The following story is a glimpse into Nana’s travel to Texas in 1943. She was 19 years old, had never traveled out of the Elimsport area and was going alone. I’m in awe of the courage it took for her to make that journey! As we saw in one of her earlier poems, she had to stay overnight in a hotel in Oklahoma during her long trip. This story also introduces us to her love of Texas Bluebonnets that remained throughout her life.
April 1943 – 19 years old
I left Williamsport on the Pennsylvania Railroad bound for Austin, Texas with $30 in my pocket. World War II was in full swing. I changed trains in St. Louis and boarded the Katy lines. In the seat across from me were two nice Southern girls. They said, “Are y’all going plum to Tulsa?” Not knowing Southern talk, I asked, “Does that mean all the way?” They answered, “Yes.”
The train was slow-moving and, while gazing out the window, I saw blue bonnets. After three days and nights, I arrived in Austin. I got a room at a boarding house on 1205 Nueces Street. The landlady, whose name was Mabel Huckabee, was very nice. She later got me a job at Steck Publishing Company. I liked Austin, Texas a lot.
Written by Deanie
Rhone, April 27, 2011
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| Nana & Daddy, Austin, Texas October 1943 |
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| Nana at her apartment with her Blue Bonnet Flag, Montgomery 2013 |
This
next story happened 78 years ago this month! Again, Nana was making a trip
alone. In 1944, Daddy was sent to Fort Leonard
Wood in Missouri from Camp Swift in Austin, Texas. Growing up in the country
probably prepared Nana to face life in that rural cabin in Missouri.
February 1944 Austin to Ozarks
I went from Austin Texas to Rolla Missouri in February of 1944. There had never been a snow storm so deep on Rt. 66 as the one that happened the first night I got to Rolla. I had rented a cabin out in the country but because of the snow storm, I spent my first night in Missouri in a hotel room. When I traveled to my cabin it was very cold, not like the warm Texas weather. All I had with me were my summer clothes. The cabin had a wood stove for heat so I had to split wood to start a fire. The only wood left when I got there was green wood and it would not burn. I was so cold. After a while, my sister from Pennsylvania sent me some winter clothes.
My cabin was not close to town and I had no way to get to town. My landlady had a store for those of us out in the country to get groceries. On Wednesday nights, my landlady took me with her on the highway to Newburg to go to church. The pastor there came in from town so that “us country people” could have a church service.
By spring the weather was warmer. On weekends, Stan and I took a walk on a path in the Ozark Mountains. The Ozarks were very nice.
By July, Stan was called to go overseas in battle for World War II. He was sent to Italy. I went back home to PA to stay for the November arrival of our first baby. On November 19, 1944, Wayne Eugene Rhone arrived at The Williamsport Hospital.
Written by: Deanie Rhone, May 11, 2011
I like to think of Nana and Daddy together as they walked through the Ozarks. Everything in their life changed when Daddy came home from World War II. This may have been Nana and Daddy’s last time together as a happy young couple.
This picture of an old post card is similar to what Rolla may have looked like when Nana was there. She often talked about Route 66!
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| View of Pine St in a vintage postcard, Route 66 in Rolla Missouri | |
This next story reaches back into Nana’s early childhood. What a traumatic event for such a young child!
1920’s and 1930’s
I was living by Kennedy Cross Roads when I was five years old. One summer day my intoxicated Dad put Mother’s head on chopping block and with ax made a threat that scared us. So me and my brother ran to the neighbor’s and got help. With my mother, we were taken to my Uncle Bert and Aunt Kathryn Buss’ to live for the rest of the summer. By winter we went to live in an apartment on East 3rd Street in Williamsport with my sisters.
Later we went back to live with Dad in a house rented from Aunt Nettie and Uncle Jim Hamilton. From there I went to Pikes Peak School for eight years in a one room country school.
Written by Deanie Rhone,
May 18th, 2011
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| Nana and Uncle Bert approx. 1929 |
This happened to Nana and her older brother John. John was 8 years old at this time. She talks about living with her sisters, Elizabeth and Grace, who were older and lived away from the family. (Elizabeth was 13 years older than Nana and Grace was 11 years older.) Nana’s younger brother Ben was born in 1930 after they moved back with her dad.
Although this was a dark memory, Nana also mentioned going to Pike’s Peak School, which she enjoyed and often talked about. In fact, for many years, the students who went to Pike’s Peak School got together for reunions.
Instead of writing a story about Pikes Peak School, Nana made a long list of all the things she remembered about her eight years there. Here’s her list:
Pikes Peak School
by Deanie Rhone
1. Everyone walked to school.
2. We had hard winters and would walk across field over top of crust on snowdrifts so it wasn’t so far to walk.
3. Pot belly stove in center of room heated by or wood or coal.
4. Farm home next to school is where the teacher had room and board during week and only went home to Williamsport on weekends.
5. On very cold days every pupil wished for their seat to be on inside row nearest to stove.
6. Eight grades to each one room school – 1st thru 8th.
7. School year was shorter. We were usually out near end of April
8. Had ‘outhouse’ which means outside toilet.
9. Pupils would help carry in wood or fill coal bucket for teacher in cold weather.
10. We had recess same as today’s kids. We sometimes played baseball at recess or whatever we wanted to play.
11. On last day of school we usually had games for a winner, especially foot races.
12. Only packed lunches – no other way to get food.
13. Our subjects were basics:
a. Reading
b. Spelling
c. History
d. Geography
e. Arithmetic
f. Health
Once a month we were given a poem to learn and recite in front of class and graded on it.
This was during the 1930’s.
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| Nana school picture - year unknown |
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| Pikes Peak Reunion August 1981 - Nana back row on right |
While Nana was writing stories, an area in Elimsport known as ‘The Sinks’ flooded. The road and bridge in that area are on the route to my sister Sharon’s house. Everyone in the area knows about The Sinks but if you’ve never heard of them, here’s a brief description from an article posted in 2011, the same year Nana wrote her story:
“The Sinks is an area with extensive
underground limestone caverns that fill up and overflow during extensive
periods of heavy rainfall such as those experienced this year.”
https://solomonswords.blogspot.com/2011/12/penndot-plans-interim-fix-for-elimsport.html
The Sinks
To go out to Elimsport Road, it is not possible to get to Sharon’s from Montgomery unless travel by Allenwood and up. The Sinks at Bridge and out to Ridge Road flooded very high.
Since April 27th roads closed, Sinks flooded. It is now May 20 and after very hard rain and 3 weeks, Sinks up more.
At Diner each day, I get the update. Bashista’s from Elimsport Road come in and by now instead of detour have a boat at Sinks and a car on each side. So they cross Sinks by boat each day to come to diner.
Written by Deanie Rhone
May 20th, 2011
The above story was written during the time Nana was going to The Diner every day. She loved getting the news about The Sinks from the guys there. During my visit in June, 2011, Nana and I took a drive out to see the flooding.
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| Nana at The Sinks June 2011 |
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| Nana at the bridge at The Sinks June 2011 |
In recent years, Pennsylvania Department of Transportation totally reconstructed the bridge and the area where the flooding occurred. There’s no longer a seasonal road closure there. Nana and I always marveled at the transformation whenever we drove over the new bridge.
For the next story Nana wrote, she returned to a childhood memory. This one gives us an even deeper look into Nana’s challenging home life growing up. The story drips of her appropriately felt sadness and bitterness.
Rug on Fire - 1941
It was a bad night in the Tilburg house. Several nights before, after being abused by Dad, my Mother went to the upstairs bedroom for a night’s sleep with my younger Brother.
My bedroom was above the living room, it was Summertime and the stove pipe was out which left me a view down where my intoxicated Dad was asleep on the couch. Back then a Kerosene lantern was his night light.
As liquor will do, he was kicking his legs and then kicked into the lantern which was sitting on a rug. The rug caught fire, but did not wake him just then.
I ran to Mother and Brother’s bedroom door for help. It was locked and I could not wake them up, so I ran downstairs, opened the front door and picked up the rug engulfed in flames. As I headed for the door, Mother came down and helped hold it away from my face until I got it outside.
Dad then woke up and stomped out the fire on the part of the linoleum that was burned. Later he got new linoleum to cover up what he had done.
I saved the house from burning down, and my Mom, Dad, and Brother’s lives, (including mine.) To this day never a thank you from Family.
Written by Deanie Rhone, May 26, 2011
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| Nana at Elimsport home approx 1940 (17 yrs old.) |
Perhaps surviving a difficult childhood gave Nana the courage to set out alone on her trips to Austin, Texas and to Rolla, Missouri. This is the last ‘dark’ story Nana wrote. She didn’t write about the times after Daddy returned from World War II, addicted to alcohol. She didn't record the years she was raising four children in abject poverty while dealing with a cheating husband and slaving at a factory job to feed our family.
When reading Nana’s stories, what’s even more amazing than her resilience and strength is how she never allowed her past to dampen her zest for life. The stories you’ll read next in the last segment, Part 5, are examples of what brought joy to Nana's life. And Nana’s joyful memories are the best of all!
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