My dad was Henry Hodges. He was a farm boy born in Indiana, He was born somewhere in or around Morgantown, Indiana. I'm not sure about that. I know that he was raised on a farm just west of Paragon Indiana. The last time I went by there,his old home place was still there, and in living condition.
He told me stories of going to the river bottoms where his dad had a farm and of picking corn by hand. He spoke of throwing the ears of pulled corn in to a horse drawn wagon where they would be taken to a corn crib and stock piled for the farm animals. I remember he said there was a tall side board on one side of the wagon. It was made that way so that when you threw the corn in to the wagon the board would act as a stop. This would keep the corn from sailing right on over the old wagon and being wasted on the ground. It's no wonder Hoosiers like their basketball. They've been using backboards for a long time.
He told of how some man would bring them ice to put in their ice box to keep the food from spoiling. This man had a set of big ice tongs that he would grab a big block of ice with and sling it over his shoulder. He also had a piece of leather draped over one shoulder and that is where he would carry a big block of ice. Pop was born before refrigerators, but not before radios. He never did talk much about listening to the radio, as I have other old timers do. Pop never was much on the entertainment world. He did seem to enjoy reading stories of actual events in history. He was especially taken by the early settlers and Indians. He read a book about the mistreatment of the Indian and I could tell it deeply disturbed him. I remember him saying how man should never treat another man as the white man did the Indians. Which was unusual about pop as he didn't normally dabble in such politically charged things. He liked to mind his own buisness.
He would tell me of stories of how he and a few friends of his about his age would travel about the river bottoms of the White River below Whitaker Indiana. One friend in particualr he spent a lot of time with was a boy named Junior Warthing. He and Junior did a lot of squirel hunting and fishing along the banks of the great White River. It all sounded very much like Tom and Huck running around the country and river bottoms. I remember he would tell a story about of how they once built a little raft and would fish the White River. How one night he and Junior were fishing and one of them accidently knocked a latern off in to the water. He said you could see it burning for a little while as it sank beneath the cloudy murk. Of course they were out on the river in the dark, and I'm sure a little scared. :) But having fun... It was time of innocence and fun. I wished I could have been there as those are the things I would enjoy doing.
I've got to remember to take Nyle fishing and camping... If he will like that kind of thing.
I'll write more about pop as time goes on and as memory serves me.
This much I do recall and know.
He was a good man.
