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My Sister Kathleen and Her Family My sister Kathleen and her family continued to live on Dry Run (Monroe Township). All of her children were born there. I was there for her oldest daughter Louise’s birth on August 28, 1948. I may have been there when Margie was born on January 16, 1950 though I don’t remember any of their births after Louise. I was probably too wrapped up in my own teenage life. Steve was born on September 20, 1952 and Kenneth on October 10, 1953. While they lived on Dry Run, Kathleen and family came into town on Friday evenings and we continued to go there on Sundays. The Rigsby family was often there as well. In 1954, the family moved into the north end of Williamsport because it was too far for oldest daughter Louise to walk to catch the school bus. Louise said, “I remember she (Mom) would put Steve and Kenny in the play pen. It had a hole in it, so she told Margie to sit in front of it to keep them in until she came back. But Margie let them out, so I walked by myself after that.” I don’t know about you but I can picture that. : ) Lon worked for the Dunlap Company. He later worked at the Orient Correctional Institute. They moved to the south end of town where they spent the rest of their days. They celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on September 19, 1997. In the late seventies Kathleen introduced our family to genealogy research. She went to a Rigsby Reunion in Kentucky and met Skaggs descendants who were intertwined with the Rigsby family. She brought home a publication by Lucille Sparks-Edwards Ball called the “Big Sandy Skaggs”. That contribution to our family was the beginning of all of our genealogy research and is immeasurable. Lon passed away on June 7, 2007 and Kathleen on May 16, 2013. They are buried side by side in Springlawn Cemetery. ©Marilyn Francis Ferguson 2021 Photography/graphics by Michele Ferguson Schuck
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After the Army After my brother Bob was discharged from military service in 1952, he and his family settled in Williamsport. His second son William David “Billy” was born on January 13, 1953 in Circleville, Ohio. They lived in Circleville for a while and later in Williamsport for the rest of their lives. Bob worked at DuPont until he retired. In his later years, he bought what had been Archie Rawlinson’s IGA Store and turned it into a sort of Flea Market. He wanted to provide a place for my stroke-stricken Dad to be on weekends. When I visited there, Bob handed me a small bag of potato chips and said for me not to pay. My Dad complained that Bob could never be a businessman because he gave away the store. That is who Bob was! He was very involved with the American Legion. I believe he was instrumental in initiating Deercreek Dam Days that he started as a Flea Market. He acquired a lot of antiques and loved showing them off. He bought or was given newspaper clippings and photos from the defunct Williamsport News. He self-published “Peek at the Past” and “Aunt Hattie’s Scrapbook”. Both can be found in the Pickaway County Historical Society. To say that I am proud of what Bob accomplished in his life would be an understatement. He has always been and will continue to be a HERO to me. Our family had been mostly a family of girls, so the photo featured in this blog was always treasured. It is the first of three young boys; Jean’s son Jeffrey Allen Davidson, standing with Robert Bruce and William David “Billy” Francis on our cistern together.…Billy holding a washcloth and Jeff holding one of our little purses. It appears that Bob’s son Billy inherited his Dad’s artistic and carpentry skills but it was much more refined. One of Billy’s artistic works is featured in the last photo of today’s blog. ©Marilyn Francis Ferguson 2021 Photography/graphics by Michele Ferguson Schuck  My Brother Bob’s Letters My mother saved everything. It had its good side and its bad side. My interest was primarily the papers she saved, and she did not disappoint. I have found most of the letters that my brother Bob wrote while he was in the Army with the exception of the time when he cut his foot through his boot in Korea. I can’t find that account and the fact that he was sent to KojeDo or Fuji to recuperate. That encompasses mostly the time after Christmas 1951 through January 1952. I feel certain the letters exist but I haven’t found them yet. The fact is, my brother hated to write letters. He said so in almost every letter. His grammar wasn’t bad but it wasn’t good either. Neither was his spelling. Nevertheless, he wrote home every week. The first third of each letter was always the same. I know because I decided to put each letter in a plastic sleeve along with the envelope, which actually had the dates on them. I slogged through (read) 200 or more letters that he sent home from the time he left in 1948 through 1952. I looked for specific things and found most of what I was looking for and tagged the pages. Since his two sons are deceased, I will give the two large notebooks to his grandsons in case they ever wonder. James Dobson of Focus on the Family fame said that he had to go through his father’s things after his death and he hoped he wouldn’t find anything disappointing. He was happy when he didn’t. I didn’t find anything in Bob’s letters to indicate anything different than who I thought he was. Everything I thought he was, was confirmed. He always mentioned Betty and me in every letter and often said that he was still our boyfriend. He asked about local people. He had done handy work for Dora Woodmanse, so he asked about her. She was an older lady who was born on Columbus Day and always told us that Columbus brought her and stuffed her in a stump. He asked about Junie King and a myriad of other town people. He also talked of what he wanted to do when he came home….much of which, he actually did. When he first left, he signed his letters with Bob. Later he signed “Your Son, Bob”. By the time he came home, he was calling himself (signing off as) Bruzz, a nickname my mother had given him. ©Marilyn Francis Ferguson 2021 Photography/graphics by Michele Ferguson Schuck Male Graduates Photo from L to R: Gene Stonerock, David Brown, Charles Hemming, Harvey Rutherford, Carroll Whitten, Mike McCafferty, Billy Horch and front Earl Christopher.
The Class of 1956 Our Baccalaureate was held on May 13, 1956 in the Methodist Church with Rev. C. L. Kirchner officiating. On May 15, 1956 we graduated in the High School Auditorium. Our Class Motto was “Dare to be Different”. I think we lived up to that. : ) I always thought that Judge William D. Radcliff, who lived on Main Street in Williamsport, was the speaker. He was not. I found a program and it appears that he was a future speaker for graduation, probably 1957. The reason I am telling this is because he spoke about “diamonds in your own backyard”. He admonished graduates to live and stay in Williamsport. Though I did not stay in Williamsport, his speech was my inspiration for this blog. My daughter had been begging me to write a blog….on any subject. I had gotten a new computer and decided that it was possible. The fact is, I had a yellow legal tablet with chapters already laid out. I wrote the chapter titles years ago. I had always planned to write a book about growing up in Williamsport. In a few weeks (six to eight), we will come to the end of the Growing Up in Williamsport blog. I lived at home my first year of college so the next few blogs will be about my Francis family and then about leaving Williamsport. Please bear with me. ©Marilyn Francis Ferguson 2021 Photography/graphics by Michele Ferguson Schuck |
Marilyn Francis FergusonGrowing up in Williamsport, Ohio is a blog by Marilyn Francis Ferguson which describes small town life in the 1940s and 1950s. Blog Categories
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