Chapter 1 Miners Camp

I have talked to many people in my lifetime about my large family, and many of them have told me- "You ought to write a book"....so this is my attempt to do just that. Lets see what happens-

MINERS CAMP

Chapter 1

February 23, 1892
Miners Camp in Birmingham, Alabama

The Birth

It was a cold day in February, 1892. Martha Jane Collins had started her labor early in the morning hours, but she still had plenty to do.She had to get in the wood and kindling to get a fire started, get the children up and dresssed for school, feed them, fix their lunches and get them off to school. With some luck-she might be able to get all this done before the baby came.

Jasper and Jim were already up and out doing chores, milking the cow, feeding the hogs, chickens, and gathering the eggs. Jim had moved back home after his wife and baby had died in childbirth. After feeding ole' Maude, the mule, Jim hitched her up to the buggy, they would drop the buggy and mule off at his sister Huldy's house on their way in to work. Mama would need her help with the delivery of the baby. Then they would eat some breakfast and head on off to the Birminham coal mine #2, where him and his Papa, Jasper, both worked.

As she was stoking the fire in the old black pot-bellied stove, another excruciating pain hit her in her lower back. This time Martha had to sit down until it passed. Going back to the stove, she filled a large hot cast iron skillet with side pork and listened to it sizzle and spit as it hit the hot skillet. The aroma immediately started to fill the air. She poured herself a cup of hot coffee from the old blue speckled pot that always sat at the back of the stove, with hot coffee in it.The wind was howling outside, it had snowed another 8 to 10 inches during the night. The children would need extra clothes on and an extra pair of wool socks, too. Their long walk to the school house would be a cold one this morning. Neither of them would want to go, trying to find excuses not to this morning. Martha would not be swayed-she wanted them out of the house while the baby was being born. Hopefully by the time they came in from school, the baby would be born.

As she expected-Will Henry and Houston tried everything they could to get out of going to school that day. Both of the boys tried to convince her to let them stay home, just in case something were to happen, and their older sister Huldy couldn't get there in time. Martha assured them that it would be hours before the baby came, and that would be plenty of time for their sister to get there, even in this deep snow. After much pleading and begging from both of them, Martha finally managed to get them bundled up tight and sent them on their way to school .

Then she started to prepare for the birth of the baby.Martha was weary, and not as excited as a new mother should be. She had lost 3 babies,already. Out of her 7 children, only 4 had managed to survive. The influenza and smallpox had ravaged her family. Martha had a strange feeling about this pregnancy, she had not been well much of the time she was carrying this child. As another strong labor pain hit her-she thought that maybe she better start boiling some water, and tearing up some of those flour sacks that she had saved just for this purpose. She hoped Huldy would get there soon.

She could tell that this labor was moving along a lot faster than the last. Not only was she having labor pains, she was aching all over, and she knew that she was running a fever.Just then, the strongest pain yet hit, she struggled to get to the bed, and squatted down, hanging on to the rails of the footboard .The pain consumed her body. She needed to push, the pain was unbearable now. Martha knew that she was not going to be able to wait for her daughter, Huldy, to arrive. She was laboring too fast, it could not be stopped now. She grabbed a quilt off the bed and spread it on the floor between her squatting legs, to catch the baby when it was born. She could feel herself tearing and began to feel nauseated, as she continued to bear down. Just a few more good pushes-then she guided her baby out into the world, she soon saw that she had a beautiful, downy haired, baby boy.

Martha had already decided that if she gave birth to a son, she would name him Haywood-to honor her close cousin, Haywood Noah, who had died at the young age of 36. Haywood Noah and his twin brother Martin Noah, who were builders and woodworkers, had built a church. Martin was also a violin maker and player. Church and music were very important to her family.

Martha lay in bed with her newborn son and thought about the painful past, and the uncertain future for her baby. She was very weak, and soon drifted off to sleep. Her dreams were filled with familiar faces, and strange faces who seemed to be familiar in a distant way. They were all surrounded by very vivid colors. Somewhere in the distance, she could hear old Blue barking. Someone was coming.

Huldy could barely rouse her mama. Mama seemed not to hear or understand when Huldy tried to talk to her. Huldy could not understand what her mama was saying when she tried to talk.

Martha was burning up with the fever. She needed old Doc to come by to look in on her. As soon as Papa and Jim came in from the mine, she would send for old Doc.

Martha never got better. She was weak, had a cough, and was so tired that she spent much of the time in the bed. She would read her bible for hours at a time. She would try to hold her newborn baby, but he seemed so heavy to her, she would have to lay him back on the bed. She wondered why she was not getting any stronger, like she had after the birth of her other children. Doc had warned her before this one-not to have any more children, it was too hard on her body. Doc would drop by every so often to see how she was doing. When he left, he would always put his arm around Jasper's shoulders, and talk to him in a quiet voice, shaking his head from side to side.