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So many of my memories are
tied to stories told to me by my
grandmothers - Mary Elizabeth McEwen Bridger
and Sybil Sarah Hickey Berry. While most
children weren't very interested in what
their grandparents had to say, I was
spellbound by their stories and, to this
day, have notes of these events. These have
proven invaluable in my genealogical
efforts. Both came from pioneer families and
I am still amazed at the wonderful things
they did and said "way back when".
My grandmother Sybil
would tell me about her father,
Lorenzo Dow Hickey, Jr. He was the
founder and first Chief of the
Jonesboro Fire Department. He served
in that position for nearly 30
years, I believe. They lived in the
family home at 811 Huntington,
which, by the way, still stands
today. She would recall that the
fire horses - Dewey and Prince - had
learned to ring the fire bell when
they were hungry. Apparently it was
about the same time every day when
this occurred, so she and her
brother, Harvey L. Hickey, would
have to "go through the woods" from
811 Huntington to the old fire
station at the corner of Church and
Washington to feed the horses. I
never completely understood how the
firefighters knew the difference
between a "real" fire bell and the
"horses" fire bell, but apparently
both the Hickey children and the
firefighters could tell the
difference.
My great-grandmother,
her mother Corinne Lane Hickey,
wasn't a particularly social woman.
"Gram" was very much in love with
her husband and he with her, but he
was the sociable one and she
preferred the kitchen and sewing to
being out in public. To my
grandmother, being the only
surviving daughter in the family,
fell the responsibility of going to
all the Oddfellows Lodge dances,
escorted by her father. I once wrote
her words to me about one of these
dances. "Papa was so handsome and
Mama had made me a new dress and she
had sewn into the hem of the dress a
loop where I could put my pinkie
finger and hold my dress high as
Papa would swirl me around the dance
floor. We had such fun that night."
I recall that she was about 10 years
old then - in about 1899.
What wonderful
memories our grandparents will leave
with us, if we will only listen!
Submitted by: Judy Furr
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