The Cold Hard Winter of 1935-36

As I look out the window here in the first week in January 2005 I see ice laden trees, power lines and even ice laden grass. It makes me think of the Long hard winter of 1935 and 1936. Our litle family lived about a quarter mile east of Mt Summit, Indiana and about 4 0r 5 miles north of New Castle. Our little house was in the meadow east of State Road 3. There were three rooms and a basement which Pop and Mom (Isaac and Mary White) referred to as the root cellar.

So many interesting things happened in my life while we lived here.

I was so happy to find that someone had left an old upright piano, and that was June (Isaac Junior my brother, my elder by eighteen months ) and my first oportunity to practice playing the piano. We had a lot of fun with that. Also that was the year that: That was the year that our cousins Leroy and Cecil and friends Christine and Imogene came to stay with us for a week on two different occasions, having only one bed to sleep in we lay down crosswise and slept all on the same bed. That was the year that Uncle Lacy bought me the two new dressess for Christmas. That was the year that Pop dug a new spring. Also It was the year that the Landlord brought in a bull to keep on the premises, and Pop and Mom had a squabble over Pop trying to make June go get the cows in for milking while the bull was in the same field.

But let's get back to the Long hard winter. I loved to go to school and had a perfect attendance so missing on account of the cold was not an option for me. So June and I got frost bite about three times that year while walking to school. It was very frightening seeing the teacher working with my brother while he lay on a table, and they were rubbing his hands trying to get the pain to go away.

The temperature had gotten down to 35 below zero that year. One day Pop had gone over on the other mile road east of us to work for a farmer. Being yet a child I hadn't noticed that the fire had gone out I only knew that my hands and feet had begun to hurt. Noah and June also complained that they were cold. I started to cry and Mom said don't you dare cry those tears will freeze right on your face. We already had our coats on but she had us to put on whatever else we could find to put on and then She said "Lets go get some wood." So she took the saw and we all went out to the orchard. She and my brother nine year old "June." sawed a limb off a tree in the orchard and dragged it to the house. Then she put one end of the log on a child's chair and another end in the stove. (Wilson heaters are low to the floor.) We didn't have time to chop the log into smaller pieces. And Mommy got a fire to going around the log. It sure did feel mighty good. The stove got red with heat and it sorta of started jumping and I got scared and I said "Momma, What if the house catches fire?" And Momma Said "Just let er go. If the house burns down then somebody will have to take us in." I will never forget that Long hard winter.