March 16, 1932. My new shoes and socks came today! They are just beautiful, so shiny, with thin straps across the tops that stand out against my white socks. I am not supposed to wear them until Easter, but I did put them on and prance around a little bit before supper. Darlene tried them on, but they were too small for her, so she could not wear them very long without them hurting her feet. I wish Darlene could have new shoes for Easter, too. She is wearing the ugliest old clodhoppers you ever saw. They are too big for her, and she clomps around in them looking like a poor little orphan.
March 18, 1931. I forgot to write in my Journal yesterday, there was so much excitement. Ralph Lee is in big trouble. He went on a rampage the other day, stealing tobacco and a pistol from Greenbrier store, and then late that night, he went to Mable Hathaway’s house and climbed into her bedroom window. She woke up as he was trying to get into the bed with her, and she screamed her head off. Her daddy busted in and just about killed him before he trussed him up and threw him in the woodshed. He had to lie there all night until Mr. Hathaway went in to get the Sheriff to arrest him the next morning.
Now Ralph Lee is sitting in jail, and his mama has been over here crying fit to be tied. Mr. Bittertree says he will not go bail him out, that he will just sit there until he has served his time and has figured out how to behave himself. He says Mrs. Bittertree has made a baby out of him for the last time.
I feel sorry for Mrs. Bittertree. She has only the one son, so it is natural that she would dote on him. If she had a houseful of young’uns, she might be a little more prudent about raising them, but an only child is a treasure that she feels must be coddled. I also feel the least bit sorry for Ralph Lee, if I look for it. Mostly, though, I am glad he got what was coming to him. I hear he will be in jail for a long time for stealing that pistol.
I also felt very sorry for Mable Hathaway. I told Jasper that I cannot imagine how fearful it would be to wake up to Ralph Lee’s nasty old breath on my face, and that I could see why he would want to kill him, being as how Mable was his sweetheart. Jasper smiled at me then and told me that Mable was not his sweetheart. She has been struck on Tom Savington over by Sweetwater for months now. Jasper said he never had a chance with her. Now I feel sorriest of all for Jasper.
March 19, 1932. The most amazing thing happened today! Daddy was home early, and I could tell he was planning on leaving to go work at his still, but before he got out the door, Miss Weston came by. It was a good thing I was still up in the loft getting dressed, because I had just put britches on, but I had the chance to change into a dress before I went down. Mama, Daddy, Jasper, and Sardius were all sitting in the front room, talking to her.
She floored every one of us, except for Sardius, who seemed to be in on it. Miss Weston wants him to go to Chicago this summer to begin high school at a fancy boarding school! He will have a scholarship, which means that all his room, board, and schooling will be free.
That about dumbfounded us all, except Sardius, who looked about as excited as if he had just seen Santa Claus in the flesh. It was plain that he really wants to go. Miss Weston said Sardius is so bright she believes he should have every opportunity to get a good education. After high school, he probably can get a scholarship to go to college as well!
There was a general ruckus, where Mama cried, then laughed, then cried some more, then she hugged up Sapphire very tight and hugged Sardius, and said this was the answer to prayer. Daddy looked worried, but what could he say in the face of Mama’s and Sardius’ happiness? He started to say something about Sardius being needed here to help run the farm, but Mama jumped all over him. “Richard Wallace, we will be fine. There is no better investment than an education for your children, and there are better things to do than work your life away toiling on a farm. With you working, we can always buy what we need to eat.”
He finally nodded his head. When Mama has won an argument, he knows better than to take it up again. Mama is sweet, but no one had better stand between one of her children and something good.
Then things got crazier still. Miss Weston cleared her throat and said, “And I believe that Jasper has a great deal of potential, as well. I understand that he has been keeping up with his studies even though he has not been able to go to school. If you will allow us, I would like for him to take some tests. If he does well, I feel confident that we can make the same offer to him.”
You could have heard a pin drop. Then Jasper jumped up, shouting, Mama started crying again. Daddy looked like somebody had walloped him with a stick of firewood, but nobody noticed him. Sardius, Jasper, and Mama were all hugging each other and me, and Miss Weston was laughing, and Daddy could not get a word in edgewise. We all know that Jasper will pass those tests. He has already completed the schoolwork up through the 10th grade. Jasper is smart.
I was so excited, I wanted to run tell Darlene, but then I remembered that she would be at Pap-pa’s house today, and since I was about to bust with the good news, I just grabbed up Beryl and squeezed her until she squeaked.
We all worked hard today, planting and getting food cooked for everyone, but nobody minded one bit. It was like we were floating on air the whole day.
March 20, 1932. Daddy got drunk today. He was gone by the time we got up this morning, and Mama never even mentioned his name. She just said we all had to get dressed and go to church and be faithful to the Lord for all his blessings, and we left, wondering what we would come home to.
We went to Pap-pa’s for dinner, except for Daddy, of course, and everybody was happy about Sardius’ scholarship and Jasper’s maybe scholarship, but the day did not feel right. We were all worried about what Daddy was up to and what kind of mood he would be in. Even Miss Weston seemed a little nervous. Uncle Woodrow did not hardly say a word.
Daddy got home about the time we were getting ready for bed. I do not want to write down what he said or did. It just makes me sick to think about it.
March 21, 1932
My School Journal, grade 7, Miss Weston’s class
By Pearl Wallace
I am very proud of both of my brothers! Sardius has won a very important scholarship to study at Wheaton Academy in Chicago, Illinois, and my other brother Jasper will probably also win the same kind of scholarship. All he has to do is pass some tests, which I am sure he will do. He is very smart, and he has kept up his studies at home even though he has not been able to attend school for the past year.
Both of my brothers are going to go far in life. Sardius will become a preacher or a missionary and Jasper will build and fly airplanes. Perhaps he will break Charles Lindbergh’s record when he flies solo around the world. I hope to become a missionary with Sardius and perhaps Jasper will fly us to the far away parts of the world where there are no roads so we can share the Gospel to people in the darkest places.
March 21, 1932. Mama had to drag Daddy out of bed this morning to go in to work with Mr. Sutton. I have never seen him this bad. I cannot tell you how glad we all are that he is gone.
Today is a big day in the life of a farmer. Tonight is the full moon, the Worm Moon, by the Cherokee reckoning. That means that it is the time when the ground is warming up and the worms are coming out, and it is time to start in on farming for serious. It is going to be a hard two weeks, especially for the men and boys. They have to turn the soil here, at Uncle Woodrow’s and Pap-pa’s place, and they probably will help out Mrs. Carlton, too. Billy Ray does not work a lick when he is home. He is as trifling as he is mean, so Mrs. Carlton and Darlene will starve if she is not able to make at least a small garden.
We have passed the Spring equinox. That means from now it will be warming up, and the days will be longer than the nights, but no one feels like celebrating that. Poor Uncle Woodrow, Jasper, and Sardius got started early this morning, plowing over at Pap-pa’s place while Beryl and I traipsed off to school. It is bad to have to walk to school in the cold and the wind, but we get there sooner or later. Jasper, Sardius, and Uncle Woodrow have to be out in it all day.
It is cold today, and that makes it worse. When we got home, they were still out there.
By the time they finally came in, they were filthy, chilled, and bone tired. Their faces were as red as fire from windburn, and their hands and lips were chapped. Mrs. Carlton made up some honey and beeswax to rub over their hands and faces. Darlene and Mrs. Carlton helped us cook dinner and carry water for the baths. As tired as he was, Uncle Woodrow helped, but Sardius and Jasper were so plumb wore out that Mama told them to just sit until supper.
After they all had had a good soak, Mama sent them on to bed while we finished the dishes and cleaned up their muddy mess. It is hard to be a man. Women have to work hard, too, but at least most of them do not have to plow if there is a man around.
March 24, 1932. Beryl and I have laid out of school to help at home. The boys and Uncle Woodrow have dirtied their clothes so much that Mama cannot stand for them to put them back on, even though they will just get them filthy again plowing every day. She has been scrubbing clothes and doing spring cleaning. Beryl and I stayed home to help carry water, take care of Sapphire and Ruby, and to cook the meals.
Warming, waxing days
I have been in a frenzied embrace,
The Great Orb still holds me.
I am full and strong, singing like a winter wind,
Surging with white spray and power.
The Spirit grieves with a memory,
Death grins for now,
But will weep at the reckoning.
March 25, 1932. It is Good Friday, the day they hung Jesus on the cross to die. I am glad that real Christians do not think of Jesus hanging on the cross, but instead think of Him as risen and sitting at the right hand of God the Father. The poor Catholics never think of Him in any other way but always hanging on that cross, always suffering. Mrs. Carlton wears a cross that has Jesus hanging on it. You can see the nails in His hands and feet. It is too sad to think about it.
March 26, 1932. When Daddy got home early this morning, he did not even sit down. He told Jasper and Sardius not to get up for another hour and went out to the field and started plowing. I am very glad he let the boys get some extra sleep. They need it.
Even though Daddy is a wonderful man when he is at himself and not drinking, we are all mad at him. The last time we saw him, he was cussing out Mama and all the rest of us, and telling her to pack up her rags and just get out of his life. Even though he is nice now, it still stings when I think of how he was last Sunday. I cannot get over his meanness. None of us can, except for Ruby. She forgets.
I do have to admit, though, that Daddy put in a good day’s work, which took a burden off everyone else.
Tomorrow is Easter Sunday. I am glad we get to take the day off.
Cool, waxing days, shorter nights.
Holiness walks upon the land, upon my waters,
It stills the running rapids and
Holds my silver children,
As well as my creeping ones.
My upright children sleep in solemn peace,
Secure that Life will triumph.
March 27, 1932. It is Easter Sunday! The Lord is risen! Today we gave thanks for the Risen Christ and for the season of planting and for the warm weather that is coming. I wore my new shoes and the new dress that Mama made for me for my birthday. It has tucks all down the front. It is blue and yellow, and I feel beautiful in it.
Daddy did not go to church with us today, but stayed home and plowed with Uncle Woodrow and Pap-pa because we have only nine more days in the killing time to finish the first plowing and for all of the second plowing. Thank goodness the second plowing goes easier. He let the boys come on to church with us, though. It was a good Easter Sunday, but Mama does not like it when Daddy does not come to church with us. Miss Weston asked about him and about Uncle Woodrow, and I think Mama was scundered that they did not honor the most holy day of the year, but instead went out and plowed all day. I am glad they did, though. The plowing has to get done, and it is not their fault that Easter is early this year.
Warming, waxing days, cool, clear nights
My upright children rejoice in the Spirit
They wear their fine things,
Proud, humble, thankful.
The Spirit laughs aloud,
Watching Death slink into the grave.
March 27, 1932
Dear Mother and Father,
A glorious Easter to you! Our Lord is risen! Praise Him from whom all blessings flow, and blessings to you, too.
I wish you could be here to share this holy day with me, and to see the beauties of spring in this enchanting place. It was such a pleasure to worship with my church family here. If you could see how much they all love their Lord Jesus, how they listen to the sermons, and how they praise with their songs, you would know why I love them all so much. And if you could see the glories of these mountains, so blue, green, and white with blossoms, you would know why I love being here so much!.
I hope your day has felt as holy and as glorious as mine has. Peace be unto you, dear family. I love you dearly.
Emily
March 27, 1932
Dear Jonathan,
Yesterday, I received the beautiful little chocolate Easter egg you sent. What a lovely thought for such a special occasion as this most holy of celebrations. You can be assured that I will enjoy it enormously. You are so very kind to me, and I am blessed to call you friend.
Your comrade in Christ,
Emily
March 27, 1932
Dear Cecilia,
Blessings to you on this glorious day! I miss you, but I wish you were here rather than I were there. You cannot imagine how beautiful this spring is becoming, with the whole earth greening right before my eyes, flowers popping out minute by minute, the sun glowing like a golden ball. The air is so sweet, and so pure you almost feel as if you are breathing the Holy Breath of God. I am in love with this place and all the people here!
The day would have been perfect, except that not all of the men were able to come to church services this morning because they are pressed to get in the spring plowing. As you may imagine, I was saddened to see so few of them in the congregation this morning, but their places were taken up by a number of women and children who do not normally attend my church services. It was gratifying to see many of my own precious students in their seats today. Praise God from whom all blessings flow!
Good night, my sweetest of sisters.
Emily
March 28, 1932
My School Journal, grade 7, Miss Weston’s class
By Pearl Wallace
It is plowing season. We plant by the signs, so we have a two-week time period between the full moon and the dark moon to get the plowing done. That is the killing time. This is also the time to plant the below ground vegetables like potatoes, carrots, and radishes. We plant the above ground vegetables during the waxing moon. In Ecclesiastes, it says, “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up.”
My father, uncle, and brother Jasper do the heavy work of plowing, although my father has to stay in Maryville Monday through Friday, where he works for the railroad. He has a very important job on the trains making sure only the proper people ride them. It is hard for him to have to work all during the week and then come home to plow on the weekends. Sometimes he has to miss church on Sundays because of it, but he says that is one of the sacrifices that farmers have to make.
March 29, 1932. It is Easter break so we do not have to back to school again until tomorrow. Miss Weston thinks about her students and takes into consideration that people have to take time off school to do the plowing and planting. She spreads out our breaks over the spring planting time so people do not have to miss too many of their lessons. If she had taken the whole week, she could have gone home to her family in Chicago, but sh
e knows we will have to take more time off later on when planting begins. She also did not want us to miss church on Easter Sunday. It would not be the same to have to go to the Holy Roller church over in Big Gully.
Sardius, Jasper, and Uncle Woodrow hit the fields early this morning. Daddy has gone back to work. Mama and I helped in the fields some, but after dinner, she sent me out to catch some trout so that I did not have to work all afternoon.
I stopped off at Darlene’s house to see if she could join me, but before I got across the creek, I saw a truck and a car parked up on the dirt road above our house. At first, I though it must be somebody lost, and I almost hailed them, but I could see through the trees that seven men had gotten out, and they had set about to pulling sheets out of the back of the automobile. I thought that was strange, so I kept quiet.
I could not figure out what they were up to! All of them set to putting on those sheets over their clothes, like white robes, and they had pointy hoods that covered their faces, with eye-holes cut out. One of them took a big wood cross out of the truck and hoisted it over his shoulder, but then he laid it down, fiddled with his mask and hood, then yanked it off and tied a handkerchief around his face.
One of the other men said, “Hank, you’re out of regulation.” Hank just snorted, saying he couldn’t see a thing through those G.D. eyeholes, and he picked up the cross again. Then they all began cutting through the woods. It was the oddest thing I had ever seen, grown men dressing up like ghosts for a mumming.
I almost laughed out loud, but all of a sudden, I got a funny feeling creeping up the back of my spine as if something was telling me that these men were up to some meanness. I stayed quiet, slipping back up into the woods and hiding so I could see what they were up to. They came through the trees, walking as if they had some place important to go, and before they got to the creek, they turned and went over toward Darlene’s house. I followed them until I got close enough to hear them talking.
In the Midst of Innocence Page 21