| Memories |
|---|
| By: Barbara Cornett, Erick Krueger |
Back then there were people who were called tinkers and they would go around in little carts carrying various stuff and a tinker came by their trailer one day when I was there. We saw him coming and walked to the road to look at his wares. I remember they had a hog named Rooty and Linda cried when they killed it. I remember Aunt Hazel and us laughing at Uncle Ed as he lay in bed with a dishpan on his stomach because the roof leaked. They had it pretty hard when they were starting out. But Uncle Ed would take us down the road to Harris's house and I remember he had a dog named Bert, he looked something like a border collie. Harris would tell him to go get the cows and I remember him flying through the fields and bringing the cows back to their barn. I also remember that when Harris and Virgie were getting old, a short time before their deaths I suppose and Hazel was telling us about how hard things were becoming, you know how it is when people get old and start to go down, Mr Brakebill was in bed and he was trying to apply Vicks salve or some ointment and it was dark and he didn't get up to turn the light on. He picked up a bottle of ink from the bed side table. I'm old enough to remember using ink pens but you may not be! Anyway he got ink all over himself and the bed. It was funny but at the same time it was sad because they were old and things like that happened.
|
|---|
I asked my mom about this, and it was something she never had considered. My grandmother, Elizabeth Brakebill married Lester Bivens prior to his service in WWII. He had never met his daughter prior to being deployed, and he carried a photo of my mom in his bible. However, I asked my mom about how my grandmother handled the war. There was a point in time where she had two brothers in the service (Edward and Robert), her husband was MIA and then a POW in Germany, and her brother-in-law was WIA. The latter two events occurring within days of one another. I can't imagine the stress that she had as a new mother, and so many loved ones overseas. It's my understanding that Harris was called for service in WWI. The story goes that he was told he could better serve his country by continuing to run his farm. I don't know the validity, but that is what I was told at least. My grandmother (Elizabeth) attended Hiawasee College, which of course is very nearby. A tidbit is that the Brakebills are related to the Lowry's, who was a former president of the college in the early 1900s. However, I was told that Harris didn't have the money to pay the college for Elizabeth's education, so he paid for some of it with his raw crops. So many bushels of various crops would be used in lieu of the cash. That food was then used by the college in their cafeteria for meals for the students. While bartering was pretty common then, it's a lost art in many places now, and just thought it was interesting. In addition to being a farmer, Harris was also a school teacher, and taught elementary school. Erick
|