Memories of Iva Della Robinson (as told by family members and transcribed by granddaughter LaDell)
Wilbur J. Robinson (second son of Della and Keller)
(Writing to his daughter, are the following comments):
LaDell, this will not be in order but just thoughts wrote down as I think.
Looking at the old pictures at the age of 12 or 13, Minnie Lee looked an awful lot like ma. She was about 5’5” tall, on the hefty side, black hair, and brown eyes (hair turned real white as she grew older) and real good looking. She was the strongest woman I ever saw, stronger than most men were. I have seen her throw 100 pound feed sacks over her shoulder, milk buckets, in the other hand, and starts for the barn and never stops to rest or let it down. It was about a 100 yards.
Everything to her was black or white, never any gray. Blunt speaking. It turned some people off. You had to know her to like her. Some of the grandkids say she was very opinionated (you can add to this). She was very protective of her family. She could find fault and tell them off but no one else had that right.
I think mom and dad had a real good life together. They had differences but I don’t remember any big fights. Dad loved to buy, sell and trade. Mom thought he spent too much time doing that. I think us boys brought a lot of that on Dad by making fun of his trades, like the time he bought a little old donkey at the sale in Pawnee. The boys lined up, poking fun at this donkey. Finally he said, “Well the owner said she was a good puller”. We jumped on that. “Let’s harness her up”. We hitched her and “Old Lady” together (2nd best donkey we had). She out-pulled Lady. Us boys couldn’t let it drop. “How about getting Kate out”. (The biggest and best donkey we had). Kate out-pulled her but she had to slide that mule, she would not back up. Dad usually came out ahead on his trades but with us boys helping, he would get into it.
The first car Dad bought was a 1919 Ford T-model. He hardly got it home until Mom said, “I am going to drive that car”. “Now Della”, Dad said, but she did drive it. We had a level and clear place north of the house about 1 acre. Real good place to start. Dad showed her the low gear pedal, reverse pedal, brake pedal, emergency brake, how to start and how to stop it. She was ready and drove around that patch of ground. Everything went fine until she got it headed toward the only tree stump in the middle of the field. She seen it and got excited and forgot what she had been told. “Whoa, Whoa, Whoa”. You know that didn’t stop that Ford. It didn’t damage it and she did learn to drive.
The first job I remember helping mom do was drying fruit apples, I think. We cut them up and then took them out to the sheds with tin roofs, spread sheets on the tin with fruit on it. Left it until the fruit dried.
Her work was very organized – get up same time, meals at same time. You had better be there (no second time around). The house cleaning fit in between somewhere. On wash day, everyone had a job, pumping the water, gathering wood for the iron kettle to heat water, carrying water in, hanging out clothes. We all had our place. And everyday after lunch, nap time. That was about the only time around our house things were quiet.
Among other things, Mom was a very good seamstress. She made a lot of the boy’s shirts, girl’s dresses. When she was older and by herself, she took up tailoring. When she went anywhere, she wore her self-made clothes, hat and gloves. Looked like she had just stepped off the bandwagon.
She was a very independent old gal and liked her own way. Until she was a way up in her eighty’s, she insisted on having the whole family at her home for the big family dinners.
One time the women were cleaning and working on the church at Lone Chimney. She was the oldest by 25 years. When Virginia Boyles started to get up on a ladder to clean up high, mom said, “Come now, Virginia, let me get up on that ladder. You might fall and get hurt” (That’s confidence in your ability)
One time two young men came by our house on Sunday night late (winter time). They had car trouble on Highway 18. They had been walking a long way. They were cold and one had feet that was swollen something awful. Mom hunted up some liniment and then went to the kitchen. By the time they were warm and had their feet rubbed, she came in and said “I have some supper ready for you men”. Then she went and got some of her quilts and brought them in. After we all talked and told windies awhile, Dad said, “We don’t have enough room here at the house to bed you down but if you will leave your matches and tobacco at the house, I’ll take these quilts to the barn and fix you a good warm place. He did. Spread some hay, put quilts on it and laid more hay down. When they came to the house the next morning, they said they slept warm as toast. You can bet Mom had a big breakfast for everybody. After breakfast they went on their way. That was my ma.
Another time mom was very good when someone was sick or hurt. She seemed to have the right medicine or ointment to make it feel better and we did heal. She would take a sick kid, put something on them, wrap them up, put them on her chest and pat and rock them in her chair. You could almost see them relax and the first thing you knew they were asleep. When she was needed or neighbor women wanted her, she would go to their house and assist the doctor at the time of birth.
Sometimes when a woman would die in the neighborhood, mom would be asked to come and help (lay out the body), that’s what it was called. Generally, the body is laid on boards. You cleaned it, closed the eyes and mouth, and if they had clothes they wanted to be buried in, they would dress them. This was before they were turned over to the undertaker. This is something you don’t hear much about Mom-her willingness to help out anyone that needed it in the community and church.
Karen (W.J.’s oldest daughter) reminded me of a couple more stories. One time we were visiting Uncle Charley Fowler when he lived South of Jennings. Now Uncle Charley liked his home brew so he would make up a batch once in a while. He had a batch brewing on the south porch. Ma had seen it out there.
We had a nice long visit and had loaded in the car. Dad just got it started when Ma opened her door, jumped out, and started running toward the south porch with Uncle Charley hollering, “No, Della, No!”. It happened. Sure made a funny noise running off the porch.
I said she never let you come in late and get seconds at the table. Not so all the time. One time when I was about 16 or 17, I was cutting feed with a one-row binder for a fellow who lived about 8 or 10 miles southwest. So I stayed and boarded with the family for about a week. We had biscuits and gravy three times a day. This was all right with me but he had a bunch of kids and it sure was hard to elbow those little guys back so I could get more.
Saturday night I got through and went home late. I said, “Ma I am starving. I had biscuits and gravy everyday this week and not nearly enough. Do you have anything to eat?” She didn’t, but in a few minutes, I had the biggest supper you ever seen. SHE DID MAKE EXCEPTIONS!
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