Thursday, May 28, 2009

Part 9 - Granddaddy & Mother Minnie



RAISIN'

9. GRANDDADDY WOOD AND MOTHER MINNIE

Granddaddy served the people of Washington County in several ways. He was once Sheriff and Tax Collector, and later a Physician serving, at different times, in Frankville, Millry and Chatom. Once, while he was Sheriff, a group of about 20 men hanged a man named Chambliss. He finally rounded them up and with help from others, had them all chained up and marched from West of Millry to St. Stephens to jail. Another time, he was collecting taxes in Deer Park, he had spent the night with a family there, as was custom then. When he left to further his rounds, he saw someone coming down the road, at a distance, that he didn't know. He turned around, went back a ways, hid his money, and then proceeded back the way the stranger was coming. He met the man, nodded and spoke, and went on a little further. Then, when all was clear, he went back, got his money and proceeded. As noted before, he served sick folks all over the northern part of Washington County. He was a member of Woodmen of the World. (His gravestone is a W O W stone.)

Mother Minnie was a Teacher to the "nth" degree. She served as Postmaster in Frankville for a time, but her calling was to teach. She taught for a number of years at Yarbo School where she was working until the time that she was forced to retire, by State law, at the age of 70.
After retirement, she moved to Mobile and began to tutor children that were having a hard time learning in school. She taught from her old Primers, Spellers, Readers and Arithmetic books. She taught Phonics, (which now sells millions of tapes and books) so the children would have the needed basics to sound out words, therefore learning to read very well. She taught the basics in arithmetic and spelling. She never tutored a child that didn't show vast improvements in school. When she had gotten too weak to care for herself at the age of 86, she was still tutoring one child. The day we were moving her to a nursing home, she stated, "Well, I'm going away to die. I only have one regret. That is, I wish that I could have had two more sessions with that child."


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