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The Fletcher Family Story

Page Four

As Told by Mattie Tucker

Written by Pattie Carter

It wasn't long after my father got the ol' Touring car that he and I went to

town. I sat up there in the front seat just as big as all get out. We were coming

down the road to where we lived and we had to stop and open the gate to get

up to the house. Papa instead of stopping the car, he pulled back on the

steering wheel and said, "Whoo!" He just kept hollaring, "Whoo!" I never said

a word, I was laughing so hard I couldn't say anything. I went to clapping my

hands. He told momma that made him realize what he was doing and he

stopped the car before he ran into the fence. When we got home he was

laughing and telling Momma ,"Mattie, she did not say anything, she just began

to clap her hands." Later he bought a Reo car. It was left on the old homestead

in Colorado. I'm not sure of what year the cars were.

One morning in the Fall of 1917, Papa took the flu. Tinker had seen

him take aspirin before breakfast, and then left the table without eating and

laid down on the bed. We never knew Papa to be sick or even take aspirin.

Tinker was scared and told the rest of us. He was so sick that he did not know

anyone. People we knew would come and sit all night helping Momma take

care of him. Someone finally got the doctor out to our house and he had to

stay there for three days. The snow was so bad and we lived 30 miles outside

of the town of Branson, the doctor could not get home. Momma had melted

grease, turpentine, coal oil and vicks salve, she then took a flannel cloth,

soaked it and then pinned it on Papa's chest. The doctor said she probably

saved Papa's life with that ol' home remedy. Us kids also wore a flannel cloth

on our chest in the winters when we'd take cold or even had a little cough. It

does not smell good, but try it sometime, its good stuff. I used it on Allie Bea

when she was a little girl and believe it or not it worked.

During the winter in Colorado, Papa had gone to town for grocery's.

There was snow on the ground, melting alittle bit during the day, and at night

it would begin to freeze. Jennie, Son and Clyde had been out in the woods

all day messing around. They had been riding the horses. When they started

home the old horse that Son was riding bareback, got loose. The horse would

trot along ahead of them just enough that he could never catch him. When he

got close enough to get him, the horse would trot along alittle faster, always

staying just alittle ahead of them. The horse went straight home and Son

caught him in the yard. Son got on the old horse and was going to take him

down and water him. He was mad and he was riding bareback and he was

making the horse run as fast as he could. The horse slipped on the ice and

fell on Son's leg and broke it in the knee area. Son was pinned under the

horse. They finally got the horse up and Jennie, Tinker and Momma carried

Son back to the house. Papa being gone at that time and they did not know

what in the world to do, that they went and got Mr. Oatney, who lived over by

Wire Canyon. they thought he could set Son's leg. It was broke in such a way

and it was 30 miles to the doctor and we had no way to get him there. Mr.

Oatney straightened the leg and put a board on the side of it to try and keep

it straight enough to heal good. When Son finally got well enough to take the

board off, he knee was not set right. They had said it was broke too bad, and

one leg was shorter than the other. He walked on his toes. Son was crippled

for the rest of his life.

When Tinker was about ten or twelve years old, she had gotten sick

and had seizures. My folks wrote to the Mayo Clinic and got medicine for her.

She never did see a doctor, but she got well and lived to be 72 years old.

Tinker never had another seizure after that. Tinker helped to raise me, Momma

had a baby, and Tinker took me over. Then Cub come along two years later

and Jennie took him. So Tinker raised me and Jennie raised Cub. We was

well taken care of when we was little.

This page was last updated 23 August 2003

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Web Site Part Four of The Fletcher Family Story

As Told by Mattie Tucker

Written by Pattie Carter

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