1. Charles P. Hudson

2. Huntsville, Arkansas

3. I was a farmer up until I retired

4. I was born December 5^th, 1861

6. I was born at Huntsville, Arkansas

7. I was never married

8. I am a native

10. I have lived in Arkansas 78 years

11. I am a native

12. Native

13. I was born, and lived in a two room log house until I was 14 years old, the chimney was made of sticks and mud in the first house we lived in, the main room of the house was floored with rough planks sawed out with a “Sash Saw”, a sash saw was just a straight saw, like our cross cut saws of to-day only larger, the log was placed in a elevated position, and the saw in a vertical position, they were never able to saw out to the end of the log, only within a few inches, then they split the plank out the rest of the way with an ax, the rest of our house had “Puncheon Floors” except the kitchen “ lean to” the floor was dirt.

14. We used what was known as “grease lamps” the were made by pouring “hog lard” into a shallow dish then laying large strings or pieces of cloth twisted into the dish, and letting them hang over the edge, the gave a light of sorts, but the also smoked and smelled. Then in the winter time we would use either pine knots or brush fires to study bur lessons by we would use this in the fire place.

15. The first electric lights in this community were in 1912, it was a very small plant and did not do much good as the rates were too high

16. We have always used wood in this country for fuel

17. Our food when I was a boy, consisted of “Hog and Hominy,” corn bread molasses, potatoes, and beans, there was plenty of game, such as Turkey, Deer, Prairie Chicken, Squirrel, Quail and all small game, we depended on game for our fresh meat supply, but we always put down a little “ham and bacon.”

18. Our clothing was homespun and handmade, we raised our own wool and cotton, we picked the seed out of the cotton by hand, and we also hand carded our wool, there was a “carding machine” in about two miles of where we lived, but we did not bother with it, they charged a toll, and we could not pay the toll, my mother did all the spinning and weaving we had our own loom, then she made all our clothes, she spun both wool and cotton material.

19. There was nothing out of the ordinary connected with the courtships in our community, of course when a couple got married, there was the “shivaree” usually followed by a big wedding dinner or supper, and a general good time, I remember many a time after a “shivaree” the groom would invite us in, give you a big supper, and then we would dance until daylight, followed by a wedding breakfast, then we would all assemble off to one side, and organize for the purpose of building the couple a house if they did not have one, sometimes we had it almost ready to live in before they knew who we was building it for

20. Things were much cheaper then than now, corn sold for 15 to 25 cents per bushel, oats at 25 cents, bacon 8 to 10 cents per pound, hogs on foot at 2 and 3 cents per pound, lard was 5 cents per pound, beef on foot 5 and 6 dollars per head, you could buy a good suit of clothes for 8 to 12 dollars the best shoes were only $1.50 per pair, as to butter and eggs there was very little sale for them, so I don’t remember the price, I wore one pair of homemade shoes in 1896, they were very crude, but I made a crop in them, I went barefoot until I was 14 years old, summer and winter I have waded the snow many a time barefooted go Rabbit hunting and things like that, I did not seem to mind, for I was used to it

21. We had no cases of common need as I see it, some very few individual cases, but they were always taken care of.

22. Our early cultivated crops were, “Poke Berry corn”, this was a red and white grained corn, oats, wheat, cotton, potatoes, beans and tobacco, I remember when tomatoes were called “Love Apples”, and I knew they grew wild but we never touched them when I was a boy for we thought they were poison, later people began to eat them, but they were very small

23. We used a wooden plow homemade except for the point, it was iron made by the local blacksmith, they were called “bull tongue” plows, the our first turning plows were homemade, they used sheet iron for the plow share and iron for the point, later on when we could buy plows, the cost for a “double shovel” $4.00 for a “turning plow” $10.00 for a single plow or “Georgia stock” $1.75

24. There was no industries in my community except, farming and “sash saw mills”

25. Well we had plenty of wild goose berries, huckleberries, paw-paw’s wild cherries, strawberries, and sarvis berries, for fruit, we used mullein for colds, sassafras for a blood tonic, sumac berries for dye, then we eat poke “salet”, wild mustard, water cress, lambs quarter, square weed, ladies slipper and used “slippery elm bark for stomach and bowel disorders”

26. Yes we had husking bees, house warmings, log rollings, brush harbor meetings, dances, socials and all those things, I don’t remember much about the Indians except they used to come back in the fall and hunt and gather honey, and we was all afraid of them, but they never bothered and one

27. We never paid much attention to forest fires, if one began to crown us we just went out and raked around our own field, and then fired against the on coming fire, of course when the met the went out

28. I don't remember how any of these hills or rivers got their names

29. I don't remember anything about the early taverns or stagecoach lines, you see I was a country boy

30. 31. 32. 33. I attended my first school at what was known as the Hawkins school house located east of Huntsville about two mile, this was in 1865, the teachers name was Wid. Baker, and it was a subscription school, the tuition was $1.00 per month, and if you did not have the money, he would take anything he could use

34. We used Webster's Blue Back Speller, Wilson's Reader, Rays Arithmetic, we had a history later on, but I don't remember the name of it

35. We did not have any reading matter, except the Bible, until I was nearly grown, we did not take the country paper.

36. We have never had a telegraph station

37. No railways of any kind

38. I saw my first automobile in 1907 at Rogers, Ark.

39. I saw my first train in 1877, at Pierce City, Missouri

40. I saw my first Airplane in 1915, at Rogers Arkansas

41. I think it was about 1930, when successful bus lines began to operate in this country, of course we had some few before then, but the condition of the roads or other things, put them our of business

42. The early shows were traveling companies, not much too them as we look an shows to-day, but they were well attended, I saw my first circus in 1874, at Huntsville, I remember they had one Elephant, and you could not drive a # team of horses or mules within a Quarter of a mile of it, and some of the people were about as bad

43. The only real big celebration I remember of, was when Grover Cleveland was elected President, they really celebrated then

44. I recall the James Boys only, I remember when they came down into this country, but the committed no crimes to speak of while they were here

45. There was no Duels fought to my knowledge

46. I remember no feuds

47. I know of no peculiar tombstone inscriptions

48. The First National Bank here is the only bank robbery that I remember, this happened in 1912

49. I do not recall much about the Civil War

50. I witnessed no battles

51. I do not recall much about the times right after the war, except that times were very hard

52. I know nothing about the old Ku Klux Klan

53. None

54. My people were Southern Sympathizers

55. I know of none

56. None

57. I have no descendants, as I have never married

58. 59. 60. I have no children, and I have never written anything