below is a letter written by my mother's Aunt
Shared with me by cousin Elizabeth and note some important names
within, helpful to the genealogists of our family
Ethel Mae Bozeman Gibson
Peter Edward Bozeman b 1834 married Nancy Jane Anderson and had a
son John Thomas Bozeman in 1866.
John's daughter Ethel Mae Bozeman Gibson wrote this letter on
10/25/1974 for her daughter Peggy.
* My mama was Allice Stephens; my daddy was John Bozeman borned
in Alabama; they had 5 children, 2 boys and 3 girls, Rollie, Lorena,
Bertha, Ethel, John was the baby 3 weeks old when my mama died.
My grandmother Nancy Bozeman took papa and us 5 children in her
home; she allready had 13 children of her own, so she keep us about
6 month and little John died, and grandma told papa John, you will
haft to marry and take your children - I cant help you any longer,
so he married Ellen Bean, young blue eyes girl with pretty blond
hir, fair skin, so she had her hands full to start her new married
life on. So my Dady was living in Montgomery when they married,
working at the cotten mill so when I was about 2 years old ma my
stepmother, I taken bad case of chicken pox so she pulled my clothes
off, took me on the back porch and greezed me with sulfur and lard.
I remember till today about crying and telling Ma them people
will see me naked, she said if you would stop crying and hollering
they wouldn't see you. I ask her a few years latter what she was
putting on me she said do you remember that, I said yes mam she told
me it was sulfer and lard, I had chicken pox, she was docting me
then the next i remember my aunt
Lizzie Stephens Moody
gave my sister a pretty new dress for a birthday present and i
cryed. i wanted a new dress she gave me a nickle made me mad but i
didn't get a new dress and dont ever remember seeing my aunt Lizzie
any more as papa moved to his 40 acre farm with a 3 room log house
on it so papa farmed this till 1919. He moved to Pike County 5 miles
out from Troy south west we stayed 2 years their and our house had a
stick and dirt chimily and my half brother Jessie Bozeman taken the
Scarlet fever and our house was quarantine wich nobody could come to
see us and we wasn't alowed to go any where the
Dr Anderson of Troy
came out to see Jessie and told papa to pay him silver dollars so
he could wash it so nobody would catch that fever. So our house
caught on fire from that stick and dirt chimily so i woke up herd a
howling like a big truck and herd papa holling hey kids come draw
watter bring it to me so
Rollie my brother drew the watter and put in wash tub and me and
my sister Lorena toated it the watter to papa he put the fire out so
we had to move so papa come back to his place and i was old enuff to
help plow and pick cotten, milk cows sothere where our work started
diggin ditches cutting wood plowing halling logs with 6 stears to a
saw mill log cart. I halled to Harwell and Curry aw mill and papa
halled their two he halled with Harwell stears and i halled with
papa stears and my boy friend Jace Gibson halled to that same saw
mill. He drove Bill Curry stears that the eyhar I meet Jace but I
just halled logs long enuff to get enuff lumber to build us a 3 room
plank house.
My sister Lorena and a man I remember his name cut the logs I
halled then we hope papa build the new house than Lorena got married
to Charlie McClain and in about 2 are 3 years me and Jace married in
1912 April 18. We went to Ramer on buggy caught themail train to
Montgomery and got married and went to papa brothers house,
Uncle Bob Bozeman and eat our dinner and Aunt Carrie told us we
took her on surprize and didn't have time to cook what she would
like to as we had to catch the train back home to are to Ramer Ala
where we left our hose and buggy at a stable where you could pay a
man to take care of them till you come back.
People are folks didn't have no other way to go to Montgomery but
horse and buggy are waggon and it would take a hold day to drive up
their as we had bad muddie roads and deep sand so people would
go to Ramer and catch the train
to Montgomery but if they had to take they cotton are any thang
to sell are go get a load of grocies it would take about 3 days to
go and come and do their traiding so they had a place on Decatur St
wich was Bughomer at that time they had 1 and 2 room houses you
could rent and you had to take quilts and groceris and cook and eat
they had lots houses at that time as people had to have a camp some
where if the roads was so bad sometimes they couldn't go all the
way, they would camp some where side of the road and put the quilts
under the waggon and sleep on the ground. Some times it would be
raiing and that was awffull bad on them Ihave herd old people talk
abouthow bad it would be on the people and awfull bad on the horses
are mules as they would stall are get b ad mudy spot and stall and
they would be whiped to make them pull out of the bad place.
Some times people would help each other through this bad place
liek taken they mules are horses and hitch a head off other man
horses and dubble out so one day my Dady was on his way to
Montgomery with a load of cotton 3 are 4 bales of cotton wich would
weight about 5 hundred pound each bale, would be a heavy load about
2 tons some could hall more than others it was corden to the size of
the horses, big one could pull bigger loads so papa mules was small
and he stalled and he couldn't get his waggon to move and Jace Dady
Clop Gibson took his mules and pulled papa wagon out he was glad he
could help any body out of a mud hole. that was before I ever meet
Jace we was children then we didn't meet till about a year before we
married
but Mr Clop Gibson told me after me and Jace was married
that he pulled papa waggon out of mud, Mr Cop Gibson said his
wife, Jace mama, Lane Gibson, toldhim to take his mule and pull Mr
Bozeman out, he said she said Mr Bozeman let Clop puthis mules to
the wagon they pull you out and it tickle Mr and Mrs Gibson how easy
they mules pulled them out but papa mules was give out when the got
in a mud hold they wasn't able to pull out so Mr Gibson said when
they got papa out and on good road he mad it to Montgomery so now we
dont haft worry with mules and wagons any moore for they are plenty
cars and trucks and tractors so you hardly see mules and wagons ny
moore.
Will get back to where me and Jace got married we moved out to
our selfs and Jace had all ready started a farm and had done planted
his corn and cotton we made a good crops that of 1912 there the next
year of February first Ruby was borned. Boy was we two happy yas yas
we thought we had the prettiest little black headed girl in the
world I think thank she pretty and all of my sweet children I know I
whiped you all a lots but i wanted youall to be good so everybody
would love you all as I know people love good children and it takes
some whipping to make children good and i made allo fyour all work
as me and Jace couldn't do enuff to feed and clothes all of you all
so i hope you all unde stand we really loved our children two my
Dady made me worke and he whiped me two but i loved him for learning
me to work and my step mother lernt me to keep the dishes washed up
and beds made up and so you see i still do that all tho i ant able
to do what id like to do so now i old and feble and cant work much
ore but i cant stop trying to work as i like to work. i am glad me
and Jace stayed to gether didn't seprate and i do hpe and pray the
young peopleof now a days would or could stay together.
i am so proud we both worked and planned thangs how to make a
honest living and i would talk to my children and tell them i hoped
they would stay together well i am tired and thank ill close as you
all kjnow our pass since you all got big enuff to notice thangs so
may all who reads this will under stand we love all our children but
we had to work so hrd till we couldn't take are feel like petting or
playing with you all liek we would liked to done but i still love
all of you all just the same.
May God Bless you all, Mama Ethel Gibson age at this time 81
years and 1 month and 2 weeks old this 12-15-74 i was borned October
17 - 18-93
