Sometimes life is sad...

 On October 26, 1956, a Friday afternoon, I had a small son. I started losing my water so Dr.

Crow put me in the hospital, but it didn’t help. He lived only an hour and

weighed about three pounds. Back then there wasn’t much that could be done

for premature babies. It is amazing today what is being done for them and how

many lives are saved. We named him Stephen Anthony and Gene had a funeral

for him. Mama came to stay with me for a week. Mama was always there

when we needed her. Daddy would bring her and then come back for her. We

were sad but we did have Deborah and Timmy. 

Of course,  I did not go back to work at this time.  

Pictured below :  many years later, my family added this monument to his grave site at the Thompson Chapel Cemetery. (990 Thompson Chapel Road, Spartanburg, SC)  

The back side has the death notice engraved from the 

Spartanburg Herald-Journal,  Oct. 27, 1956. 

Life with Timothy, our second child

 On October 21st, 1955 we had a son at the Crow Clinic. He was just as

precious and sweet as our little girl. He weighed 7 pounds and 5 ounces. The

same nurse that was with me when Deborah was born was still at Dr. Crows.

Timmy at 5 months 

 

She was so sweet and really took good care of me. Her name was Mrs. Guyton.

We named our son, Homer Timothy, after his dad. I knew that he would never like that first name.

Timmy had a nickname and it was “Butterball”. He was a happy and jolly little boy. I nursed him for 

awhile and then went back to work. 

Timmy and Martha 1956

I had not been working long when I got pregnant again. In the meantime, Deborah had taken pneumonia and also the measles. Dr. Stack put her in the hospital. She was about three years old at this time. She was in quarantine and Gene stayed in the daytime and I stayed at night. Mama and daddy came and got Timmy and took care of him for a week. Mama said that he was good while they kept him.

The doctor did a tracheotomy to save Deborah’s life because she could not

get enough oxygen to breath. The doctor said that it would not leave a scar, but it

did. I think that she has always been embarrassed of this scar, but we would not

have her today if it had not have been done. But she still wasn’t rid of her cough

and sometimes we thought it was the whooping cough. A little later we had her

tonsils removed.

Deborah Jean  OCT 1956 

Life in Cowpens attending Central Baptist Church

 In 1954, Gene fell in the Clifton mill and hurt his back, He was in the

hospital for several days but never did have surgery. 

(Note: This would cause many back issues throughout the rest of his life -Tim )

CENTRAL BAPTIST IN COWPENS, OLD AUD (R)

At Central Baptist Church, where we attended, I had been playing the

piano for a long time. So after Deborah came along two of the teenage girls,

Sandra Vess and Patsy Green took care of her so I could play. Mrs. Shepherd

tended to her part of the time. Sometimes Gene would hold her while we sang.

When she was two and a half, I went to work at Burton Mfg. at Spartanburg and

I paid Mrs. Franklin 2.00 a day to tend to her. But I did not get to work too long.

I became pregnant. In the meantime we moved to Cowpens on the mill hill. We

had a house by ourselves.

A little bit about my mother and father

John Sherman & Ethel Mae Rice 1960

 

I don’t think I have mentioned my Mama’s name. She was such a precious, caring person. She loved the church and did everything she could to help the church to grow.   I have always hoped to be like her. Her name was Ethel Mae Allen Rice.

 My dad’s name was Reverend John Sherman Rice and he preached many years in the mountains and in South Carolina.  I was so proud of him. 

Mama had someone make many pretty dresses for Deborah. She did other things for us too.

Life with Deborah, our first child

 

Tim (1) and Deborah (3)

When my first baby was eleven months old, I quit nursing her. Deborah would cry to nurse, but I would let her use a cup with a top on it. I would almost give in because I had so much milk, but we finally won the battle and she did real well.  She learned to do many things at an early age and we would brag on her. So one day when our pastor, Reverend John Kent, came to visit us, she ran to get her potty we had trained her with. She was going to show him how she could use it. Naturally, we persuaded her to wait.

At this time Gene was on the third shift. Each day at 3 pm I would go up the stairs and call his name to come to eat. So Deborah started going up the stairs and calling “Gene, Gene”. I had to remind her that he was her daddy.

Our First Child is Born on April 12 1953

We had been married for six months and I thought I couldn’t get pregnant.  Back then if you didn’t get pregnant soon people thought something was wrong with you. So we were overjoyed when I did get pregnant. On April the 12, 1953, I had a beautiful little girl. We named her Deborah Jean after her daddy. Mama came to stay with me for a week and she said the first thing that I said was “What did Gene say?”. You know back then we never knew what our baby was going to be until it was born. But he was thrilled too.

The night before she was born Doris and J.D. Earley (the couple that we had our double wedding with) came to see us and brought their six month old little girl. She got pregnant on their honeymoon. I was glad to see them, but I was already in labor pains so I couldn’t enjoy their visit as much. I had cleaned house all day and made a chocolate cake. People used to say that would happen when you had worked so hard. Our precious baby girl weighed 7 pounds and 6 ounces. I came home from Crow’s clinic the same day and mama stayed with me a week. She was always there for me. I wonder if I ever thanked her enough for all she did for us through the years. By the way we nicknamed Deborah “Tippietoe”. 

 

Pictured at right,  Deborah is a few months old, with Martha and Grandma Mattie Bell Franklin at the old homestead in Clifton SC  

Our Life in the early 1950s

Clifton Mill no. 2 built in 1889

read about the history of the Clifton mills at this link 

After four weeks, we found a mill house to rent. Gene worked in the mill in Clifton for many years after we married.  We didn’t have much but we were so happy to have a place of our own. In the summer of 1952, we bought us a Frigidaire. Boy, were we thrilled! We had been using block ice to keep things cold. 

1947 Frigidaire

Then mama (Ethel Allen)  bought us a beautiful dinette suite. The color was gold and we loved it! I want to add what a good cook Gene’s mom (Mattie Bell) was while we lived with her . She would cook a good meal and then make a cobbler or a fried pie. She really did spoil me. 

Mattie Bell with Martha and Deborah - 1953 

           

 I joined Central Baptist Church where Gene had been going for a long time. He led the singing and after a while they needed a pianist so I began playing.  I was glad to do what I could for the Lord.  Gene was also a deacon, Sunday school teacher, Supt, R.A. Director and for some time cleaned the church, and he got some pay for this. 

            I taught Sunday school and had the G.A.’s. When we were first married I was shy and stayed that way for a long time. But I learned from the Linder’s, Robin’s, Coleman’s, Mosses, Reynolds’ and others through the years.

Our life as Mr and Mrs begins...

After our wedding,  we enjoyed a  meal that my mama cooked. She cooked a lot of food for everyone to eat including several  meats, vegetables, and desserts. She was such a good cook! She went to a lot of trouble because she loved us.

         After the meal,  we left for Asheville, N.C.  Doris and J.D. went with us because he did not have a car. We stayed at the Biltmore motel Saturday night. They asked us if we wanted a room together and when we giggled they knew better. The next day was Sunday,  and we visited a church in Asheville. Then we went on to Gatlinburg, TN. For a long time Gatlinburg has been a place where everybody wants to go for their honeymoon.  It seemed like such a long ways from home, since there was no interstate yet and we had to travel over the mountain roads.  The roads were two lane roads back then too so traveling took longer.   I also remember traveling home through Newport TN and my new husband bought me a dress there.  I was real happy that he did this for me.   We traveled back to my home in NC and I remember that my folks were glad to see us back!   

        
           Later that week we went to Clifton SC where Gene lived and we stayed with  his mom for a month.  When we would be sitting in the living room, Patsy and Judy, who were living at their Grandma’s, would peek through the keyhole to see what we were doing. Judy traveled with us to visit my mom and dad a few times in NC too. She has told this story through the years: “When we went to bed I would be between them, but I would wake up on the other side of the bed.”  

Our double wedding on December 22, 1951

H. Eugene and Martha L Rice Franklin

We were very excited as we began getting ready for our wedding. Mama took me to Spartanburg, SC, and bought me a beautiful navy blue suit. Doris Howell also wore navy blue and we both wore white hats.  Gene and J.D. Early wore navy blue suits also. We had pictures made and had beautiful gladiolas and walked on white sheets. Gene’s pastor, Rev. Robert Shephard, married us and my sister, Louise Rice, was my maid of honor. Gene’s brother, Howard Franklin, was his best man. We had a scare on Friday night during the rehearsal. The person who was supposed to play the music at our wedding did not show up, so we had to find someone. We asked Miss Patricia Neal and she graciously consented to do it. Bobby Dean Hall sang “I Love you truly” and “The Lord’s Prayer”. They did very well and everything turned out wonderful. I need to add that our dad’s gave us away. We were on cloud nine and were in love.

J.D. and Doris Howell Early

Martha recalls her wedding day 12.22.1951

What to do after high school...

Martha and Gene in 1951

Back to my story, this young man's name was Gene Franklin.  From that Sunday on we started dating twice a week  One Thursday he didn't come and I didn't hear from him.  I was ready to leave Saturday night but he arrived before I left. He explained that he had been sick, so I understood.

I was thrilled to be graduating high school in May of 1951, but I did not know what I was going to do after high school. I thought about going into nursing or taking a business course.  I had an aunt and uncle in West Virginia.  They came to visit us and as they started to head home,  they invited me to visit them. I visited them for a few weeks that summer. I seems that  Gene must have worried about whether I would come back. My aunt and uncle even offered to send me to business school if I stayed in West Virginia. But  I went back home and Gene was there that weekend  and asked me to marry him. He even had a ring with him. Of course, I said, "Yes!"  We started double dating with a couple from my church,  Doris Howell ( our pastor's daughter) and J. D. Earley.  Since we were both engaged, we decided to have a double wedding at our  church.  The wedding took place on Saturday, December 22 1951, at 6 PM.

About my early years...

Rev. J.S.Rice

Let me tell you about my early life -  I was raised in a Christian home. My dad was a Free Will Baptist preacher. He would preach in the North Carolina mountains and mom, my sister Louise, and brother Jimmy and myself stayed at home and attended church in Caroleen, NC.  

I remember mama carrying me in her arms and my brother and sister walking by her side. Church was an important part of our lives.  Later in my teen years, I taught the small children in Sunday School. I was voted to be the church pianist when I could only play one or two songs. Boy, it was scary!  I also began taking care of Aunt Ann's children when I was thirteen and a half years old, while she worked. We had some good times and we would have birthday parties for each other. 

How I met my future husband at the age of 14

       In the year 1947 (at age 14), I met a young man who was leading the singing in a tent revival in my hometown of Caroleen, N.C. I attended the services because as a Christian I enjoyed being where the Bible was preached. But there was another reason. I really liked this young man and also enjoyed hearing him sing. His hometown was Clifton, S.C. so other than getting to go to the services in the summer that was it.   

  

Four years later, in February of 1951, I was at a talent program at Tri-High school, where I would graduate in May of that year. I heard someone call my name and when I looked around there was the young man that I had known four years earlier, but had almost forgotten. He asked to take me home and then came back the next day pretending to come to see my brother, Jimmy. He got there in time for Sunday dinner. Boy, Mama was a good cook! Some of the church folks would come to eat and they would rave about how good everything was. Those friends were Martha, Edna, and Lucille Coffey. They loved Mama’s banana and pineapple pudding. To me those didn’t look so good.  I had seen her wring the necks of so many chickens, that I couldn’t eat them. Later I saw what I missed and learned to love fried chicken. I liked everything else she cooked.     

Photo from 1952
Gene (left) 
Martha (pianist)

Martha's story ...in her own words...

Forward

Photo from 1941

My mother , Martha (Rice) Franklin, spent many years writing first by hand on paper and then typing her life story using an old typewriter. When she had finished writing her memories and thoughts, she asked her granddaughter, April  (Logan) Wyatt to enter it into a word document.  This blog will be the story of my mom’s life and how she met my dad and their life together for 66+ years…in her own words….titled "IN THE BEGINNING"