Growing Up in Hume, Missouri

Guy Calvin Scott and Cora Viola Main (my maternal grandparents) lived in Hume, Missouri both prior to and after they were married.  I am unsure when they moved away from Hume, however, I do know they lived in North Platte, Nebraska in 1958.  I had some general questions about growing up in Hume.  About a year ago, I had a chance to ask one of my living uncles some of those questions.

Me:  Do you remember how many acres of land you had?

Uncle:  We had 80 acres.

Me:  Did you remember what kind of livestock you had?

Uncle:  We had hogs, cows and chickens.

This discussion brought back other memories that my uncle shared with me so very few questions were asked after that.  The stories just started flowing, and I started writing.  When I refer to “my uncle” in the following stories, it is my living uncle who provided them.

My uncle said he rode a horse to school in the 1^st grade because they lived about 5 miles from the school.

My youngest uncle once traded a sick chicken for a bag of flour for his mom (Cora Viola Main).

My uncle would shoot rabbits because he could sell them for .25cents and a box of shells was .35cents, so if he shot two (2) rabbits, the extra money was “gravy”.

My uncle would trade a chicken for a bologna roll.

There was no running water in Hume.  They had a well that they would pump water from.  Their well would go dry every year, but would seep enough water at night to water the animals the next day.

Guy’s father (Thomas Green Scott, my great grandfather) would sit on the porch while the rest of the family tended to the farm.  My uncle said he had heard stories from him about how good he was at farming and how fast he could get things done, but never saw him help out any.  He was disappointed that when help was needed, Thomas would not pitch in and provide any.

One day, Thomas and my uncle were talking outside when a bird flying overhead decided to poop.  The poop fell straight into Thomas’ shirt pocket where he kept his chew.  Thomas calmly went inside the house, got a rifle, came outside and started shooting birds out the sky.  This story caused great laughter from both of us!

These are the type of family stories I enjoy listening to.  I can only hope that I am able to get more stories like this in the future.  I have no older family members on my paternal side still living, however, I am happy I am able to learn things like this from my maternal side of the family.