Fannin County TXGenWeb
Shaffer Family
would the sender of this
file please contact me
Fannin County TXGenWeb
would the sender of this
file please contact meMEMORIES OF JOHN HENRY SHAFFER JR.MY NAME IS JOHN HENRY SHAFFER JR. AND FOR A FEW YEARS NOW MY CHILDREN HAVE ENCOURAGED ME TO SIT DOWN AND PUT IN WRITING SOME OF THE THINGS I REMEMBER GROWING UP.
I WAS BORN, JUNE 28, 1925, IN FANNIN COUNTY, THE STATE OF TEXAS AND JUST ABOUT ONE MILE WEST OF THE TOWN OF LEONARD, TEXAS TO JOHN HENRY SHAFFER AND MYRTLE MAE MORRIS SHAFFER. I MIGHT ADD EVERYONE BACK HOME CALLED ME BY MY INITIALS J. H. MY SISTERS AND THEIR FAMILIES STILL CALL ME J. H. TODAY. MY GREAT GREAT GRANDDAD ON THE SHAFFER SIDE OF OUR FAMILY WAS NAMED JOHN HENRY SHAFFER. MY GREAT GRANDDAD ON THE FELMET SIDE OF OUR FAMILY WAS NAMED JOHN HENRY FELMET. MY DAD WAS NAMED AFTER JOHN HENRY FELMET.
MY FATHER AND MOTHER LIVED AND WORKED ON A FARM. THEY WERE KNOWN IN THOSE DAYS AS SHARE CROPPERS. IN OTHER WORDS THE ONE WHO OWNED THE FARM LAND WAS THE LANDLORD AND THE SHARE CROPPERS GAVE TO THE LANDLORD 1/3 OF ALL COTTON THAT WAS RAISED AND 1/4 OF ALL CORN OR OTHER FEED THAT WAS RAISED. THIS WAS PAYMENT FOR THE USE OF THE FARM AND THE HOME AND ALL OTHER BUILDINGS ON THE FARM.
IN 1925 ALMOST ALL FARMING WAS DONE WITH HORSES AND MULES. THERE WERE FEW TRACTORS AND THEY WERE ONLY USED TO CLEAR LAND OF STUMPS, AND BREAK LAND FOR PLANTING. THE FARMER RAISED MOST ALL OF HIS FOOD THERE ON HIS FARM. I REMEMBER MOTHER CANNED LOTS OF VEGETABLES AND FRUIT EVERY YEAR AND WE STORED IT IN THE STORM CELLAR WHERE IT WAS COOL. ALL THE STUFF THAT SHE CANNED WAS PUT IN GLASS JARS, NOT CANS, UNTIL WE GOT READY TO USE IT. MOTHER WOULD CAN ENOUGH TO LAST US THROUGH UNTIL THE NEXT CANNING TIME. WE WOULD RAISE AND FATTEN TWO OR THREE HOGS EACH YEAR. THEY WOULD BE KILLED AND PROCESSED ABOUT THE TIME WE HAD OUR FIRST OR SECOND REAL COLD SPELL EACH YEAR. WE WOULD CUT UP THE MEAT THAT WAS TO BE EATEN AND SALTED DOWN IN WHAT WE CALLED THE SMOKE HOUSE. THIS CONSISTED OF THE HAMS, SHOULDER, MIDDLEN FOR BACON AND THE RIBS. THAT PART THAT WE GROUND INTO SAUSAGE WAS EITHER PUT IN COTTON CLOTH SACKS AND HUNG IN THE SMOKE HOUSE OR WAS MADE INTO SAUSAGE PATTIES AND PARTIALLY FRIED THEN PUT IN GLASS JARS AND COVERED WITH GREASE AND SEALED. THEY WOULD KEEP LONGER THIS WAY. THEN WE WOULD TAKE ALL OF THE FAT OF THE HOG AND CUT IT INTO SMALL PIECES THEN COOK IT IN A VERY LARGE CAST IRON WASH POT UNTIL THE FAT TURNED INTO LARD. IT WOULD THEN BE STRAINED AND PUT IN THREE, FIVE GALLON, TIN CONTAINERS TO BE STORED AND USED TO COOK WITH UNTIL NEXT HOG KILLING TIME. THE LIVER, TINDER LOIN, RIBS AND SOME OF THE SAUSAGE WE GOT TO EAT FIRST FOR WE HAD NO WAY TO KEEP IT FOR ANY LENGTH OF TIME. WE HAD NO FREEZERS OR REFRIGERATORS. WE DID NOT EVEN HAVE ANY ELECTRICITY. AFTER DARK WE USED KEROSENE LAMPS TO LIGHT OUR HOME AND ALSO TO COOK WITH.
IT WAS ALSO AT THIS TIME OF YEAR THAT WE MADE LYE SOAP FROM SOME OF THE FAT OF THE HOG. THIS LYE SOAP WAS USED TO WASH OUR CLOTHES. WE WOULD MAKE ENOUGH TO LAST FROM ONE YEAR UNTIL THE NEXT. ALSO I REMEMBER, MOTHER TAKING THE HOG HEAD AND SOME WAY MADE MINCE MEAT WHICH SHE CANNED AND WAS USED TO MAKE DELICIOUS PIES. MOTHER ALSO KNEW HOW TO MAKE HOMINY OUT OF CORN BY USING LYE TO DO IT. I KNOW IT HAD TO BE DONE JUST THE RIGHT WAY OR THE LYE COULD HURT A PERSON.
I GUESS IT WAS IN ABOUT 1937 OR 1938 THAT WHAT WAS CALLED THE ‘FARMERS CO-OP’, ORGANIZED AND BEGAN TO BUILD REFRIGERATOR FREEZERS WHERE FARMERS COULD RENT A REFRIGERATED LOCKER IN THIS BUILDING AND KEEP FROZEN ANY MEATS THAT WAS TO BE KEPT FOR LONG PERIODS OF TIME. IT WAS ONLY THEN THAT BEEF COULD BE KILLED AND KEPT BY THE FARMER. UNTIL THEN, IF A FARMER WANTED TO KILL A BEEF, HE WOULD GO AROUND TO HIS FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS AND EITHER SELL OR SWAP ALL THE MEAT HE COULD NOT USE UP REAL SOON TO THEM, FOR IT WOULD NOT KEEP WITHOUT REFRIGERATION VERY LONG. THE OTHER MEAT THAT WAS AVAILABLE TO US AS FARMERS WAS CHICKEN. WE ALWAYS SET SEVERAL HENS ON TWELVE OR FIFTEEN EGGS EACH YEAR IN ORDER TO HATCH SMALL CHICKENS EVERY YEAR. SO ABOUT THE TIME ALL OUR PORK WAS GONE WE COULD START EATING CHICKENS. I REMEMBER WE HAD TO BE ON THE LOOK OUT FOR A BIRD CALLED A CHICKEN HAWK. THEY WERE BAD ABOUT FLYING DOWN AND PICKING UP THE YOUNG CHICKENS AND FLYING OFF AND EATING THEM. ONCE A CHICKEN HAWK STARTING RAIDING YOUR CHICKENS YOU ALMOST HAD TO SHOOT HIM OR KEEP THE CHICKENS PENNED UP.
I REMEMBER THAT THERE WERE TIMES WHEN WE DID NOT HAVE PORK OR CHICKEN AND WE ATE RABBIT AND SQUIRRELS. REMEMBER THIS WAS DURING THE DEPRESSIONS TIMES. TIMES WERE HARD FOR LOTS OF PEOPLE. THERE WAS NO MONEY. WE WERE LUCKY TO LIVE ON A FARM TO RAISE OUR FOOD. WE DID NOT HAVE MUCH BUT I DON’T REMEMBER GOING HUNGRY. I HAVE SAT DOWN TO PINTO
BEANS AND CORNBREAD AND MAYBE AN ONION AND MOST OF THE TIME MILK AND MAKE A MEAL OUT OF IT LOTS OF TIMES. YOU DID NOT SEE MANY FAT PEOPLE BACK IN THOSE DAYS. ALSO, LOOKING BACK TO WHEN I WAS A LAD I NEVER THOUGHT ABOUT IT THEN BUT WITH NO RADIO AND NOT EVEN A DAILY NEWS PAPER WE DID NOT KNOW WHAT THE REST OF THE COUNTRY WAS DOING. WE WENT TO TOWN MAYBE ONCE A WEEK, SOMETIMES NOT EVEN THAT OFTEN SO THERE WAS NO BAD NEWS OR GOOD NEWS. THEREFORE, WE DID NOT WORRY LIKE PEOPLE DO TODAY. TODAY PEOPLE WORRY ABOUT WORLD WIDE PROBLEMS. THERE MUST HAVE BEEN LESS STOMACH ULCERS BACK THEN.OUR FARM BORDERED THE RAILROAD ON THE NORTH SIDE ABOUT A MILE OUTSIDE OF TOWN. MANY TIMES WE WOULD COUNT THE HOBOES OR MEN MIGRATING ACROSS THE COUNTRY LOOKING FOR WORK TO FEED FAMILIES BACK HOME FROM WHICH THEY CAME. THEY WOULD COME TO OUR FARM AND OFFER TO WORK FOR JUST SOMETHING TO EAT. I DON’T REMEMBER MOTHER EVER TURNING DOWN ANYONE THAT WAS HUNGRY. THOSE TIMES AND UNDER THOSE CIRCUMSTANCES IT WAS EMBEDDED IN MY MIND AND HAS BEEN A MOTIVATING FORCE IN MY LIFE TO NOT BE LAZY AND SAVE FOR THAT RAINY OR BAD DAY THAT WOULD AND DOES COME TO EVERYONE.
I DON’T REMEMBER SIS, MARTHA JEAN AND MYSELF BEING SICK VERY MUCH. ALL THREE OF US HAD BAD TONSILS. BACK THEN DOCTORS WOULD COME TO YOUR HOUSE AND TREAT YOU. DR. STAFORD WAS OUR DOCTOR AND WHEN MY TONSILS WOULD SWELL UP AND GET FESTERED AND INFECTED DR. STAFORD WOULD COME AND LANCE THEM AND GIVE ME MEDICINE. HE SAID ON ONE SUCH TRIP THAT THEY HAD TO COME OUT. DAD WANTED TO KNOW HOW MUCH IT WOULD COST AND HE SAID $50.00. HE TOLD DADDY TO JUST BRING ALL THREE KIDS TO HIS OFFICE AND HE WOULD TAKE THE TONSILS AND ADENOIDS FROM ALL THREE FOR THE PRICE OF ONE. HIS OFFICE WAS IN THE BACK OF A DRUG STORE ON THE WEST SIDE OF THE SQUARE IN LEONARD. WE WENT IN ONE MORNING AND WAS HOME THAT EVENING. I REMEMBER IT HURT BUT THE BAD PART WAS THE ETHER THAT THEY PUT US TO SLEEP WITH. SIS LATER HAD SOME TROUBLE WITH HER EYELIDS. WENT TO GREENVILLE, TEXAS FOR HER TREATMENTS. I ALSO WORE A BRACE ON MY FRONT TEETH FOR AWHILE. THE DENTIST OFFICE WAS UPSTAIRS ON THE NORTH OF THE SQUARE IN LEONARD.
I REMEMBER WHEN FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT OUR PRESIDENT CAME OUT WITH THE NEW DEAL. THE W. P. A. WAS ORGANIZED AND THE THREE C.C.C. AND OTHER PROGRAMS THAT WOULD PUT PEOPLE BACK TO WORK. YOU ONLY GOT ONE DOLLAR A DAY BUT YOU COULD KEEP A FAMILY ALIVE WITH THAT DOLLAR EACH DAY. THE GOVERNMENT PAID FARMERS SO MUCH PER ACRE TO PLOW UNDER COTTON AND OTHER CROPS. THEY WERE PAID SO MUCH TO KILL OFF CATTLE. ALL OF THESE THINGS WERE DONE TO HELP THE ECONOMY. TIMES WERE ROUGH UP UNTIL THE BEGINNING OF WORLD WAR II. IT WAS THEN THAT JOBS OPENED UP IN THE CITIES. I WAS THE ONLY BOY AND THE OLDEST OF THREE CHILDREN. I HAD TWO SISTERS, KATHERINE VIOLA AND MARTHA JEAN. WE WERE BORN IN A THREE ROOM FARM HOUSE. WE WERE DELIVERED AT BIRTH BY A MID-WIFE. MY FATHER WAS A YOUNG FARMER ON HIS FIRST FARM ABOUT 75 ACRES. HIS DAD, MY GRANDDAD, GAVE HIM A TEAM OF HORSES, A COW, A HOG AND ENOUGH FARM EQUIPMENT TO GET STARTED. THE WORK WAS HARD AND THE HOURS WAS LONG. AS FAR BACK AS I CAN REMEMBER I WORKED. DAD ALWAYS HAD SOMETHING FOR ME TO DO.
I STARTED OUT AS A VERY SMALL LAD MILKING THE COWS AND FEEDING THE CHICKENS AND CARRYING THE WATER FOR MOTHER TO USE IN THE HOME AND WASH CLOTHES WITH. MOTHER HAD TO WASH ALL OF OUR CLOTHES ON A RUB BOARD. WE HAD A BIG BLACK CAST IRON POT THAT WE WOULD BUILD A BIG FIRE UNDER. WHEN THE WATER GOT BOILING HOT MOTHER WOULD CUT UP SOME LYE SOAP AND PUT IT IN THE WATER AND THE DIRTY CLOTHING. AFTER BOILING THEM FOR AWHILE SHE WOULD TAKE THEM OUT AND RUB THEM ON THAT RUB BOARD TO GET ALL THE DIRT OUT THEN RINSE THEM IN ABOUT TWO TUBS OF WATER AND LAST RINSE THEM IN SOME BLUING WATER AND THEN HANG THEM ON A CLOTHES LINE TO DRY. SHE HAD TO RING EVERY PIECE OF CLOTHING AND SHEETS BY HAND. ALL OF THIS TOOK LOTS OF WATER AND WAS A FULL DAYS WORK MOST OF THE TIME. TO IRON THE CLOTHING SHE HAD A FLAT SMOOTH BOTTOM IRON THAT SHE HEATED OVER THE BURNER OF THE COOK STOVE. MOST ALL OF OUR CLOTHING HAD TO BE IRONED BECAUSE THEY WERE ALL COTTON MATERIAL NOT A MIXTURE OF MATERIALS THAT DON’T NEED IRONING THAT WE HAVE TODAY. MOTHER HAD IT ROUGH BACK THEN.
