Jerry and Linda Butler

The Lancaster Descendants, Patricia Ann Maners, July 4, 1991

Geneva remembers when she would go to her grandmother's to spend the night. She would usually get Kathleen to stay with her. After they would eat supper, they would play some games, then they would pop some corn over the fire. Sometimes they would watch Mama Lancaster use her spinning wheel to make thread to knit different things. When they went to bed, Mama Lancaster would tell them stories. She would tell one about the old red fox. He liked to get in the chicken house to catch a chicken to eat. Another one was little red riding hood and the big bad wolf. When she got tired and sleepy she would tell some scary ones and we would cover our head and ears up and would soon be asleep.

Mama Lancaster had several ducks and they would go down to the branch not too far from the house and lay eggs in the water. We would find them and bring them to the house for her. She would also take us fishing. We would to to the creek and walk a long way but we really did enjoy it.

In the fall when the persimmons got ripe, Mama Lancaster would carry J. L., Kenneth, Kathleen, creed and me opossum hunting. She would always carry a cane with her and the dog "Shep". She knew where there was several persimmon trees in the pasture and woods not too far from the house. We would carry a toe-sack with us hunting. When old Shep would start to bark she would say "He has one up a tree." We all would go to the dog and sure enough he would have one treed. Sometimes one of the boys would climb the small tree and shake the opossum out and the dog was waiting for it on the ground. It eh t opossum was in a hole or hollow log she would twist it out with the cane she had. It would take a while sometimes but she would always get it out. The boys was always ready to put him in the sack. The next day she would have sweet potatoes and opossum.

Papa Lancaster was a peddler, groceries, chicken eggs, candy, tobacco, etc. Sometimes he would come by our house in the peddling wagon. I would listen for him coming, then I would run and meet him. He would stop the wagon then I would get in and ride the house with him. The song we would sing was "Sweet Ole Liza Jane". I really did enjoy sitting in the spring seat with him and riding in the wagon.

When it would come time to shear the sheep us kids that were big enough had to help shear and some help hold the sheep for the older ones to shear them. Mama Lancaster washed and dyed the wool mittens for us kids.

There is much more I could write about, of the things Mama Lancaster would do with us. I love the memories of visiting her and Papa Lancaster, and I thanked the Lord for Grandparents like the. The things they taught us would help us in our life today.