MY GRANDFATHER
George Robert Hall
Bob Hall
Most People were farmers
(1896-1971) My grandfather, (Bob) was born in Patrick County, Va. He was a farmer, and so was his dad. He was the oldest of a very large family. He had a slight accent from the Virginia area. I have heard some people talk like him from the South Boston Virginia area.
WAY OF LIFE
He grew up hunting rabbits and squirrels. He raised chickens, cows, and also a garden every year. He hunted and fished all of his life. He ate what he grew and ate what he killed or caught. As long as I can remember he always had a rabbit gum set to catch rabbits and possums. He would cage the possum s that he would catch and grain feed them and kill them to eat.
When he became a young man his dad made an agreement with him to cut the timber and split the profit from it. When the timber was sold his dad only gave him 50 cents. This wasn’t hardly enough from the hard work of manually cutting timber in those days so he left home.
MILL TOWN
My grandfather left Patrick County and moved to Rockingham County in North Carolina and worked in the Leaksville Mills as a loom fixer as many people did in those days. He was so good at what he did that he later relocated to Beacon Manufacturing Company in Swannanoa, NC, and finally to Chatham Mfg. Company in Elkin, NC. At Chatham’s he was in charge of the Weave Room and was the chief loom fixer. Chatham’s owned a lot of the land in Elkin and Jonesville, NC and there were many mill houses where many of the employees lived. His hobbies were raising beagle dogs and watching them run rabbits. His beagle dogs won many trophies and became field champions. They were all AKC registered.
PRIMITIVE BAPTIST
He was of the Primitive Baptist faith where he sometimes took us to church when I was a young boy. His favorite song was Amazing Grace. In the primitive Baptist church they didn’t use any music but sung all of their songs acapella. He said the Bible is a book about Hope. This one word describes his whole faith. The church meetings would last all day with four or five preachers and last all day long with dinner on the grounds. They just have church two days per month because the people travel a long way.
Chatham Mfg. Co.Fred Norman of Elkin told me that my grandfather was one of the smartest men at Chatham Mfg. Co. Fred said there were many men that worked there with engineering degrees but that my grandfather could take the top part of a loom together with the bottom part and make them run like a singer sewing machine. He was an inventor, and very mechanically minded with tools, and the use of his hands. A man that went to my church said that my grandfather was his supervisor and that he was the best boss man that he had ever had and was fair in the judgments that he made. One of his sayings was that the word CAN’T was not in his vocabulary. He said that “CAN’T NEVER COULD.”
This is the reason why I ended up in Elkin, NC because of the blanket mills.
George Robert Hall
Bob Hall
Most People were farmers
(1896-1971) My grandfather, (Bob) was born in Patrick County, Va. He was a farmer, and so was his dad. He was the oldest of a very large family. He had a slight accent from the Virginia area. I have heard some people talk like him from the South Boston Virginia area.
WAY OF LIFE
He grew up hunting rabbits and squirrels. He raised chickens, cows, and also a garden every year. He hunted and fished all of his life. He ate what he grew and ate what he killed or caught. As long as I can remember he always had a rabbit gum set to catch rabbits and possums. He would cage the possum s that he would catch and grain feed them and kill them to eat.
When he became a young man his dad made an agreement with him to cut the timber and split the profit from it. When the timber was sold his dad only gave him 50 cents. This wasn’t hardly enough from the hard work of manually cutting timber in those days so he left home.
MILL TOWN
My grandfather left Patrick County and moved to Rockingham County in North Carolina and worked in the Leaksville Mills as a loom fixer as many people did in those days. He was so good at what he did that he later relocated to Beacon Manufacturing Company in Swannanoa, NC, and finally to Chatham Mfg. Company in Elkin, NC. At Chatham’s he was in charge of the Weave Room and was the chief loom fixer. Chatham’s owned a lot of the land in Elkin and Jonesville, NC and there were many mill houses where many of the employees lived. His hobbies were raising beagle dogs and watching them run rabbits. His beagle dogs won many trophies and became field champions. They were all AKC registered.
PRIMITIVE BAPTIST
He was of the Primitive Baptist faith where he sometimes took us to church when I was a young boy. His favorite song was Amazing Grace. In the primitive Baptist church they didn’t use any music but sung all of their songs acapella. He said the Bible is a book about Hope. This one word describes his whole faith. The church meetings would last all day with four or five preachers and last all day long with dinner on the grounds. They just have church two days per month because the people travel a long way.
Chatham Mfg. Co.Fred Norman of Elkin told me that my grandfather was one of the smartest men at Chatham Mfg. Co. Fred said there were many men that worked there with engineering degrees but that my grandfather could take the top part of a loom together with the bottom part and make them run like a singer sewing machine. He was an inventor, and very mechanically minded with tools, and the use of his hands. A man that went to my church said that my grandfather was his supervisor and that he was the best boss man that he had ever had and was fair in the judgments that he made. One of his sayings was that the word CAN’T was not in his vocabulary. He said that “CAN’T NEVER COULD.”
This is the reason why I ended up in Elkin, NC because of the blanket mills.
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