BY CECELIA GREENE WOFFORD "Corky"

I spent more time with Aunt Dorothy than with any of the rest of my aunts. One summer Mama sent me to stay with her, for a week I think. I caught a guppy in the ditch in front of her house and put it in a jar. I knew the little fish was going to have babies. It was a big fat one with a large black spot on her stomach. She started having the little minnows late in the afternoon, and I stayed up until midnight watching her. You can tell Aunt Dorothy had a lot of patience with kids. The next morning she fixed French toast for breakfast. I had never had French toast before. I couldn’t believe it when she put syrup on it. I just didn’t know what was good. Aunt Dorothy always had a lot of brands of food I didn’t recognize. She has always been into health foods.

During the 60’s I started working for Aunt Dorothy making Christmas displays. I would usually start about October and work a few hours a day until the last week in December. She would get an idea for a new display, and sometimes we would work on them together. Sometimes we had different opinions about how things should be done, but since it was Aunt Dorothy’s business I tried to do them the way she wanted.

Aunt Dorothy took care of Mom for 3 years when Mom was sick. During this time she had her booth for her displays at the Florida State Fair when it was still in downtown Tampa.

One day my daughter, Debbie, and I spent all day using some stuff she had bought on sale to clean the grout in her and Uncle Frank’s shower. She wasn’t very happy about how long it took. When I got home I said, "There has to be a better way to clean the grout in a tile wall." I put some bleach in a squirt ketchup bottle like the restaurants were using at the time and had the grout in our bathroom clean in about 15 minutes.

A few times I really messed up. I still can’t use a router. I ruined one of her patterns trying to cut out some angles or something one day. I’m sure she can still tell you exactly what it was. Then I stuck her truck in some gook they dredged up out of the creek for fill. I mean, REALLY stuck, up to the hubs. That was the day I quit working for her. I was so frustrated about pulling such a dumb trick I just quit.

Last year at the family reunion Debbie wanted to take a picture of Aunt Dorothy. She was grumbling that she didn’t want her picture taken. Debbie talked her into it, but first she said she had to powder her nose and put on some lipstick. Debbie thought that was so cute.

"I want to ask you something. Do you girls really want my stories? (You are irreplaceable, Aunt Dorothy. Everyone tells me how wonderful the stories are.) You're just worried that I'll be six feet under, and you won't get any more of my writing. You going to be at the reunion? (If I have to walk.) Good. I sure hope Gerald's boy comes to it."

 ...Phone interview by Virginia Isabelle 7/22/2001

THE INCREDIBLE LUCK OF DOROTHY LOUISE

By: Dorothy Burdett Fuerst

The cistern lid closed with a bang. Dorothy’s mother was sewing on the back porch when she heard that bang. Her hair seemed to crawl on the back of her neck. "The children are playing in the front yard." she thought to herself, "One of them must have gone to the back, I’d better check it out." When she moved the lid, there was Dorothy under the water, her dress ballooned above the water. Nellie, her mother, quickly grabbed a rake, leaning over the half full cistern, she fished Dorothy out by catching the rake into her dress. Wiping the water from her eyes, Dorothy cried, "I lost my penny." "YOU almost lost your life!" exclaimed her mother.

Some of the cisterns in Marion, Ohio, were rectangles against the house, some round out in the yard, always close to the house. They caught rain water for washing clothes. The lid was kept closed to keep out dirt. It was opened when rain was expected. The round lid Dorothy stepped on, tipped enough to drop Dorothy in the cistern, then closed up.

In 1920, Dorothy’s family consisted of eight sisters and three brothers. Dorothy was number nine in this voluminous family, but she always felt lucky to have so many sisters and to be one of the younger ones. Reatha was number seven and at nine years of age, she took care of Edna, age seven, Dorothy, age six, Thelma, age five, and Billie, age two. The youngest was a boy called Bud.

Reatha took her three sisters, Edna, Dorothy and Thelma to the woods to pick Jack-in-The-Pulpit and other wild flowers. She took them along the railroad tracks to pick wild strawberries. She also took her sisters to the store to buy penny candy. The store was a few blocks up a hill on the other side of the railroad tracks. The train often stopped across the road that led to the store, so the children crawled under the train to get to the store. Reatha would tell them when it was safe to do this.

One bright sunny day while picking strawberries along the tracks, Reatha, Edna and Thelma wandered off some distance from the tracks. Dorothy saw something that looked interesting on the tracks, so stopped to pick it up. Suddenly she looked up and there was a train coming right at her. She was so startled, as she hadn’t heard it, that she just froze. Suddenly the train stopped and the conductor got off and lifted her off the tracks. Taking the frightened girl up to her house, he told her mother, "If any of your children get stuck on the tracks like that again, we will have them taken from you and put in the Children’s home. The reason we were able to stop was after stopping a short distance away we were going up hill."

When Dorothy was born prematurely, she weighed under three pounds. She was a very sick baby that couldn’t keep her food down. Her mother, Nellie, tried nine varieties of food but nothing worked until she tried malt. So that was what Dorothy was raised on.

Dorothy always felt lucky and privileged as she was encouraged to play outside and was treated like a china doll that might break if handled roughly.

One cold day, Dorothy fell through the ice. Reatha, Edna and Thelma were with her about a half mile from home. Reatha took off her coat and put it around Dorothy.

Nellie’s father, Dorothy’s Grandfather, was a doctor that couldn’t stand the sight of blood, so became a Pharmacist. He gathered plant roots, leaves, bark and seeds, like the Indians, and made his own medicines. He taught Nellie how to use his herbs, so Nellie knew just what to do to keep Dorothy alive. One day Reatha, Edna, Dorothy and Thelma decided to pick crab apples from a fenced-in field next to their house. They crawled through the barb-wire fence and ran to the tree in the center of the field. While picking the small apples, a bull came running up, snorting. The tree limbs held close to the ground. Dorothy had gone to the far side, when the bull came running towards her. Reatha grabbed her dress and pulled her under the tree. The bull paced back and forth, but finally got bored and left. The children took no time in running to the fence to get out.

One Saturday night, William and Nellie took the baby, Bud, and went for groceries, leaving Reatha in charge of Edna, Dorothy, Thelma and Billie. They usually left Mildred in charge as she was 12 years of age, whereas Reatha was only nine. But Mildred was spending the night at her girl friend’s house and Isabelle was at her aunts.

Two old maids lived at the other end of the block. They often tried to cause trouble with Dorothy’s family. They learned that Reatha was the eldest at home at that time, so they called the Police. The Police came to check and questioned the children. When William and Nellie came home, the Police took William to jail and Nellie and the children to the Children’s Home. They couldn’t find Reatha as she was hiding in the attic. The two old maids went through the house calling her. Reatha was used to answering when she was called, so she answered. The old maids made her come down. William and Nellie had put the groceries on the dining room table, then locked the door when leaving. Reatha looked back and saw the two old maids had climbed through the porch window and proceeded to go through the groceries.

At the Children’s Home, Nellie wouldn’t eat anything. The home seemed dark and dreary. The children wanted to go home, so Reatha helped them get dressed and led them outside. "If we can find the railroad track, I'll know how to get home." she said. They ran and ran and finally saw the railroad tracks. As they started down the tracks, some people from the Children’s Home saw them and took them back.

Monday morning before the Judge, William explained the situation and how reliable Reatha was. "This is ridiculous ," stormed the Judge, "Keeping this man in jail all weekend just because he was trying to get food for his family." William went to the Children’s Home and collected his family. When they arrived home, they saw that the old-maids had stolen some of the groceries. The next door neighbor said they had also gone through the garden helping themselves. "Why don’t you have them arrested for theft?" "No," said Nellie, "I’d just rather forget it. I don’t like trouble with neighbors."

Dorothy got weaker and weaker. She was six years old and went to school just a block away, but she was out of school more days than the days she attended. Her teacher watched her and notified her mother when she appeared to be too sick. When the teacher put on a play for the school in the auditorium, she put Dorothy in it because she had a good voice. Dorothy was dressed as a flower and sang with two other girls.

Dorothy continued to weaken. The fall when she was seven years old, the Doctor told her parents not to send her to school as she wouldn’t make it through another cold winter in Ohio. If they could take her to a warmer climate, she just might survive. "Don’t worry about her education, let her play in the sunshine." "How about Florida?" asked William. "We know some people who are going to St. Petersburg, Florida. "Sounds perfect." her Doctor said.

Lying in a downstairs bedroom, Dorothy heard her parents discussing what should be done. They decided to auction everything off. William was in the automobile repair shop business with his twin brother, Siamon.* "Siamon can keep the automobile business and my tools." said William. "In case it doesn’t work out and we come back, I can return to the business." Dorothy began to cry as she knew how much the business meant to her father. She didn’t want to be so much trouble.

THE AUCTION

At the auction, the household belongings went so cheap that Nellie had to leave to keep from breaking down. Her brand new stove that cost $125.00 went for $25.00. Her almost new sewing machine that cost $125.00 also went for $25.00.

When she looked in on Dorothy she saw how thin and pale she was, her curly hair fell over her sallow check bones. Dorothy was always a chatterbox, but was so good, her mother wished all the children were that less trouble.

Nellie was a strong willed woman who loved her family, and her five brothers and especially her beloved sister, Mable. To leave Mable who was eight years younger was almost too much.

William and Nellie packed the seven passenger Hupmobile with one mattress, a tent and any absolutely necessary things. She had made arrangements for the two older sons, Austin and Gerald to stay with her brothers. At nineteen, Viola had married and Alta was in college. The seven girls and the baby, Bud, were to go to Florida.

The girls were excited as they had never been out of Ohio. Their friends told them how lucky they were, as Florida was the land of plenty. Nobody had to work because all anyone had to do was pick the fruit off the trees and the sun was always shining.

*"Siamon" is Dorothy's spelling. Could be right. 

THE TRIP

William stopped often and let the children stretch their legs. They ran and played, but the first day, Dorothy stayed in the car. That night William, with the help of Nellie, Mildred and Isabelle, put up the tent. Dorothy got out of the car and sat near the tent. Reatha took care of Bud. Nellie could be heard sobbing all during the night. It was the first time she had ever been without a home and away from her family. It was like going to an unknown world.

The second night they stopped at a county jail house. William asked the jailor if he could put up the tent on the jail property for safety. The jailor said, "I have no one in the jail at this time, so why don’t you camp in here. It was late and the family was tired and hungry, so they were thankful for the hospitality. It was kind of exciting to spend the night in a jail, the doors left open, of course. The jailhouse bunks were more comfortable than being jammed together on one mattress.

The third night, William and Nellie put the tent up on an open field. The children helped with supper. Dorothy got off the mattress and sat outside the tent. Nellie was pleased to see her walk that far.

The trip was slow going. Once they were ferried over a river. Most roads were muddy. The farther south they got the warmer the weather and sandier the roads. The car got stuck in sand. The fifth day the axle on the car broke. The family sat on a lonely road while William hitch-hiked into town to get a new axle. This took a half day and by the time the car was fixed, the day was almost gone.

Once they asked a farmer if they could camp on his land. There was an outside pump, so Nellie thought that this was a good time to wash some clothes. The farmer’s wife came out and filled the tub and began washing the clothes. "No! No!", Nellie protested, "I can do it." "Please", replied the woman, " If I don’t do it, he will beat me." How horrible, thought Nellie.

One afternoon William went into town to get supplies. They were camped in a lonely spot. Two young men came and helped themselves to the food, drank the baby’s milk and asked for money. Nellie could always find some good in everyone, and wondered what was good about them...continued on Dorothy Louise Page 2 

ST PETERSBURG - FLORIDA

It took two weeks traveling to reach a small campground in St Petersburg, Florida. By that time, Dorothy was running and playing with her sisters. She loved the warm sunshine that her doctor had ordered.

The campground was near town and crowded. A Florida native told William about a large campground in Tampa that was for tourists, that cost nothing, and no limit on the time spent there.

CAMPGROUND FOR TOURISTS

The campground was at Palmetto Beach, a huge one on Tampa Bay. It was for tourists that planned to live in Florida. They were called "The Tin Can Tourists". Most cars had a tin can tied between the headlights or on the radiator cap.

William put the tent under a large oak tree. They had arrived there with eight children and eight dollars. "I’ve got to find work," William declared.

The children were delighted as they had never lived near water any larger than a cold stream. Although they couldn’t swim, they played in the water until they were water-logged. As usual, Reatha watched that they didn’t go into the deep water. Children around the camp showed them how to string black-eyed-susans to make beads. These were small, red beans that had a black spot on one end. They were plentiful on the small bushes around the camp.

The native children introduced them to the white rats as pets. The rats were cute and friendly and didn’t bite. One girl gave them one. The girls spent hours playing with it. It didn’t seem to mind and didn’t try to run away.

There was a cripple boy. He was all out of shape and could hardly walk. They were told he got that way because the father, in a drunken fit, threw the boy out the door of their home when he was a baby. Nellie had always told the children not to make sport of anyone that was different, so they were horrified when they saw some children taunting the poor boy.

The park had a large pavilion that had a stage and lots of seats. The wall around the pavilion was about four feet high, so the people stood around the wall to look out at the boats on the water. The stage was used for speeches or any entertainment the people could think of.

THE TOM THUMB WEDDING

Nellie decided to put on a play named "The Tom Thumb Wedding." Her girls were to be the players and their baby, Bud, now a year old was to be Tom Thumb. He was cute with yellow ringlets all over his head. Nellie made him a long tailed, black suit. Reatha took care of him most of the time, and he even slept with her so as not to disturb her mother’s sleep. He couldn’t say Reatha, so called her E OW.

The plan was that Nellie would hold him at one end of the stage and Reatha would be at the other end. At the end of the play, to be sure he would run across the front of the stage, Reatha would strike a match. Now Bud couldn’t resist blowing out a lighted match. This could be a problem since the only lights we had were kerosene lamps. When Reatha struck the match, Bud ran across the stage yelling, "E E E E OW OW OW."

THE 1921 HURRICANE

The skies darkened and the wind picked up. The news went through the camp that a hurricane was on the way.

The family had never been in a hurricane, but in Ohio there were some pretty strong winds with lots of rain. The homes in Ohio were built a lot sturdier and a lot of brick was used. There were cellars and attics so William and Nellie didn’t think much of a storm brewing. But they had never lived near the water, just a cold stream where they had a spring house built over it to keep milk, butter, water, and so forth cool. As the night came on, so did the storm. The wind was intense and the water came closer and closer to the tent opening. Nellie was lying on the mattress at the back of the tent. "Nellie!" called William, "We have to get out of here!" The children had gone to the pavilion but their mother wouldn’t leave the tent. William had packed the car and tied it to a tree. When the water was almost at the tent opening, Nellie left and got into the car. William had no more than got the mattress in the car, when a vicious wind ripped the tent from its stakes and it was waving in the wind like a huge flag.

The children didn’t see their mother and father all night. Reatha especially, was worried about what happened to them. The next morning the children were cold and hungry, but were distracted by a boat being tossed by wind and rain. Someone said, "OH, those poor men are trying to save their boat." A Spanish man remarked, "Ha!, They aren’t trying to save the boat, they are trying to sink it before it gets blown to shore. They are bootleggers and the boat is full of whiskey. They will go to jail if the police discover the liquor on board." In 1921, whiskey was not only illegal to sell, it was also illegal to have.

Water was everywhere, but the children were happy when their parents came in the pavilion. They took them to a school house. There were people all over; some lying on the floor on blankets, some sitting at desks. William said, "We are going to try and find a place to stay. When we do, we will come back for you."

It was getting dark when their parents came back and took all the children to a two story house. They all slept upstairs except Edna and Dorothy who slept in the kitchen on a table. There was about two feet of water on the floor.

The next day, their parents went to look for a place to put up the tent as the rain and wind had stopped. Their mother warned them, "Don’t take anything from this house, after all it’s the owner’s possessions and they will be back."

The tent was put up a few blocks from the campground so the kids went wading to see how much damage the storm had done. They were surprised to see houses sitting snug to the ground on one side and up on blocks on the other. In Florida, many houses were built up on blocks so air could circulate under the house to keep it cool. The wind and water had washed the blocks from under part of the houses and left the other part on blocks. Trash was everywhere; limbs, fallen trees, moss, people’s belongings. The weather was so still and quiet it was weird, so opposite to what it had been just a few days before.

WEST TAMPA

Word had gotten around that William was a good automobile mechanic, so he made enough money to keep the family in food.

He found a dry lot in West Tampa that was on the opposite side of town from the campground. He built a three foot wall and put the tent on top of that.

There was a grocery store a few lots away run by the Aldermans. To make extra money, their mother bought the ingredients to make donuts on credit. Reatha, Edna and Dorothy went around the neighborhood selling them. When they were all sold, the girls came back and their mother paid the grocery bill. One day while selling donuts, they saw some men sitting by a railroad track eating lunch. "Maybe they’ll buy some donuts for dessert." Reatha said. Every one of the men bought some donuts. "How often do you sell donuts?" one man asked. " Believe we can bring some every day." Reatha replied. So almost every day, Reatha, Edna and Dorothy went to the railroad workers and sold their donuts.

At night the children sat under a street light and made up weird stories and played "No beggars , burglars out tonight". It was sort of a hide-and-seek game.

Some Spanish people lived across the street. They had a teen-aged son that could sneak up on a bird that landed in the yard and catch it in his hands.

An older man was there called, "Wa-king. He was in his late 30's. He got interested in Mildred and she was only 14 years old. Now Mildred was the tallest of the girls, studious and quiet, so she seemed much older. We later learned that Wa-king was one of the bootleggers that was trying to sink the boat during the storm. Concerned, her mother sent her back to Ohio to live with her Aunt Mable.

Tent life was (having an adverse affect) on their father. He had always had a temper and was now taking his frustration out on Isabelle. The Alderman’s were closing up their store and going back to Tennessee, so Nellie asked if they would take Isabelle and leave her with her sister, Viola. Viola and her husband, Charlie, had moved to Tennessee with their two babies. So in 1921 Isabelle went with the Alderman’s. Viola and Charlie were very poor and couldn’t afford to send her to school. A priest told her of a boarding school where she could stay and get an education.

THE CIRCUS

A traveling circus moved in and put up their tents, trapeze, etc., next to the tent. The excitement the children felt was immense. They had never seen a circus and to have one on the lot next to them was exciting. They had put up a rope ladder that was quite high and offered any child $10.00 who could climb to the top. In 1921, $10.00 was a fortune to a child. Many tried, but the ladder swung around so none got very far.

BED BUGS

Nellie bought a bed spring from a woman who was moving. That was their introduction to "Bed bugs." The bugs made sores on Nellie’s arms that itched, so she decided she had to get rid of them. Asking around, she was told that there was a poison called Blue Vitriol that would kill them. She took the springs outside and soaking chunks of the blue, glass-looking poison in water, poured it on the springs.

Bud was with her, but while she was busy, the baby went into the tent, then came out spitting the blue stuff from his mouth. Running into the tent, Nellie saw the Blue Vitriol had been bitten into. She quickly tried to clean his mouth out by using soap so he would spit. Cleaning his mouth, she then crushed up some chalk, rubbing it into his mouth. The baby was good and didn’t get sick. Being raised on a farm, Nellie was used to caring for sick animals.

The bed bugs were still there, so she decided to burn them out. She got a glass and filled it with gasoline. She set it on the table and turned to get some papers and matches. Bud saw the clear liquid in the glass and must have thought it was water, so he took a good swig. Nellie wasn’t quick enough to get it from him before he swallowed it. She called Reatha to get some eggs and olive oil from the store next door. As Reatha ran, a neighbor said, "Get a doctor!" Nellie said, "Get a doctor yourself. I don’t have time." Nellie knew that you dilute an oil with an oil, whereas you dilute a water liquid with a water liquid. She then poured the olive oil down Bud, then gave him raw egg yolk.

There was an old Indian Doctor near, so someone had him come over. When he checked Bud over, he said, "You’ve done all the right things, but I’ll give him some of my medicine to make sure his lungs haven’t been seared."

After burning the springs some of those horrible bed bugs were still there. "I can’t seem to kill those awful bugs, but I nearly killed the baby." Nellie said.

A few weeks later a small child drank kerosene. His mother quickly took him to a doctor, but the little boy died. Nellie said, "When it comes to poisons and other toxins, you just have to act quickly. You can’t take the time to get the child to a doctor."

William had been repairing cars for needed food. The family needed to find a house. Someone told him about a large house that housed two families. It had a long hall that separated the two living quarters. The rooms were alike on both sides. Spare rooms for kitchen, dining, two bedrooms, a front and back porch. The house was unpainted and had a pump and outhouse. The rent was 25 cents a week. The owner came to collect his 25 cents from each renter. Nellie let Bud take the 25 cents to the owner when he came to collect. This house was in West Tampa, a Spanish community.

"I’ve got to find steady work," declared William to Mr. Shrum who occupied the other living quarters of the house. "I’m a roofer," said Mr. Shrum. "Why don’t you work with me? Tampa is growing, so there is plenty of work." Mr. Shrum was married to a very homely, crippled woman. He was extremely good looking. The story was his wife had an extremely beautiful sister that Mr. Shrum was in love with. The beautiful sister had turned him down for another man. The homely sister had been thrown out the back door by her father in a fit of rage when she was a baby. Like the boy in the park, it left the child a cripple for life. Mr. Shrum was extremely good to his incapacitated wife. Unlike the boy in the park, she could cook and keep house. However, she was a kleptomaniac....continued on Dorothy Louise Page 2