juniorcloud

TILMAN THOMAS CLOUD, JR. aka Junior

Junior Cloud was born August 1, 1926. He did not fight in WWII because at 16 he was shot in the stomach by a boy he was bullying and almost died. At 18 he moved out of his mom's house. He didn't like having to take care of his needs and cook for himself. He noticed a beautiful young girl named Irene Hale. She was in a bad situation at home. There was not enough to eat and she felt she was a burden on her family and was taking food from her younger brothers and sisters. Junior Cloud proposed by asking her if she would like to keep house and cook for him. Irene being very nieve said yes. She considered herself to have been as dumb as a stump. It took daddy a few years to settle down to married life. He felt he could still do whatever he wanted. So he continued to fool around with the ladies. He had to leave town and go to Michigan to preserve his life, because one was a coal company bosses wife. He came back and got mom, but she did not like living in Michigan and demanded to be taken home. When he finally settled down, his father gave him land and money to build a house a few hundred yards below their house. The house had no running water. There was electricity, dry sink and outside toilet.
    Daddy worked in the mines when there was work. He did many things to keep us from starving. Some things would be paid cash money, and some things were bartered.
    Dad and Uncle Elmer Presley (his mother's brother, who lived below our house) opened a mine and dug out coal to cook and keep the fires going for the winter. Later dad opened the other side of the mine across the creek and road below our house to get coal. This was done when they were laid off from the coal mines or the price of coal was not affordable. There was no such thing as insulation for the homes. In the winter unless you were in the kitchen when mom was cooking or in the livingroom next to the stove, you froze. The winds howled and came in through cracks in the walls, floors, windows and doors.
    Daddy's grandfather Ben F. Cloud was a blacksmith and had his own shop above Tilman Cloud's house. He made horse shoes and probably other tools tools. Daddy did not learn that trade but he could shoe any mule or horse ever brought to him no matter how mean they were. There was an instance where a mean mule tried to bite him or kick him. Daddy hit her between the eyes with either his fist or an object and he didn't have any more trouble. He made Roger and Tony be with him while he was shoeing the animals. Tony was scared to death but Daddy was a hard task master and had no sympathy for him.
      Daddy would slaughter our hogs and anyone else who needed to hire him to do this. I hated it when November came and he would get ready to slaughter a hog. A big fire was built below our house near the creek. There was a fairly large area beside the road where cars could turn around to go back out of the holler. He would build a roaring wood fire and have a bushel washtub filled with water sitting on rocks above the fire. That served two purposes, one to keep warm and the hot water helped to loosen the hairs on the pigs skin to be scraped off with a butcher knife. Daddy had several knives. One had a yellow handle and he carried it all his life.
     The weather had to be cold so that the meat would not spoil before it could be cured or eaten. We tried not to get too friendly with the pigs because it was hard hearing or seeing daddy shoot them in the head. He had a triangle made out of three heavy logs tied together at the top. The hog would be tied to the top of the triangle by its hind legs and then the triangel would be lifted up until the pig was off the ground. A large washtub would be placed underneath the head of the pig. Daddy would cut the pigs throat and let the blood run out of the body. He would then cut off the head and cut the pig from the testicles to the throat. After all the blood was drained out into the washtubs. Then the hog would be cut up and separated as to cuts of meat and left in tubs of cold water. Daddy's father, Tilman Cloud Sr. had a smoke house in his yard. Some of the meat would be salted and smoked. This would cure the outside of the meat and preserve it. The meat would be left hanging in the smoke house until it was needed for one of our families meals. I must have watched this process a few times and stayed in the house with mom the rest of the time. That was not a good experience for a child.

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Tilman & Leona's yard & smoke house (middle picture)