Eula Agnes Jacobson

Eula Barton Jacobson and her brother Sam always stayed with her grandmother Esther when their parents went to parties or dances. "Grandma was so good to be with," Eula said. "She would let us play any kind of games we wanted to, like "Trip Up and Be Gone" or marbles. Lots of times she'd tell me I was cute as a bug's ear. And when I got tired and sleepy, I always ended the evening by getting on a bawling spree. Then grandma would hold me on her knee, teetering me back and forth, and crooning over and over in her sweet, gentle southern accent, "They'll be back directly, they'll be back directly." I remember that she would sit by the kitchen table reading by the light of a candle that she had molded out of tallow or by the light of a kerosene lamp, and from there she watched us play.

Esther could also get tough when she needed to. She and her sons Jack and Steve had equal interest in a pedigreed bull that they used in their cow herd for breeding service. Steve had taken hm to his place when he was not in use, and had chained him to a heavy log so he couldn't get away. Somehow, the big animal got tangled p in the chain and broke his leg. Grandma was extremely upset over what she thought was nothing but carelessness in how Steve had neglected the bull, and she was quick to reprimand h im for it. Because of the bad break, the bull died.