Ch 4, The Old Nasty Place

After “Dirty Creek” the family moved again to a place they referred to as the "old nasty place," where they sharecropped for about year; it was 1923. At the "old nasty place" there was a two acre yard with a white picket fence, a sawmill that was strewn with lumber and sawdust, and 16 teams of mules (32 mules) used for farming. The family did not stay long here.

The Johnson Clan, about 1920

L to R: Iva Mae, Lee Maskel, William Henry, Franis Eugene, William Freeland, Gertie Bell, Robert Owen, and Leonard Francis.

The next stop was very near the town of Webbers Falls, Oklahoma where William started his education at the “Dog Town School” with his two cousins Johnny and Henry, who were the children of his uncle Lee. He learned how to play baseball but got batted in the head while he was standing too close to the batter. Mrs. Perris was his teacher but Freeland remembers that, more often than not, lessons would be taught by the older girls of the school.

Cousin Henry, in his 20's

Freeland’s cousin Henry began showing his true nature while attending school here. Freeland remembers Mrs. Perris’ shins being black and blue from the kicks of Henry, and how Henry would chew up a “wad” of paper for several minutes before launching it across the room at some poor unsuspecting victim. Finding trouble was a lifelong talent of Henry’s, and it appears that he got an early start at this school.

The students, if they had been good, were allowed to go to the “Cloak Room” to study their lessons, but the girls and boys were separated with each having their own “Cloak Room.” Freeland remembers that the boys had finagled a way to loosen the screen on their window, and they could sneak out and crawl under the porch and come up on the girls side for a clandestine visit with the girls. Freeland also remembers and old mule and a horse that were allowed to roam the school grounds freely, and how the horse broke a window by rubbing up against it to relieve an itch.

The next move was to a farm just northwest of Webbers Falls near Brewer’s Bend on the Arkansas River, where Freeland completed the third, fourth, and fifth grades at a school taught by a teacher with “Red” hair. The family farmed cotton and some potatoes and were becoming prosperous and it was here that the family bought their first automobile, a brand new Model "T" Ford. It was about 1928 and just prior to the Great Depression, and Freeland remembers his father paying the farmhands with piles of silver dollars.

Model "T" Ford

Freeland recalls their experiments with electricity when they would take the fine wire from a broken coil off their model “T,” and connect it to the new coil with the loose end hidden in the chicken feed or the dogs food. They would then turn on the automobiles electrical system, crank it by hand to “top dead center” and allow the coil to build up a huge charge of electricity. When it was ready, and the unsuspecting animal was enjoying his food, they would crank the engine to just beyond top dead center, allowing the coil to discharge through the salvaged wire to the food supply sending the victim flying into the air. “Poppa” wondered why all the animals were developing food avoidance, Freeland said. One of the games they played was to put two silver dollars into a pan of water and connect the pan to the wires from the telephone crank. They would then let anyone have the silver dollars if they could retrieve them while the crank was being turned. They never lost their money. The family stayed at this location until Freeland had finished the 5th grade, and they had purchased their second automobile, a brand new Model "A" Ford.

 Model "A" Ford