Information about Lucy's school career is in a previous post. I didn't have too much information about George Dixon's sister Lucy, "Aunt Lucy" to Wilma, Jerry, Jim and Don. I met Faye Shaw in Albion and she shared several stories and some great pictures, and she added some new stories when I called her today.
Lucy was born just 5 months before her mother Mina Kershaw Dixon died. Faye shared that it was indeed complications from childbirth that killed Mina. Lucy was sent to live with her own Aunt Lucy, who was Mina's sister. Lucy returned to live with the rest of the family during her 7th or 8th grade year. Lucy's Aunt Lucy and her husband lived in Harrisburg, Illinois, SW of Albion and about halfway to the Ohio River. Lucy's Aunt Lucy and her husband ran a boarding house for railroaders and they travelled by train when they came to pick up Lucy and take her home.
Lucy married Carroll Perkins and had several children, including Faye. Aunt Lucy and Uncle Carroll and family visited Anderson several times over the years to visit with her brother George and his wife Della. It was great to share stories of the house on 19th and Noble with Faye.
Joe Dixon, George and Lucy's dad, said he would not remarry until the kids were grown, and he was true to his word. He eventually married Kate Green (Kelletts), who had four grown kids of her own.
Lucy loved to tell some stories. One was about the time that her dad Joe and her stepmother took the car to town to sell some sorghum (think molasses) they had milled. Lucy and her friend Eva Crawford went along for the trip to town. Joe and Kate would use the sorghum proceeds to buy groceries. They raised most of what they needed, but not everything. Unfortunately the sorghum turned over and spilled onto the floor of the car. They "squeeked" all over town as the sorghum stuck to their shoes.
Lucy also loved to tell a story about my uncle Don. Faye relates that her dad Carroll Perkins was in charge of the WPA, the Works Progress Administration, in the Albion area. The WPA was one of FDR's signature employment programs during the depression. Apparently, "little Donnie" went missing for awhile during one of the family trips to Albion. After searching for quite some time, "little Donnie" was found... leaning against a shovel. When asked what he was up to, Don replied that he was "playing WPA". Apparently he had picked up that some of the WPA workers were a little ahead of their time when it came to shovel leaning and avoiding work.
Aunt Lucy was 93 when she died. Faye and I agreed that we have some great Dixon genes.
No comments:
Post a Comment