No one has the privilege of choosing the time or place of his birth. Perhaps there are those who would have preferred a different time or maybe, if they could, would have selected a different place. When Dr. Sebastian brought me to join my family at Patterson one hot day in July at the very beginning of the twentieth century, he did me a great favor. It was no great event for there were already eight children in the family and I have often wondered, if my older brothers and sisters threw rocks at the old doctor. But it does seem that children were acceptable in those days and as strange as it may seem to modem day thinking, children were often considered assets rather than liabilities. At least it never occurred to me that I was not welcome.
Patterson was a growing town – Wayne County was a growing County – all nature
welcomed me so I had to grow too. But I did not get to stay at Patterson. My father suffered an eye infection when I was about two years old and had to give up his blacksmith business and move to a farm on “Upper Camp Creek” about six miles from Patterson.
The Swiss Family Robinson had nothing on our family except they were on an Island. Our farm was one-hundred sixty acres of mostly wild timber land lying between two hills and criss-crossed by a beautiful little stream. Many years ago the Indians had made their home along the banks of the creek — their mounds were still there and hence the name Camp Creek. All that the natural resources had to offer, combined with countless hours of manual labor and the help of a few good old horses and mules, this farm produced the necessities of life for a family of 7 growing children.
My eldest brother William and Ruth stayed at Patterson where he continued to run the blacksmith shop. The term “necessities” as used above cannot be understood in modern terms. It did not include among other things, “Money.” It did not include any of the present day items such as transportation or communication. Our nearest market was four miles over a hilly rough road to Des Arc – an all day journey by wagon. DES ARC: that was where the trains were and on a clear day ·we could smell the coal smoke. How sweet that polluted air smelled!
