CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FOUR

We had bought a small four door Ford in 1954. We left Davenport, IA mid-summe 1955 for Massachusetts. We drove to Taylor, MI where brother Norman was then living with Grace and my first nephew, Clarence Moses. We stayed with them for a day or two and then crossed over to Canada. We drove east to cross back over to the US at Niagra Falls. I had been there before when visiting Canada on a High School Band trip. Betty had never seen the Falls before. We then crossed NY State to Massachusetts. My first cousin and her husband were serving a Church with a large parsonage near Boston so we stayed with them for a few weeks until I obtained a student Pastorate in Woodville, MA. Woodville is a village in Hopkinton where the Boston Marathon begins. I was to serve this Church for four years. Cousin Alice and Hugh Smith would later become ABC Missionaries. After graduation from seminary we relocated to Jersey City. But I get ahead of myself. A medical doctor was on the staff at Andover Newton. Betty had had some “spotting” on the way. I contacted Dr. Elia. He chastised me for not seeking help along the way, but took her as a patient. When the baby was due to be born we determined that she should be induced since the doctor was in Boston and practiced at Mass Memorial Hospital. Woodville was 45 miles out. He examined her and told us to go into town and come back later. He delayed the procedure so that David was born two years to the day from brother Jimmy’s birthdate. I think they tended to think of themselves as delayed twins. David is the only sib who felt led to speak at Jimmy’s memorial service.. During the final pregnancy Betty was spiking her blood pressure and the Dr. suggested induction. Since it was already late October Betty suggested that Pete be born on his Grandmother Clarkson’s birthday, Oct. 26. So it was done. So there were children born in WV, IA, MA, NJ and MT. Then we stopped moving. I’ll deal with Seminary and health matters later.

Chapter Three

Chapter three - the Blog continues. After our marriage we lived in Huntington at the “old home place.” Mother had left the house to our one sister. It had been subdivided for an apartment upstairs so we were able to live there rent free and look after things including an apartment on the back which Dad had had built for our oldest brother. He wa no longer there. We had not been married many months before my bride sidled up to me after a visit with the doctor and with some animation said, “We’re going to have a baby.” Ken was born in late February. We were married April 14th the previous year - you do the math.

After Ken a born it occurred to me that if I was to get any place as a College teacher I’d better get a Ph.D. In the third year at Marshall I was admitted to Penn State and granted a fellowship in the Speech Education department with the understanding that I would eventually be working on the doctorate in
Clinical Psychology. Betty and Ken stayed with her parents in West Virginia for most of that year. We did managed to buy a house in Bellefonte, PA in the summer of 1950, but I was not admitted to the Ph.D. program in Psych so it was necessary to move on. Brother John was working in Iowa and knew that they were looking for a Psychologist at a couple of children’s homes. I met the man in charge of that program and became Clinical Psychologist at the Annie Wittenmyer Home in Davenport and the State Juvenile Home in Toledo, IA. Both were for “dependent and neglected children.” IAWH had kids from birth to late teens. Many of them were placed in homes as foster children. The Home at Toledo to mostly late childhood and adolescents who were often pre-delinquent. I was able to pick up some extra cash by giving personality tests for some local Psychiatrists.

Living in the Mississippi River country with farms and fields galore it wasn’t long before I was having trouble with hay fever. The other thing that gave me trouble was my earlier intention to give my life in service to the Church and Christ. By the fourth year I was sleeping sitting up in a lounge chair since my who system closed off when I laid down. Antihistamines didn’t do much good, and was increasingly being led to make the decision to go to Seminary. I was convinced that God was working on my to make that decision. After exploring possible Seminaries it seemed that Andover Newton was the place to go. That had a strong Clinical Pastoral training program. When I finally decided that Seminary was a must I talked it over with Betty. By this time we had Ken, Ann, and Jim; and David was in utero. Her only response was, “You’d better take me with you.” And that’s the way it has always been. Chapter four later.

Personal History continued

A nephew, also ordained, reminds me that I failed to mention an older brother, Don, who also was ordained. I'll catch up to that. After being drafted in April 1943 in spite of vision in only one eye and a prosthesis in the other, I served in the Army Air Corps for just over seven months when the Commanding Officer at Hamilton Field, CA called me in and asked if I would accept a discharge. Since Dad had died that summer and Mother was home with a young teen ager (brother Lee) it seemed appropriate to go home. As the Major said: "You only have vision in one eye." Funny the Draft Board didn't notice that! I didn't tell Mother that I was heading home. Instead I took the train from San Francisco to Washington, DC to visit my high school girl friend who was working there as a Secretary. We had dated through most of the 11th and 12th grades and at one point during the DC visit we visited a Baptist pastor to discuss the possibility of marriage. I have been forever thankful that that didn't happen considering the woman I did marry some years later. Brother Don was dating Judy"s older sister, Garnett and she eventually became my sister-in-law.

I re-enrolled at Marshall College, and was nearly finished by the time twin brother John was discharged. It seemed appropriate that I stay an extra year so that we might have some time together before I went off to Seminary. I decided to take a Master's Degree in Psychology. Near the end of that period I was invited to join the faculty at Marshall and teach beginning Psych. Now the story gets complicated.

I was very active in the W.Va. Baptist Youth Fellowship through College and conducted workshops throughout the State. I was also President of our Association of BYF. Sister took a job as Director of Christian Education at the Church in Kenova, a town in the neighbor Association. in the Summer of 1948 she set up a summer camp for youth in that Association at Camp Mad Anthony Wayne. She asked me to help in planning recreation. A young lady, who was also a Marshall graduate in Home Economics was the chief cook. I had known her some through previous BYF situations. Her family called her Betty. To me she was "Harriet Elizabeth". On the last day of the Senior High portion of the Camp I was dancing with a pretty little red head when this Cook came out of the kitchen in apron and with flour on her face and "cut in." Since she was president of her Association we talked about some joint activities of our groups. I invited her to come to Huntington one Sunday evening; have supper with us at Grandmother Taylor's (a weekly event) and go with me to meet with the youth group at my Church that evening. Before we left the house my Aunt Bertha leaned up to me and said: "Jim, we like her." Well, we had the Church event and then I took her home to Ceredo. A small town about 15-20 miles from my own home. I stayed a while, we talked, we chased a fire engine to the next town to a lumber yard fire, came back to her place, talked some more, and then taking her hands I look straight into those lovely eyes and said: "You are going to marry me, aren't you?" We kissed and that was sealed. The next day I left for Summer School at the University of Cincinnati. That was near the end of July 1948. We were married in April 1949. A marriage that lasted over 56 years until her untimely death in December 2005.

For a Blog this has gone one long enough. More history to come.