Bernie, Boots, Rena, Elbert Jr.,
Elbert Sr., and Lillie Mae, March, 1941
Notice the bicycle in the background. Dad bought the bike himself by raising and selling Bantam chickens.
My dad (Jr.) remembers the time that his dad cut his finger nearly off. At about age 10, my dad was made to drive his dad to town (Merkel) where Dr. Sadler sewed the finger together. (recollection by Elbert Dean, Jr.) "We attended country churches and were there every Sunday. About the time we attended Hebron (country church), Mom started getting sick, and she didn't go a lot after that. So I started driving us kids to Salt Branch Church." (recollections of childhood from Mildred) Once Dad needed weight on the plow, so I rode the plow. The plow jerked at the end of the row, and my foot went under the share leaving a deep gash. I made for the back porch and stuck my foot in kerosene. (recollection by Elbert Dean, Jr.) I would help dad by pumping the bellows to heat our forge. Dad most commonly used the forge for heating plowshares to sharpen them. To shape the edge sharp, Dad would use a maul to beat the shares against an old railroad tie that we used for an anvil.(recollection by Elbert Dean, Jr.)
Elbert Dean, Sr. Family, 1940-1941