15/04/2026
Today she would have been 130 years old. My grandmama Proctor. Wonderful lady.
As far back as I can remember Grandmama Proctor looked almost exactly like this. Her hair always looked short until she let it down to brush and it reminded me of the story of Rapunzel. It was probably closer to knew length but unless you're it down your never know. If my memory serves me, she was born in 1896 but I can't look it up right now because my computer with all the records died.
The land at 313 Douglas St was bought Oct 31, 1945 and filed in court on Nov 1945. Daddy, Jesse Lelton, joined the Marine Corp. in June of that year and had been given a signing bonus that had gone toward the purchase. I'm not sure if it was a partial or full payment. There were actually three lots in the parcel. Grandaddy and Grandmama built their cement block house up front and our house was behind theirs. Uncle Chester and Aunt Ruthie bought the lot next to us from Granddaddy. Except for Uncle Chandler and Aunt Clara Mae who lived a couple blocks away on Courrant St, and Uncle Lester and Aunt Myrtle who lived across town part of the time and then various places for a while before eventually moving in the other side of Grandmama's in later years we all lived next to each other. Uncle Lester and Aunt Myrtle moved their family into our house behind Granddaddy and Grandmama after we moved out. Uncle Lester filled up our swimming pool that daddy and Granddaddy had dug and cemented by hand.
Grandmama kept us grandkids while everyone else worked, mostly at EZ Mills or the block plant, although a couple worked other places. Grandmama loved her Soap stories, The Edge of Night and I believe General Hospital. She was even known to lock us outside when those two shows were on. There was a quilting frame hung from the ceiling in the room between the kitchen and carport. I still use a couple of her quilts these days. She also churned butter, at least when we were little. I remember an old cast iron pot with a fire between our houses. I don't remember what was cooking. She might have been rendering lard. They had what they called a smokehouse out back but nothing was ever smoked in it. It had salt boxes to hold meat instead and I remember hams hanging from the rafters in there. They hung in her old worn out stockings and were coated in brown sugar inside the stockings. She kept money hidden all over the house. Granddaddy would give her money and she would hide it everywhere. I recall her going to several hiding spots around the house to get money for us kids to take to Shelton's for candy and Coke. The two of them were funny. She would ask him for money and he would pull out his change bag from his pocket and turn so she couldn't see what he had and then count out what she needed or whatever he thought he could afford. I don't remember her shopping at grocery stores in those days but she must have. I do remember the Jewel Tea van stopping by every now and then. She bought tea and Luzzianne coffee from him. I know she bought some meats from Charles and Nora Shelton our next door neighbors. I know granddaddy bought hogs from someone every year for a long time. Eventually they gave up on the smokehouse and just stored stuff in there. Probably just got too old to keep going.
It seems like we all ate together a lot in those days but was probably just about every Sunday.
I have the table that we all are from and still eat from it today, I using Granddaddy's armed chair, the only one of the bunch with arms. When any of us kids stayed with them we usually would sleep boys in one bed and girls in another. No heat in the bedrooms but plenty of quilts, so heavy you couldn't even roll over. There was no A/C in those days so summer nights were spent sleeping with open windows.
Grandmama or Granddaddy or both could be heard snoring all the way back in our house.
Grandmama was devoted to her family and especially Granddaddy taking very good care of him when he became ill. She was not alone but did as much as she could and it was plenty. I remember visiting her as a teenager and young adult. I could stop in at most any hour day or night. She would get out of bed and make sure I ate and was in bed before going back herself. I still at times wish I hadn't taken advantage of her generosity and love the way I did. She was at least one of the five most loving women I'm my life.
