Amos  & Lena (Whitaker)

Story From Shirley (Larlee) Allard, Granddaughter 1977

"As a children I remember Amos whom we called Pappy as a doting grandfather.  He always had a bag of salted peanuts In his jacket pocket and when he went to work the bag was left on the bureau of his room so that the little granddaughters could steal Into his room and quietly grab a fistful.  No peanuts have ever tasted so delicious!  Amos was a very quiet man, never talking very much and seldom about the family.  Nana (Lena) and Pappy lived just around the corner from us In Conway.  Mom (Alvena) and Dad (Don Sr.) lived with them when they first married and when they bought their home, they move their household belonging In on a wheelbarrow.  They had only a stove, table, chairs and bed and 50 printed feed sacks from which mom made curtains and other necessities.  When dad made a window screen (his first attempt at anything like that) he was so proud of the results that he proudly showed It off to all the neighbors.  

For several years Nana (a practice nurse) operated a maternity home.  Betty Lou was born there and I remember that I had a tantrum In my mother's room because I wasn't getting the attention I was accustomed to receiving.  Pappy worked In a lumber  mill nearby and after women started going to he hospital for their babies, Nana did nursing home In their house.  All of the patients were sate wards, and she did and admirable job of providing them with home care.  She continued with this nursing home until her death.

One of her patients to survive her was her mother.  Nana could turn her hand to making money.  She had a natural talent for the stock market, and, for a women with practically no education (maybe 4th grade), gathering a sizable estate, nearly all of which was spent in making her last year of nearly consent hospitalization comfortable.

LENA HAD A CHILD PRIOR TO MEETING AMOS

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CHILDREN WITH AMOS

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