Martha's story, page 3

Well, getting back to my story, this young man’s name was Gene Franklin.  From that Sunday on we started dating twice a week. One Thursday he didn’t come and I didn’t hear from him. I was ready to leave Saturday night but he got there before I left. He explained that he had been sick, so I understood.

            I was thrilled to be graduating high school (May 1951) but I didn’t know what I was going to do. I thought about going into nursing or taking a business course. I had an aunt and uncle from West Virginia and after they visited us and started to head home, they invited me to visit them. So I visited them for a few weeks. It seemed that Gene must have worried about whether I would come back. My aunt and uncle offered to send me to business school, if I stayed. But I came back home and Gene was there that weekend and asked me to marry him. He also had a ring with him. Of course I said “Yes!” We also started double dating with another couple in our church. Their names were Doris Howell (our pastor’s daughter) and J.D. Early. Since we were both engaged, we decided to have a double wedding at our church on December 22^nd of that year, at 6:00 p.m. We were so excited! 

Martha's story, page 2

Let me tell you something about my early life. I was raised in a Christian home. My dad was a Free Will Baptist preacher. He would go preach in North Carolina Mountains and mom, my sister (Louise), my brother (Jimmy), and myself stayed at home in Caroleen, N.C. 

I remember mama carrying me in her arms and my brother and sister walking by her side. Church was an important part of our lives and later, in my teen years, I taught the small children in Sunday school and was voted to be the pianist when I could only play one or two songs. Boy, it was scary! I also began taking care of Aunt Ann’s children, when I was thirteen and a half years old, while she worked. We had some good times and we would have birthday parties for each other.

Martha's story, "In the Beginning"

My mother spent many years writing and typing up her life story on an old typewriter.  When she had finished writing her memories and thoughts, she asked her granddaughter April Logan to enter it into a word document on the computer.  This is the first of many posts that will tell the story of my mom's life with my dad, in her words, this is how they met... 

“IN THE BEGINNING”

By: Martha Rice Franklin

            In the year 1947, I met a young man who was leading the singing in a tent revival in my hometown of Caroleen, N.C. I attended the services because as a Christian I enjoyed being where the Bible was preached. But there was another reason. I really liked this young man and also enjoyed hearing him sing. His hometown was Clifton, S.C. so other than getting to go to the services in the summer that was it. 

 

       Four years later, in February of 1951, I was at a talent program at Tri-High school, where I would graduate in May of that year. I heard someone call my name and when I looked around there was the young man that I had known four years earlier, but had almost forgotten. He asked to take me home and then came back the next day pretending to come to see my brother, Jimmy. He got there in time for Sunday dinner. Boy, Mama was a good cook! Some of the church folks would come to eat and they would rave about how good everything was. Those friends were Martha, Edna, and Lucille Coffey. They loved Mama’s banana and pineapple pudding. To me those didn’t look so good.  I had seen her wring the necks of so many chickens, that I couldn’t eat them. Later I saw what I missed and learned to love fried chicken. I liked everything else she cooked.