went by him. He said, "You little S.O.B." In a week or two he went to town and bought some second grade books. The High School principal carried him in a room to see if he could read but he couldn't. We heard him getting a whipping. I don't think he went to school much more. I remember this was also the year that Ethel was born (1916). We had a new baby sister!
The U.S. was in a war with Germany (1917-1918). There were awful tales told about Kizer Wilhelm (Kizer Bill) of Germany. He was talked about just like Hitler or Tojo or Stalin. To everyone, he was a monster! We had a neighbor who was in the war. He came home on furlough and the whole neighborhood turned out to see him.
Pappy bought us a goat wagon that year. It was made just like a farm wagon and had a tung in it. We could take the tung out and pull the shafts in and work a goat to it. It also had a spring seat. You could take the wagon bed off and just have the running gear. That was the only wagon like it in the community. We always had lots of company on weekends. We would play with that wagon all over the community, and what a good time we had. These were my happy childhood days.
Ethel wasn't the baby very long. Clifford was born in 1918. When the time came for the birth, I was sent to Aunt Dude's to spend the night. I don't remember where the other kids went, but the next day Roy came after me and told me we had a baby brother. I wondered why that had to happen when I was away from home.
That winter was bad! It snowed and sleeted and rained and froze. Then it snowed some more and froze until it was knee deep. We had one old gray mule that could stand up on it. Pappy would haul wood for the fireplace and the cook stove on a slide. I was too little to keep up with the big boys until I got an old chair. I could lay that chair down and hold to it and go anywhere and we played all over the community. Carl wasn't much bigger than me but I though he was nearly grown.
*Unfortunately my dad was not able to finish his childhood memories. He passed away in 1976. He was a wonderful father and grandfather. I doubt that many kids have had a better one!
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