General Notes

[basham.ged]
1870 Census Breckenridge County Ky Page 115 Family 13
1880 Census Meade County Ky  E D 186 Sheet 36
1900 Census Wichita County Kansas  E D 347 Sheet 4
1910 Census Wichita County Kansas  E D 214 Family 7
1920 Census Wichita County Kansas; E D 244, Sheet 4
Kinfolk By Opal London Cox  Page 303
Family Story Provided By Darlene Platt Correspondence
I had a bachelor Uncle Cye - that stayed in my father's home until he s
ee med like one of the immediate family. His farm joined dad
dy s. He we nt to Arkansas to see an attractive girl friend, he had kno
wn in Kentuck y. To our surprise - he came home with a new bride, "Aunt Je
nnie". We gir ls thought she had the loveliest wardrobe we had ever see
n. I have alwa ys remembered an orange and black dress she wore, which w
as so becomi ng to her olive completion (sic) and lovely brown eyes. I w
as proud wh en I saw them at Sunday School. I was not long in deciding th
at of all t he Aunties I had I loved her best. And that decision I have ne
ver change d. Aunt Jennie was kind to all she met and her friends were num
bered by h er acquaintances.
Uncle Cye had built a large one room "sody" which was very comforta
bl e. A "Sody" chicken house. The barn was made of straw. It was a warm p
la ce for the live stock, in the winter time. They kept the milk cows pick
et ed out. They were usually taken to a "draw" or a kind of dry creek, w
he re the water and snow stood longer - the grass was greener th
an on t he up land. When Aunt Jennie went to bring the cow in for milkin
g, she wou ld take along a gunny sack and fill it with cow chips to u
se as fuel. Th at being the only kind people had in the early day in Weste
rn Kansas.
Uncle Cye always had several breed of game chickens. He trained the c
oc ks to fight. They were then sold for a big price. His greatest spor
ts we re watching rooster fights and coyote hunting. He would leave his fa
rm wo rk any time he saw a coyote. He would hitch a team to a wagon, lo
ad the d og box in the wagon; then the dogs were loaded in the dog bo
x. He usual ly kept three or four stag hounds. They had no trouble catchi
ng a coyo te or in the killing.
Mother spent the day at Uncle Cye's. When she came home she told me "
Au nt Jennie has a baby girl with blue eyes and light hair," Mollie a
nd I we nt to see the baby, "Nancy Idle," she grew to be a very pretty bab
y. God l oaned her to her parents for only a little while then called h
er back to h eaven. God calls those whom he loveth, And why should he n
ot Cling to h is own jewels, For his own seem to shine, In his own hous
e, Though our o wn be made dreary.
Sometime later Mollie or I were called upon to stay with Aunt Jennie. M
ot her told us she couldn't stay alone. Then there came a little brown ey
ed b aby to live in the C. W. Basham home. Mollie and I took turns stayi
ng the re helping Aunt Jennie and staying with baby Eliza while Aunt Jenn
ie did t he chores. Mollie got along just fine, she wasn't afraid of hurti
ng the ba by. But as for me "Emma", I felt sure I would hurt a baby if I h
andled i t. I would walk as easy as I could, go outside if I had to cou
gh or cle ar my throat and try not to wake brown eyed Eliza. If she awaken
ed I wou ld play with her or sing to her; anything but pick her up. Once w
hen Moll ie was taking care of Eliza there with her chair leaned against t
he wall h er feet on the daulpins and Eliza setting on her knees smili
ng so Mollie w as happy as a lark.
I never did like for Mollie to outdo me. The next day was my d
ay to ta ke care of Eliza, when she awoke I fixed my chair like Mollie h
ad her chai r; got the baby up on my knees and the chair slipped; I fell b
ut held Eli za up so she just got a hard jolt, but didn't cry. I put Eli
za back on t he bed and took care of her there. I never took her up only w
hen I h ad to do so. One little girl playing alone is not happy so Uncle C
ye and A unt Jennie ordered a playm