Pawpaw Clark, Stories From My Dad

Marvin Elgie Clark lived in the mountains in a little town called Crossnore, NC. Crossnore was about 1 hour away from where dad lived.  He was a carpenter by trade and loved to farm and live off the land.  He loved the outdoors and liked raising chickens & cows.  He also had several Honeybee Hives that he used to collect honey. Paw Paw was a worker and always stayed busy. He lived to be 103 years old. 

Dad remembered how they would always drive up the mountain at least once a month on Sunday after church to visit Paw Paw & Maw Maw Clark.  They would always eat lunch with them and spend the afternoon.  Dad has great memories of these Sunday visits where his family would drive up the mountain in the car together and then come back home.  Dad said they did this as long as he could remember from when he was a little boy until he went on his mission.  Dad and mom would take me and my sisters up to visit on Sundays after church when we were little too.

Dad told me a story about how he, his dad and his brother would go up to Paw Paw’s to plant potatoes in a big field every spring and then harvest them in the summer.  They would raise and harvest about a 100 bushel of potatoes and put them in a cellar and use them to eat all year.  They always had plenty of fresh potatoes to eat.  They also would go up and help Paw Paw cut and split wood that he would use in his wood stove to heat the house all winter.  Dad remembers a time after he was married and about 29 years old when he was helping Paw Paw split wood for the winter.  He was 85 years old then.  They worked from about 8:00 am to 4:00pm and Paw Paw worked right beside them the entire time.  He would ask dad and his brother Randy if they needed rest.  Dad said he was unbelievable and could basically still out work them at 85 years-old.  This is amazing because my dad and his brother were young and strong and are very hard workers.