Jeff,
I had never heard of a dwelling constructed just that way. Thank
you for sharing that story. I knew the first settlers who sailed
up the Hudson Bay arrived in the fall and lived the first winter
in holes in the ground. No sod for walls there that year. How
thankful I am for a warm house tonight - even if the natural gas
will cost me more this winter!!
I will contribute to start a fund to buy your grandfather, Amma
Bass Carroll, a tarpaulin or another wagon sheet to go over those
poles until at least Spring. I would suggest he add more polls
however, or maybe whole trees would be better. That might keep
another mother sow from falling through the ceiling of the
bedroom... even if the piglets did fall into somebody's bed.
But say...... Aren't there some of those FEMA trailers still down
around Houston? And BTW - Do you think it would be all right if
I send along a ten year supply of birth control pills as well?
;-)
Lura
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jeff Carroll" <carrollj(a)suddenlink.net>
To: <carroll-dna(a)rootsweb.com>
Sent: Monday, December 17, 2007 7:05 PM
Subject: Re: [CARROLL-DNA] Off Topic - A gift to your Carroll
Ancestor
| Dear Folks,
| That's a neat idea, but, knowing me, I never was very good at
following
| instructions. I will, however, share one of my father's
Christmas stories.
|
| My earliest known was Jesse, Sr. and then, further down the
line came my
| grandfather Amma Bass Carroll. My father, Festus Royal, was
the youngest of
| the extensive brood, 13, if I remember correctly, and he was
born in a hole
| in the ground up in Indian Territory, about 35 miles SW of
where Enid,
| Oklahoma, is today. The "hole in the ground" that Daddy always
referred to
| was what they called a "soddy". You dug square blocks of the
prairie sod and
| set it aside to dry. Then you dug the rest of the house. When
the sod
| blocks were dry, you stacked them like bricks around the top of
the hole to
| make part of the wall. On top of that you laid out any poles
you could find
| in that barren landscape and then, on top of that, stretched a
wagon sheet.
| More sod went on top of the poles and wagon sheet to form the
roof.
|
| Well, despite the fact that some of the older children had
already left
| home, the hole in the ground was getting pretty crowded, so
Grandpa decided
| early in the Fall to expand the house by digging another
adjacent hole. Fall
| is a busy time for a dirt farmer and, what with one thing and
another, the
| hole got dug but the walls hadn't been stacked as Christmas
approached.
| Even so, about a half dozen of the kids were sleeping in the
new annex,
| which was only about four feet deep, and the wagon sheet was
stretched over
| the poles at ground level and pegged down at the corners.
|
| We've been having some rather strange weather most everywhere
lately and, as
| I understand it, Oklahoma has always had strange weather. A
Blue Norther
| rolled in, complete with thunder and lightening and freezing
rain. One
| lightening bolt apparently struck pretty close because the old
brood sow and
| her swarm of half-grown progeny broke out of their pen and ran
right into
| the half-flooded wagon sheet. Down came the wagon sheet, the
poles, the
| pigs and the freezing rain on top of the kids in what became a
tangled mass
| of frightened pigs, frightened kids, torn wagon sheet, broken
poles and
| about a foot of freezing slush. Luckily, no one was badly
hurt, although
| Addie and Bonnie got stomped on pretty heavily. The only way
to untangle
| the mess was to run the pigs through the rest of the house and
out of the
| front door and then count noses to make sure all of the kids
were out from
| under the wreckage. As far as Daddy was concerned (he was
about five at the
| time), it was his first memorable Christmas and he loved to
trot out the
| story every time someone began talking about reindeer on the
roof.
|
| Merry Christmas to All!
| Jeff Carroll
| Bryan, Texas
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
| ----- Original Message -----
| From: "Emmy and Frank Edwards" <frankedwards(a)frontiernet.net>
| To: <carroll-dna(a)rootsweb.com>
| Sent: Monday, December 17, 2007 3:48 PM
| Subject: Re: [CARROLL-DNA] Off Topic - A gift to your Carroll
Ancestor
|
| > Lura, a neat idea. Frank
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
| > ----- Original Message -----
| > From: "Lura" <luraj(a)triad.rr.com>
| > To: <CARROLL-DNA(a)rootsweb.com>
| > Sent: Sunday, December 16, 2007 10:36 PM
| > Subject: [CARROLL-DNA] Off Topic - A gift to your Carroll
Ancestor
Right now most of you are wrapping gifts, putting together the
things that must be assembled in less than a week, or cooking
fruit cake. You don't have much time for genealogy! However, if
you are like me, thoughts of those by-gone relatives drift
through your mind occasionally while you are preparing for
"family times" with your current family. You wonder just how they
celebrated Christmas.
I have a suggestion for you to think about and share with us if
you wish and you have the time! Think of your earliest known
CARROLL ancestor (or one of the earliest) and then decide on a
gift you would like to give him or a member of his family.
Right now, my earliest ancestor is Dempsey Carrol/Carrell (?)
Senior. I see him the first time in 1752 living in Halifax
County, NC before his move to Duplin, which became Sampson
County, NC.
I would like to give Dempsey, Sr. a family BIBLE - one with lots
of pages for recording births, marriages, and deaths. I would
also give him a pen and an ink well. I know that he could write
at least a little, because he signed his name on his son
Alexander's marriage bond on April 7, 1783. He also may have
taught his son how to write, because Alexander apparently wrote
his own will in 1827.
I read one interesting story about a young couple (not my family)
in those very early days preparing to move on their covered wagon
to land newly opened for settlement. The young wife was to give
birth soon to their first child. She became very angry at her
husband, because he had spent the almost last 50 cents they had.
They had many needs, but he had spent the money on a BIBLE. He
said when his son was born, he deserved to have his name written
down. I wish more of my ancestors had felt that way.
Merry Christmas to all,
Lura