Part - 15c & d - Farm Hands - Dennis & Tommy

RAISIN'

15c. DENNIS TURNER

Dennis was a large, tall man that really didn't know his strength. He wasn't a "speed ball", but he worked steadily. Tommy was smaller, very strong, and worked faster than Dennis was. The odd thing was that, for example, if both were splitting wood, Dennis would wind up with the largest pile at the end of a day!?!

As noted above, Dennis had a large family that would work on the farm on an "as needed" basis, plowing, hoeing, picking cotton, pulling corn, cutting wood, etc.

I think he and Ludie had 3 girls and 3 boys. I never really knew Geneva, Francis and Nancy. Nancy was my age. She really wasn’t old enough to do much work while we were farming so she kinda hung by her mama’s coattails as she was so shy.

The boys were Bud, Clifford and Nelson (Nelse). They did work on the place. Once Clifford and Nelse had cut 4 pieced of a sweet gum tree that was about 8 inches in diameter and about 2 inches thick. Then they went in the old blacksmith shop and drilled a hole in the center of each circle. I asked them what they were making. Nelse told me that they were making some “sweels” (wheels) for their wagon.

Once Nelse has an old 47 Ford sedan. It had 5 radio antennae on it. Ford put one in the center just above the windshield and Nelse put one on each side at the front and back of the car. Each had a ‘coon tail on it. The funny part was that he didn’t even have a radio in the old car!!!

15d. TOMMY LAND

Tommy Land was the other one that worked the farm while I was coming up. At the time the house burned, he and his wife, Florence (We called her "Tommy's Florence" to differentiate from Andrew Turner's wife "Andrew's Florence."), lived in the old log house under the hill. They later moved over in the "New Hope Quarters."

There were no two neater people that I ever knew. They and their house were always just as "neat as a pin." Tommy would do his own sewing and patching on his overalls, etc. In later years as he got older, he got a little too familiar to the old “bottle” and his health wasn’t good after that.

Florence lived until she was up into her 90’s and looked just about the same as she always did, tall and slim. She seemed to be in good health even into her nineties. Sylvia would go by pretty regularly and check on her all along.

Up to the end, Tommy and Florence’s house was so neat you could eat off the floor.