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1930's in Coal Hill, Arkansas
In 1930, Vina deeded Ted a small piece of land on the southeast corner of block 10. Ted bought an old house to be torn down. Woodrow,
Harold, and Pert helped tear it down to get the lumber to build Ted a new house.
They helped him because he was their brother and not to be
paid. After they tore down the house, they helped him
pull the old nails out of the lumber and build the house. There wasn’t enough 2x4’s
for rafters, so they had to do without other things they needed to buy new ones.
In the early thirties, Coal Hill often had a three-day picnic. A carnival came to town and set up at the City Park.
They had rides such
as swings and Ferris wheels. They had stands such as throwing a baseball at bottles. They set
up a boxing ring in the middle. Men from the
carnival would wrestle men of the town. These picnics were usually
held on a summer holiday such as the 4th of July or Labor Day.
Often someone in the town would give a calf to be barbecued and eaten at the picnic. This was some of the best entertainment the town had,
and it gave the town a sense of togetherness.
In 1931, the Weathers family started putting cattle down at the field. Cattle were cheap in the depression years. An
average cow would
bring $15.00 and a calf was so cheap that people gave them away, so they would get
all the milk.
They only used on branding iron for all the cattle. It was in the shape of a heart. According to which way it faced
or which hip the
brand was on determined whether it was Ted, Hubs, Harold, Charley, Pert, or Woody’s cow. In 1936, the Coal Hill high school basketball team won the state tournament. Will Whittle was the coach and some
of the players were Babe Hoing, and Baldy Brazel.
At this time Little Rock, Fort Smith, and all of the schools were in the same class. Upon their return from
Jonesboro, where the
tournament was held, the people of the town held a parade. They beat on tubs, pans, and
other such items with sticks while marching through
around town.
In 1937, Coal Hill would have won the state again, but they kicked us out of the association for 10 years. It seems
one of the players
had pitched a baseball game at Fayetteville, and had been given $5.00 for hotel expenses. One morning in 1936, Celia, Lora, and Edith got their children up and ready to catch the train. This was to be the
last train to run
through Coal Hill. The children rode on the train to Altus, where they were picked up and brought back by motor car. The car they came back
in was an old A model.
The tracks were all taken up and a new one laid through the edge of the bottoms.
On August 22, 1937, I, Lee Roy Weathers, was born. I was born in the front room of the house that Ted and his
brothers had built in 1930.
I was born on a Sunday afternoon and weighed 12 pounds.
A Day in 1938
One fall morning in 1938, Ted and Lora got up before daylight. The mine whistle had blown the evening before and
there was to be work
there today. Ted started a fire in the wood cook stove and then went outside to the well and
drew a fresh buck of water. Lora started
cooking breakfast. She cooked sausage, eggs, gravy, and some homemade
biscuits. After they had eaten, Lora started fixing his lunch bucket.
In the bottom part of the round bucket she poured a gallon of water. She put sausage and biscuits and a piece of pie in the top part. She
the pushed the top part down inside the bottom to keep the water from spilling. This would be Ted’s lunch and water for the day,
while he
was working underground in the mines. Lora was glad they had killed one of the hogs so they would have
fresh meat. Ted was very tired of
bologna and had told his son, Charles, to get some cheese a few days before.
Charles had went to Charley Weathers store and brought back
bologna again. This made Ted mad and he was
going to make Charles eat the whole thing, but Lora threw it out the back door.
After Ted had left for work, Lora woke the children, Charles, and Claudine. She had to get them ready for
school and feed them breakfast.
Charles set at the table wondering how in the world his parents could wake so
early without an alarm clock. He was sure he could make the
junior basketball team this year. He was a good ball handler and a good shot. Claudine was more worried over the boy named Dave, who had
chased Charles home from school the day before. As they left for school, Claudine was telling Charles not to run today and fight him. Charles told her that mom didn’t want him fighting and so they went up the hill to the schoolhouse.
Lora would be able to take care of the baby and do some other things, now that she got them off to school. She would put some of the
fruit jars up that she had canned this summer. She must have over 500 quarts of fruit and vegetables. She had canned corn, green beans,
peaches, tomatoes, tomato juice, beats, kraut, and some pickles.
After this she would wash dishes and start lunch for Charles and Claudine.
They always came home for lunch because they lived so close to the schoolhouse. Coal Hill still did not have a lunchroom.
After lunch and Lora had the dishes washed, she went out back and started a fire under the old kettle. She had
rendered lard from the hog
a few days before and was going to make some lye soap. As Lora stirred the soap
in the kettle she thought, they wouldn’t have a very big
grocery bill this winter, with the cured meat from the hog,
the soap, and all the can goods. The cow out back would furnish them with milk
and butter. Now the soap was made it would have to set until it cooled and then be cut into bars. It could be used to wash clothes and their
hair and also for taking a bath.
School was out and Dave was chasing Charles down the hill. Herman Hurst stepped out and told Charles if he didn’t fight him that he would
whip him. Charles stopped and turned around and started fighting Dave. Dave
got on top about the time Claudine got there and she jumped on
his back and started pulling his hair. She pulled
so hard that she pulled him off of Charles. Charles then took over the fight and whipped
him.
When Charles walked in with his face and clothes dirty, Lora knew he had been fighting. She got on to him for fighting.
Charles thought
to himself that he sure couldn’t please everybody.
Lora sent the kids to the store for a few items that they needed. Their grandpa owned the store and as they went in
he gave them some
candy. He was always giving them something when they came in. After coming back from the store, she had Charles to get in the coal for the
heating stove that was in the front room. Charles then had to cut the
kindling for the cook stove. Claudine was so proud of Charles that she
helped him carry it in the house. They didn’t have a bathtub so they took a batch in the washtub and that was used to clean clothes in. Lora
told Charles he would have to clean out the kettle the next evening so she could heat water to wash their clothes. After their bat
Charles
got to listen to the radio. Their favorite program was coming on. It was the lone ranger.
Going to bed that night, Charles was pretty proud of himself. That Fauett boy sure wouldn’t bother him again.
On April 10, 1938, at the age of 84, Vina Weathers passed away. She died in the front room of the house that she had lived in all her
life. Being an unmarried person, she left a will and it reads like this: Know all men by these presents, that I, Melvina Weathers, of Coal Hill, Johnson County, State of Arkansas, being in good health, of sound
and disposing mind and memory, and being above the age of twenty-one years,
do make and publish this my last will and testament, hereby
revoking all wills by me at any time here to fore made. First: I direct that all of my just debts shall be paid, and that the legatees here
in after given shall, after the payment of my debts, be paid out of my estate. Second: I give to my beloved sister, Mary Susan Senters, one
dollar. Third:
I give to the heirs of my deceased sister, Sallie Hackney, each on dollar. Fourth: I give all the residue of my estate, both
real and personal, remaining after the payment of all my debts, and the foregoing legacies, to my nephew,
Charles A. Weathers, for his
natural life, the remainder, upon the death of the said, Charles A. Weathers, heirs,
forever. Fifth: I constitute and appoint Charles A.
Weathers sole executor of this my will.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 7th day of October 1936, in the presents of Ambers Denton
and Dawson
Bryant, who attest the same at my request. M.V. Weathers
In 1939, the depression lingered on. The men were working in the mines in the fall and working in the bottoms
in the summer. The mines
would only work about 50 or 60 days before having to shut down again. The Weathers women were helping raise a garden and canning the vegetables from it. They milked the cows and
made butter, they helped pick
cotton in the fall for extra income. They also took care of the children. During the
depression the women worked as hard as the men.
Ted’s Dime Delivery
A big company bought up a lot of land in the Hartman bottoms and they became know as the company farm.
They paid anyone, that could make
a hand, .10 per hour. A hand was a grown man that could do a days work. Making a hand was when a boy could keep up with the men. A water
jack was the boy that carried the water bucket
around giving the hands a drink. A row boss rode a horse around over the field making sure
they hoed all the grass out and kept up with the other hands.
In 1939, Ted bought a truck and started hauling hands to the company farm. He got a job as row boss and Charles
a job as waterjack. They
worked 10 hours a day for .10 an hour. Ted got .10 from each hand every day they rod with him. This is why Ted gave his truck the name of
the "dime delivery". Charles, Ted, and the truck were
all working for about $3.00 a day. They would only work about 4 months on the company
farm and 2 or 3 in the mines. This left him out of a job almost half of the time. They bought extra groceries while he worked and put
them
away for when he wasn’t working. Even after the depression they still kept extra groceries put away.
In the fall of 39, Charley and his sons, sunk a mine slope at the field. They had a gasoline engine that pulled a coal
car up the slope
by winding up a cable. The coal was about 50 feet deep and only about 18 inches thick. The coal
wasn’t thick enough to be profitable to
mine. They mined very little coal from this slope. You would have to have a
machine to cut under the coal and let it fall, for it to be
profitable. |
