Growing up in Little Egypt: The Rest of the Story
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About this ebook
Before Eldon Lee died at the age of ninety-six, he told his daughter about his lifes many adventures. These adventures begin in Little Egypt, deep in southern Illinois. His stories blend family history with tales of farming, school, hometown life, courtship, and entrepreneurial endeavors. He also recalls the 1918 Influenza Pandemic, the 1925 Tristate Tornado, working at the 193334 Century of Progress Exposition, dancing in Windy City ballrooms, becoming a family man, and serving in World War II.
Eldons daughter, Linda Lee Ream, continues the memoir, drawing upon her vivid memories of her father returning from the war and trying to find a job. He gets his first big break in 1949 when he becomes the manager of a lumberyard, and he works steadfastly to support his family through the golden era of the fifties and beyond.
Growing Up in Little Egypt extends beyond family and local history interest to provide a century-wide example of an American life well-lived and thoroughly enjoyed by a special man.
Linda Lee Ream
Linda Lee Ream is a certified career counselor who worked for twenty years doing corporate outplacement and career development in Chicago and throughout the country. She is now retired and lives with her husband, Bruce, in a suburb of Denver, Colorado.
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Growing up in Little Egypt - Linda Lee Ream
Contents
Introduction
Part 1
My Family
The Beginning of My Journey
Growing Up in West Frankfort
Having a Good Time
The Tristate Tornado
Early Car Experiences
First Moneymaking Jobs
Family Life and Influences
My Brother
Part 2
Living in a Chicken House
Work, Work, Work on the Farm
Eighth-Grade School Experiences
High School Years
Dancing to the Big Bands
Staying at Uncle Omar’s House
The End of High School
Part 3
Windy City Adventures
Work and Fun at the 1933-34 World’s Fair
Sights at the Century of Progress Exposition
Living in Chicago
Getting Married at Age Twenty
Part 4
Getting Established
Becoming Parents
The Beginning of World War II
Part 5
Induction and Basic Training
Advanced Training in Norman, Oklahoma
Serving at Jacksonville Naval Air Station
Isabel and Linda Join Me
Going Home
Acknowledgments
To the memory of my parents,
Eldon M. and Isabel McAlpin Lee
Introduction
By Linda Lee Ream
I want to tell you about my wonderful father, Eldon Lee. Dad lived for ninety-six years, and in this book you will learn about his family, the place in southern Illinois where he grew up, and how he was molded by the many changes that occurred during his long lifetime: World War One, the Roaring Twenties, the Depression, and World War Two, to name a few. In his last year on earth, we sat together for many hours while he told me precious tales about the first third of his life. I look forward to sharing them with you.
Dad was born deep in the southern part of Illinois. Far from Chicago’s skyscrapers and central Illinois’ prairies, the pointy end of Illinois resembles an arrowhead. As it narrows to a tip, the distance between the two mighty rivers dwindles from eighty to forty to twenty miles until, at Cairo, you see the Ohio meet the Mississippi. Locals call this the land between the rivers
or Little Egypt,
because of its resemblance to the Nile River. Another theory is that the Egypt reference originated when northern Illinois settlers came south to buy grain during the poor harvest of the 1830s, similar to the Book of Genesis’s account of ancient people traveling to Egypt for grain.
A traveler driving south from Chicago encounters scenery consisting mostly of flat, sprawling crop lands. It would be extremely easy to assume the entire state of Illinois consists of such a landscape; however, as you continue south, crop lands gradually fade and the tableau becomes multidimensional. You begin to see trees, wild vegetation, lakes, and cliffs.
Deep Roots in Southern Illinois
Many of the settlers of southern Illinois were descendents of people from Scotland and Ireland who had come to this country before 1776 and lived in the hill regions of Kentucky, Tennessee, the Carolinas, and Virginia before moving to Little Egypt. The history of both sides of our family reflects this.
The paternal branch of the family came to Illinois from Virginia, and it is said by some family members that the first Lee, Robert Lee, who migrated to southern Illinois in 1835, was a cousin of the famous Confederate general, Robert E. Lee. The maternal side of Dad’s family first came to Little Egypt in 1816 after residing in Greensboro, North Carolina; Ohio; and Indiana.
Growing Up in Little Egypt
By Eldon Lee
As told to Linda Lee Ream in 2009-10
Part 1
25807.jpgMy Family
My father’s parents were Rev. Robert William Lee, a Baptist minister, and Josephine Phillips Lee. They had nine children: Marion (my father), John, Norman, Bird, Effie Lee Perry, Elsie Lee Smith, Inman (also a well-known Baptist minister), Mallie, and Cordah Lee Phillips. Several of these uncles and aunts lived on farms near where I was born and lived my first six years. For the most part, this was the side of the family that set a good example for me in my youth.
1.jpgGrandpa Rev. Robert W. Lee
The parents of my mother, Cora Minton Lee, were Ella Jones Minton and Henry Minton. Their children were Cora, Guy, Ray, Carrie, Roy, Carroll, Omar, and Ita Minton Newman. Grandpa Henry Minton was someone I never wanted to copy. He would leave his wife and children and take off for days in his horse and buggy. He told us that he wanted to find a rich woman with a farm. In his later years, after his wife had died, he accomplished this goal.
2.jpgGrandpa Henry Minton
My mother’s brothers had two things in common. First, they owned small businesses: two owned restaurants, two had butcher shops, another ran a grocery store, and one operated an appliance store. Unfortunately, most of them also shared a severe drinking problem. I believe both of these factors influenced my adult life in positive ways. I followed their drive to be self-employed and ended up owning my own lumberyard. On the other hand, because their excessive drunkenness was a negative influence in my young life, I have always been careful about my intake of alcohol.
The Beginning of My Journey
(1913-27)
I was born September 27, 1913, the last of nine children. As was common in those days, three of my siblings—Chalon, Emerson, and Hallie—had died in infancy. The other children born before me were Minnie (1897), Rosa (1901), Elvah (1903), Paul (1908), and Lura (1910). Elvah passed away in 1921 from pneumonia when she was eighteen. At that time, she and Rosa were living and working at a mental institution upstate in Kankakee.
I was given the unusual name of Eldon because when my mother was pregnant with me, she met a man by that name. As the family story goes, he was helping build a bridge over Reed Ford Creek, which was near the house where I was born. I have no idea where my middle name, Maurice (they pronounced it Morris), came from. I seriously doubt that they knew it was a French name. I always wished I had a simple name, such as Bob, Bill, or Jim. In my business life, many people just called me Lee.
Earliest Memories
(1916-19)
I was born on a small farm about a mile and a half from Akin, Illinois. Akin is a very tiny town of approximately 150 souls in southern Illinois. I lived there until I was six or seven. We grew corn, wheat, oats, and something called stock peas, which we fed to the cattle. We also had a vegetable garden. After our family ate the produce, pigs, and cattle, we had a very minimal amount left to sell. I do remember taking eggs and cream and selling them at the store. The farm families helped each other with baling hay, threshing wheat, and raising barns. Hog-killing day was a big day for me and all the other little kids. My favorite part was when the men put a knife in the pig and the blood spurted out all over the place. Also, the fresh sausage and liver were delicious treats I looked forward to eating soon after the hog was killed and dressed. Everything on our farm was done without any type of help from machinery. As a little kid, I had fun following my dad to the barn to help him feed the horses, cows, and chickens. When we had big snowstorms, I had to step into my dad’s footprints to make it to the barn.
3.jpgMy Parents, Cora and Marion Lee
On our farm, we had a large mutt named Jack. Jack loved to go rabbit hunting. When he would bring home a prized rabbit, my mother would cook it and serve it with biscuits and gravy. Nothing has ever tasted better than those rabbits that Jack caught!
There was a small Baptist church very close to our house. I