SEGMENT: FAMILY, LAND, & HEALTH
John Keith>UIS Collection K-M>UIS Collection K-M, Segment 1
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- FAMILY
- He and wife did not go to church regularly. Used Sundays to rest when they were raising a family. Sunday was for rest.
- LAND
- Rented property for 6 years in all, 2 years from old landlord and 3 years from the landlord's son, who originally owned a farm by the Rainmakers' camp. Discusses where neighbors lived at the time. Rented there until 1936 and then went back to the Walshville home to rent for one year and then bought it the next, along with 80 acres, called the Costello 80, in 1940. Paid $65 per acre for original farm. Used money from wife's 20 year endowment from her life insurance and some money from feeding cows. Did not visit Walshville often. Mother had passed away of cerebral hemorrhage by then but father visited the new farm.
- HEALTH
- Had to travel to doctor to tell him they needed him. Did not think about banks and hospitals often, rural families did not use them. Farmers kept their money on themselves, and people borrowed money from neighbors. Used home remedies from great-grandmother who died at 90 and lived with the family since parents were married. Used herbs, wild roots, and barks to make medicines. Remedies worked, and people usually lived to be 40-50 years old. Remembers stories great-grandmother told about trapping deer who jumped over fences and the Pepper Mill, where great-grandmother grew up. She moved south after marriage and had 13 children, then lived to be 90. She would wash dishes and make quilt blocks, died of old age. Did not call the doctor very often, only after the home remedies fail. If a doctor was needed then neighbors would come to sit with the sick person.
