Mom and
Ernest rented a plot of land on Summit Street directly in front of our house
and about a half mile away. They wanted it for a garden but it was much too
large so they gave grandpa half of it. It was a big garden for an old man to
tend. I have seen grandpa load up a big gunney sack full of vegetables and
throw it over his shoulder and head for home which was a long walk. I felt
sorry for him and I wish now that I had helped him. He was not the kind to
ask for help from anyone.
He always liked my mom and he would visit quite often with her. When Richard
Lee was born he would call on us because he liked to rock the baby. He was
the same with Phyllis Ann when she was born. It was a long climb up the
French Lick Hill where we lived. He also liked to go over to the old city
park and watch them play horseshoes. Sometimes he would play but he was not
very good at it.
It was in 1937 while working in a street crew on Walnut Street that grandpa
suffered a stroke and when he fell he hit his head on the edge of the
sidewalk and nearly died but after a few months he did recover somewhat but
he was never able to work again. When grandma could no longer care for him
he was sent to the hospital in Madison, IN. He died shortly after he was
admitted. Uncle Roy and I went to see him the night before he died.
Continued
from last issue…..
Now my story leads me to write that of Ellsworth as I fondly remember it
and the outstanding families that have lived there. They still live in their
descendants that are the same kind of people. Many of them still live in the
community. I wish I had words to portray the esteem and prestige of these
exceptional people.
The first
family of which I wish to write is that of the doctor himself Dr. Ben Whittinghill. His home was the first as you approached the town from the
East. His wife was ? . I remember his sons, Noone, Logan, and
Ben and his
daughters Sophia that became the wife of Ellsworth Ellis and ? that
married Tom Ellis. The stories of these families are very much the same as a
result of these marriages.
Surely someone of his descendants has written the interesting genealogy of
them. The doctor, himself was a large , strong man and was a typical rural
physician. Many sick were restored to health by his skill and practice that
was known at that time. My own experience as a patient came about during the
first two weeks of October 1914. I had just qualified to be a teacher and
had contracted to teach # 8, Jackson Township Orange County when I came down
with a case of typhoid fever. Dr. Whittinghill was called and he came riding
his mule. He began a treatment using calomel powder that he measured on a
knife blade and wrapped into individual doses in newspaper. I would take a
round of these and follow with a tablespoonful of castor oil wrapped in
apple butter or clabber milk. I overcame the fever and after a week of
weakness went to teach the school. I began to gain weight even to 154 pounds
and I am sure that Mr. Thomas Gilliatt made no profit on my board at 25
cents per meal. The doctor also operated a farm and planing mill. His son
and granddaughter live in modern homes on this location.