My Life by Vernon Mall

   Maureen suggested I blog some of Vern's stories.  He wrote these the year before he died.  The words are his.

                            School Years In Marshfield, Missouri
                                 A narrative of my life from age 10 to 17
                                                                            by
                                                                   Vernon Mall  
                                               7-10-2007    

                                                   
                                                                        Forward
     I write this narrative so that present and future generations will have some insight into the past, their heritage and their ancestry.  The dates and places are correct and when exact dates are not known, approximate times have been recorded.  Many of the photographs, artifacts and documents were destroyed when Mary Lorene Mall Young's house in Springfield Mo. burned to the ground.  The few that I have will be shared in this document and in documents yet to be made.  Where hyperlinks are used, it is probably a good idea to use them as you see them.

     When I was 10 years old, in the fall of 1944, and I was in 6th grade, we sold our house at 3705 Lust Drive in Kansas City Kansas and moved to a farm about 6 miles Northwest of Marshfield, Missouri.  Mom and Dad had purchased this farm of 107 acres a few years earlier.

    The buildings from left to right are:  The house, the smoke house with a cellar underneath, chicken house, privy (not pictured, you know a house with a path), machine shed (was built in the 1960s), barn, and well house.  When we moved to this farm the smoke house was just left of the well house.  We needed a fruit and storm cellar, so Dad, Elmer and I hand dug the hole, Dad laid up the rock walls, and we poured a concrete slab for the roof of the cellar.  The gravel for this slab came from Greer creek and was hauled by horse and wagon to the construction site.  We then dismantled the old smoke house and used that material to build the new smoke house.  Notice the 2 Adirondack chairs.  Dad built them from lumber derived from trees off the farm.  Also notice the garden is planted on an angle.  This is because the ground is sloped and this angle helps prevent erosion.  On the right end of the garden, Dad planted grapes.  If you ever notice, Italians cannot have a piece of land without having a vineyard.  Not so much for the grape jelly but for the wine!  At the top of the garden notice the small square.  This was Dad's 'hot bed' and he started all of his garden plants from seed.

    This picture of Anthony and Clara (Dad and Mom), was taken in the front yard at  the farm.  I don't know exactly when but I think in the 1960s.
     If you go to Google Maps, search for Marshfield, Missouri, follow 'W' northwest to 'CR632' follow this road west and then northwest, then just before you get to the 2 quick turns in the road, the Mall farm will be on your right or east side of CR632.
   
    These were hard times for Mom.  She moved from a 5 room 'modern' house to a 7 room, 2 story, old farm house.  No running water, no septic system, no electricity, no phone, it did have a wood cook stove and a wood heating stove and of course the 'path' to the outhouse.  On top of that, when the tires wore out on the 1932  Chevrolet, we used the team of horses and the wagon to travel to town.  Tires were not available at any price because of World War II.  We were without auto transportation for about a year.
     When we moved to the farm, Dad was 54 years old, Mom was 45 years old, my sister Mary Lorene was a senior in high school, and Elmer was a sophomore in high school.  If I remember correctly, Mary Lorene and Elmer moved down early so they could start school in September.  I think Mom, Dad and I came in October.