I will begin this story by telling what was happening when these memories came back to me.
My son raises broiler chickens, and his flock was scheduled to move to slaughter. They were to go out on Tuesday but due to snow showers, the schedule was changed to Friday. Snow was forecast again on Friday, so they decided on Thursday night. Extra food was delivered on Wednesday and by Thursday evening they were out of food again.
I got up at 3:15 to go to the bathroom and saw that something was going on in Mike’s driveway and I thought they had finished loading the chickens. I couldn’t go back to sleep, so I took my blood pressure and sugar reading and did my devotions for the day. This is my schedule each day when I get up. I made a cup of coffee and sat down in my chair. As I sat there enjoying my coffee my mind went back to when I was a young girl. For some reason trips to Franklin came to mind. I don’t recall going to Franklin until I was eight- or nine-years old. We started going to the dentist about this time and a few of the houses and buildings along the way always caught my attention.
The first house that got my attention is on the front Thorn about halfway between St. Paul Church and Moyers. It wasn’t painted and I don’t recall seeing anyone outside. I learned that two older ladies, sisters, lived there. On down the road was Harvey Pitsenbarger’s home and he had a cider mill behind his house. My mom told us that Mrs. Pitsenbarger had fallen off the porch roof, killing herself. I thought how sad that was.
There was another house across the road just before you crossed the bridge at Moyers. This house was also unpainted, and I never saw people there either. An older lady lived there. The house either fell down or was taken down. Large rocks from the foundation were there for a long time. Wilbur Sevier lived just across the bridge and his girls had a tiny playhouse and I always thought how nice it would be to play in your own small house! There was another cider mill down the road close to the Will Harper home. I never saw anyone working there either and the building was starting to fall apart. Parts of that cider mill remained there along the river for years and I can’t say for sure, but the last pieces of the building probably washed away in the 1985 flood.
The house I thought most about was across a creek, on the bank just before Moatstown. This was a big house, and it was painted white and well kept but I never saw people there either. Little did I imagine that one day I would live in this house for a brief time. This house belonged to my future in-laws and was the home of my husband to be. His parents had moved to Wisconsin, but he stayed behind to live with his grandparents and to see to whatever needed to be done at home. That house would burn to the ground one cold, icy, below zero March night. Thank God only earthly treasures were lost!
One of my favorite places in Franklin was Ms. Sylvia Boggs’ store. The jewelry case was my favorite spot as it had the prettiest rings this little girl had ever seen in there. She was so kind and would let us look as long as we wanted. We only had a few pennies and would get a little candy and be on our way. Mom did a lot of her shopping at the H.P. Store getting shoes, socks, and boots if we needed them and occasionally a piece of clothing. They sold beautiful material for making dresses and everything needed to make quilts and comforters. We would also shop at Johnson’s Drug Store, but I don’t recall what for. Mr. Johnson would always give us a piece of candy.
Dr. Boggs was the dentist we would see, and his office was on the second floor of the building where Sites Parts is located. He would numb our jaws and then would look out the window to see what was happening on Main Street until our jaws were numb. I can still see the sign that hung on the wall in the waiting room. Painless dentist it said! I’ve often thought how untrue that was as it hurt to numb the jaws and when the numbing wore off, the insides of your cheeks had been chewed and cut simply because you didn’t feel anything until that numbness wore off. Oh, the picture was of a child with a bandage covering one jaw and side of the face and tied on top of the head. Very painful to my thinking.
Mom would sometimes visit her friend, Beulah Boggs, who lived in a house behind what is Kimble’s Funeral Home now. They both grew up in Stony Run and had been friends for most of their lives. With business completed we would return home, passing by again houses and buildings that so interested me.
I find it interesting how a happening or situation in this present time can trigger a memory of things and happenings so long ago. I can’t explain why these memories came to mind as I had my coffee and watched as the state road scraped the snow off the road almost every half hour until daylight. It was as if they knew those chickens needed to be moved and the trouble those truck drivers, and Mike, were having getting those trucks up the hill to be loaded. Mike said it took 12 hours, but the job was completed!
Violet R. Eye
February 15, 2024
