Place of birth

            The town of Witts Springs was named for the man who found the spring which is the main branch of the middle fork of the Illinois Bayou. The spring is located behind the old rock school house which was the principal school building for the town of Witts Springs. I know nothing about Mr. Witt. I don’t know if he ever lived there or if he only used the place as a place to camp out. The only building that I have any knowledge that was at the spring was a canning factory. The canning factory was long gone during my years at Witts Springs. The building in bad repair was still standing when I began attending the rock school house which is located on the top of the ridge which separates the spring from the town of Witts Springs. Some time before I started high school the building was tore down or the wind blew in down. At least while I was in high school there was no trace of the building left on the propriety.

            Witts Springs at one time had several general stores, a U. S. Post Office, more than one lumber mill and a stave mill (staves were used to make oak barrels). By the time of my early childhood there was only one general store with a small room in the front right hand corner which housed the Post Office. The store was owned and operated by Thomas and Xula Johnson and Xula’s father John Loftin ran the Post Office. Mr. Loftin would look at me over the top of his glasses to see who I was when I ask for the mail. After her father died Xula and Thomas ran the Post Office and the store.

            The school at Witts Spring was from first grade through 12 grades. When I started to school all the classes were housed in the one rock building along with a basket ball gym. By the time I finished there was a separate cafeteria and another building that housed the grammar school and sometime after I graduated they build a separate gym. Today the school no longer in use and gym is used as a community center.

            The house where I was born was about 2 miles from the general store. It was a one room log building which was not very large. When I saw it last it was in serious disrepair and is now no longer standing. We left that dwelling while I was small so I have no memory of living there. The trees had just about completely taken the fields and turned it back into forest.

            All of my family worked on our farm. My folks would get up before daylight to begin their day. Mom would start breakfast and dad would go milk the cow and feed the animals. He would come back from his chores and help mom finish breakfast. When breakfast was ready they would wake up the children and we would eat. After breakfast dad and the children would leave to work in our crops and mother would clean up the kitchen then come to the field to help. She would leave early to fix diner (lunch) which was a substantial meal. Mom would clean up after diner and dad would take a twenty minute nap. Then it was back to work with the same scenario for the afternoon. When we came home for supper mom would have it ready and then it was chores. One of my chores was drying the dishes which my older sister washed.