(Contribution from Ron Sifford)

Henrietta Young Hale was born on November 16, 1923 to parents William Henry Young and Flossie Parsley Young. One of six children, Henrietta was part of a tight-knit family and has fond memories of their wonderful times spent together.

"When I was asked to consider writing a few words about my life I first thought, now why would someone want to read about my life? Henrietta Hale said. "Then, after further consideration, I decided, well, maybe I will do just that. I have lived a long, fruitful and exciting life and maybe others may want to hear about it. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not ready to ‘kick the bucket’ as yet! I still have a lot of good life left in me and I’m going to live it to its fullest.

"I’ve been asked on a number of occasions "What is your secret to a long life?" Well, all I can say is that I have trusted God with my life and I continue to trust him to this day. Anything I have accomplished, anything I have I owe to Him," she said.

Her first memories are that of when the family lived on a farm off the Old Sparta Road. From the back of the farm, the family could get to Eagle Creek Falls. With siblings Inez, Stella, Evelyn, Trudie and Jack, Henrietta recalls how the family spent many hours on the wrap around porch of the house her father purchased. The old porch and porch swing are some of her fondest memories.

"The old house two-story house had a big wood stove in the living room and the wood-burning cook stove in the kitchen simply had a pipe running from it to the outside," recalled Henrietta. "There weren’t any real building codes then. My Dad just did the best he could with what little we had. One of the exciting things there was a large field between our house and the Sparta Road. A short landing strip had been built into that field and we would often watch as Doctor Vanhooser and Joe L. Evins would fly their plans and land in that field."

"Of course, there wasn’t any electricity or running water on the property," added Henrietta, "so as you can imagine, the old outhouse stayed pretty busy with five girls and our Mother in the house."

Later on, her mother gave birth to their brother, Jack.

"We did have a well, though," said Henrietta, "and we washed our clothes on a rub board, if you know what that is. Imagine my excitement when we got our first washing machine. If you’re an antique fanatic, you may have seen one like ours. It had a wringer on it and when the handle was turned, the clothes were fed through two round cylinders to wring the water out of the clothes. And, lucky for us, we had a screened-in back porch so that is where the washing machine sat."

Her parents grew most everything the family ate; something very seldom seen today. But, there wasn’t a store close by like there is today. The family grew Irish potatoes, sweet potatoes, beans and a lot of other vegetables. In the winter, her father would kill hogs and hang the meat in the smoke house on ropes. It kept good all winter in there. They also had a cow for milk and chickens for eggs. Of course, her mother canned almost everything which helped them build the food stores for the winter time when they could not grow vegetables.

"It’s funny, we call them the ‘Good Ol’ Days’," Henrietta said "but they were hard days! We all had to work and do our part. But, I remember that although everyone worked hard, everyone seemed to be happy, content and thankful for everything we did have."

Henrietta had several cousins on the Parsley and Young sides. They lived around town and they would come to see the family at the farm. She remembers how her mother always cooked a lot when they would have company and if they stayed overnight, her mother would make pallets on the floor so they would have a place to sleep.

Her father had a wagon and mule and if the family had to go somewhere, they took the wagon. Neighbors were always welcome to come along as long as they could fit in the wagon. Later, when her brother got a bit older, he had a pony and buggy and would take his sisters for rides.

"I suppose that could have been called his ‘Sports Buggy," Henrietta laughed.

"My Dad had a big machine he would use to dig wells and he dug a lot of wells all over DeKalb Count," she told. "The machine would do the deep digging but there was still a lot that had to be done by hand. If he had to dig wells that were away from the local area, many times he would stay overnight and sleep in a spare room if they had one. If not, he would just make due and usually finish the job the next day.

"I will never forget that one night, while my Dad was out on a job, my Mother thought we were going to have a big storm. Everything indicated that we were about to be hit with a big one, anyway. So, she told us all to go to the back corner of the house together and she put quilts over us and not too long after that, it started lightening and thundering and the winds picked up and it was blowing through the cracks in the walls. I think everyone in the family was praying that night. Our old house wasn’t made too strong but it held together and we were all safe. When the storm had passed we all went outside to see what damage it had caused and our barn, which was behind the house had been blown away. I have to believe that the Good Lord took care of us. We may have lost the barn but we were thankful, nonetheless, that the family was all safe," she concluded.

As she grew a bit older, she and her brother attended Midway school. When she was about ten years old, they started going to the elementary school at Reynolds College on the Sparta Road.

"I recollect one morning while my Dad was gone and we were walking to school," Henrietta told, "we would take a short cut across a field. About half way to school we were so cold that I told Jack we were going to go back home. So, we turned around and headed back to the house. We were glad to get to that old wood stove. It was nice and warm.

"One particular recollection I have is when I got a bit older, Doyle Smith and I were in the same class. His dad was the teacher. They lived in town so Doyle came in to school with his Dad. I graduated from the eight-grade at the Reynolds College about the time my brother was getting ready to join the military. So, my mother didn’t want to live on the farm any more. So Dad sold the farm and we moved to town. Wow, TOWN! I wasn’t sure how that would go but I knew we would make the best of it, no matter where it was.

"We moved to town into a house on the corner of Church Street and Holmes Creek Road. Now a large brick home stands there. The hospital was then where Love-Cantrell Funeral Home now stands. We were just a block from the center of town. "

Henrietta continued, "Estes Furniture was on the corner and Russell and James Herndon had a feed store across the street. My sisters went to work and my mother cooked dinner every day. Mr. Estes always said he knew when it was noon time because everyone was going to Mrs. Young’s house. They could smell the good cooking!" she said with smile.

By this time, her father had retired and come down with Parkinson’s. Their house had a porch on the Holmes Creek side and a little barn in back. There was a door on that side of the house and oft-times when she went into the house through that door, she could hear her dad down there praying.

"That is a special memory that I will never forget," she said.

Her mother liked living in town and was a people person always doing something.

"I suppose that is where I really take after her," she said.

In the fall of 1944 the men were at war and there were not enough school teachers. Mr. Harney asked Henrietta and her cousin Jewel Young Medley to be teachers. Henrietta said she had not planned on being a teacher, but needed tires for her car. Due to the war rations, you could not get tires unless you had a good reason. Teaching school was a good reason. She was asked to go to Rock Castle. Not knowing where the school was located, she and her mother rode to find the school. Once there, she met the Dilldine family who said she could board with them. She then found out that James Webb, Tommy Webb’s uncle, was teaching at Williams Crossroads. The two rode together for a while.

She was later asked to teach at the West Point School off the Sparta Road. It was a smaller school and she only had a few in each class.

"I don’t recall ever having any trouble with the children back then," she said, "but of course they didn’t have television and cell phones then and weren’t exposed to a lot of things youngsters are exposed to these days. In a lot of ways, it was much easier. I don’t think I was too hard on them and they were quite responsive and for the most part, well behaved. Life, in general, was much easier then. I remember when there was only one telephone for an entire community. When someone got a call, everyone heard it ring and usually knew who was on the other end of the line. That was technology then.

"Most days I would carry my lunch to school and I noted that there were a few who didn’t bring lunch. So, when I could, I would stop by a grocery store on my way home from school and pick up what was needed and take it home. My Mother would help me mix it and I would add what was needed for a pot of soup, ready to cook and I would take it to the school the next day and would put it on the stove at the school and cook it while we had class. When it was time for lunch, I would dish up the soup for lunch. Of course, I couldn’t do it every day but times were lean and we would help one another when we could.

"One thing our family always did was go to church every time we could. While we didn’t have a lot, I attribute our family successes to the fact that we always trusted in God to keep us and help us throughout our life. I had become a Christian years earlier when I was young. I had prayed and become a Christian while attending Buckners Chapel. They had revivals then that brought in many people. I was very blessed back then and I really didn’t even realize it. But, I knew I could trust God to help me and my family," she concluded.

She was again asked to teach school but decided she did not want to. She and her sisters had tried several things. They had started a restaurant but after about three months sold it.

"It was the wrong job for me!" Henrietta said with a smile.

Her sisters knew someone in Detroit that had jobs available and their father had an old model car. Her father and a friend drove Trudie, Stella and Evelyn to Detroit. Trudie contacted Henrietta and wanted her to come to Detroit as everyone was getting jobs. Vella Parsley and Jewel Young, two of their cousins and a friend wanted to go to Detroit so she got in on it as well.

"We all decided to go so we had to go buy us a suit case," she said. "We got there and found a place for all four of us and got ready to look for a job.

"The first place we stopped was a pie factory and there we got a job. I suppose they thought we looked like a bunch of hillbillies or felt sorry for us anyway. We had to take street cars and were told exactly what to do. We were given uniforms that looked like long gowns. After getting our uniforms on, we all looked like we were ready for bed! We worked on a conveyor line full of small pies and we were told to pick them up and put them in little boxes. After two days of that and riding those street cars back and forth we were tired of that job! The next morning, we went into work and someone came around and told us to go outside that everyone was going on a strike and we could walk the picket lines. I told the girls that as soon as I get back inside and get my clothes on, I would be catching the next street car. Maybe you’ve heard the old saying ‘I wouldn’t work in a pie factory if it was the last job on earth’, well, that is exactly how I felt then!" she exclaimed.

The very next morning one of her cousins said she was going home and she bought a bus ticket and returned to Smithville. Henrietta’s sister told them they needed to go to the Briggs factory, they were working on airplanes there and were hiring.

"For the life of me, I don’t know why we stopped at a pie factory in the first place!" she said.

They got to the Briggs factory, filled out the paperwork and were all hired. They were paired up with a partner on the line and became Rosie the Riveters, riveting sections onto airplane wings.

"It was a good job," Henrietta told, "and we had met some local boys who drove us around to see some of the sights like the Henry Ford Museum. We worked there several months and we all started to get a little homesick. We needed a vacation, maybe a week off to go home for a few days. But, we were told we needed a good reason to take that kind of time off. Well, I came up with an idea so we could get a week off. We went in and told the manager that our aunt had died. So, they gave us a week off to go home.

"Now understand, I didn’t tell the manager a lie. I did have an aunt who had died, I just didn’t tell them that she had died a few years earlier. And, with a week off, we got us a bus ticket and headed home. Jewel had asked me, ‘what if they send flowers?’ Oh well, they would just send flowers. After being home for a few days, we returned to Detroit and worked a few more months until we were all laid off," she continued.

Henrietta’s sister, Trudie married Doc Colvert, a good christian man who later was diagnosed with a brain tumor and passed away. Her sister Evelyn was also a widow with three small children. Evelyn and Trudie put their heads together and decided they would open a dress shop. So, they went to visit Congressman Joe L. Evans to ask if he had an empty building where they could start a dress shop.

Congressman Evans rented them a small building with the storefront where the walkway was between where Vester Parsley’s law office is now located and the other was where their Uncle Hack Young had a restaurant. They started getting the store ready to make racks and other facilities, and because there was no other dress shop in town, they named it the Smithville Dress Shop. Henrietta was teaching school at the time so she was not a part of opening the store.

Evelyn had a car so they loaded up and drove to Nashville to the wholesale house. With $300 each, they were able to purchase enough dresses to open the Smithville Dress Shop. Dresses were sold from $3.98 each up to $14.98. The shirt factory was in full swing and the girls working there would come to the shop every day during their lunch and purchase dresses, most of them put on layaway. Every two to three weeks, Evelyn and whoever could help her had to make a trip back to Nashville to get more dresses, skirts and blouses. Of course, women didn’t start wearing pants until the 1960’s.

In just a few weeks, the Dress Shop was doing good business. But, Trudie decided it wasn’t for her, and she came to Henrietta and asked if she wanted to buy her part and stay and help. As Henrietta was teaching school at the time, Trudie said she would help Evelyn until school was out and Henrietta could start. She paid Trudie for her half of the business. Henrietta was just 23 years old at the time. However, having tried different jobs, this one sounded like something she would actually like.

On Friday nights, people would come into town. There would be several people eating at Uncle Hack’s restaurant and after eating, many of them would end up going to someone’s house to just visit with one another, eat popcorn and enjoy some time after a long, hard week.

One evening, while at the restaurant, Walter Hale walked in. He had been in the service and a couple of people there knew him. Henrietta didn’t know him but found out she knew his brother Joe. At one time, Joe and another boy was going to the lake to swim and she went out to do something about the time they were leaving. Joe had put a funny horn on his car and blew it as they passed by.

"I can’t remember what he said when he passed," recalled Henrietta, "but I said ‘if that was all the horn I had, I wouldn’t be blowing it!"

Later that evening, news came that Joe had drowned at the lake. It was a very sad occasion; a memory that has stayed with her over the years.

"I had asked around about Walter," she remembered, "and one evening everyone was getting ready to go to my house for an evening together and I had told a friend, who knew Walter, to ask if he wanted to come. He had said he would be there and he was. It was my first time to personally meet Walter, too. It seems everyone had a good time that evening, even Walter and I told them all I was glad they came and bid them a good night.

"The next week, I got a phone call from Walter. He told me he would like to take me some place on Friday night and I told him that would be fine. We went somewhere to eat, as I recall. I was teaching part time and working at the dress shop and Walter was working in the State Employment Office in Woodbury. We started dating regularly and it turned out that he knew many of the people that I knew in Smithville.

"Walter was regularly coming to Smithville every week and after a few months we knew very well where things were headed. We liked one another a lot. However, I had an engagement ring from another boy I dated in high school but he was still in the military and I got letters from him every week. But, by then, I had changed my mind. When he came home on furlough and had called me, I told him I had changed my mind and gave him that ring back. I didn’t want to tell him in a letter. He had a nice family and I was a close friend to his sister. Soon after I talked to Walter and told him I knew it was the right decision.

"Walter finally asked me to marry him and I said YES! We didn’t have the money for a wedding so Walter told me he knew some people who had gone to Georgia to get married. So, that is what we decided to do as well. We decided we would get married on January 11, 1947 but we wouldn’t tell anyone until we were married. As the time drew closer, I told Walter he was not supposed to see the brides dress until the wedding day. But, we would have to forget that tradition. I told him he would have to drive me to Nashville to buy a dress. Harvey’s and Cain-Sloan was there and I chose Cain-Sloan to buy a two-piece suit, hat and shoes," she told.

On their wedding day she got dressed and he came to pick her up. She had called Mrs. Ruby Young to make me a corsage, which she did. They then went to Bundy and Hilda Bratten’s Studio for pictures. They went back to here house where she told my mother and sisters bye and when to expected them back. Then it was off to Georgia where they found a preacher and got married. They stayed in Georgia overnight and returned to her mother’s house. She was so surprised when her sisters were there and had a Welcome Home party. They had invited some of their friends.

The following day they went to Walter’s parents’ house to break the news to them. Then, it was off to the apartment they had already rented. her sister, Trudie, lived on Short Mountain Street and it turned out that she had a lot that she would give them. Later they had Frank Bryant build a six-room house there in 1948. They finally had a home and the house he built still stands today across from the fire department.

A couple of years after the couple were married, they decided to go to Detroit. Henrietta had asked Evelyn if she could hire a couple of girls to work at the Dress Shop while they were gone as they wouldn’t be gone too long. Walter got a good job in a plant and she got a job as well.

In 1951, Henrietta gave birth to a baby boy, Ricky Nolan. She and Walter had decided their dream had come true. However, it only lasted a very short 12 hours when the doctor informed them that the baby had died. At that point, they didn’t know what they were going to do. They were devastated.

The couple decided, later, that they would try to adopt a child. After returning to Smithville, they tried to adopt without success.

"I ask the Lord that if there is a child that doesn’t have a home, we would love to have it," she said with a tear in her eye.

One Sunday they had a couple visit them from Nashville. After a few hours of visiting and a lot of questions, the lady told them she was working with a girl who was going to have a baby and her doctor wanted to find someone to adopt the child. Henrietta immediately told her to go back to Nashville and tell the girl and the doctor that she had found someone to take the baby. In just a couple of days, they received a call to go see that doctor.

"The doctor told us the welfare department had intervened and informed the doctor that he could not give the baby away," Henrietta recalled. "So, we decided to visit the girl having the baby and she agreed to give the child to us when it was born.

"On the following Sunday morning, we received a call that the girl gave birth to a baby girl. Walter and I were so excited. However, when we arrived at the hospital, they refused to give us the baby. I knew this baby was an answer to our prayers so we took action. We called our attorney who put us in touch with John J. Hooker who came to the hospital. And, in a short time, we were informed that the nurse would give the baby to the mother and the mother could then give it to us. It didn’t take very long and as I walked in one direction, crying, with the baby in my arms, the mother who had just given her baby to me walked in another direction. We had a beautiful baby girl. It was 1958 and our prayers had been answered," she said with a grin.

Soon after, Walter started working with James Ed Rice and the Smithville Dress Shop was doing very well. One day, a gentleman from Nashville came into the shop and asked if we sold Henry Lee dresses. She told him they did and he said his mother had purchased one but couldn’t remember where. He had tracked the store down from a reference in Sparta. The word spread and the Smithville Dress Shop was working out very well.

"I was blessed with some very good workers," Henrietta said, "who treated the shop like their own and we had built a very successful business.

Henrietta told Walter she wanted to go to Dallas to the market. All the fashion shows were being held and she wanted to see all the latest fashions and buy as many as she could and they would ship them all to us at the dress shop. Of course they had to get home and put in more shelving and racks for all the new dresses.

After a couple of years, Evelyn was to be married and she wanted to sell Henrietta her part of the business. So, after all the deal was completed, Henrietta became sole owner of the Smithville Dress Shop. They built a small room in the shop so Kimberly could come after school. Evelyn continued to help out at the shop from time to time but Henrietta had to hire more girls to keep up with the business.

Kimberly would go to market with her mother, and they would drive or fly. With a niece living in the area, they would stay with her during market days.

"Walter and Kimberly always supported me," she said. "When Kimberly was old enough, she would fly to Dallas and go to market. She has helped me a lot in the store. She was a natural designer at an early age; very good at putting clothes together for display."

In 1977, I got a call from my niece, Judy, who told me there was a 13-day tour going to Israel and Jordan and ask me if I wanted to go. I would like to go but had to talk to Walter and Kimberly. We discussed it but I hated to leave them for that long but Walter said I should go! The time came to leave and we flew to Germany then shortly after that we flew to Jordan and Israel. We visited many places while there; the tomb of Christ, River of Jordan, the Dead Sea and a lot of other places I can’t recall but one place we visited I will never forget. We took a side trip to Petra, a city carved out of rock. We had to ride horses to get there and I had a camera in one hand and something in the other hand. My guide said that he would carry the camera dna I thanked him. We were told by the guide not to give tips to the horse owner when we got there. But, when we arrived, I thought no one will know it so I gave him a tip. We toured the rock city and saw where rock had been chopped out to make living quarters where people lived in the rock mountain. After the tour we headed back and about half-way back, I was told I needed to trade horses. So I was put on another horse and another horse owner held us back and we followed the rest of the group. My sister had asked why I had to change horses and the guide told her that I had tipped the other horse owner, now, this horse owner wants a tip too! Well, I learned my lesson. I didn’t tip any more!

When we returned to the hotel, a Jewish wedding was getting ready to start. The door was open so we watched. It was certainly different! Someone walked by and told us there was an extra table and asked if we would like to join in the celebration. Well, we couldn’t refuse We were served a meal like the rest of the wedding party and we enjoyed ourselves immensely.

Walter continued to work with James Ed who had opened up a housing sub-division near the Golf Club. James Ed had provided a beautiful lot and wanted us to build a home there. But, there was not a house anywhere nearby at that time. And, after Walter and I discussed the matter, we built a new home there in 1969 and moved in shortly after. It was a seven-room house with two and a half baths! Our daughter, Kimberly, enjoyed the house and we were able to have a lot of guests over for dinner. We also hosted many business and professional club parties and of course Christmas parties and gatherings for my girls at the dress shop.

Most of the parties and gatherings ended, sadly, in 1979. Walter had retired and I was getting ready for retirement as well. Walter got very sick and passed away. Things were never the same then for Kim and I. It was a blessing I had Kimberly and the dress shop then. I’m not sure what I would have done being alone with all my immediate family gone as well. I’m sure many of the readers of this article are well aware of what it is like in that situation.

Well, the years have passed by. Walter is gone and Kimberly has grown up and moved away. But, I have my friends here in Smithville and we carry on. I have attended the United Pentecostal Church for many years and I still attend the same church but in a different location after the first church burned. Our church is now located on Highway 56, directly across from the Dekalb Funeral Chapel. I still drive and attend church every chance I get. My neighbors are friendly and check on me often and my church family keeps a close watch. I may get around to writing more in the future but for now, I’ll just sit back and relax a bit and enjoy life. Without my friends and church family, life would be difficult. But, you can find me most Sunday’s and Wednesday’s at the United Pentecostal Church. I would love to see you there!