During my Mother's lifetime..............

[Bob Wright]

My mother was born in 1896, and died in 1988, at age of 102 years old.

Some events I remember her telling:

Her Sunday School class went from Nashville to the Hermitage for an outing. They went on the church bus. A thunderstorm came up and lightning struck and killed one of the horses, temporarily disabling the church bus. A replacement had to be obtained.

Sitting up with the dead one night, the corpse sat straight up in bed.

A child died from rabies, then called hydrophobia. The child went into convulsions and had to be chained to the bed prior to her death.

A woman died from tetanus after having stepped on a tack and penetrating her toe. At the time her death was attributed to the morning dew getting into the wound.

A man was designated as a shooter to put down dogs thought to be mad (rabid) dogs.

Many people prepared their own coffins, using the local cedar, and kept them under their beds until their death. Lebanon, Tennessee, and surrounding area was known for the cedar trees.

My Mother lived in the period from horse and buggy to seeing man on the Moon.


Bob Wright

 

[BDM1]

Amazing, thanks for sharing that.

 

[nvbirdman]

The advances in technology were amazing. She, like my grandmother, would have been a young girl when the Wright Brothers (any relation?) took off at Kitty Hawk and still around when Neil Armstrong took his first step up there.

 

[blackhawknj]

102 ? I presume she was called home in 1998 then. She went from reading and working by candlelight and kerosene to electricity generated by nuclear power.
1896-the year William Jennings Bryan gave the "Cross of Gold" speech.

 

[sfhogman]

My grandmother was born in Des Moines in 1890. Grandpa courted her with a surrey with a fringe on top...I've seen the pictures.
She died in 1985...the lady saw a lot, for sure.

Jeff

 

[Acorn]

My parents were born in 1931. Moms still with us but my Dad passed in 2018.
I’ve often thought about how far technology has progressed in their lifetime.
My daughter was born in 96. If technology continues to advance at its current rate I
can’t imagine what she’ll see in her lifetime.
Hopefully more to improve her life than to oppress it.
Thanks for your posts Bob, I always enjoy them.

 

[6GUNSONLY]

A coworker sends me screenshots of some Facebook posts that one of her friends does; this friend is a relative of mine whom I do not really know. She does a lot of research on our family (my dad's side) history in this area. Yesterday she sent me a pic of a newspaper clipping from the Birmingham paper. Apparently in 1915 it was newsworthy that my great uncle and his bride-to-be "motored" into town (Florence, where I live now) on Sunday afternoon to get married. I guess the newspaper was the Facebook of the day, the news just wasn't as fresh, but mostly still just everyday happenings.
Bob, your mother's generation would be my grandparents age cohort, and I've often thought about all they saw in their lifetimes - as you said, horse and buggy to flight, advances in medicine, not to mention two world wars, Korea, Vietnam, and more. Even my parents were both born at home, I've thought often about what a different experience that would have been ( and most people died at home, as well. Now birth and death are most frequently in a hospital setting).

 

[Bob Wright]

The advances in technology were amazing. She, like my grandmother, would have been a young girl when the Wright Brothers (any relation?) took off at Kitty Hawk and still around when Neil Armstrong took his first step up there.

Kin to them? I WAS ONE OF THEM. Just not THEM.

Bob Wright

 

[graygun]

We are plagued by cedar here;maybe I should make a coffin too. Your mother saw a lot.

 

[Armybrat]

Interesting topic.
I’d like to stretch it even further by noting that that my maternal grandfather was born in 1874 and my youngest grandson with any luck will live into the 21st century. That is 226+ years of family life span I will potentially have touched.

Others here can probably account for more.