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LORETTA NEAL REMINISCES ABOUT THE FARM |
| An early resident of The Farm dropped by "out-of-the-blue" on June 13, 2006. Her name was Loretta Neal, and 68 years ago she was born in the old rock house that predated The Cabin at The Farm. She was accompanied by her cousin, Billie Duffer who was the wife of Loretta's cousin. She had known Billie since she was 15, but the last few years they have become close friends and confidants. |  |
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Loretta provided us with the following history: Her grandfather, Oliver Zeck(Papa), bought the land in '36 or '37 and built the house and rocked it. Her sister, Delores(Sissy), helped him with the rocks. Her grandfather used rocks from the field to build the rock house. Both her father and grandfather were carpenters as well as farmers. "Back then", she said, "You had to plant tobacco one shoot at a time". |
| The house, she remembered, had a living room, 2 bedrooms, kitchen, dining room and a cellar. Outside, near the house, was a chicken house, storage building and a barn that was close to Carr Creek (The Barn. now the living area of Paul & Cheri). She said they a lot of animals that included goats, mules, cows, hogs, chickens, horses and guineas. |  |
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One of Loretta's "wish-I-hadn't-done-that" memories at the tender age of 3 or 4, consisted of eating rat poison... because it looked like bacon(her sister, Delores, said it looked like peanut butter not bacon)... that her parents had put in a biscuit. The biscuit was placed in the cellar and she took a bite of it. Loretta said that they used to walk about 2 miles to Memorial Blvd to catch the bus... (whew!). Part of Old New Cut Road was referred to as the “Holler”, because it was deeper on the sides then than it is now. A highlight of her early days was a trip to the Grand Ole Opry to see Faron Young, Little Jimmie Dickens and Ernest Tubb. |
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Oliver and his wife Bessie (maiden name Cummings), sold the
property and moved to Cedar Hill when Loretta was a teenager. A few years
later, they moved back to Springfield on Batts Road. She gave this family breakdown: Grandfather Oliver Zeck/Grandmother Bessie |
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Fredia was also
born in the rock house. Her grandparents are buried in Bowling Green, Kentucky. |
| Delores was married at the
rock house on the farm. These pictures are of their wedding day. |
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| As Newlyweds | 55 Years later |
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| Grandmother Bessie, Delores(Sissy), Loretta and uncle | Loretta and her sister, Delores (Sissy) | Grandmother Bessie, Grandfather Oliver and Dad ( Morgan Henry) | Grandmother Bessie, Delores(Sissy) and Loretta |
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THANKS LORETTA,
for sharing your past and enlightening our present.
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