AFTER THOUGHTS

Page one

My Mother:

Only three or four things remind me of our Mother, being only eighteen when she passed away. Of course I remember the memories of my Father more than of Mother as I was twenty eight when he passed away. I shall try to mention a few of my fond memories for the benefit of those who might be interested in passing these on to their children. As has been mentioned before, my Mother was part Osage Indian, she was not highly educated, only in the happiness of her love for her children. She of course took an interest in the work of the ladies of the church and also of the I.O.O.F. Lodge of which Dad was a member and also of the Masonic Lodge.

I think the fondest memory of my Mother is recorded In a picture which I think was probably the last one taken of her. It is of her and Hal and his wife Fern and my girl friend Alice. She and Alice became good friends in the short time they knew each other.

I think the longest and remembered memory of her is when she used to bring my dinners to me when we attended many church dinners and picnics because I was too bashful to eat with the others.

My last remembrance of my Mother alive was, one Sunday I drove the old model "T" to Melrose church to pick her up, I don't recall where Dad was at the time, she was standing on the church steps looking for me but her eye sight was so bad she couldn't see me until I walked up closer other. It wasn't too long after that, that she passed away. This was when we lived at 4108 Anderson, N.E. [Kansas City]. I do not recall her every seeing a doctor.

And now some memories of my Father. He was a well educated man for those times. He was a drummer boy in the Civil War because he was too young to fight. I have a Photostat of his discharge, which shall be passed onto one of the grandchildren in time.

He was, I think a good preacher and he was very strict with my generation of kids and I guess of the older one too, as I found out later. He made the oldest son leave home, Shelby, I do not remember him. He went to Porterville, California. The never saw him again and he passed away about 1917 when we lived in Jasper. He was married and left one daughter.

I remember, in Seneca, he would always take a walk after meals and to take a smoke. I guess he thought we didn't know but we did.

I remember he used to preach about Catholics and certain other religions who didn't believe as he did. When we lived in Niangua close to Springfield, he offered to debate with a Minninite preacher, who accepted but failed to show up.

Dad was a great one to order many things for the lives of us all from Montgomery Wards. The shoes he would order for us were always too small and we would fill them with oats and then wet the oats so they would swell and stretch the shoes. It worked a little bur they still hurt. This was as late was when we lived in Seneca.

Uncle Norman likes to recall how Dad would take several of the boys and myself to see the Blues play as he got free tickets to do so. This of course was after Alice and I were married.

Before and after Alice married me we used to drive Dad and Mother to Bolton and Pink Hill, near Independence t preach. I don't recall if we went into the church for the sermon but we did enjoy the meals after. He was known as a Hell and Brimstone preacher.