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The People Who Lived on the Land that is Now Redstone Arsenal, page 140
occasion when he stayed out very late at night, he would feed the stock before he went to bed! When the horses were working in the field, they had to be fed three times a day, just like people. In the winter, when they weren't working, they were fed twice a day. When the horses were working down by the river, their food had to be delivered to them, just as it was to the people. Sometimes corn or hay was put on the ground for them, but other times their food was in the wagon bed, and the horses would be tied around the wagon to have their lunch. At mealtime, about 11:30 or 12 o'clock, someone brought the food down from the house to the men. What they were brought for lunch varied. They might have fried corn, potatoes, cake, bread or whatever the cook prepared. Mills. The cane was taken “north of where they lived” to either the gin run by Jesse Penny and his son James or to the one owned by Manuel Wilbert. They were about a mile away. The Loves and those who took their cane to these mills took the cane and piled it up. They had to haul their own wood to the mill site and stack it up. The mill owner and his hands and/or family members would feed the cane through the mill as the donkey or horse went around causing the stones to thrash the cane. A pan caught the liquid. James said: They lit a fire under the pan that was maybe 7 or 8 feet long and 3 or 4 feet wide, as best as I can remember. That was a long time ago. When it was done, they would drain it off into a 55-gallon barrel. We'd carry the barrel home, turn it over on one side, and use a funnel to drain it off into gallon buckets. Hunting and Fishing. James said the men in his family hunted but didn't fish much. They hunted rabbits and squirrels. When James was a boy, he went out with the dogs. The dogs would run down rabbits and sometimes catch them. When he was older, he was allowed to use a gun, however, he still took the dogs, and sometimes they'd catch a rabbit. Doctors. When Julia Love was 12 years old, she became very ill and was taken to Dr. Beard. The doctor gave her some medicine, but “it had an ill effect.” Julia died in the wagon on the way home. Dr. Beard was a Black doctor. Beard Street on 10th Calvary Hill was named after him. His daughter, Caroline Metcalf, was a schoolteacher. The Love family later went to Dr. Scruggs. Main Cause of Death. James said “malaria would go around pretty bad," but the main cause of death was pneumonia and TB, “probably pneumonia was the main cause, because when people got it, many died of it.” Funeral Home. James acknowledged that in those days some people did not take the body of their deceased family member to a funeral home; the body was taken home for 140 - (4173)