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THE FAMILY'S EARLY YEARS BY C. T. WILLIAMS, JR. I was born on August
13, 1926, the second child of Charlie and Lucille Williams. I can remember
in my early childhood that times were rather tight for most everyone.
But we seemed to have many of the luxuries of the time. Daddy and mother
managed to buy a small farm in about the second year of their marriage.
It was located at Sugar Hill on the Wilson-Edgecombe county line. I guess one of the first luxuries was carbide lights. The farm was situated so far from power supply, I guess, other than oil lamps, the carbide lights were the next thing to electric lights. The gentleman who installed the lights had the materials shipped and he roomed with us while he was installing the system. Pipes were run to each room where the fixtures were installed. The pipes ran underground to a tank in the back yard. Carbide operated very similar to gas. Carbide came in a powder and was mixed with water in the carbide tank to form a gas for the lamps. This was the only carbide system in the area. Another first for our neighborhood was a radio. Daddy came home one day and brought a Philco table model radio. Since we didn't have electricity, it operated on a dry cell battery. The battery was almost as large as the radio. Of course, the battery hooked to the radio and an antenna wire was run to the top of the house, attached to the chimney and strung to a pole in the edge of the yard. This was definitely a sign of luxury living for a family located so far in the country. I can remember all of the neighbors gathering at our house, especially on Saturday night to listen to the Grand Ole Opry. They would gather around the radio in a circle to listen. They actually watched the radio like today we watch the TV. About the only stations we were able to pick up was XEAW, Dallas; WWVA, Wheeling, W. Va.; and WSM, Nashville, Tenn--and these only when reception was at its best which, of course, was at night. WPTF, Raleigh started broadcasting about this time and about a year later, WEED, Rocky Mount, went on the air. By this time, radio wasn't a rarity anymore. I don't know if this could be called a luxury or if it was a necessity, but when it was consumed with a good, hot country biscuit it was definitely a luxury. I'm talking about country sorghum, better known as molasses or just lasses. All of the neighbors would plant sorghum cane for the neighborhood molasses cooking that was held in late summer. There was a black gentleman named Bozzie Thorne (father of the Rev. J. O. Thorne, now Edgecombe County commissioner) who had a molasses mill. He would set up his rig at a tobacco barnyard for the tedious cooking process. The sorghum press was mule drawn. The mule would walk around in a circle pulling the roller that pressed the juice from the cane. After collecting the juice, it was put into a vat to cook into molasses. It took several hours requiring constant stirring. Foam had to be dipped off the top until the molasses had cooked to perfection. Over cooking would cause it to turn to sugar. When the cooking was over, it was placed in jars with each family getting their share of the finished product. When the depression really started hitting farmers, tobacco was selling for about 10 cents a pound. Not many farmers were able to operate their farms and especially their cars. Daddy had a 1926 Model-T Ford Roadster (convertible) with a rumble seat and spare tire on the rear. It was a beautiful car but was no longer affordable during the depression. So it was driven under the shelter and the rear wheels and axle were removed and a mule-driven cart was made. Carts like this were known as "Hoover Carts" since Herbert Hoover was in the White House and was widely blamed by the farmers for the economic distress. By this time, even a Hoover Cart was a little bit of a luxury. At least it would provide a little better ride on the bumpy roads. (By the way, the road on which our house was located still is not paved today.)
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