I have been considering doing this series of postings for the benefit of my kids, grandkids and great grandkids. My early life was very uneventful so there will be no amazing revelations here but just of some of my early childhood situations that might be intresting or maybe not so. The picture you see at the left is of me( the short one) and two of my brothers, Leo and Johnny. My earliest memory of things go back to about the age of around five.

I was born on November, 28th. 1927 to Ivy Ransom and Sarah Cornelia Davis Freeman at Johnston Station Mississippi. I was the youngest of seven children. My oldest brother Juluis, (Jack) was born in 1907, Benjamin, (Bennie) was born in 1909, My sister Lillian was born in 1911, My sister Audrey was born in 1913, My brother Leo in 1917 and my brother Johnny in 1922.

My father died when i was one year old leaving my mother and seven children. My lifelong desire has been to see a picture of my dad. I have no idea of what he looked like and if there was any resemblence of me and him. Years i have spent looking for a picture but apparently there was none not even among his family members whom me or other relatives have contacted.

My early childhood years were during the Great Depression era of the late 20's and early 30's. As evidenced by the picture you can tell by our clothes that times were tough. My older brother Jack had left home shortly after my dads death but the rest of the family struggled through the coming years as sharecroppers. My brother Bennie shouldered the load of keeping the family together. I have many memories of my early life on the farm. We were poor, but we were not the only ones. I can vaguely remember my mom's dad dying and also the death of my sister's son Robert who was a year or so younger than me. As i look back to those years, despite the tough times, i truly can say i have been blessed. We lived on three different farms as i recall in my early childhood. The most vivid in my mind is when we lived on the Peterson farm in the Auburn community of Miss. The land owner would come by about every month or so and he would bring us a package of peppermint sticks. We would buy a few groceries on credit at he community store and settle up when the crops were in. I have gone with Leo and Johnny many times to the store which was a couple of miles away and they would carry a young pullet under the arm and trade it for a pound of coffee. Can any of you imagine living in a time with no radio, tv, phone, no transportation, no neighbors next door, theaters etc for entertainment? I will be relating some things later that we did for fun.

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