Scot Family Of Kentucky (Chapter 2)

Chapter (2) 1950 to 1953

"Scot Family Of Kentucky"

         Lottie and Gene always sat on their front porch in the evenings in the summer months. They told stories of their childhood in the 1920's. In front of the Scot's home they were 2 main railroad tracks and on the other side of them was an old country road. Beyond the road was a big open field and then on its other side the main highway ran parallel to the Scott's home. In the far distance was an old farm house with wooded hills behind it. Most of the kids would sit around and listen to them talk about their past life when they were children. Gene told a couple of stories about a ghost in Versailles. He said when he was young his Dad, Joe Scot had a horse and a wagon the children rode in often. Gene had 2 brothers and 5 sisters in his family. This was in 1920 when Gene was 8 years old. Their Dad would take them for a ride in the wagon up an old road in Versailles. When they came to certain place in the road the horse would stop and rear up every time. Joe would have to get down off the wagon and lead the horse around that place. Nearby there was a big maple tree with low hanging limbs. Joe told his kids it had been used in the past to hang murderers etc, from its limbs. Gene did not believe in ghosts, but how else could this be explained.

         Gene told a story about the night his Nephew Sam was out late visiting at a neighbors house. As he left on his way to his Grandma Ella, and Grandpa Joe Scot's house. Their house sit at the end of a dark street in Versailles. When Sam started walking home he heard the sound of footsteps behind him. The night was pitch black when he looked back he did not see anything. It seemed the faster he walked the faster the steps behind him sounded. Sam was about 16 years old and was not afraid of the dark. However, this was something different to hear steps and not see anything, this was frightening to him. He finally reached the front porch of the Scot's home and quickly opened, closed, and locked the front door. Just as he did the knob on the door turned from the outside. Sam was scared to death he made it a practice to be indoors before dark thereafter. Gene swore to his children this actually happened to Sam.

         Lottie told of stories she was raised down in the mountains of Kentucky. Hiram and Bertha her parents had 1 boy and 5 girls. There was not even a grocery store in the little town of Oak Patch, Kentucky. A very small comunity in the Kentucky hills. Lottie told her children stories about how hard it was living there. She said in the 1920s they had no food to eat sometimes, the children would steal chickens and eggs from their neighbors to eat to survive. When Lottie was around 12 years old. She was walking up the old gravel road which was covered with a lot of snow that day. Near the bridge she found a twenty dollar bill laying in the snow. Back then twenty dollars would be equivalent to around 2 hundred today. Lottie was thrilled she had never seen so much money before. Her older sister Elva who was about 18 at the time walked with her to the nearby town of Rockington. A town of about 1,000 residents in the hills There was a grocery and clothing store there. She bought her a lot of new clothes and some for Elva too. She also gave Bertha her mother a lot of the money. Bertha bought food and coal with the rest of the money.

         Lottie told another story about when she was 16. She told her kids that Elva and her jumped a slow moving freight train and rode inside a boxcar. They went all the way to Indiana in the boxcar, they felt that was far enough. Elva was 22 at the time she was a very independant lady and sort of led Lottie around. Lottie told her kids to never do this themselves they could get killed. Lottie admitted and told her kids she was wrong to have done this and it scared her a lot. Lottie and Gene had it real hard raising what turned out to be 10 children in those days.

         Gene got paid from his Foundry job on Wednesdays. He would stop at the supermarket in the city of Wellington, and buy a lot of groceries there for the family. Of course the kids would get excited cause they knew they would have oyster soup, and usually pork chops for supper. Any type of meat was a luxiery to them. Gene always bought garlic bread for Lottie, she loved it. When he came home with the groceries all the kids would help carry them in the house. Occasionally he would buy the kids a soft drink or maybe an ice cream. This was about the only time they got snacks to eat or drink. By the time Friday came most all the groceries would be ate. With 6 boys they did not last long at the Scot's home, they were all big eaters.

         Paul did not talk or walk until age 6. In school it seemed he could not learn anything. He should have been placed in a special class for slow learners, but in those days there was no such classes in Versailles. Gene, and Lottie were poor financially they could not afford to send him to a special school. Paul never learned how to read or write. He was made fun of by the other students at school. This hurt Paul's feelings he could not help if he was a slow learner. He was critisized for this through out his life.

         All the boys would wrestle Ronnie. He was the biggest, but Jerry and Paul were big too. Ronnie would get them in the side yard where Lottie could not see them. The other 5 boys would try there best to beat Ronnie. Sometimes they almost did, but he was to strong for them. After they wrestled Jerry and Paul would get so mad they could not beat him. Ronnie would never hurt his brothers in any way. He loved all of them as much as he could. Lottie did not allow them to wrestle at all. If she caught them wrestling she would jump all over Ronnie. Putting all the blame on him for it. Usually it was him who started the wrestling. Ronnie loved playing with his brothers any way he could. While they were growing up as children.

         Ronnie had the mumps, and being a boy Lottie tried to keep him quiet so they would not fall on him. Norma and Dolores were going to go into Wellington to see a movie, and shop. Ronnie ask them if he could go with them they knew he could not. He tried to sneak away with them, but Lottie saw him. She really scolded him and made him sit in a chair for the rest of the day. He did not want to, but he knew his Mom knew best.

         Gene would go to the little country store in the evening in Versailles. He would often buy bananas for Lottie, and the kids. He also bought rolls or cookies for their breakfast the next day. All the children knew this they would beg Lottie for 1 or 2 pieces. When the next morning came they were not much left of it for breakfast. She always kept it under her pillow for safe keeping, but she would give into their begging. Lottie would not say no to any of her kids.

         Across the road from the Scot's house lived Mr. Haney. He was an older man in his 60s, and he drove a Model A Ford Pickup truck to and from work in Hyland. In front of his house, and across his driveway he had a fence and gates. Dolores and Norma would open his gates when he came home from work so he would not have to get out of his truck. Mr. Haney would always give them a candy bar a piece for their help. Sometimes the girls would be playing at another friends house, and were not there to open his gates. Ronnie would take their place and he was happy to get a candy bar. Mr. Haney was a real nice man and liked the Scot children.

         In the winter months if it snowed very much, they would cancel school. Because of the old country roads being so dangerous for the school buses to travel on. So most of the kids would go sled riding including Jerry, Paul, and Ronnie. The boys would go to a place where it had been used for a garden in the summer. The plow had left deep ridges all over it and it was on a steep slope. When they rode down the slope on their sled it would give them a bumpy ride. Ronnie usually let Jerry or Paul ride with him on the sled. They were many other kids from the neighborhood there sled riding too. It was a lot of fun playing in the snow they all enjoyed theirself.

         Another place all the kids in the neiborhood would sled ride was the school house hill. The road ran down the hill parallel to the front of the school. Naturally it would be real slick after the cars ran over it for awhile. The sleds would fly down the hill, but it was dangerous because of the on coming cars. At the bottom of the hill the road intersected with another road. This road ran vertical to the school and in front of the little grocery store this made it more dangerous. They would place one of the kids at the bottom of the hill to act as a look out. In case a car came up the store road. His job was to wave the sled rider off the road, and could stop by dragging his feet behind the sled. All the kids including the Scot boys enjoyed sled riding very much on the school house hill. It was safe with a good look out watching at the bottom of the school house hill. After riding down the hill for a hour or two you could barely stand up on the ice.

         In 1950, one day Norma, Ronnie, and Norma's boyfriend Stanley. Stanley was a strong boy who lived around the block from the Scot's home. They went to the river to swim, they had no life preservers of any type. Ronnie had never learned how to swim either. He was only 12 years old at that time and not very strong or tall. After awhile Ronnie drifted out into the middle of the river it was deeper and the current was swifter. Suddenly he felt his body being pulled down river by the current and it was getting deeper all the time. Ronnie tried to walk back to the bank, but he could not the water was up to his chin. He cried out to Norma in a frightened voice. She finally heard and seen him she screamed to Stanley at the top of her voice. To go get Ronnie and bring him back to the bank of the river. Thank God Stanley was an excellent swimmer older and much bigger than Ronnie. he brought Ronnie back to the bank he got out of the river frightened to death. He was so afraid of water after that he vowed never to go swiming in the river again.

         Ronnie got a bicycle for Christmas in 1950. He took good care of it and did not want anyone else to ride it. One day Norma got on it and rode it around the town. Ronnie seen it was gone from the back porch where he kept it. He was mad he knew Norma was riding it. After awhile Norma brought it home she did not think Ronnie would get so mad. Ronnie and her argued for awhile then suddenly Ronnie hit her. She began to cry this made Ronnie feel so bad for hitting her. He gave the bike back to her and told her she could ride it as much as she wanted too. Ronnie was always soft when it came to his sisters or any girl.

         Occasionally on a Sunday Gene, would take the big wash tub and take a block of ice from the icebox to put in the tub. He would then load the children up in the old Oldsmobile. Lottie and him would go to the little carryout store in Postville. His sister in law and his deceased brother Clearance's wife, Still ran the little store there after Clearance's, death. Gene would buy several soft drinks for the kids and put them in the big tub in the trunk of the car. They were only 5 cents a piece back then. Then he would take Lottie and the kids for a big ride all over the county. After he drove for a hour or so he would park the car on the side of the road. The kids would be happy cause they never got to drink very many soft drinks. After sitting in the shade and drinking their soft drinks Gene would drive the car on farther down the road. Until he made another stop down the road. The kids enjoyed these rides a lot and could not wait for the next time. This was about the only place Gene and Lottie would take them except Grandma's and Grandpa's house.

         Gene had put a bed in the kitchen for Dolores and Norma to sleep in. By their bed was an old door that was never used it was nailed shut. If you was a tall man you could see in its glass window. One night while the girls were sleeping there Norma saw a mans face looking in on them. She screamed and they both ran into Gene and Lottie's bedroom. Gene got up and look around, but did not see anyone out side the window. The next day Mrs. Bunch who lived next door told Lottie there was a peeping tom in the neighborhood. The girls never slept there in the bed again. They became very terrified of the dark after that.

         When Ronnie was 12 He was riding his bike on the school house hill. His friends Paul, and Jimmy were riding their bikes with him. Ronnie had a little dog named Skippy who was with him that day. Somehow as he was riding Skippy crossed over into his bikes path he ran over him. When he did it through him over the handle bars and he landed on his mouth. Ronnie's mouth started swelling and he went home to Lottie crying. Lottie looked at it and told him he had chipped a front tooth. He cried for along time his mouth swelled way up and was sore for awhile. He did not go to the dentist he still had that chipped tooth in his forties.

         Mr. and Mrs. Bunch lived next door To the Scot family. Their children were named Jimmy, Dolores, Opel, Edgar, and Barbara, she was the youngest all the other chidren were married. Mr. Bunch worked hard everyday to feed his family. He got sick and would sit outside and watch the Scot children play a lot in the summer months. All the Scot kids liked him he was a good man he always wore a hat. He would cough a lot while he watched them play. The Scot children did not know what was wrong with him for a long time. Finally Ronnie asked his Mom Lottie what was wrong with Mr. Bunch. She told him that Mr. Bunch was going to die he had lung cancer. This upset all the Scot children especially Ronnie. Mr. bunch was a real good man and had lived next door since any of the kids could remember.

         When Dolores was 16 and Ronnie was 12 in 1951. Dolores had a boy friend much older than her his name was Danny he was 25 years old. Mom nor Dad wanted her to be with someone that much older than her. After Dad would go to bed she would sneak out to meet Danny in the yard. One night after talking to Danny she came in the house to go to bed. When she did she awakened Gene and also Ronnie. Gene got up and pulled his big leather belt out of his pants. Because Ronnie was awake he thought that he had woke him up. Gene pulled the covers back off Ronnie and really gave him a thrashing. Ronnie never said a word nor did Dolores. Ronnie thought there was no reason for her to get a thrashing too. He forgave his Dad and Dolores he was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

         Ronnie had a younger friend who was the son of the local store owner. His name was Doug he was 3 years younger than Ronnie, but they both liked to pitch baseball together. Ronnie was 13 at the time in 1952. He would go to Doug house and they would take turns pitching the ball. After they struck out 3 batters they would trade places. Then the pitcher would become the catcher. Those two would pitch the baseball for hours. Doug would take a break and walk in the house and get him and Ronnie a cold soft drink a piece. Doug would also bring a radio out on the front porch of the house. He would turn the Cincinnati Reds baseball game on the radio. If the Reds were not playing in Cincinnati then it would be broadcast by ticker tape by the announcer, Waite Hoyte and he was a good announcer too. Sometimes the ticker tape imformation would come in slow and it would take a fly ball a minute to come down from the sky. At other times the imformation would come in to fast and Waite would have to rush the game. allowing no time for the plays in the game to take place. If he didn't he would get behind in the game and never catch up. Doug and Ronnie did this for a couple of summers it was fun pitching ball and drinking soft drinks. Ronnie got a lot of practice playing ball and he enjoyed it at the same time.

Ronnie, Jerry, and usually Paul would go to the ripples in the river. They would go fishing there it was a good place to catch fish. They would hunt under the rocks on the side of the ripples for fish bait Helgramites, Crawdads, and frogs. Then they would use them to fish with. They also would find a lot of muscles on the rivers edge there at the ripples. The water was not over their knees there they could easily walk across the river. They never caught many fish, but they did have a lot of fun there. Hunting fish bait and opening Muscles to search inside them for pearls.

         In 1952, Ronnie was 14 years old. He would get an old broom or mop and saw the sticlk off it. He would go in front of the Scot's house and bat rocks with the sticks. The railroad had plenty of rocks on it, he could stand there forever and never run out of rocks to bat. It took sometime to get used to batting rocks. They are so much smaller than a ball and the stick is a whole lot smaller than a bat. After awhile Ronnie perfected it like he did baseball. He had to be careful though a road ran parrallel to the tracks and down a hill across the railroad tracks. He could not see cars if they were coming up the hill so he would listen carefully for them before he batted a rock. He did this for a couple of years it perfected his hitting ability. Later while playing baseball it helped him a lot in his hitting.

Some times when he batted rocks especially on the weekends. He would see a lot of passenger trains go up and down the tracks. When he did he would think to himself where are all the passengers going. A lot of times he would see girls and boys on the trains and they would wave at him. He would of course wave back at them in wonder. Ronnie sort of wished he was on the train with them.

         In 1952 Ronnie started junior high school. This meant he would have to ride a bus to school it was 9 miles away. Ronnie did not like this because he was so shy and reserved. He did not say a whole lot to anyone on the bus. There was a girl named Bessie who he went through grade school with. She would save Ronnie a seat on the bus naturally Ronnie thought she liked him as a boy friend. About 4 miles down the road another girl would get on the school bus named Joyce. He did not understand why Bessie would ask Joyce to sit down and Ronnie sat in the middle of them two. After awhile he realized Joyce liked him as a boy friend and not Bessie. She must have told Bessie she liked Ronnie this was the reason she got Ronnie to sit by her. Ronnie liked Joyce, but not as much as he did Bessie she was real pretty. However him and Bessie never became boy and girl friends.

         Ronnie did not like the big high school it was hard for him to find his way around. They were so many students there too. His first year there he took physical education it was a required subject. The teacher was big and mean Mr. Scropture was his name. Ronnie heard from fellow students that if you did not take Gym for any reason he would whip you with a 13 size Gym shoe. So the first class they had in Gym Mr. Scropture told them that they all had better have Gym shoes and shorts for their next class, or else they knew what else meant. Ronnie knew he would not have them cause Gene could not afford to buy them. The next Gym class he told all the boys who had shorts and Gym shoes to go ahead and play Basketball. He then made the other 10 to line up in a row and one by one whipped them with that big 13 Gym shoe. When it came Ronnie's turn he looked at that shoe it looked more like a size 20 to him and it felt like it. They all got 10 lashings with the big shoe. After that he made them go to the top of the bleachers where there was running space. Told them to run back and forth the length of the Gym for the rest of the hour class. After a couple of lashings by mr. Scropture Ronnie told Gene and Lottie. They bought him a pair of gym shorts and gym shoes. He took gym for the rest of the year.

         The first year at the high school Ronnie did not learn a thing. He was so paronoid and reserved everything they taught him, he forgot. He tried hard that first year to learn what he could, but his Paranoia consumed his thoughts. Gene and Lottie bought him nice clothes to wear in junior high, but it did not help that much. He was totally lost in Mathmatics he never understood it. He was pretty good in spelling, but that did not mean a whole lot in school. English was another subject he had a lot of trouble learning. Ronnie was not a slow learner he just had a problem with his nerves. As the years went by his nerves became worse. His first year at the high school he did not pass to the 8th grade. Ronnie knew he had not learned anything that year in school, and did not think he should have passed either.

         In 1953 Dolores was 17 she was still going with Danny even though he was 9 years older than her. One day Dolores ran off with Danny to elope they went to Indiana. Gene was furious when Dolores called him and told him she had eloped. He told her to put Danny on the phone. Gene told Danny that he had better bring Dolores home she was only 17. Danny got scared and took Dolores to California to live. They stayed in California for about a year before coming back home to Kentucky. I guess the reason Gene did not have the police on Danny was the damage had already been done after they slept together. When they came home Gene and Lottie soon for forgive them both. Gene got to know Danny and liked him. Eventually Gene got Danny a job working with him in the foundry in Cincinnati.

         The same year that Dolores eloped in 1953, Norma got married with Gene and Lottie's permission. She was only 15, even though her husband was 7 years older than her. Kenny acted like a man and ask Gene for Norma's hand. Gene told him to take care of her and to never lay a hand on her Gene respected all women. Kenny was from Ohio and him and Norma got them an apartment in Oakley Ohio. Ken was married before and had a 4 year old girl named Lydia. She lived with Ken's parents they adopted her. Mrs. Davis and Herb were nice people. I grew to love all 3 of them in my many visits with them.

End Chapter (2)
BY: Kings Chapter (3) "Scot Family Of Kentucky (Chapter 3)"