[One of my teachers at Camp Creek School was] Anna McAllister. She was a cousin of our first teacher James Wilkinson and lived in the same neighborhood. I used to go home with her and there I met the little crippled boy again, but he was about grown up and no worse for his long illness except a limp. His closest friend was a brother of Anna McAllister named Will. It seemed they were together almost constantly. The first night I visited, Will McAllister walked me from church to their home. I liked him very much. The next week I received a letter, and I thought it would be from Will, but it was from Leander Henson. He asked me to date him and I hesitated for a week or so because I really wasn’t wanting a boyfriend yet.
Finally I wrote to him and made a date with him. From that time on we were good friends, but I only saw him once a month when my father preached. I was nearly fourteen when I had my first date with him and much too young, but I was very mature for my age and my parents didn’t object to my going with him. I had a friend on Camp Creek, Martha Wilson and soon his chum Will McAllister was dating her and they would come to Camp Creek together to see us.
One very sad thing happened [in 1903], my boy friend’s chum, who was dating a friend of mine became very ill and passed away. Leander came to Patterson to the school with a lead horse for me. It was a great shock and almost my first experience with death since I lost my little sister. I remember the sad ride home and the days that followed. My friend was grief stricken for they were engaged to be married.
That was early fall, along in November. Several of us including my brother, Leander, myself, Will McAllister’s sister Lottie, and his brother Joe, and Mabel Wilkinson joined the church and were baptized by my father on a cold wintry day in November, 1903, I believe. Perhaps the death of Leander!s friend had something to do with our decision for he was a good christian boy.
The next year an old gentleman was hired to teach [the Camp Creek] school. This was the year 1903, I believe. My parents felt I could not advance enough under him, so I entered the Patterson school that fall and stayed with Will and Ruth thru’ the week and some of them would come for me usually Friday evening and I would go home till Sunday evening or Monday when I’d return to go to school.
It was indeed wonderful to be back with old friends and school-mates and there were some new faces who had moved there since we left, among them a girl I learned to love named Alice Elayer.
I had a splendid teacher this year at Patterson. I took eighth and ninth grade work. There were no high schools and teachers could get a certificate to teach right out of grade school. I learned a great deal under Mr. Stephens, more than any other except Jim Wilkinson.
School progressed without incident that I recall till the last day, when six or seven of us older girls really did “show out”. I don’t remember who was into this but myself. I’m sure they were Lucy Bennett, Alice Elayer, Effie Angel, Floy, and perhaps Nan and Alpha Daffron.
Instead of returning to school after the noon hour we went to the “Fort Hill”, that is where General Price’s soldiers built and fought a battle on his raid which came through Patterson during the Civil War. Sometimes in later years when we have met we talked about this and laughed, but I’m sure it’s one time in my life I’m really ashamed of.
