| James and Rebecca Hale
James Hale was born on November 2, 1902 in Tennessee. He died October 16, 1982 in Harlan County, Kentucky as a result of �Black Lung Disease�. Rebecca Hale was born in Tennessee on April 30, 1903. She died in Harlan Kentucky of old age in 1992. She was 92 years old. James and Rebecca Hale moved to Draper (below Evarts) in Harlan County, Kentucky from Campbell County, Tennessee around 1926. Jim�s (as he was called) sister had written about the wonderful job opportunities in the coal mines in Harlan County, Kentucky. The Hale family lived in and around Evarts, Kentucky. James Hale worked for the local mines. In 1946 when their daughter Irene and her husband Junior Cloud moved to Kenvir, where Junior worked in the mines, they also moved there and James Hale lived and worked in Kenvir for the rest of his life. James Hale and Rebecca Hale lived in a four room house owned by the coal company that he worked for. I don't remember seeing Papaw Hale dressed to go to work, probably because we only visited on the weekends. Mom's sister Margaret Ann would pick up my mom and me on her way to visit Mamaw and Papaw Hale on Saturdays. Margaret Ann would either take them shopping, to the doctor or clean house for them. Sue, Tootsie and me would be left to clean up the house. We would wash the breakfast dishes, sweep, mop, and make the beds. There was a tradition in this family including my mother that the beds must be made every morning. It was a sign of laziness on the part of a person who would leave their beds unmade. After all our chores were done we three would turn on the television and watch American Bandstand. We danced with each other or a broom as we tried to imitate the dancers on Bandstand. We had to keep a watch for the returning family members so that we could shut the television off. Dancing was considered a sin by Papaw Hale. He would have taken his belt to all three of us if he caught us dancing. Not sure what Mamaw Hale�s opinion was, she never expressed too many opinions. She just let Jim be the boss. He worshiped Mamaw Hale. He babied her and waited on her. Papaw Hale rolled his own cigarettes from a can of Prince Albert. Becky dipped snuff. She carried around her spit can and placed it on the floor beside wherever she sat down. One of Sue�s jobs she had to do before we could go anywhere was to get the broom, a bucket of soapy water and scrub and rinse the back porch and toilet. Afterwards Sue and I would find a quiet private place and talk. We would go on the front porch and sit in the swing, go for a walk down the railroad tracks to a little candy store. They sold pop, candy and cigarettes. This store also had a pinball machine. There was a restaurant further down the tracks. We would go there to have a pop and listen to music on the jukebox. Sometimes mom would let me stay over on Saturday night if I had someone to bring me home on Sunday. One of Sue�s older brothers had bought a portable radio for Sue and Tootsie. Sue and I would sit on the screened front porch and listen to stations from Cincinnati and Chicago. We didn�t listen to country music. We loved rock and roll. The house had a front porch that was the same size as the front of the house. As you went through the front door you would be in the living room. To the left was Mamaw and Papaw�s bedroom. Straight across The living room furniture consisted of a couch, end table and lamp, a chair, a stove for heat and in the 50�s was a television that one of the sons had bought for them. There was an open doorway that led to the second bedroom, which consisted of three twin beds and a chiffrobe. As you walk into Mamaw and Papaw bedroom you noticed that there was a bed, dress and chiffrobe. A door opening in both bedrooms led into the kitchen, which consisted of a sink with cabinets below and above it. My aunt Sue and I stood here many times washing dishes and talking about boys and life in general. A big coal and wood burning stove dominated the kitchen. On the stove were round lids covering the area where the fire would be built. There was a special tool that hooked into a hole on the top of the lids to pick up and remove the lids so more coal or wood could be added to the fire. The stove had an area above the cooking surface which was for keeping food warm. In front of the stove to the left of where the fire burned was the oven. This old stove was made out of cast iron. The heat from the stove kept the kit toasty warm. The remaining items were a kitchen table and chairs and a piece of furniture called a cupboard. 0ne bedroom was for Mamaw and Papaw Hale and the other bedroom was for all the other children. The house was a four room structure with an enclosed back porch. There was an outside toilet and a wooden structure where the coal was kept. On one side of the yard there was grass and beyond that was the creek which was about four or five feet lower than the house. On the other side of the yard there was a grassy area and a fence separating this yard from the house next door. The front yard was not very big, neither were the side yards. The total footage was probably 100 by 125 feet. The front yard had a couple of trees on the side near the creek, and on the other side were some flowering bushes lots of perennial flowers and bulbs. A small ditch was dug between the front yard and the railroad tracks. A foot bridge was built over the ditch. After crossing the foot bridge you climbed a small incline to reach the rail road tracks. You could sit on the swing on the front porch and be level with the railroad tracks in front of the house. CONTINUED. . . |