Coming Home
While his years in the lumber camps of South Carolina must have entailed many hardships, my grandfather never said much about them except for the few amusing stories which he related to me.
His next stop was Cincinnati, where he worked for a carriage maker. It was here that he learned many of the skills that carried him through life. One of the most amazing things was how a 19 year old boy could manage to get a photo of himself back to Salisbury without any damage. This photo was made into two post cards. I have both of them. One was sent to my grandmother before they were married. The card, sent in 1908, was addressed to Josephine Kelly, 200 Second St., Salisbury, Md.
I went to look for this house and figured it was on the corner of Second and Pearl. There is nothing there now, so I figured that time had claimed another milestone in my life. Then I came across a book issued by the City of Salisbury in October, 1952. The City decided to renumber all the streets in Salisbury. This book gave all the old numbers with the corresponding new numbers. This has proved to be an invaluable tool in researching any address in Salisbury prior to October, 1952. The new address was 134 Second St. and there is a house on it. Verification of it being the same house was made through the comparison with a photo I have of her sister standing on the front porch in 1906. The post card he sent to her was cut into an oval and framed to be cherished her entire life, for it was always displayed prominently in their house. The other resides in my post card collection. As you can see by the photo of the card, he really dressed up to have his picture taken. He had also not started growing his moustache yet (or he wasn’t old enough to grow a decent one).
From Cincinnati, he went to Minnesota where he found work in the wheat fields. While there he became enamored of a certain young lady who was the owner’s daughter on the farm where he worked. I do know that he slept in the hayloft in the barn. Her parents never thought he was good enough for their daughter. He didn’t have any money and he didn’t have any land. So he returned to Salisbury in 1910 with hopes that he could make enough with his newfound skills to impress them when he returned. However, as my grandmother told me years later, when he returned she “set her little cap for him” and he never again moved away from Salisbury.
(This is part 6 of a 7 part story of my grandfather’s life – part 7 next week)
3 comments:
Great story, as always from Mr. Chevallier!
The lesson to be learned is that this man managed to travel, feed, clothe and entertain himself simply by working hard. He had no food stamps, welfare, unemployment benefits, disability, Section 8 housing, etc.
dittos to 11:02. at 66 yrs. old, I remember what my parents shared with us regarding their upbringing and the "great depression". they received No help from the government. the only time I took help was when the business I was working for closed and I took unemployment for about 12 weeks. I secured another job. yes; I was grateful this was available, but very embarrassed to take it even though my employer paid into this for his employees.
Ah... Good old Second Street. What a shame it has turned into a ghetto. I guess it's Whitey's fault for this being a ghetto. Come to think of it today's ghetto's are owned mostly by white slumlords, but what is the reason it turned ghetto. Maybe George can enlighten us on this one.
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