As you know, Frank was the oldest in our family, and when I was growing up, he was away from home a lot. I had long since become accustomed to his being away from home. He even went to college awhile, I believe it was Denton State. But he didn't go very long. I didn't know whether he quit because of a lack of finances or because of a lack of interest and drive. I was the only other one of us who ever left home to work or run around— except Joel. He went as far as Stamford and worked there for years in a drygoods store. And later, of course, he had his portable skating rink and he took it from here to there. Then he settled down with it in Brownwood.
My working away from home never amounted to much. However, I wouldn't take a pretty penny for the educational benefits I gained from my traveling around. It increased my desire for more learning, and it gave me confidence in my ability to do more things. It made me more mobile and took away my fear of strange places.
In fact, I thought so much of my education gained through travel that I wanted us to travel a lot with our children. But we were poor and couldn't travel first class, which would have pleased some members of my family. As for me, I would have been glad to travel second class or third class rather than not travel at all. As is evident, I have roughed it much of my life. Later, when I wanted to travel with our kids, I would have gotten a lot of pleasure from roughing it again, going places and seeing things, camping out, and visiting the wild. Some of our traveling proved to be a big failure because some of the family didn't especially care to put up with some of the roughing they had to go through with at times.
For instance, we drove up Pike's Peak once in our Dodge Command car. There was nothing wrong with the car. It was built capable of traveling across the Sahara Desert trouble-free. It was Army surplus, four-wheel drive and as solid as they come. Many cars get too hot climbing the Peak, but this one didn't, although it was in the heat of summer. It had an army canvas top and curtains to match. But since it was beautiful weather, we had the curtains packed away under the back seat. And although it was summertime at the foot of the mountain, it was not summer on top.
The weather on Pike's Peak can change from sunshine to snow and from snow to sleet quicker than perhaps anywhere else in these United States. And the sky can pour out the abundance of her elements faster than is sometimes enjoyable to those upon whom she so recently spread her sunshine. And that is just what she did to us that day. Her elements were in the form of rain, snow, and large sleet. The sleet was sort of a cross between pure white sleet and large, soft hail.
Now, the road up Pike's Peak is, for the most part, void of suitable parking places, even for emergencies. And all this sleet and ice falling suddenly out of the sky did create an emergency. However, before we arrived at an emergency parking place, Ima was very unhappily sitting in a puddle of snow and sleet and ice that had fallen into the front seat and had worked its way down to the back side of her lap.
When we found a little place to pull over and stop, we put up the curtains. But Ima's unhappiness remained with her much longer than I had hoped it would. The truth is, she carried a large portion of it, as well as a little bit of dampness, all the way back down the mountain to Colorado Springs. And there, we found the same type of slush curb to curb four inches deep.
I never quite forgave the weather for that little stunt it pulled on us. It was a long time before I could get the family to go with me again anywhere outside our home county.
Time not only "waits for no man," it seems to go faster and faster. We were getting older and our kids were growing up. Dennis finished high school in Hamlin in June of 1949. In the fall of that same year he began to hear advertisements on radio about cheap farm land in Arkansas, and he sent for a catalog of listings. When it arrived, I had to admit there were some interesting bargains offered in it. The more Dennis read the catalog and listened to the radio, the more he was convinced that out there somewhere in this big country of ours, there was something we had been missing. Then one day he said to me, "Daddy, let's go look at some of these places. All we are doing here is working ourselves to death and getting nowhere."
We talked it over and I agreed that, if it suited the rest of the family, we would go look. Dennis and I went first, not to buy, but only to shop around. We went to Ft. Smith, Arkansas, and looked all the way from 60 miles north of there to 60 miles south of there. We liked what we saw and the prices were right. Then we returned home, and Ima and I went to Arkansas, this time not just looking; we were buying. After looking a few days, we found and bought a small farm three miles south of Mansfield.
We moved onto the place in the early spring of 1950. Anita stayed with the Tarlington Willingham family to finish out her Sophomore year in Hamlin High School. She joined us that summer and spent her Junior year in Mansfield High School. Then she did some special work during the next summer and, in the fall of 1951, instead of entering Mansfield High as a Senior, she entered the University of Arkansas as a Freshman.
Three years later Dennis also entered the University as a Freshman. Then three years after that, Dennis and Anita both came to me and told me it was my time next. They promised to see me through. They would handle the finances; it would be up to me to make my grades.
One of my dreams when I was 20 years old, was to finish high school, go to college, and become a school teacher. It was 31 years later that my three children decided it was time for me to realize that dream. At first I argued against the idea, half- heartedly, but was pleased when they insisted. And I must admit that I have thoroughly enjoyed the good life which they have afforded me, beginning with those first days of college in 1957. By that time Dennis was a college Senior, Anita was teaching in college, and Larry was a high school Freshman.
Oh yes, I even enjoyed the struggle during those early college days, even when it became doubtful that I would make passing grades in one or two subjects. The challenges encountered there and afterward have renewed within me the will to work for something better, and a desire to better understand why I work at all.
Early in my college days I realized that I must make some changes in my way of thinking toward others, and my attitude toward some of my ideals, which I had cultivated since early childhood. I saw a need for conformity in certain cases, rather than uncompromising individualism, so long as it didn't interfere with my integrity. Such a change didn't come easily; I am still trying, but old habits from the past keep causing me to backslide at times.
However, I think my greatest change is one that can not be seen by others—an inner feeling of well-being that tells me, "Don't worry about your past mistakes. You can not go back and correct them. And you will make other mistakes tomorrow. Mistakes are a part of the natural order of human living. Have a good day today and be content with whatever tomorrow may bring."
I spent three regular school years and three summers in college, and enjoyed every minute of it. I was on the honor roll half the time. I also did a little teaching in General Shop in Junior High Training School. One day when the Professor had to be away, I even took it upon myself to break one of his rules and allow the boys to make knives. I told him about it when he returned, and I told him why I did it. He agreed that it was a good idea.
Then I served one semester as student teacher in a college machine shop course, ranked highest in my class in economics, first in woodshop class, second in machine shop, and made "C" in United States History without having to study it. After all, I remembered most of it from having lived through so much of it. I cheated on two exams, just a little, not even enough for my conscience to bother me, caught two professors cheating on my exams—cheating in my favor, to help me make passing grades.
During my first two semesters, it seemed that I got very little help from my teachers. There I was, an old man sitting in class with a group of 20-year-old boys and girls. It seemed that the teachers had the idea that I would drop out as soon as the going got tough, so why should they waste time on me?
Then when they saw I was there to stay, they seemed to want to help me get on through. From then on, things got easier. Finally I graduated and went out to face the same world that I had been facing for 55 years, only this time I had the diploma which caused adults to look up to me and kids to look down on me.
My first year of teaching was in a 21-teacher school in Farmington, Arkansas. Enough interesting things took place there that year to fill a good size book.
In September of 1961 I began teaching 6th grade in an Indian School on the Navaho Indian Reservation near Winslow, Arizona. I taught there at Leupp just six weeks. Then I resigned my position and moved to San Angelo, Texas, because of Ima's health. There I spent my first year teaching Wood Shop at Lee Junior High School. And I taught nine years in Special Education.
At age 65 San Angelo Schools retired me. I could have gone on and taught in some other town, but who wants to teach when he can retire and loaf? Not me. So, I retired and loafed. Ima and I bought a travel trailer and did more than our share of traveling the next two-and-a-half years. In fact, we traveled so much that the nation began to run short of gasoline. It doubled in price and we thought we ought to slow down and let some others do some traveling also. Now, all I have to do is sit around and write and let you know what I have been doing these past 72 years.
Since I have retired, I have a lot of time to loaf and sit and think. At first it hurt my conscience to loaf; I had to force myself to sit down, and I still find it difficult to think. But I am having a wonderful time since I have learned to look at life from a different angle.
When I was young my parents took me to Sunday School and Church.They taught me that it was good to keep the Sabbath, respect thepreacher, honor my father and my mother, and be kind to others.I knew I was good because I did all those things.
But, as I became older, I began to feel that something was wrong. Life was passing me by. Church had lost its charm. When the preacher preached hellfire and brimstone to sinners, I felt left out. I knew he wasn't preaching to me because I was good, and had been all my life. I put my dollar in the collection plate only to feel that I had been cheated—not getting my money's worth, always listening to sermons preached to bad people.
But now I'm happy again. I have changed my entire life style— what I do, what I think, and what I say. Now I make it a point to insult someone, cheat someone, lie to someone, be mean to someone at least once each week. Now the preacher is back on speaking terms with me. He preaches directly to me every Sunday. I give my dollar to the church and come away with the feeling that I have gotten more than my money's worth. It's a good feeling.
Clarence Johnson — January 11, 1906 — November 9, 1994
Clarence Johnson died quietly in his sleep at daybreak on November 9, 1994. He had been ill for about three months. He was 88 years old.
This book was scanned and edited by David Larry Johnson in loving memory of his Dad.
Index
Abbie, from Wichita Falls to Abbie……………… 94Abbie, from Abbie to Lamesa in wagons…………… 99Abbie, moved there from Lamesa…………………. 93Account books, we boys kept…………………….117Age 4, CJ plant in field………………………. 18Airplane, At Lamesa, World War One………………111Albert, Dodge car ran over him………………….136Alternator, CJ invented it, 39 years early……….134Anita fell in water……………………………200Anita wanted to drive without a license………….233Anita fell off horse…………………………..229Anita went to college………………………….240April Fool's day at Wise Chapel, age 8 or 9………145April Fool's day at Hamlin School………..146-147-148Apartment, in California, we hunted one………….218Arkansas, Dennis & CJ went to look for farm………240Arkansas, we moved to from Royston………………240As a man thinketh……………………………..151Auto, Dennis drive at age 4 or 5………………..189Auto, WFJ's first car…………………………. 74Auction sale, odds and ends, saddle horse………..228Availability slip, to get into War-Work………….209Baby, big baby, wore dresses for years………….. 35Babies, CJ learned about, & calves & colts……….114Ballard School, near Lamesa farm………………..106Barn blew part way down……………………….. 15Bank went broke, had road building money in………124Batteries, old, from phone company………………129Beer, CJ tried to drink some……………………191Bible and Sears Roebuck Catalog………………… 57Bicycle tires not in big box…………………… 61Bicycle, Dennis rode his into Death Valley……….216Big Box from Sears & Roebuck…………………… 57Big Spring Mail car, to Lamesa………………….101Binder, pulled it and tractor behind car…………235Bed, Larry's in travel trailer………………….215Blasting powder, CJ play with…………………..121Blow-up in Mama's kitchen………………………132Bob cat, Royston farm………………………….224Bones, we gathered and sold at Lamesa…………… 83Boot Jack at Grandma's house…………………… 51Boxing gloves in our family……………………. 30Brag on self………………………………….170Bruner boy, prickly pear………………………. 26Brag on what cars would do…………………….. 75Bridge, Papa drive truck off of…………………174Broken fender era……………………………..201Bull called Surley……………………………. 45Burglar in filling station……………………..172Butter, Annie churn it in jar on saddle…………. 54Bushes and culverts, we stopped for many of them…. 95California, we went into War-Work……………….210California, we went again in August 1943…………217Car, old Chevrolet, WFJ wanted to give to Dennis….231Cattle round-up at CJ's Royston farm…………….234Cattle drive to Kent County…………………….192Calomel tablets, hole in porch floor……………. 64Calves, nursing, sucking………………………. 45Calves, can it be mine?……………………….. 70Cap Rock, Reo had to be helped up it……………. 74Catalog, Sears……………………………….. 57Catclaws and whirlwind…………………………108Candy, sugar stick in Papa's trunk……………… 30Car trouble, ring gear on way to Oklahoma……….. 96Caddie, Earl did………………………………119Candy, CJ sold it in Hamlin School………………141Car, model "T", Ed Lewis & CJ repaired motor……..200Car, CJ bought Buick for $30……………………204Central, telephone operator……………………. 47Cellar at Exum farm, bananas hung in it…………. 23Chivaree…………………………………….. 70Churn, Annie tied milk jar to saddle……………. 54Character reading at sight……………………..134CJ plant in field at age 3 or 4………………… 18CJ liked to watch parents and learn…………….. 38CJ slow reader……………………………….. 57CJ went to college…………………………….240CJ frank whipped……………………………… 47CJ woman chased with hoe……………………….105CJ gambled, didn't know it was gambling………….115CJ in 7th grade in Hamlin School………………..137CJ hole in pants in school……………………..143CJ got 110 volt shock………………………….131CJ kept Larry while Ima worked at Lockheed……214-215Clark, Clarence, ice box and at gin………….226-227Clean out plates and eat out of them next time…… 91Cows, milk them and sell cream………………….207Cows, drove them to R R stock pens at Lamesa…….. 93Cow, Papa shot cow……………………………. 55Cow, give-down milk, English in college…………. 12Cook stove, ration board at Stamford…………….236College, CJ started at age 51 ………………….240Colt, can it be mine?…………………………. 70Command, rule of, or line of, in our family……… 30Cottonseed, we play in……………………….52-53Cottonseed, haul and set fires………………….163Cottonseed, CJ haul after school, had to stay in….143Cotton picking in Oklahoma…………………….. 97Cotton, Papa took to gin from farm……………… 72Cotton, good in 1919, until worms hit it…………116Coin purse, (pocketbook) CJ wanted to buy one……. 88Count, bolls of cotton while picking them……….. 37Conflict, between Earl and CJ……………182-183-184Coach Hinton, came early & didn't get paid……….142Coyotes, more of them, chase dog back home……….100Cream, sold during World War II…………………207Crazy sayings,……………………………….. 62Cripple Creek, vacation trip to…………………187Cows, froze to death at Lamesa…………………. 86Cycle, Frank, motorcycle………………………. 86Dancing, parents didn't approve of……………… 41Death Valley, we went through…………………..216Dennis, finished High School in 1949…………….239Dennis went to college…………………………240Dennis drove car at age 4 or 5………………….189Dennis ate dirt from under car fender……………190Dennis, 3-years-old, walked mile and half for cows..188Dirty words not used in our family……………… 46Dog plow in field…………………………….. 19Dog, Old Scotch, tricks he did…………..31,32,33,34Dog, Old Scotch, sick & died at road camp………..124Dog, Old Scotch, fight other dogs……………….126Dog, Old Scotch, paid his way on Lamesa farm……..126Dogs, Robert's greyhounds……………………… 49Dogs, Wes Kennedy's, chase cars…………………198Dodge car, had magneto, I used Ford coils………..166Debnam, big, big horse………………………… 87Desert, Death Valley, we went to it……………..216Denver, CJ went & worked in lumber camp………….158Drain your car every night era………………….201Drain car, CJ did one cold night at midnight……..202Dreams, CJ had…………………………….66 & 67Drinks, Johnsons, water, sweetmilk, buttermilk…… 7Dry, Roby, during World Flood………………….. 3Driving Old Sow, kid's game……………………. 69Drop out, CJ dropped out of high school………….139Duck hunting, on plains, duck soup………………113Dug-out, CJ's parents lived in one……………… 4Earl shot peaches off trees …….it was told……101Earl, powder monkey, road work at Gorman…………121Earl, boss of truck lines, CJ objected at time……181Eggs, CJ gathered them at early age…………….. 12Electric lights, we got them in Hamlin…………..119Electric train, CJ got his first one…………….133Electrical Engineering Course, CJ took by mail……134Employment office in California…………………210Emma and Will got married……………………… 2Engine, gasoline, made it run washing machine…….133Erector set, CJ made things with it……………..129Exum Farm, bought it in fall 1910, moved to it…… 23Exum Farm, six good years……………………… 78Exum Farm, sold it & moved to Lamesa……………. 79Farm, Mama & Papa bought their first one………… 4Farm in shinnery south of Hamlin………………..164Farm, Johnsongrass hay farm…………………….164Farm, CJ & Ima moved to in 1932…………………185Farm, Royston, we bought from Jim Johnson………..215Farm, Royston, Jim wouldn't fix up papers, no deal..221F.B.I. Came for one mule driver at road camp……..123Fender, broken fender era………………………201Feed stacks, don't climb on……………………. 52Fence building, WFJ, Old Scotch helped him……….126Fight, Earl and CJ…………………………….182Fight, CJ & kid at Lamesa……………………… 89Fight, Old Scotch, CJ sic him on other dog……….126Fight, Hob Reed and CJ, almost but not quite……..230Fire, we kids set fence row afire……………….163FIRE IN THE HOLE………………………………123Firecrackers, at Lamesa, 9 for half dollar………. 90Fire in bucket under dining table………………. 78Fizzlums, book in Bible………………………..171Fly chaser, CJ invented………………………..131Flash light, CJ made his first one………………120Fleas under man's house……………………….. 66Forecast, weather, on telephone………………… 46Frank whipped CJ in cotton patch……………….. 47Frank carried U.S. Mail in buggy……………….. 74Frank bought Grant automobile………………….. 75Frank away from home at Lamesa…………………. 82Freshman, CJ, high school, at age 18…………….139Funny papers, at Wichita Falls…………………. 93Gamble, CJ, didn't realize it was gambling……….115Gamble, CJ shoot dice………………………….190Games we played………………………………. 69Games, party games,…………………………… 41Garage, CJ had at Royston………………………204Gaddies, we visited them in Oklahoma……………. 8Gaddie, Grandpa came to live with us, and died…9 & 10Garden at Exum farm…………………………… 24Gasoline, World War One, up to 29 cents gallon……103Gay, Mr. Gay hired CJ in grocery store…………..169Gin at Royston, CJ worked there…………………225Gladys Flint, sweetheart………………………. 40Getting ready to go to California, War Work………209Good-looking, my family……………………….. 27Good years, 6 at Exum Farm…………………….. 78Gorman, Texas, we went to build road…………….120Goats, Larry needed goat's milk, we bought goats….206Grant auto, Frank bought one…………………… 75Grandma's house, CJ played with matches…………. 63Grub trees, WFJ clearing land at Flint farm……… 13Gun, CJ found one in old house………………….112Gun, Frank's pistol, CJ & Joe shoot it…………..167Gun, Joel shoot hole in wall……………………173Guns, we boys muzzle-loading ours……………….112Gulf of Mexico, CJ went there…………………..149Gypmill, CJ got job there, August 1943…………..217Hammer, boy found one on road to Lamesa………….106Hack, our new one…………………………….. 17Haul cottonseed cake, WFJ, to ranchers, Lamesa…… 82Heat in Royston home, used old lube oil………….207High prices, World-War-one, gasoline 29C gallon…..103Hinton, Mr., coach at Hamlin High School…………143High School, CJ took 7 subjects…………………139Hole in pants, CJ in high school………………..143Hot water, Papa put hot coals in pan of water……. 78Hoeing cotton, woman chased CJ with hoe………….106Horn, auto horn in Joel's bed…………………..130Horn-tooting Scripture…………………………171Horse, Old Ribbon, buggy horse…………………. 72Horse, sick at party,…………………………. 44Horse, lost, Old Nancy, saddle mare……………..195Horse, Old Pony Boy, Carriker's saddle horse……..230Horse, Old Keno, at Flint farm…………………. 16Horse, Mr. Debnam, huge stallion……………….. 87Horse, rolled over on Joel……………………..114Horse, Old Nig, at saw mill in Rocky Mountains……160Horses, Mr. Hamilton's, tired in field………….. 82Horses, we kids roped and rode………………….105Hudson, Sox & Red, CJ worked for them……………169Ice, CJ made ice at West Texas Utilities, Hamlin….139Ice box, Clarence Clark, and cotton gin………….226Ideas, CJ at Lockheed in California……………..219Ima's kinfolks, death in Gordon, light, match…….188Ima's kinfolks, Wouldn't have made it anyway……..188Ima worked at Lockheed…………………………215Jesse James, CJ's 3rd cousin…………………… 11Joel, with rattlesnake in field…………………104Joel, horse fell on him………………………..115Joel, shot hole in wall………………………..173Joel was smart too, made windmill and submarine…..101Joel, Earl's gun, "Now it's not loaded."…………173Joel, turn truck over………………………….173Job for CJ at McCamey, Texas……………………155Johnsongrass hay farm………………………….164Jump seats in car……………………………..102Kerosene lamps, we quit using them in Hamlin……..119Kerosene, quality poor, mixed gasoline with it……207Kerosene, we heated house with it & old lube oil….207Kicked by mule, kid…………………………… 25Kitchen, how Mama saved time…………………… 91Kennedy girl, slipped away from her dad………….198Knife, CJ found one…………………………… 66Knife, large, for cutting heads off bundles……… 77Lake, by yard at Exum farm…………………….. 73Lamesa, we moved to, first time, from Hamlin…….. 79Lamesa, we drove to from Oklahoma………………. 97Lamesa, WFJ bought 2 farms…………………….. 79Lamesa, we moved to, from Abbie, in 2 wagons…….. 99Larry, CJ kept him nights, in California…………214Larry, born 1942………………………………206Larry was spoiled, rocked him to sleep…………..213Land rush, Gaddies nor Johnsons were in it………. 9Leather from Sears, in big box…………………. 59Lick plates clean, at Lamesa farm………………. 91Little sister, look the other way………………. 28Light fire in wood stove with alarm clock………..129Lost, Old Nancy, saddle mare…………….195-196-197Log, butane, for fireplace, Carriker…………….232Mail car, Lamesa to Big Spring, Passengers……101-102Maize, we haul………………………………..167Match, gets light when strike one……………….188Matches, CJ play with at Grandma's……………… 63Mama rode in back seat of hack…………………. 17Mama had love for baby and for me too…………… 14Married, CJ got……………………………….181Machine shop, CJ taught in college………………241McCamey, CJ left and went back to Hamlin…………156McCamey, CJ went to on motorcycle……………….152Medicine, calomel tablets, hole in porch floor…… 64Merry-go-round, we had at Exum farm…………….. 69Miss Fortune, Ford car…………………………165Milk, saved to make bread………………………106Mice, CJ shoot in house with 22-rifle……………187Motorcycle, CJ repair, couldn't stop it………….151Motorcycle, Frank got one……………………… 62Motorcycle, CJ got one…………………………152Motor, sewing machine, Albert found, sold to CJ…..131Moved into house on small Lamesa farm…………… 80Moved to Lamesa by rail……………………….. 81Moved to Lamesa in two wagons………………….. 99Moved back to Hamlin after selling Lamesa farm……117Moved to Royston farm, Ima, Dennis & CJ, 1933…….186Moved, Johnsons, back to Texas from Oklahoma…….. 3Moving picture machine, talking, CJ invented……..133Mule kicked kid in head……………………….. 25Mule colt, jumped out & wanted back in pen……….105Nursing calves, Sucking calves…………………. 45Neighbors, had reputation for stealing…………..105Night lights in house from old batteries…………129Nig, Old, black horse at lumber camp…………….160Oklahoma, from Wichita Falls, pick cotton……….. 95Oklahoma, Reo car trouble……………………… 96Oklahoma, Grandpa Johnson moved to for grazing…… 1Old Scotch, our family dog…………………….. 31Old Scotch returned to Exum farm……………….. 84Old Scotch, fight………………………….126-127Old Ribbon, buggy horse and kids ride…………… 71Old Ribbon take Papa's dinner………………….. 72Old Nig, horse at lumber camp in mountains……….160Operator, telephone…………………………… 47Orange, Texas, CJ went to………………………211Overtime, work in California……………………212Owed me $2, Hob Reed, at Royston………………..230Pants, hole in CJ's in school…………………..143Packwood, Miss, teacher in Hamlin school…………142Parents & CJ doing things together……………… 38Party games………………………………….. 41Paralysis, CJ………………………………… 27Parents taught us many things………………….. 34Parents, ours, leaders in the community…………. 35Parties preferred over dances because…………… 43Papa & coals of fire for heating water………….. 78Peddlers came to farms………………………… 75Peanuts in barn loft at Exum farm………………. 24Phantom Canyon, on vacation trip………………..187Phonograph, Frank and Susie got one…………….. 60Pick cotton, count bolls………………………. 37Pig, Uncle John's, hot weather, pig out of pen…… 51Pig at Ballard School,…………………………107Pigs ran wild at our Royston farm……………….224Pikes Peak, our trip to………………………..238Picaroons, tools at lumber camp…………………160Pistol, Frank's, Joe and CJ shoot it…………….166Plant, CJ plant in field at early age…………… 18Play, school play, take posters to other towns……141Poem, to my father, WFJ………………………..162Pocketbook, coin purse, CJ wanted to buy one…….. 88Preacher and the bear, song on phonograph record…. 60Prickly pear, boy sat down in one………………. 26Quirts, WFJ made them for us kids, taught us how….111Rabbits, Government bought at Lamesa……………. 81Rabbits, twist them out of holes……………….. 83Rabbits, froze to death on plains………………. 86Race, to cotton gin…………………………… 73Races, motorcycles at Hamlin Fair………………. 73Rawhides on plains……………………………. 83Rats, at Royston farm………………………….187Ration coupons, gasoline, to go back to Calif…….218Ration coupons, gasoline for cookstove…………..221Rankin, Texas, CJ slept there one night………….157Record, Preacher & the bear……………………. 60Reed, Hob, owed me $2………………………….230Reo, our first car……………………………. 74Reo, ring gear broke tooth on way to Oklahoma……. 96Rest room in garage, CJ and Joel used it………… 95Retired and traveled…………………………..242Red River, we forded it in Reo…………………. 98Repair truck, CJ repaired rotor arm……………..170Repair car lights for cotton pickers & others…….171Repair cars in garage at Royston………………..204Ribbon, Old, one of our horses…………………. 72Road work, WFJ do work to pay taxes…………….. 77Robert, Uncle, paid us cash for work we did……… 50Roundup time at CJ's farm………………………234Rowbinder, Ima & CJ cut feed with……………….204Royston, Ima & CJ moved there in 1933……………186Road work at Gorman, Texas……………………..120Rocky Mountains, we made trip there in 1934………187Rule of command in our family………………….. 30Santa Claus, CJ didn't know about him……………114Sand storms, the worst one…………………….. 85Sayings, crazy……………………………….. 62Sand & dust in air in kitchen………………….. 86Sand colic, our horses died with it…………….. 93Saw mill in Rocky Mountains, west of Denver………158Saw mill, CJ left there and went to Hamlin……….161Scotch, Old, our dog………………………….. 31School, Ballard, on plains, teacher lived in……..106School, we drove from Hamlin to Wise Chapel………137School at Hamlin, CJ in 7th grade at age 16………138School, CJ started at age 7, Wise Chapel………… 25Sears Roebuck and Bible……………………….. 57Sears, order, big box…………………………. 57Seventh grade, CJ in Hamlin School………………137Sex, male and female………………………….. 46Shipyards at Orange, Texas……………………..211Shot, WFJ shot cow……………………………. 55Shot, man got shot in Hamlin…………………… 76Shoe last, from Sears, in big box………………. 60Sister, little, look the other way……………… 28Simpson Johnson, went to Melvin's ranch…………. 1Slow reader, CJ didn't like books………………. 57Snake in girl's toilet, at Ballard………………107Snakes, hunt rattlesnakes near Roby……………..233Snakes, rattle, at Royston farm…………………186Snuff, Susie tried it, got sick………………… 21Sop plates clean at Lamesa farm………………… 91Song book, WFJ's, Henry Gaddie kept it years…….. 8Sookie, Susie's nick name……………………… 76Sold big farm at Lamesa………………………..116Stove, gasoline, CJ borrowed in California……….221Stovepipe Wells, in Death Valley, California……..216Steam engine, toy, heat water on cookstove……….132Surley, another name for bull………………….. 45Susie got married…………………………….. 76Suitcase, lost off Reo fender………………….. 95Sunday work, we began to do it………………….119Sweetheart, CJ's, Gladys Flint…………………. 40Syrup Mill, at Flint farm……………………… 15Syrup, molasses, Earl and CJ haul it, sleep out…..179Talking picture show, CJ invented it…………….133Target practice, with our 22 rifles……………..100Telegrams, Ima & CJ sent to each other…………..213Teacher's pet, CJ…………………………….. 27Telephone, we got our first one………………… 46Temptation, CJ tempted to steal money in store…… 90Telephone company, old dry cells………………..129Teacher, Miss Packwood, boys gave her trouble…….142Texas, CJ took Ima and kids back to from Calif……211Texas, we went back to in August 1943……………215Teach, CJ, general and machine shops, in college….241Teach, CJ, one year public school in Arkansas…….242Texas, a state of mind………………………… 20Tires, bicycle, cotton in tires,……………….. 61Tire about to blow out, bridle rein around it…….103Toddy, man sick in bed,……………………….. 7Tobacco, Frank and Ruth liked it……………….. 20Rest rooms dirty, we used bushes & culverts……… 95Toll road in Oklahoma over sand dunes in pasture…. 97Trucking business, WFJ got into…………………129Truck line to Abilene, CJ drove…………………181Truck turnovers, Joel 173, Albert, Dode, & WFJ……176Truck run off bridge, WFJ & CJ………………….174Truck, Joel drove between car and wagon, hit both…177Truck in mountains west of Denver, CJ drove it……158Truck, Earl, bumblebee in cab, apples on road…….178Tractor, CJ built one at Royston farm……………203Tractor, "Pull-Ford" at Lamesa farm…………….. 87Train, Ima and kids rode to California…………..213Travel, CJ and family, to Pikes Peak…………….238Traveled after retirement………………………242Trail drive, near San Angelo, whiskey for free…… 53Tumbleweeds and sand bury fences on Texas plains….112Wash dishes or lick plates clean……………….. 91Water fight, we boys and Mama…………………..165Weather forecast, daily on telephone……………. 46Wen, beside CJ's nose…………………………. 28Weather, cold, rabbits and cows froze to death…… 86Whip, Frank whipped CJ in field………………… 47Whirlwind and catclaw bushes……………………108Whiskey free, cowboys camped near San Angelo…….. 53Whiskey as a medicine, Gaddie's home……………. 7Wichita Falls, we went in 1918, WFJ carpenter……. 93Wichita Falls, we kids picked cotton……………. 94Wind, stories about strong wind on plains………..109Windmill and garden at Exum farm……………….. 24Women's' wear, CJ consulted Sears catalog pictures.. 59Windmills, many on plains & courthouse lawn………103Work on Sundays, we began to……………………119Windcharger, CJ built one before farmers got them…130Work hard, sleep hard, worry none………………. 36
End of Project Gutenberg's The Life of Me, by Clarence Edgar Johnson