January 1956

January 1956

Note on 1^st page:  Permanent on Sept. 23^rd

She regularly got perms in her hair – don’t know what year this was, but she didn’t want to forget that appointment!

1956

January 1

Kenney and I went to SS [Sunday School] and church – Ira and Minnie had lunch with us.  Grace Farmer sent Black-eyed peas.

Note:  Nora Lee Hays, my grandmother, was married to Kenney Comstock.  Ira was his brother; Minnie was Nora’s sister.  Comstock brothers had married Hays sisters - Ira and Minnie had no children and helped raise my mother and her five brothers, then served as extra grandparents to me and my cousins. Grace Farmer lived across the back alley from Ira and Minnie and was actually a 3^rd cousin to Ira via the Wood family – did they know that?  They all attended church at Wood Memorial Christian Church in Van Buren.  Although I have Wood relatives in Crawford County, the church was named for a very different family, not my kin at all.

January 2

Paul watched football with us.  Baked chocolate pie and divided with Doc and Grace.  Had impressions made for my new teeth.

Paul Comstock, Kenney’s youngest brother.  Doc was Grace Farmer’s husband and a dentist.

January 3

Short session with my dentist.  Went to Minnie’s circle meeting No 1.  Had Christmas letter from Zeults.  Circle met at Mrs. Newman in Alma.  I drove car took Maude, Nora & Grace – mailed birthday package to Kay.  Two boxes of stationery.

Maude Redmond was Kenney’s sister and a widow.  She lived with their mother “Grandma Comstock” and took care of her for many years - Grandma lived to me 97.  Nora Rainwater was my grandfather’s oldest sister, widowed and living in Van Buren – he had both a sister and a wife named Nora.  My grandmother did not learn to drive until she was in her mid sixties - my grandfather had a stroke, so she took over the driving.  She was never what you call an accomplished driver, but she got the job done!   Kay is me – my birthday is January 4^th – her oldest grandchild, daughter of her only daughter JoEllen.

January 4

Double stamp day at Goffs.  Took Nora & Maude to shop.  Visit Grandma.  Ira and Minnie came by from choir practice and to watch TV.

Green stamps – everyone saved them to use to purchase premiums.

January 5

Sewed and washed – went to garden club at C. F. Byrns home.  Watch TV and picked pecans in evening.

Mammaw used a lot of pecans in her baking – there was a tree in their yard in Van Buren so there were always pecans to shell, or to “pick” as she always said.  She never sat without some sort of work to do with her hands.  She never "watched TV" without a task.

January 6

Had lunch with Ira & Minnie.  Pete & Beulah Little came and brought Bible 100 yrs old.  Letters from JoEllen and Jay.

JoEllen McKim – her only daughter, and son Jay who lived in San Francisco.

January 7

Pecan picking day and general routine house work and getting ready for Sunday

January 8

SS and church – Chaplain Eisenlauer preaced on “Paul’s Unanswered Prayer”  Wonderful.  Took Grandma to see Uncle Bob – Committee in evening - plan for installation for new minister Rev. Robert Brown.  Evening church service.

Uncle Bob Wood was Grandma’s brother.

January 9

Washing and ironing day.  Also shortened shirt sleeves for my short husband.

My grandfather – we called him ‘Kenney’ his given name because he didn’t think he was old enough to be a grandfather when I was born!  He was about 5’6” tall and sturdy.  Some of his business associates did indeed call him "Shorty" but he was very tall in my eyes.

January 10

All meeting of CWF at Church.  Food food and good program.  Susan Swinborn program on Indian Americans.

CWF - Christian Women's Fellowship.  Susan Stevenson Swinborn and her sister Doris West compiled the book “History in Headstones” listing all the cemeteries in Crawford County.  They were local historians and genealogists.

January 11

Got shampoo and set.  Saw shoe salesman and ordered two pr shoes.  Birthday party at Maude’s for Nora R. and myself.  Got clothes ready for trip to Little Rock.  Two day State Meeting United Council of Church Women.  Went with Mrs. Alfred Knox – spent weekend with McKims.

Mammaw had bunions and often special-ordered her shoes.  

January 12

State Meeting First Methodist church, Little Rock.  Spent night in home of Mrs. Joe Scott, N. Little Rock

January 13

Communion Service 8 a.m.  church women luncheon.  JoEllen & Kenny met me at church and we spent the weekend there.  Children sick with colds.

Children would have been my sisters – JoAnn would soon be 4 and Laurie a year old. - I was 16.  We lived in Little Rock then, although we moved back to Springdale in June of 1956.

January 14

Spent the day visiting.

January 15

Kay only one went to church.  She is 16 now and drives the car.  Had such a good visit with Joe, JoEllen and the girls.

First Christian Church in downtown Little Rock.

January 16

Kenney and I drove home from Little Rock just in time for supper

January 17

Attended circle meeting with Grace [Grace Farmer] – then to Edith Ensley for Circle 2 meeting – made plans for chili supper

January 18

Just a lazy day.  Big snow fell.  Ira and Minnie spent evening with us watching TV and picking pecans.

January 19

Had my last four teeth extracted and new set put in.  Slept on bufferin thro night.

January 20

Back to dentist for filing.  Got news of death of Darrell Ward.

January 21

Visited Florence Byars in Alma.  Darrell was her brother.  Later made plans for Woman’s Day.

Woman’s Day was an event at Wood Memorial Christian Church.

January 22

My!  Such snow and rain!  SS and church.  Aunt Em Comstock at Uniontown – Funeral 2 PM.  Paul sang “Beautiful Isle” & was Paulbearer.  Women’s Day service in evening.  George Hobbs little girl baptized – Beautiful candle service.  John Rownak sang “He”.

Emily Comstock, widow of Hardy “Tack” Comstock, my grandfather’s uncle, was the deceased.

January 23

Attended Darrell Ward funeral.  Letter from JoEllen saying JoAnn goes to Hospital to have tonsils and adenoids removed.

January 24

Lunch at First Methodist Church with Etta Hayman.  Money for polio drive.  Called JoEllen at night and got report JoAnn was home and doing fine.

January 25

Reg. household duties.  Washed and picked more pecans.  Doc took stitches out of my gums.

January 26

My 69^th birthday.  Went to Fayetteville.  Got permanent.  Visited Mabel D.  Last visit before she goes to Lebannon.  Went on to K.M’s – made pictures at night.

Mabel Delzell was married to Fred Delzell.  Kenney Comstock’s sister Edna was married to Lester Delzell – Fred’s brother.  The Delzells were backyard neighbors when we lived on College Avenue in Fayetteville.  Mabel and Fred had two daughters – Bobbie Jean, and Betty Ann who suffered from asthma.  Betty Ann was two years older than I was, but we spent a lot of time together growing up because I could play “quietly”.  Fred was the best dad, Mabel a very lenient mom who allowed us to jump on the beds, ride the back of the couch, etc., and I loved being with their family.

January 27

I stayed with LaVonne and children while Kenney went to Huntsville with K.M.  Made jelly for LaVonne.  Spent another night with them.  It was fun.

K. M. was named for Kenney, his dad & my grandfather, but always called by his initials in the family.  He wasn’t truly a “junior” as their middle names were different.  LaVonne Denny was his wife.  They were living in Springdale with children Kenney, Gary, and Mary Jane.

January 28

Went to McGuire town- had a visit with Rowley and Morgans.  Back to K.M.’s for lunch.  Spent two hrs with Letty and Cy on way back home.

McGuire town was near Elkins, outside of Fayetteville.  They had lived on a farm there before they moved back to Van Buren.  Letty was Kenney’s sister, married to Cy Carney of Fayetteville, Arkansas.

January 29

Sunday School & church.  P.M. - Doc and Grace came to watch “Wide, Wide World”  Supper at grandma’s & church at night.

January 30

Three of us went to Goddard Memorial church, Ft. Smith for luncheon and missionary study.

January 31

Chili supper at church – made soup and lemon pies.  Raised $80 on our Kitchen fund.

She mentions the Kitchen fund quite a bit in future entries – apparently they were raising money to pay off a debt incurred in modernizing the church kitchen.

Introduction - My Grandmother's Five Year Diary

My grandmother was Nora Lee Hays, born 26 Jan 1887, daughter of John Jefferson Hays and Philena Josephine “Josie” Allen.  She married Kenney Marcus Comstock, 12 Jan 1908, in Crawford County, Arkansas.  As the first grandchild, I called her “Mammaw” and the other grandchildren all used that name for her.  She died 16 Jul 1973, age 86, in Springdale, Washington County, Arkansas.  My grandparents are buried GraceLawn Cemetery in Van Buren, Crawford County, Arkansas, along with many members of their families.

In 1956, she was 69 years old.  I suspect someone gave her the Five Year Diary for Christmas of 1955.  As far as I know, this was the only journaling she ever did.  It is an amazing glimpse into five years of her life.  My grandparents were living in Van Buren two doors from her sister and his brother – my Aunt Minnie and Uncle Ira Comstock – when she began the diary They moved to Springdale to be near two of their children during the five years.  My granddad died soon after the move so part of the diary contains heartbreak.

My mother and I lived with my grandparents during the years of World War II.  After the war, my mother remarried and the new couple started a business in a nearby town.  My stepdad went to work for a company in Little Rock when I was fifteen, and we moved there for just about a year and a half.  We moved back from Little Rock in early June of 1956, the year Mammaw began the Diary – I had just finished my sophomore year in high school.  My sisters were tots - JoAnn was four, Laurie turned one in March.  The other grandchildren – my first cousins – were also young children.

The diary is difficult to read page by page so I have made a transcription in date order.  Notes of explanation in italics will be mine, as I am likely the only living person who knows the rest of the story in many instances.  Many of the people named were friends, or church members in Van Buren, that I did not know.

The easiest way to make this available to my cousins and family, as well as to others who are mentioned, was to post it in a Blog.  Month by month seemed to be the most reasonable order.  I plan to upload a chapter each week ..but that could change when life intervenes.

 Here is a picture of the cover:

And here is a sample of the inside and my grandmother's handwriting:  I believe I would recognize her hand anywhere!

On the inside front cover:

Kay’s silver – Reed & Barton – Pattern Tara

China Lenox – pattern Wyndcrest

Crystal Fostoria – Pat. Spray

I married in February of 1959 – these were the patterns I had picked out and I have the china, crystal, and silver now.

On the Flyleaf:

This is my Personal

Diary

Nora H. Comstock

721 Drennen

Van Buren, Ark.

If you find a connection to someone in the diary and can tell me more about them - I'd love to hear your story.  You can leave a comment - they are monitored so your comment will not appear immediately - or you can email me by going to my webpage noted in the "About Me" story on the right hand side.