Elbert Dean, Sr. &
Grandson, Jack Riney
(Jack, 6 months; December, 1942)
A member of the Union Ridge School Board, dad was well known and well respected. He had a reputation as a good farmer: fields always clean of weeds, equipment maintained, and shares and rents paid on time. Over the years, various other land owners wanted dad to farm their properties. Dad, along with his sons-in-law did agree to farm adjacent farms.
We used 5 horses to pull a double row plow. Four horses that I can remember were Pete, Mike, Red, and Kate. Pete was the best. Dad hired a man to plow with Pete and Mike. Being the best horse, Pete walked on the already plowed area which demanded more of the horse. Dad told the hired man to stop 5 or 10 minutes after every turn around the field: smoke a cigarette and rest the horses. The hired man didn't rest the horses. After plowing a circuit, Pete raised up once, whinnied loudly, and dropped dead. When the hired man told dad what happened, dad fired him on the spot. We planted black-eyed peas right in the cotton rows. We cultivated them along with the cotton. I'd ride the seed drill and drop peas manually into the tubes. (recollections by Elbert Dean, Jr.)
Jack on Granddaddy Dean's Tractor
Elbert Dean, Sr., 1942