Page 176 - a-columbia-county-boys-recollections-and-memories-of-columbia-county-florida-(2012)-lenvil-h-dicks

A Columbia County Boy's Recollections and Memories of Columbia County Florida (2012) Lenvil H. Dicks

“OL SAM, AND ROSA”

When I was growing up on the farm, as a small boy I can remember more than one family who “share­
Ih
cropped” with my daddy on our farm, and who lived in a little house about 3/8 ’s mile south of the
house we lived in, and what we called the Axman house. We referred to it as the Axman House, because
it was situated on a 40 acre tract of land that my daddy had bought for SI 0.00 an acre from Frank and
Eunice Axman. Incidentally, Mrs. Axman was the sister of Mr. Paul Pearce, whose wife, Aunt Nettie
Pearce, assisted in my Brother Rodney’s birth, as she frequently acted as a midwife in the community.
That information is not really pertinent to what I am about to tell, but it just popped into my mind.

The first family that 1 can ever recall living in the Axman House and helping our family on the farm,
was the Sid Williams family. Mr. Sid Williams’ wife was named Eva, and they had a large number of
children. Incidentally one of their daughters was named Edna, and Edna grew up and married Leo
Snellgrove. One of their children was named Eva, after her grandmother Eva Williams, and when Eva
was just barely approaching middle age she started working for me as my real estate secretary, and
worked for me for 25 years. You know they say that what goes around comes around.

Another family that I remember living in the Axman House was the Homer Markham family, and their
children were George, Bill, Eloise, Edna Mae, and Tommy. Tommy was a couple of years older than 1
was but we have shot many a game of marbles together, and Tommy Markham always beat me. Edna
Mae ended up marrying a cousin of mine, Ray Tyre, and their son Ronnie is a Deacon of the Church that
I now attend, Southside Baptist Church in Lake City.

The last family that I can remember (while I was still on the farm) as living in the Axman House was the
J.B. Smith family, and J.B. was married to Marie Williams, one of the Sid Williams’ girls, and that was
sort of like coming home for her, because she had been partly raised in that same house. They had a
large family also, several girls and two boys. The older boy Crocket passed away recently in March of
2012, and the other son that J.B. Williams had was named John David Smith, with the John being after
my daddy.

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