The remembrances of Joyce Spenser Martin

By Beverly Clinkingbeard

In 1981, Betsy Chapin was teaching the fifth and sixth graders at Westboro Elementary School in Westboro, Missouri. The pupils were given the assignment of asking a senior citizen, their grandparents or a friend, to write an essay of what their school days were like. Those who were asked were in school at a time when essay/story writing and penmanship were a part of their curriculum. As a result, their remembrances were well articulated and the handwriting quite legible or type written. In the coming weeks, their experiences will be shared. Thank you, Betsy, and thank you to the contributors, now deceased, for sharing their yesterday experiences.

Joyce Spenser Martin

Joyce Spenser was born in 1923 in Martinsville, Missouri, and attended country school in Harrison County. She and Willis Martin were married in 1942 in Detroit, Michigan. When he was released from the U.S. Army Air Corps, they returned to Willis’ home county. They farmed west of Westboro, Missouri, before moving south of town. They eventually settled in Westboro, where Willis did machinist (blacksmith) work and drove a school bus. Joyce was an active member of the Methodist Church and women’s fellowship, as well as the American Legion Auxiliary. She also fostered infants and provided child care. One of the children she babysat was Lydia Chapin Hurst, daughter of David and Betsy. Thus, Joyce’s remembrances for the fifth and sixth graders are directed to their teacher’s little girl, who called Mrs. Martin “Grandma.” Here is her story:

Dear Lydia,

I’m happy to share with you and your friends about my family and my childhood days. First, I must say I had a wonderful father and mother, five sisters and one brother. We lived on a 160 acre farm. The folks lived there 40 years. My sisters, brother and I were all born at home. The doctor came to our house and mother had other help come in.

We were raised in a small, four-room house with no electricity, water or bathroom. We used kerosene lamps, a cellar for keeping the milk and food cool, and we took our baths in wash tubs. A toilet was our bathroom and we carried our drinking water up a long hill. If mother didn’t catch rain water in barrels for laundry, dad would haul water from a “spring” about a half mile from the house in barrels with a team of horses and a wooden wagon. Mother and my older sisters washed our clothes on a wash board until the wooden washer came out. It had a handle that pulled back and forth.

We had a wood stove for heat and cooking. Most of our food was raised in a garden. Mother canned a lot. Folks butchered our own meat and cured or canned it. Mother would bake six or eight loaves of bread the same day. A boughten loaf of bread was really a treat to us.

Mother cooked three meals a day. In my day it was breakfast, dinner and supper. At breakfast there was ham or bacon, eggs, homemade biscuits and gravy. At dinner, a meat, vegetable, potatoes and homemade pie or cake and fruit. Supper was sometimes a big pot of beans and cornbread and milk or maybe soup. It would depend on how mother felt. Snacks were homemade sugar cookies or jelly and bread. Special dishes for company (guests) wasn’t too much different than ours – only more of it and only on holidays. Mother raised chickens, geese and turkeys. We’d have stuffed goose or turkey and all the trimmings.

Have you wondered how we slept at nights in a four-room house? In one bedroom, we had two double beds with “feather beds (mattresses),” and three slept to a bed. It “wasn’t easy.” Mother made all of our bedding.

When I got old enough for school, there was a kindergarten, first grade up to eighth, and no school buses. I didn’t know what they were. We had two miles to our country school. That was a long walk when it was muddy or zero temperatures. In the winter time, a lot of mornings I felt sick if it was below zero or snowing. I either stayed home and took medicine and went to bed or go to school. “I went to school.” I had to make a choice. Dad would take us when the car would start. It was a Model T Ford with no top. So we’d have to cover up with a blanket to keep warm. When it was muddy, sometimes he’d take us in a buggy. That was fun. We had warm clothing for winter and wore long underwear and stockings. Mother made our winter coats and dresses. We usually had two or three school dresses and a dress for Sunday school. We had one pair of shoes and went barefooted in the summer. Our dresses were made of feed sacks and material when mother had the money to buy it. We bought a lot of feed for the chickens and the sacks were really pretty flower print (fabric).

Believe it or not, the house and school house are still standing. The school was called “The Zimmerman.” It had one room with no water or baths (room). Usually there would be around 20 or 25 pupils. We had reading, writing, arithmetic, English, history and spelling, etc. I do remember one thing. If we didn’t mind the teacher, we’d get a spanking when we got home. With two or three sisters in school, Dad always knew if anything went wrong. We didn’t have any sports or clubs. The school would put a program on at Christmas time for our parents.

My parents always lived on a farm. We went to church on Sunday. We lived three miles from church. We’d either go in the buggy or the T Ford. We had dogs and kittens for pets and not too many toys to play with. We’d made a play house under the trees where we made mud pies in jar lids and leaves for lettuce. We had a ball. At Christmas, we didn’t get a lot of toys, but we’d have a stocking full of goodies, and that was the big day for all the relatives to come. No one went away hungry.

Yes, I had chores to do. I carried in wood, helped mother gather eggs, and we’d take turns going after the milk cows. Maybe we would walk two or three miles to find them. Then we all milked and hand separated (using a milk separator that had a hand crank) and sold the cream. I’d carry my Dad drinking water. Those 40 years Dad never owned a tractor. He used horses and walked behind the plow and harrow. He had a seat on the riding disk, planter and cultivator. He picked (shucked) corn by hand. I’ve helped with that, too. My mother had a pretty yard. She loved her flowers and rock garden. I helped weed the garden and flowers and pushed a lawn mower.

We  made  our  own entertainment. We could all sing and we had guitars, and we did sing at fairs. We lived 12 or 15 miles from two towns not much larger than Westboro and our little country store was six miles from home. Saturday night was our big night out. Dad and Mom would take us to Allendale if weather permitted. We always got a nickel for our ice cream cone or a candy bar. Sometimes we would go to a show (movie). There was always a big celebration on July 4th. The battery radio was our only entertainment at home. We couldn’t turn it on, only in the evening when we’d all gather around with a big pan of popcorn and listen to Amos & Andy.

I love my home today, but I wouldn’t take anything for my childhood days. This was fun writing, and I hope you all enjoy it. Willis’ childhood was near like mine.

Lydia’s Grandma Joyce

Written March 18, 1981, and will mail the day the .18 stamp comes in…