TELEPHONE MAN
Part One: Railroad Man
Part Two: The Telephone Man
TELEPHONE MAN Part II
Vinegar Bend, Alabama
Grand maw Minnie had her hard times with the women with Washington County for many years. When she was thirteen years old her half brother Oliver Lee Buckaloo, who taught her how to operate the Telegraph machine ,was a sickly man. When he was young and before he became a Conductor for the M &O Railroad ,he had a job taking care of the Water Tank in Escatawpa . He would climb to the top of the tank carrying the water in a bucket and pouring it in. Oliver became sick and couldn't climb the tower to carry the buckets of water. Oliver didn't want to let the M &O Rail Road Company down and loose his job , not to mention he needed the money to help his mama, who was a single parent, who was disowned by her family for being married and divorced twice.
 Minnie Lee Masters, my grand maw, knew how much Oliver needed the job and the money. She took it on herself one day, when Oliver had a high fever, she climbed the water tower and carried the buckets full of water up the ladder. This was an important job for the trains and a day couldn't be missed. It was about three days before Oliver was able to climb the ladder and carry the water. Grand maw took it upon herself to carry the water up the ladder and poured the it into the tank. By the time the three days were over , there was talk all over town and the County that she was being a most disrespectful young lady. She should never climb a water tank with her brother's overalls on and carry a bucket up and down the ladder; this wasn't lady like for a young lady living in the late 1800s. Grand maw had only one thing on her mind , that was holding on to Oliver's job and the money he needed to help take care of the family. The M &O Rail Road Company admired Grand Maw Minnie and let her know what a brave young lady she was. She might have been the talk of the town and County but that week and years to come Grand maw became very dear to the M &O Rail Road, she was always around when they needed her.
My dad, Harry P. Waldrop, grew up with loving parents who taught him and his siblings about God the Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. They were taught to attend Church every Sunday Morning and night. They also attended Wednesday night Prayer meetings. From the time they were born until they were married and left home, the Waldrop children, accepted The Holy Three .Living in their home The Holy Three was a given not a choice. Their choice of Christianity didn't come until Grand maw Minnie and Capt. Harry (Grandpapa) had planted the seed of The Holy Three and watered it and watch it grow in their lives. After the seed had been planted and watered it was up to their children to choose the Holy Three and live Christian lives.
 Capt Harry 's papa was a Minister (Joseph R. Waldrop 1826-1870) and also his grandpapa was a Minister (Green Berry Waldrop 1794-1854). Capt. Harry's didn't get to know neither one of them. His papa was ambushed shot and killed in 1870 while fighting the Carpetbaggers and the Scalawags from the North, who was trying to take over their County, Washington County. Not knowing neither his papa or grandpapa ,having their traits had to come thru the genes, not being raised in their images .
Capt. Harry's papa and grandpapa are stories of their own. His papa was a Minister, Physician, State Representative of Washington County . His grandpapa was Minister and came to Georgia, (Harris County) during the 1827 Georgia Land Lottery. Rev. G. B. Waldrop help Constituted many of the Baptist Churches in Harris County, Georgia and also help organized the Columbus (Georgia) Baptist Association. Rev. Waldrop was also minister of the Bethel Baptist Church on Flat Rock Road in Columbus 1827-1840.
Explaining who the ancestors of Capt. Harry, lets you know what was in his gene and how he could have been deeply religious but yet pulling away to become a man of the world yet holding on to all he was taught from his mother about the Holy Three. Capt. Harry's papa was ambushed and killed in 1870 when he was a year old. Sarah Baxter Waldrop was left with two sons to raised. About seven months after Joseph Ryan Waldrop was killed, Sarah gave birth to another son, James Ryan Waldrop, Jr.
Capt. Harry was drawn to the trains that came thru his small home town Escatwpa, Alabama where he was growing up . They, he , his mother and younger brother moved to Vinegar Bend when the boys were teenagers. When Capt. Harry was about 15 years old the Rail Road Company allowed him to come on board and help the fireman shovel the coal for the engine. This was , at the time, what he could settle for in life the next step would be a fireman and to shovel the coal as a living. Later he wasn't only the fireman but he was the Engineer of the M &O Rail Road that came from Ohio thru Escatawpa on down to Mobile, Alabama.
I don't know if Capt. Harry ever knew the hero worship that my daddy had for him. Daddy used to talked about the giant of a man his papa was when he was a child. Capt. Harry's papa was six foot seven and for those days in the mid to late 1800s that was tall. ( at that time most of the men in Washington County average height was five foot eight.) I don't know if daddy ever mention how much over six foot his papa was but I do remember daddy saying the men in his family dropped a couple of inches each generation. Daddy was six foot tall and he thought according men in his family, he was short. I don't think it was the size of his papa that kept his attention while growing up. I truly believe it was what was inside his papa that made daddy want to be just like him.
One short memory of Capt. Harry was when the small town of Vinegar Bend , Alabama, Washington County. Daddy told us many times about the small lumber town in Washington County. Daddy's great uncle built the first Lumber Company in Vinegar Bend in 1884 and sold it to the Turner Lumber Company in 1887. The small town was full of Lumber salesmen, Company stores, Churches, Banks, school and two story hotels where the Lumber salesmen came and stayed while buying lumber for other Lumber Companies. Vinegar Bend , Alabama was located about 65 miles outside of Mobile, Alabama and off Highway 45.
The little town Vinegar Bend was active and very much alive with Lumber salesmen, singing , dancing , shooting crap, wild women drinking cussing and just about anything that would run the Southern Baptist crazy.
The first fire was about1921 and the fires burned about half of Vinegar Bend. Okay, the town can stay alive and active with half of the town left. They were doing well and beginning to start back building again. Until 1924 the M &O Rail Road Train pulled into town on a windy day and the sparks flew thru the air and most landed on the roofs. The town had started burning again and the town once again started to try and save their town.
In 1924, before the town started burning Capt. Harry had a day off so that afternoon he was sitting around playing cards and shooting the breeze with him Rail Road friends, who was also off and had nothing to do. Capt. Harry had stayed about as long as Grand maw Minnie would allow . He told his friends, it's time for him to go and take a nap before time to eat or Minnie (Grand maw Minnie) would snap his head off if he came to the table with any signs of him drinking earlier that afternoon.
Capt. Harry wasn't into his nap very long when he was awaken with the sounds of the town outside his window. He heard the bell on the M &O Train ringing, the town Fire Bell, the yelling and hollering outside. Capt. Harry , thought it was time for him to get up and see what was going on. He looked out the front door and saw the town was on fire again. He slipped on his engineer out fit boots and all and ran down to the Vinegar Bend Depot. He knew he had to move the train, he could see the sparks from the train blowing in the wind. His fought against time moving the train away from the town and the houses. Capt. Harry ran climbed on the train and started to back up thinking this was the only way to keep the sparks landing on the roofs of the houses and burning the town down again.
Capt. Harry, as the news paper wrote, was a brave man going thru the smoke and not being able to see in the front or back of him. He rang the Train Bell over and over while the Fireman was shoveling the coal building up steam power to go forward or reverse. When Capt. Harry heard the men yelling thru the smoke and screaming and yelling of the towns people. The Fire Bell in the town and the Bell mounted on the M &O Train was pounding in his ears. He heard the men and women of the town yelling , "Back her up, Capt. Harry, back her up." Capt. Harry, backed her up thinking he was taking the train away from the houses where they were all trying to water down the roofs and put out the sparks of fire from the train. Now, Capt. Harry is trying his best to back this "Big Hoss" as he called it, away from the Depot, the homes, the Banks, the Company Stores and Schools. Leaning out the train window trying to see what he was backing into with smoke in his eyes he had to depend on the voices of the men and women who were calling out to him, " Take her on back." He was trying to avoid any objects that was running back and forth behind him. With the smoke in his eyes and dark smoke surrounding the train
Capt. Harry had to depend on people who were everywhere both sides and in front and back of the train trying to help , they didn't want to loose the other half of their town .
One minute Capt. Harry is a hero, saving the town. The next minute when he had back out far enough for the smoke to thin so he could see the faces of the town people, he notice there wasn't a lot of joy and smiles. It wasn't long before he found out the reason for the long faces. A few of the men walked up to the window of the train and sadly told Capt. Harry he had backed over the water hose. Some of the men had placed the hose over the tracks not thinking the train would have to back over them. After they regained their second wind and went back to fighting the fire they knew it would be a loosing battle the fire buckets against the spreading fire.
Capt. Harry jumped down off the train and walked back to the end and looked down at the hose and took his engineer hat off and scratched his head and said in a loud voice, "Damn if I didn't run over it."
Folks asked Capt. Harry was he drinking the day Vinegar Bend burnt down? Capt. Harry replied, "Yep, I had been drinking, but it wasn't my drinking that burnt the town down, it was the damn idiots who left the water hose on the track when they saw me backing that "Big Hoss" up and no one thought to move it." Nevertheless, my grandpapa James Harry Waldrop (Capt. Harry) was known in Washington County for burning down Vinegar Bend, Alabama.
Later on when Vinegar Bend was almost burned to the ground after the second fire in a couple of years , Capt. Harry said, "All I ever wanted to be was a good Engineer and now I will go down in history as the M &O Rail Road Engineer who burnt down Vinegar Bend by backing over the water hose." Capt Harry was pretty near right, that was just about the way the newspapers told the story.
Capt Harry could always find the time to be with his children, certainly ,if Grand maw Minnie reminded him he was spending to much time on the rails and not at home with the boys. The girls were pretty much taken care of by Grand maw Minnie, but she felt their papa should have a hand in bringing them up. She wanted the boys to know him, know he beliefs and respect his opinions. Grand maw loved Capt. Harry and what ever he could teach and share with the boys would make them better, from boys to men.
One day Grand maw Minnie called Capt. Harry off to one side and explained to him that Harry Pou (my daddy) as she called him needed to be taught how to swim. The three older sisters were taking him down to the Escatawpa River and going swimming. Grand maw Minnie admitted she was a little worried but she knew the girls loved him and would watch over him but just in case something ever happen he needed to know more to do than just paddling around and playing. Capt. Harry agreed, the next summer day he was home a day or two from the Rail Road he got Harry Pou up early and told him they were going to spend some time down swimming in the Escatawpa River. Daddy was thrilled he was going to have his papa attention and they were going to spend time away from the girls and Grand maw Minnie. Daddy thought just the boys. Uncle Monte was to young to go with him, It was Daddy and his papa alone together, going to the river, eating , swimming, talking and listening to stories that his papa had told some new stories and some that had been told over and over.
Going down to the swimming hole taking their breakfast on a hot summer day Capt. Harry and daddy opened their bread and meat that were wrapped in a red home made dish cloth . After eating all they could hold, they rested for awhile before going swimming. When they had rested after eating daddy started playing around for a while and splashing water all over Capt. Harry.
Daddy was about five years old as he stood looking up at his papa while telling him to stay on the quilt as he was getting ready to go into the water. Capt Harry told him there was a funnel in the water, that when you can swim well enough you can swim through it diving from a tree branch. Capt. Harry told daddy that he should sit there and watch him dive in , then swim thru the funnel and swim back to shore. Daddy replied, "Yes, Sir." Being about five years old at the time he meant to mind his papa, but as daddy sat there and watched what his Papa was doing, he changed his little mind. Not knowing what daddy was thinking, Capt. Harry went on his way to show daddy what he could do one day if he was serious about learning to swim correctly. Capt. Harry climbed the tree and found a tree limb strong enough to hold him and he crawled out to the end and dove down into the water thru the tunnel and came up not to far from the shore where daddy should have been sitting and waiting for him. When Capt. Harry came out of the water he was surprise to find daddy wasn't sitting there ,where he had left him on the quilt. Looking around he spotted daddy in the same tree he had climbed and daddy was crawling out on the same limb getting in position to dive into the water. Capt. Harry was standing there speechless as to what he could say to keep daddy from diving jumping in. Before Capt. Harry could get out of the water and stop daddy, he was already headed into the water finger tips meeting and head down and then the splash and there was silence, for Capt. Harry it was a long time not knowing in which direction daddy would come to the top. He was afraid to turn left or right waiting to see which way, in case he had go back in and save him or go under in case daddy was in trouble. In just a short time daddy came out of the water yelling , "I did it", "I did it, I came thru the tunnel then daddy did some of the best swimming Capt. Harry had ever seen. Then daddy stop and was floating around and yelling to his papa, "come on in papa, I did what you did." After almost having a heart attack Capt Harry was able to get close to daddy. When Capt. Harry had gotten close to his five year old son they both were in the deep part of the Escatawpa River Capt, Harry grabbed daddy by the nap of the neck , looked the little boy right in the eyes and said, those sisters taught you how to swim didn't they. Daddy laugh and was so excited to show off in front of his papa and said, "yes sir, they did." Capt. Harry told daddy, he was glad he could swim, because diving thru the water funnel is dangerous. Then his papa told daddy as soon as he got a hold of his breath and clam down he was going to whip his little A$$.
Capt. Harry and daddy headed home. Daddy's little bottom was sore for a while. Daddy asked his papa, "Papa, are you going to whip the girls for teaching me to swim?" His papa replied, " No son, I am going to see that your mama whips them for not telling me they had taught you to swim."
After many stories about daddy's papa, the one that sticks out in my mind is the last night Capt Harry's life. Story goes Capt. Harry was walking down the railroad tracks with Mr. Conley who worked for the Railroad. Capt Harry kept looking over at the M &O that had just pulled in to the Vinegar Bend Depot to pick up the mail and a couple of passengers. Capt. Harry stood there and admired the M &O train as thou he had seen it for the first time. He welcome the train, with his eyes and a slight smile on his face, as it pulled in he stayed and watch the M &O Train as it loaded the crates and boxes to leave for Mobile, Alabama. As the train pulled out .
Mr. Conley said Capt. Harry was very sad. He said it was like Capt. Harry was watching a very dear friend leave his life and his eyes couldn't get enough staring at it. Capt. Harry watched the train jerked and rocked back and forth as it prepared to pull off into the sunset.
Capt Harry knew how the jerking and rocking of the train felt for many years he had leaned out the train window to watch and get hand signals from the brakeman what to do next. Many times Capt Harry had leaned out the window and a jerk would appear and the coming back and being shoved forward would sometimes throw him out the train window. The windows were square and large sometimes the window would go as far down as his waist or hips. Once when he was thrown out his angle was crush making him limp. At other times he would fall out on his shoulder or hip, but nothing would keep him out of the cab and on the rails the next day.
One day there was another train, probably the Alabama Train that was owned by the Turner Family of Escatawpa, Alabama, Washington County. The Turner's train was pulling in as the M &O was on the other track trying to pull out. The Alabama was head in one way and the M &O facing the other. Capt. Harry was leaning out the window watching the brakeman when the train jerked and out the window went Capt. Harry. He landed on his back the Turner's Alabama Train was slowing down and almost to a stop when it did stop on Capt. Harry's chest. The Company's Doctor Thompson came running over and leaned over Capt. Harry and kept saying" Son are you alright?" Capt. Harry open his eyes and replied, " I will be if you'll get this s*b train off my chest." The next week Capt. Harry's back and shoulders were sore for a while.
Now getting back to the M. O. train pulling out and Capt. Harry
looking at the M &O train like his best friend in life was going to pull out any minute without him leaving him behind and rolling off with a new engineer at the throttle and knowing tomorrow the new engineer would be taking his place.
After Mr. Conley and Capt. Harry walked down the rails for a while and the sun was setting, Capt. Harry looked over at Mr. Conley and said that is the most beautiful sunset I've ever seen or will see again. Mr. Conley wasn't sure why Capt. Harry was talking this way. Capt. Harry was a fun loving, always playing jokes on his friend and he was friends to neighbors and to strangers who needed him. Mr. Conley knew this wasn't the kind of talk that came from Capt. Harry. He knew something was wrong, but what? After a while Mr. Conley forgot about it thinking Capt. Harry must be a little depress about something, but knowing him, it would pass.
It wasn't long before Mr. Conley was called about ten o'clock . One of the members of the family had come to get him to come quickly. He walked almost running down the block and turned the corner and took the steps two at a time , not knowing why he was hurrying. But, he knew by the sound of the family member's voice and the crowd that was already gathering on the front porch it wasn't going to be good news.
Mr. Conley walked in just to meet Grand maw Minnie at the front door. Grand maw Minnie wanted to tell Mr. Conley Capt. Harry had died not two minutes ago. Then the thoughts came rushing thru his mind as to why Capt. Harry was talking and acting the way he was earlier tonight. Capt. Harry knew by the way his chest felt that he wouldn't last thru the night. He had heart problems but he knew tonight his pains wasn't going away and they didn't.
Every one was so wrapped up in Capt. Harry's death for the next few days with the friends, neighbors, Church members and food being bought in. Then Grand maw Minnie asked. "Has anyone seen Capt. Harry's cat. (I've forgotten his name ). No one knew where he was. Aunt Joe Ollie, (Joe after her grandpapa Joseph Ryan Waldrop and Ollie after her Uncle Oliver) ( Aunt Jo Ollie was the daughter of Capt. Harry) went to the front bedroom that belonged to Capt. Harry where he died. Aunt Joe Ollie pulled back the bed spread and sheets and then the other sisters Aunt Haby (Helen) and Aunt Louise came in and help turn the mattress and thru the bed springs they saw Capt. Harry's cat. The Cat that dearly loved Capt. Harry and slept with him every night when he was home was last seen sleeping at the foot of Capt. Harry's feet before he died. When Capt. Harry died, his cat went under the bed and stayed until he died. All the family members believed that the cat died of a broken heart.
Story goes that my daddy looked like his papa , Capt. Harry. Years later I went back to Vinegar Bend , Alabama with my daddy. I was running down the red dirt road in and out the front of daddy's legs and kicking up the red dust all around his legs up to his knees. We finally came to a grave yard in Escatawpa about five miles away. We had walked the five miles stopping and talking to all daddy's neighbors and family members who was still left from his boyhood days. We finally reached the Grave Yard where Capt. Harry and Grand maw Minnie was buried. On the fence was sitting a very old black man. Daddy looked over at him and called him by name. "Hey Hoss, is that you?, "You must be at least a hundred years old." The old black man looked at daddy and laughed, "come on in Capt. Harry." Daddy replied," I'm not Capt. Harry." "Well," said the old black man, " You might as well be, you are the spitting image of him." "You look as much like Capt. Harry as if he is standing there." I remember the smile on daddy's face. At that time I was so small , I didn't know why daddy was smiling. Years later when he had repeated this story at least fifty times, I finally understood . the smile was a proud smile, he had always wanted to look and be like his papa and now here after thirty odd years someone was remembering his papa by looking at him.
Daddy wouldn't be the M &O Railroad Man like his papa , but he did look enough like his papa for the ole black man to call him Capt. Harry. It was then daddy knew he had not let his papa down. Even if he kept his papa's memory alive when you looked at daddy , you saw his papa which kept the memory of Capt. Harry alive. I wasn't able to see Capt. Harry and what he looked like. But when I see any train on a track or I hear a train whistle blow, my memories of Capt. Harry come alive.
In 1924 was about the time Vinegar Bend burn to the ground and also when James Harry Waldrop died from heart problems at age 57.
I never see a train or the sound of a train that I do not think of Capt. Harry. I am grateful to my daddy for keeping his papa alive so I may know Capt. Harry thru him. Capt. Harry died in 1924, before my time, but yet I know of him and love him because of my daddy. In return I am the same way about my daddy. As long as I am alive, my daddy will never die.
Thank you for letting me share my memories with you.
Sandra
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