This is the account of his trip to a mill when he was
about nine years old as told by Paul Hearl
During the Great Depression of the nineteen thirties meal was an important
part of many peoples diet and during late summer and early fall the supply
of corn from the previous years crop was exhausted.. We went into the corn
field and pulled all the corn we could find which was beginning to dry on
the stalks and managed to get it shelled off the cobs but it still wasn't
suitable for grinding into meal.. The shelled corn was spread on sheets on
the tin roof of the kitchen of the old log cabin.. I climbed up there
every morning and spread the corn out so it would dry in the sun until
Daddy decided it was hard enough to grind..
 The corn was
put in a heavy grass seed sack and tied tightly, then Daddy saddled old
Dan, our horse, and lifted the heavy sack of corn to his back behind the
saddle and tied it to the saddle so it wouldn't fall off.. Then he helped
me into the saddle and sent me through the fields to John Meadows' grist
mill to get it ground. He had to send me because he had work to do and
couldn't spare the time to go to the mill, after all, I was nine years old
and plenty big enough to ride old Dan to the mill as many other boys did..
Daddy knew that John Meadows would take the corn off the horse for me and
put the sack of meal back on. That would be no problem.
When I got to the rail fence which separated our farm from the Fraley farm
I rode up beside the fence and got off the horse, laid the rails down and
led the horse through. Then I laid the fence back up, led the horse over
to it, climbed up the fence and got back in the saddle and continued on
toward the mill..
When I got to the mill, John Meadows came out and took the 'turn' of corn
off as Daddy knew he would. I slid off the horse and watched as he weighed
the corm and dipped out a small amount as "toll" for grinding it. Then he
turned a big wheel on big gas engine and it started with a loud sound. I
watched as he fed the grains of corn through the hopper and saw the meal
coming out and into the sack..
Mr. Meadows placed the sack of meal on the horse and tied it to the saddle
and helped me back on old Dan and I rode toward home.. I had to climb down
and open a gap in a fence and get back on as I entered the Fraley farm and
everything was going alright. Then I came to the rail fence again, climbed
down and laid it down so I could lead old Dan through but just as he got
on the other side, the sack of meal fell off his back! I tried to lift it
but it was so heavy I couldn't even move it! Then I saw some cattle which
had been grazing in the field coming toward me and the meal and I knew
cattle would eat meal! What was I to do? I couldn't let the cattle eat the
meal we had worked so hard to get! Old Dan stood there as I ran the cattle
away and sat down on the sack to guard it and think about what I could
do.. I cried a little as I thought.. I knew I couldn't leave the meal..
Finally I decided to send old Dan on to the house, maybe someone would
come looking for me if he showed up without me! Well, he went straight
home and my older sister saw him standing at the yard gate and told Mama.
Mama got worried when she didn't see me anywhere and her and my sister
came looking for me, leading old Dan behind them..
There I sat on the sack of meal half crying and looking at the cattle
which were a short distance away.. I was glad to see them arrive! Me and
Mama tried to lift the sack of meal but it was too heavy... I still had a
problem to solve but now there were three of us.. It was decided that I
would ride the horse to the barn, remove the saddle and put the harness on
him, hitch him to a sled and bring it back.. Then we were able to roll the
sack of meal on the sled and haul it home.. When we got to the yard gate
we couldn't lift the sack to get it in the house so Mama got a bucket and
carried it a bucket at a time to the meal chest in the kitchen.. Just as
we got the last of it in the house, Daddy got home from the field.. Mama
made a big "pone" of cornbread and we had cornbread and milk for supper...
and it was Good! I was glad I had Saved The Sack of Meal!
The End....
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