1937 Flood (Rector TWP Saline Co)

     In January 1937 the Ohio River overflowed its banks, due to heavy melting snow in the northeast, plus heavy rainfall over a large area.  It came knocking at our door steps here in Rector TWP, plus thousands of acres in southern Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky.  No one believed it would happen because it had never done that before.

     At 9:00 P.M. one January night, Great Uncle “Rens”, Lorenzo Gaines brother to my late grandfather, came to our home  with a team of horses to a wagon and moved us 1 ½ quarters of a mile east, to his house on top of Gaines Hill.  Grandmother Orba Gaines, mother Linnie Pemberton and I, George Pemberton, along with a few belongings, went to higher ground.  Grandmother Gaines, the next day went to Broughton to stay with a lifelong friend Aunt Nattie Wilson.  A few days earlier we had taken my sister, Dorothy to Eldorado, rented her a room, close to the High School trying to prepare for the flood waters that had been predicted.

     When we moved in with Uncle Rens, his daughter Edith Murphy was already there with her children, Ted L. Jr. Ella Clark, John L. and Amelia.  Quite a cozy houseful.  We co-existed quite well, that is until I George 15, Ted L. Jr. 16, John L. 11, borrowed a boat without permission.  We paddled it over a ½ mile southeast to the Murphy house, standing in 6 to 8 feet of muddy, ice cold, flood water.  We had no life jackets what so ever.  Very foolish, very dangerous, especially on a cold January day.

     The house was built high off the ground on top of a full basement.  We were able to enter the house and look around at the furniture stacked up, trying to save some.  We then rowed to the garage, where we found an old red rooster, miraculously alive floating on a bale of straw.  We retrieved him, thinking that would justify our trip, in our elder’s eyes.  Not so!

     Awaiting us when we arrived were very worried and very angry family members, namely, Uncle Rens, with two healthy 6 foot switches.  The first thing he did was to kill the old red rooster.  Boy!   What were we in for?

     We docked the boat in the highway ditch in front of Uncle Finnis’s house.  Another brother to Uncle Rens and Grandfather.  He came out too, to assist in docking the boat.  He was fastening the boat to the fence along the side of Uncle Ren’s field.  At the same time Hardin Porter and wife from Broughton drove up and parked in the driveway of Uncle Finnis’s home.  He was walking in our direction and yelled, “Rens, what are you going to do with those switches?”  The reply was, “I’m going to whip these boys”.  Hardin said, “When”?  Uncle Rens said, “Just as soon as they get out of this boat”.  Uncle Finnis at this point had said nothing.  He knew that his brother had a temper and might abuse us, without much mercy, so he said, “Well boys, why don’t you just jump out the other side”?  That was all we needed.  We cleared the boat, the fence, and in a matter of minutes disappeared behind Uncle Ren’s house, about 600 feet away.

     We knew we couldn’t go in the house for fear of what our mothers would do, and after all, Uncle Rens would  be there very shortly.  We continued on north over the hill to the Hugh Gaines woods, where we hid out until dark.  We then went back to the house of Uncle Finnis, very quietly removed our two bicycles from his front porch without anyone being any wiser and rode them to Broughton, 2 miles away, to the home of other relatives, Ann Hardesty and Elsie Murphy.  They sympathetically took us in and fed us supper.  Before we had finished eating a knock sounded at the front door.  It was Roy Gaines, son of Uncle Rens, who had figured out where we might be, and came to take us back home.  He said, “Let dad in the back door.” Which turned out to be a joke.  We, however, were preparing to flee again, but, soon saw it was not necessary.  Uncle Rens was at home, in bed.  Roy persuaded us to go back home with him.  He knew that Uncle Rens had cooled off considerably.

     The four of us rode home in his one seater, Model A Ford.  The three of us immediately went to bed in the east bedroom of the house.  Roy slept in the north bedroom with Uncle Rens.  Edith and my mother slept in the west bedroom.  We three boys, with a guilty conscience wanted nothing more than to jump in bed, cover our heads, get to sleep and forget the mess we had created for ourselves.  We only forgot one thing and that was to, not disturbs anyone, do our little thing in the back yard and headed back to our bedroom.  Upon returning we noticed through a south living room window, a young lady peeling off her dress in preparation for bed.  Low and behold she had nothing on under the dress.  Luckily she was standing sideways to us, revealing only a lot of skin, and one of her beautiful above the waist assets!!!!

    Boy, we were already under indictment for one offence and did not wish another, as, “Peeping Toms”, so we hurriedly and quietly entered our bedroom again, climbed into bed, covered up heads and eventually went to sleep, dreading the next day.

     Next morning, our mothers told us that Uncle Rens was down in the field repairing hog fence and he might appreciate some help.  We complied, and nothing more was ever mentioned about the day before happenings.

     We still loved Uncle Rens as long as he lived, and cherish his memory.  Even though, he did give us some anxious moments!!!

     The flood waters lasted three weeks and then the cleaning up mess began and school resumed.  It took years to replace things we lost, some that could never be replaced but we will always have some of the memories.

George D. Pemberton

Transcribed by James Gholson due to fading type