Columbus Allie Childers

Columbus Allie Childers

(As remembered by his Grandson, Larry Stephen Childers)

I’ve been asked to record my memories of my Grandfather, …… Columbus Allie Childers.

It was recently pointed out to me, that of all of his Grand children I might possess the greatest personal knowledge of him, since I grew up in Morgantown, Kentucky and knew him from my first recollection  ‘til his death.

Most people called him “C.A.” but members of the family normally called him “Allie”.

Allie was born in Butler County, Kentucky on Oct. 10^th, 1891.  Son of Thomas Alfred Childers and Laura Belle Johnson Childers.  Thomas was a farmer in the northern part of Butler County. Allie grew up there and went to school in and area known at the time as “Long Branch Hollow”.  Called ‘Long Branch Holler’ by the residents of the day.  In addition to the school, which was one of the newer buildings, there were several homes along the creek, …  including the homes of Thomas Alfred and his father Thomas Nathan Childers.

Butler County is divided into North and South sides of the Green River that flows through the county. The populous of the northern part of the county were known as “North Siders”.   The Southern part of the county is home to Morgantown (The County Seat) and was considered the more affluent part of the county. While the “North Siders” were considered (and, indeed, were) the poorer citizens of the county.

Allie left home at the age of 15.  There just wasn’t much in the ‘Holler’ for a young man, unless he intended to be a farmer.  Apparently Allie wasn’t of mind to be a farmer.

He worked what odd jobs he could find including construction and road crews.

In 1913 Allie married his first wife, Eva Viola Martin  (Born 1894) (Died 1932)

Eva was a lightly built, a small boned person, subject to often ill health.

Eva was the mother of Allie’s 5 children:

Butrice Myrl

Charles

Rollie Thomas

Mildred Cleo

Helena Therlo

I don’t know the history as to how he came to be in the grocery business, but he did eventually come to have a modest home and a small country grocery on the North side of the county.  Only about five miles from the 'Holler'. The old frame house set on stone pillars about 2 feet above the ground, had no plumbing or electric, and utilized an “outhouse” out back for attending to personal business.  The house wasn’t insulated and the interior was papered with old news papers (which was common at the time).  The floor was a single layer of planks with cracks between them that allowed a nice view of the chickens that spent much of the heat of the day under the house in an effort to stay cool.  Heat was with a wooden cook stove in the kitchen and a smaller wood/coal stove in the living room.  Air conditioning, at the time was, …. ‘Open the windows and hope for a breeze’.

A brief bit of personal history here.  My Father, Charles Childers, and my Mother, Geneva Lee Miller Childers. Had been in Willow Run, Mich. During the second World War, where they worked in an Aircraft Plant building ‘Liberator Bombers’ to be used in the war.  After their stint in Michigan They came back to the ‘North Side’ to stay with Allie until they could acquire new jobs in Kentucky.  I was born in Allie’s house and was already kicking and screaming when the doctor (Dr. D. G. Miller) arrived at the house.

In addition to the store Allie had built a small ‘Mill’ on the property next to the store.  Here he would grind grain for the area residents, into flour and other meals. He would grind the grains for a percentage of the finished grind, and this he would bag and sell in the store to those who had no grain of their own.

He had the first radio on the ‘North Side’.  It was a battery-powered affair that required earphones to listen to the radio.  People would gather in the store on Saturday night to take turns listening to that old radio.

During what is know as ‘ The Great Depression’, Allie let people have merchandise on ‘Credit’ (he didn’t have the heart to send them away with no food) until he, himself, went bankrupt.   My dad, Charles, and my Uncle, Rollie, both chipped in to help their father get back on his feet and get the store running again, … with an understanding with the residents of the area that he could not continue to let them have their food stuffs without paying for them, if they wished to continue to have the store in the area.

He met and married Lura Evelyn Kitchens, Called Evie by family and friends, in 1943.  I have no knowledge of where and how they met.

The Move

After the war the population of the “North Side” began to dwindle, as younger folk left the area to find better paying work than the ‘Hill Farming’ they were accustomed to.

With his children having all left the “North Side” Allie found, and rented, space in Morgantown and moved his store to town.

It was a small store by anyone’s standards.  When you walked in the front door there was a wall of grocery items on the right wall, two shelving units to the left of that and the sales counter on the left wall.  An extension of the sales counter (toward the front wall of the store) housed a glass enclosed candy case.  The meat department was across the rear of the store with a refrigerated display case in front of that for the meats that had been cut and prepared for sale.  With the additional space for a ‘Cold Drink’ box and a refrigerated dairy box, that was it.

The bread rack sat by the front door, and I can remember when the large sandwich loaf of white bread was  $.10 (ten cents) a loaf.   What was once called ‘penny candy’ was 3 for a penny in those days.  8 oz. Cokes were $.05 (a nickel) and the large 12 oz. size was $.10 (ten cents).  A regular sized candy bar was a nickel and a large size was a dime. (The ‘Good Ole Days’)

Allie had attached a small building to the front of his store, which sat on a small space between the storefront and the sidewalk.  Here he had a soft serve ice cream machine where I would work after school and Saturdays, making milk shakes, malts, banana splits and ice cream cones.

When Allie moved to town from the ‘North Side”   he sold the old ‘Home place’, house, store, mill and all.   This money helped him purchase a house in Morgantown and stock his store.  This house had electric and some plumbing.  There was running water in the kitchen sink and a small electric water heater.  There was still the proverbial “Out House” in the back corner of the back yard.

Allie and Evie lived in this house with Allie’s mother, Laura Belle and Evie’s Mother, (I only knew her as ‘Mrs. Kitchens’).   As the two elder ladies became more infirm with age,  Allie added a bathroom in the house, complete with tub, shower and all of the other amenities, plus a larger water heater.  The house was still heated with one ‘Warm Morning’ coal-burning stove, which sat in the dinning room, … pretty much central within the house.  The old outhouse was removed and filled in.

As Allie got older, close to retirement, he and his son Charles decided he needed a new home.  One less drafty, better insulated, less upkeep. Allie owned a building lot in Morgantown, next to what was then the LDS Chapel.  Charles struck him a deal. Charles would build, at his expense, a new house for Allie and Evie (both of the mothers had died by this time) and they would be able to live in it for the rest of their lives, without paying anything for the house, provided Allie deed the property to Charles and he could assume rights of ownership upon both their deaths.  …Agreed.

Allie closed the ice cream shop shortly before he closed the store and retired.  He took the ice cream machine home and put it in the garage of the new house, where we would go from time to time to make ice cream to take home and put in the freezer.

Other Business ventures

Tired of following construction work, Charles opened a small store in Morgantown. He bought a well-used 1-½ ton truck and started trucking livestock feed, paint, hardware and Misc. farm supplies.  He called this business ‘Childers Farm Store’.  As time passed and this business grew he saw a need for more space and more inventory, also a wider variety of inventory.

Charles consulted with his brother, Rollie, and with Allie, and they all decided to pool their resources in a common business venture.  Uncle Rollie moved his family to Kentucky, and the three of them opened a new and larger store, which was “C.A. Childers & Sons Farm store”, while closing Charles’ older small store.

This partnership viewed Allie’s grocery supply connections as a good resource with which to supply a restaurant, which they opened.  Allie’s previous dealings with the farm community on the North Side led him to realize a need that was not being filled in the area.  A ‘Cream Station’.  The partnership opened a commercial Cream Station where they separated the heavy cream from raw milk, for which; there was a ready market in the business of making butter.

During this time Raymond Rice and Betty came to Morgantown and Ray worked in Allie’s store as a butcher, and helped in the restaurant.

Times were still difficult in the early ‘50’s and profits were not quite what they would like them to be.  They closed the Cream Station considering that its meager profit was not worth the time invested.  Ray wasn’t able to make enough to afford to stay and he went back west.

Rollie decided he would be able to make a better future for him and his family if he were to return to the west.  Allie and Charles bought his share of the business and he was off to Arizona.

As Allie neared retirement age he was ready to start divesting himself of financial responsibilities.  They had the Farm Store, Grocery and Restaurant appraised, and reached a settlement.  Charles kept the Farm Store and Allie kept the Grocery and the Restaurant.

Allie subsequently sold the restaurant and continued to operate the grocery until he retired.

The House

That first house that Allie bought when he moved to town had a nice front porch.  But it seems Allie had a thing about having a porch on the backside of the house.  So he built one in an inside corner between two wings of the house.  But when he decided to add a bathroom, this seemed like the logical place, so he enclosed the porch and built the bath.

This is good, …… but now he had no porch!  So,…. He built a large porch across the back of the house.    But when he decided they needed another bedroom, this seemed like the logical place.  He enclosed the porch and turned it into a nice bedroom.  Ah, …. A lot of room.  But he had no porch!   %#@!

The new bedroom didn’t come completely to the side corner of the house, so he used that space to build a porch.  Now, …. We’re finished.

Not Quite.

Allie took and interest in starting his garden sets from seed, but he needed a small Green House.   You guessed it,…. He closed in the porch with double layer of plastic on a wood frame to create his green house.   %^@!#$,………….. NO PORCH!

I guess it’s a good thing that this is about the time Charles built him a new house, or he would still be building porches on that old house.

The Workshop

Beside that old house (the one with all of the porches) there was a two-part building.  The front part was the coalhouse where Allie kept his winter supply of coal to heat the house.  The back part was a Wood Working Shop.  Complete with wood lathe, drill press, table saw and sundry other tools that would furnish a wood shop.

You never knew what to expect to come out of that shop.  Windmills, small decorator wheel barrows, misc. small furnishings, ….. An unending list.  Allie taught me how to use the wood lathe. And I turned out many small, some odd, items.  But I had fun.

Temperament

I spent quite a lot of time with my Grand Father (Papaw, …I called him).  He was a person that I suspect anyone could like.  He was a quiet type of person.  I never heard him raise his voice, or swear.   His favorite by-line when perturbed was “Ah shucks”.

For all of the years I knew him, he didn’t own a car.  He walked to and from the store every day. It was only about 4 blocks, but he walked it, Sun, Rain or Snow.

He developed heart problems later in life and I was with him in the Hartford, KY. Hospital when the final heat attack took him.

A good man.  I wish you could have known him.

(These are the things I remember most. There may be other things that come to mind later)

Childers Family in American History

My Family in America

Little did I know that my father being from the wrong side of the
river in the back hills of Kentucky came from a rich heritage that
began with the pilgrims in Plymouth, Jamestown Virginia and some that
met them as they landed on the shores in what then was called New
England by those in the Old World. Not just one of my ancestors came
to America but several of my ancestors helped settle the Plymouth
Colony and as well as other family members that were in Jamestown
Virginia and other places across the colonies in the early 1600's.
They came from England, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, France and some
from Switzerland. There were also a few ancestors that watched from
the shores of the New World as these European ancestors boats landed
at various places in the new land.

With Martin Luther be the influence in having the bible translated
into English in the King James Version, this might have led some of
his brother's Jacob descendants to emigrate to England and later to be
converted to the Puritan way of thinking. With several religious
controversy in the early 150's Martin Luther may have some influence
in John Calvin's life as well. When Calvin fled to Switzerland he may
have been an influence on ancestors in Switzerland of the mid 1500's
to be converted to Calvin?s views which lated could have been an push
for them to come to America. In Calvin's era the Christian Church had
become encumbered with practices that had little or no scriptural
basis in their origins. With those seeking to perfect their ideas
about Christian behavior, Calvin had some very well thought out ideas
back by scripture that could not be argued as to their scriptural
basis. Calvin felt that there was a need for purification in the
Christian Church and that it was not just about an individual soul but
it was about the soul of the community as well. Puritanism was not
just some passing ideas but those ideas led to Civil War in 1642 with
many Puritans enlisted in Cromwell's army, Many of the puritans in
parliament as Whigs were beginning to be a political threat. With
growing persecution to the Puritans, America was the answer to a safe
haven to establish a Godly community. With their sense of mission
these Puritan spread their ideas where ever they went so that those
ideas did exist in all the early Colonies. With the Calvinistic idea
that his followers were among the saved led to problems with the
indians as the indians were considered as heathens. This idea of
being God's chosen has had an impact on America today that the idea of
America being the chosen land still exists today among its citizens.
These Puritans had made covenants with God that they would live
accordingly by his scriptures and those chosen would be responsibly to
the community. With their belief of being the chosen people and
without questions of the soundness of their beliefs America could be
conquered with their determination. They could make this Idea of the
City on the Hill work and it was accomplished. With their landing on
new land their new ideas created an exceptional America.

These early ancestors had ideas about religion that were of Puritan
beliefs that were not tolerated in their homelands. Many accounts
have been found that many of these ancestors were educated which in
tern means that they had taken the time to figure out for themselves
that the Puritan beliefs were of sound standing. Being educated men
they knew how valuable education was in the development of young minds
as well as provide training for young ministers and it was an
important part of building a community to establish schools early on.
For the Puritans faith and reason worked well together, hence schools
were beginnings of reason. Being educated the Puritans were quick to
accept new ideas of psychology and scientific ideas as well which only
strengthened their communities.

Strangely enough with the Puritan openness to new ideas in various
fields of learning they were very much accepting of any form of what
might be one of God's enemies to establishing a Godly community.
God's chosen elect were responsible for the protection of the
community and trials were held in public on all forms of so called
evil. God's community had to be protected within and sometimes purged
as well. In government these Puritans had no love for royalty chose a
form of government in their individual communities that was more a
form of a small republic. Being far away from the mother country it
was easy in some ways to govern themselves with out the interference
from England. They formed communities that the family as the basic
unit but the godly comm came next. They were on the watch of each
other at all times as they felt it was their duty to be their
brother's keeper. God was the higher order of the communities but the
communities were the elect to govern God's community. The people
themselves were expected to follow self-governance in following
moral-law and participate in the community government as well. They
were to be examples of the glory of God in themselves but at the same
time they could be human. The Puritans having escaped to practice
religion on their own terms were however very intolerant of others
outside of their circles and those withing those circles had new ideas
were banished. But they as well were quick

to the promotion of their ideas of religion, the Puritans spread
these beliefs beyond the New England colonies into other parts of
America which ideas were foundation of the formative influence of what
we call America. Among ideas of religion were also ideas of
organizing of communities, colleges and schools, strong work ethics,
the idea of separation of church and state, and the idea of being Gods
elect to show the world how things should be done. They saw in their
eyes as being God's elect which made them concerned for the community
of the world with America as being a place of refugee for Gods elect.
This New World would be where new communities could be created the
way God intended for people to live. Several of my ancestors were
among these early New Englanders and maybe their stories are not as
well know as some of the following ancestors stories but still the
same they were part of the Puritan movement in America and made their
contribution in the founding of America.

In finding the English Church hopeless it was James Cole my 10th
Great Grandfather, who came with his wife Mary Lobel and 2 sons from
England in the early 1630's to America. James was an educated man and
Mary his wife came from an esteemed family with her father Mathieu
Lobel as a noted botanist and physician to William of Orange and Jame
I. James Cole came as an indentured servant but he also wanted to
worship God how they desired and not necessarily because of economic
reasons. James Cole made a name for himself as having the tavern in
the America as well as being the best known innkeeper of Cole's
Tavern in Plymouth. To this day there is a monument to James Coles
on Coles Hill in Plymouth which is the first cemetery in Plymouth on
land donated by James Cole which overlooks the harbor in front of
Plymouth Rock. James as an innkeeper held an very important position
of the community as for the inn provided a place for lodging, food and
of course drink for those that visited the community. He was a
respected man of the community but both he and his wife were fined
more than once for giving strong drink to the indians, drinking on the
sabbath and James for his drunkenness. Life in Plymouth was a very
closed society in the sense that the people were determined to keep
out influences that might destroy their concept of a godly community.

James Cole's Great grandson Hugh married Martha Luther whose father
Reverend Samuel Luther was kidnapped as a young boy of 9 by Pequot
Indians. Young Samuel watched his father Captain John Luther killed by
these same indians. Samuel most likely did not see his father Captain
John Luther when he was buried in the Delaware Bay as recorded in
Winthrop?s Journal. Young Samuel was hastily carried away by the
Pequot indians and lived with them for 5 or 6 weeks until other
indians were asked by the Swedish Governor to go and fetch him and
returned to the fort . It was not a foreign idea for Captain John
Luther to desire religious freedom as his 2nd Great Grandfather Jacob
Luther was close to his brother to Martin Luther. These family
ideas of the Luther family surely had an influence on Captain John
Luther's reasons to come from England to America to escape the what he
thought were corruptions in the English Church. With the building
Winthrop?s idea of the City on the Hill came many risks and much
heartache but what survived was that determination and courage to stay
true to their interpretation of what constituted living how the
scriptures taught and continuing to create a better society. In
creating the City on the Hill came suspicions of evil lurking in the
shadows and the lack of tolerance for any outside ideas that might
corrupt the community. It was this unwavering idea of the making a
God like community which was so very intense in that it pushed more of
the younger people from its society. When the young man Roger
Williams's different interpretations of how religion should be
practiced it lead to his trial in which he was convicted of sedition
and heresy in October 1635. It was Hugh Cole and his father in law
Samuel Luther who also shared the different views of Roger Williams
which would lead them to follow Williams in the settling Rhode Island
which became a haven for Jew, Baptist and other unwelcome pilgrims
wanting a new life. Roger Williams was very friendly to the indians in
the area and spoke their language. Being a follower of Williams,
Hugh Cole was also a friend to the indians and his friend King Philip
of the Wampanoag tribe was helpful in retrieving his 2 sons back when
they were kidnaped by Wapanoag warriors. When the King Philips War
erupted in1675 which was one of the most intense events of the
pilgrims in the 1600's, it was his friend King Philip who warned Hugh
that he could no longer constrain his warriors and that his home would
be burned. It was not even an hour as Hugh was leaving he that
watched his home going up in flames from a distance but he latter
returned to rebuild his home which still stands today being 330 years
old.

While some of the family were having their challenges in the Puritan
areas of New England some of the other family were facing their
challenges as well close to Jamestown and other parts of Virginia in
the 1630's. Several family members were among the first to settle in
the areas of the southern colonies of Virginia and the Carolina's.
When Jost Hite came from Germany he brought with him his valuable
asset of wits and determination which eventually brought him to
Virginia. Jost Hite was what we now call a land developer of the
Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. Jost had the promise of the beautiful
valley if he could persuade 30 other families to settle there as well.
With some surveying needing to be done, a young man of the age of
16 came to do the job for Jost Hite. This young man was George
Washington who must have been impressed in his young age by Jost Hite
while staying at Jost's home. George Washington later commented in
his journal that he wished that more men could be like Jost Hite. It
would be interesting to know how the influence of Jost Hite had made
a lasting impression on young George and if it was an effect in his
determination to persevere in the War of Independence. My ancestors
had very strong feelings about the injustices of England which worked
their way into the every day lives of my grandfathers. With these
injustices it was felt a duty by 25 known grandfathers to fight for
freedom from England for our independence. This War of Independence
had a big effect on most of my family as there were only 2
grandfathers that came after the war. A few fathers & sons fought
side by side and while another loyalist grandfather and his son fought
on opposite sides. While some ancestors fought in the war of 1812 it
was most likely the Revolution War which led to some of these family
to migrate to Kentucky for payment of service in the war.

When the Civil War broke out more migration would send one more
family to the fairly new state of Kentucky. James P. West with his
Cherokee wife Nancy left North Caroline shortly after the last child
was born in 1860. With Nancy being Cherokee there were most like
feelings of prejudice in the area and Kentucky being a neutral state
it may have seemed more friendly to his family. Feeling the
prejudices for his own wife James might have felt compassion towards
the Negro and disagreed with the right to own slaves. James left with
his family to Kentucky which would put some distance between problems
that were brewing in the Carolinas and a his brother Thomas who felt
the South had the right to secede from the Union. Leaving behind his
brother and step mother the James P. West family arrived in Warren
County Kentucky only to have a short time later have the Confederate
Army land almost at his backdoor. The Confederate army chose the city
Bowling Green, Warren County Kentucky in November of 1861 as its
headquarters in Kentucky with only a short stay of 4 months. In the
1860 Slave census of Warren County Kentucky there were over 400 slave
owners in the county with over 150 slaves owners that had over 10
slaves in their possession. The large holding of slaves in Warren
county might have made Bowling Green a more likely place as there
might have been more support for states rights and for slave holders
who might have wanted to hold on to their property of slaves. At
this time the members of the town left their beautiful city to the
Confederate Army which when the Union arrived it was in ruins. Bowling
Green has a unique location above the Barron River and a railroad line
from Louisville Kentucky to Nashville Tennessee which would be a great
advantage in transportation of supply?s and troops. When the Union
arrived in the city the Confederates left much in ruin all the way
back to Nashville. Leaving with the Confederate Army was the local
National Guard that sided with the South. With the Nation Guard of
Bowling Green Kentucky that was in support of the South it must having
been very trying times for family members. Later young James R. West
returned to North Carolina in 1866 to then return to Kentucky with his
sweetheart from North Carolina. Living next to people with different
views of how the Union should be would have been quite a trying time
for all families in that area of Kentucky. As far as can be
determined there were 6 family members who fought for the Union. One
grandfather left as a young boy of 16 to join the Union and this same
young boy, Columbus C. Johnson later had a divorce from his first wife
which may have been due to the trauma of the Civil War. Another
Grandfather had just arrived from Ireland and due to wounds died
shortly after his son was born before the war had ended. It is hard
to determine without family histories on how the Civil War effected
families but as history goes on wars still have effected my family. A
grandfather in World War I and my own father in World War II, those
wars did effect my family. Looking back it might be safe to say I
could write about how my family was an influence in the founding of
America.

_RvolutionaryWar Soldiers_

1. Nicolas Hamner 1752-1795

2.James Glass 1761-1837

3. William Barnhil 1735-1810

4. Francis Measows 1738-1820

5. Christopher Elms 1743-1807

6. George John Felty 1714-1796

7. Hans Csper Rinker 1727-1804

8. Joshua Lindsey 1743-1819

9. Benjamin Green 1730-1808

10. John Marin 1760-1820

11. John Page 1756-1804

12. Peter Renfrow 1752-1799

13.Edward Woolridge 1760-1828

14. William Woolridge 1709-1798 Father of Edward Woolridge

15.James Hendrisk 1757-1833 Father is William Hendrisks 1722-1741 who
was a Loyalist and fought for the British

16.John Gardner 1742-1791

17. Hugh Currin 1750-1823

18. Jean Johannaes DItty 1746-1826

19. Jacob Will 1750-1811

20. Joseph Moss 1749-1841

21 Jacob Thompson 1721-1793

22. Christian Weaver 1731-1820

23. Leonard Diller 1759-1828

24. Phillp Adam Diller 1723-1777 Father of Leonard Diller

25. George Henckel 1727-1778

_Civil War_

Thomas Childers 1836-1925

Christopher C. Johnson 1847-1921 (enlisted at age 16)

John M. Martin 1848-1911

James P. West 1819=1882 Father of James R. West

James R. West 1846-1909

James M. McMannis 1828-1864