HerStory

After we left the little farm, we most always had an old cow. Mama woud call her Old Cherry.  She was always red and very gentle.  I learned to milk her real easy while still very small. Sometimes Old Cherry would pass on.  I never understood where she passed on to, but aways there was another Old Cherry. I was I think about eleven years old when I was trying to milk this special Old Cherry.  For some reason she was unhappy and didn't want to be milked.  I was almost finished when Wham! A big old hard hoof that was attached to a big leg came up and splashed my whole bucket of milk on me and the ground. I was so angry at Old Cherry I just sat there and cried.  Now no milk for several days. Whatever will we do?  This is a real guilt trip for me.  I suffered for weeks because I lied to my Mama.  I told her a big old skunk had run in front of Old Cherry and scared her so that she kicked the bucket over and spilled the milk.  Mama was upset a...

Memories are sometimes very sad.  Memories are sometimes very helpful when you have to make choices.  I have some memories that I like to keep hidden, but I would not give up even the very ones that hurt the most.  I think my memories are the very substance that helped me to move from the backwoods of my first years to a moderately normal existence.  My first memories give me a glimpse of a small child peering through the bushes of a yard when a stranger approached.  We sometimes would go weeks or months without seeing anyone other than our family.  Us children when young seldom went to the store.  We never went to a church until we were old enough to go alone.  When we got old enough to go to school, we would go there and back and then the only other people we saw was the school teacher and the other children at school.  There was one old man who would come to our house about once a year.  I can't remember his name, but I do remember th...

I am going to try to capture my childhood memories as best I can. And now is a good time to tell you that my Mother moved around a lot.  Sometimes she move twice a year-I can't remember why she moved, not can I remember the moves-I just remember being at a new place or back to the old place where we had lived before.  I cannot explain why this is so.  Before I get into the real background of my life, I will give you all some of this history as best I can remember. As I have told you, I was born in the hills and small mountains of West Virginia, near the gas wells and coal mines and among the hills and valleys.  Not far away were the coal mines and the train yards that my Poppy later worked for.  It was the coal mining country.  We always lived in a little valley or on the top of a small mountain or at the head of a holler.  A holler is a very large gully with trees and most always a small creek.  They are very pretty places and many small animals ...

Maybe these memories will make me understand why and who I am now and how I survived so many hardships.  My memories are sometimes a surprise to me, but they have helped me to shape my life and made me understand who I am and why I am who I am.  Quite often some people think I am slightly weird and old fashioned, but my life as a hillbilly child just won't let go.   I hope you wil enjoy this experience of my research, just don't pity those children. Mostly they grew up very strong except for some who had alcohol problems.  The majority of my family became very will rounded persons and three of us are still living and walking around taking care of ourselves.  My oldest sister (who I can't remember unil I was about eleven years old and I can't remember why I just can't remember) is now 91 years old.  One brother who is 78 years old is quite well also. He is the baby I took care of at age 4 and was so sick then.  I have never made a million dollars...

Now before we get further into this memory search, I will get to the real topic of my story. I will give you all some background of my young life.  It will help you understand my way of thinking, I hope. I was born in the hills and hollers of West Virginia.  There were coal mines, gas wells, many little mountains and what we called hollers with small creeks and valleys inhabited by quail, rabbit, squirrels and snakes.  This is or was very pretty country to us children. Most of the time our house was at the head of the holler or on the top of the mountain. Sometimes we would go quail hunting-we only followed the quails and tried to catch them.  We never did succeed, but our lives were filled with the success of our hunts.  We got to know them well. Sometimes we would find a snake or two, but we had to be very careful what kind of snake it was.  There were some of them that were very dangerous. I cannot remember ever catchin one of the bad ones.  I guess...

William Daniel and Anna Ralston Spears Baylous My name is Juanita Fitzgerald-Mrs John Douglas Fitzgerald-formerly Juanita Baylous. I was born very early one cold and snowy winter morning on January 19,1916 in Cabel County West Virginia. My Mama gave me this information. I am one of thirteen children born to Anna Ralston Spears Baylous and William Daniel Baylous. 10 of us children survived to adulthood. I was number 6 in the age group. My Father was a farmer at this time and we lived on this little farm until I was, I think, almost four. When I was about four, or as close as I can remember, my Father sold our little farm and went to work for C&O Railroad. The first memories I can find is this small house close to a little creek. There were big sycamore trees beside the creek and I have faint memories of the very large leaves from the sycamore trees. I remember also the little creek being very high and almost coming into our house. I will give you some of the memories on this basis l...

 My name is Juanita Fitzgerald, formerly Juanita Baylous. I was born Januay 19, 1916 n Cobel county West Virginia near the head of a "holler" in a small house beside a creek.  I am one of 13 children-10 of us survived to adulthood. I was the 6th in the line. When I was 4 (?) my Mama started moving-2 years to 6 months was the longest she stayed in 1 place. I grew to 17 years in Cobel County West Virginia. A short part of that time was spent in Logan County West Virginia, where coal mining was the main way of life. Finally I graduated from Huntington High School in 1933. After many struggles with poverty and having learned survival skills against this poverty and humiliation-I finally graduated from high school. In 1933 I came to Vancouver-met a wonderful young man and married him in February 1934. We had 3 children who lived and one who died at birth. Now I have eight grandchildren-I think about 10 great grandchildren-haven't counted lately. My John died of cancer in 1990 ...