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July 15, 2004 |
 Storm of 1918 - The houses are similar in design to the ones owned by Mae Edwards. They were located about a block east of the old Ratchford house that survived the storm. |
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I am at the recalling stage of my life. As I study the census taker’s report from the 1930 Census, I recall that times were hard. By saying that times where hard is an easy way of stating how extremely hard the times were during this part of my life. I was born in 1930 and I remember how difficult it was for my parents to provide for our family. It was during this period that they were paying a meager three and four dollars a month rent to Mae Edwards. Mae Edwards owned many rent houses that we now refer to as shanties. According to my older brothers, Mae Edwards owned many of the poor people’s two and three room homes that the large families had to live in. There are not many of Mae Edwards’ small little houses left. If they are, they have had several rooms added so that you can hardly see the resemblance of the shanties as they were then. Many folks of our age remember living in various houses in the community. Some people say that they moved almost every month, when the month’s rent came due. I asked my brothers what we did at the end of the month when the rent came due while we were living in Mae Edward’s house, when we didn’t have the three or four dollars to pay our rent. They said that the landlords were very generous and sympathetic and would just let it ride. There is no telling how much that dear honorable landlord failed to collect, and helped the poor folks. Her generosity can’t be ignored, and I feel I must share it with you, because these people were so thankful for her help. As I was taking Jackie out on our weekly Sunday afternoon drive, we were flagged down by Sally Hunnicutt. She had some visitors at her home who were in town looking for the house where Mae Edwards lived. I looked up out of my car and there stood Marcella Henderson Nelson and one of the Tobin girls with several others that were visiting Aubrey. They are relatives of Aunt Mae Edwards. Sally Hunnicutt has so graciously restored the Mae Edwards home. It has become a beautiful handiwork of architecture and the design. The old Mae Edwards home is just barely more than 100 years old. The home is still located in the original location where the home was in the 1930 Census. Jackie and I drove on, but not before I invited these young descendants of Aubrey to help me form a monthly or bimonthly visitation at the hardware store. We can meet when the Cherokees are not meeting. It would be fitting for former friends and residents to gather and visit. I am waiting to hear more from them. I promised them cookies and coffee (I would do the serving). I will pick up on the Lanfords next week. They are the next home on the 1930 Census roll. The photo shows some of the small dwellings as they were in the ruins of the tornado that came through town back in 1918. They were similar to the small houses that Mae Edwards so diligently provided to the poor renters back in the first 30 or 40 years of the twentieth century. |
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