I was about seven or eight years old when we moved to the big house, where Grandpa Hammond had lived. Our little house was plenty of fun for me. We had a swimming hole close by, and a place to fish, and gulleys to play in. I remember the men working on the new highway, with the worker's camp in Mr. Frank Robley's woods. They built the bridges first. We would go fishing and the bridge was a place out of the rain.
I remember a big fish fry in the creek bottom but don't know the year. We worked clearing out the woods making ready. Then they limed the creek and John and I walked the bank with a sack picking up fish the men would throw out. It was a large picnic.
The branch by the house would flood and we always wanted to play in it. Papa whipped John, Herman and me for playing on the bridges when the water was up.
I was old enough to go to the big dairy barn to help milk. John and I got some of Papa's whiskey and got a little wobbly. Mama put us to bed I think. Next thing we got one of Papa's cigars. I blame John, but I was with him. We went to the gulley behind the chicken house. We took turns smoking the cigar, and we both got real sick. If you followed John you had plenty of excitement.
Grandpa Watlington had a milk route in Jackson. We called it the milk hack, and I rode with him several times. We would cross the Forked Deer River and let the horse drink and also wet the buggy wheels. Next stop would be Uncle Will and Aunt Mable Stephen's. They had a store on S. Royal up from the N.C. & St.L. railroad station. That also was the end of the street car route. Aunt Mable would always give you something special to eat. From there we would make the route through East Jackson. He would ring the bell as we moved, people came out with a vessel to get milk or whatever he had to sell. We would go as far as Uncle Alberts for a visit. I was always glad to go with him on the route.
We had chores to do before breakfast, milking cows, taking care of the milk, and bringing in wood for the stove. In the winter months we would trap for rabbits. We would take turns running the traps. We would check them early each morning hoping we caught something. Of course we had school to attend, wood to cut and farming.
I remember Grandpa Watlington with his specials: watermelons, tomatoes, tobacco and hogs. He raised his tobacco plants, planted, harvested and cured the tobacco. Papa made sure he had some boys to help. He took pride in his tomatoes and watermelons, and when it came to hogs, they had to be the best. They had to have plenty of water and food to keep them happy.
Grandpa had a visitor; I think it was Mr. Cain from Selmer, Tennessee. They would sit on the porch, chew and smoke their tobacco and talk about the Civil War. They fought the battle of Shiloh every time they met. The only Yankees they talked about were ``damn yankee.''
As Grandpa got older he wasn't as active but still wanted to know how things were going. I remember they didn't want him to go out by himself. One time he went to the second bottom to see the crops and when he got back they knew he couldn't open the cattle gap in the fence. They asked him how he got through the fence and he said, ``I crawled under it.''
Papa had a full time job keeping us all working. Sometimes we would have to have extra help. I remember John Carter (a colored neighbor) helping some. Papa would let us know that John was in charge and we were to do as he said. John had two sons about my age. They lived on the Quince Tapley farm. Mr. Tapley's son Avery and Buster Carter and Hershel Carter would come to play with us. When we would be swimming or playing in the branch, Avery would make them stay down stream from us. I thought this to be strange.
We had other neighbor friends for playmates: Lloyd and C. A. Hamilton and Jesse Haynes. They lived close by. We didn't have T.V. in those days but with the Haynes and Hamilton families nearby there was always a show going on. We enjoyed playing ball (all kinds), swimming, fishing, hunting, playing marbles and sometimes climbing trees in the woods. Work came first but there was always some pleasure time. In the fall, after crop time we liked to ride horses.
Holidays were always big occasions. All the kinfolks got together some where and celebrated. Uncle Lev Harton came to our place on the 4th of July one year and made a kettle of stew and barbecued a hog. Papa killed a hog and we dressed it. We made a pit in the woods where Clara Mai built her house. John and I stayed up with Uncle Lev all night to watch him cook the meat. It was always fun to spend the night or weekend away from home also. My cousin Jiggs Harton would spend a night with me and then I would go visit with him. Aunt Clara and Mama never fussed about one or two extras to feed. I have always wondered how Mama knew how much to cook for the large family and frequent company.
--Paul H. Watlington
b. November 8, 1925d. February 7, 1997
Rachel Weir Watlington, 71, died suddently Friday morning of heart failure after a lenghty illness. She was the daughter of the late Robert Taylor and Mae Parker Weir of the Malesus Community.
She is survived by her husband, Paul H. Watlington, three daughters, Susan Sheppard and her husband Lee of Jackson; Becky Hoskinson and her husband Darius of Osceola, Ark., and Nancy Tignor and her husband Danny of Clanton, Ala., and one brother, Robert K. ``Buddy'' Weir of Jackson and six grandchildren.
She was employed for twenty years by Western Union as an operator and later at Watlington Brothers Construction Co. Before her health failed, she taught Sunday School and touched the lives of many young people when she served as a leader in the Methodist Youth Fellowship on the local and district levels. She will be remembered as a gracious lady who opened her home to everyone, loved antiques and flowers but most of all for her love of her family and friends. The funeral services were held Sunday afternoon at 2:00 P.M. at the Malesus United Methodist Church with the Rev. Kent Bailey officiating. Burial was at Ebenezer Cemetery. Rachel will be missed by all.