Karen Green
Miriam's (Pat's) Recollections
Here are some of Pat's recollections of growing up in Millen and beyond.....
When she was 3 or 4, she would go out with her mother and help her with hoeing and picking cotton. They would go out and work with the hired field hands to get the job done. While they were working, her younger sister Jean (being a baby and toddler) would lay in a box in the shade out with them while they worked.
During WWII, everything (sugar, gasoline, etc.) was rationed. They had coupon stamps with which to buy things, but those only went so far (and not enough). Ralph McMillan, which was Pat's aunt Grace's husband, owned a store in Millen. They would go there and trade and barter for sugar and other needed items.
For food they had a large garden. Pat's father, Alex, would take corn downtown and have it ground up to made meal and grits. He grew sugar cane in the wettest areas. Beside the house there was a shelter with a large vat adn out beside the shelter was the grinder with a place to hook up mules to. They would go around the grinder and it would grind the sugar cane down. Then that would be placed in the vat to cook it down and make syrup. They killed their hogs on the coldest days of the year and hang them in the smokehouse. It would be salted and would cure there.
Their clothes were made from printed flour sacks. They had black and white oxford shoes to wear during the winter and church shoes, but they didn't really wear shoes during the summer.
In the late 30's-40's the family had a black 2 door car with a rumble seat. This is where Pat and Jean would sit (before their younger brother was born). In the early 40's, during the summers, the Baxley, Georgia children's home would come work on the farm, doing chores and such. They stayed at the family home.
Traveling preachers would also stay with the Jenkins family. The Jenkins were known as "the most hospitable people", allowing people to stay with them whenever they came to town. They had a three-bedroom house. Alex and Minnie Lou had a room, Edward had a room, and there was a spare bedroom for the visitors and guest preachers. Pat and Jean had a bedroom in the main sitting room. Their clothes were kept in a trunk in there. If people were visiting, the girls didn't get to go to bed until everyone left or went to bed themselves. They both remember the heat that they felt in there, as there was no AC. Alex would put a fan in the window to help bring in a breeze but it was hot air blowing in so that didn't ever help.
Pat's grandfather, Warren Walter Jenkins, worked with the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps). He helped build Magnolia Springs in Millen. They had dome houses in the ground where they slept. This was right in front of Magnolia Springs. Pat remembers visiting him there.
Pat learned how to drive on a black pickup truck. She learned how to drive by driving in pastures. The truck had a knob on the steering wheel that you used to turn the wheel. She got her license when she was 13 years old (she fibbed about her age). She would drive the farm hands around.
When Pat was young, she loved to play with sticks. She always had one in her hands (There is even a picture of her with one of her sticks).
Pat's name, Miriam, came out of the bible. She doesn't know where Patricia came from.
Pat and Jean both went to Red Hill School. This was grammar school and went through the 7th grade. Then they went to Millen High School which was 8th-11th grade (11th was considered senior year then). The bus would pick them up at 7:15 in the morning. They were the first ones on. They were also the last ones off in the afternoon. At one point, Pat was supposed to play one of Cinderella's stepsisters in a school play, but she wound up with a very bad eye issue (she doesn't remember what it was exactly) and this kept her from being in it. They had to bring her to Augusta to an eye doctor and had to have a patch for a while to help the problem. She also had a particularly bad case of pneumonia when she was young.
When she was born, they lived in a house right below Oak Hill Baptist Church. The house she lived in when she was young was on the Thorne's property (Pat's father was the foreman for the Thorne farm). It was down a dirt road (right across from where they lived in later years). When you came into the house there was a long drive. To the right was the hog pen, then the barn. There were then horses, cows and the dairy. They had an outhouse right until around the time her younger brother, Edward, was born (1943). Then they added a bathroom and a couple of rooms, one of which was where Alex's brother Ernest lived from time to time.
For Christmas, Alex would buy 1 box of oranges, 1 box of tangerines, and apples. They would each get oranges, tangerines and apples along with 1 toy. It may have been a doll, a tea set or jack stones. He didn't believe in Satna adn said that was lying but he went along with it for Minnie Lou. Christmas was the only time they ever got fruit like this. They only had fruit that was grown on the farm other times.
Pat only had 3 whippings:
1. Climbing in the back of a big wagon when he told her not to
2. She wasn't allowed to go to the pond, but she went anyway
3. One a Sunday afternoon she and Jean were cleaning the milk jugs at the dairy. Jean made her mad, so she threw water on Jean. They both got whippings and he felt so bad that they didn't even go to church.
On Saturday nights they would go to downtown Millen and walk up and down the street. It was a busy time when people would all do the same thing. Most of the time they are at home but for a special treat sometimes they would get money and go to the drugstore (possibly Pete Mills Drugstore) and get hot dogs to eat. That was a treat because they didn't have anything like that at home to eat.
When Pat and Jean were teenagers, they would ride the Nancy Hanks train from Millen to Atlanta where they would meet up with their uncle Robert and his wife Sara, where they would stay for the visit before returning home on the Nancy Hanks.
Uncle Robert always called Pat "peach", although she didn't know why. That was his pet name for her.
Pat met Henry Johnson Baxley on the school bus. Henry was a senior on high school (11th grade) and Pat was in 8th grade. She said that back then you really didn't think about an age difference. She said their like and then love progressed over time. They really didn't' have too many real dates. Instead, they mainly saw each other on Saturday nights in downtown Millen. Jean was always with them to "chaperone".
When she was 3 or 4, she would go out with her mother and help her with hoeing and picking cotton. They would go out and work with the hired field hands to get the job done. While they were working, her younger sister Jean (being a baby and toddler) would lay in a box in the shade out with them while they worked.
During WWII, everything (sugar, gasoline, etc.) was rationed. They had coupon stamps with which to buy things, but those only went so far (and not enough). Ralph McMillan, which was Pat's aunt Grace's husband, owned a store in Millen. They would go there and trade and barter for sugar and other needed items.
For food they had a large garden. Pat's father, Alex, would take corn downtown and have it ground up to made meal and grits. He grew sugar cane in the wettest areas. Beside the house there was a shelter with a large vat adn out beside the shelter was the grinder with a place to hook up mules to. They would go around the grinder and it would grind the sugar cane down. Then that would be placed in the vat to cook it down and make syrup. They killed their hogs on the coldest days of the year and hang them in the smokehouse. It would be salted and would cure there.
Their clothes were made from printed flour sacks. They had black and white oxford shoes to wear during the winter and church shoes, but they didn't really wear shoes during the summer.
In the late 30's-40's the family had a black 2 door car with a rumble seat. This is where Pat and Jean would sit (before their younger brother was born). In the early 40's, during the summers, the Baxley, Georgia children's home would come work on the farm, doing chores and such. They stayed at the family home.
Traveling preachers would also stay with the Jenkins family. The Jenkins were known as "the most hospitable people", allowing people to stay with them whenever they came to town. They had a three-bedroom house. Alex and Minnie Lou had a room, Edward had a room, and there was a spare bedroom for the visitors and guest preachers. Pat and Jean had a bedroom in the main sitting room. Their clothes were kept in a trunk in there. If people were visiting, the girls didn't get to go to bed until everyone left or went to bed themselves. They both remember the heat that they felt in there, as there was no AC. Alex would put a fan in the window to help bring in a breeze but it was hot air blowing in so that didn't ever help.
Pat's grandfather, Warren Walter Jenkins, worked with the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps). He helped build Magnolia Springs in Millen. They had dome houses in the ground where they slept. This was right in front of Magnolia Springs. Pat remembers visiting him there.
Pat learned how to drive on a black pickup truck. She learned how to drive by driving in pastures. The truck had a knob on the steering wheel that you used to turn the wheel. She got her license when she was 13 years old (she fibbed about her age). She would drive the farm hands around.
When Pat was young, she loved to play with sticks. She always had one in her hands (There is even a picture of her with one of her sticks).
Pat's name, Miriam, came out of the bible. She doesn't know where Patricia came from.
Pat and Jean both went to Red Hill School. This was grammar school and went through the 7th grade. Then they went to Millen High School which was 8th-11th grade (11th was considered senior year then). The bus would pick them up at 7:15 in the morning. They were the first ones on. They were also the last ones off in the afternoon. At one point, Pat was supposed to play one of Cinderella's stepsisters in a school play, but she wound up with a very bad eye issue (she doesn't remember what it was exactly) and this kept her from being in it. They had to bring her to Augusta to an eye doctor and had to have a patch for a while to help the problem. She also had a particularly bad case of pneumonia when she was young.
When she was born, they lived in a house right below Oak Hill Baptist Church. The house she lived in when she was young was on the Thorne's property (Pat's father was the foreman for the Thorne farm). It was down a dirt road (right across from where they lived in later years). When you came into the house there was a long drive. To the right was the hog pen, then the barn. There were then horses, cows and the dairy. They had an outhouse right until around the time her younger brother, Edward, was born (1943). Then they added a bathroom and a couple of rooms, one of which was where Alex's brother Ernest lived from time to time.
For Christmas, Alex would buy 1 box of oranges, 1 box of tangerines, and apples. They would each get oranges, tangerines and apples along with 1 toy. It may have been a doll, a tea set or jack stones. He didn't believe in Satna adn said that was lying but he went along with it for Minnie Lou. Christmas was the only time they ever got fruit like this. They only had fruit that was grown on the farm other times.
Pat only had 3 whippings:
1. Climbing in the back of a big wagon when he told her not to
2. She wasn't allowed to go to the pond, but she went anyway
3. One a Sunday afternoon she and Jean were cleaning the milk jugs at the dairy. Jean made her mad, so she threw water on Jean. They both got whippings and he felt so bad that they didn't even go to church.
On Saturday nights they would go to downtown Millen and walk up and down the street. It was a busy time when people would all do the same thing. Most of the time they are at home but for a special treat sometimes they would get money and go to the drugstore (possibly Pete Mills Drugstore) and get hot dogs to eat. That was a treat because they didn't have anything like that at home to eat.
When Pat and Jean were teenagers, they would ride the Nancy Hanks train from Millen to Atlanta where they would meet up with their uncle Robert and his wife Sara, where they would stay for the visit before returning home on the Nancy Hanks.
Uncle Robert always called Pat "peach", although she didn't know why. That was his pet name for her.
Pat met Henry Johnson Baxley on the school bus. Henry was a senior on high school (11th grade) and Pat was in 8th grade. She said that back then you really didn't think about an age difference. She said their like and then love progressed over time. They really didn't' have too many real dates. Instead, they mainly saw each other on Saturday nights in downtown Millen. Jean was always with them to "chaperone".
