The James T. Callow Folklore Archive

MY MATERNAL GREAT GRANDPARENTS DIED OF TYPHOID FEVER WHEN MY
GRANDMOTHER WAS FIVE YEARS OLD. THERE WERE SEVEN CHILDREN LEFT,
AND THEY WERE GIVEN TO VARIOUS RELATIVES AND ACQUAINTANCES.
MY GRANDMOTHER AND HER BROTHER, BOB, WERE TAKEN BY AN OSBORN
FAMILY IN FLOYD COUNTY, KENTUCKY. THE OSBORNS DECIDED TO
MOVE TO TEXAS, SO THEY TOOK MY GRANDMOTHER AND BOB WITH THEM.
THEY DIDN'T LIKE TEXAS ONCE THEY GOT THERE, SO THE OSBORNS
AND MY GRANDMOTHER RETURNED TO KENTUCKY. MR. OSBORN OWED A
MERCHANT A DEBT, SO HE LEFT BOB (THE REST OF THEM SLIPPED
OFF) TO WORK OFF THE DEBT. BOB WAS ABOUT THIRTEEN AT THE
TIME.
YEARS WENT BY AND MY GRANDMOTHER HAD MARRIED AND HAD THREE
CHILDREN. SHE AND MY GRANDFATHER LIVED AT THE FOOT OF THE
NANCY P. HILL, WHICH IS JUST BELOW PRESTONBURG, KENTUCKY.
MY GRANDMOTHER WAS SITTING IN THE YARD WITH A NEIGHBOR
AND THEY COULD SEE A GREAT DISTANCE DOWN THE ROAD. A MAN
RIDING A HORSE APPEARED DOWN THE ROAD. MY GRANDMOTHER
SAID TO THE NEIGHBOR, "THAT'S MY BROTHER, BOB." SURE
ENOUGH, IT WAS. HE HAD GROWN UP AND MARRIED AND HAD THREE
CHILDREN. HIS WIFE HAD DIED AND HE DECIDED TO RETURN TO
EASTERN KENTUCKY. HE BOUGHT A FARM ON BRANDY KEG AND
SPENT THE REST OF HIS LIFE THERE. I DOUBT IF HE EVER LEFT
FLOYD COUNTY AGAIN.
MY GRANDMOTHER TOLD THIS TALE MANY TIMES. SHE ALSO CLAIMED
TO KNOW WHEN ANY TYPE OF DISASTER WAS ABOUT TO STRIKE HER
FAMILY.

Where learned: KENTUCKY ; ASHLAND

Date learned: NOT GIVEN