| Photo |  |
|---|---|
| Persons | The Great Walnut Cracking Machine Kenneth Brown on left and Aaron Walker on the right |
| Research Note | My name is Warren Walker
I was born on a fruit farm 2 and 1/2 miles west of Exeter, September 5, 1926. The picture of the Black Walnut cracking machine shows my father, Aaron Walker, and my Uncle, Kenneth Brown. Kenneth was married to Avo Cargile and lived in Cassville most of his life. The year of the picture is somewhere in the range of 1930 - 1932. This machine was to make them both rich and famous, such were the dreams of young men back during the beginning of the Great Depression. My father, Aaron, married my mother, Nadine Cargile. He was a lucky man to have done so. He and his family lived on his father's farm (A. L. Walker's Fruit Farm 2 & 1/2 miles west of Exeter) in the old Warren house. He tried farming, trucking, and a business (black walnut cracking) to make a living. He invented a blackwalnut cracker that was run by a gasoline engine. He would buy black walnuts, have them cracked, and have the kernals picked out by local (women) help. He would go each morning and pick up his employees (kernal pickers). One I remember had a name of Maggie. Maggie talked all day long. She was the best employee of the lot. I still remember her constant chatter at the kernal picking table. The black walnut kernals were sold where ever he could find a market. From my memories as a child in Barry County. |
| Date Taken | 1930 - 1932 |
| Resource | family photos |
| Submitted by | This was posted in 1999, revised in 2010 and in 2014. Submitted by: Warren Walker |
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