Willis Winston Ashlock

Good barber, good metal worker. Could do just about anything but had bad luck alot. Seemed everything he tried something happened. BEst year from farming...[put all in the barn. House fire...buned up all of everytahing. In november...wind high...burned everything in the house so quick. had nothing left Farmed out allthe kids to neighbors. All kids went to different families daddy and illadean went to Russell familkyl. Feed all,,, gave hand me donw clothes. G & G moved in with Uncle Dennis his brotherl then had a house some of family owned. Just gath only thing left was a crosscut saw....so at least they could chop wood for fire. After a couple weeks they got family together and moved into a house some family owned. Cut all the kids hair plus any neighbor kid around. Knew how to deal with cattle and stock. Hunted and trapped. Few jobs during that time. Did what he could. Had a barber chair in Harmony. Worked for a blacksmith in Clarksville...shoeing horses. G ma was the one to keep everone in line. Grandma had Daddy work withher around the house and in the garden. Daddy being the youngest boy. Daddy handle a hourse and plow at about 13/14 age. Row crops...corn peanuts, watermellon, tomatos. Daddy did this. Grandma always had chickens and also a milk cow. Daddy would build a wash pot fire in big black pot and they would scrub all the clothes. Long..Hard day...washing day,,usually once a weeks. ONe time they had some guinnies,,,,good watch dogs :). Would eat one ever once in awhile. One time a gunnie got up on the wire fence around the houselll grandma told daddy...shoo that guniie off that fence. So daddy instead of waving his arms and shooing he pick up a rock and threw it.... hit that guinnie and killled it. they had guinnie for dinner that night! Had little stud horse. one summer g pa, daddy with horse in barn. Going in to eat dinner so going to let the little house out of barn, g pa flipped the reins...,.not hard at the horse ..... horse turned ....wrong way...hit pile of logs....broke his leg. Had to shoot. 1937 baby died and also that year they had the fire. Moved around alot. Would rent a house from whoever had moved off and left it. Pay the rent from what they raised in the garden. Sharecrop. Cucumber, onion, tomato....daddy would take some salt put it in piece of paper in his pocket and go out to the garden and have his lunch. She made the best pickled peaches. Blood red indian peaches. cut up ripe tomatoes and fry them in the skillet. Hunted some...squirells, rabbits...no deer. Been shot out. Didn't see any wild deer until after WWII. Grandma could cook anything. Possum... skin it, par boil, then put in oven and bake real crisp then bake sweet potatoes with it. Didn't eat possum toomuch. Don't remember ever eating a raccoon much maybe a few times. Always bought coffee, flour, sugar, shortening, (or used some hog lard). Moonshine around. But wasnt talked about...kept it quiet ....prohabition. Always had a hog....sugar cure a ham.