Part 5
The conclusion, in part, of the autobiography of William Price Magee, son of Jacob Wood Magee (1863-1901) and wife Mary Alice Bateman Magee (1871-1901), is quoted in his own words:
In 1929 the stock market crashed. By 1930 everyone was pulling in. In 1932 it went down and the Deep Depression was on and for sure. I was out of work. I tried selling tile for a tile factory, but no soap.
Brother Dallas was living on the 23 acres [sic] farm which we bought for $700.00-paid $100.00 down and paid the balance with soldier bonus money and started the house Susie now owns.
The largest oil field in the world was found in East Texas. I went there to set tile. While working on a house for a nurseryman, he gave me several hundred linners [sic] and the Folsom nursery was born in 1932. Brother Dallas was a top notch farmer, and we soon needed land. I bought 47 acres where the present nursery is at $7.50 per acre. The man selling it regreted [sic] he had to charge 50% more because it was on a corner road. You could get thousands of acres at $5.00 per acre. That should give you some idea about the depression.
At this time, 1969, we are in the reverse of a depression. The place next door just sold for $800.00 an acre. The forty-nine acres we started with is now two hundred and twenty acres and is a corporation. The high wage scale has caused changes in the management of the nursery and I am thankful for long life to help make the changes. I think the Folsom Nursery will live on. We advertise nationally now….
I would like to recite some observation about the span of 70 years. During this time the push forward in knowledge is so vast it would take too much space to recite here. Earlier I told about at age eight and nine riding the freight wagon. The distance we covered was a day and a half from Franklinton to Folsom. We camped one night each way. We cover this distance now in 20 minutes….
This recitation is for my three girls and two grandchildren, so I will try to tell you about the Magees and Batemans.
This should interest you very much because to know your people is to know something of yourself. The Magees on our side put much faith in being property owners. At one time, John Magee, one of our grandfathers, farmed around Clifton, one of the finest farms…. Grandpa Fleet was a man considered 'quare.' He ran a small water mill on Jimson Creek and was a good mechanic. He had the neighborhood job making coffins. When someone died he had to stop his regular work and build a wooden box for a casket. Years before he died he built his own coffin. People thought him 'Quare,' but he was ahead of his time. He did not fight in the War Between the States. His wife, Lozane, was a Woods, and I remember hearing stories that she was quite a gal. The grandparents on the Bateman side were good people. Earlier I told about his hauling freight. He was the type who helped others. I have been told he was a leader and when the wagons were bogged down, he would stop other wagons and have them lend their teams. I have heard many stories about my father having a natural knack for drawing. He was born in 1863, while the war was on. He grew up during reconstruction which was the lowest order of time in all of the South's history. I do not know how much schooling he had. He was a tall man, soft of voice. After my mother died he was very lonely in his sickness. He kept me with him, and I can remember him getting me to recite 'Twinkle Little Star.' He would say over and over I was mud on the stick. I have tried to find out what mud on the stick meant. My mother's life was all too short. She was born in 1871. She was 8 years younger than my father. She had five children and was dead at 30 years old. She never had a chance to live the good long life.
I have told you about how wonderful Willie Mae has been. She has always put my well being first. My three daughters have been wonderful daughters. I hope after reading this outline of my life, they will understand the reason we have different values and reach different judgments about the same thing.
I would like to close by saying this is the finest period of my life, the present. Everyone is kind to me. The time in 1912 when I was fourteen years old was a wonderful time. I was hauling freight from Franklinton to Sheridan. There was [sic] eight miles of virgin long leaf pine, a beautiful thing to see.
Death will close my life, and of course death is nature's greatest wonder and nature's invention for keeping a balance. The old would fill this wonderful earth if it were not for death.
