FAMILY STORIES

Born July 9, 1906 in Hamilton County near the city of Jasper, Florida. Times were hard. Few luxuries were enjoyed by the Bass family. Shoes were not considered a necessity even in the dead of winter. Daddy told me several times about how he scraped frost off a board with his toes. A typical Christmas for Daddy as a boy was for Santa Claus to bring an orange or apple and if things were really super a pocket knife might be under the tree.

Even though life was hard; there were humorous times also. Daddy used to tell about the time he and his father were going home after plowing with the mule all day. They saw a skunk hopping along. Daddy had never seen a skunk before and mistook it for a kitty cat. He told his father he was going to catch the pretty kitty cat. His father didn’t inform him that it was a skunk. He just let him go. Daddy’s mother wouldn’t let him in the house until he bathed and buried his clothes.

Daddy’s youth was cut short when his father died. He had to quit school and support his mother and himself, as he was the only child left at home. Bitterness developed between Daddy and his brothers and sisters because of their lack of concern for their mother. When his mother died, he left Hamilton County and the Jasper area.