Reclaimed Memories
ca. 1932 - 1934

hen we finished our first year at Bonebrake we knew that it was time for us to find cheaper living quarters. We could have stayed right on in the dormitory and charged the costs that we could not pay. We knew that if we did that we would be so deep in debt that it would take us years to pay out. We were young enough to think that camping would be fun. So that is what we did from July 18th to September 1st, 1932, on the farm of Clyde Comer. The farm was about ten miles southwest of Dayton, Ohio. Permission was secured through the efforts of some people we knew in the Olivet United Brethren Church, where we attended. Our friend, George Simpson, was pastor here. He was also a student at Bonebrake but was a year ahead of us. This family will be mentioned often. We remained close friends until their deaths.

We borrowed a small tent and a very large tarpaulin from people in the church and gathered up, here and there, a few cooking utensils and dishes and off we went on our camping adventure. I'm sure many people felt very sorry for us, but I cannot remember that we felt sorry for ourselves. We still felt the Lord was taking care of us and generally we enjoyed the camping experience. We were popular with the young people of Olivet Church and we had lots of company, especially in the evenings. We often roasted wieners and marshmallows, which our guests furnished, for no one came empty handed. They knew we were there in order to keep from going into debt for rent and utilities. We did all our cooking those weeks over a campfire and when our guests departed they usually left us extra food. A good clear stream ran a few yards beyond our camp, so there was always plenty of water. We did carry from the farm pump our cooking and drinking water. For all other purposes there was no thought of pollution. Bathing was a very simple procedure after darkness fell. With a small towel we enriched Mr. Comer's wooded area around the camp.

During our second year in Bonebrake we were offered the basement of the home of the Sunday School Superintendent of the Olivet Church and a sleeping room upstairs. This we very happily accepted. They charged only enough to cover the extra utilities. Marion was then in kindergarten and went to school with the Palmer's small daughter. Mrs. Palmer and her eldest daughter did not attend Olivet Church, but were faithful members of the Four Square Gospel Tabernacle in Dayton. We had a number of discussions with them about the doctrine of holiness, but I do not remember that their differing beliefs caused friction in the home.

I do remember one discussion when Mrs. Palmer said, "I can lay my religion down and give anyone a good going over and go back and pick it up again." Troy told a black man at work what she had said. He looked puzzled then said to Troy, "Huh! Now dats what I calls spigot religion. Ye jest turns it off and on when ye wants to."

When school was out that year we found a two room house, on the back of the lot, where the family had lived while building their home in front. I cannot remember if it was left furnished, or if we gathered up enough furnishings to get by on. I know we had a double bed, Marion's bed and a dresser in one room and in the kitchen, a stove, table and two or three chairs. The folks from Olivet Church completely surprised us with a kitchen shower, as soon as we moved. This gave us all those items we really needed. I know we had plenty of bed clothing and linens, for we had to furnish those things for the apartment in the dormitory. We used the bathroom of the home of the people that owned the little house. I believe we paid $12.00 rent a month. In those depression years everybody seemed to help others as much as they could.


I do not remember just how long we were in the little house, but a tragic death of one of our very good friends in the church, caused us to move again. Roy and Irene Weatherly were in the group that we associated with quite often. Roy loved to play the guitar and he and Troy often played together. They had a son, Ray, who was just Marion's age, which gave us another reason to see a lot of them outside the church. Irene died quite suddenly of a tubal pregnancy. Roy said that if we would move in with him and I would look after Ray and do the cooking and housework, he would pay all the bills. This we did for a part of our second year at Bonebrake and all of our last year. It made lots of work for me, along with keeping up in school but our living conditions were very good. The boys were so much company for each other that they did not take up much more of my time than Marion had alone.

A few months after Irene's death Roy started dating Rev. Simpson's daughter and he told us that they were going to be married at the end of the school term, when Mildred would graduate from high school. We had been living with Roy for over a year and we were almost at the end of our third year at Bonebrake. We would be graduating about the time that Roy and Mildred were planning to marry. We had no place really to go for the summer. We could not be assigned to a pastorate until the West Virginia Conference met in September. So we decided to camp again, rather than borrow money from the conference, which we could have done.

This time we were better prepared for camping. Troy built a nice little sleeping trailer, with storage cupboards on both sides, which opened to the outside. A tarpaulin was secured on the kitchen side, which unrolled to form a nicely sheltered kitchen. In the cupboards on that side we stored food, cooking utensils, and dishes. A card table gave us our work and dining area. We had a two burner gasoline stove and for light a kerosene lantern and flash lights.

One night we returned rather late to camp and heard a noise in the creek that we could not understand. We turned the beam of a flashlight on the water and discovered the cause of the commotion.  A large snake was trying to swallow a rather large fish, which was putting up quite a fight, but the snake won.

We made one trip back to West Virginia that summer leaving the camp standing. When we visited Ruby in Parkersburg, her daughter Lonald wanted to go back with us, when we told her about the camp. She was thirteen years old at that time and Marion was seven, but they enjoyed each other and time never seemed to hang heavy on their hands. Ruby sent enough money each week to pay for the extra expense of feeding Lonald, and she stayed the remaining six weeks, until we returned to attend the United Brethren Church Conference.

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