The Sharecropper's House
Cotton Pickin with Mama
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The first Wilson/Iris house, the little sharecroppers house on Shorty Edmunds farm, was at the sharp corner of the Wilson Crapps Road (it wasn't named such until 20 years later). It was a VERY small 2-bedroom house, typical of the houses made for poor, sharecroppers of the time, surrounded by a fence with a gate.The house was immediately beside the Shorty Edmund cotton field, which I supposed covered about 20 acres of cotton. Daddy was the Shorty Edmunds handyman, taking care of his equipment, livestock, and general farming. Many folks were employed at a very minimum wage to pick the cotton, and of course Mama was there as well. She would be at the farm at daylight with her cotton bag strapped over her shoulder, and would work till sundown, getting paid by the pounds of cotton picked.Susie was a baby, and we lived there until I was almost 6 years old. Granny Sellers would come to babysit for us while Mama worked. Mama made a small cotton sack for me, and I would follow her up and down the rows of cotton, picking what I could to "help" but mostly to keep me occupied.There was an electric fence separating the house-yard from the cotton field. I remember one morning, running late with my cotton sack to catch up to Mama. I tried to step over the electrified fence, but I got a-straddle of the fence, and was trapped, screaming and jumping in intense terror and pain, until Granny came running out of the house and pushed me off the fence. I can still feel the memories of that experience whenever I see an electric fence.
Silent Flame, Black Snake, Coca Cola Box, Wild Olive Tree
In front of the little house Daddy kept the old silent flame tobacco harvester parked beside the tree line of huge, 5-year old pine trees that were grown for turpentine and later sold for massive profits for south Georgia pine lumber. Of course, we played on the harvester, climbing, imagining being on instellar flying machines and generally passing the time. One day, a massive indigo black snake, HUGE I might add, made his way under the harvester while we were upstairs playing, and seemed to be intent on 'chasing' us. Terrified would be an understatement. At any moment, we were certain he would climb right up the steps of the 1st and 2nd floor of the harvester and devour us. Luckily, Mama or Granny heard us, and came out with a pot of boiling water and threw it on the snake. This of course, caused the snake to sprout legs and race off into the pine forest, right past the old Coca Cola box. (that was the legend of snakes who were devil snakes, back then)
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Uncle Barton Gardner owned most of the leftover Smith plantation around where we lived, and he had about 100 acres of 50-year old pine trees that were farmed for turpentine. Daddy worked for him to collect the pine tar, using either one of Grandpa's old mules or the Massey Ferguson 35 tractor, pulling a little 2-wheel trailer which was named "shorty", loaded with 4 tar barrels. He would walk from tree to tree, collecting the tar and putting it into the barrels. I was tasked to drive the tractor along beside daddy, while he walked the acres, in what must have been one of the most tiring jobs I have ever seen (for Daddy, not me). When the four barrels were filled (usually 3-4 days work, we would take them to Baxley to the turpentine processing plant on the Jesup Highway, get paid for them, give the money to Uncle Barton, and Daddy would get his pay. Grueling.....