Income was necessary before marriage could be considered.

I was paying $56.00 a month on the 1950 model Ford that I left in Winter Haven for my parents to drive. My beginning pay at the Army was $78.00 per month less tithes of $7.80 = $70.20 less car payment of $56 = $13.80 available for other expenditures.

I sought work and got a job at Rich Super Market which was about 10 miles from Ft. Eustis near the town of Newport News Va. They were open until 11p.m. every day except Christmas. I obtain special permission from the Army to engage in this civilian work. I did not have transportation, so I would walk part of the way and hitch hike to the gates of Ft. Eustis and then walk another mile to the barracks. They paid me $1.00 per hour so I managed to earn more at the store than my army salary.

Of course, I had to save the money if I was to provide for my future bride who was on my mind every day.

After promotion to E2 my salary was increased to $86.00; As E3 my salary was increased to $100.00 monthly.

War Games During the Cold War: “Exercise Flash Burn” 1954 US Army; The Big Picture TV-266 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwBVEgtmDAQ

I went on army maneuvers to AP Hill in February 1954 and later my battalion went to Ft. Bragg NC for Operation Flash Burn from March 17th until May 10th. We sleep in 2-man tents and the weather was so cold that water would freeze to ice. My buddy Cpl. Bates and I dug a 40-inch-deep hole and mounted our tent over the hole. We cut small trees and fastened burlap bags over them as hammock type beds. We used an oil lamp for heat. Most of the soldiers were sleeping directly on the cold ground and some appeared envious of our situation. During the day I worked in the Company office tent and also participated in some of the various practice maneuvers.

While at Ft. Bragg I made one trip home to see my family on a three-day pass March 27-30. I somehow traveled several miles to the train station and rode Amtrak to Winter Haven. I returned to Raleigh and somehow met another soldier or two and we walked and/or caught rides to where the maneuvers were being held in the woods near Ft. Bragg. I sure did not want to fail to report on time and be AWOL and subject to punishment. As I recall these events, surely God directed me to keep me out of trouble as a young 20-year-old soldier.

I was dreaming of marriage and there was no housing allowance for dependents until you got to the grade of E-4 Corporal. An E4 could get their regular pay plus an allowance for their wife for a combined monthly income of $199.40.

During our daily correspondence on August 18^th this 16-year-old agreed to get married. I made another trip home Sept 4-7, and we discussed our plans more fully but very secretive and only between the two of us.  I came home for Christmas ’53 (19^th-28^th) with intentions of telling Mary Nell’s parents of our plans for marriage as soon as she graduated the following June. We were trimming the tree at 622 Orrin Avenue when I began to tell them the plan. Momma King began to cry and say, “I knew it Ashley; I knew that was what they were going to do.”  I ask for their permission, however, they did not give a reply until the day before I left to go back to Ft. Eustis. Daddy King finally said he guess it would be O.K. providing we waited until she graduated. I know this must have been difficult for them to think of their 17-year-old daughter leaving them and going 700 miles away to Ft. Eustis VA married to this young soldier. Of course, we shared our good news with my parents also.

I began to plan to marry Mary Nell as soon as she graduated in May 1954. My brother, My brother Donald’s term of enlistment in the army would be over in May also. He agreed to sell me the trailer that he and his wife Betty had been living in for the past 3 years. He wanted $500 for the fully furnished trailer. It was 8 feet wide and 14 feet long.

Mary Nell and her mother did all the usual things for a bride. She kept me informed in her daily letters to me as to the wardrobe and the bridal shower.  Shelba Pitts, Weita Jo Bailey, Mrs. J. R. Hamm and Agnes McTeer honored her with a bridal shower on April 26, 1954. She had her wedding gown tailored by a longtime friend Jamie Wallace who lived in Lakeland. Her bridal picture was published in the Winter Haven News Chief.

I applied for permission to leave the trailer in the trailer park on post however there was a waiting list for spaces, so Donald had to remove the trailer and I had to reapply for a space and wait my turn. Lot rent off base was about $50 monthly whereas on base the monthly rent was only $14 including utilities. The on base park had a large community bath and laundry facility for the tenants to use. That was very important to me because our small trailer did not have any commode, bathtub. or laundry facilities.

At my request my Warrant Officer, Cleo C. Guntharp, and/or my chaplain, sent a letter on February 3, 1954, to the commanding general’s office in charge of the Post trailer park requesting I be given preferred status for a space as the Unit Personnel Clerk who needed to be nearby in cases of emergency. Although there were several soldiers on the waiting list that had more rank than me, they assigned a space for me to rent. I did my best in the army. Once again, my superiors recommended that my required “time in grade” be waived because of outstanding performance and allow me to qualify for promotion to grade E4 – Corporal. On April 23, 1954, I was promoted to E4 while at Fort Bragg NC with the 16^th Trucking Co. This was a milestone that I had to meet before I could be married.

One day the chaplain was visiting the battalion headquarters and he told me he was looking for someone to direct the activities at the Chaplains office. He preferred a Sergeant and of course the candidate needed to be a Christian. As he explained the duties and responsibilities of a chaplain assistant, I immediately told him I was interested in the position. I told him of how I desired to be married and remain in Ft. Eustis and not be assigned overseas because my bride would not be allowed to accompany me. On July 19, 1954, I was transferred from the 16^th T. Co to the HQ&HQ CO. 48^th GP. Ft Eustis, VA. Where I was assigned to my new position as chaplain assistant.

Being chaplain assistance was a good assignment for me. My work was primarily being there to direct any inquiring soldier as to how to find the office of the other chaplains who were on duty at the Post Chapel about 2 miles away. Soon the second chaplain was assigned to that same chapel where I was on duty. He was Catholic, so he had his own assistant. A Baptist chaplain came later, and he had his own assistant. My Chaplain later went to South Carolina for six – nine months schooling so I was there at the Chapel on my own. I had lots of free time. I signed up for a correspondence class in Accounting at the University of Florida.

I came home on a 3-day pass in March ‘54. Tom & Donald were in FL for vacation. My dad said he felt he could now afford to buy his and mom’s own car, so on March 30^th I ordered a new blue and white Oldsmobile to be delivered the week of our planned wedding, the first week in June. To me this was another big event. My parents had never owned a new car. My family had always owned used cars. To save on the cost the dealer ordered the car with standard transmission. For many years afterwards, Joe King said that was the only Oldsmobile the dealer ever ordered without automatic transmission. Jack Yon told me during a visit at the Auburndale Walmart in February 2008 that he remembers working at the Oldsmobile dealer in June 1954 when my new car arrived. He said it was the only Oldsmobile most of them had ever seen with a standard or manual transmission.

I surrendered my trade in and went back to Ft. Eustis looking forward to returning in a couple of months to get married and take delivery of a new car. Oh, happy days! The budget was tight, but we could afford the new car payment of about $58 monthly.

Mary Nell’s parents had given her a sewing machine some time before our marriage. There was a $6.00 per month payment on it. After we married her parents gave her the payment book which was a surprise and disappointment to both of us. We had not anticipated this and had not included this in our tight budget. We made the payments and never discussed it with them.

Our wedding came off as planned on Sunday afternoon at 3:00 at the Eloise Church of God. During the previous year Mitchell Thomas had moved to Mayo however he returned to officiate our wedding. Rev. Alex J. Duncan was now our pastor. I shall never forget that early Sunday morning before our wedding he was at the church mopping the floor. Rev. Duncan and I remained lifetime friends.

The wedding was well attended by family and friends as was the reception at the Eloise Church. Mary Nell changed clothes at the parsonage next door, and we were ready to leave so my brother Jack went to get our new car that he had been hidden downtown. It arrived fully decorated by the youth group who had found it and done it up right. Eugene, Wilburn Thompson and others chased us for many miles out of town and we traveled the back-roads South and West. I had not made any reservations for the “Honeymoon” and we choose to stop before dark at a nice motel on Highway 41, the Tamiami Trail in Bradenton. The next day we traveled further south on Highway 41 to Naples. The following day we visited the Indian village in South Florida. On the 4^th day we went to visit Aunt Ribbon and Uncle Larry Campbell in Miami.  The 5^th day to Juno Beach and the 6^th day to McGee Jungle Gardens. After returning to Winter Haven the June weather was so hot, we sleep on the floor in the living room at 622 Orrin Avenue. We decided to cut the time in Winter Haven short and go on to Ft. Eustis to occupy our little trailer home. My military leave was approved for May 31^st until Jun 19 however we returned early and saved the unused leave time for future use.

This was very exciting on June 12^th as we arrived in Ft. Eustis.  Mary Nell had never seen the trailer although I had made and mailed to her detail drawings of the bed in one end and the couch in the other with a small refrigerator and range in between. The 8 wide and14 foot long mobile home was a very small place to live, but big enough for the two of us.

Mary Nell could join me at the chapel any time she wanted. She enjoyed practicing on the nice organ and piano as well as just hanging out with me. I worked most weekends at Rich’s Supermarket as we needed the income to survive. We took several 3-day pass weekend and took trips to Logan and other places.

Mary Nell applied for work on base but was informed she was too young, age 17, to apply for the Civil Service jobs. I attended one-night class in Economics 101at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Va. Mary Nell and I both took a night course in Typing on base.

On July 3, 1954, we went to Logan for Mary Nell’s first visit.

I was recommended for Good Conduct Medal on August 27, 1954

Mary Nell’s parents came to visit us for Labor Day (Sept 54). They stayed at the Guest House on base. We ate on a picnic table in our yard. They could not believe how hot and small our trailer was. We all went to Washington D.C. for a few days.

She was 18 years of age on November 3, 1994, however she decided to wait until after our Christmas Holidays in FL before she applied for work. When we arrived back to Ft. Eustis from Christmas, we were both sick in the bed with a bad case of flu and vomiting. Neither was able to care for the other. The doctor wanted to admit us to the hospital, but we did not want to be separated and had only one friend who would visit us.

Before many weeks she began to feel badly experiencing the symptoms of motherhood. In March, the doctors confirmed she was pregnant. This was a surprise, and we wrote and told our parents in Winter Haven the exciting news that they could plan to be grandparents. Now it was less than five months until our tour of duty in the army was over. We planned to use our accumulated leave time and spend 4 weeks in West Virginia working in April and May. 

In April we went to Logan and stayed with Tom & Maxine for a month. I worked at the Logan Plant Store and we accumulated a few dollars to use for startup money in Winter Haven. We sold the trailer and recovered our $500 investment. On May 26, 1955 we return to Winter Haven our hometown where I had the rights to return to the job I had left at Race & Race.  We were very excited and glad to have our military responsibility behind us. I signed up to continue my $10,000 VA NSLI life insurance policy, which has proved out to be a very good decision as was paid up in a few years and has now grown to a paid-up Survivor Benefit of $94,600.

Upon being released from the United States Army May 25, 1955, I served in the United States Army Reserve until discharged on April 30, 1961. See letter from HEADQUARTERS IV UNITED STATES ARMY CORPS, CALDER building, Birmingham 3, Alabama, issued Discharge Letter Order Number D-5-2897 dated May 23, 1961.

On our first anniversary I gave Mary Nell a set of knives. On the 10^th anniversary we took her parents and Rita with our three children and went to Fish Haven in Auburndale for a weekend with the family fishing and swimming. Looking back that was not very romantic, but what did I know.

After working a few days at my old job at Race & Race it did not seem as if the company had progressed any during the two years I had been gone. The business did not appear as good as when I had left it.  I inquired of the General Manager as to what he thought the future of the company was and if he would suggest I seek another company with more opportunity. He could not say much but he didn’t promise me much for the future. I went to the Florida State Employment office to seek a better job while I continued to work at Race & Race. I never left one job until after I had a better one. Marty Halabrin the President of Tip Top TV and Appliances interviewed me, and I was hired as office manager with a starting salary of $250 per month. The store was located at 324 4^th Street NW.

When I was honorable discharged from the army, Mary Nell and I stayed for a few weeks with our parents but soon purchase a home located at 865 Lake Shore Way in Lake Alfred. I read a newspaper ad where the Bank of Lake Alfred had a two-family house for sale for $5,700. The exterior and the downstairs had been repainted and ready for occupancy. Daddy King inspected under the house for us and felt it was well built with good lumber. The house was very old, but we were happy to get it. The upstairs rental income was important to our tight budget.

I refinance our Oldsmobile to purchase a new Westinghouse refrigerator, a range, a washer, and dryer at Tip Top’s cost. From Mather’s Furniture Store we also purchase a living room suite, and a dinette for $200. Mary Nell’s parents allowed her to keep her bedroom suite so we felt we had it all together and ready to make the move.

It was an exciting summer. My cousin, Evelyn Rae came from Michigan to spend some time with my sister Nancy. Mom and Dad went to WV for visit, so Mary Nell and I stay at their house several days to look after these girls and Jack. We even got them to help us do some painting of the upstairs of our new home. I was working all day at Tip Top (link to Tip Top) and was spending every hour possible at night painting.  We young people had a hilarious time laughing and being funny.

Late1960 Marty Halabrin offered to sell me a parcel of land adjoining a new home he built on Lake Martha. We purchased it and put our house up for sell on Avenue U NW. Within a few days our home avenue “U” sold, and we did not have any place to live. We moved in with the King’s on Orrin Avenue SW. The IRS began to audit our tax return during this time. Mary Nell was pregnant again and stress was building up. We completed the construction within 6 weeks and moved to our new home on Lake Silver near the Winter Haven hospital. This was a much larger three-bedroom two bath home with a double carport. We had a large yard, and it was a great place to raise the children and was close to my work downtown. I believe it was the finest home any of my family had ever lived in and both of our parents were very proud of us. This home became the place for family gatherings and holiday celebrations. Tip Top sales team went to Christy’s Restaurant most Saturday nights for dinner. From the chief, I learned to grill steaks make his Greek salads. Mary Nell and I began grilling steaks, baking potatoes and making Greek salad and inviting our parents or other family members over for dinner. This salad became a favorite for my mother.

Mary Nell was born on November 3rd, 1936 in the small town of Colquitt, Georgia.  Her parents Lois Hilda Tully King and Roy Ashley King had given birth to Joseph Roy three years previously.

Colquitt is in Miller County which was a farming area just north of Bainbridge.  Ashley and Lois had grown up in this area and were very poor like most of the other rural farmers during the great depression of the 1929-1930’s.

They loved their two children very much and worked hard to provide for them.

Roy did not like farm work, however, he did like working on automobile engines.  He learned to be a good mechanic.  Roy King began working with a highway construction company.   He would maintain the heavy equipment for them.  The roadwork was in the Camp Blanding and other north Florida communities.  He took his family with him, so they moved every time the company began working on a different road construction job.  As his job moved, he relocated his wife and two children to various rented homes so the family could live together.  During the first 12 years of their marriage, they moved to 36 various places.  During one school year the children attended three different schools.

Aunt Ribbon

A most special person in Mary Nell’s life was her Aunt Ribbon, her Nell namesake.  Ribbon’s name was really Rosa Nell Tully the only sister to Mary Nell’s mother.  Rosa Nell was the baby sister, and her family nicknamed her Ribbon.  Mary Nell always called her “Aunt Ribbon” and Lois usually called her Baby Sister.

Ribbon married Lawrence Campbell one year before Mary Nell was born.  This young, 21-year-old couple adored Mary Nell and she carried the Nell name.  Ribbon and Larry never had a child of their own and Mary Nell was so special to them.  Their home was Mary Nell’s most favorite place to go.  There she was the center of all attention.  She was petted and pampered by both Aunt Ribbon and Uncle Larry. 

Larry & Ribbon lived in Coral Gables, Miami where he worked for an A&P grocery store.  Chester King, Ashley’s brother, also lived in Miami known as Kendall.  Uncle “Pete” Lunsford was in Miami doing lots of stucco work at that time.  Soon after Mary Nell was born her parents decided to leave the Colquitt farm and join those relatives living in Miami.  They sold the pigs and chicken; stored their few pieces of junky furniture in Uncle Perry’s corn crib and loaded up the family with their personal item and drove to Miami. 

During the cold December night in 1936 the Model A Ford developed some mechanical problems near Frostproof, Florida so they were stranded on the side of the road.  Lois was very concerned for her 6-week-old daughter and her 3-year-old son.  The Ford had window curtains but did not have glass in the doors and she just could not keep the cold air from blowing inside.  It is told that she and R.A. had some heated conversations as to their predicament.

Finally, day light came, and R.A. walked to town and got help and they continued the trip to Miami.  Lois got a job in the local laundry and Ribbon took care of Mary Nell and Joe.  At the end of the first week Ribbon complained that the baby cried all day, so Lois quit her job and stayed home as a mother. They were living in a small apartment behind the A&P on Flagler Street.

Larry worked at a local drug store for a brief time before he got a good job as a mechanic with Eastern Airlines.  In the early 1930’s airlines were beginning to be big business and Miami was the home base for Eastern.  It was thought that Larry’s income was greater and more stable that the King and Tully families were accustomed to as farmers.

After about six months of living in Miami R.A. and Lois decided they would be better off in Birmingham so they moved there, and R.A. worked for the Marietta Bread Bakery.  After six weeks they moved back to Cairo or Donaldsonville to live in the house with R.A.’s father, R.Q. King.

Sickness at Eight months of age

As an infant Mary Nell had done well in Miami.  As her mother’s breast milk began to dry up Mary Nell’s diet was supplemented with pasteurized milk which was readily available in the large city.  As the family moved to South Georgia, they began bottle feeding Mary Nell fresh milk from the cow and her body did not process this milk very well.

Mary Nell began to have diarrhea and eventually her body would go into spasms.  As the days went by her condition became worse.  During this time, her family moved to Colquitt into the house with Aunt Annie and Uncle J.W. Tully, the brother of Lois.  Annie and J.W. were a few years older so Lois greatly relied upon them to assist her in the dilemma of a sick child.  The one bedroom one kitchen house was crowded with the two families.  Hilda, Christine, Buddy and Joy became playmates and baby-sitters for Joe and Mary Nell.

Annie and Lois tried everything they knew to feed Mary Nell, but her body refused to process the food.  Food would be rejected or pass immediately thru the little body.  They had tried everything that Dr. Housten of Colquitt had recommended such as powdered milk, dried milk and other baby formulas, but none of them seemed to help.  It was almost more that they could withstand to see this nine-month-old child in such a dying condition.

As Mary Nell was taking a nap one day Lois went out behind one of the old farm building called the “smoke house” and prayed for God to either heal Mary Nell or take her home to heaven.  Before long someone told them of a Doctor Ehrilh in Bainbridge, Ga.  They said he was one of the best baby doctors known and he was thought to be a very intelligent Jew.  Lois had no money for a doctor and no way to travel 25 miles to Bainbridge.  It was Friday and Ribbon & Larry arrived for a weekend visit from Miami, so they carried them to the first visit with Dr. Ehrilh. The doctor’s brother operated a drug store nearby.

As soon as he saw Mary Nell the doctor said you don’t need to tell me all her past medical history, this child is allergic to milk.  Take her home, do not allow her to have even one drop of any milk or milk by-product.  I don’t know that she will live but if she does, bring her back to see me in four days.  Get ripe bananas for her.  Cut out all the seeds and dark spots.  Mash the clear parts and put them in a baby bottle.  Cut a large hole in the nipple and feed the mashed bananas to her.

Bananas were considered expensive for the poor families, but they managed to buy them for Mary Nell.  The other children were glad to get the centers and dark parts to eat.  They may have been envious of her, but they were sympathetic to her condition.  They began to call her “Nana girl”.  They referred to her by that name all of her life. 

By the time Mary Nell was 10 months old she was on her road to recovery although she weighted only 13 1/2 pounds and did not have any teeth. She had won a special spot in the heart of those who loved her, and they never forgot this terrible experience.  Lois, Annie and others believed God had answered their prayers and caused this child to live. 

Lois had told the doctor she did not have the money to pay him, but if he would treat her baby, she would be willing to scrub his floors or whatever to see he was paid.  They paid a dollar or two at a time until they finally got him paid in full.  He was a very special person to Lois, he helped her thru a most difficult situation.  The summer before Mary Nell was 16-year-old they stopped in Bainbridge and visited Dr. Ehrilh.  Lois just wanted him to see what a nice young lady she had grown to be.  It was a happy occasion although Mary Nell later said she was somewhat embarrassed.

Colquitt

Now that the crisis was over R.A. moved a few miles to what was known as the Hurd place out near Nellie Calhoun in Colquitt.  They recovered their household items out of Perry’s corn crib.  R.A. and J.W. worked at the local service station.  J.W. opened his own station for Standard Oil Company.  Some new homes had been constructed near the Depot and Hope Bush Store.  Each of these two families moved into one of these homes. 

As Lois’s parents’ problems began to intensify, she moved back out near Nellie to the place she called the Rough house.  This is where she was living on April 4, 1938 when her parents died from gunshot committed by her father. Mary Nell was now 17-month-old.

Lois attended the little church in Unity and began living the life of a Christian.

Archer, Florida

During the winter of 1938 R.Q. King opened a service station in Archer, Fla. on the highway between Williston and Gainesville.  R.A. moved his family here and soon got a job cutting pulp wood for one of the paper companies.  He was paid one dollar for each days work.  One day Mary Nell fell into the open pit where her grandfather changed the oil in automobile engines.  She went headfirst in a bucket of used motor oil.  The three-year old’s blond hair was covered with oil. 

When R.A. would get home from work before dark, he would take Joseph and go into the woods behind their house and hunt a rabbit or squirrel as meat for the family. 

Later he got a job working for McLeod Construction helping construct this new highway.  New road or highways were now being paved in many parts of Florida.  Each time the company started a new job R.A. would move his young family so they could all be together.  They would rent whatever house or apartment was available and moved their little bit of furniture into it.  Life was difficult for Lois and the children, but R.A. preferred this to trying to farm in Georgia.

Lois would attend church whenever she could and in Williston, she began to attend the Church of God where Rev. I. V. Lord was the pastor.  This is where she first met Rev. Mitchell Thomas when he later became pastor of the church.  The Thomas family had a profound influence upon the King family and the various family members remained very good friends all of their lives. 

R.A.’s work took him to Camp Blanding, Hampton and other communities in North Florida.  When it came time for Mary Nell to begin the first grade, she attended the first six weeks in Hampton near Jacksonville.  She was in Lawtey, Fla. for the second grade. 

This is where Lois became ill and had her first surgery.  She had experienced some difficulties with the birth of her children and seems to have had health problems ever since.  Also, the sudden death of both of her parents gave her nervous system a shock that she never fully recovered from.

Later that year Mary Nell continued the second grade back in Williston.  Rev. Andrew Sapp was now the pastor of the Church of God.  Mary Nell would sing and participate in the church programs.  Her mother recalls of her singing “1,2,3 the devils after Me” and other songs as solo’s.  Aunt Ribbon made Mary Nell a Shirley Temple dress and pillow.  At Christmas time she recited a poem about “Baby Jesus not having a place to lay His head in the manager.  If he was here now he could lay His head on my pillow.”  She would lift the pillow into the air.  Of course, Mary Nell received attention from many of the people.

Winter Haven – December 1, 1943

R.A. did not like the foreman on the highway construction job in Lawtey or Coco.  He began to express his unhappiness.  They visited Rev. Thomas who was now pastoring the church in Eloise.  During this visit, R.A. learned that a new road was being constructed between Bartow and Lake Wales.  He got hired so his family was “on the road again”.  They rented a small frame house from Jamie Wallace who attended the Eloise Church.  The house was located on Avenue “U” N.W. between 2nd and 3rd Street in Florence Villa. The Florence Villa packing house is now known as the Birdseye packing house which was at the end of the block. Several of the women from the church worked at this nearby citrus packing house.  The James E. and Emma Thompson family lived nearby, one block north, and they also attended the Eloise Church of God. This family, Wilburn, Eugene, and Wanda remained lifetime friends of Mary Nell.

The grade school in Florence Villa had recently burned so Joe and Mary Nell rode the school bus to the Inwood school located on the road now known as Avenue G and 22nd Street N.W.  At that time, Joe was in the 5th grade and Mary Nell was in the 2nd grade.

The King family became very active in the Church of God at Eloise and they built lasting friendship with many of the members.  Before long R. A. joined the Church.

On February 3, 1946 during a revival held by Evangelist Jernigan Mary Nell received the gift of the baptism of the Holy Spirit and spoke in the heavenly tongue.  She was now 9 years of age and became a sincere person of prayer.  Her parents were amazed at how she and her friend Jeanette Bilbrey would kneel and pray for Shirley Rizer and their other unsaved childhood playmates.  Jeanette was only 7 years of age when she received the Holy Spirit during the same revival of February 1946.

Cee Dee Coby tells of how Mary Nell came to pray for her when she was sick and how fervent in the Holy Spirit Mary Nell was during her prayers as a little 9 or 10-year-old girl wearing her long pig tails. These young people’s lives made a lasting impression on some of the adults.

Miami

The most exciting place to visit was Uncle Larry’s in Miami.  They would take Mary Nell to the ocean.  She could not say Atlantic Ocean; her word sounded more like the “moric ocean” but they loved her so much.  A visit would include daily trips to the ice cream shop where they made many flavors of homemade ice cream.  They would tour the beautiful neighborhoods with the streets lined with the tall slender coconut palm trees.  Aunt Ribbon was called “Pet” by her husband.  She did not work and he was anxious to come home from his mechanic job with Eastern each day.

Ribbon was very sweet to Mary Nell and almost jealous of the attention her husband gave to the young niece.  They had a nice home and yard at 6441 SW. 2nd Avenue in Miami.  Mary Nell would stay with them for a few weeks when she could in the summer time.  Living conditions with them was far better than what Mary Nell was accustomed to at home.  The last summer Mary Nell spent with them was in 1953 and Aunt Ribbon already had symptoms of multiple sclerosis.  Her speech was becoming slurred.  Mary Nell was 16 years of age and preparing to enter her senior year in Winter Haven High School. Her boyfriend had been drafted into the U.S. Army on May 25, 1953 so being in Miami was good for her morale.

Eloise Church of God

The Ashley King family became one of the stalwart families attending the Church of God in Eloise, Fla. with Rev. Mitchell Thomas and his wife Ruth being their pastor.  Everyone seemed to love the Thomas’.  At this time, the church was in the old wood building on the back street. The church was covered with white horizontal siding. The church had wood floor and handmade benches.  Rev. Robert Johnson was pastor of this church for a period of time after the King family began attending.

The Eloise Church of God was a main focal point in the life of the King family.  Lois King felt a great urgency to serve God; she had a great fear of hell and its torment.  She was very committed and determined that her family would obey the church rules and make it to Heaven.

Mary Nell loved people and had many friends.  She had begun singing in church when she was about three years of age when she would stand on top of the piano bench so the congregation could see her.  She developed a deep devotion and love for Jesus Christ.  He was her true Savior and she made him the Lord of her life.  She later learned to play the piano and sang solos. She also sang in trio with Virginia Thomas and Shelba Jean Pitts who were some of her best childhood friends.

The church taught against females cutting their hair so Mary Nell would braid her long hair in a style referred to as “pig tails”.  She began to dress and act like the others young ladies in her church.  The preaching including strong teaching pertaining the way the females should or should not dress and the types of entertainment that were forbidden.

Virginia Thomas, the pastor’s daughter was a year older and had a great influence upon her, as a matter-of-fact Thomas family had a great influence upon the King family.  Ashley and Lois had not had much religious training and did not understand much about the Bible.  Ashley had dropped out of school in the sixth grade to work on his father’s farm in Georgia.  Lois had finished the 7th but had not studied the Bible. 

The Kings became good friends with Lewis and Mary Bilbrey who were also in their late twenties or early thirties now.   Their children were about the same age as Joseph and Mary Nell.  The Bilbrey’s sold the King’s their tiny home at 620 Orrin Avenue SW., between 6th and 7th Street for $1350.  J. R. and Myrtle Hamm lived next door and they also attended the Eloise Church. It was an exciting day on August 1, 1945 when the Kings moved into this home of their own.

R.H. Rizer lived across Orrin Ave. and he owned Rizer Electric Co.  The Rizer children became some of Mary Nell’s childhood playmates.  Two blocks away at the corner of 7th St. & Ave. “L” lived Mary Nell’s best friend Shelba Jean.  Shelba and her mother Vera Mae would most times accompany the Kings to church. 

There was a special fellowship among the people who attended the Church of God in the 1940’s.  Many of these families were formed during the great depression of the 1930’s.  Food had been scarce, and they were poor people who related to one another.  World War II began in 1941 so the overall job market was greatly improved. 

The citrus industry in Central Florida was providing jobs for both men and women.  Most were paid the minimum wage, but they would often work 90 to 100 hours per week in the season, thus the pay was good.  Then they would be paid unemployment pay for 13 weeks when citrus was not in season.  Most of the church members’ income was related to the citrus industry in one way or the other.

Lewis Bilbrey became one of the church leaders.  He could not read or write but he had a good personality and had a good head for business.  He built a nice business of buying and selling citrus.  He hired a crew of men to pick and haul the citrus.  He was thought to be the wealthiest person attending the Eloise Church.  They built a nice modern home on the old road from Eloise to Eagle Lake.  Mary Nell would often go to their home for dinner on Sunday.

Sister Mary Bilbrey and Sister Lois King were among the leaders of the Eloise Church.  They sang, taught Sunday school, lead youth meeting etc.  They joined in home prayer groups with several other ladies of the church.  The women and children enjoyed a close friendship and fellowship that had the church activities as the central theme.

Many of the church people were employed at the large Snivley packing house in Eloise.  Much of the funds were raised by cooking and selling chicken and fish dinners by the church members and friends.  The church was only 2 blocks from the Eloise post office and the Snivley packing house, thus there was lots of activity in the area.  Church socials of food, cold drinks or ice cream were common source of fund raising and fellowship.

Soon a new brick church was to be built on Snivley Avenue in Eloise.  The church was constructed mostly by voluntary labor.  Mitchell Thomas was a good carpenter and bricklayer.  He and the other member spent many hours constructing the new church building.  This seems to make the Christian bond of fellowship only stronger among them.

The church would have revival from time to time.  The church had been founded after some tent revivals some year prior.  The stories were repeatedly told of how the different evangelist including Rev. Jake Roberts had come to town with a tent to hold open air services.  Tents were sometime cut by persons opposing Pentecost.  The church services including loud singing, shouting, praying, and worshipping the Lord.  On a few occasions the evangelist was put into jail after being charged with disturbing the peace or not obtaining the proper permits.  The Church of God people expressed that the uptown churches felt superior to them and contributed to the opposition and persecution.

Mary Nell grew up feeling inferior to the average and well to do families of Winter Haven.  The preacher taught that her church was persecuted and was different.  Persons living in Eloise and South Winter Haven were thought to be of lower income and less educated than those living up town in the City.

Ashley loved automobile and mechanical work. He opened a little service station on highway 17 on the south side of the Town of Eagle Lake.  Lois would take her ironing there and help him attend to the station.  Ashley was a better mechanic than he was a business man.  He would give all of his relatives and church people half of his discount on his parts.  Joe left the back door unlocked twice and thieves stole the inventory.  Some customers failed to pay their debts to him so it was not long before he closed his service station. 

620 Orrin Avenue SW

About 1947 the Kings began remodeling their little house at 620 Orrin Ave. SW. R.A. was now working for Food Machinery in Lakeland.  Engines for the U. S. Army military tanks arrived in large wooden shipping crates, which FMC sold to R.A. for 50 cents each.  This provided lumber to seal the interior of the four-room house.  Then they added a living room across the front of the house plus a carport.  Ashley and his friends did most of the construction at night and weekends. Mary Nell and her family used the little wash house in the backyard as a bathroom and shower during the early years.  They were now proud of the tiled shower in the new three-bedroom home.  Mary Nell was about 12 years of age and Joe was about 15.

R.A. began working for Snipe Brothers Trucking Company who maintained a fleet of trucks for long distance hauling.  Their shop was located on 7th Street S. W. near avenue “P” which was only a couple of blocks from his home.  When Ashley was overhauling one of the large diesel engines he worked many extra hours and the overtime pay was much needed.

Mary Nell was expected to assist with the housework on Orrin Avenue.  She learned to wash, iron and cook as a young girl.  Lois had been made to do household chores when she was growing up in on the farm in South Georgia while living with her parents.  She was determined that Mary Nell also would learn how to keep house and participate in the work.  Mary Nell felt that more was expected than what she could do considering her schoolwork, piano lessons and going to church several times per week.   She was expected to attend church services including the Sunday afternoon youth prayer meeting which her mother was in charge of.  This was one of the subjects of controversy at the time I met her in January 1952.  

Joe worked delivering newspapers on a motor scooter and began to earn money.  Previously when the family had lived in Jacksonville, he had sold newspapers on the street corner; now he had a route of regular customers in the Winter Haven area receiving the Tampa Tribune.

Chester King lived in West Palm and Rosa Nell Tully lived in Miami.  Relatives from Georgia would usually stop off in Winter Haven on their way to and from visiting in South Florida where Chester & Rosa Nell lived. This meant company for Mary Nell several times each year. Momma Kings brother Charles Tully lived with them for a period before he joined the US Navy. Momma Kings niece Betty Jean Tully lived with them for some time before she married James Yelvington. These people were very special to Mary Nell the remainder of her life. Doyle King (no relationship) later boarded with them for a couple of years.

In the fall of 1951 Joe entered Florida State University in Tallahassee where he attended for one semester.  Mary Nell was in the 10th grade at Winter Haven High School. 

In January 1952, a new family started attending her church at Eloise.  They had moved from Logan, West Virginia which was the hometown of Lovell Cary who was the associate pastor to Rev. Mitchell Thomas at the Eloise church.  With them they had a daughter Mary Sue “Susie” and a son Danny who was 18 years of age.  Mary Nell had turned 15 a couple of months previously.  Dan and Mary Nell were introduced to each other at one of the cookouts next to the church.  Dan had a camera, and a long story was beginning to develop.