22 Mar 2004
Hi, Lynda! I love your Perry County Stuff, especially the school houses. I lived on Williams Branch (Ary) in Kentucky until I was 11 years old. We all attended the Williams Branch School (which we could see from
our house). My sister and I visited Williams Branch this past summer, and I noticed the school house was gone.
Can you list information on that school. I especially would like to know the teachers' names. I would also love to see a picture of the school house. When I was very small I used to come to the school house in the morning and start the fire in the stove to warm the building up before school started. Then after school I stayed to clean the blackboard, sweep the floor, bring in wood and coal for the next day's fire, and pump water and bring it in for the next day. This was when I was between the ages of 8 and 11. Surely God protected me during those dark lonely mornings! I was always so afraid. However, I made 10 cents a day. I saved my money until I had enough to buy a pair of shoes.
I got a job at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio when I was 17 years old. I had to fill out security clearance papers. One day an investigator from the Office of Special Investigation called me in. He said none of my information from Kentucky could be verified. There was no record of my birth, nor was there anything on my ever attending school there. I can understand midwives didn't always record the births, but I could never figure out the missing school records. I attended Williams Branch School for Grades 1 through 5, then Robinson for Grade 6. My mom spelled my name Cubie Williams, but some of the teachers assumed mom didn't know how to spell correctly and would sometimes spell my name Cuby or Cuba. Do you have any idea how I could get my school information? I'll soon be 65 years old and probably will never need them, but I am so very curious. I would appreciate any help you can give me. Thanks, Lynda!
Cubie Eldridge
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