I Remember My Grandmother Atta Ashby Murray Part lV

Grandmother was always kind to me as I think she was to everyone. To me she was a beautiful lady and I loved to be with her. There were times when I would help grandmother shell peas. I recall as we shelled the peas grandmother would tell me stories about my father. Everyone who knew my father was aware of his love for flowers. It seems that as dad would be riding his horse, Old Jimmy, while taking care of the cows, dry stock or other duties, he would see these Indian paints or flower. He would stop Jimmy and dismount so the he could pick a bouquet of flowers for his mother. I guess more than once as he would be picking the flowers old Jimmy would get away from him and go home. Grandmother said she would see Jimmy come home with out a rider and eventually here would come Wilmer walking home.
LaVora tells of Grandmother remembering when she was planning on marriage she was concerned that after she was married that she would not have a bed as good as the one she had at home. I guess her bed at home had a down mattress. I would guess after she was married it was quite a while before she had a bed as good as the one she had at home. I say this because of the stories Uncle Lee told about their straw ticks they slept on. He said they changed the straw every fall after they finished thrashing the grain. He said a new straw tick, until your got it broke in was hard to stay on top. He said you would keep sliding off.
Grandmother’s father was a lover of horses as was grandmother. I guess Grandfather Ashby had some beautiful horses and I understand that he treated them very well. From what I understand this was a hard change for grandmother because Grandfather Murray never did have the facilities to care for the horses that Grandfather Ashby had. I understand that this was a bit of an irritant for grandmother. In Grandfathers defense, however, in the east end of the barn where we milked the cows there was a place for horses and at times I saw horses in the barn.
LaVora would tell of the times when grandmother went to gather the eggs, which of course was an everyday thing. At times, there were those hens that were in their season of wanting to start a family. In preparation for this event the hen would start laying and hiding her eggs. She would do this until she would accumulate a number of eggs and then she would sit on them so that the eggs would stay at a certain temperature and in time baby chicks would start to develop. I guess Grandmother tried to have some control over this chicken nature thing and would seek out the nests and collect the eggs from under the hen. The hens were not too happy about this egg napping and would pick Grandmother when she would lift them from their nest and take the eggs from under them.
I recall one Thanksgiving when for some reason all of the family was gone except for Dewey and myself. I don’t know where the folks were but I do know that Dewey and I were left to take care of things around the place. I don’t recall how old we may have been but what I do remember is that my Grandfather, Grandmother and Clyde showed up at the house with a full blown Thanksgiving dinner so that Dewey and I would not be alone. So that day we had Thanks giving dinner with our Grandparents and Clyde. I have always thought that was real grand of them to be concerned about us two little grandchildren who were all alone for Thanksgiving. As I recall it turned out to be a wonderful day.



Then there was the first time we noticed grandmother’s legs failing her. There were grandmother and other members of the family outside, to the north of the house, standing close to where the cistern was located. It seems we were getting ready to go some place, probably to Roosevelt, when for no apparent reason grandmother fell. I think Clyde caught her and we helped her up as she exclaimed, “These crazy legs of mine”. This was the beginning of a problem that only got worse. Grandfather took grandmother too many Doctors and Clinics but I’m not sure whether or not the Doctors ever diagnosed the problem. By the time they moved to Taylorsville the problem had progressed to the point that she needed our help when ever she tried to walk. She always expressed her appreciation when ever we assisted her.

William Ashby Family

A typical farm yard of 1920 s



(By NRM - 6-14-10)