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This tells a little about my husbands grandparents. This is as quoted from a book called "Ozark Elders" who did a short story about them in the 1981. It is pretty much in their words as interviewed.
Charlie Smith, 86, and his wife, "Don", 80, live near Witter, Madison County (Arkansas).
CHARLIE: "I've lived in this house nearly all my life. My grandpa Smith settled the place. He was the first white man that ever got from Huntsville up the War Eagle River. He located this place when he was just a boy and camped out here. He lived up until he was 87 - lacked just a few days of reaching 88. He's buried near here at the "Cove" (cemetary). My dad and mother is buried down there, and I've got Uncle Polk Burney and Uncle Crat Burney and their wives buried down there. My father farmed and worked in timber, too. 'Way back yonder that was the main business. I worked in lumber. Hauled timber on a wagon with two mules. Lord, I've made enough ties to lay a railraod track from here to Fayetteville! I was hauling before I could harness. I'd have to get my horses up to the manger to get the harness on them because I wasn't high enough. I went to hauling when I was 12 years old. I was young and, listen, you don't see bad roads around here like we had then. We had bad roads. I couldn't hold the brakes and hold the horses at the same time, I was so little. But I felt like I was as big as anybody. I'd get me a chewing tobacco in my mouth. One of our horses was black and the other was gray. My brother-in-law lots of times would go with me hauling with his team; he hat4ed tobacco and hated to see anybody using it. I'd get up on the front of the wagon with a big mouthful and spit over on his white horse. It would make him so mad, he didn't know what to do. He'd say, "If you was a boy of mine, I'd whip the hide off of you!" I went to school a little but, like I told somebody the other day, I went to school about half a day in my sister's place if she was sick."
DON: "He missed every day that he could possibly find something else to do."
CHARLIE: "I lacked a week of being 22 when I married and she wasn't quite 16."
DON: "I lacked a week, too. Our birthdays are on the same day. I lived in Boston (Arkansas). Charlie and I met at play parties and at church. It was mostly at parties that we saw each other. We'd call them play parties because everyone would get together and play games and have square-dancing. When we got married, we moved in here with his mother and daddy and stayed a while. Then we bought a house near the upper end of the farm and stayed quite a while. Finally, his dad and mother got so old that we moved back in here and took care of them. We have six children."
CHARLIE: "Five boys and a girl. Pretty good bunch. I reckon our girl from Fresno, California, will be here pretty soon."
DON: "Two of the boys is passed away."
CHARLIE: "We'll be married for sixty-four years in April (1981)."
DON: "I'd say people was happier then than they are now. They was content with what they had. That's why I think it was a happier time. The knew how to be satisfied. We always raised everything we ate - meat, beans, peas, peanuts, always had plenty of milk and butter. We always made big crops. Oats and corn was the main crops. Sorghum. Him and his dad made the sorghum molasses for everyone far and near. He'd do the grinding and Grandpa would do the boiling off."
CHARLIE: "Back then we lived better than anyone can now."
DON: "Now our son comes every weekend and brings our groceries. he knows what we need and sees that we get them. We have to be careful with our money, but there are things you can do. We get by, Me and Charlie takes care of one another pretty well."

This is such a special story, just wanted to share it with whomever was interested. I'm really proud to have this for my children.

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