Virgil and Ann left Brindlee Mountain in 1911. They
crossed the Tennessee River on the Ferry at Whitesburg and moved their family
to West Huntsville that year.
2 A few days later, Virgil went to work in a cotton
mill. The work was hard, but the income was more reliable than the one he had
derived from farming his father’s land.
3 The Lowe Mill was an enormous brick building with
many windows, but all of that glass never seemed to make much of a difference
to the air inside of the factory. It was usually stiflingly hot and very humid
throughout the mill, but it was only one of several workplaces in the
Huntsville area with a similarly hellish environment.
4 In fact, the city was home to four large textile
factories. In addition to Lowe Mill, there was Merrimack (also in West
Huntsville) and the Dallas and Lincoln Mills on the other side of town.
5 “Were not going to make it on what I’m bringing
home,” Virgil stated flatly. He stared at the coffee cup sitting before him on
the kitchen table.
6 “The boys are going to have to go to work in the
mill.” “But they’re so young,” Ann pleaded. “And what about their schooling?”
“Do you want to eat?” Virgil persisted. “Besides, Mother, have you forgotten
that they worked in the fields back on the farm?”
7 Of course, he would have to lie about their ages.
They had to be 12 years old to work in the mill. On the affidavits he signed
that December, Virgil added three years to the age of each of his sons. Hayden,
the youngest, was only nine years old when he started to work there.
8 Sam and Henry worked as doffers, and Hayden started
out as a sweeper. Sweepers floated between the cavernous and noisy rooms of the
mill keeping the floors clean for the other workers.
9 Doffers had to have quick eyes, feet and hands. They
were expected to simultaneously tend to a long row of machines – each one with
thread being wrapped around a spool. When the bobbins filled up with thread,
they would remove them from the spinning frames and replace them with empty
ones. And, as the boys quickly learned, you didn’t want to get tangled up in
that thread.
10 As they walked through the big double doors at the
front of the factory, it seemed to the boys as if they were entering the gates
of hell itself. Dust and lint filled the air in which they worked. It was cold
in the winter and hot in the summer, but it was mostly the heat that they would
remember in later years.
11 Henry often imagined the foreman as sporting a tail
and pitchfork. The work was monotonous and often dangerous. Cuts and bruises
were not uncommon. And, at the end of it all, their father received all of
their money on payday.
12 “This shit isn’t fair,” Henry proclaimed. “I want
to go to school!” Hayden agreed. “We’ve got to do our part,” Sam halfheartedly
interjected. “What’s our part?” Henry shot back. “Ain’t it Mama and Daddy’s
part to provide for us?”
13 “You boys better get back to work in a hurry,” the
foreman bellowed. “You’re not getting paid to stand around and visit! You can
do that at home.”
14 “When do we have time to do that?” Henry grumbled
under his breath. “What was that?” The foreman asked.
15 “Am I goin to have to go get your daddy, boys?”
“No, Sir,” Sam quickly responded.
16 As they walked home that evening with their empty
lunch pails dangling at their sides, Sam couldn’t stop thinking about what his
brothers had said. Then, as they approached the house, he could see his little
sisters playing on the front porch and resentment welled up inside of him.
17 “They are allowed to be children, but we’re not,”
he thought. Sam, however, quickly suppressed the thought. He was ashamed. How
could he have begrudged those sweet little girls their playtime?
No comments:
Post a Comment