French/Davis Family

Ella Beatrice French (shown here with daughter Lorrine) was born May 13, 1913 in Mayfield Virginia. She married Junious Marshall Sr. in 1931. This
union produced six children. Rosa, David, Junious Jr., Lorrine, Pauline, and Sadie. Ella was an uneducated woman, but she was determined to accomplish two things in her lifetime. She was determined that her children would at least complete high school and learn something along the way. She was also determined that they be honest and respectful of others. She was a strict believer in the old saying that if you spared the rod that you would spoil the child (where were the activists when I needed them). Anyway, she was the disciplinarian in the family because dad worked away from home and would be away from home until the weekend. All of the children can attest to being struck by the rod or anything else available. Some of us more than others. I think that she got the boys more than the girls, which wasn't fair, as I was concerned.
My brother reminded me of how compassionate she was. Even though most of the time there was not much in the way of food for us, she was always willing to share with those who were even less fortunate than we were. We lived close to Route #1 and there always seem to be a hobo or two around. If we had anything, they would have something for their stomach. It might only be a biscuit with some king syrup, but they would have something to eat at least for that day.
I also remember that when Grandma Anne had her stroke that there was a period of time when she lived with us. There two beds in the one room that was shared by all of the children. My brother and I had to give up our bed so that grandma could have it. We had to sleep on a pallet. As I am much older now, I am amazed at what Mom did. Grandma could no longer walk on her own so she had to be literately held up and almost dragged from place to place. Though her speech was very slurred, she had her faculties and would often come up with some things that would crack everyone up.
I know that mom had a passion for music. I have been told that she had a distinct liking for the song Green Onions. I also remember that she had a love for the daytime soap operas. We did not have electricity so we had a battery-operated radio. I remember lots of times that the battery would run down in the middle of the week or when there was no money for a new one. The battery would be put in the oven to be heated. That would prolong its life for a short period of time. Everyone would up close to it to hear whatever morn would be listening to at the time.
Morn has these friends that would come to visit. Most of the time the kids would all goes outside to play because the adults had important things to talk about. There were times when we would be allowed to listen to their conversation and wished that you weren't. We were not allowed to talk to them because in those days children were seen and not heard. Anyway, the stories that they told would shake up Stephen King. One lady told about walking home one night in the dark (in the country there was no lights, only the light of the moon and stars), she said that while walking everything went silent and she felt this hot air behind her. She turned and saw this headless soldier riding toward her. She said that she jumped into a ditch and he rode right past her. Morn swore to the story that one night as a teenager, she sneaked out of house by the back stairs (I guess children were sneaking out even back then). She said that it was late when she was going back in and when she got to the staircase she saw what appeared to be a ghost. It was a large glowing figure at the top of the stairs (She was probably busted by grandma). She was brave enough to try to get upstairs, but as she approached the figure would move toward her. She goes back to the bottom and the figure would go back to the top. This went on for quite some time until she decided to stay downstairs until the sun came up and the figure disappeared (now I think that it was grandma teaching her a lesson). These ladies would swear these were nothing but the truth.
I remember Christmas time as something special. When my brother and I were younger (around nine or ten), daddy would sharpen the ax and take in the woods in search of that perfect tree. It always had to be about six or seven feet tall. It seems as though we would walk for miles until we found it. Then we would have to drag it back home to be decorated. Once the tree was stood in a corner, the family decoration would begin. We would cut strips of paper to be colored with crayon by the younger girls. Then we would glue (with syrup) them together to loop them around the tree for decorations. Everyone had a couple to toys and clothes. Each child had their own little bag of mixed candy, nuts, and an assortment of fruit. At this time of year there was always pretty of goooooood food to eat. Being older, I know the sacrifices that were made for us. Borrow the money needed for Christmas and spend most of next year paying it back so that the children could have some happiness.
Sometimes when we had company, the entertainment was the kids. There were little skits and things that we would do. Mostly we would call
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ourselves singing and dancing. We would do some comedy hour and imitating of people we knew.

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