Goodness Gracious, Miss Agnes: Memories of a Country Woman
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Goodness Gracious, Miss Agnes Memories of a Country Woman By Lera Knox But I didn’t. So I wouldn’t. COVER: A Twenty-one Day Battle, by Joy Petty Goodness Gracious, Miss Agnes Memories of a Country Woman By Lera Knox Illustrated by Joy Petty Edited by Margaret Knox Morgan and Carol Knox Ball Newfound Press THE UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE, KNOXVILLE Goodness Gracious Miss Agnes © 2005 by Newfound Press All rights reserved. Newfound Press is a digital imprint of the University of Tennessee Libraries. Its publications are available for non-commercial and educational uses, such as research, teaching and private study. The author(s) encourages the “fair use” of these materials as defined in current U.S. Copyright Law. You may reproduce DLC materials by printing, downloading, or making copies without prior permission as long as the original work is credited. Preferred form of citation: Morgan, Margaret Knox. 2005. Goodness Gracious, Miss Agnes; Memories of a Country Woman. Illustrated by Joy Petty. Edited by Margaret Knox Morgan and Carol Knox Ball. Knoxville, TN: Newfound Press. www.lib.utk.edu. Newfound Press University of Tennessee Libraries 1015 Volunteer Boulevard Knoxville, TN 37996-1000 www.lib.utk.edu/newfoundpress/ Reserve this space for Cataloging in Publication ISBN Book design by Martha Rudolph Dedicated to the Grandchildren Carol, Nancy, Suzy, John Jr. Table of Contents Preface ......................................................................................................................v Acknowledgements ................................................................................................ix Introduction ............................................................................................................x Cast of Characters ..................................................................................................xi CHAPTER 1: My Quilting Frame ................................................................................1 CHAPTER 2: Dark Angel in a White Apron .............................................................31 CHAPTER 3: Mama and Papa ...................................................................................47 CHAPTER 4: Family Album Glimpses .....................................................................62 CHAPTER 5: Goin’ to Grandma’s .............................................................................91 CHAPTER 6: The Piano That Wasn’t ......................................................................116 CHAPTER 7: Chalkdust ...........................................................................................128 CHAPTER 8: Yellow Jasmine and a Hope Chest ....................................................145 CHAPTER 9: Matrimony and Mulality ..................................................................160 CHAPTER 10: A Daughter and A Son ....................................................................205 CHAPTER 11: Morning and EveningWere a Full Day ...........................................235 CHAPTER 12: Spring and June on Cow Path Lane ................................................259 CHAPTER 13: October Days, November Nights ....................................................317 CHAPTER 14: Chimneyside ....................................................................................359 List of Illustrations A Twenty-one Day Battle ................................................................................ COVER But I didn’t. So I wouldn’t. .................................................................... FRONTISPIECE Never Too Much Nor Too Bothersome ................................................................20 And Candy in his Pockets .....................................................................................24 Meeting Niagara Falls ...........................................................................................27 Grandpa Wanted Curly Whiskers ........................................................................34 A Book Drunkard .................................................................................................37 I Sat on Salmon Cans ............................................................................................40 The Family Tree Grows On ...................................................................................44 A Feather-Bed Lap And A Two-Pillow Bosom ....................................................33 Monday ..................................................................................................................38 They Called That A Sister .....................................................................................42 A Trap for Mr. Engine ...........................................................................................45 Mama and Papa Had a Sunrise Wedding ............................................................47 My Prayers Were One-third Answered ................................................................61 Album Glimpses ....................................................................................................62 Button! Button! .....................................................................................................67 One of the Best Things in Life is to Plant a Tree .................................................73 Almost as Good as the One in the Catalogue ......................................................89 On the Dear Old One-Eyed Nag ..........................................................................97 She Put A White Linen Suit on the Boy .............................................................101 The Biggest, Mellowest Apples ...........................................................................117 All My Art, All My Afternoon’s Efforts ..............................................................127 But I didn’t. So I wouldn’t. ..................................................................................134 No “First Night.” No Friday Afternoon. .............................................................139 He Stood Six-feet-two .........................................................................................153 Out Driving With The Same Young Man ..........................................................159 So I Thought I’d Show Them .............................................................................165 A Twenty-one Day Battle ....................................................................................193 Almost Human In Her Poor Judgment .............................................................282 Preface Some of My Family Roots Rutha Magillbury and her pioneer relatives came down the river on a flatboat, through the woods, Indian paths, and game trails, from North Carolina or Virginia, to what is now Nashville, Tennessee. At that time it was known as the Great Salt Lick on the Cumberland River. Rutha remembered growing up on the banks of that river, playing with the other children, exploring the caves and streams, and learning Indian lore and pioneer methods. She was an orphan. Her parents had been killed by Indians. She was left to be brought up by a Mr. and Mrs. Williams, her aunt and uncle. Rutha remembered how the pioneers settled and built old Fort Nashburry, their first stopping place on the Cumberland. She remembered when Fort Nashburry was attacked by the Indians. The men in the settlement had gone out to cut wood, work the corn, and build cabins. Someone called out, “The Indians are coming!” Everyone was frightened. What did the pioneer women, left alone in the fort, do? Mrs. James Robinson, wife of the leader of the settlement and later Tennessee governor, did an unheard of, unmentionable thing. She opened the gates of the fort. People thought the Indians would rush in, but, no, the dogs rushed out! That stopped the Indians and saved Fort Nashburry at that time. Where the children went, the dogs went, so the children felt safe and protected from the Indians and wild animals. One youth Rutha played with was Jasper Hall. Later Jasper worked on building the new capitol on the cedar knoll above the Cumberland. In time they were married. After their marriage they moved westward, to what is now White Bluff in Dickson County. There they built a log house. It was later covered with siding and modernized. Rutha Magillbury Hall planted a garden. Down the middle of the garden was a path, bordered on each side with herbs that were used for medicines. Rutha acquired some medical books, and what she had learned from the books, the Indians, and the early settlers, she put together. She was called Dr. Rutha Magillbury Hall. She traveled the length and breadth of the land on horseback to minister to the sick. She was not just a “granny woman;” she knew she was a doctor because she had studied her doctor books. After the Halls moved from Nashville, if a member of one of the old Nashville families became ill, Dr. Hall went to stay with the family until the sickness was over. She was there at the birthing of every baby of pioneer Nashville. She rode on horseback or the family would send a carriage. Rutha did not trust those new fangled trains. If there was going to be a baby in a family, for instance, the family would send a carriage from Nashville to White Bluff, 30 or more miles, to pick up Dr. Hall, and she would live with the family during that time. The Hall family grew their own food, and killed their own game from the woods. But the garden provided medicines for the area that was later Middle Tennessee. The