MARY GOODWORTH BEARD(1870-1962)
& JAMES THOMAS BEARD, Sr.(1864-1935)
& JAMES THOMAS BEARD, Sr.(1864-1935)
Edna, daughter of James Thomas, Jr. and Rachel Ellen Woolstenhulme
Tells of some of her memories of Grandma and Grandpa Beard
I have so many memories of Grandpa Beard. The things that stand out in my memory most is of Grandpa blessing the food. When we sat down to the bit long table on benches that Grandpa had mad, Dave and Elmer were at the end of the table on the their special benches. We all knew we couldn’t start to eat until the blessing was given on the food, which was given most of the time by Grandpa. As soon as he lifted his head, he would reach for a bunch of watercress that he had gathered fresh from the spring, and give it a good shake at one of his grandkids. It really gave you a start, with that shake of cold water!
Another thing, Grandpa always got up early in the morning and built the fire with shavings had had whittle the night before on kindling sticks mostly with good pitch that took off like lightening.
My very special memory of Grandpa was when he whittled me a little doll from wood. For hair, he put corn silk on her head. I really loved that little doll. He was always whittling a lot. I can still see him now, in deep thought, just whittling away.
I also remember him toasting bread on a fork in the front door of the old cook stove. The toast was made form Grandma’s big slices of bread.
For a long time there was a high chair around that Grandpa had made for the babies to sit on. He whittled all the spokes and the arms. It was really something.
My fondest memories are of the wildflower garden that Grandma and Grandpa had in front of the mill house. They had a good tight fence made of 2 X 2. It was so lovely. Grandpa had dug wild columbine from the canyon. The columbine was Grandma’s favorite flower. They also had Sweet Williams. I never see either of those kinds of flowers that I don’t think of Grandma and Grandpa. The humming birds came several at a time, to flutter in and out of the garden. It was so beautiful, and Grandpa watered and took care of it faithfully.
When I see how Orin likes to tease, and see how my boys tease and go on, I know that it comes right from Grandpa. He always had to pull a little tuft of hair, and act like he hadn’t made a move. He was always going to “Spank Hoss”, and never doing it.
Grandpa had a nickname for everyone. He called me “Betty Blue Clothes”. When he called me that he sang a little song that he had made up about it. By the way, Bill Simister said instead of Grandpa called me “Betty Blue Clothes”, it should have been “Betty Few Clothes”!
Of course Grandpa played the accordion. One of the tunes I remember him playing was “Pop Goes the Weasel”. The song that stands out in my mind that he sang was, “Wait for the Wagon”. Grandpa called the cows out of the canyon, and I can still hear him singing “Dandy Cow-ow”. When he called Grandma, it was “Mary-e-e”, with a loving ring.
My first memory of Grandma Beard is of how clean she always smelled. She didn’t have deodorants or body powder that we use today, but I always loved to sit on her lap and have her pat me and sing very softly a little song to me, or even just to hum to me was very special.
There was always so many of us around Grandma and Grandpa…their boys and wives, and many times their daughters and husbands, and of course all of the grandchildren.
If Grandma ever gave a baby something, like a cookie or a piece of bread and butter, she had to put it in both little hands. She always loved their little hands most of all, and would hold their little hands in hers and say, “I do love their little hands”.
How, I wonder, did she cook and take care of so many, and always had lost of food on the table, along with peace and harmony? She always called her sons “My Dear Boys”, and the daughters, “My Dear Girls”. I have one of Mama’s cards that says, “To My Dear Daughter”. I love Grandma’s house at the ranch, but I especially loved the one at the mill. The old floorboards and the tables and benches were always scrubbed white with lye water. I remember at the mill house, huge bumblebees would fly in. Of course we were always scared of them. But Grandma would just talk to them and somehow get them into her apron and carry them outside. She would never let anyone harm a bee.
I loved it when we were going to have a new baby at our house. Papa would go get Grandma and she would be there for the delivery, and stay until Mom was back on her feet. She bathed the tiny one, cooked our meals and kept up everything else that needed to be done.
Grandma was never idle. If she had to go to town with Grandpa to take lumber, she would always take her knitting along and sit there knitting away as the oxen slowly made their way along.
I would give anything to know how Grandma made her teacakes. In the afternoon after the men had had a big dinner, she always thought they needed a bit to eat around 3 o’clock. She hurried and stirred up the teacakes, with a few raisins in them. They were hot from the oven and spread with fresh butter and cut in squares. I would take it across the spring, out to the mill. Papa would see me coming and shut the mill down and they would have their bread. They either had tea or root beer from the springhouse, which Grandma made and kept in a big keg with a spicket on it. I don’t know how she made that either. I wish I did! It had stinging nettle and dandelions in it, and various barks and roots.
We lived at the mill most of every summer and Grandma and Mom would milk the cows. Sometimes they made cheese and sometimes separate the milk and take the cream to town once a week to get groceries. I remember Grandma and Mama chuckling secretly about holding out a little of the cream check to get a piece of cloth to finish a quilt they were in the process of making.
I drank tea with Grandma for as long as I can remember. Wherever I work I’m kidded about the way I drink my tea, good and strong, with milk or cream. I remember grandma telling me that when she was a little girl, she wanted tea so bad and Grandma Goodworth didn’t think she should have it, but when the leaves were poured outside she would go get a handful and squeeze the juice out of it and drink it.
