We here at the “Home Twenty” have survived the onslaught of
the ghosts and goblins of Halloween. We had a goodly crowd of little ones
come by. We shared our yard space with Kay Stone and the Rainbow Girls
again this year. Now it is time to enter into the Thanksgiving season. We
are already thinking about changing the decorations in the Pioneer Village
and in our glassed in showcase area here at the historical society
archives building. Right now we have a really beautiful quilt made by
Nancy Bays in the window along with the heritage tree made by Herley Manns’
family for Founders Days this year. There are pictures of the children’s
part in the program that was part of the Opening Ceremony.
I remember Thanksgivings of yesteryear on the Burton Fork of
Mash Fork where I grew up. We looked forward to that holiday almost as
much as we did Christmas as it meant we would get to go hunting with
hunters I considered professionals.
My uncle Robert “Bob” Hudson and his buddy Harry Thomas were
two of these hunters. Harry was the grandfather of Richard Thomas who
became well known as the character “John Boy” Walton on the TV series The
Waltons. I still like to watch those reruns every time I can catch them
on TV.
Bob Hudson and his dad invented the famous “Gatlin” gun that
was used by Chicago gangsters. It was said they stole the rights to the
gun from the Hudsons.
Back to my story, Bob was a quail hunter. Harry was a
squirrel and rabbit hunter. He was also the county judge of Johnson
County and, to top it off, he became vice president of the National Plott
Hound Association. Proudly, I became secretary-treasurer of the same
club.
Once Harry Thomas gave me a squirrel dog pup that I raised to
become the best tree dog in the area. Of course, she doubled over as a
‘possum dog, too! So, you can readily see why I looked forward to
Thanksgiving so much. It meant hunting with the big-time hunters!
I’ve seen dozens of rabbits hung on the clothesline ready to
be skinned as well as several quail. Many a time this kept meat on the
table for the family.
When we were younger, we boys weren’t allowed to carry guns,
partly because we couldn’t afford shells and partly because our mother
didn’t trust us not to have an accident. During those days we went
hunting carrying a grubbing hoe or an ax. Whenever a snow came we would
take a coffee sack on our hunting trips. The roads had metal drains and
rabbits would take shelter in them. We would put our sack over one end of
the drain pipe and turn a small dog loose in the other end. We would
catch that rabbit every time!
Mom could fix a bountiful feast of this wild game meat along
with the home-canned and preserved foods she had put up from the farm.
This kept her brood of ten youngsters well fed and happy. Our hunting
trips provided food for the family as well as serving as recreation and a
leisurely pursuit for the boys of the family.
As I was writing these Comments, I received word that William
Elsey “Belsey” Connelley has answered the last roll call, that being the
call to eternal rest amongst all those who have made preparation with God,
our Heavenly Father, before they take this final journey.
Belsey and his brothers, Marcus and John Russell, served our
country during World War II. They were assigned to be truck drivers in
foreign countries and kept their comrades on the battlefield in supplies.
Their trucks became their home as they ate and slept in them between their
travels to and from supply points.
My sister Luva Mae Preston went to Michigan during those war
days and worked in a defense plant. On her way home for a visit, she met
Belsey who was on his way home from his war service. This meeting
blossomed into courtship and a marriage that lasted until sister Luva’s
death on May 5, 2011.
I became one of my brother-in-law’s helpers when he wanted to
build a place to house his garage tools. Belsey had a taxi-cab trailer
and a Model A Ford car that he made into a truck. He had obtained an old
warm house on the property of one of the Middle Fork Arnett’s. We took
the brick down from this building and hauled it on the trailer pulled by
the Ford truck. These bricks were used in the construction of his first
garage.
He started obtaining junk cars and saw the need of having a
wrecker to haul them in so he built one. By this time, strip-mining coal
was booming and his wrecker was unable to pull those big trucks that would
break down, most often fully loaded with coal. So, Belsey built himself a
super wrecker in order to be able to handle those big jobs.
Around this time I had entered the Army and after basic
training in Virginia was on my way en route to California when their first
child, Madonna, was born. Another daughter Marci was born a few years
later.
Belsey was very knowledgeable about all kinds of vehicles and
was often sought out to help people with repair jobs. He never let his
work interfere with his church work or his Masonic Lodge meetings. He was
community minded and served on the City Council for fifty years, always
looking for ways to build up our town and county.
We shall miss him in our family and in our historical
society. He always enjoyed coming to the meetings and would drop in to
visit almost every day. He liked people and enjoyed hearing their stories
of the places they were from and about their families. He usually knew
their ancestors and remembered incidents in their lives that added to the
visitor’s enjoyment of their trip to Magoffin County. His knowledge of
the happenings in our area was unequaled.
Magoffin County Historical
Society
