Citing Information from this Memorial:
If you copy information or photo(s) from this memorial, please cite all source(s) appropriately.
Thank you,
Rebecca Reuben Dyer. (#47251670)
Namesake of Lucinda Ramsey Turner, paternal aunt, and Harriett E. Stanley Ramsey, paternal grandmother.
Daughter of Peyton Morgan Ramsey & Sarah Emmaline Pearson.
MIDWIFE For Most Babies in Area
SOURCE: Star-Tribune, Chatham, VA, Thu, Feb 27, 1986, p16, Letters to the Editor: I Remember Well 50 Yrs Ago
Dear Mr. Moses:
Your news items of 50 years ago reprinted, and your reminiscing of times and conditions back then set me to thinking back!! Though we lived in neighboring Franklin County, 50 miles west of Chatham, I remember Feb 1936 very well.
Feb 10, 1936, was a very cold, very disagreeable, windy, snow-blowing-in-your-face kind of day, with 10 to 12 inches of newly fallen snow. My Dad [Joseph Leonard Ramsey] had fashioned a little snow-plow, hitched it to an old mule and dragged out a path for my siblings and I to walk the mile to meet the school bus.
Under protest, we were urged to get out and go--we didn't miss school much because of weather back then. But lo! We got to the bus stop, we waited and waited. No bus! We trudged back home, half frozen and found that schools had closed and we had not received the word in time.
We were so miserable and tired, we had to stay in the warmest room for at least a while. We also found things at home had changed drastically while we were gone.
Mama [Bessie Young Ramsey] had taken her bed in the next room. Aunt Winnie, her sister-in-law [Winnie Lovell Young] and very closest friend, was there bustling about. Also, cousin Lucinda [Ramsey Dyer], the neighborhood midwife, with her dark, long skirted black outfit, black bonnet and little black bag was with Mama.
Cousin Lucinda always seemed so somber, I wondered if she'd ever worn anything bright and colorful, or ever really been a young, pretty, or happy person in her whole life.
My sister and I could imagine she had other strange and mysterious things hidden in the folds of those full skirts and aprons and in the black bag besides little babies.
But all went well, thankfully, and within a few hours, my healthy, very normal baby brother [John Kenneth Ramsey] was delivered, the very nearest we had ever been to the birth of a baby; though Cousin Lucinda had been there on three other occasions for that very purpose.
Mama later reassured us that Cousin Lucinda was most capable. She had had a medical doctor for her first deliveries. In fact, a Dr. Dillard, of Henry, VA, had delivered me [Mary Ramsy Frith]. However, Dr. Dillard had not been available when the next baby was due, so Papa had rushed to get Cousin Lucinda.
My sister, Cindy, was delivered with so much less anxiety and ease that Mama had purposely requested Cousin Lucinda's presence for all the four later ones.
Note: Cindy was named in honor of our cousin, Lucinda Ramsey Dyer, a well-known midwife in southern Franklin County for many years. Cindy is now Mrs. Eugene Swanson and lives at Callands.
Yes, we've come a long way since 1936, medicine-wise, especially. And, for sure, prenatal care has changed and improved. But we were a fortunate, well cared for, happy family. Even though we had hard-ships and near poverty at times, we hardly realized it then.
I guess we could identify closely to the family togetherness and mountainous conditions experienced in "The Waltons." We had just gotten electricity in our home in the mid-30s, we had poor radio and telephone reception at times. But it wasn't all bad.
We can look back on the brighter things, and the humorous or happier times, and appreciate the hardships as mere stepping stones to a better way of life.
Mary R. Frith, Rt 5, Chatham, VA
If you copy information or photo(s) from this memorial, please cite all source(s) appropriately.
Thank you,
Rebecca Reuben Dyer. (#47251670)
Namesake of Lucinda Ramsey Turner, paternal aunt, and Harriett E. Stanley Ramsey, paternal grandmother.
Daughter of Peyton Morgan Ramsey & Sarah Emmaline Pearson.
MIDWIFE For Most Babies in Area
SOURCE: Star-Tribune, Chatham, VA, Thu, Feb 27, 1986, p16, Letters to the Editor: I Remember Well 50 Yrs Ago
Dear Mr. Moses:
Your news items of 50 years ago reprinted, and your reminiscing of times and conditions back then set me to thinking back!! Though we lived in neighboring Franklin County, 50 miles west of Chatham, I remember Feb 1936 very well.
Feb 10, 1936, was a very cold, very disagreeable, windy, snow-blowing-in-your-face kind of day, with 10 to 12 inches of newly fallen snow. My Dad [Joseph Leonard Ramsey] had fashioned a little snow-plow, hitched it to an old mule and dragged out a path for my siblings and I to walk the mile to meet the school bus.
Under protest, we were urged to get out and go--we didn't miss school much because of weather back then. But lo! We got to the bus stop, we waited and waited. No bus! We trudged back home, half frozen and found that schools had closed and we had not received the word in time.
We were so miserable and tired, we had to stay in the warmest room for at least a while. We also found things at home had changed drastically while we were gone.
Mama [Bessie Young Ramsey] had taken her bed in the next room. Aunt Winnie, her sister-in-law [Winnie Lovell Young] and very closest friend, was there bustling about. Also, cousin Lucinda [Ramsey Dyer], the neighborhood midwife, with her dark, long skirted black outfit, black bonnet and little black bag was with Mama.
Cousin Lucinda always seemed so somber, I wondered if she'd ever worn anything bright and colorful, or ever really been a young, pretty, or happy person in her whole life.
My sister and I could imagine she had other strange and mysterious things hidden in the folds of those full skirts and aprons and in the black bag besides little babies.
But all went well, thankfully, and within a few hours, my healthy, very normal baby brother [John Kenneth Ramsey] was delivered, the very nearest we had ever been to the birth of a baby; though Cousin Lucinda had been there on three other occasions for that very purpose.
Mama later reassured us that Cousin Lucinda was most capable. She had had a medical doctor for her first deliveries. In fact, a Dr. Dillard, of Henry, VA, had delivered me [Mary Ramsy Frith]. However, Dr. Dillard had not been available when the next baby was due, so Papa had rushed to get Cousin Lucinda.
My sister, Cindy, was delivered with so much less anxiety and ease that Mama had purposely requested Cousin Lucinda's presence for all the four later ones.
Note: Cindy was named in honor of our cousin, Lucinda Ramsey Dyer, a well-known midwife in southern Franklin County for many years. Cindy is now Mrs. Eugene Swanson and lives at Callands.
Yes, we've come a long way since 1936, medicine-wise, especially. And, for sure, prenatal care has changed and improved. But we were a fortunate, well cared for, happy family. Even though we had hard-ships and near poverty at times, we hardly realized it then.
I guess we could identify closely to the family togetherness and mountainous conditions experienced in "The Waltons." We had just gotten electricity in our home in the mid-30s, we had poor radio and telephone reception at times. But it wasn't all bad.
We can look back on the brighter things, and the humorous or happier times, and appreciate the hardships as mere stepping stones to a better way of life.
Mary R. Frith, Rt 5, Chatham, VA
Citing Information from this Memorial:
If you copy information or photo(s) from this memorial, please cite all source(s) appropriately.
Thank you,
Rebecca Reuben Dyer. (#47251670)
Namesake of Lucinda Ramsey Turner, paternal aunt, and Harriett E. Stanley Ramsey, paternal grandmother.
Daughter of Peyton Morgan Ramsey & Sarah Emmaline Pearson.
MIDWIFE For Most Babies in Area
SOURCE: Star-Tribune, Chatham, VA, Thu, Feb 27, 1986, p16, Letters to the Editor: I Remember Well 50 Yrs Ago
Dear Mr. Moses:
Your news items of 50 years ago reprinted, and your reminiscing of times and conditions back then set me to thinking back!! Though we lived in neighboring Franklin County, 50 miles west of Chatham, I remember Feb 1936 very well.
Feb 10, 1936, was a very cold, very disagreeable, windy, snow-blowing-in-your-face kind of day, with 10 to 12 inches of newly fallen snow. My Dad [Joseph Leonard Ramsey] had fashioned a little snow-plow, hitched it to an old mule and dragged out a path for my siblings and I to walk the mile to meet the school bus.
Under protest, we were urged to get out and go--we didn't miss school much because of weather back then. But lo! We got to the bus stop, we waited and waited. No bus! We trudged back home, half frozen and found that schools had closed and we had not received the word in time.
We were so miserable and tired, we had to stay in the warmest room for at least a while. We also found things at home had changed drastically while we were gone.
Mama [Bessie Young Ramsey] had taken her bed in the next room. Aunt Winnie, her sister-in-law [Winnie Lovell Young] and very closest friend, was there bustling about. Also, cousin Lucinda [Ramsey Dyer], the neighborhood midwife, with her dark, long skirted black outfit, black bonnet and little black bag was with Mama.
Cousin Lucinda always seemed so somber, I wondered if she'd ever worn anything bright and colorful, or ever really been a young, pretty, or happy person in her whole life.
My sister and I could imagine she had other strange and mysterious things hidden in the folds of those full skirts and aprons and in the black bag besides little babies.
But all went well, thankfully, and within a few hours, my healthy, very normal baby brother [John Kenneth Ramsey] was delivered, the very nearest we had ever been to the birth of a baby; though Cousin Lucinda had been there on three other occasions for that very purpose.
Mama later reassured us that Cousin Lucinda was most capable. She had had a medical doctor for her first deliveries. In fact, a Dr. Dillard, of Henry, VA, had delivered me [Mary Ramsy Frith]. However, Dr. Dillard had not been available when the next baby was due, so Papa had rushed to get Cousin Lucinda.
My sister, Cindy, was delivered with so much less anxiety and ease that Mama had purposely requested Cousin Lucinda's presence for all the four later ones.
Note: Cindy was named in honor of our cousin, Lucinda Ramsey Dyer, a well-known midwife in southern Franklin County for many years. Cindy is now Mrs. Eugene Swanson and lives at Callands.
Yes, we've come a long way since 1936, medicine-wise, especially. And, for sure, prenatal care has changed and improved. But we were a fortunate, well cared for, happy family. Even though we had hard-ships and near poverty at times, we hardly realized it then.
I guess we could identify closely to the family togetherness and mountainous conditions experienced in "The Waltons." We had just gotten electricity in our home in the mid-30s, we had poor radio and telephone reception at times. But it wasn't all bad.
We can look back on the brighter things, and the humorous or happier times, and appreciate the hardships as mere stepping stones to a better way of life.
Mary R. Frith, Rt 5, Chatham, VA
If you copy information or photo(s) from this memorial, please cite all source(s) appropriately.
Thank you,
Rebecca Reuben Dyer. (#47251670)
Namesake of Lucinda Ramsey Turner, paternal aunt, and Harriett E. Stanley Ramsey, paternal grandmother.
Daughter of Peyton Morgan Ramsey & Sarah Emmaline Pearson.
MIDWIFE For Most Babies in Area
SOURCE: Star-Tribune, Chatham, VA, Thu, Feb 27, 1986, p16, Letters to the Editor: I Remember Well 50 Yrs Ago
Dear Mr. Moses:
Your news items of 50 years ago reprinted, and your reminiscing of times and conditions back then set me to thinking back!! Though we lived in neighboring Franklin County, 50 miles west of Chatham, I remember Feb 1936 very well.
Feb 10, 1936, was a very cold, very disagreeable, windy, snow-blowing-in-your-face kind of day, with 10 to 12 inches of newly fallen snow. My Dad [Joseph Leonard Ramsey] had fashioned a little snow-plow, hitched it to an old mule and dragged out a path for my siblings and I to walk the mile to meet the school bus.
Under protest, we were urged to get out and go--we didn't miss school much because of weather back then. But lo! We got to the bus stop, we waited and waited. No bus! We trudged back home, half frozen and found that schools had closed and we had not received the word in time.
We were so miserable and tired, we had to stay in the warmest room for at least a while. We also found things at home had changed drastically while we were gone.
Mama [Bessie Young Ramsey] had taken her bed in the next room. Aunt Winnie, her sister-in-law [Winnie Lovell Young] and very closest friend, was there bustling about. Also, cousin Lucinda [Ramsey Dyer], the neighborhood midwife, with her dark, long skirted black outfit, black bonnet and little black bag was with Mama.
Cousin Lucinda always seemed so somber, I wondered if she'd ever worn anything bright and colorful, or ever really been a young, pretty, or happy person in her whole life.
My sister and I could imagine she had other strange and mysterious things hidden in the folds of those full skirts and aprons and in the black bag besides little babies.
But all went well, thankfully, and within a few hours, my healthy, very normal baby brother [John Kenneth Ramsey] was delivered, the very nearest we had ever been to the birth of a baby; though Cousin Lucinda had been there on three other occasions for that very purpose.
Mama later reassured us that Cousin Lucinda was most capable. She had had a medical doctor for her first deliveries. In fact, a Dr. Dillard, of Henry, VA, had delivered me [Mary Ramsy Frith]. However, Dr. Dillard had not been available when the next baby was due, so Papa had rushed to get Cousin Lucinda.
My sister, Cindy, was delivered with so much less anxiety and ease that Mama had purposely requested Cousin Lucinda's presence for all the four later ones.
Note: Cindy was named in honor of our cousin, Lucinda Ramsey Dyer, a well-known midwife in southern Franklin County for many years. Cindy is now Mrs. Eugene Swanson and lives at Callands.
Yes, we've come a long way since 1936, medicine-wise, especially. And, for sure, prenatal care has changed and improved. But we were a fortunate, well cared for, happy family. Even though we had hard-ships and near poverty at times, we hardly realized it then.
I guess we could identify closely to the family togetherness and mountainous conditions experienced in "The Waltons." We had just gotten electricity in our home in the mid-30s, we had poor radio and telephone reception at times. But it wasn't all bad.
We can look back on the brighter things, and the humorous or happier times, and appreciate the hardships as mere stepping stones to a better way of life.
Mary R. Frith, Rt 5, Chatham, VA
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