I started to school in the old Bogart school building. The first graders sat on a long bench like church pews. Miss Marion Peoples Waller was my first teacher. A big day in our life was the day we marched up to the new school. It had the longest hall and the largest auditorium I had .ever seen. I remember teachers like Miss Marion, Miss Ada Griffits, Miss Kansas Henderson, Miss Lucille, Henderson, and Miss Edda Miller.
Mother taught music at school and kept a close watch on Catherine, Helen Ruth (Tence) and I. I remember going to town, since we always lived on a farm. My Dad would take me everywhere he went. We would go to Ned Nelson's store and get ice cream. I gathered broom sticks and sold them to Ned for his broom factory. He was one of my favorite people. Another place we enjoyed going was to Mr. Raulston's meat market. We would buy cheese and crackers or bologna. He would also have one cent cookies about the size of a saucer.
The first funeral I remember going to was Mr. Hudy Pierce's. He was a preacher. He was a diabetic. He drove a horse and buggy. Many times he came to our house and Mother would give him buttermilk to drink. He would drink a whole pitcher full. My Aunt Clyde took me to his funeral. The people would line up and march around and around his casket. Aunt Clyde and I must have gone by ten times.
Mr. Barnhill kept a sleigh in the depot that was available to anyone who wanted to use it. My Dad said it was there when he came to Philadelphia in 1914. We would take it up to the top of Government Hill and pile five or six people on it and ride all the way to the old highway.
Trains and cars always fascinated me when I was growing up. There were times that we didn't have a car. I always envied Mr. Babb who worked at the Mill and lived in Loudon. He had a big black car that he drove to work each day. I still like to watch the trains go by. I have always said that, in retirement, I would like to sit on Mrs. Eveline's front porch and rock and watch the trains go by. I now have a big antique car that looks very much like Mr. Babb's.
I will always cherish the opportunity of growing up on the farm and in a small community. Every child should have that opportunity. My children spent as much time as they could with Mother and Dad, and some of their fondest memories are of those times on the farm.
I remember when Norris Dam was built. It forced the Hills, Bledsoes, and Hamiltons to give up their homes and move to Philadelphia. They were all fine families and have had a strong influence on the community.
J.B. Windle, Jr.