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1928 - Alderson High School - 1968 |
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Memories of Crosby and Hattie Smith |
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"Crowe" Smith and wife Hattie were parents of two daughters, Mary and Maude. Mary married Jimmie Carter, operator of Camp Greenbrier. One child was born to this union which did not last long and the length of this union is not in my knowledge. Crowe put groceries on the table and bought liquor, for which he was very very fond, with income from purchasing railroad ties and lumber and reselling same to the C&O railroad. Crow never learned to drive and therefore hired a driver to transport him in his model A Ford in search of RR ties and lumber from timbering operations around the county. Crow never touched the wood products only making delivery arrangements and handling the paper work. He was a true marksman with his muzzle loading rifle winning often at shooting matches. He practiced in his back yard shooting across his garden from near the back door to the opposite corner of his lot, near the outhouse. I appreciated his taste for "John Barley Corn" because the empty bottles kept me in spending money as I sold them to the hardware which used them to fill with linseed oil and turpentine for sale. Crowe, although he had a nice small garden supplemented his desire for fresh fruit and vegetables in the following manner. He walked the alleys observing gardens, fruit trees and bramble plantings when in season. About dusk Crow would retrace his routes helping himself to whatever he had previously seen and felt a desire for. One of the strangest housekeeping practices I have ever observed was practiced by "Grammy". She cleaned the bath and kitchen with kerosene oil which smelled like Kerosene oil as you would expect. Grammy was a true Christian and was greatly disappointed with Crowe's activities, of which she was well aware as well as his love affair with liquor. When my Dad purchased his first car, a model A he had a garage built to keep it in. Crowe and Grammies had the nerve to ask my Dad to have the garage built further back into his garden so they would observe our lawn, house and the activities that took place therein. Being a good neighbor my Dad obliged and actually had the carpenter move the location of the garage 40-feet to keep the Smiths happy. I believe Crowe liked me and did not complain much when I showed up to watch him load and fire the muzzle loading rifle. He purchased a new 12-foot green row boat and offered to let me use it if I would keep it clean. I almost lived in that boat the first summer. It was locked to a tree at Markleys Swimming Hole. I kept it spick and span mostly by turning it over and swimming with friends out of it. I thought it interesting that Smith's had a drilled well through the concrete pad near the back door. They used a device attached to a rope which was lowered into the water at the bottom of the well and when filled retrieved and emptied into a bucket which was taken into the house. They had running water in the house so the use of the well was either a cost saving effort or they had a desire for the taste of the well water. This fell into the same category as the outhouse which was used some although they had a full bath in the house. |
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