09-20-06

Today, September 12, 2006, Leroy Phillips came to see me. We had a very nice visit. Leroy’s family lived just across the street from my grandparents where Gerald and Freda Hedges now live.

He remembers when my mother would walk by in front of his house on her way to my grandmother’s house across the street. He says my mother was always walking with me and my sister Mary Ann.

He said that the Phillips family, Mae Edwards, and my grandparents, Wood and Laura Goin, would all gather at their house when a cloud came up. He said that they would visit and enjoy each others company until there was no sign of the storm. He speculated that his family and neighbors us enjoyed these storm watching gatherings because they used the occasion to visit and catch up on the latest happenings.

The storm cellar at the Goin’s house was always full of fresh canned vegetable and fruits and did not have enough spare room to hold people to protect them from the storm.

Back during this period of time, all families had a barn, a cow, and a horse. The families raised most of the food for the family’s use.

Leroy Phillips is the son of Lee Phillips. The Phillips family was one of the original families that settled in the Loyd Community.

Leroy commented that the area has changed so much from when he was a boy growing up in the area. The rural residents back during the time the area was settled used the trees and land to grow livestock. As time changed, the families switched from grazing cattle to growing cotton and corn. Throughout the years, growing peanuts became popular, then the horse ranches moved into the area. Now it seems that subdivisions are taking over the area.

Leroy’s cousin Eleanor Key was a school teacher in Aubrey and was a member of the George T. Key family that settled in the area. The Key family came from Weston where they settled in the early 1840's. Dr. George Key organized a group of people in the community and formed the Methodist Church. There are still people in this area who are descendants of the Key family.

The Methodist church is 148 years old this year. It was organized in 1858. The church met in a dirt floored log cabin. Leroy remembers when the community consisted of log houses for the citizens residences.

Leroy complimented me on the condition of my house and barn. He also commented that his old family home was also kept up and looked similar to what it looked like when he was growing up. He said that it made him feel welcome in the community to drive by and look at how nice the neighborhood still looks.

The photo I want to share this week is of the old ice house that was part of Johnny Ransomberger’s store which I made reference to several weeks ago. The store was located on the east side of Main street.

I want to thank Kenneth and Carolyn Wilson for taking a photo of the rotting ice house. The old structure resembles the door made for the ice house as it was in use during the 1940's.

The building currently sits in a pasture of Victor Reyes south of town on New Hope Road.

Kenneth wasn’t certain of who moved the small insulated building, but he thinks it might have been Lewis George. He thinks it was moved to this property before the property was sold to Victor Reyes.

The ice house was used to store the block ice sold to the customers back in the 1940's and 1950's. A few years after the 1940's and 1950's, the demanding housewife turned to ice making refrigerators that are now a household necessity.

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