John David Segroves1 was born August 31, 1944 in Bedford County, Tennessee1.
Notes for John David Segroves: April 14, 2000
For me, everything began August 31, 1944. My first recollection that day was Mom and dad being so excited about finally achieving the results they had been trying for. I didn't know until a few days later what they meant when I met my older siblings.
For the next several months it was pretty much eat, sleep, soiling duds and getting fresh duds and dealing with the goofy faces and silly talk of so called adults. Much of this is forgettable.
Pictures viewed over the years of my childhood could possibly cloud the true remembrance one perceives but I'm sure I remember "the hill" as the place Mom's mother and father lived. I remember a big snow and us parking at the bottom and walking up to the house. The snow was really deep to me and I cried until dad carried me.
The house was a spooky place and others talked about creepiness of it and that freaked me out. As bad as the house was it was wonderful next to the barn. I remember Zae and I were sentenced there and it was milking time for Maw maw. She gave us a choice of staying in the house or going with her to milk. What a choice. Zae chose the barn. Maw maw's plan was to put us in a stall separate from where she would do the milking where we could watch her do the job. But she didn't explain it exactly that way and I was not going in. Maw maw 's power of persuasion came from her right hand a feat that was enhanced by her daughter many time both before this occurrence and after. Needless to say, dairy farming was not high on my list of things I had to do in later life.
620 Deery Street was the only home I remember for 15 years. I think I was one when we moved there. I always thought it was a wonderful house with a huge yard. Dad did home improvements over the years including fixing the attic good enough for youngins to sleep in. I remember sleep being hard to come by in some of the hot summer nights but the installation of an attic fan was truly a wonderful addition. On one particular hot summer night, Larry, Roland and I were not falling to sleep very fast. Larry came up with this brain storm of getting a whooping so we could go to sleep and Roland immediately agreed much to my disapproval. They began beating on the walls until mom threatened to come up. Mom never let a threat go unanswered and she whooped us to sleep.
I think Dad built the room on the back of the house which became our den. The attic door was in the middle of the room and 15 steps took you to the attic which had three sleeping chambers and one closet and a bath at the immediate top of the stairs. There was a step up into this bathroom which made the door opening about six or so inches shorter than normal. This would not become a headache until later.
The opening at the top of the stairs had a U-shaped banister with square spindles. On top of this Dad mounted one or two pieces of plywood forming a surface on top that would later be my space. My chemistry set stayed there along with most of my treasures. to the left of this was a small door that opened into the roof of the house. This space was used for storage and also a "think-tank" for me when weather permitted. Obviously I didn't spend a great deal of time there. There were two other such places in the upstairs. To the right of the second such door was a set of five built in drawers which were brown shellac. Dad liked shellac.
Downstairs in the den where two other doorways. One went into the kitchen, which had a swinging door that took you to the dining room. Here there was an arched doorway into the living room and another one that went into the piano room. To the right of this was the front door and the covered front porch with an uncovered stoop to the left. To the left of the dining room was a doorway leading into a hall with a large gas floor furnace and a bath to the let of that. Straight ahead was Mom and Dad's bedroom with a door to Zae's bedroom and then another door back to the den. Ah the den. A place where family interaction and reaction took place not to mention eating.
A smaller gas floor furnace occupied a spot between the attic door and the kitchen door. I remember standing on this many a cold day until the grill work pattern burned a spot on the soles of my shoes.
With four youngins, three was always plenty of work for mom some of which she persuaded us children to help her with. Outside helpers appeared from time to time but I don't remember them staying too long. One black lady in particular would come on Monday to do ironing and I'm not sure what else. Zae and I decided to entertain her with our rendition of "Mammies' Little Baby Loves Shortin, Shortin". I don't recall her clapping or asking for an encore.
Preschool was tv-less. Radio was the main form of entertainment most of which I didn't understand. However, there were a few shows Larry and Roland listened to and I would try to understand.
Summer nights were made for playing outside and neighborhood kids often joined in for games of hide and seek, chicken in the coop, kick the can, roll at the bat. Dad had a telephone pole installed in the back yard with floodlights. Man that was great.
Bobby Overall was by best friend. Even though we sometimes didn't get along most of the time we were having fun. I still have some pictures of us, one where we were selling lemonade from his wagon. We pulled it to the Fix-It-Shop where Mr. and Mrs. Brown purchased a glass from us. Bobby was run over by a drunk driver on his 13th birthday. I still think of him.
Speaking of hide and seek, it came my time to be IT and I began my slow count to 100. This gave everyone time to go home and watch TV while I spent the next 30 minutes looking for them.
One of Dad's biggest projects on Deery Street was when he had the double car garage built. It contained a room which would become his gun room and a special room for mom for laundry. The sidewalk down the left side of the garage had a large drain over which many a gallon of home made ice cream was hand churned. Out in the yard from that was a picnic table and a bar-b-cue pit Dad had built the chimney of which supported my Mattel machine gun that killed thousands of Germans that so infested this neighborhood.
The roof of the garage was a favorite play place. We climbed from the back where there was a metal lean-to built and from there we climbed onto the main roof. Jumping off was the only way down.
The metal roof was also our curing place for Indian cigars. We thought smoking these was cool but mom had a different opinion and once she explained it we concurred.
One day I was walking home from school and as I got to my house someone hollered at me from across the street. It was Red Tucker sitting in a tree in his front yard smoking Kook cigarettes. He invited me up and offered me a smoke. Remembering Mom's explanation of smoking Indian cigars I declined but Red explained that Kook cigarettes had menthol which protected your breath from smoke smell. After smoking some I went home and to my utter amazement Mom smelled through the menthol and smoked the backside of me.
Our house was full of modern conveniences such as the telephone which was in the den. Our number was 514 later changed to 514-J. Additional phones were put in Mom and Dad's bedroom and on the doorway of the living room.
The kitchen was fully equipped with a double oven, refrigerator-freezer and dishwasher. Sometimes it was I, sometimes Zae but probable usually mom. I remember the kitchen table, which was red and gray with swooped chrome legs. There were 6 chairs to match. There was a kitchen clock that glowed in the dark and had a second hand. It could be seen from the den on the wall from the doorway. There was a double window over the sink from where you could see Mary and Shorty Edson's driveway and house. The stove had chrome tray where you could sit a greasy spoon while cooking. This was also the place Mom put any left over bacon, biscuits or ham and whatever seemed to disappear before long.
TV came into the house about 1950 and was the buzz of the neighborhood. Of course there was only one station, channel 4 and in those days it didn't come on until 9:00 A.M. On one Saturday our den was the place all the neighborhood met at 8:30 and we watched the test pattern until programming began.
Some of the early TV shows were Boston Blackie, Lights Out, The Firestone Theater, Jimmy Durantee and of course Uncle Milty on Tuesday nights, Cid Caesar and Imogene Coca. Dad's favorite was the Friday night fights brought to you by Gillette, look sharp, feel sharp and be sharp.
Family has always been a major emphasis in our home. We hosted many watermelon cuttings, ice cream and hamburger suppers in that huge back yard including Mom's family and ad's also. So lots of cousins, aunts and uncles.
On most Saturday nights we would go to papa's on Fairoak Street or Mammie's in the Village where more often than not other aunts and uncles did the same. On one particular Saturday night I remember us cousins ganging up in Uncle Billy's room where lots of heavy discussion was going on about the future. I remember Anna Lell figuring out how old each of us would be in the year 2000. I just knew it would never happen and now it has.
More About John David Segroves and <Unnamed>: Marriage: December 04, 1966, Bedford County, Tennessee.
John David Segroves (b. August 31, 1944)
Notes for John David Segroves: