SEGMENT: HEALTH, FAMILY, & TOWNS
Eva Clough>UIS Collection C-G>UIS Collection C-G, Segment 5
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- HEALTH
- Mother died in 1949 of heart trouble and neuritis. Father died in 1940 at 65. Father worked hard and suffered from exposure. Did not have to see doctor often. For coughs and colds used wild cherry bark tea or horehound tea and put turpentine on their chests. Swallowed petroleum jelly for sore throats. Put sugar in bad cuts to stop bleeding. Heard that ground up hornet's nests were good for cuts. Children only got measles and whooping cough.
- FAMILY
- Children took over house and farm when mother died. Enjoyed country life. All the children but the oldest dropped out of school after the eighth grade. Oldest son went to high school. Ms. Clough did not want to go to high school. Daughters worked in people's houses sometimes but tried to leave one sibling with the mother at all times. Children worked around the farm while mother was still alive but after father died. Describes chopping wood with a gasoline engine power saw. Oldest brother left home at 19, worked at garages in Donnellson, IL, went into the service, worked for a threshing machine in Nebraska, and then started his own business with a garage, a machine shop, and a lathe in Donnellson, Illinois. Brother's business burnt down and he had to restart. The two daughters and young brother never dated. Older brother married at 46.
- TOWNS
- Traveling salesmen would come to their house. Bought extracts, but did not usually buy anything else from salesmen who came from Watkins, McConnon, Raleigh, and Heberling. Took a wagon or surrey to town when parents were alive, walked after they died. Carried groceries home. Did not take horses because cars scared the horses.
