Doll Cole 2

Johnny Jones, coninued from Cole 1

Dollison P. Cole's writings have received some notoriety. They are being preserved by the United Methodist Church and are available at four libraries throughout Missouri.

I enjoyed the humor in some of the passages: "There were ten children. I was the first boy and the seventh child... Mother said, `Lord make a preacher of my boy.' Other members of the family said, `Right, Mother, look at his big mouth,' and about that time I began to talk, and Father said, `Cornelia, look at that youngun's mouth,' and they talked about my big mouth so much that after I grew older I tried to pucker it up and make it look smaller."

I thought Rev. Cole's observations about mining were pertinent to this area: "Palmer was our main trading point, six miles away. Mining was the main industry. The miners would sink shafts into the ground, thirty, forty, and a hundred feet deep and not infrequently strike great leads of valuable ore, and follow these leads ten, twenty, and thirty feet. The tunnel was cribbed as they advanced to prevent a cave in. The lead was drawn to the surface with rope tub and windlass.

"This was considered very dangerous work, but men became so accustomed to it that they sang and whistled (while doing it). This crude ore was then taken to the smelting furnace and there was separated from the dross. I have looked into those heated furnaces of fire, watched the tiny stream of molten lead as it ran into the molding pan and wondered if the furnace of fire held in reserve for the wicked was like that. The pure pigs of lead were then taken and stacked and were ready for shipment."

I enjoyed his scenes of home life. "Hogs grew fat on the mast that grew on the trees in the hills....We raised hogs in the hills, as there were hundreds of thousands of acres that was only a desert waste."

He told about turkey traps: "A pen was made of logs or poles covered over with the same. A trench was dug under the bottom log, baited with corn on the inside and in the trench. The turkey would follow gathering up the corn as he went, with his head down, never lifting his head until on the inside of the pen, and once on the inside, never lowered his head, consequently never found his way to freedom."

The eating sounded great: "Mother thought she couldn't make sausage without mixing venison with the pork meat, or apple butter without cider. There were times when the long table in the dining room fairly groaned with pork and venison sausage, cider apple butter, milk from the cold spring, butter string beans, and sorghum....Father always affirmed there was no better eating than fried pheasant breast."

And his mother did more than cook: "Mother made our clothes. (She) carded and spun the yarn, with which she knit our socks and gloves. Our shoes were the heavy brogan, one pair had to last a year or though the winter. When the soles were worn thin, we would resole them with heavy leather.

"Now we boys were ready for the winter, clad in jeans, clothes lined with heavy domestic, woolen socks, and heavy brogan shoes.

"As a rule those winters were severe. I have hear Father say that he would kill deer (and) stand in their warm entrails to keep his feet from freezing."

After Doll Cole became a minister, he held revivals at many places, often at inconvenience to himself and without much pay. "I held services at a little town eight miles away and made the trip regularly each month and received one dollar for my services for the entire year. I would go on Saturday and return on Sunday night after service. Sometimes the nights were so cold I would almost freeze and horseback riding was very disagreeable in cold weather. Father always said that when the mercury in the thermometer stood at ten above zero or more he could ride horseback and hunt, but when below that point he took it on foot."

Well, I'm not sure I would take it at all. Remarkable perseverance. Remarkable observations. A remarkable life.

Dolly Blount, Rev. Cole's daughter, loaned me the manuscript, "I'm Glad I Live in the Ozarks," from which these quotes were taken.
continued at Cole 3


























 

Johnny Jones

coninued from Cole 1
Dollison P. Cole's writings have received some notoriety. They are being preserved by the United Methodist Church and are available at four libraries throughout Missouri.

I enjoyed the humor in some of the passages: "There were ten children. I was the first boy and the seventh child... Mother said, `Lord make a preacher of my boy.' Other members of the family said, `Right, Mother, look at his big mouth,' and about that time I began to talk, and Father said, `Cornelia, look at that youngun's mouth,' and they talked about my big mouth so much that after I grew older I tried to pucker it up and make it look smaller."

I thought Rev. Cole's observations about mining were pertinent to this area: "Palmer was our main trading point, six miles away. Mining was the main industry. The miners would sink shafts into the ground, thirty, forty, and a hundred feet deep and not infrequently strike great leads of valuable ore, and follow these leads ten, twenty, and thirty feet. The tunnel was cribbed as they advanced to prevent a cave in. The lead was drawn to the surface with rope tub and windlass.

"This was considered very dangerous work, but men became so accustomed to it that they sang and whistled (while doing it). This crude ore was then taken to the smelting furnace and there was separated from the dross. I have looked into those heated furnaces of fire, watched the tiny stream of molten lead as it ran into the molding pan and wondered if the furnace of fire held in reserve for the wicked was like that. The pure pigs of lead were then taken and stacked and were ready for shipment."

I enjoyed his scenes of home life. "Hogs grew fat on the mast that grew on the trees in the hills....We raised hogs in the hills, as there were hundreds of thousands of acres that was only a desert waste."

He told about turkey traps: "A pen was made of logs or poles covered over with the same. A trench was dug under the bottom log, baited with corn on the inside and in the trench. The turkey would follow gathering up the corn as he went, with his head down, never lifting his head until on the inside of the pen, and once on the inside, never lowered his head, consequently never found his way to freedom."

The eating sounded great: "Mother thought she couldn't make sausage without mixing venison with the pork meat, or apple butter without cider. There were times when the long table in the dining room fairly groaned with pork and venison sausage, cider apple butter, milk from the cold spring, butter string beans, and sorghum....Father always affirmed there was no better eating than fried pheasant breast."

And his mother did more than cook: "Mother made our clothes. (She) carded and spun the yarn, with which she knit our socks and gloves. Our shoes were the heavy brogan, one pair had to last a year or though the winter. When the soles were worn thin, we would resole them with heavy leather.

"Now we boys were ready for the winter, clad in jeans, clothes lined with heavy domestic, woolen socks, and heavy brogan shoes.

"As a rule those winters were severe. I have hear Father say that he would kill deer (and) stand in their warm entrails to keep his feet from freezing."

After Doll Cole became a minister, he held revivals at many places, often at inconvenience to himself and without much pay. "I held services at a little town eight miles away and made the trip regularly each month and received one dollar for my services for the entire year. I would go on Saturday and return on Sunday night after service. Sometimes the nights were so cold I would almost freeze and horseback riding was very disagreeable in cold weather. Father always said that when the mercury in the thermometer stood at ten above zero or more he could ride horseback and hunt, but when below that point he took it on foot."

Well, I'm not sure I would take it at all. Remarkable perseverance. Remarkable observations. A remarkable life.

Dolly Blount, Rev. Cole's daughter, loaned me the manuscript, "I'm Glad I Live in the Ozarks," from which these quotes were taken.
continued at Cole 3