"Stellie R.
Borned Dec 13 1919
D. Aug 7 1920"
Borned Dec 13 1919
D. Aug 7 1920"
I'm guessing that it was "the summer complaint" -- an uncheckable diarrhea -- that took little Stellie. The old graveyards around here are full of tiny graves, some marked by no more than a field stone, and many an infant fell prey to this disease.
I've wondered if the old custom here of calling a child 'hit' rather than 'he' or 'she,' was a kind of dissociative behavior on the part of the family -- not willing to take for granted that this child was fully a person till it had survived those early years.
Our mentors,, the Freemans raised four boys -- but lost three infant girls. When Clifford looked at one year-old Ethan and pronounced, "Hit'll make a fine man . . . if hit lives," he was speaking from experience -- and probably an ingrained habit of not wanting to tempt fate.
I've wondered if the old custom here of calling a child 'hit' rather than 'he' or 'she,' was a kind of dissociative behavior on the part of the family -- not willing to take for granted that this child was fully a person till it had survived those early years.
Our mentors,, the Freemans raised four boys -- but lost three infant girls. When Clifford looked at one year-old Ethan and pronounced, "Hit'll make a fine man . . . if hit lives," he was speaking from experience -- and probably an ingrained habit of not wanting to tempt fate.
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