Uncle Jody—James Woodrow Segrest, Sr—was Daddy’s youngest brother. In 1942, he bought the place up on the big road, across the road from the mailbox where Segrest Lane comes into the big road. It was a hundred acres in all, with 60 acres north of the road—except for a little corner of the sixty that was south of the road because of a curve in the road—and 40 acres south of the road. His wife, like my Mama, was named Ella. The children of all other aunts and uncles had two Aunt Ella’s.
Uncle Jody and Aunt Ella had 4 children. James, Fay, Roy, and Betty Jean. James was born in 1941, before Uncle Jody bought the farm and built the house and barn. After buying the place, Uncle Jody built the barn before he built the house. They lived in the barn while the house was being built. Fay was actually born in the barn. Roy was born in the house, and Betty Jean after they moved away from that place.
James was my favorite playmate. He was a year older than me. We frequently “spent the night” with each other. Our friendship continued for his lifetime, and I will likely write more about him and our relationships as we moved through our lives. There were lots of stories, and I can’t tell them all!
I suspect that I know that Uncle Jody financed the purchase of the place through the Federal Land Bank. But in 1946, probably under financial pressure, Uncle Jody and Aunt Ella sold the place to Uncle R.V.’s son Ralph, when Ralph returned from military service in World War II. They moved away, and were located at several different residences after that. They remained in the community until after James completed high school, but moved to Montgomery sometimes early in the 1960’s.
Ralph, and his wife, June lived in the house that Uncle Jody Built for two or three years, but by 1950, they had moved elsewhere, and we moved there when we left the Little House. After leasing the place for a couple of years, we moved for a year to the Carr Place, adjacent to Bradford’s Chapel. Then we moved back to the house that Uncle Jody built, and Mama and Daddy bought the 100 acres that uncle Jody had owned. I lived there until I started college, and it was actually my home until Betty and I married in 1964. The place has been in our family from the time that Mama and Daddy bought it in the 1950’s.
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