My grandmother, Iva Potts, married my grandfather, O. H. Hartley, in 1908 when she was sixteen years old. Papa was seven years older than she was. Together they had five children, one of whom died in infancy, and the other four who lived on into adulthood. My dad was their second child, born in 1912. Her life must have been very hard in those days because there was no electricity or any other modern convenience. Everything she did was from scratch. Obviously, there was no inside plumbing in those days, but they had a two-seater outhouse. I can tell you that as a child I was scared to death if I ever had to use it! Of course, I remember her as an older lady and cannot imagine what her young life was like. She and Papa were faithful members of their church at a time when religion was a very important part of people’s lives. When I visited in the summer, we always went to Bible School with the neighbors. Church and family visits broke the monotony of a lonely life on the farm.
Mama had an organ in her living room, and she always asked me to come and play for her friends when she had a church meeting. She was proud because I was taking piano lessons and wanted to show off my talent, I’m sure! In any case, she had one of those air-operated machines, and pumping the pedals was very hard work. If I didn’t get enough air in it, the notes sounded like a sick animal! Thank goodness, I never embarrassed her.
Besides her church circle, she was a member of one of the first Home Extension Clubs in Davie County, and that was another event that called for entertainment.
Just yesterday I was looking through my treasures and found a note that she wrote to me for my graduation from high school in 1959. She gave me a set of glass cups and dessert plates, and in the note she said, “I thought you would enjoy using these dishes to serve refreshments to your friends when they visit.” One gift that writing gives us is precious memories like that one, which I had not thought of in years.
In my mind’s eye, I am walking with her across the road to visit her neighbor who lived about half a mile away. She has on her bonnet and her apron, and we stop several times on the way so she can rest.