"Did I see that old fellow hand your clerk a dollar bill?" The stranger asked the owner.
"You certainly did and he’ll be back next Friday with another one.
"But he only paid a dollar bill?"
"Let me tell you something," the store owner said. "That old man’s credit is as good as gold. He can buy anything in this store he wants on credit; he will always make that same trip each Friday, which is his payday at the cotton mill, in order to make a payment on his bill. I can’t remember a time when he hasn’t been in here each week to pay on his charge account."
That scene took place in the early years of the 1950s, at a time when furniture, groceries and other necessities were charged from week to week the old fashioned way—not with a credit card—with a man’s word and bond. The old man in overalls was a veteran of working in cotton mills since he began sweeping one at the age of nine years old in 1903.
On that occasion that took place in the furniture store, he was in his mid-fifties and had already worked for nearly fifty years.
He was a "Fixer" in the cotton mill, so entitled because he repaired machines that had torn up, leading to a line stoppage. Each time that would happen, they would send for the old man to come make the necessary repairs. During the day, he was already at the mill, so they did not have very far to go in order to find him; at night, they would send someone out to his small white house on the mill village, less than three blocks from the mill. His loyalty knew no time restraints, and when someone came calling during the night, he would reply, "I’ll be down there as soon as I slip my overalls on." He always had a job because he appreciated having a job. There was never any question as to whether he would get out of bed and go to the mill, because he was married, and he and his wife had six children.
His story was as follows: In 1915, he borrowed a horse and buggy, drove to the home of his wife to be, who was only fifteen years old, and drove off to the Justice of the Peace to be married. In those days a young woman of fifteen was considered both old enough and mature enough to get married and start a family. He was only twenty-one years old, but he had already been working for twelve years. He had a simple philosophy when it came to advice for his children about life. Go to school, get a job while you aren’t in school, pay your bills on time, go to church, and stay out of trouble. Like the Ten Commandments, if anyone chose to live by his philosophy, they could expect to have a good life.
Although he never took a music lesson and he could not tell one note from another, nevertheless, he led the singing in his church. He stood in front of his peers and with pride and a loud voice he led the congregation in old church hymn favorites like "Love Lifted Me", "When the Roll is Called up Yonder" and "Softly and Tenderly". Once it was said the preacher, his brother, was giving a particularly strong sermon on the evils of imbibing in strong drink and afterwards concluded his sermon with a sincere wish that all the whiskey, beer, and liquor in the world could be thrown into the nearby river to be rid of it once and for all. Calling upon the old man to lead the congregation in a closing hymn, it is said that he opened his song book and told the crowd to join him in singing "Shall We Gather at the River."
Although the story was good for a laugh, the old man, who was my Father, chuckled and said, "Pshaw! That didn’t happen."