I helped my Daddy on the farm a lot. He would let me drive the horse or do he mowing or plowing. I would milk the cows and I just worked on the farm. He seemed to enjoy having me work with him. I enjoyed it because I liked the farm outdoor work better than I did washing the dishes. I didn't cook because with four older sisters, one of them always decided to do the cooking if mother wasn't doing it.

 

My mother wanted us to be real nice and clean. Of course maybe not like in this modern age but she would have us get a little bitsy (wash tub) tub that we washed clothing in. We would fill it up about half full of warm water. Then we would take turns getting in and taking our baths. I can remember it didn't seem to bother any of us. We just took our bath and then we would be clean and ready to go to school or church or what ever we wanted to do. We took a bath or were supposed to take a bath once a week. I think Mamma had us take that many and maybe more often. But we must have our bath before we went to church. I think doing my hair was more trouble than that. Of course Mamma kept my hair braided. She did all the braiding. I didn't do any of that.

 

When we were going to school, we would wear one dress the whole week. But just as soon as we got home from school, we would take that dress off and hang it up carefully and then the next day it would be clean enough to put on. We didn't play out in the yard at school, we just....I can never remember playing out in the yard at school. So we didn't get dirtied up as we would if we had been the kind that did play outside. I know if it was too awful bad weather, Papa would take us to school, if some of the neighbors didn't take the car and take us. I don't mean car, I mean buggy because we didn't have a car. Nobody had a car at that time.

 

I always loved going to church and I would sit very quiet and watch the preacher all the time and listen to every word he had to say. The preachers always seemed to like me and they would come to the house occasionally. They didn't come too often because possibly Mother and Daddy were too busy. I know when I got old enough, I wanted to go to Epworth League. When I was about 14 or 15 years old, my sisters told me I was too young and there were 4 of them already going and that was enough at Epworth League. So I didn't get to go to Epworth League very much. But we did go to church very....we liked the church. I always liked the preachers. It seemed like they had such good preachers. And they preached good sermons. So I thought it was just good entertainment and..I..then we had quite a good many friends at the church. We didn't mix too much with them that I can remember. Maybe my folks did more than I knew anything about. Anyway, we did like the church. And it was always a Methodist Church.

 

I think as I grew up, my mother was a good cook.  We also always had all the milk we wanted.  We had pancakes almost every morning for breakfast.  And Mamma made awfully good syrup.  And then we would have meat for lunch and we had vegetables and we had beans.  Mamma liked to cook beans.  Of course we didn't have any canned things.  I mean commercially canned things.  Mamma had to do all the cooking if we had anything.  We had good meals as I remember it.  Six girls and one boy and Papa and Mamma and we were a happy family.  We didn't go to the doctor like they do now and we didn't have any bad trouble you know, we didn't have many infectious diseases like they do now.  I know I had the measles that is all I can remember for sure about, but then, we didn't have it like they do now, it seems.  Perhaps it didn't get around as fast then.

 

As I remember it when we were going to school, if anybody got measles or any kind of disease like that, they has to stay home.  And then they would put a quarantine on the door and then, we would walk across the street, we would never walk close to the house.  We would stay just as far away from them as we could.  And at school - of course, they didn't let any one attend school when they had any of these, if they knew anything about it anyway.

 

As I remember, we had a buggy or a surrey with a top on it.  When we would go to church, it was a lot of fun for all of us to get in there and drive down to church or we would drive to a store for groceries.  I guess they called it a grocery store then, but I don't remember them calling it that.  Often times, Daddy would have to buy other things.  I know I can remember we quite often went in the buggy.  The whole family would go.  I can't remember us going when the whole family wasn't along.  I suppose if Papa and Mamma took one kid they took all of us while we were still living in Kansas.