The Beginning

Thomas James Smith, my father, was born December 16, 1905, to John and Annie Smith in Jefferson County, Mississippi. One day, when he was twenty-eight and still single, he was over at Clark, Mississippi, at the post office talking to Hollis Segrest, the postmaster. Hollis asked, "Tom, when are you going to get married?"

Daddy said, "Well, I'm not against the idea, but I just ain't found the right girl yet."

Mr. Segrest said, "Well, Pearl Beesley has a beautiful young gal up yonder," referring to a house up the hill to the rear of the store/ post office. He continued, "Her name is Annie Mae, and I think she is about marrying age."

Daddy said, "Well, I'll have to talk to her one day when I get a chance."

Later on, Daddy heard that one of those parties that the folks called a "dance" was taking place at a friend's house. There would be live music, if the local musicians were available to play. The music makers played for food and whiskey or whatever alcoholic beverage was offered. Moonshine whiskey (homemade whiskey) was the mainstay of alcoholic drinks. If the musicians were not available, the dance would have to be held at someone's house who owned a wind-up record player. No invitations would be sent out. Everybody around the neighborhood had an open invitation to every dance. The dance would begin, and the house would fill with guests. There would be no cars parked in the yard, because few people had horses to ride, let alone cars to drive. Some rode work mules, but maybe they didn't have a saddle. Some just walked over. The Blue Hill and Clark communities were densely populated in those days, so the walk wouldn't be more than a mile or two. The couples would meet at some location and walk two by two down the trail to the dance. They would be spaced out several steps, so sweet talk could be exchanged as they walked along and not be overheard by the others.

Some brought 78 RPM records to the party if they had them, though there weren't many who did. Owning a record player was a luxury around the neighborhood in 1934, and the Depression had everybody hunting rabbit tracks to keep from starving to death, as Mamma's brother, Uncle Lewis Beesley, used to say. Uncle Lewis said they couldn't afford shells to shoot rabbits, so they would take a piece of charcoal and rub a black spot on the side of an old dry log, and the rabbit would think it was a hole. When they chased the rabbit, he would try to jump into the fake hole and would knock himself out, and that was how they harvested their rabbits. He told us kids that sometimes they didn't have shoes to wear. When they went to church, they would be walking as quietly as a cat on the hardwood floor, and people would know they didn't have shoes. They would put hickory nuts between their toes so they would tap on the floor as they walked in and people would think they were wearing shoes and wouldn't look down at their feet. We never believed all that, but we laughed until our sides hurt at Uncle Lewis. Uncle Lewis said they called rabbits "Hoover Hogs" because the Depression was blamed on President Herbert Hoover. Back then, the blame or credit was always on whomever was president, the same as today. Times were hard, and music recordings were hard to come by. Daddy said some people would do without flour to buy a Jimmie Rogers record. Jimmie has been given the credit for being the father of country music.

At those dances, the same records would be played over and over, and when they got tired of hearing those, they would sing themselves. Mama said some of those ole country boys and gals were good singers. Daddy fit that description, and he knew a lot of Jimmie Rogers's songs. Daddy and Mama were both attending one of those dances. Daddy noticed this pretty young girl and went over to ask her for a dance. It was Mama, and she accepted. They spent a lot of time talking together as the party continued. That was referred to as courting. If you were seen talking to a member of the opposite sex and no one else was around, well, you were courting. Maybe you didn't want to admit it, but you were and there was no use in trying to deny it.

My father lived almost on top of a famous spot in that part of the country called Blue Hill, and my mother lived about three miles east of Blue Hill just beyond the Clark Post Office and General Store. Clark is no longer a town, but it was a town with a post office back then. Mom and Dad walked to dances together and to Bethesda Baptist Church together on Sundays. After a reasonable courtship, Daddy proposed the big question, and Mama said yes. At seven o'clock on a Wednesday night, December 26, 1934, in my mother's grandpa Klar's house, they were married.

The old custom of dressing for your wedding was, "Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue, and a sixpence in his shoe." This custom was observed in their wedding. They didn't have an old British sixpence, so Daddy put a silver dime in his shoe. Mama wore a brown dress and brown shoes that she borrowed from her sister-in-law. Daddy wore his blue navy serge suit. Each of those items was supposed to be good luck. The "something old" was for continuity with the bride's family. "Something new" was for the bride's new life ahead. "Something borrowed" was from a happily married friend or family member with hopes the good fortune in marriage would carry over to the new bride. "Something blue" was worn because blue symbolized love. The "sixpence in his shoe" was for wealth and security. I'm not sure if both could wear these things or if it was meant just for the bride, but between the two of them, all these things were used in their wedding. I guess the "sixpence in his shoe" referred to the groom. Daddy's shoes were new.

Mr. Porter Sanders from Union Church, Mississippi, the local justice of the peace, performed the ceremony. There were so many people there, they decided to have the wedding out in the front yard, but there were no lights other than the light from the fire. Somebody held a lighted pine splinter over Mr. Porter's head so he could read the scripture. He finally finished the ceremony and pronounced the couple married. Mr. Porter never got around to signing the licenses, and they never did get around to getting the licenses signed afterward. So, technically speaking, my parents were never married. Union Church,...