Ethel Mae Bozeman Gibson
Peter Edward Bozeman b 1834 married Nancy Jane Anderson and had a son John Thomas Bozeman in 1866.
John's daughter Ethel Mae Bozeman Gibson wrote this letter on 10/25/1974 for her daughter Peggy.
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My mama was Allice Stephens; my daddy was John Bozeman borned in Alabama; they had 5 children, 2 boys and 3 girls, Rollie, Lorena, Bertha, Ethel, John was the baby 3 weeks old when my mama died.
My grandmother Nancy Bozeman took papa and us 5 children in her home; she allready had 13 children of her own, so she keep us about 6 month and little John died, and grandma told papa John, you will haft to marry and take your children - I cant help you any longer, so he married Ellen Bean, young blue eyes girl with pretty blond hir, fair skin, so she had her hands full to start her new married life on. So my Dady was living in Montgomery when they married, working at the cotten mill so when I was about 2 years old ma my stepmother, I taken bad case of chicken pox so she pulled my clothes off, took me on the back porch and greezed me with sulfur and lard.
I remember till today about crying and telling Ma them people will see me naked, she said if you would stop crying and hollering they wouldn't see you. I ask her a few years latter what she was putting on me she said do you remember that, I said yes mam she told me it was sulfer and lard, I had chicken pox, she was docting me then the next i remember my aunt
Lizzie Stephens Moody
gave my sister a pretty new dress for a birthday present and i cryed. i wanted a new dress she gave me a nickle made me mad but i didn't get a new dress and dont ever remember seeing my aunt Lizzie any more as papa moved to his 40 acre farm with a 3 room log house on it so papa farmed this till 1919. He moved to Pike County 5 miles out from Troy south west we stayed 2 years their and our house had a stick and dirt chimily and my half brother Jessie Bozeman taken the Scarlet fever and our house was quarantine wich nobody could come to see us and we wasn't alowed to go any where the
Dr Anderson of Troy
came out to see Jessie and told papa to pay him silver dollars so he could wash it so nobody would catch that fever. So our house caught on fire from that stick and dirt chimily so i woke up herd a howling like a big truck and herd papa holling hey kids come draw watter bring it to me so
Rollie my brother drew the watter and put in wash tub and me and my sister Lorena toated it the watter to papa he put the fire out so we had to move so papa come back to his place and i was old enuff to help plow and pick cotten, milk cows sothere where our work started diggin ditches cutting wood plowing halling logs with 6 stears to a saw mill log cart. I halled to Harwell and Curry aw mill and papa halled their two he halled with Harwell stears and i halled with papa stears and my boy friend Jace Gibson halled to that same saw mill. He drove Bill Curry stears that the eyhar I meet Jace but I just halled logs long enuff to get enuff lumber to build us a 3 room plank house.
My sister Lorena and a man I remember his name cut the logs I halled then we hope papa build the new house than Lorena got married to Charlie McClain and in about 2 are 3 years me and Jace married in 1912 April 18. We went to Ramer on buggy caught themail train to Montgomery and got married and went to papa brothers house,
Uncle Bob Bozeman and eat our dinner and Aunt Carrie told us we took her on surprize and didn't have time to cook what she would like to as we had to catch the train back home to are to Ramer Ala where we left our hose and buggy at a stable where you could pay a man to take care of them till you come back.
People are folks didn't have no other way to go to Montgomery but horse and buggy are waggon and it would take a hold day to drive up their as we had bad muddie roads and deep sand so people would
go to Ramer and catch the train
to Montgomery but if they had to take they cotton are any thang to sell are go get a load of grocies it would take about 3 days to go and come and do their traiding so they had a place on Decatur St wich was Bughomer at that time they had 1 and 2 room houses you could rent and you had to take quilts and groceris and cook and eat they had lots houses at that time as people had to have a camp some where if the roads was so bad sometimes they couldn't go all the way, they would camp some where side of the road and put the quilts under the waggon and sleep on the ground. Some times it would be raiing and that was awffull bad on them Ihave herd old people talk abouthow bad it would be on the people and awfull bad on the horses are mules as they would stall are get b ad mudy spot and stall and they would be whiped to make them pull out of the bad place.
Some times people would help each other through this bad place liek taken they mules are horses and hitch a head off other man horses and dubble out so one day my Dady was on his way to Montgomery with a load of cotton 3 are 4 bales of cotton wich would weight about 5 hundred pound each bale, would be a heavy load about 2 tons some could hall more than others it was corden to the size of the horses, big one could pull bigger loads so papa mules was small and he stalled and he couldn't get his waggon to move and Jace Dady Clop Gibson took his mules and pulled papa wagon out he was glad he could help any body out of a mud hole. that was before I ever meet Jace we was children then we didn't meet till about a year before we married
but Mr Clop Gibson told me after me and Jace was married
that he pulled papa waggon out of mud, Mr Cop Gibson said his wife, Jace mama, Lane Gibson, toldhim to take his mule and pull Mr Bozeman out, he said she said Mr Bozeman let Clop puthis mules to the wagon they pull you out and it tickle Mr and Mrs Gibson how easy they mules pulled them out but papa mules was give out when the got in a mud hold they wasn't able to pull out so Mr Gibson said when they got papa out and on good road he mad it to Montgomery so now we dont haft worry with mules and wagons any moore for they are plenty cars and trucks and tractors so you hardly see mules and wagons ny moore.
Will get back to where me and Jace got married we moved out to our selfs and Jace had all ready started a farm and had done planted his corn and cotton we made a good crops that of 1912 there the next year of February first Ruby was borned. Boy was we two happy yas yas we thought we had the prettiest little black headed girl in the world I think thank she pretty and all of my sweet children I know I whiped you all a lots but i wanted youall to be good so everybody would love you all as I know people love good children and it takes some whipping to make children good and i made allo fyour all work as me and Jace couldn't do enuff to feed and clothes all of you all so i hope you all unde stand we really loved our children two my Dady made me worke and he whiped me two but i loved him for learning me to work and my step mother lernt me to keep the dishes washed up and beds made up and so you see i still do that all tho i ant able to do what id like to do so now i old and feble and cant work much ore but i cant stop trying to work as i like to work. i am glad me and Jace stayed to gether didn't seprate and i do hpe and pray the young peopleof now a days would or could stay together.
i am so proud we both worked and planned thangs how to make a honest living and i would talk to my children and tell them i hoped they would stay together well i am tired and thank ill close as you all kjnow our pass since you all got big enuff to notice thangs so may all who reads this will under stand we love all our children but we had to work so hrd till we couldn't take are feel like petting or playing with you all liek we would liked to done but i still love all of you all just the same.
May God Bless you all, Mama Ethel Gibson age at this time 81 years and 1 month and 2 weeks old this 12-15-74 i was borned October 17 - 18-93
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