1923 - Old Man White

Frank about 1923

Written by Kathleen Dalton Woodbury as told to her by Alice Beth Brasher Dalton. This story was repeated to me several times by Frank [Brasher].  The last time was the Friday before he left for Kansas City.

It was December 1923.  Mace was 14, Helen 12, Frank 9, Bertha 5 and Burton 2.  About a week before Christmas, when Dad and Mother went into Delta to buy groceries for the family, a tramp (probably in his thirties or forties) approached them asking for work.  He wanted money to buy medicine for his hand which he'd wounded quite badly.  When Dad took hold of the hand, he could tell the man had a high fever, so he bought the medicine for him. 

They finished their shopping then took the man (a Mr. White) with them and went home.  Dad dressed the injured hand, helped the man bathe and get into bed while Mother fixed him something to eat.  For a couple of days they took care of him.

The next day, while Dad was at work on the house he was building, he slipped, fell from the scaffold, and broke his arm, leg and hip.  They called the three oldest children out of school and told them what had happened.  Then they hurried them to the train depot to see Mother and say good-bye to Dad.  Dad was all wrapped up, lying in a bed and a chair was fixed so Mother could sit next to him.  Frank said he thought they were in a box car or a freight car.  The children said good-bye to their parents afraid their Dad might not come home alive.

 Mr. White stayed on to help run the farm and look after things.  He moved out into the root cellar where he had a small stove and a pot of coffee.  He didn't want anyone to talk because of the young girls inside the house.  Aunt Eda's Mother's sister and the neighbors helped with Christmas.  They also helped take care of the younger children until Mother could leave Dad and return home. 

Dad was in the LDS hospital for several months. Old Man White stayed around and helped do the chores that needed to be done.  He did this without pay in spite of the fact that several of the farmers in the area offered him good money if he would come and work for them.   He remained faithful to the Brasher family because of the kindness shown to him by both Mother and Dad.  Frank said once in a while Mother would slip him a quarter or a dollar so he could buy coffee or tobacco, but he wouldn't take any other pay. He stayed until Dad was home and could take care of things himself. 

Then one morning in late spring, he told them all that he was leaving.  Dad tried to talk him into staying, but he said he had to be on his way. The children cried as he started down the road.  Frank said they looked away for an instant, and when they looked back, Old Man White had disappeared.  They never heard from him again.