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Subject: [KYBELL] Letter from my great grandmother to her sister
Date: Thu, 1 Jan 2004 16:14:25 EST

This is a letter from my great grandmother, Nancy Lane Rice to her sister,
Nona Lane Hensley. I thought that you all might like to read it. It sure does
tell how tough the times were. The Minnie that she talks about here is my
grandmother, her daughter., Minnie Rice Hooker. My great grandmother Nancy had 10
kids, 9 girls and 1 boy. She died in about 1939, a year before my grandmother
Minnie died. She (Nancy) died from gastro-intestinal cancer and was about 53.
When my grandmother Minnie died, she was 29 and left 6 kids, and died in
childbirth and the baby died too.
Charlotte

Dec. 26, 1933
Blanche, Ky.

Dearest Sis and family,

I just received your letter sure was glad to hear from you all once more and
am glad you are all well. We are all well. Say you ask me when Bessie and Bill
got back. They come in in August. They live in Arjay camps. Bill is working
at Wroth. Work is very good down here.  I guess the mines is nearly all a
runnin coal now. But I don't know the prices they pay. Cary don't charge no house
rent and Glendon don't either. But I guess they make it up in the store. Well
tell Eaf there is a little house down on Four Mile just 2 rooms to it. It
belongs to old Dink Miller. He rents it for 25 dollars a year. It has about 2 acres
of ground to it.  It is the old Hogan Miller place not far from where we
lived when Thelma was a little tot and old man Miller has another place down below
his place on Mars Creek. That is all the places that I know of rite now. I
took down the first day of Dec. with rheumatism and never got out until the 17
of this month. I went to see Bessie and little Gene then I went to town last
Thursday and got my flour. That Red Cross woman give me 14 yards of goods the
first she has ever give me and everybody says that's all I will get. I am goin
and try her again. It nearly kills me to walk down there and back. Sis
I am so thin I can get in the girls' dresses but they are too short for me.
Well Minnie and Thelma is doin fine. Their men is a workin on the road 2 days a
week the same as Joe. They get two dollars and a half a week. That's better
than bein loaferin around all the time. It feeds them and their familys. The
Red
Cross has give them clothes.
Well Sis you ought to see Joe in them big pants. He said the fun was all
ready made. All we had to do was to laugh. Irene is wearin the ones that had the
legs tore off. Pore child. I tell them the Lord loves poore children. That
makes them feel good and proud because they are poore. God Bless their little
hearts. Tell everybody hello for me. I sure would love to come and see you all
once more. Well Sis tell Tom to save me his old shoes I am a wearing
his slippers that he sent to me this last spring. So I will close for now.

Love,
Nancy

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