Thursday, June 24, 2010

Happy Birthday Daddy


If my father was living he would be 93 today. Born on June 25, 1907 he was the eldest child of 'Bum' and Susie Ober Beasley and was born beside Little Piney Creek in Johnson Co. Ar. His name was Quinton Dillard and he was named for his grandfather Quinton Dillard Beasley who lived across the field in a two story log cabin built before the Civil War. I loved to hear him talk about his childhood.

His Uncle George Gillian gave him a puppy that he named Woodrow after President Woodrow Wilson. To keep Woodrow from whining Grandma Susie fed it butter. Woodrow lived until Daddy was a young man.

A time that was exciting for daddy was when the peddler came in his horse pulled hack. The sides opened up and it had double doors in the back. Oh the wonderous things the peddler brought. Tops that spun, whistles, marbles, pocket knives coveted by the older boys, dolls and dishes for the little girls. Needles, thread, pearl buttons, chewing tobacco, tools, spices, it was all there.

Daddy got his first job when he was about 12. His parents built a two story frame home and he fired the boiler for the sawmill which was set up by the creek.

As his grandparents got older he stayed with them, bringing water from a spring at the creek, chopping wood, picking the leaves from spice bushes for his Grandma to use for her tea.

What a wonderful place for a little boy to grow up, a paradise of swimming holes, fishing holes, and hunting all sorts of game. Happy Birthday Daddy.

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