In the summers of the late 1940’s, Mr. Burl, Reuben Kincaid, Henry Ficklin, and R.W. (Reuben’s son) went out west to harvest bluegrass seed. Don will write more about the harvesting part a bit later, but what I want to share with you are the numerous letters Miss Jane (Mr. Burl’s mother) wrote to them while they were away.
I love these letters, and I hope you enjoy them as well. I’ll tag them all with the label “A Letter From Miss Jane,” and that way you can find them easily if you want to share or reread them at some point. They shed a wonderful light on the Owingsville of that time period. If you want to add anything, please feel free to leave a comment. We don’t know who everyone is that Miss Jane mentions so we could use your help!
Just a few notes to get started:
- I’ll transcribe the letters, but also add scans of them. The bolded parts might be of particular interest and if you see an asterisk, I’ll have a note at the end about something. Footnoting would work better than asterisks, but I need to figure out how to do that on here.
- I’ll put a _______ instead of a name if I think there is even a chance that something she wrote might cause anyone embarrassment, and I do that in this letter.
Here’s the first letter we’ll share, written on a Thursday morning a long time ago.
Dear Son,
Well, Henry arrived sooner than we expected, got here Tuesday night – and the chicken wasn’t fried – ha! We were glad to see him. He had been gone 8 weeks. He was so tired.
We got your letter of the 20th yesterday. You had some of the Missouri mud that May has talked about . Hope you got your car out alright.
Did you find any more seed? Will you have more than one car?
Tuesday and yesterday were very hot days and I believe today will be too.
We are expecting the copper pipe any day now that Mr. Horton has ordered. Ernie has promised to put the tub in as soon as the pipe comes.
_________ disappointed us in the papering, so Burl engaged George Harris* to come Monday. I am so anxious to get through. The porch floor is fresh and bright in its coat of green and the furniture is all out. You painted the chairs last year, I believe. They look nice and white. The lawns all through the street have been freshly cut and look so pretty.
Marguerite** and I had the X-Ray yesterday – you know the X-Ray-mobile is here. We had letters from Mr. Roschi*** saying this is the teacher’s year for a physical examination.
There was a very swell wedding in the colored Methodist Church**** yesterday afternoon – a Duncan girl and the groom was from Colorado.
Ella went back with Dan and Mimi*****, have you heard from her?
Mr. John Crane is in hospital very ill. He is up in 80, I believe.
This is “fishing day” again. I wish Daddy could have some luck. Banks****** caught two bass last Thursday.
We are all alright.
Lots of love,
Mother
*George Harris was a prominent resident of Owingsville and a member of the city council (probably the first African-American council member in our town).
**Marguerite Lester – she lived next door to Miss Jane (the house that burned by us). Her husband was Dr. Lester.
***Mr. Roschi was the school superintendent.
****I think I wince each time I see the word “colored,” but it was a common term of that time period. The “colored Methodist Church” she refers to is the A.M.E. church on West High Street by the old water tower.
*****Dan and Mimi Doggett. Ella is Ella Doggett (Goodpaster).
******Banks Thompson. The “Daddy” she refers to is her husband, Burl, Sr. That was what she called him.
From the Journals of William Burl Kincaid, Jr. 