| Remembering My Old Homeplace |
I love to think about the old days when I was a child living
off of old Ellerbe Road in Rockingham. I don't actually
know if they were such great times during that era but it sure
seems like it was upon looking back and remembering.
Everything seemed so innocent then.
During the 50s when I was around 6 to 12 years old things
sure seemed simple. My dad worked at JP Stevens' Hannah
Pickett plant in East Rockingham and mom stayed home
and tried her best to take care of 4 boys - that's right, 4 boys
and no girls. I am sure she had her hands full. Especially
with the oldest, my late brother Gary. Just seemed there was
always what they called a black sheep in the family and I
guess brother Gary would qualify for this honor.
The house located there now is not the same as the original
house that stood during this time. But it does still have some
of the original underpinning that was in the old home -
which was a big white 2 story house. I am not sure whom
dad got to build this house - grandpa Bailey might have
helped but I am not sure. But he had it designed like a house
that was located on old Northam Cemetary road. It had the
white asbestos shingles on the outside, a porch on the
bottom with a type of garage attached to it and on the second
floor was one bedroom and a screened in porch that set
over the garage area. There was room up there for another
2 bedrooms but for some reason dad never got finished with
that upstairs. I don't know if he ran out of money or what.
But there was only one room upstairs that was completely
finished. Mom always cautioned us not to go out onto the
screened-in porch area because she thought it was unsafe.
Mainly because there was nothing under it but wide open
space, which was used as the carport or garage.
I remember we had one of those old coal firing heaters
located in the middle of the house. Us boys would have to
go out during the winter, take the coal bucket with us and fill
it with coal from the pile in the backyard. That was a pretty
dirty job because if you have ever handled coal, coal dust
would get on you just by looking at it .... at least, it seemed
that way. Talking about a cold house in the winters, that old
house wasn't insulated very well and at night me and my
brothers would all sleep in one bed. I remember getting in
that bed it would be ice cold. But mom gave us plenty of
quilts to keep us warm.
I loved to play with toy trucks and tractors when I was very
young - 6 or 7 years old. If you look at this link -
http://www.rockinghamremembered.com/ChildhoodPictures
OldHousePictures2.html - you can see me standing and my
brother Randy setting on the old porch. That dirt area was a
favorite place for us to play. I had metal tractors and trucks
that I would play with and one day while we were playing
with them I fell and cut my arm on the tractor. Dad had to
take me to the hospital and get a few stiches.
Another time, when I was a little older, I was riding my bike
down old Ellerbe Rd, which I was not supposed to do and
the chain broke and I fell head over heels over the
handlebars and hit my chin on the pavement - which
required more stiches there also. I told mom and dad I was
riding down the path and the bike threw me and my chin
landed on a brick. That way I didn't get into trouble in
addition to having to make another trip to the hospital.
When I was really young - around 4 or 5, we had an
outhouse behind the house - before we had inside plumbing.
Don't believe you see many of those these days!
During that time, there was a house behind ours in the
woods that is now Beverly Hills sub divn. Mom and dad
used to get this lady to come take care of us when they had
somewhere to go. I believe her name was Odessa. I
remember she was the spitting image of Aunt Jemima of the
pancake fame. She was a fine lady and kept us boys in line
when she came.
If you look at this link -
http://www.rockinghamremembered.com/ChildhoodPictures
OldHousePictures.html - it shows the back of the old home.
I believe that is my cousin Frankie Heavner pointing the air
rifle at you. That old porch on the back is where we kept
our wringer washer. I believe you can see it thru the screen.
That is also the porch where my uncle John Heavner would
come and give us boys our haircuts. He ran the Five Points
Barber Shops for years. One more item of interest - the old
well you can see on the left - we used to have to get water
from that old well with a pump that was attached. You
usually had to prime it to get the water to come up - that is,
pour some water down the pump and then start pumping.
That old well has been covered up now but I remember it
"well".
I'll save some more of my memories of my old homeplace
for a later addition but I will always remember My Old
Homeplace on Old Ellerbe Road in Rockingham during my
early childhood years.
off of old Ellerbe Road in Rockingham. I don't actually
know if they were such great times during that era but it sure
seems like it was upon looking back and remembering.
Everything seemed so innocent then.
During the 50s when I was around 6 to 12 years old things
sure seemed simple. My dad worked at JP Stevens' Hannah
Pickett plant in East Rockingham and mom stayed home
and tried her best to take care of 4 boys - that's right, 4 boys
and no girls. I am sure she had her hands full. Especially
with the oldest, my late brother Gary. Just seemed there was
always what they called a black sheep in the family and I
guess brother Gary would qualify for this honor.
The house located there now is not the same as the original
house that stood during this time. But it does still have some
of the original underpinning that was in the old home -
which was a big white 2 story house. I am not sure whom
dad got to build this house - grandpa Bailey might have
helped but I am not sure. But he had it designed like a house
that was located on old Northam Cemetary road. It had the
white asbestos shingles on the outside, a porch on the
bottom with a type of garage attached to it and on the second
floor was one bedroom and a screened in porch that set
over the garage area. There was room up there for another
2 bedrooms but for some reason dad never got finished with
that upstairs. I don't know if he ran out of money or what.
But there was only one room upstairs that was completely
finished. Mom always cautioned us not to go out onto the
screened-in porch area because she thought it was unsafe.
Mainly because there was nothing under it but wide open
space, which was used as the carport or garage.
I remember we had one of those old coal firing heaters
located in the middle of the house. Us boys would have to
go out during the winter, take the coal bucket with us and fill
it with coal from the pile in the backyard. That was a pretty
dirty job because if you have ever handled coal, coal dust
would get on you just by looking at it .... at least, it seemed
that way. Talking about a cold house in the winters, that old
house wasn't insulated very well and at night me and my
brothers would all sleep in one bed. I remember getting in
that bed it would be ice cold. But mom gave us plenty of
quilts to keep us warm.
I loved to play with toy trucks and tractors when I was very
young - 6 or 7 years old. If you look at this link -
http://www.rockinghamremembered.com/ChildhoodPictures
OldHousePictures2.html - you can see me standing and my
brother Randy setting on the old porch. That dirt area was a
favorite place for us to play. I had metal tractors and trucks
that I would play with and one day while we were playing
with them I fell and cut my arm on the tractor. Dad had to
take me to the hospital and get a few stiches.
Another time, when I was a little older, I was riding my bike
down old Ellerbe Rd, which I was not supposed to do and
the chain broke and I fell head over heels over the
handlebars and hit my chin on the pavement - which
required more stiches there also. I told mom and dad I was
riding down the path and the bike threw me and my chin
landed on a brick. That way I didn't get into trouble in
addition to having to make another trip to the hospital.
When I was really young - around 4 or 5, we had an
outhouse behind the house - before we had inside plumbing.
Don't believe you see many of those these days!
During that time, there was a house behind ours in the
woods that is now Beverly Hills sub divn. Mom and dad
used to get this lady to come take care of us when they had
somewhere to go. I believe her name was Odessa. I
remember she was the spitting image of Aunt Jemima of the
pancake fame. She was a fine lady and kept us boys in line
when she came.
If you look at this link -
http://www.rockinghamremembered.com/ChildhoodPictures
OldHousePictures.html - it shows the back of the old home.
I believe that is my cousin Frankie Heavner pointing the air
rifle at you. That old porch on the back is where we kept
our wringer washer. I believe you can see it thru the screen.
That is also the porch where my uncle John Heavner would
come and give us boys our haircuts. He ran the Five Points
Barber Shops for years. One more item of interest - the old
well you can see on the left - we used to have to get water
from that old well with a pump that was attached. You
usually had to prime it to get the water to come up - that is,
pour some water down the pump and then start pumping.
That old well has been covered up now but I remember it
"well".
I'll save some more of my memories of my old homeplace
for a later addition but I will always remember My Old
Homeplace on Old Ellerbe Road in Rockingham during my
early childhood years.
| So, as the Train of Life keeps chugging along, another page written of my Childhood Memories of.... Rockingham Remembered. |
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