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Remembrances of Bill Davison at Age 70‐1/2

Written December 17, 2003

The very first memory is as a very small boy on a train
going to Kentucky or through Kentucky to the farm
with Mom and one or two other brothers—Can’t
remember if Frances was with us, but surely she was
and was possibly holding Earl in another seat of the
train.

Next was in the garden of the farm with Frances
while she hoed the garden. Saw my first snake there
and Frances soon dispatched it.

From this garden and the front of the house you could
look down a wagon lane or driveway, which was lined
on both sides by trees the full length.

Can remember a peddler came down the country
road with a horse drawn large wooden enclosed
wagon in which he seemed to have everything one
might need. I was told he did this periodically and
would stop if you were out there. I also remember
how reddish orange the clay was alongside the road.

One day Dad took me on his old horse‐drawn wagon to the cemetery where he was going to fell one of the

biggest trees I ever saw. While he worked, I walked around inside the cemetery fence watching the
cows in the adjoining pasture when I called Dad to ask him why this cow had a large black belt around its body
near its hips. Dad immediately became very highly agitated, rushed out to the cow and yanked off the belt
and chopped off its head. My second snake. Dad said it was a blankety‐blank cow sucker.

Dad then sat me on top of this huge log and we went back to the house. Looking back and trying to remember,
this all must have occurred when I was about three years old.

Then there was the day in the barn lot, seems there was Mitchell, Bob, Paul, Myself, and Earl. My best
recollection is that Mitch either attempted or did put rabbit pellets up Paul’s nose. Earl and me tried to throw
rocks or whatever was in the barn lot at Mitch to make him stop. Mitch proceeded to put the two of us up in

either a corncrib or barn loft. (Don’t know how we got down.) The last we saw of Mitch he was running away
from Bob and Paul who had some tobacco sticks to use on him.

Bob and Paul went to school in Kentucky, but all I can remember about it, was Bob chasing Paul after school
one day because Paul kept saying Bob was sweet on some girl who had black bloomers. Earl and me were
too young for school.