Part 4c House and Land

RAISIN'
House and Land
Pantry

Along the North wall, between the stove and sink, there was a home made cabinet about five feet long. The four upper doors were made of 1 X 10's or 1 X 12's. The base cabinet was about 30 inches deep, and was where Lucy would put a helping of freshly cooked turnip greens for me to eat before she chopped them up. Also, that is where I sat on the stool and ate breakfast every morning when I was in High School to eat oatmeal and about 10 pieces of toast with it. The doors from the upper cabinet were used on the pantry base cabinet until we remodeled the house and did away with the pantry.

We didn't have a refrigerator until Daddy bought a used one from Bro. Ezell for $25.00. There was no place in the kitchen for it, so it was put in the dining room, behind the door to the kitchen. It surely was a big deal, having ice for tea, etc. when you wanted it, and didn't have to rely on the few times each summer when the ice man would come by. (So much for the "kitchen triangle" as is used now a day for designing efficient kitchens!)

The pantry had shelves loaded with home canned goods, meal, flour, etc., the bowls of clabbering milk to be churned for butter, and all the biscuit and corn bread making stuff. Mother or Lucy would put all the ingredients to make biscuits together, knead the dough and "choke off" biscuits, pat them out a little, put them in the baking pan, then press them down slightly by using the back of three fingers. Most of the time, Mother made the supper biscuits, and she would make a "snake" for each one of us or a "Billy Boy" if we were real lucky.

In the back of the pantry, there was a window that stayed in place all winter and stayed out all summer. Under the window is where the "slop bucket" was kept. Always handy and open so that cooking and table scraps could be tossed in, then fed to the hogs.

Along the left wall, pots, pans, skillets, milk buckets and strainers, the coffee grinder and pea sheller were hung.

The coffee grinder was used to grind whole bean coffee, after they'd been parched in the oven. The grinder had a glass container on top, about a quart size, and a glass, similar to a drinking glass at the bottom to catch the fresh ground coffee. There was a spring-loaded base that the glass sat on that held it tight up to the bottom of the grinder.

Mother didn't buy coffee beans very often, especially after the war (WW II), when she'd get one-pound bags of CDM, then later cans of CDM or Maxwell House coffee that was already parched and ground for percolators or drip-o-lators. Mother bought Percolator ground. When she made coffee, she would pour up a glass full, set it on the back of the stove, near the reservoir. Then, later in the day, after the coffee in the pot that had been kept hot, got too strong, she'd dump the coffee in the glass back into the pot and reheat it for her and Daddy a cup in the afternoon.

Part 4b House and Land

RAISIN'

HOUSE AND LAND

KITCHEN

The Kitchen was "L" shaped with doors to the dining room, sleeping porch, pantry and back porch. The sink was a single type with a long drain board. It was painted, as the enamel came off of it when the old house burned.

The stove was a wood burning, Home Comfort brand that sat diagonally across the corner by the pantry. It had a warming closet with a sliding door at each side of the back, a hot water reservoir at the right end, (This didn't last a long time due to the iron content of the water causing it to rust and leak.), and six burner caps. Three dampers were located in the center of the warming closet. One damper would be opened to channel heat to the oven, one to heat the reservoir and one to open or close the stove pipe to regulate how fast or slow the wood would burn in the fire box. The left side and back fire box irons were removed to allow a hot water reservoir to be installed. This reservoir was piped to a hot water storage tank in the corner, behind the stove. When anyone opened a hot water faucet in the kitchen or bathroom, hot water flowed through the tank and out to provide hot water for dish washing or bathing. If there was no fire in the stove, you had no hot water. To check on the amount of hot water there was available, we'd feel the top sides of the tank. The warmer it was at the top, and the further down it was warm, would give an accurate estimate of how long hot water would last.

You could tell how hot the oven temperature was by the gauge on the oven door. The gauge was marked "WARM", "MED" and "HOT". This would let Mother or Lucy know when to cut the damper down, also, when to put the biscuits, "Lasses" cake or corn bread in the oven to bake.

There was a small warming oven below the reservoir at the right side, but it was seldom used.

There was an ash collection drawer below the firebox to allow for easy removal of the ashes.

There was a door on the left front side of the fire box and ash drawer, and one on the right front side by the reservoir/warming oven that swung out for access to what there were covering. These doors, the oven door, the sides of the stove and the warming closets were white enamel.

There was a "Home Comfort" emblem in the center of the warming closet, above the damper knobs.

If Mother didn't have enough dried (cured) stove wood, or if the wood was wet, she would open the oven door, after dinner, and lay sticks of oak wood in the oven to dry from the remaining heat of the oven. By doing this, anything cooked in the oven, especially biscuits, would have that great smoked flavor. Once Fred asked Claire why she couldn't make her biscuits taste like Mother's. She said, right quick that she didn't have to dry wood in her gas stove.

Once, Mother left the oven door open to keep the house warm. When she started to make biscuits, she would first build the fire in the stove, close the oven door and start hand mixing the biscuits as the stove warmed up. One day, while mixing the dough, she began to hear a cat "meowing." She looked around and didn't see anything. The "meowing" got louder and louder. She finally determined it was coming from the stove. She opened the oven door and our cat; "Daisy Mae" came bounding out of the oven. She never got back in the oven again to stay warm!

Mother kept the old Home Comfort for a long time after we got butane gas in the house. We had a two burner gas hot plate to do fast cooking, coffee making, etc. to help out the old stove. Finally, she got an electric stove, I think from Joe, and the old Home Comfort was given to Lucy.

Part 4a House and Land

Raisin'

4. HOUSE AND LAND

(Part 1)

The land that we lived on was originally homesteaded by my Great Grandmother Mary Williamson’s father, Daniel Mobley Williamson. My Great Grandfather, John Wesley Wood (Grand Paw) inherited it from her when she died. He and each child inherited the place and Grand Paw Wood bough each child’s share.

After being passed on to Grand Paw's heirs and divided accordingly, we wound up having 380 (+-) acres. (The plus or minus has to be inserted as Dunbar Creek forms part of the boundary line between our land and Uncle John's heirs' property.) This was the part that Granddaddy, Andrew Jackson Wood, inherited. This was owned by his widow, Mother Minnie until she died. Then it was co-owned by Daddy and Uncle George until Daddy bought Uncle George's share. Later, Daddy sold Claire and Fred 21 acres to build their retirement place. "The Rockin' D."

After Mother died on December 5, 1992, I wound up with the house, barn and about 56+ acres of land when Claire, Sylvia, Joe and I divided the place.

The house was originally built with two bedrooms, living room, dining room, kitchen with a breakfast nook, pantry, screened back porch, non-screened front porch, a bathroom with only a tub in it and a large sleeping porch.

The sleeping porch was walled up about two-and-a-half feet high, then screened up to almost ceiling height, and with roll-up canvas curtains to keep out rain. Mother and Daddy moved their bed out there in warm weather. Joe slept out there year round. During cold weather he'd warm a flannel blanket by the fireplace, go get in bed, curl up in a ball under the cover, then gradually ease his head out as he got the bed warmed up. It seemed like that he had fewer colds then anyone else!

Mother and Daddy's room was like "Grand Central Station." With five doors that led to closets, the dining room, front hallway and the sleeping porch. My bed was in that room. Their room also acted, as in modern times, a den or family room. The radio (a Philco, 32 volt, later converted to 110 volt) and fireplace were in there. We would sit in there to study and listen to the radio. Mother and Daddy would sit by the fire, in their rocking chairs and crochet in winter months. (More on crocheting later.)

Part 3 - MAIL

RAISIN'

3. MAIL

We got our mail at Route 1 Box 53, Millry, Ala. The box numbers changed over the years, and "Ala." was shortened to "AL" with a new thing called the ZIP code, which was and is 36558. Don't ask me what the newer four digit add on to the ZIP code is!

Daddy was the Rural Carrier on the route for several years, preceded by his brother Percy. He worked the route until the Post Office consolidated a couple of routes. Mr. Fletcher Mosley had more seniority than he did, so Daddy had to give up the route. After Mr. Mosley retired, our carriers were Crousom Armstrong, O.D. Frost and several others. Recently they have taken some of the boxes off Route 1, but the place is listed as 3949 Sam Wood Road. It was formerly Route 1 Box 330. We have a Post Office box (117) and don't get our mail on the route now. Probably will switch back to the rural route after we get too old to drive to the PO to get our mail.

Some certain person was Postmaster during the time that the "Zippy" codes and the new two letter state abbreviations were inaugurated. More on her later.