BY EUZABfSTH ARCHER
Uaten to this, folks: “There is
something that is much more scarce,
something finer far, something rarer
than ability. It is the ability to
recognize ability.”
Now, I didn't write those words
myself. I wish I’d been that smart to
think them up because they are
indeed a profound truth. I thought
back to them when I met in Bunn a
few weeks ago one James McCoy
Smith, while visiting in the home of
his cousin, Ms. Estelle Jones Crudup.
I was smitted with the Joyous
friendliness of the total stranger, who
was also visiting, and was there when
I arrived., After a few minutes of
conversation, I knew that Mr. Smith
would be someone that you, too,
would like to meet so naturally I
started to ask him questions, being
the “nosy" person that I am. Born in
1917 to Harry and Rellabell Beacher
Smith, who then lived on “Dead”
Road, Smith said “I mean that was
one rough road! And we children had
to walk it, though, to get to
Gethsemane School, three miles
further down. I mean we had to walk
three miles both ways, up and back,
and when it rained, I mean we had
one muddy go," and we all laughed.
“But in those days,” he said,
“school was something worth going
to. I remember that every morning
we had to repeat 23rd Psalms before
class started. We had a three-room
school house, and at that time the
principal was Jonah Alston from
Youngsville. My. first teachers was
Ms. Lillian Thomas, but I forget the
names of the others. Consulting
cousin Estelle was no help.
“Well, I stayed home with my
parents and my brothers and sister
until I got married in 1939, and we
farmed. Papa’s only been dead about
19 years, but mama died years ago, in
11966.
“There were nine of us children,
but Garfield and Samuel are both
dead now. I was the fifth child. The
others are Patty Smith, Marvin,
Theodore, Ruth Shamele, Dorothy
Jones, Rachal Swimpson, Rebecca
Williams. When my wife, Patty, and I
got married, we just went to
Louisburg Courthouse, and we
farmed up until 1950, and I mean I’ve
worked everywhere, and have done
all kinds of jobs, had to because we
had 12 children to take care of. I’ve
worked in every town around here.
“You want me to give you the
names of the children?” he asked.
“Well, Stella, you'll have to help me.
Let’s see, there’s James Leonard,
BUly Ray. Ofiella Duntton, Earl
Thomas. William McCov. Ethel Lee
Smith, Milton Gray, (twins) Ronnie
and Donnie, Lorraine Smith, Louis
Edward, and Joyce Ann Hill.” For
the record, the names are not given
according to age.
“I started building houses a long
time ago. My first house was built for
Ms. Estelle Mullins. I built it out of
cinderblocks, all by myself. I had to
get up and down off the scaffold and
carry so many blocks way up high
and kept doing that until I had it
finished. I built half of a store for J.P.
Denton, painted several houses. In
1950 I was only getting 9125 an hour
for carpeting and painting.
“I worked as an auto mechanic for
Noel Medlin, and helped to move
houses for B.F. Lewis, of Pilot. He’s
got a grocery store there. He had a
house-moving crew, and I worked for
him. I remember one day, something
funny happened. I had rode on top of a
house on 96 from Wake Forest, down
98, and I got tired of sitting on top of
that house, so I went down through
the chimney hole, and simply walked
from the upstairs down the steps, and
that thing tickled the fool out of the
other workers. They was just shocked
when they saw me walking down the
steps. They laughed aplenty, I mean.
Then I was only about 40 years old,
but now I’m 74 and can’t do all of that
crazy stuff, no sir I can't.
“If you want to come to my house
you can come right across from the
Dunn Prison Camp. There’s six
houses altogether, and all of us are
family. My house will be the last one
on the left, by the prison. I’m home
with my wife most of the time now,
me and my youngest daughter
Lorraine. My wife started getting
sick several years ago. She just
started forgetting things. I ask her to
go inside the house to bring me
something, and nine times out of 10,
you can bet, she’d forget what she'd
gone for.
“I don’t know what happened to
her, it just started all of a sudden. She
sure has been a good wife and mother
to our 12 children, so now, I don’t find
it hard to stay home and take care of
her. I’m just happy that at least
Lorraine is still there with us.”
I was glad that James McCoy
Smith was there on that day. He
helped to strengthen my thoughts
that “Men are often capable of
greater things than they perform.
They are sent into the world with bills
of credit, and seldom draw to their
full extent.”
I’ll make it a point to look you up
one of these days, Mr. Smith. After
all, the Bunn Prison Camp shouldn’t
be hard to find.
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