The Field

The next thing I remember was living in an old house in the middle of a cotton field. My daddy was farming for a man named L.Y. Tolar. He owned a store in Pansy and had lots of land and a gin. He had lots of share croppers too. He would furnish the land, seed and fertlizer and the farmers would furnish the labor. After the crop was made the money was split, but being that he had a store the farmers would owe him more money. It was west of Pansey, not for from highway 84 east. My sister Louise had already finished school and had moved to Dothan and was working at Cash Drug Store. She came home Easter weekend and brought my sister,Sara, and me an Easter suits. My suit even had a tie with it. I thought that was the coolest thing. For some reason it was very cold that year. I remember M.C. and me sitting behind a barn and eating cain. This house had electricty but the one behind the church didnt have.That man Tolor owned both places. There was a man that lived across the road from us named Mr. Hicks (Avery) I think. He took up a lot of time with me. I really liked him. He had gray hair. He had a son named Coot. We meet the rolling store in front of his house. There was a hill in front of our house and I remember that on Sunday my brothers and sisters would ride down the hill in some type of wagon or buggy. There was a creek at the bottom of the hill and Ellis would fish there. I also remember an old car that sit in the front yard and I think it ran. Somebody had some cows around there because there were some pipes laying across the road. I think they were called cattle crossings. You could drive a car across them but a cow wouldnt cross them. I didnt like them because I thought I might get my foot hung in them and couldnt get out. There was a couple that live down the road. I think their name was Swan and dont think they had children. We went to a church west of there and the name was Antiock. My mom and dad were charter members. At one time my Dad was the oldest living member. We ate in the kitchen, there was a table and benches on each side. Mama had a pie safe where she kept left overs.

Ray Hutto
Son of John Henry Hutto and Ethel Mae Infinger Hutto

I was borned on August 11,1947 (birth certificate says 12) in Houston County Al. on a farm south of Ashford. My father was a share cropper for many years, before we moved to Dothan, in the early 50's. I started remembering things when I was about 3 years old. I first remember living behind Liberty church, just a little north of Pansy. My brothers were playing baseball and I got too close to the bat and my brother M.C. hit my nose and broke it. I also remembering that we had a purple couch and thats where my Mother doctored me. I also remember that we had hogs across the road and I had a pig named Runt.

The Start

I have been thinking of doing this for 30 years or so. In a few months I will be 61 and now think that it maybe time to start writing about the things that I remember most in my life. When I first began to think about writing, I couldn't think of a way I could do it. First, my spelling has always been very bad, second I really didn't know how to start. I thought about recording my thoughts and having someone type it. But then the computer was born and it has spell check, so I guess I am good to go.
This will be about somethings I have done and some people I have known. About somethings I learned the hard way. This will be about my family too, the most important thing to me. How they help me through some hard times and didn't even know it at times. Why I think that family is one of the most prized processions that a person can have in their life time. About a little boy born on a farm in the middle of nowhere can make it in this world with little education and not much money but with a lot of luck and many blessings from God.
I don't even know if anyone would be interested in reading this but I guess that is what blogging is all about. I hope my family does read it though and find out how proud of them I am. Don't forget to check back often, for I will write more all along.